Above Destiny

Chapter 585 Tears and Light

Perhaps leaving the factory was a mistake.

When Ji Jue tried to escape the crying and leave the factory, he found that, amidst the roar of the torrential rain, there was no other sound besides crying and wailing.

The surging muddy water roared through the slums, carrying a massive amount of debris, and flowed into the newly cleared riverbed, rolling and churning endlessly.

Tables, chairs, doors, bricks, tiles, vegetation, and even corpses...

In the howling wind, things were constantly being thrown up from the violent rain and then falling back down, hitting the windows of the calf and horse wagon.

Everything that could be seen was completely submerged in the flood.

It was pitch black, with no lights in sight. Only a few scattered flashlight beams flickered dimly, unable to illuminate the world just a few meters away. All that could be seen was a blurry world distorted by the rain.

What was once a densely packed shantytown outside the city has now become a vast expanse of water.

In fact, countless houses were built directly on what used to be a riverbed!

After the dam collapsed, the floodwaters surged and roared along the old riverbed, uprooting countless simple houses that didn't even have foundations, and carrying them away with the current.

Once again, winding creeks were carved out, and murky mud raged and spread amidst the storm...

But by the time he finally arrived at the place Elder Long had described, it was already too late.

Even those high up on the riverbank were already being flooded by the rising floodwaters.

In the dim light, only the flames spread, and thick smoke and flames engulfed the entire drug factory.

Corpses everywhere...

They were all corpses, mutilated and incomplete.

It was as if a cruel storm had swept through, tearing apart all the resisters, the spent cartridges cooling in the bloody mud, and in the downpour, there was no smell of gunpowder.

Ji Jue was stunned for a moment.

Looking up into the factory, deep within the flames, I saw a blurry figure approaching step by step.

The bearded man, covered in blood, kicked open the red-hot iron gate and stepped over the corpses of the drug lord's subordinates as he emerged.

He carried three dying victims on his arms, in his bosom, and on his shoulders.

Upon noticing Ji Jue at the door, he immediately stopped in his tracks.

He took a step back.

On that blood-stained face, a fierce glint suddenly appeared in his dark eyes, as if he wanted to devour someone.

In the brief silence, Ji Jue didn't speak, but simply took a step back.

Then, he raised his hand and pressed it against the door frame.

The door roof, which was about to burn and collapse, was re-supported.

"I'm looking for a man named Gachukia. His mother is waiting for him to come home. Have you seen her?"

The man was silent for a moment, as if in disbelief, but he did not speak, remaining vigilant. He simply asked the victim on his shoulder something in a low voice, and after receiving an answer, he shook his head.

"died."

"……I see."

Ji Jue nodded, stopped arguing, and voluntarily stepped aside to make way for the exit.

As they brushed past each other, the man couldn't help but glance at him again.

In the end, he said nothing and looked away.

Soon, they disappeared into the rain with the victim.

Missed.

Before long, the entire factory, along with the surrounding shacks, collapsed into the floodwaters amidst the spreading flames.

The turbid current surged.

boom.!!

After a flash of lightning, another thunderclap swept across, illuminating the panicked faces on the rooftops and the figures trembling and huddled in the rain.

They didn't even have the strength to cry out or wail.

Ironically, amidst this storm, flames suddenly ignited, and thick smoke and flames danced wildly within the burning houses.

The calves and horses trudged through the mud, ignoring the impact of the torrent, moving at great speed.

Along the way, for countless times, the mechanical behemoth's tail extended, scooping up the victims floating in the floodwaters and carrying them to rooftops or higher ground.

But there's no way to save them.

It's too late.

Right before Ji Jue's eyes, another house collapsed in the flood.

The few ships he brought with him had already been given away. Even if he tried his best, how many could he save? Countless hands reached out to him, but his hands couldn't grasp them all in time.

There wasn't even time to choose.

