Huayu 05, our science fiction movie universe

Chapter 699 "Game Era 2" (Epilogue)

【Hongshengtang】

This was the name of the gambling den Xia Feng had entered. He looked up at it for a moment, and then a while later, the sounds of fighting came from inside the gambling den, and several bruised and battered waiters stumbled out.

However, when the camera shifted to the interior of [Hongsheng Hall], Xia Feng was already sitting at a table, chatting amicably with a rather plump middle-aged man.

That was Jiang Haitao, the second-in-command of [Hong Sheng Tang], and also the person in charge of this gambling den.

After failing to find Tony and the others for a long time, Xia Feng came up with a plan: to rely on the local resources of Lin'an.

As the saying goes, snakes have their paths and rats have their ways. Xia Feng was unfamiliar with Lin'an City, but there were always people who knew the place well and were well-informed.

At this point, relying on official power is not a good choice. Places like gambling dens, where all sorts of people gather, and the forces behind them are more suitable for him.

His choice was indeed correct. Upon learning that Xia Feng was a warrior who defeated the Jin army in the Battle of Caishiji, the second-in-command of Hongsheng Hall began to treat him with special regard.

Especially after learning that the Sea Loach Boat was made by Xia Feng, the second-in-command's eyes lit up even more.

After learning of Xia Feng's intentions, Jiang Haitao, the second-in-command of Hongsheng Hall, agreed to his request without hesitation, saying that he would arrange for his men to help him find Tony and Daisy.

However, Jiang Haitao also made a request: he hoped that Hongshengtang's cargo ships on the water could also be equipped with such propellers and thunder cannons.

So if Xia Feng finds Tony and Daisy, he has to hand over the invention blueprints to them, and of course, Hong Sheng Tang will definitely pay for them.

The deal was struck, and Xia Feng began to wait for news from Hongshengtang.

It must be said that "Hong Sheng Tang" is indeed quite capable. Its brothers in the city are spread across all walks of life. In addition, Tony and Daisy are both foreigners with outstanding looks. Xia Feng quickly obtained information about the two of them.

According to the information obtained by "Hongshengtang", Tony and his companion had been living in the residence of a Semu merchant and had been frequently inquiring about Taoist temples and other places around Lin'an.

"According to the information sent back by the brothers, they should be heading to Daoji Temple on the outskirts of the city at this moment."

Upon receiving this news, Xia Feng, led by Jiang Haitao, immediately rushed to that spectacular sight.

However, upon arriving at their destination, before even disembarking from the carriage, they saw a conflict taking place at the entrance of a Taoist temple not far away, seemingly between two people engaged in a life-or-death struggle.

However, as Xia Feng and his group approached, perhaps seeing that there were quite a few of them, one of the two fighting immediately withdrew and quickly disappeared into the dense forest.

"Tony!"

As Xia Feng approached, he saw that the remaining fighter was none other than Tony, whom he was looking for, and rushed forward immediately.

Then he discovered that Tony was in a terrible state, covered in wounds of all sizes.

"Tony, who...who hurt you?"

Tony, holding a long knife, finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the person who came was Xia Feng. His tense nerves relaxed, and he staggered as if his bones had been removed, almost collapsing to the ground. Fortunately, Xia Feng was quick-witted and caught him.

"That person just now was Lang Lie!"

"Langlie!"

Xia Feng was taken aback by this. He still remembered the great price they had paid to deal with Lang Lie when they were in Xixia.

Even so, he was left with only one arm, and he still managed to escape.

But Lang Lie has clearly lost an arm, his right hand that wields a sword, yet he's managed to beat a warrior like Tony into such a sorry state.
"Lang Lie is no longer the Lang Lie it once was."

Tony, supported by Xia Feng, smiled bitterly, his eyes still lingering with fear and a trace of confusion.

"He underwent a complete transformation and mastered swordsmanship that was second to none."

"Swordsmanship that rivals that of ordinary people?"

Xia Feng wanted to ask more questions, but at that moment the gate of the Taoist temple behind them opened, and Daisy, who had been hiding inside, ran out and hugged Tony tightly.

After this interruption, Xia Feng lost interest in the receding waves. After all, with so many of them, why would they be afraid of a cripple?

Is this the location of the original version of the I Ching?

He stood before the Taoist temple, looking up and examining it.

