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Novel: [The Primordial Law]
Volume 1: [Nether Realm of the Dead]
Chapter 5: [The Bride]
(5th of Volume 1)
Translator: [Shadow Knight AK]
Editor: [Shadow Knight AK]
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The hull around the boarding hall hatch had already been weakened by countless cracks from earlier collisions with the bear-like creature, leaving it on the verge of collapse.
This time, with a single ram, the creature completely breached the hatch and surrounding hull, creating a massive two-meter-high hole.
Fortunately, the area was tightly blocked by various cabinets, tables, and chairs, providing a momentary barrier.
Seizing this opportunity, Li Weiyi hurled all of Cai Yutong's explosives through the gap in one desperate move.
Who had time to worry about the consequences now?
"Boom!"
"BOOM!"
.....
The massive explosions temporarily drove back the bear-like creature.
The cabinets and furniture blocking the cabin door burst into flames from the blast.
The windows of the boarding hall shattered, allowing icy winds and snow to rush in, further fueling the flames.
The shockwave from the explosions sent the Security Team members, Cai Yutong, and the short-statured cadets retreating to the dining hall behind the boarding hall flying through the air.
Some were knocked unconscious upon impact.
Li Weiyi, who was also retreating, was thrown against a wall. The bone-jarring impact left him feeling like his body had been torn apart.
A wave of searing heat washed over him, scorching and suffocating.
Before Li Weiyi could even stand, the bear-like creature, its massive frame shattering all remaining obstacles, charged out of the sea of flames.
It tore off the arm of the Security Team member who had thrown the concentrated acid, sending blood spraying everywhere.
The Security Team member screamed in agony and desperately fired his stun gun at the creature's abdomen.
It had no effect.
Instead, it further enraged the bear-like creature. With a gaping maw, it bit off the Security Team member's head in a single snap, like devouring a human-sized candy bar. In a second bite, it tore open the man's entire chest cavity, chewed the flesh to pieces, and swallowed it whole.
Then, it unleashed a deafening roar that shook the entire hall.
The roar made Li Weiyi's ears bleed and his head spin.
At the same moment, he noticed that the bear-like creature fling the Security Team member's mangled torso aside. Its eyes had turned bloodred, its fur was ablaze like a demonic aura, and it glared at him with furious intensity.
A massive physique, bloodred eyes, and razor-sharp teeth dripping with gore...
Anyone facing such a hopeless situation would tremble in fear, paralyzed by terror.
Human strength seemed utterly insignificant against such a ferocious beast.
After a brief glance, Li Weiyi shuddered, gritting his teeth, he sprang to his feet and bolted toward the stairs.
Normally, someone fleeing for their life would retreat to the dining hall, using the Security Team, Cai Yutong, and the short cadet as human shields. He wouldn't need to outrun the bear-like creature, just the others.
But Li Weiyi disdained such selfish and cowardly tactics.
Besides, he had a plan.
He believed the bear-like creature wasn't invincible, and he wasn't powerless to fight back.
Its immense size was its weakness.
On the research vessel, the narrow corridors made it impossible for the bear-like creature to move freely. The stairwells and lower decks were even more cramped, creating tighter spaces where opportunities for counterattack might arise.
In the dining hall, the crowd's despair began to ease slightly as the creature's rampaging sounds gradually faded into the distance.
A short cadet, huddled in a corner, trembled with relief and anxiety: "Brother Li has lured the bear-like creature away!"
Cai Yutong crawled out from the rubble, her ears still ringing and her long hair disheveled.
She glared at the Security Team members.
"You're armed and hiding here? Why aren't you helping him?"
The Security Team members exchanged uneasy glances, unsure how to respond.
They were all elites, but none had ever faced death head-on. When the shadow of mortality loomed, how could any human not feel fear?
The bear-like creature had shattered the ship's alloy hull. What use would their weapons be against such a force?
A single charge could crush them all into bloody pulp.
