Walking in the cycle of reincarnation

Chapter 5 Burning Heart

The indoor temperature continued to rise, and Zhang Nanfeng's rat fur was scorched and curled up, emitting a burnt smell.

The alchemy furnace went from trembling to shaking violently, and cracks appeared, clearly unable to suppress the evil fire.

escape!

A strange wind was already churning inside him, waiting to burst forth and shatter the wooden plaque, bursting through the door.

Just then, the door to the alchemy chamber suddenly swung open.

Outside, the bright moon hangs high in the sky, its light seeping into the room like water.

Su Chan stood under the moon.

Her face was deathly pale, and her plain clothes were already soaked with sweat and blood, clinging to her body and making her look even more emaciated.

She pointed with her fingers, and a beam of clear light shot out and entered the heart of the furnace.

The shaking of the alchemy furnace slowed down, the flames receded, and the heat in the room dissipated completely.

Su Chan staggered and steadied himself against the doorframe, swallowing the metallic taste rising in his throat. Seeing Zhang Nanfeng's withered fur, his eyes filled with undisguised pity.

"Sorry, I startled you."

Zhang Nanfeng stared at her, his hatred like a venomous snake coiling around his heart.

He hated that tonight should have been the last night, and that tomorrow he could break down the door and be free from all worldly troubles.

Really good-for-nothing!

No, it's playing with mice!

Su Chan walked toward him, her body swaying precariously.

"This fire has been raging for the past month, and I've long been powerless to control it... Tonight, I finally... couldn't suppress it any longer." She said with remorse, "I promised not to rush you, but now... I have no choice but to extinguish the fire immediately. Success or failure... is all in the hands of fate."

Zhang Nanfeng was in a state of confusion and couldn't come up with a way to escape, so he could only nod in agreement.

"bring it on."

She sat cross-legged in front of the alchemy furnace, loosened her clothes, and the burns on her right shoulder and back were clearly visible. At this moment, they were red and bleeding, and seemed to have expanded a bit.

"Blow the fire as soon as it comes out of the furnace."

Su Chan closed his eyes and spoke in a deep voice, forming a hand seal and uttering a low shout:

"rise!"

The furnace lid was flung off, and a fiery dragon burst forth, baring its fangs and claws, but she used her magic to firmly restrain it, binding it into a ball.

Within the flame core, wisps of black smoke swirled, resembling mold growing.

As soon as the black aura appeared, Zhang Nanfeng felt a surge of anger and a desire to pounce on Su Chan.

He quickly shook his head to calm himself and urged out two-tenths of his wind energy.

When the wind came into contact with the black mist, it was like boiling water being poured on snow; the entire mass vanished instantly.

"It works!" Su Chan opened his eyes, his gaze brightening, and said urgently, "Continue!"

Seeing that the progress was going so smoothly, Zhang Nanfeng felt anxious, but he still blew the whistle as instructed.

While dealing with Jinghuo, he also kept an eye on Su Chan.

A strange wind continued to blow, the black mist gradually thinned, but Su Chan's aura became increasingly chaotic.

Seeing this, Zhang Nanfeng was secretly delighted.

It seems that this purification fire will not be easy to achieve. Once she is weaker and completely unable to concentrate, I will be able to escape.

Before long, the black mist within the fireball flickered and was about to go out, like a dying candle.

Su Chan swayed, the burns on his back spreading instantly, his voice filled with pain:

"Almost there... just one last step. From now on, it's all up to you."

Seeing this, Zhang Nanfeng did not hesitate any longer and gathered his aura.

He did not seek the purifying fire, but only to ride the wind and travel to the vast world outside.

At that critical moment, the fire changed.

The fire, like a ferocious beast making a desperate counterattack, rushed straight at Zhang Nanfeng!

"Be careful!"

Su Chan cried out in alarm, but it was too late to stop him.

The unexpected turn of events caught Zhang Nanfeng completely off guard, leaving him no choice but to unleash the strange wind towards the stream of fire.

The shockwave exploded, sending objects flying through the alchemy room.

The fire, instead of going out, flared up, transforming into a ring of flames that tightly bound him. A searing pain instantly pierced his very bones, and his flesh sizzled.

