Generation Z Mainland

Chapter 10 The Mystery of the Ice Crystal Tree (2)

Zuo Qihan said: "Okay, but you have to keep your word. Release them first, and then we will..."

"Okay." The inner demon curled his lips into a smile and waved his hand. All the ice crystals wrapped around the villagers gradually melted, and their consciousness gradually recovered and they slowly woke up.

"Huh? Why am I here?"

"Where is this? Why am I here?"

Zuo Qihan, along with Ling Zhaoxue and Zhi Enhan, went forward to appease the captured villagers and asked them to return home quickly.

The villagers subconsciously glanced at their inner demons, and were so scared that they all ran away from the cliff and went down the mountain back to the village.

After watching them leave, the inner demon turned to look at Zuo Qihan: "I did it, it's your turn, Zuo~Qi~Han~"

Zuo Qihan looked at Zhang Hanrui again, took a deep breath, held Zhi Enhan with one hand and Ling Zhaoxue with the other, and said seriously: "Okay."

"Ari, wait for me, I will definitely find a way to save you!"

Zuo Qihan watched helplessly as his inner demon took Zhang Hanrui away, a tear sliding gently down his cheeks...

"Zuo Qihan! You're just..."

Zhi Enhan angrily pushed Zuo Qihan, who was in a daze.

"He has no choice! That inner demon is too powerful! And it is transformed from the resentment in Zhang Hanrui's body! Attacking him rashly may be harmful to his body!" Ling Zhaoxue said to Zhi Enhan seriously.

"But...his resentment...is related to you! Zuo Qihan!" Zhi Enhan roared.

Zuo Qihan suddenly opened his eyes wide, turned his head to look at Zhi Enhan and asked: "What did you say? Is it related to me?"

Zhi Enhan folded her hands, turned her head away from him, and said, "Yes, he has always blamed himself. He blamed himself for not being strong enough to protect you and everyone else. He blamed himself for not being able to help you with the mystery of your life experience. He blamed himself for letting you get hurt again and again. He blamed himself..."

Zhi Enhan spoke incessantly, then took out a bamboo flute and said, "This is the weapon my brother Hanrui and I obtained when our superpowers awakened. Playing the melody can enhance our partners' combat abilities and summon healing butterflies for them. Only he can blow out such energy, but for some reason, after we came out of the Dark Forest, the power of this flute weakened. It only works slightly better when I'm inside."

Zuo Qihan listened patiently, and couldn't help but think:
"Is this the mutual exclusion of abilities?"

So, he asked Zhi Enhan: "Then, will the energy of the flute be better when I'm not around?"

Zhi Enhan was confused by his question, but still answered truthfully: "Now that you put it that way, it really is..."

Ling Zhaoxue clapped her hands: "Ah! I understand! This is what you told me before, the mutual exclusion of superpowers mentioned by Yu Yuhan and the others, right?"

Zuo Qihan looked at her and nodded: "Yes, that's right."

Zhi Enhan touched his head in confusion: "Ah? Is that so? Now that you mention it, I do feel that the flute generates more energy when you're not around..."

Zuo Qihan nodded: "Let's go, go collect some ice crystals and go back with them to figure out how to save Zhang Hanrui."

After picking a bag of ice crystal "fruits", the three of them set out on their journey back to the castle.

At the gate of the ancient castle, the inner demon in a black cloak suddenly had an idea. He placed the unconscious Zhang Hanrui at the gate of the ancient castle, then slammed the door several times and left quickly.

It was Siyin who opened the door. She pushed it open and found Zhang Hanrui lying at the door. She shouted for others to come and help.

"Someone come! Zhang Hanrui fainted!"

After Haohao had just checked on Zhang Yiran who had been unconscious for an hour, he handed the still weak Zhang Yiran to Yu Junxi and flew towards the gate.

"Take him in first!"

Siyin nodded, and together with Haohao, Guan Junchen, Wang Hao, and Wang Junxi who came to help, she brought Zhang Hanrui into the house.

Li Jiasen, who also came to help, was about to close the door when suddenly, a hand blocked the door.

"Zuo Qihan!? You're back?! Come in! By the way, what's going on with Zhang Hanrui? Aren't you guys together?"

Zuo Qihan brought Ling Zhaoxue and Zhi Enhan into the gate. Li Jiasen hurriedly closed the door and asked as they walked.

"It's hard to explain in a few words. Xiaozhi, go and take a good look at your brother." Zuo Qihan and Ling Zhaoxue sat on the sofa to rest, and a group of brothers gathered around them.

"Oh, I would go without you telling me!" Zhi Enhan said as she walked towards Zhang Hanrui and Haohao, her tone seemed a little unhappy, so everyone asked Zuo Qihan what was going on?

