Tokyo people don't talk about Wude

Chapter 433, Section 430: Tokyo Wanderer

"Great Hero of Yanhuang" Chen Jiuzhou, "Tokyo Coward" Jiuzhou Cheng, "Fake Hero" Jiuzhou Cheng, "Immortal Kamikaze" P01, "Rebellious Avenger" Hong Zhongjin
These are the statuses and identities that this decaying body once held. Some fates and responsibilities that I neither care about nor cherish, yet cannot escape.

Now, people call me "Ash Hero" Red Ash!

Living my whole life under the control and manipulation of others, I devoted myself to fabricating a false ideal, only to have my heart pierced by the cold reality. I thought I was fighting against an unjust fate with all my might, but I found that everything was just a script, and I was just a puppet on a string in this fairy tale.

To fulfill the lingering dreams of my cowardly personality, I became a "hero" and even a "saint," using "martial virtue" to numb my true feelings and do things I didn't like. However, my true personality, by trusting an evil organization that shouldn't have been trusted and indulging in a beautiful dream that shouldn't have been dreamt, almost turned this body into an accomplice to evil, an incurable "demon."
The word "tragedy" seems to be directly linked to my fate.

Even though Makoto Kyushu, that cowardly protagonist, suddenly regrets his actions and chooses to sacrifice himself to create a tiny opportunity for me to escape my fate, I still throw myself back into it, becoming a vengeful person haunted by evil spirits.

I thought I possessed the supreme power to unleash my rage and desires at will, but in the end, my foolishness and weakness were exposed in the battle at Yasukuni Shrine. This insignificant mortal, Mikazuki Meikata, was forced to make a fatal sacrifice, just to give me one last, final element of victory—a chance to barely escape the enemy's pursuit.

It was precisely because of this that I unexpectedly gained an opportunity for reflection, which allowed me to comprehend the principle of "selflessness."

"Night Wanderer Tianyin" once told me in a divination that the connections between people are like bonds. As long as there are enough bonds, they can be twisted into a rope, transforming into a force that can overcome everything.

If you ask me, that's bullshit!

I refuse to believe in divination, in bonds, or in fate. Even if some people harbor lingering feelings for me and wish to rekindle our past relationship, I will convince myself that it's merely a coincidence and need not concern myself with it. Because my existence is selflessness, and that is the sole meaning of my existence!

I won't do things I don't want to do because of emotions. Friendship, love, responsibility, and moral conscience are all irrelevant. I, Hong Zhongjin, will only do what my reason and heart tell me is right!
If you ask me to rule, I will rule; if you ask me to lie, I will lie; if you ask me to kill, I will kill. If love can advance my goals, I will not hesitate to rape and to love!
Regardless of what others say or think, and regardless of whether I can still be myself in the future, I, Hong Zhongjin, will only do what I want to do and fight that destined battle with Fushiin Ryujin!
Fight for my hatred, fight for my tragedy, fight for my will, fight to display my martial arts, fight to celebrate my enlightenment! Fight regardless of whether the outcome is life or death, fight regardless of whether ordinary people revere me as a hero or a god!

Go forth, charge forth, fight! I, "Ash Hero" Red Ash, will ascend to the summit of Tokyo Tower tonight for my final battle!
【Da, da, da, da】

As Hong Zhongjin stepped into Tokyo Tower, each step was heavy and melodious, like the low tolling of a death knell.

War, plague, domination, death. Tokyo has become an abyss.

And he strolled among them.

"Crack——!"

Suddenly, the glass along the passage shattered, and two agents in suits broke through the windows on either side, firing their guns at Hong Zhongjin.

"Bang bang bang bang bang bang-!"

Bullets rained down, but Red Ember turned around and used the greatsword on his back to block most of the fire.

Seeing this, the two agents worked together to continue their pincer attack from both sides.

These two were clearly Black Dragon spies, possessing extraordinary skills and combat awareness, and their firearms and bullets were products of the science of the soul.

Although Hong Zhongjin blocked most of the bullets with the greatsword on his back, some bullets still grazed his skin. The wounds were not only incredibly painful, but their healing speed also became very slow.