Xie Jin, unwilling to admit his cowardice, said in a low voice, "We were planning an ambush in the dining hall, but Li Weiyi lured it away, disrupting our plan."
.....
"Bang! Bang! Bang..."
The bear-like creature's strength far exceeded Li Weiyi's expectations. Despite the research vessel's numerous obstacles and narrow corridors, it tore through them as if they were made of paper.
With each collision, doors and walls shattered into splinters.
Li Weiyi gripped his sword in one hand and the staircase railing in the other, leaping down to the next deck with the agility of an ape.
The next instant...
"Boom!"
The bear-like creature ripped through the entire stairwell, crashing down to the lower deck and leaving deep dents in the floor.
It let out a low, guttural roar, its eyes scanning the surroundings.
Hidden above a pile of machinery, Li Weiyi held his breath, with sword in hand. He noticed blood dripping from the creature's body. Clearly, the repeated rifle shots had inflicted significant injuries.
This was undoubtedly good news!
Though the Yellow Dragon Sword was sharp, it was still a cold weapon and might not pierce the creature's thick hide and bones.
But its massive eyes were certainly vulnerable.
Given the vast difference in strength and speed, he would only have one chance.
Just as Li Weiyi was about to strike, the bear-like creature suddenly looked up, having spotted him. It swung its massive claw in a preemptive strike.
It was the scent.
A bear's sense of smell is two thousand times more acute than a human's.
This bear-like creature's sense of smell was likely even more refined.
It had long since pinpointed Li Weiyi's location through scent alone.
The bear-like creature's claws were as large as palm fans, each strike carrying the force of a thousand pounds. Even a glancing blow would tear away a massive chunk of flesh.
Li Weiyi's analysis had revealed three major weaknesses in the bear-like creature: its immense size restricting its mobility, its eyes, and its intelligence, which had likely not yet evolved to match human levels.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have focused solely on attacking the boarding hall's airlock earlier, but would have sought alternative entrances.
Exploiting this third weakness, Li Weiyi had positioned himself near the research vessel's pump equipment.
Only by harnessing mechanical power and leveraging humanity's superior intellect could he hope to stand a chance against the bear-like creature.
As the creature's claw swung down, Li Weiyi sprang sideways, leaping out of the way.
"Boom!"
The massive claw shattered the pump's pipes.
Instantly, high-pressure seawater erupted in a towering column, slamming into the bear-like creature's head.
Li Weiyi landed on the deck, using both hands and feet to crawl swiftly across the ground.
As the bear-like creature retreated to avoid the water column, before its vision and sense of smell has fully recovered, Li Weiyi thrust his sword forward with unerring precision.
The blade moved like a yellow dragon, as swift as lightning.
"Thwack!"
The Yellow Dragon Sword pierced the bear-like creature's right eye, blood gushing out like an arrow.
A roar filled with pain, fury, and rage shook the entire research vessel, the bulkheads trembling.
After having landed his strike, Li Weiyi immediately retreated.
But his speed was no match for the bear-like creature's.
In its fury, the creature swung its claws wildly.
One claw grazed Li Weiyi's left arm.
With a tearing sound, the fabric of Li Weiyi's left sleeve ripped open, revealing a deep, bone-deep gash on his upper arm. Blood poured out in a torrent.
The force of the blow threw Li Weiyi off balance, sending him crashing to the deck and sliding toward the staircase. The left half of his body was numb with pain.
Compared to the bear-like creature's terrifying strength, humans were as fragile as straw, snapping with the slightest pressure.
Li Weiyi crouched against the wall, gritting his teeth against the agony. He tore strips from his shredded sleeve and hastily bound the wound on his left arm to stem the bleeding.
Li Weiyi retrieved the Yellow Dragon Sword from the floor.
The bear-like creature covered its eyes, howling and screeching in agony, before charging at Li Weiyi with savage fury, intent on tearing him to shreds.
