Asura in Arknights

Whether he is actually the incarnation of the Year Beast is not important; what matters is that those in the court believe he is, so he must be the incarnation of the Year Beast.

How arrogant...

Li Ang smiled, but he didn't really care.

He wasn't the kind of weakling to be bullied, and besides, he wasn't a citizen of Yan Kingdom now. If those brainless bastards dared to make a move, he could just chop off their claws. Anyway, he could always just run away. The atmosphere of Yan Kingdom was something Li Ang only missed a little; he didn't plan to actually settle down here.

This is ultimately a different place.

Nian paused for a moment, then continued, "As for my eldest brother, there's no need to say more. The reason why we, the incarnations of the Sui Beasts, can stay in the Great Yan safely is largely because of his existence. He... can be considered one of the pillars of this country."

In other words, as long as their leader doesn't fall, the Great Yan's actions against the Sui Beast incarnation can only be limited to probing. Of course, there's no way to control uncontrollable events like a few individuals suddenly becoming mentally unstable.

“Eldest sister… Your sister… Although she joined the army at the urging of eldest brother, she is actually indifferent to most things and doesn’t care about anything now. She just stays in Shangshu City.” As he spoke, Nian couldn’t help but scratch his head.

Ling's personality... to put it nicely, he's carefree and unrestrained; to put it bluntly, he's a day-to-day person who just gets by. Even when the Sui Beasts were resurrected and all their Sui Beast incarnations' consciousness dissipated, Ling remained remarkably nonchalant, acting as if it didn't matter.

Nian completely disagreed with her eldest sister's ideas, but she was still very willing to help her brothers and sisters if they needed anything.

The matter they are discussing now has little to do with this eldest sister, so Nian only mentioned it briefly.

"Third Brother Shu's abilities are related to agriculture. Before I left Da Yan, he was working in the Ministry of Revenue. I don't know what his situation is now, but he is probably the one among us who is living the most comfortable life."

After all, who would go against farmers? Don't they need to eat?

"My third sister, Jie, disappeared sixty years ago, and now we don't even know if she's alive or dead. My second and fourth sisters have no intention of getting involved in the mess of the Great Yan Dynasty, and they left long ago."

“Fourth Brother is furious. He’s the guy I was talking about who’s got a screw loose. Maybe all the resentment the Sui Beast felt when it died is in him. He’s always thinking about how to take revenge on Da Yan and resurrect the Sui Beast. He’s been a little quieter since Big Brother taught him a lesson last time, but I don’t know where he’s hiding now.” Nian looked a bit of a headache. “If the Sui Beast is resurrected here, then what’s going on here is definitely related to him.”

"His ability... is it emotional control? I don't know how to describe it more accurately, but in short, he's a master at stirring up trouble and plotting behind the scenes. In a head-on fight, even Xi could easily beat that guy."

Although Nian enjoys bullying Xi, her strength in her beast form is not weak. The power of that free spirit is evident to all, but Xi just doesn't like to show it off.

"I'm ninth on the list, and Xi is eleventh. We're both staunchly opposed to the Year Beast, just with slightly different methods," Nian said, shrugging.

"Our youngest brother, Zhuan, is a pretty good cook, but as for fighting... let's not push him too hard."

This time, perhaps because there was no one else around, Nian simply introduced all the other beast incarnations. Xi, who usually stayed in her own world of paintings, could not possibly know as much about the current situation of her other brothers and sisters as Nian did.

Excluding the tenth Sui Beast incarnation who has some kind of relationship with Li Ang, the only one that Nian just skipped was the second-ranked one, their 'second brother'.

"So, that black chess piece is related to your second brother?"

“…Yes.” Nian nodded with a complicated expression. “To be honest, I really don’t want to see that guy. He’s definitely the most reclusive one among us… much more reclusive than Xi. Only my eldest sister and third brother can talk to him.”

"And ever since my third sister disappeared, he's become even stranger; no one can understand what he's thinking every day."

"That black chess piece is his ability. He can split his consciousness, like a god creating agents, to create another avatar of his own... He can even control other people through this chess piece. That man just now, if I'm not mistaken, was the unlucky fellow controlled by my good second brother."

Nian sighed and said, "Now that he's here, we're in for a bit of trouble."

Chapter Eighty-Three Second Brother

In her memory, her second brother was a very troublesome guy.

However, she developed self-awareness relatively late and didn't know much about her second brother, mostly hearing about him from her eldest sister, Ling.

Although the second brother was born very early, his strength was not very great. His clones were very weak and basically useless. Those with a slightly stronger will could resist his control, not to mention the other beast avatars. This led to his very awkward situation, forcing him to focus his attention on other things.

When she first developed self-awareness, her second brother was already a notorious schemer.

Behind many major events in the history of Yan Kingdom and even the entire Terra, it seems that he can be seen stirring up trouble behind the scenes, but this is just speculation, and no one can provide substantial evidence.