Even if they were pulled out of the mud one by one, there would be little left to do. All they could do was tell them again and again, "Go to the factories on the coast, in the industrial area to the north, where the lights are still on... At least there, no one will shoot you to drive you away."

No matter how many times he did it, he was always met with suspicious looks. After the gratitude faded, only vigilance remained.

Instinct resistance.

They suspected he was just some sweatshop worker who, on a whim, came out to capture slaves.

Countless people turned and ran, but very few actually followed the direction Ji Jue pointed out. Even when Ji Jue took out the church's insignia and hung it on the calf, people remained skeptical.

After noticing Ji Jue's black hair and black eyes, she became increasingly resistant, even to the point of hatred and loathing.

There have been too many disasters, too many bad news and tragic realities. Even when the path to survival is within reach, who can place all their hopes on vague and illusory goodwill?

So Ji Jue stopped talking.

They silently carried all the victims within reach to higher ground and continued forward, unsure of where they should go next.

It's the same everywhere.

Bang!
Gunshots rang out. From behind the ruins in the pouring rain, a distorted face emerged, gripping a gun, pointed at Ji Jue's face, and roared:

"Get out, you federal bastard!"

In the mud and water, Ji Jue turned around, glanced at him, and remained expressionless.

The hands gripping the gun trembled. The gun, which he had cobbled together and modified himself, was impossible to aim after being soaked in rainwater. The gunpowder, once water got inside, might not even be able to be ignited.

Only in his eyes could he conceal the fear and harbor the hatred that could not be let go.

“Jia Kongzhu, he’s here to save people,” the disheveled woman whispered.

"Save people? Do you think the federalists are that kind?!"

Gakongzhu's expression became increasingly distorted as he angrily rebuked, "If it weren't for these Federation dogs and Imperial dogs, how could we have fallen to this state, trying to save people?"
They are the ones who pushed us into hell!
roll!
Get out of here, we don't need you!

Ji Jue did not answer. He walked over silently, tilted his head, dodged the bullets flying from the gun barrel, and then reached out and pressed his hand on the roof of the ruins.

The physical properties are enhanced, and the particles separate upon contact.

They narrowly managed to hold up the collapsing beam.

He turned around and took one last look at the man, whose expression was still ferocious and convulsing, as if he wanted to run away, but instinctively he spread his arms to block in front of Ji Jue, protecting the woman and child behind him.

"Take your wife and kids and go somewhere else."

Ji Jue said, "This place is going to collapse."

She tossed the last packet of medicine from her pocket into the man's arms.

He turned and left.

The roaring sound rang out once again. Amidst the flood, the continuous sounds of collapse and disintegration echoed from afar, spreading as if without end.

Not far away, in the surging torrent, countless shacks collapsed with a deafening roar, pressing down on the dazed children in the ruins.

boom!
The sharp cracks and splinters of wood and bricks came to an abrupt halt. The calf and horse, transformed into ferocious beasts, suddenly straightened their bodies and stood in front of the child, firmly holding back the rubble that was pressing down under the weight of the debris.

The child turned around blankly, staring at the monster so close at hand, and remained motionless.

It's like I've become numb.

He let the falling bricks and fragments fall on him.

Even when Ji Jue reached out to pull him away, the child remained rooted to the spot, refusing to leave.

He was holding a hand that had been soaked in the floodwaters until it turned white and had long since lost its warmth.

They held on tightly, unwilling to let go.

"Mother……"

Those empty eyes stared at Ji Jue, repeating blankly, "Mom is down there..."

Ji Jue remained silent.

The arm the girl was holding was already broken.

There were no living people under the collapsed ruins.

"..."

Ji Jue opened his mouth as if to speak, but could not utter a word. A bolt of lightning suddenly flashed across the sky.

For a fleeting moment, it illuminated everything in the mud and torrents: broken bricks and tiles, shattered white towers, streets reduced to ruins, and the raging floodwaters.