Zuo Qihan then spoke and told them the whole story of how they encountered the inner demon in the village.

"Ah? This inner demon looks exactly like Zhang Hanrui!? Is this true?!" Yang Hanbo exclaimed with his eyes wide open.

Zuo Qihan glanced at him and continued, "Then, he asked me to exchange the villagers for Zhang Hanrui. The three of us watched helplessly as he took Zhang Hanrui away..."

Yang Bowen looked at Zhang Hanrui in confusion. He sat cross-legged on the ground with his eyes closed, absorbing the healing energy transmitted by Haohao and Zhi Enhan. Then he turned to Zuo Qihan and asked, "How did that inner demon...send Zhang Hanrui...back?"

Zuo Qihan frowned: "This is also what I am most confused about. I feel that there must be something fishy going on here!"

Li Jiasen sat beside him and said thoughtfully, "That makes sense. Will he come back?"

Ling Zhaoxue said, "I'm also confused! He threatened us in front of us to exchange the villagers for Zhang Hanrui, took him away and then sent him back. This is so weird!"

Siyin looked at her and nodded: "I feel that the inner demon is using Hanrui... After all, it is the resentment in his body. But what exactly is it?" Siyin sat beside Ling Zhaoxue and thought with a headache.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open by a gust of wind, and a strange laugh was heard: "Hahahahahahahahahaha~"

Zuo Qihan was stunned, and looked at Ling Zhaoxue in tacit understanding. After exchanging a glance, they nodded and said in unison: "It's the inner demon!"

Just then, just as Haohao and Zhienhan had settled Zhang Hanrui down, a black aura appeared around Zhang Hanrui again.

"Brother!" Zhi Enhan shouted hurriedly, trying to cast a spell to stop the black air from taking Zhang Hanrui away, but was pushed away by a sudden force. If he had not been caught in time, he would have crashed into the large wooden cabinet behind him.

"Are you trying to kill yourself? This is the dark evil spirit! It's very powerful! Don't mess around, you little elf!" Haohao supported Zhi Enhan and shouted loudly.

"Aren't you an elf too! Also, what if Yu Junxi is captured! I don't believe you won't do this!" Zhi Enhan widened her eyes and yelled at Haohao.

As they spoke, the black energy had already carried Zhang Hanrui out of the castle. Zuo Qihan and Ling Zhaoxue chased after him. Everyone looked at the scene in confusion: "What's going on? Was that the inner demon just now?"

"Inner demon! Come out!" Zuo Qihan heard a shout from behind him, turned around and saw Zhang Guiyuan casting a spell and preparing to use his newly awakened supernatural power.

"Electricity..." Before Zhang Guiyuan could use his special move, Zuo Qihan grabbed his wrist.

"No! That guy is very powerful, and your superpowers have just awakened! Don't force it!" Zuo Qihan said seriously to Zhang Guiyuan.

"But...Hanrui..." Zhang Guiyuan frowned and looked at Zhang Hanrui, who was floating in the air and wrapped in black air behind the inner demon.

Zuo Qihan released his wrist and looked at Ling Zhaoxue. The two looked at each other and nodded, preparing to fight their inner demons together.

"Inner demon! What on earth do you want to do?" Ling Zhaoxue roared at the inner demon: "Ice Arrow!"

A bow and arrow shot from Ling Zhaoxue's hand towards the inner demon. The inner demon turned sideways and the arrow hit a big tree trunk behind him and broke.

"Is this the only power you have over the five elements?" The Inner Demon chuckled. "Why not give them all to me so I can maximize their value!"

"You're dreaming!" Zuo Qihan once again unleashed his Flame Dragon Armor combat suit: "Watch out! Blazing Flame Palm!"

The inner demon just waved his hand, and the ultimate move changed direction, aiming at the brothers hiding on the side.

"No! Get down quickly!"

At Guan Junchen's command, everyone fell to the ground. Zhang Guiyuan rushed in front of them and used the special move he hadn't been able to activate just now: "Lightning Ball!"

In an instant, the energy released by the electric ball collided violently with the flaming palm that was forcibly counterattacked by the inner demon!

"boom!"

After a loud bang, the billowing black smoke choked the children. Zhang Guiyuan was knocked to the ground and was seriously injured. Zuo Qihan and Ling Zhaoxue also fell to the ground, their bodies aching and unable to move.

The inner demon laughed heartily and was about to take Zhang Hanrui away when suddenly a mysterious and magnetic voice came from the top of the castle: "Blade of Light!"

