Dragon Raja 4; Chapter 117: Chu Tianjiao (6)

Dragon Raja 4

Gamma Spring, 46th reload, and the mission failed again.

Lu Mingfei slowly knelt in the rain, the smoking barrel of his gun touching the ground.

Right in front of him, the Ferrari had just exploded. Flames and debris were surging toward Nono, but time was frozen, locking this scene in place.

In reality, three days had passed. During these days, under the effects of strong sedatives, he repeatedly dreamt and fought, dying countless times and suffering so many injuries that he had lost track. The total amount of blood he had lost far exceeded the volume in a human body. At first, every injury made him scream in pain, but eventually, he got used to it, and the pain seemed to diminish. Once, after a claw pierced through his lung, he cursed, “Dammit, messed up again!” Then he hugged the shadow that had attacked him and blew its head off with a single shot.

Nono had it worse, dying over and over again. At first, every time she died, Lu Mingfei felt a sharp pang of grief. But eventually, he became numb to it. After all, she was just an NPC, a tool that could be replicated endlessly.

There was one time when Nono accidentally shot the Maybach’s fuel tank, and Lu Mingfei flew into a rage, yelling at her, “What happened to your skills at that monastery? You can’t even handle a small fry! We were doing fine, and now we have to start all over again!” Nono stared at her suddenly arrogant junior in surprise, not understanding why he was acting so out of character. But before she could say anything, a shadow from behind them pierced both of them with a single claw.

The ending of the 45th reload was just as disastrous. He and Nono had managed to get into the Maybach, but they couldn’t drive it away. The shadows lifted the entire car, and no matter how the engine roared and the tires spun, the car wouldn’t budge. The shadows frantically tore at the aluminum frame, shattering glass and sending shards flying, as if the world itself was collapsing. Lu Mingfei lay exhausted in the seat, while Nono looked terrified. They hadn’t spoken a word to each other by the time time froze again.

“Brother, you’re tired.” Lu Mingze approached from the rain, holding an umbrella. “Take a break.”

“Quit the chatter! Just reset it! I won’t be tired after the reset!”

“When you reset, your physical stamina will recover, but your heart will still be weary. The price of gaining experience is accumulating inner fatigue.”

Lu Mingfei collapsed into the rain, and then simply lay down, panting heavily. His wounds soaked in the water, but he couldn’t be bothered to treat them.

Lu Mingze squatted beside him, holding the umbrella over him to shield him from the rain. “Watching you suffer like this, I almost feel bad. Maybe we should just let Chen Motong die. The Gattuso family’s men aren’t giving their all, so why should we, brother?”

“Stop with the nonsense! When have I ever given up on a game? What game have I played where I didn’t get the perfect ending?”

“Brother, your tone has gotten more and more aggressive lately,” Lu Mingze remarked. “You’ve been on edge since you reunited with Senior Sister.”

“Am I anxious because of Senior Sister? It’s your damn game! You try playing the same level 46 times and see how you feel!”

“They say there are two types of women who captivate men: those who make you happy, and those who make you sad. But happiness is always fleeting, while sadness can haunt you for a lifetime.”

“Stick to being a devil! Don’t start giving out soul-soothing advice!” Lu Mingfei snapped impatiently. “I’ve told you a thousand times! I’m not hung up on Senior Sister anymore! I’m not a kid! I don’t dream about that stuff anymore! I already fell into that pit once—am I supposed to fall into it again? Why don’t you look at me with a bit of optimism for once?”

“Was Chen Motong a pit? She was the ocean! Compared to her, Chen Wenwen is just a small stream. A small stream won’t drown you, but the ocean can, drowning you in its vastness…”

Unable to argue with him, Lu Mingfei sat up, crossing his arms and sulking.

“I just don’t get it. What’s so great about Chen Motong? Why are you always so hung up on her?” Lu Mingze continued to nag. “Back when you were just a loser who hadn’t met many pretty girls, you were mesmerized by a long-legged girl driving a Ferrari. But now you’ve seen so much of the world, how are you still stuck on her? Just look at Miss Zero and Junior Sister Isabelle—aren’t they just as attractive as Chen Motong? They’re both single and have been nothing but nice to you. Miss Zero has even eaten midnight snacks with you for five years, and you’ve never made a move on her.”

Lu Mingfei stayed silent for a long time, then finally sighed deeply. “Have you ever read Saiyuki?”

