The Sacred Ruins

The sun was bright; it shone on every corner of the land.

The earlier mist had dispersed. The forest reverberated with the roar of beasts, and the sky was littered with circling birds.

This was the scene outside the city of Jiangning.

Since the upheavals, the world had become harder and harder to be understood.

The topographical features in many places had changed. The once familiar setting was now a completely alien environment.

Luckily, the beasts from the mountains that had suddenly emerged were confined within the boundaries of these mountains.

Jiangning was one of the largest cities in the country. Deity Biomedical Group had built their headquarters here.

The family of Mu was also in the city.

There was a large garden in the city. It belonged to the family of Mu. The houses in the garden mimicked the ancient architecture, and the landscape surrounding these houses were picturesque.

The living room was wide and open. The decoration was quaint and tasteful. Chairs and tea tables were all made of red sandalwood.

“Are we in contact with Chen Hai yet?” a mid-aged man asked. He was one of the most important figures in the family of Mu. His name was Mu Qinghe, the father of Mu.

“Not yet,” a mutant replied.

Mu Qinghe laid down the teacup in his hand, letting the spiralling fragrance of boiled tea spread across the room. He stood up with a frown, then began walking with measured steps. “We’ve got a problem.” He sighed.

“That’s impossible, uncle. You and I both know how powerful Chen Hai is. He is no weaker than Kong Kim, and even if he is, he can still make it back alive,” Mu Zhuo said. He was a young man in his twenties.

“I don’t want to believe that he’s dead either. After all, he’s all we’ve got. We even gave him the alloy shield to make sure he stays alive, but the truth is, we’ve lost connection with him for the entire night. What else could happen?” Mu Qinghe looked glum.

He was the father of Mu. He cared about this more than anyone else.

“Kong Kim? I never thought he was this powerful!” Mu Zhuo expressed his disbelief.

Last time they called, Chen Hai told them that he was in pursuit of Kong Kim.

“And again, that shield we gave him is mixed with that mysterious metal we found on the other day. It is the firmest metal on earth. With such a shield, he is literally a walking tank!” Mu Zhuo said.

“Chen Hai’s boxing style is astonishing. He could crush every mutant on earth if only we had found him a suitable fruit,” Mu Qinghai said.

It was difficult to find someone like Chen Hai these days. For Mu Qinghe, the loss of Chen Hai was no less costly than the loss of his son.

Chen Hai had a glamorous future, a future in which he became the ultimate ruler of the world.

“The world has become the golden age of martial arts so it seems,” Mu Zhuo commented.

Mu Qinghe nodded, then he added, “Martial arts could help one evolve, so of course, it is crucial for us.”

“What other methods are there to help us evolve and improve body constitution apart from practicing martial arts? That is, after eating the strange fruit,” Mu Zhuo asked.

“That I don’t know, but of course, I’m sure there are other ways to help us evolve,” Mu Qinghe answered.

He was still worried about Chen Hai. He really wished that nothing bad happened to him, otherwise, it would be another tremendous loss for the family.

...

The city of Jiangning. At the villa district.

In a sumptuous living room, Xu Wanyi and Lin Yeyu were talking. Chen Hai was the subject of their conversation too.

“I never thought Kong Kim could be that deadly! He killed Chen Hai?!” Xu Wanyi was shocked.

“It might not be Kong Kim. It could be someone else. Besides, we can’t say for certain that Chen Hai’s dead yet,” Lin Yeyu said with a frown.

“What if the killer was a disciple of Sakyamuni Buddha? Could that be possible?” Xu Wanyi questioned.

“That’s a possibility!” Lin Yeyu shook his head.

Soon, the two changed the subject. Xu Wanyi mentioned that someone was inviting her to be part of a disaster film. During a time when the whole world had become inverted, a movie that borrowed the real-life situation as its background setting should be very inspiring.

It was said that the casting crew mostly consisted of big movie stars with international recognition!

Xu Wanyi was itching to give it a go, because she had once been a star on the TV screen, but later, when she was married to Lin Yeyu, her fame as an actress faded away.

“I heard that during the battle of White Snake, there was a bold crew of people shooting the fight on location. Maybe their footage might come in handy for you?” Lin Yeyu said.

“That lot has made themselves a laughingstock for the people from the filming industry. They are led by some B-movie directors who vainly hope to bring about some fames for themselves. Don’t make me have any connections with them. I don’t wanna make myself a laughingstock for the others too,” Xu Wanyi said.

“Wait. Weren’t you opposing the idea of me partaking in films before?” It seemed like she only just realized what her husband said to her.