He remained calm and drew a pistol from his waist with each hand.

"All Laws Return to Emptiness - Flying Fire Order - "

The next moment, he turned around and aimed two pistols at an agent.

Although humans have two eyes, they can only look in one direction and aim at one target at a time—this is common sense for humankind.

At this moment, however, Hong Zhongjin's eyes were separated to the left and right, forming a strange "outward-pointing" shape, resembling that of a dementia patient. But he did not turn himself into a dementia patient; rather, through extreme control and manipulation of the eye muscles, he enabled his eyes to move separately, simultaneously aiming at two targets that were far apart.

"Bang bang bang-!"

Hong Zhongjin pulled the trigger, and sparks flew from both guns in quick succession. Two agents, nearly ten meters apart, were hit by bullets at the same time.

He pressed his advantage, emptying his magazine. His two pistols never missed, and all the bullets rained down on the two agents.

The two agents fell to the ground, and the ambush ended in an instant. Hong Zhongjin stepped forward, bit off the heads of the two agents, took their sidearm bullets, and continued walking towards the upper levels of Tokyo Tower.

With his incredibly accurate shooting skills and the eerie ability to "double-aim," Red Ember climbed all the way up, eliminating all the soldiers and agents guarding the way.

The scenery outside the window slowly faded away, everything shrank rapidly beneath my feet, and the city became illusory and blurry until it was swallowed up by the mist and drizzle.

He carelessly tossed aside the empty magazine of his pistol, which continued to bounce off the stairs and steel pillars as it fell, making a long, drawn-out clanging sound that never stopped.

Finally, he stopped in front of a door.

"Behind this door lies your final journey. Are you ready?"

A male voice, both incredibly unfamiliar and strangely familiar, suddenly rang in Hong Zhongjin's ears.

He looked in the direction of the sound and found a young man in martial arts robes sitting by the door, holding a thread-bound book in his hands, looking ethereal and ghostly.

No! Hong Zhongjin can be certain that this is an illusion, because this person could not possibly be here!
"Heh~" Hong Zhongjin sneered, staring at the man and saying, "Chen Jiuzhou, why are you here! Is it my imagination?"

"An illusion, perhaps." The young man in martial robes stood with his hands behind his back, giving him a calm smile. "Perhaps I am just your imagination. Someone you yearn to see once before the end of this journey."

"I long to see you? Hmph, what a joke!" Hong Zhongjin couldn't help but sneer.
"You dead thing with your eyes wide open, what right do you have to make me want to see you? Or is it that trash Kyushu Makoto has transformed into your ghostly form again, appearing before me in the hope that this will give me some encouragement?"

“Jiuzhou Cheng is dead.” The young man in the martial robe shook his head and said softly, “Chen Jiuzhou is also dead. This is a battle fought by you alone. Or perhaps, you were never fighting alone.”

"Heh, do you think I'd have any other helpers?" Hong Zhongjin casually pulled off his earphones. From the moment he entered Tokyo Tower, his communication with Kagari Otonashi had been cut off. He was now completely alone.
"Besides, I don't need anyone else's help!"

"Is that so? Very well then." The young man in martial arts robes gently closed the book, his face calm as he said:
"Ha~~ What a vast expanse of white, the earth so clean~ Since you insist on burying everything about yourself, then I wish you good fortune in your martial arts."

Having said that, the figure of the young man in martial arts robes quickly transformed into thousands of light particles, dissipating and dissolving into the world.

His "appearance" just now can only be explained as a hallucination—a hallucination caused by excitement and fanaticism in a mad immortal before facing his destined final battle.

Hong Zhongjin casually waved away the scattered particles of light around him and pushed open the door in front of him with both hands.

What came into his view was an old man standing in the center of the empty observation deck, dressed in a snow-white haori kimono.

Outside the window, lightning flashed and thunder roared. The old man stood with his hands behind his back, seemingly without any hostility, yet exuding a thousand killing intents.

Hong Zhongjin grinned and said:
"What a coincidence that we've met from afar! Ryujin Shinazugin!"

(End of this chapter)