That makes sense. It would be a shame if someone with his abilities didn't become a behind-the-scenes manipulator. At most, the Seventh Prince could stir up public resentment and cause some trouble for the Great Yan, but if the Second Prince's abilities weren't handled properly, he could really overthrow the entire Great Yan.

Therefore, because he was jumping around too much, he was arrested by the Great Yan not long after, and has been imprisoned in the capital of the Great Yan ever since.

After all, even the complete Sui is no match for the Great Yan. As long as they are willing to pay a certain price, they can capture any one of the Sui beast's incarnations. It's just a matter of whether it's worth it or not.

Second Brother's abilities are too dangerous; the Great Yan Dynasty cannot allow him to continue developing.

Because this is a divine power, it's difficult to detect through ordinary means. The arrogant Sui wouldn't resort to such low-level methods, but the second brother is different; he uses it with complete impunity. It would be ridiculous if one of his clones were to climb to the position of one of the Three Dukes, Six Ministries, or Nine Ministers someday.

But Da Yan also dared not do anything to him. Heaven knows how many backup plans he had made in Da Yan, and how many clones he had scattered across this land. Once the two sides completely broke off relations, the damage would be more serious than the resurrection of the Sui Beast in some respects.

Until a way is found that can instantly kill all the clones with the main body, he promises not to do anything to him.

Nian recalled what her older sister had told her: "You mean Yi? His greatest strength isn't his strategic ability, but rather his terrifying learning ability."

"You know what? When we first gained consciousness, Yi's chess skills were even worse than mine. He could even go toe-to-toe with me in nine-move chess, but after a few games, I didn't dare to continue playing with him. His rate of improvement... was just too terrifying. In the end, he would be the one giving me a nine-move handicap, instead of me giving him a handicap."

Although your sister is also terrible at chess, this is enough to show how terrifyingly fast your second brother's learning speed is.

"So... can you understand how I feel right now? I'd rather get a good scolding from my eldest brother than see my second brother in front of me,"

"That's right," Nian shuddered, looking like she was looking at the past with a pained expression. "I think we should run away as soon as possible. Second Brother has already discovered us. If we run fast enough, we might be able to escape his scheme."

It seems that the second brother named 'Yi' has indeed left a very deep impression on Nian, to the point that Nian doesn't even have the thought of resisting him, and his first thought is to run away.

Troublesome guy...

After hearing Nian's description, Li Ang also felt a bit of a headache.

But...aren't there a lot of people in this world who possess the ability to transfer their consciousness, or rather, their soul? It seems like I run into a few everywhere I go?

Moreover, that Yi seems to have the ability to create clones, which makes things even more troublesome... Although his direct combat strength is negligible, Li Ang is not afraid of others fighting him... On the contrary, it is this kind of guy who plots and schemes behind the scenes that is more troublesome.

Li Ang thought for a moment and said, "I think... if your second brother is really as smart as you say, why do you think that walking faster will allow you to escape his schemes?"

"Huh?" Nian was taken aback.

"Think about it, maybe even your return to Da Yan at this time is part of his plan."

"Oh yeah..."

Nian's face immediately fell. Based on her understanding of her second brother, this possibility was clearly more likely.

"What should we do now..." Nian said with a worried look on her face.

She wasn't the type to think things through, and every single time she wasn't completely outmaneuvered by her second brother.

What's even more terrifying now is that no one knows what Yi's true intentions are. Ever since Jie disappeared, his behavior has become increasingly radical. If his true form weren't still imprisoned in the capital of Dayan, who knows what he might do.

"Let's take one step at a time."

Li Ang didn't really have any better ideas, so he could only make do for now. "But it's really lively here. If the people at the Si Sui Terrace knew there were so many Year Beast incarnations here, they'd probably explode on the spot, right?"

Nian, Xi, Yi, Hui (who might be related), and Li Ang—almost half of the incarnations of the Sui Beast have appeared in this mountain range.

Yan Kingdom has been trying its best to avoid this situation, using various methods to keep these beast incarnations scattered all over the country to prevent them from uniting. Occasionally, one or two of them would meet, which was still within their tolerance range, but the current situation has probably exceeded their expectations.

“Maybe more,” Nian shook his head, “Your sister could arrive here at any time.”

"I don't know how to describe it, but your sister's ability allows her to ignore the limitations of time and space. She can even travel through time back to the past, and no matter where she is now, she can appear in front of us in an instant."

Li Ang's brow twitched. Even if this ability had limitations, it was still a bit too exaggerated... It was on a completely different level from Nian's ability. Yet, even so, Ling was still not the strongest among them. He wondered just how powerful their eldest brother must be...

However, Ling was probably a backup plan left by that old fellow Zhang Daoling; she clearly knew about their group's activities in the Tianyue Mountains.

Well... this is really going to get interesting. Let's hope nothing unexpected happens...

During Li Ang and Nian's conversation, Xi gradually regained consciousness.

The first thing she said as soon as she opened her eyes was,

"Sister! Second brother... second brother is here!"