“Not at all. As long as you’re willing. Instead of getting stuck in a rut like those old codgers in the family, I’m more willing for you to try something new,” Lin Yeyu said with a smile.

After Lin Yeyu left her, Xu Wanyi said to herself, “Chu Feng, maybe the death of my sister had nothing to do with you, but I still don’t like you very much!” Her face turned cold.

...

Chu Feng, the subject of conversations for many people, was only minding his own business right now. He was hurrying on his way, heading towards Shuntian.

Along the way, he passed by many desolate villages, and there were beasts haunting the areas nearby.

People from some of these villages moved away against their will. They had moved to somewhere else before calamity hit their homes, however, the majority of these villagers were not as lucky. Most of the villages became vacant because everyone had been massacred by the beasts that were lurking nearby.

Bloodstains were still visible in these villages. Some still looked fresh.

Chu Feng had seen all kinds of news report on his communicator.

In the past two days, tragedies like this happened to a lot of villages across the country. The government sent out their rescue teams as well as armed forces to kill the beasts that were lurking around civilized districts.

Chu Feng realized that peacetime was over. The dormant beasts finally came out of their cribs. The situation could only be become more dangerous and more terrifying.

Whenever he passed by villages that were being trampled on by beasts, Chu Feng would immediately jump into actions. He once killed a brood of wild boars. The entire brood of piglets had mutated, and before Chu Feng arrived, they had overrun the entire village.

“How come the mutation spread across an entire brood? Did the piglets all eat some strange fruits or did they sniff in catalytic pollens?” Chu Feng’s heart sank when he thought about this.

Strange fruits were difficult to find. A plant would only bear one fruit each time.

However, pollens were different. They had the capacity to mutate every creature around it simultaneously.

When pollens were considered, it became clear why there were way more mutated beasts than there were mutants.

However, this mutated brood of boars wasn’t very powerful. Maybe because the pollens were too scattered in the air, so none of the piglets had received an effective dosage to bring about a substantial enhancement in their body constitutions.

Along the way, Chu Feng saw a few more desolate villages. They stood in absolute stillness. The desolation and the deafening silence rendered Chu Feng more and more heavy-hearted.

At the same time, he also saw armed forces trying to encircle and suppress mutated beasts with weapons of mass destruction.

“Kill!”

He saw a five-meter black dog ramming into a military truck, tipping it over. Chu Feng speedily charged towards the scene of action, then crushed the dog’s skull with his palm.

Puff!

Blood gushed out from the dog’s artery. The black dog was dead.

Chu Feng did not linger. In the twinkling of an eye, he vanished from the site.

This was only one of the many assaults he witnessed along the way. Massacres were happening all over the country. All the goodness and peace of the past all ceased to exist.

At dusk, Chu Feng passed by a remote village. The earth, the walls and the windows were all splattered with blood, but there were still people wandering about in the village.

At the village entrance, a few kids were playing and chattering. They looked dirty and filthy.

There were also a few elders gathering around by a table, moaning and groaning. There were barely any young or middle-aged men in the village.

“There are mutated beasts around the area. Why are you still staying here?” Chu Feng went into the village.

He knew that village like this was clearly not suited for inhabitation. People who lived here should start packing and crating and ran away when they were still alive.

“We wanted to run away, but we have family in the hand of a monster,” a young boy in his teenage years sobbed out the truth.

Monster? What monster? Chu Feng was astounded.

“It was a big, strong and powerful monster. He said he was the demon of black wind,” the young boy said.

As it turned out, it was a brawny mutated beast that was also unscrupulous and wicked. This so-called “demon of black wind” had driven half of the local population to work as slaves for itself. Most of them were young or middle-aged men, forced into building a “cave dwelling” for the beast.

The beast also knew how to threaten and manipulate the locals to do exactly what it willed.

It threatened the young, the weak and the elderly to remain in the village or it would kill and eat all whom it had kidnapped.

Chu Feng looked astounded when the story was being told. At the same time, there was also a murderous look on his face.

“Brother, we’re so hungry,” a child came to him and said. The child’s eyes sparkled with innocence as well as desperation.

Meanwhile, the other children gathered around him too, all looking timid and shy.

“Don’t be sacred. Just wait here!”

Chu Feng left the village with big strides. Then, at a place where no-one was around, he suddenly sped up his pace. Like a strong gust of wind, he darted into the mountains where the villagers had been held as slaves.

The kidnapper was a tyrannical black fox. It forced the locals to dig up a grotto for itself to use as its residence.