For a fleeting moment, in a daze, he seemed to hear a children's song that sounded like a hallucination.

In the collapsed ruins, a mother embraces her curled-up child, bathed in the torrential rain, and lowers her head to sing a gentle, familiar song.

But then, the ruins collapsed.

The singing disappeared.

It disappeared into the distance along with the extinguished lightning.

Only the belated thunder rumbled, piercing the eardrums and buzzing.

boom! ! !
Gunshots rang out again, one after another.

In the rising floodwaters, the victims, adrift on broken planks, collided with each other, scrambling for the little food and valuables they had left.

Like animals driven to desperation, they tore each other apart.

People scattered, fleeing aimlessly, moving forward in vain, not knowing where they should go. As they walked, they stumbled and fell into the floodwaters, disappearing from sight.

Groups of strong men fiercely guarded the only rooftops and high points, knives in hand, coldly staring at anyone who dared to approach.

But not long after, the roof collapsed in the flood.

Chaos spread as if it were a tangible entity, and amidst the plundering and tearing, numb howls and cries echoed and then disappeared.

The darkness was like an invisible maw, slowly and deliberately swallowing everything in its mouth.

In the distance, at the city entrance, another series of gunshots rang out, and then a bulldozer equipped with a bucket slowly pushed forward, shoving the remaining debris—the dead, the living, the wailing, the pleading—into the floodwaters below.

The rain continued to fall, washing away the last trace of crimson blood from the ground, never to be seen again...

Only amidst the raging torrent, a shocking crimson gradually appeared.

Tears fell from the sky, and blood flowed on the ground.

Going forward is a dead end, and going backward is also a dead end.

Hell is everywhere; there is nowhere to escape.

"..."

Amidst the mud and torrents, Ji Jue raised his head and looked up at the sky, where he once again saw the streaking lightning.

Immediately afterwards, thunder rumbled and spread, continuing incessantly.

Streaks of lightning flashed continuously from the sky, tearing through the rain curtain. The intense light, like blades, did not cleave the darkness, but it stung the eyes of too many.

Disaster is stirring, growing ever more violent.

He received a message from a weather satellite...

Typhoon Bailu accelerated its speed once again, and in just a few hours, it officially made landfall east of Tacheng!

Looking down from outer space, that enormous and ferocious cyclone, carrying massive amounts of water vapor, resembled a raging monster, writhing inch by inch across the wilderness, rampaging forward.

Hundreds of miles away, destruction and death were continuously hurled towards Tacheng.

Ji Jue held his breath.

A violent roar could be heard coming from where the dam was collapsing. As the breach widened, lake water mixed with a large amount of mud and debris surged down.

An overwhelming destruction swept in.

But then, he froze on the spot.

He stretched out his hand, somewhat doubtfully, towards the top of his head.

The wind force did not increase!
Surprisingly, the water level at their feet didn't rise. No, not only did it not rise, but it gradually leveled off, seemingly trending downwards...

The raging floodwaters continued to gush forth from the breaches in the dikes.

But at this moment, they inexplicably changed course. As the soil rose and hardened, they veered into a huge arc in the wilderness, leaving behind countless tributaries. However, the surging main stream bypassed the densely packed slums on the outskirts, drawing a large circle and flowing towards the end of the wilderness.

In the raging torrent, those figures swept up seemed to be pulled by invisible ropes, yanked up, and thrown to higher ground, landing in the mud in a sorry state.

Looking around blankly, coughing, yet unable to believe it.

Even the raging winds seemed to crash into an invisible barrier.

A piercing, teeth-grinding sound burst forth from the air, and invisible pillars appeared out of thin air, their outlines only briefly emerging as the rain poured down.

Instead of overestimating its own strength to contend with the power of the entire typhoon, it did its best to break up the chaotic airflow in the middle, allowing the turbulent air to gradually dissipate as they collided with each other.