This Taoist temple is located in a mountain valley. Behind the temple is a thousand-year-old locust tree, and in front of the gate is a turbid stream and a precarious log bridge. It is built against the mountain and covers an area of ​​about several tens of feet. It is not large in scale and looks inconspicuous.

Looking at this Taoist temple, Xia Feng was somewhat doubtful that such a precious book as the Book of Changes could be hidden in such a place.
"The old gentleman is inside the temple. Let's go in first."

Saintess Daisy, supporting the injured Tony, took the lead and went inside. The people from Hongsheng Hall were curious and wanted to follow, but Xia Feng stopped them at the door.

After that, Xia Feng, Tony, and Daisy entered the Jidao Temple and met the temple master, who was also the legendary successor of Laozi.

The old abbot was already over seventy years old, but his appearance was elegant and otherworldly. Although his hair and beard were all white, his complexion was ruddy, and his eyes were clear and upright. He had a kind of calm understanding of the world and a kind of simplicity that was not accustomed to worldly affairs.

This appearance alone was enough to intimidate Xia Feng and the other two.

However, after learning their purpose, the old Taoist priest was very easy to talk to and immediately led them to the temple's kitchen. They went under a large water vat to the cellar where food was stored and dug out a wooden box from the cellar.

"This is the sacred object buried by Laozi, the ancestor of Chinese civilization."

The patriarch left a will stating that the seal could only be finally opened when a Western saint brought the secret words to unlock it.

Come on, give it a try.

The old Taoist priest placed the box on the table, and judging from its appearance, it was quite heavy.

Xia Feng and the others quickly brought oil lamps to the box and found that the box was made of some kind of metal. After being buried underground for thousands of years, it did not show much decay or rust, and most of the patterns on the box were still faintly discernible.

As for how to open this thing, the old Taoist pointed to the side of the box, and the group noticed that there was a metal disc there. Not only could it rotate, but there were also some strange symbols marked on and around the disc.

Daisy recognized the symbol at a glance.

"It's a star chart!"

Clearly, only a "saint" who is proficient in astrology and knows the secret code can open this box, and there was a "saint" present at the scene.

Of course, in Xia Feng's eyes, who possesses memories of the real world, this is more like an ancient version of a combination lock.

After taking the box, "Saintess" Daisy carefully examined the disc on it, closed her eyes and pondered for a moment. After muttering something to herself, she decisively began to manipulate the disc.

When the disc rotated to a certain angle, the box finally made a soft "click" sound.

Xia Feng and Tony stood around the box, watching with hope as Daisy opened it. Even the venerable old Taoist priest couldn't help but tilt his head slightly in curiosity.

Surprisingly, when the box was opened, there were neither the legendary dazzling lights nor any books or pamphlets that looked anything but ordinary. Instead, there were only a few old, dirty, flat or curved pieces.

"This is the sacred object?" Xia Feng turned his head and looked at the old Taoist priest with a puzzled expression, suspecting that he had secretly switched the sacred object, the Book of Changes.

The old Taoist priest stared with piety at the thin slice in the hands of the saintess, Daisy.

"That's right, this should be the legendary oracle bone script."

Legend has it that the ancient sage Fuxi created the Eight Trigrams after seeing a dragon-turtle carrying the Hetu (River Map) out of the Luo River, which later became the Book of Changes.

This should be the original copy of the *I Ching* that the Daoist patriarch originally obtained.

Upon hearing this, Xia Feng turned back and examined the objects closely, discovering that they were indeed some kind of ancient and broken tortoise shells.

At this moment, Saint Desiree was carefully placing the pieces of tortoise shell on the table and examining them closely by the light of an oil lamp.

There are still carving marks on the tortoise shell. Although they are slightly blurry, it is still possible to make out what symbols were carved.

However, given Xia Feng's limited knowledge and cultural background, he couldn't decipher the meaning of these characters.

But he remained calm, staring intently at the tortoise shells, trying to memorize the symbols using his memory.

He doesn't understand these symbols, but there are people in the real world who do.

However, there was actually one person at the scene who understood these words, namely the saint of the Egyptian Sun Church, Desiri, who could read the meaning of the words on the tortoise shell.

What does this say?

Only after making sure he had memorized the symbols did Xia Feng have time to ask questions.

Deslie, engrossed in the contents of the I Ching on the tortoise shell, reflexively replied upon hearing this:

"The ultimate path! The ultimate path of Taoism!"

Xia Feng hadn't yet realized what she meant when the old Taoist priest beside him heard Daisy mention the ultimate path and was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes.

