Dragon Raja 4; Chapter 145: King Descends from the Sky, Fierce and Furious (2)

Dragon Raja 4

She dashed out of the room to check her surroundings. All the small villas had their doors open, but inside they were eerily empty, making her feel as if she was standing at the heart of a graveyard.

Returning to Su Xiaoyan’s room, Nono grabbed a blanket and tossed it over Su Xiaoyan, then rummaged through her own bag, pulling out a Desert Eagle and the Tiger Fang Maru.

These weapons originally belonged to Lu Mingfei. Ever since he was hospitalized, Nono had carried his backpack with her every time she came and went. Somehow, she always felt like someone was watching her from behind.

Seeing Nono pull out a gun, Su Xiaoyan trembled in fear, but Nono gently stroked her back, as if comforting a frightened cat.

“Don’t be afraid of me. In your fate, there was once a son. I am a friend of your son,” Nono whispered softly into her ear. “For his sake, I will protect you.”

The words were baffling, but after a moment of hesitation, Su Xiaoyan nodded. Still, the dancer’s sense of dignity made it impossible for her to accept walking out with just a blanket. She pulled a deep-purple mink coat from the wardrobe and draped it over her black lace nightgown. Then she carefully selected a pair of pointed patent leather heels from the pile… Nono silently rubbed her forehead, thinking that with her level of “boyfriend energy,” she was perfectly suited to rescue such delicate, beautiful women!

The lights in the courtyard went out as well, and darkness descended like ink pouring from the sky.

They walked quietly along the honeysuckle-lined path as the wind blew fallen leaves all around. The doors of the villas rattled loudly in the wind. After walking for a while, they found themselves back in front of Su Xiaoyan’s room, even though they had clearly been moving forward. Nono looked ahead and behind, realizing that she couldn’t see the end of the path. It felt like they were walking in a circular maze.

An alchemical space, the land of the dead, a Nibelungen—these spaces have many names, but at this moment, they were wrapped in a twisted dimension, cut off from the real world.

Without hesitation, Nono led Su Xiaoyan toward the hospital’s central building, a four-story structure that had originally served as the sales office for the property but was later converted into doctors’ offices and a diagnostic center. This building was stronger, whereas the villas felt like they were made of paper. However, the interior of the four-story building was equally strange. The temperature was freezing, rainwater seeped in through every window crack, and the walls were damp, rapidly deteriorating as mold spread and massive cracks appeared. Strange footsteps echoed from the courtyard, resembling the sound of horses trotting around the building. The riders seemed to drag sharp weapons along the ground, producing an ear-piercing scraping sound.

Suddenly, Nono remembered. Back at the Huanya Group, in the building where Chu Tianjiao once lived, she had also heard the eerie sound of horse hooves following her. At the time, she had mistaken it for the sound of the rain.

It turned out that the thing that idiot was so afraid of actually existed. Not only was a Nibelungen hidden in this city, but there was also some kind of evil spirit lurking inside, relentlessly pursuing them. Only Lu Mingfei could see it, which was why he had been so terrified, often acting in seemingly erratic ways. Chu Tianjiao had likely come to this city to watch over that very thing. He had left something important for Su Xiaoyan, but she had forgotten what it was—perhaps it was a weapon capable of killing the spirit.

Unfortunately, no one believed Lu Mingfei. Everyone thought he had gone mad. Otherwise, Nono would have been better prepared when this evil spirit came for them.

Nono let out a long breath, feeling as though a weight had been lifted from her heart. Finally, it all made sense. All this time, she had been trying to prove herself wrong, but it was that idiot who was right.

Now, she had to find a way to escape. Only by escaping could she tell others the secret. Every maze has an entrance and an exit, but the door is usually cleverly hidden by the creator of the Nibelungen.

The sound of hoofbeats continued, and the horses entered the building, slowly pacing around the lower floors. When a hunter is about to slay the deer trapped in its snare, there is no need to rush.

Nono silently moved with Su Xiaoyan, shifting left when the hoofbeats went right and right when they went left. There were two staircases on either side of the building. If the rider chose one staircase, Nono would take the other. With Su Xiaoyan in tow, she couldn’t afford to fight and could only play a game of cat and mouse with the spirit. But suddenly, the hoofbeats stopped. Nono grew even more anxious. This didn’t mean the spirit had given up; it was probably hiding its tracks deliberately.

She couldn’t wait any longer. She had to choose one of the staircases. Those horses might be walking silently like tigers now, but she had to go down! Waiting was a death sentence.

Choosing either staircase was a 50/50 chance. East or west?