“You mean the manga by Kazuya Minekura? Yeah, it’s the story of Tang Sanzang and his three disciples, driving a jeep to the West.”

“At the beginning of the story, Sun Wukong is just a silly monkey, living alone in the Water Curtain Cave. He didn’t know who he was waiting for, or how long he’d been waiting. One day, Tang Sanzang walked into the cave and asked, ‘Was it you who called me?’ Sun Wukong said, ‘No, I didn’t call for anyone.’ Tang Sanzang thought for a moment and said, ‘Well then, come with me,’ and he took Sun Wukong’s hand. And Sun Wukong just followed him.”

“Chen Motong is Tang Sanzang, and you’re the silly monkey?”

“There are all kinds of monkeys in this world. Some monkeys become smart after Tang Sanzang leads them out of the cave and run off on their own. But some monkeys can only follow Tang Sanzang,” Lu Mingfei said, his gaze distant.

“I’m the second kind of monkey. I stayed in the Water Curtain Cave for too long, and it made me dumb. You can laugh at me if you want, but I really don’t expect anything to happen between me and Senior Sister. Being able to still travel and fight monsters together during our lifetime is already more than enough.”

“My brother’s literary skills are so moving, even a devil would be touched. How does Finger even dare call himself a writer around you?”

“Knock it off! You don’t know anything!” Lu Mingfei was embarrassed. “I used to be part of the literature club back in the day, you know.”

“Maybe so. I, too, spent years in a cave like that, forgotten by the world, where I could only talk to myself,” Lu Mingze said with a smile, his eyes clouded over as if a thin mist had covered them.

Lu Mingfei’s heart was stirred, like a breeze brushing through the undergrowth, revealing the hidden flowers beneath the leaves.

Lu Mingze continued, “So, when someone finally walks into the cave to take me out, I’d almost feel like giving my life to them…”

Lu Mingfei pretended to get up. “I’m going to find some bricks. You stay here, don’t move.”

Lu Mingze laughed out loud, patting Lu Mingfei on the shoulder. “Just chatting with you to help restore some of your energy. Feeling better now? Ready for the 47th reload?”

Lu Mingfei glanced at him and ruffled his messy hair. “I get this weird feeling that you care more about Senior Sister than I do. You’re always talking about her flaws, but when I lose motivation, you show up to encourage me. Are you afraid I’ll give up on her? Or maybe… you’ve got a thing for Senior Sister yourself?”

Lu Mingze rolled his eyes. “I just love what my brother loves. But I’m not that kind of guy! I’d never steal a girl from the boss!”

“Sounds like you’re insulting me, indirectly…”

“Actually, between you and your Senior Sister, I can’t tell who’s Tang Sanzang and who’s the silly monkey,” Lu Mingze said, snapping his fingers. “The day Tang Sanzang picked up the silly monkey, the silly monkey also picked up Tang Sanzang.”

The world faded from Lu Mingfei’s vision, leaving only absolute darkness. In that darkness, ancient beasts seemed to roar in the distance.

Nono trudged through knee-deep water in her high boots as she stepped into the headquarters of the Huanya Group.

It was a gray-white, three-story building, with court seals plastered on every door except for one office at the end of the first floor. The door was ajar, and a crooked piece of paper taped to it read, “Huanya Group Bankruptcy Liquidation Office.” Behind the small building was a vast workshop, its rusty iron doors wide open, revealing rows of machine tools inside. The heavy rain pelted the tin roof with a sharp pattering sound.

Nono pushed open the office door and sat directly in the chair opposite the desk. A middle-aged man, who had been dozing off at the desk, lifted his head in confusion, staring at the uninvited girl.

The girl wore no makeup and wasn’t dressed in any name-brand clothes, but it was clear she wasn’t someone who belonged in a factory. She seemed more suited to walking in front of the high-end ads in the CBD district.

The factory, now more like a wasteland, was located on the city’s outskirts. The local government had planned for the area to be a high-tech industrial zone, but the development failed. Most of the companies that moved in had shut down, and not even stray cats wandered around. Huanya Group had once been the leader of these companies, thriving in its heyday but collapsing just as dramatically. Seven or eight years ago, the boss fled the country with the money, and they still hadn’t caught him. The liquidation team had been stationed in the factory for years, but the mess was still far from being cleaned up.

“Who are you? Do you have business with Huanya Group?” the middle-aged man asked.

Nono slid a business card across the desk toward him. “I was referred by Shao Yifeng of Black Prince Group. I have some questions for you.”

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