She even called her "sister," which shows how much pressure she was under.

"I know, I know, I've already seen it."

Nian patted Xi's head and said, "Relax, we're talking about this right now."

Chapter 83 Good News and Bad News

"Is this something that can be solved just by talking about it?"

Xi slapped Nian's hand away, saying anxiously, "We need to make preparations as soon as possible! Second Brother won't show us any mercy!"

“Yes, you’re right, we need to prepare as soon as possible,” Nian said nonchalantly. “So tell me, what should we do now?”

The atmosphere suddenly fell silent, and Xi didn't know how to respond.

Faced with their second brother, whose mind was full of schemes and plots, they should make some preparations, but when asked what exactly they should do, Xi was at a loss.

They didn't even know why Lian Yi was here, let alone make any plans to counter him in advance.

Looking at Xi, who had fallen silent, Nian shook her head slightly and said, "You've calmed down now, so it's not that I don't plan to do anything, but that there's actually not much we can do."

"We'll continue once the rain stops. If Second Brother has any plans, he can't possibly keep everything hidden. We'll make our own plans then."

Listening to Nian's words, Xi gradually calmed down.

"Moreover, my second brother's main body is still imprisoned in the capital. The only thing he can do here is his clone, so he's not that difficult to deal with."

Of course, Nian was only trying to comfort Xi. For someone like Yi, who was good at using schemes and tricks, it didn't really matter whether it was a clone or the real body that came here. They were both easy targets who could be easily killed.

"Speaking of which, Xi, it seems like it's been a long time since you called me 'sister.' That one just now sounded pretty good,"

Nian didn't miss this good opportunity to tease Xi. She stretched out her index finger and lifted Xi's chin, saying in a flirtatious tone, "Come on, call me 'sister' a few more times."

"roll."

Xi rolled her eyes and said succinctly that she didn't want to pay any attention to this guy at all.

At this moment, Li Ang was pondering a question.

"I have a question. For that Yi, is this kind of clone something that can be discarded at will?"

"How is that possible?"

Nian glanced at Li Ang with some surprise, then said, "Each clone is a fragment of Second Brother's consciousness. If it is accidentally killed, Second Brother will also suffer serious injuries."

"Moreover, my second brother has been imprisoned in the capital for so many years and has never had the opportunity to create clones. The ones that are still active now are all passed down from a long time ago. They are almost gone with each use. Even if they didn't affect him, my second brother wouldn't be so extravagant."

"I see..."

Li Ang said thoughtfully, "If that's the case, then I have good news and bad news."

"Oh? Tell me about it?" Nian showed an expression of great interest.

"The good news is that since his clone is so precious, he certainly wouldn't let it die easily. Now that this has happened, it means that the situation here is beyond his control."

It must be that serpent god...

The Ministry of Rites had no eyewitness records, so it was even less likely that the second brother, who was imprisoned in the capital, would know.

No one knows what he did to offend that snake god. If Xi hadn't accidentally blasted it out of the ground, they might never have encountered the snake god at all. The cause and effect relationship can only be described as mysterious.

"This is indeed good news."

Nian and Xi visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

What they feared most was that their second brother would arrange things for them meticulously. He wouldn't care about so-called brotherly or sisterly affection; he was the kind of person who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

After listening to Li Ang's analysis, they felt that it made some sense. Since Yi couldn't control the overall situation, the pressure on them would be much less.

"Don't get too excited, I have some bad news to tell you." Li Ang poured cold water on the two of them.

"Although things have gotten somewhat out of his control, everyone knows that the Tianyue Mountains are extremely dangerous. Under these circumstances, he still sent an avatar here. I think you all understand what that means, right?"

"...This means that there is a goal that my second brother is willing to risk to achieve."

Xi was silent for a moment before speaking.

The dead clone represents a sunk cost. If Yi doesn't want to lose everything, he must send other clones over.

The fact that nearly half of the Year Beast incarnations had gathered here sent a strong signal that none of them believed Yi would give up so easily.

They were basically prepared to turn against each other.

"Well, let's leave it at that for now,"

Nian tried to smooth things over and ease the atmosphere, saying, "If your sister knew about this, I wouldn't be so worried. If anything unexpected happens, your sister can easily lead us away."

That ability to ignore time and space may not be very lethal, but its speed of escape is absolutely top-notch. As far as I know, there seems to be nowhere in this world that can stop Ling.

If Li Ang knew what Nian was thinking, he would tell her that she was thinking too simply. If there really was nowhere in the world that could stop Ling, then why not let Ling send them directly to the depths of the Tianyue Mountains, instead of making them walk into the Tianyue Mountains?

In short, there's not much point in them worrying now; it's enough that they remember there are people who care about them.

"You two should go and get your injuries treated by that nurse right away."

"Actually, there's no need for that... but then again, they must be getting very impatient waiting in the painting."

After what just happened, they won't come out of the painting on their own, at least not for the time being.

"Wait, let me see that painting."