"Does this mean that what is being passed down in Taoism today is not the Tao of Laozi?"

Seeing their behavior, Xia Feng asked in confusion.

Yes and no!

The old Taoist priest wore a solemn expression and, while Daisy was still interpreting the Book of Changes, began to explain it to Xia Feng.

According to their sect, when Laozi, a Taoist master, was serving as the Keeper of the Archives in the Zhou Dynasty, he unexpectedly obtained a book of creation that contained the ultimate principles for the growth and changes of all things in the world.

However, because it was far beyond what people could understand at the time, Laozi was afraid that the "Tao" would be misunderstood, so he had to seal it away and leave it for later wise men.

However, this "ultimate way" was indeed too precious, so Laozi extracted some of the simple content from the book and wrote the first secret classic of Taoism, the Book of Changes.

Because this is not Laozi's original work, Laozi dared not claim to be the author. Instead, he claimed that it was passed down from King Wen of Zhou, the founding emperor of the Zhou Dynasty. Therefore, later generations also called it the "Zhouyi" (Book of Changes).

After the old Taoist priest finished explaining the relationship between the I Ching and Laozi, Daisy finally snapped out of her immersion in deciphering the oracle bone inscriptions.

Before Xia Feng could ask Daisy what she had learned from the oracle bone inscriptions, his expression suddenly hardened, and he frowned as he looked towards the direction outside the Taoist temple.

Meanwhile, Tony, who was sitting and resting nearby, had the same reaction. He grabbed his weapon and struggled to his feet.

"What's wrong?" Daisy noticed something was amiss and quickly asked.

However, there was no need for Xia Feng to answer, because screams of agony were already coming from outside the Taoist temple.

"It's Lang Lie!"

Tony said in a dry voice, the veins on his hand holding the knife bulging, and Daisy's face showed a look of horror.

At this moment, Xia Feng still had the leisure to make a joke, turning to ask her:

"Since you know about astrology and have read the I Ching, what insights have you gained from those books that can help you deal with such a formidable enemy from the outside world?"

Upon hearing this, Daisy shook her head helplessly, "The things in the I Ching are too profound..."

"All right!"

Xia Feng waved to interrupt her, then looked at Tony.

"Looks like we'll have to fight side by side again, just like last time."

With these words, the worry in Tony's eyes vanished, and he regained his determined and spirited state. However, he still said:
"If anything goes wrong, you escort Daisy away first!"

"We'll see when the time comes. We were able to cut off one of his hands before, but it's still uncertain who will win this time."

When Xia Feng and Tony cautiously walked out of the Taoist temple, the bodies of the Hongshengtang employees were already lying on the ground outside the temple gate.

Among these corpses was a figure that Xia Feng both recognized and found unfamiliar.

Just seeing that figure made Xia Feng's heart clench, and he involuntarily stopped in his tracks.

It's a fierce wave!
The other person's figure was still as slender and upright as it had been in the Western Xia Kingdom, but this time he no longer had that fierce and imposing aura. Instead, he exuded a peaceful and natural leisurely air, like an enlightened monk who had seen through the mortal world, or a Taoist priest who had retreated to the mountains.

Xia Feng could sense an intense threat lurking beneath Lang Lie's nonchalant smile, making him feel as if he were facing a fully grown tiger just by standing in front of him.

The three of them did not exchange many words after that.

Tony and Xia Feng wanted to buy time for Daisy and the old Taoist priest to escape, but Lang Lie seemed to know this as well, and it seemed that his target was Daisy.

Therefore, the three of them did not exchange many words, and a battle was almost imminent.

It was at this moment that Xia Feng finally understood just how Lang Lie, who had lost his right hand, had terrified Tony.

It turned out that he had forged a hiltless longsword and used a mechanism to attach it to his severed arm.

Thus, Lang Lie finally achieved a level of swordsmanship he had never reached before, which was the complete unity of man and sword!

This single sword strike made Xia Feng feel as if he were witnessing art.

It is like the wind, like the light, elusive and unpredictable, as natural and irresistible as the changing winds and clouds, the shifting sun and moon, and the growth of all things.

This is the art of the sword, the true sword of harmony between heaven and man. Xia Feng did not see Laozi's "ultimate way", but he witnessed the ultimate way of the sword!

It was this final sword strike that almost took away Xia Feng, the protagonist.

(End of this chapter)