At the critical moment of life and death, Su Chan decisively withdrew the Fire Suppression Technique and pointed his finger at the lintel. A streak of light flew over and hovered above Zhang Nanfeng's head.

It was that wooden plaque engraved with the character "镇" (town) and his likeness.

The wooden plaque emitted a warm, clear light, and the fire ring was rapidly absorbed.

Zhang Nanfeng collapsed to the ground, his front paws charred and his body covered in burns. He stared blankly as the wooden plaque crackled and shattered in the fire, turning to ashes that settled on his charred fur.

Guardian Spirit Tablet.

What Su Chan made for him was a genuine life-protecting spirit tablet.

The word "镇" (zhen, meaning to suppress or control) doesn't refer to him, but rather to the fire in the furnace!

All the suspicion, wariness, and scheming of the past year have now turned into sharp blades, piercing through my heart.

The embers, though not yet extinguished, no longer harmed him, but instead burrowed into Su Chan's brow.

Su Chan remained in her hand seal posture. She could now clearly see that Zhang Nanfeng's strange wind was dense and solid, just as she had longed for day and night.

But the light in her eyes faded away, inch by inch. All expectations and warmth collapsed at that moment.

She looked at him, at the room filled with smoke and dust, and uttered four words:

"Why...did you lie to me?"

Zhang Nanfeng lowered his head, not daring to meet Su Chan's gaze; shame had already overwhelmed him.

Su Chan slowly closed his eyes, his face quickly turning ashen, and his brow trembled incessantly.

It looked as if insects were crawling under the skin of her right cheek, turning her originally beautiful face into a hideous and distorted expression.

The left cheek remained the same, except for a single, unshed tear hanging in the corner of the eye.

Half-faced immortal, half-faced evil spirit.

Su Chan opened his eyes.

His left eye was empty and lifeless, while his right eye had a vertically bulging pupil, giving him an eerie and menacing appearance.

Her hand trembled as she reached into her bosom and pulled out the jade pendant.

"You little slut, you still keep this broken jade pendant."

Zhang Nanfeng was struck dumb upon hearing this.

He was all too familiar with that voice; it was the hoarse female voice that often spoke to Su Chan outside the door.

They are actually the same "person"!

With a crisp sound, the jade pendant was crushed by "her".

Su Chan closed his left eye again, as if he couldn't bear to look anymore. The tear that had been hanging there finally slid down and disappeared into his clothes.

"I have been observing you daily in the furnace. A mere mortal rat just beginning to develop intelligence has managed to conceal its abilities and endure hardship. Such cunning and shrewdness are something even humans might not be able to match."

With a sly grin, he said:

"However, I really must thank you. If you had done your best just now, you could have helped her purify me. It is also thanks to you that you deceived her and made her lose her mind, otherwise it would have been a long time before I could possess this body."

After saying this, "Su Chan" burst into wild laughter, his laughter as mournful as a night owl weeping blood.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Nanfeng felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, but in an instant, he understood all the key points.

It turned out that the laughter was not a hallucination; "she" had been secretly plotting all along.

......

wrong!

She had no ulterior motives; she was merely reaping the benefits without any real planning. The one who truly harmed herself and others was herself.

He looked at Su Chan's left cheek with guilt, only to see that half of her lips tremble:

"escape."

escape?

He is now severely injured, and even if he escapes, he will only become a charred corpse in the wilderness.

That's it.

His gaze gradually settled, and he struggled to gather the last trace of strange wind within his remaining body into his throat.

This is the most refined and condensed essence he has cultivated over the past year.

Unable to speak, he could only rely on the wind...

He offered a belated apology to Su Chan.

A strange, dark, and heavy wind howled out, pressing down on the ghost face.

"act recklessly."

Su Chan sneered, his expression full of contempt, as flames flicked from his fingertips.

The strange wind that Zhang Nanfeng had poured a year's worth of effort into was burned to ashes in an instant.

The next moment, flames erupted around him, and he saw his flesh and blood turn to char.

Su Chan's face was completely transformed into a ghostly mask, leaving only a bitter smile.

Zhang Nanfeng's physical body turned to ashes.

But his spirit did not dissipate.