The moment the inner demon turned around and was about to touch Zhang Hanrui, he was pierced by a beam of light. He trembled and covered his chest with his hands. A trace of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. He slowly turned around and looked at a figure leaping down from the top of the castle.

"You..." The inner demon uttered a trembling voice.

"You have violated our original agreement. The trial period is over, and it is time for you to be eliminated."

Wang Hao watched the figure land steadily in front of Zuo Qihan and the others. Wang Junxi exclaimed in surprise, "Isn't this... Senior Deng Jiaxin?" Deng Jiaxin looked at the inner demon seriously. The inner demon frowned and sneered, "But you know, even if he destroys me now, as long as the resentment in his heart doesn't disappear, I will still..."

"It's okay! I have a way to solve it! You don't need to worry about it!" Deng Jiaxin said loudly. He stretched out his hand, and a scepter with pure white holy light appeared in his hand. He struck the inner demon fiercely: "Judgment of Light!"

The inner demon let out a shrill cry and was shattered by the light.

But the black energy surrounding Zhang Hanrui didn't disappear. Deng Jiaxin tried to approach it. He slowly approached Zhang Hanrui, stretched out his hand, closed his eyes, and felt...

He sensed some of Zhang Hanrui's inner thoughts...

"We can't live without Zuo Qihan!"

"There must be a way to solve the problem of Zuo Qihan not being able to leave this world!"

"But I also wanted to help him and protect him, but in the end, he always got hurt while protecting us..."

"I want to become stronger, too! I want to protect him! Protect everyone!"

……

Deng Jiaxin listened and felt something was amiss. He suddenly opened his eyes and saw that the black gas was gradually growing larger, forming a huge black circle on the ground...

"what happened?!"

Deng Jiaxin frowned and tried to use his special ability to control it, but it was useless. He was even ejected from the shadow circle...

"Senior Deng Jiaxin!"

Wang Lujie and Yang Bowen stepped forward to support Deng Jiaxin, who had been ejected. Deng Jiaxin gently pushed them away: "Nothing."

"Zhang Hanrui!" Fu Ziming looked at the black gas, tears in his eyes, and shouted with a sob.

Big tears also fell on Zhienhan's little cheeks: "Brother Hanrui!"

Yu Junxi clenched his fists and asked, "Okay, is there nothing we can do?"

Haohao shook his head: "If even the Messenger of Light can't do anything about it, then there's really no way to get rid of the evil spirit in his body. As the saying goes, the person who tied the bell must untie it. Perhaps he has to get out of this situation himself..."

Yu Junxi stared at Haohao and yelled, "How did he come out on his own? He's still unconscious!"

I rolled my eyes at him and said, "What's the point of yelling at me? I can't think of any other solution right now!"

Yu Junxi produced a magic book, pointed at it, and said, "Isn't it written in your book?"

Haohao was speechless again: "Brother! If there was such a thing, I would have found it out and solved it long ago! I'm a magic book elf, of course I know!"

Yu Junxi was choked by his words. At this moment, Chen Yiheng screamed: "Zhang Hanrui... "

Yang Hanbo beside him was startled by his voice. Li Jiasen looked at the scene in front of him with a frown, but the scene in the next second shocked everyone.

The huge black shadow circle suddenly sucked Zhang Hanrui in, and a black hole appeared in front of everyone.

"Zhang Hanrui!"

"Brother Hanrui!"

"Ari!"

……

Amid the shouts of the crowd, Deng Jiaxin let out a long sigh. How many negative emotions and distracting thoughts are in Zhang Hanrui's heart!

Zhang Hanrui opened his eyes in the darkness. He curled up, hugged his knees tightly with his hands, and muttered to himself.

Deng Jiaxin didn’t think too much about it, he wanted to go down and save the boy!

"Everyone, wait here for me for a moment!"

After saying that, he jumped into the black hole. Seeing this, Zuo Qihan and Zhang Guiyuan thought for a moment, looked at each other tacitly, and jumped into the black hole together with firm eyes. Zhi Enhan also wanted to jump in but was held back.

"Don't go, the three of them are enough."

"But, my brother..."

"Don't worry, they will definitely bring him out!"

"Oh, well~"

Everyone looked at the dark cave entrance, holding their breath and waiting.

Deng Jiaxin, Zuo Qihan and Zhang Guiyuan went down to the bottom of the black hole one after another and groped their way in. Zhang Guiyuan was suddenly a little scared, but because his special abilities had awakened, he mustered up the courage to cheer himself up.

Deng Jiaxin was amused by his little action. Zuo Qihan coughed dryly: "Zhang Guiyuan, if you're scared, don't come down! It's very dark here! There's no light!"

Zhang Guiyuan said in a trembling voice: "Who... who said... I was scared! I'm not scared!"

