Split Zone No.13

Volume 5

289 Mysterious Sea Mirage

Jie Pa rushed over with an outstretched hand. “Miss Ah Shen, please leave with me!”

Before I could respond, I heard Guan Nie’s voice from the heavens. “Leave? Haha, don’t even think about leaving this illusion! It’s not just a couple of days that you guys have been chasing after one another like this. Gaoqin, it’s too tiring to chase after you. It’s either I die or you guys settle the matter once and for all today!”

The sky literally collapsed a few meters after he drew some sign in the air. It looked as if it could fall and crush every single one of us in a second!

Jie Pa turned grim. “This is bad! He can actually use this technique where he seals the illusion with MF! No one can leave the illusion since it can only be undone if he’s willing to do it or if his life force is diminished!”

Life force diminished? Doesn’t that mean death? Do you have to phrase it in such an artful way…

Nie Zun’s brows knitted. “I know only a little bit about illusions, and barriers are your forte. But from what I know, there would be a point of entry to any form of barrier, and there’s no such thing as a perfectly fortified barrier, just like how there wouldn’t be an unbreakable shield. Furthermore, this is the Split Zone, and everything is based on one’s consciousness and MF. What if he doesn’t die but his MF goes down to zero? Would this illusion still be unbreakable?”

Jie Pa shook his head. “This environment was created differently from how illusions are usually created. Do you still remember Huan Qing’s last line of defense? Huan Qing created that with the last bit of his remaining MF, and its strength is similar to that of this sea we’re witnessing right now. As the top illusionist in the Southern District, Huan Qing would have used the usual methods to create it, but Guan Nie did it differently.

“I suspect this has something to do with why he can use such restricted techniques, but I don’t know who he learnt these techniques from, and even I haven’t seen something like this before. The crux of his technique is very similar to a last line of defense, but it isn’t created with the last bit of MF.”

I was absolutely confused upon hearing this explanation.

Jie Pa continued. “But like what you said, nothing is invincible, even in the Split Zone where things run seemingly contrary to the real world. If I’m right, the scene we’re witnessing is a result of combining an illusion and a barrier, and Guan Nie is smart enough to place the key to breaking the barrier outside of our immediate environment.”

With that, I understood it a little better. “So it’s not that the illusion is unbreakable, it’s just that it has to be broken from the outside?”

Jie Pa adjusted his glasses as he answered. “You’re absolutely right, Miss Ah Shen. The structure of this illusion is complex as it combines with it natural elements. The point of entry is also placed outside, so somebody has to pour MF into it from the outside to be able to break it. That very MF used has to be powerful as well, and since the illusion is set up so well, pouring MF from one side is not enough. Somebody has to do the same thing from the inside at the same time. This would then create a point of entry to undo the illusion.”

I looked up at the dark sky. “So we need someone out there who can help us, and that someone can’t just be any ordinary person. That someone has to have high MF, and we have to at least know who it is. Apart from that, that individual also had to be able to have some sort of telepathy with at least one of us in here?”

Jie Pa nodded as he answered, “Yes.”

I deadpanned. “Wouldn’t that be impossible then…”

It had been such a long time since the three of us talked like this, and I suddenly found myself missing old times when Nie Zun and I literally stuck together all day. I really missed the old days.

But there was no time for me to reminisce the past as Guan Nie drew another sign while facing the ocean of water. I grabbed Piercer’s hand tight in anticipation of huge waves!

However, instead of crashing waves, the water turned calm all of a sudden!

The choppy sea turned into a peaceful surface. I was still trying to catch my breath from the rough waves that hit me earlier, and I was feeling a little chilly from being drenched with all the water from before.

With the calmness came a disturbing sea breeze. Everyone seemed to freeze for a moment, probably surprised by the sudden stillness.

Jiao S and Du Yue were fiercely engaged in battle, and the sea turned quiet all of a sudden just as Du Yue seemed to be ready to launch a large-scale attack. This caused Du Yue to hold her hand as she looked around her warily.

That flaming halberd seemed to pause in the air.

Cang Ming’s sword glinted as he used it to cut down two of Ta Lai’s giants. Ta Lai’s expression had never changed as he continued fiddling with that jade stone ring on his right hand. Cang Ming slowed down as he sensed the stillness, and Ta Lai looked down at the water surface.

Guan Nie was not targeting Si Luo with this move, and I couldn’t tell how powerful of an attack this was from the get-go.

Si Luo stopped in his tracks upon seeing Guan Nie pause. That’s Si Luo… If it was somebody else, they might have just used this opportunity for an attack.

The bloodlust and killing intent that was apparent in the environment did not diminish in the least even in the stillness.

Just when everyone paused to observe the situation, I felt something moving from under the water, as if there was something trying to break out from it. Panting and wiping the water from my face, I muttered to Piercer, “Can you hear it? There seems to be something under the water.”

I held my breath as I tried to focus on the sound that came from under the water.

“Huu…”

“Huu…”

It sounded like the sound of somebody breathing.

No, it was the sound of a group of people breathing…

I was focused on the sound when all of a sudden!

“Sss!!!”

A shrill cry seemed to pierce right through my chest!

I flinched in shock!

Piercer grabbed me, frowning. “What’s wrong with you? I can’t hear anything. You’ve been acting a little weird!”

Cold sweat covered my entire body as she said that.

I looked at her as I shivered. “You, you, what did you say? You mean you can’t hear this weird sound?”

Piercer looked at me. “I really cannot hear a thing. What else is there apart from the sound of the wind and water?”

“Sss…!!!”

It sounded like the cry of a soul that was crawling its way up from hell, and it pierced right through my ears. The terrifying part was that it sounded like it was coming closer and closer, and nobody else seemed to be able to hear it but me!

If something like this happened in the real world, I’d think it was a ghost. But there aren’t any ghosts in the Split Zone! Why was I the only one who could hear it…

Horrified by the sounds, I looked up at the all-white Guan Nie. “What did you do, Guan Nie? Why are there weird sounds coming from under the water?!”

Guan Nie did not look as beautiful as before with that dark and eerie sky as a backdrop. I guess beautiful things had to be appreciated in the right atmosphere too…

Guan Nie asked in surprise, “You, you can hear them?!”

This just made me even more terrified. Should I not be hearing it then?

Everyone else looked at me with inquiring eyes. This just proved that none of them could hear it.

Guan Nie’s gaze turned from one of surprise to an intense one.

The sea began turning choppy when I looked back up at him.

Everyone could feel the change as they looked down at the water.

The sounds were getting too much to bear at this point, and I wanted to cover both my ears.

The sounds then vanished just as I was about to do that.

The water surface turned still for a second.

But it was only for a second.

In the very next second, countless figures rose up from the water!

Splash! Splash! Splash!

Before I knew it, there was a crowd standing on the water surface!

“This…” Even Piercer was rendered slack-jawed at the sight!

What was more shocking was that all these figures were people whom we recognized!

Huan Qing was standing right at the front. There was also Mi Fu, Song Lu, Yu Liang, and others whom I didn’t recognize!

There was one figure who caught my attention. It was Old Man Fan!

Nie Zun stared at the figures, as if dumbfounded after witnessing something impossible.

Jie Pa directed his gaze to wherever it was that Nie Zun was looking at. He looked perplexed as he spoke with a slight tremble in his voice.

“Your sister… Why is she here…?”