Suddenly, Nono felt Su Xiaoyan tugging at her sleeve. Following her gaze, Nono saw that a red number was slowly changing on the west side of the hallway… 1… 2… 3…

It was the elevator! The elevator was rising. In addition to the stairs, this building had a very quiet German-made Thyssen elevator, used to transport patients who had difficulty walking. Hospital elevators are large to accommodate beds… The evil spirit riding the horse was using the elevator to ascend! Nono quickly dragged Su Xiaoyan towards the east. To her frustration, Su Xiaoyan’s footsteps made a “clip-clop” sound… she was wearing crystal-encrusted high-heeled slippers.

Nono was exasperated but had no choice but to scoop her up, pull off the high heels, and race silently but swiftly toward the east staircase.

Behind them, the emergency lights flickered out one by one, and the hallway was swallowed by darkness, as if the spirit’s presence was devouring the light itself.

Before the elevator doors opened, Nono had already reached the east staircase. She knew every second was precious, but she couldn’t help but glance back. At the far end of the eastern hallway was a mirror, and the mirror reflected the elevator doors.

The moment the elevator doors opened, blinding light poured out from the gap, as if tons of molten lava were flooding from the elevator. In the brilliant light stood a shadowy figure, wearing a mask like withered wood and riding an eight-legged horse that spewed lightning.

Nono instantly regretted looking back. The moment she saw him, he must have also seen her. That’s how mirrors work.

Curiosity kills the cat, but Nono had always been a curious, cat-like girl.

There was no more hiding. Now, it was a matter of running for her life! The east staircase led directly to the exit. First, they needed to escape the building, then figure out another plan. Surely, riding a horse wasn’t ideal for staircases, right? Nono put Su Xiaoyan down, grabbed her hand, and prepared to run.

But Su Xiaoyan stood frozen, staring blankly at the demon in the mirror, her face contorted in fear as silent tears streamed down her pretty face.

The spirit on the horse slowly advanced, the “clip-clop” of the hooves like a ticking clock counting down to death.

Nono stepped onto the staircase, fully exposing herself to the spirit. Her Desert Eagle roared like thunder, loaded with armor-piercing bullets capable of taking down a rhino or an elephant in one shot.

The spirit seemed to radiate intense heat. The bullets melted into molten iron before they even reached him, and the molten iron that splattered onto his mask and blue cloak only added iron-colored patterns.

“Run!” Nono shouted, grabbing Su Xiaoyan’s hand and dragging her down the stairs.

She never expected her bullets to actually harm the spirit, but she hoped they might buy her some time. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned.

Dragging a terrified Su Xiaoyan behind her, Nono sprinted down the stairs, ejecting bullets from her gun as she ran. Every so often, a bullet lay on the ground behind her. These bullets would leave a trail for the spirit to follow, but they were also Nono’s alarm system. The spirit emitted such intense heat that if it came near the bullets, they would explode, giving Nono a clue to the distance between them.

Sure enough, there was a series of explosions behind them—“boom, boom, boom, boom”—but the spirit didn’t rush after its fleeing prey. It continued at its slow, deliberate pace.

Nono had never faced such a terrifying enemy. It wasn’t the spirit’s strength that frightened her, but the sense that she was completely under its control. The moment their eyes met through the mirror, Nono had felt like a bird with an arrow through its heart. All she could do was run. She ran until she was gasping for breath. That’s when she realized something strange—they had been running down the stairs for what felt like forever, but they should have reached the ground floor long ago. Yet the stairs stretched endlessly both ahead and behind them.

The building was getting hotter. The spirit’s light and heat were spreading into every corner. Nono’s boots couldn’t fully protect her from the heat rising through the floor. She stomped her foot, then looked at Su Xiaoyan in astonishment.

How had Su Xiaoyan, barefoot, managed to run this far? Even if a dancer’s feet were hardened from years of practice, surely they couldn’t endure this heat?

Su Xiaoyan stood dazed on the scalding floor, her feet covered in blisters, her face streaked with silent tears. She had been crying the whole way, but Nono hadn’t noticed until now.

“What’s wrong with you?” Nono asked softly.

“I remember now!” Su Xiaoyan said. “I remember what Chu Tianjiao left for me!”

Nono wanted to know what Chu Tianjiao had left for Su Xiaoyan, but they didn’t have time to talk. She pulled out her spare magazines, unloading all the bullets. She ran down the stairs alone, placing a bullet every so often, and then returned to Su Xiaoyan’s side. She removed her own boots, picked up Su Xiaoyan, and, despite the searing heat of the floor, raced silently toward the west hallway. Barefoot, she wouldn’t make any noise. She needed to reach the west hallway before the spirit arrived on this floor. There was both a staircase and an elevator on the west side. This was her Plan B all along. Since the spirit was using the bullets as markers, she would let him follow the trail. This time, the bullets weren’t alarm systems—they were bait. Nono planned to lure him downstairs.

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