Seeing that the two were about to start a quarrel, Deng Jiaxin hurriedly pulled Zuo Qihan and said, "Let's go, business is more important. I think I heard his voice."

"Who? Zhang Hanrui?" Zhang Guiyuan asked cautiously.

"Yeah." Deng Jiaxin nodded, "Let's go over and take a look."

"Okay!" Zuo Qihan responded obediently, pulling Zhang Guiyuan and following Deng Jiaxin inside.

The further inside, the clearer Zhang Hanrui's voice became. Zhang Guiyuan listened to Zhang Hanrui's mumbling and repeated it in confusion: "What did he seem to be saying? Something like, 'Why can't my ability help Zuo Qihan?'"

"Yes, he has been blaming himself for not being able to use his abilities to protect everyone, protect Zuo Qihan, and help him solve the current problem. I also felt it up there just now. He has been repeating these words..." Deng Jiaxin said as he walked.

"This... he doesn't need to worry so much! I can handle my own affairs! Besides, I will protect him and everyone!" Zuo Qihan felt a little helpless towards his brother. Why did he always blame himself so much?

Finally, the three of them arrived in front of the curled-up Zhang Hanrui. Zhang Guiyuan rushed over to him and shook him vigorously: "Zhang Hanrui! Wake up! It's us! We're here to save you!"

Zhang Hanrui seemed not to hear anything. He kept burying his head in his arms, still muttering: "Protect everyone, protect Zuo Qihan, protect this world..."

Zuo Qihan walked up to him, looked down at Zhang Hanrui, and said seriously: "Zhang Hanrui! Lift your head!"

Zhang Hanrui didn't know whether he was startled by his tone or something else. He finally raised his head slowly, looked at the three people in front of him, and said weakly: "Xiao Qiqi~ Guiyuaner~ and senior~ you are here?" His eyes were dull and colorless.

"Zhang Hanrui! What's wrong with you? Are you shutting yourself off just because of this? Your inner demons have been defeated by your seniors! Do you still want to be like this?" Zuo Qihan shouted.

"Yeah, but how can I help you? I can't do anything right. Besides the healing power of summoning butterflies, I have that broken flute, and I've never successfully used it once!"

"You now have the water of the five elements around you, and your abilities have also increased. But what about me? I can't do anything! Facing the repeated attacks from the seniors, I have no way to properly protect you. I can only watch you get hurt!"

Zhang Hanrui kept talking when Zuo Qihan suddenly interrupted him: "Alright! Have you said enough? Do you know why your flute can't perform its functions? It's because your abilities are mutually exclusive with mine! Aren't you trying to say that Ling Zhaoxue and I should go find the Ice Crystal Tree together? That's because she told me that the 'fruit' of the Ice Crystal Tree can eliminate the mutual exclusion between our abilities, and your flute's energy won't be affected by me. That's it."

As Zuo Qihan spoke, he took out an ice crystal "fruit" from his pocket. Zhang Guiyuan was stunned and took a closer look, but was gently pushed away by Zuo Qihan.

"As long as we take this, the mutual exclusion of superpowers will be lifted within three days. Then, you can use your abilities to help me appropriately!"

Zhang Hanrui raised his head and looked at Zuo Qihan: "But, I can't help you as much as Ling Zhaoxue. You two have a tacit understanding and are very compatible. You are both one of the five elements, so your abilities are of course much stronger than mine..."

"Ari, please don't overthink it, okay? As long as we unite, there's nothing we can't do. Now Guiyuan is also one of those with awakened superpowers, so there should be more adventures and tests waiting for us in the future! Let's work hard together! Okay?"

Zuo Qihan reached out to pull Zhang Hanrui, but a repulsive force jarred his fingers like an electric shock. Seeing this, Deng Jiaxin cast a spell, enveloping Zhang Hanrui in a ball of light. He smiled and said, "Zhang Hanrui, come together. Only the power of unity is the strongest."

As Deng Jiaxin spoke, Zhang Guiyuan pulled Zuo Qihan and extended his hand to Zhang Hanrui: "Let's go, let's defeat the dark side of your heart together!"

Zhang Hanrui looked at the three people in front of him and stretched out his hands to hold Zhang Guiyuan and Zuo Qihan's hands. Deng Jiaxin held Zhang Guiyuan with one hand and Zuo Qihan with the other. The four of them held hands and formed a circle.

"Okay! Let's go together!"

Slowly, under the light of Zhang Hanrui's brilliant and beautiful smile, the black hole was gradually disappearing. The people outside the cave looked at the four people who returned to the ground and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Great!"

"To be continued"

(End of this chapter)