The smooth, flowing guidance, the skillful disassembly, breaking down the whole into parts, resisting the raging waves, and letting the aftershocks and ripples pass through the fingertips.

The power of a single person, displayed with all their might at this moment, has erected a barrier riddled with holes amidst the indiscriminate torrent of destruction!

At this very moment, in the darkness of heaven and earth, at the highest point beyond the reach of the naked eye, beneath the raging storm clouds, a wisp of pure white color has silently extended, spread, and taken shape.

It resembles a tattered page of a book, or a broken banner.

From the reborn form to the transcendent level, combining the essence of supreme goodness and embodying the dual principles of Heavenly Origin Ether—the Book of Circle Realm Disaster Prevention unfolds here!

Before the raging winds and torrential rains, before the towering waves.

After a long silence, Tong Shan resolutely extended his hand...

Thus, standing in mid-air, ignoring the mocking, indifferent, or even taunting gazes, he stood firm as a mountain, unleashing his full power, no longer concealing the strength that had been suppressed for who knows how long.

"As expected of you, Brother Shan."

Startled, Ji Jue looked up at the distant figure and couldn't help but laugh.

Cheers and exclamations.

You can always trust Tongshan!
Unlike Ji Jue's admiration and praise, the gazes cast upon him from both inside and outside Tacheng were devoid of friendliness, even carrying a hint of annoyance...

When someone steps forward with their head held high, those who do nothing will be relegated to mediocrity, once or twice, three or four times, five or six times...

The person who is always at the forefront starts to become an eyesore.

So you're putting on an act again, aren't you?

There's a limit to how much you can court death!

Amidst the turbulent aura of the White Deer, will the foundation of Heaven's Origin be revealed?

Absolutely, utterly foolish!

Just as Tong Shan was giving it his all, the storm outside suddenly became violent and frenzied, fully unleashed by the opposing forces of Tian Yuan and Bai Lu!
The sky, the earth, the raging wind, the torrential rain—all these threads of malice converged, transforming into a suffocating tide.

It's like being at odds with the whole world.

Compared to the raging typhoon, one person is insignificant, not even worth paying attention to. At most, it's just a natural rejection reaction...

boom!
A fierce bolt of lightning streaked across the scene, crashing into the invisible barrier and shattering it instantly.

Above the storm, in the black clouds, streaks of lightning flickered, and suddenly a strange, snake-like silhouette shot out, flying hungrily towards them.

But in mid-air, it suddenly froze, stopped in place, exploded, turned into blood mist, and then disappeared in the torrential rain.

But what followed was an endless stream of piercing screams.

A vast array of dark shadows darted and sped through the clouds.

The horde of calamity beasts dwelling in the thunderstorm clouds were enraged. Under the influence of the white deer's aura, the bizarre serpentine shadows writhed like a tide, instantly engulfing the tattered page of the book and the lonely figure.

Disappear.

In the shadows, the gazes cast upon his pitiful state remained indifferent.

Amidst the mockery, a hint of pleasure suddenly surfaced.

Immediately afterwards, he stood there, stunned.

What we saw was a sharp light suddenly bursting forth from the sky.

A wisp of light, as ethereal as a dream, flashed by in an instant.

Then, the massive number of calamity beasts that had almost completely swallowed up Tongshan were turned into a sky full of pale ashes in the blink of an eye!

"..."

In mid-air, Tong Shan, who had raised his hand to counterattack, also froze, in disbelief.

He lowered his eyes and looked at the purple lightning bolt that was hovering in front of him.

The lightning flashed and darted around him, as if it were alive, never leaving his side.

Therefore, I extend my greetings to my old friends.

In his astonishment, Tong Shan finally realized what was happening and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

So enjoyable.

"Then let's go together!"

Once again, he raised the banner of the boundary, and in his other hand, the sword with the brush was drawn, pointing towards the surging tide of calamity before him.

Disregarding their own safety, they went all out, leaving no room for retreat—

--cut!

(End of this chapter)