When Chu Feng arrived at the place, that mutated beast was right in the cave. It was almost seven meters in length with squinty eyes, lying leisurely by a giant boulder. Someone stood next to the fox was reading all kinds of news report for the beast to hear.

After the beasts mutated, their intelligence was almost on par with that of humans. The beasts, too, were keen on knowing the affairs that had occurred in the human world.

Demon of black wind was clearly one of the intelligent ones. It was getting all kinds of news from the internet.

It was brutal and cruel as well. When it was hungry, the beast would just grab a human and eat him whole.

Puff!

Chu Feng was furious. He took actions as soon as it got here.

That black fox was a powerful beast too, otherwise, it wouldn’t have the prowess to force an army of people to build a cave dwelling for itself. It was still alive after a few rounds of fighting against Chu Feng. It could also blow terrifying black gales with its mouth.

A normal mutant would not stand a chance against this black gale. In an instant, he would have been reduced to just a pile of minced meat. The black gale was truly terrifying.

However, Chu Feng was no ordinary mutant. The gales were still not enough to challenge him.

Chu Feng hopped into the air, leaping on the fox with his right fist in the front, guiding the way.

Puff!

The all-conquering fist punctured the frontal bone of the fox’s skull. This tyrant of a beast perished by just a single blow.

The many young men in this “cave dwelling” were saved. After being rescued, these young men didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The past few days had indeed been a nightmare for all of them, but who could have thought that as vigorous and strong as these young men were, a fox could suddenly rise and be their “ruler”.

The world had changed. People found it harder and harder to understand.

Many creatures were evolving to gain both strength and intelligence. Humans as a species were at a disadvantage. They no longer had the upper hand over the other species.

After the villagers reunited, many families were desperately wanting to move away. They all agreed that the village was no longer a liveable place for the humans.

Chu Feng told them that the military was about to arrive, so for their own sake, they should stay and wait for the armed forces to arrive.

Chu Feng’s face was very black. He smudged his face with ashes of burnt vegetation. In doing sp, no-one could see his true face, and no troubles would potentially crop up to bother him in the future.

Before he left, Chu Feng went into the mountains and killed a few beasts. He brought their carcasses back and roasted the meat himself. The kids all ate to their fill; their laughter made Chu Feng felt ever so happy and satisfied.

When the night came, a few armored trucks arrived at the village.

Seeing the villagers returning to safety, Chu Feng lingered no more.

The night came and went, and the sky finally broke dawn, Chu Feng was once again on the road, fiercely bolting like a wild horse. He wanted to see his parents as early as he could, so no time was wasted on the road. Chu Feng went all out running towards north.

At noon, Chu Feng finally arrived at the city of Shuntian!

And just now, a breaking news shocked the whole country.

Mount Song, a mountain peppered with many temples, had been an extraordinary place ever since the world changed.

A few primates, namely apes and orangutans, had seized the mountain as their own territory. They had once fought a fierce battle with people from Bodhi, but the latter had been miserably defeated.

Although the details of this battle had always been kept as a secret, it was no secrets amongst the other big companies in the country.

Bodhi had a number of disciples of Sakyamuni Buddha, but none of them could prove themselves as a worthy fighter against the apes!

Therefore, few companies had sent out their men to attack on the apes in Mount Song ever since then.

Someone had once said with confidence that the elder ape in that gang of primates was no weaker than the white snake in Taihang Mountains. Its power was unfathomable.

Most importantly, the elder ape had a terrifyingly accurate instinct. It could evade danger before danger even existed. It could not be killed by even the deadliest weapon men had ever made.

At the rear of Mount Song, there was a vast area of primitive mountains. If the elder ape sensed something that had gone awry, it could always take refuge in the Multi-verse whenever it hoped to do so.

Besides, these apes hadn’t killed any innocent residents around the area yet, so the apes were still regarded as relatively harmless and peaceful.

However, Bodhi never thought that the apes were peaceful, because they had inflicted heavy losses for them.

Bodhi learned their lesson the hard way, but the other companies learned their lesson from Bodhi; so, for a month or so, Mount Song had been relatively calm and peaceful.

However, today, Mount Song became the focus of public concern once again.

That elder ape had been reading Confucian classics for the past few months behind the closed door of a grand temple, but today for the first time, it came to the world outside and made an official claim. From today onwards, the ape was officially the founder a new sect, a new school of knowledge and a new academic clique. This new religious bloc was named: Temple of Grand Woods.

This stirred up a surge of emotion across the globe. People could no longer remain calm!