Knowing escape was impossible - he could never outrun it - Li Weiyi braced himself, sword in hand, his gaze unwavering, cold, and defiant.
Be it a ferocious beast or a demonic fiend, nothing could shake his resolve to fight to the death.
With a roar, he unleashed a full-powered slash.
"Whoosh!"
The blood that had dripped from his left arm wound onto the floor began to vaporize, transforming the dimly lit cabin corridor into a crimson mist-shrouded world.
The floor, walls, pipes... every surface corroded and festered inch by inch.
Behind him, within the swirling blood mist, a slender figure materialized out of thin air.
She wore an ancient-style scarlet wedding gown, her tall, graceful form accentuated by a long, jade-like neck and a jade belt cinching her waist.
The gown was magnificent and opulent, embroidered with auspicious dragon and phoenix patterns in gold and silver threads.
Lotus motifs adorned the sleeves and hem, the skirt spreading out like the wings of a Phoenix.
Yet her face remained hidden beneath a red silk veil, its four corners weighted with copper coins, concealing the bride's celestial beauty.
The figure was indistinct, almost ethereal, its beauty tinged with an eerie, spine-chilling aura.
How had she appeared?
Why had the surroundings transformed into a sinister, ghost-like realm?
This spectral bride seemed to materialize from Li Weiyi's own blood, yet also resembled a newlywed wife eternally bound to him, though invisible to others.
As Li Weiyi swung his sword, her slender, jade-like hand gracefully lifted in a sweeping motion.
"Thwack!"
Li Weiyi had braced himself for death beneath the bear-like creature's claws, but his sword strike sent the beast flying backward several meters.
Blood erupted in mid-air like a geyser.
A terrifying, meter-long gash split the creature's neck and abdomen.
Exhausted, Li Weiyi staggered backward, barely managing to steady himself against a wall. He stared in horror at the bear-like creature crashing to the ground.
This is too surreal!
"How could my mortal strength possibly send it flying with a single strike? What just happened?" Li Weiyi gasped for breath, the wound on his left arm bleeding profusely, his vision darkening.
The blood mist, decay, ghostly realm, and red-veiled bride had vanished as if they had never existed.
"Roar... Aoo... Aooo..."
The bear-like creature struggled to its feet, its roars now hoarse and trembling, no longer as ferocious as before.
As it approached Li Weiyi again, its movements were noticeably slower, filled with caution.
"Junior Brother!"
Nearly fainting from blood loss and excruciating pain, Li Weiyi heard his Senior Brother's furious shout.
Immediately afterward came the thunderous blasts of a shotgun.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
...
Zhao Meng was truly enraged, his eyes bloodshot as he gripped the shotgun and repeatedly pulled the trigger. The bear-like creature roared in agony, retreating into the darkness.
"Move! Let's get upstairs first," Zhao Meng said, reloading as he backed away, pulling Li Weiyi along with him.
The two of them, one in front and one behind, fled toward the fourth deck, where the upper cabins were located.
The shotgun's firepower was immense, but the bear-like creature was clearly no ordinary beast. Its defenses and vitality defied scientific understanding, and it continued to growl menacingly from behind.
They raced to the boarding hall, where the bear-like creature had previously smashed a massive hole in the cabin door.
A raging blizzard surged through the opening, its icy winds cutting like knives against their faces.
It was bitterly cold!
The world felt entirely different from when sunlight had streamed through the windows earlier.
The blood from Li Weiyi's shoulder wound and his soaked clothes seemed to freeze into ice crystals in an instant.
Zhao Meng carried a military-green satchel slung across his chest, its bulging shape suggesting it contained something vital. His tiger-like eyes, usually bright and fierce, now held a hint of farewell as he looked at Li Weiyi.
"Senior Brother may not be able to protect you anymore," he said, "You'll have to take care of yourself from now on."
Zhao Meng didn't look back as he charged out of the boarding hall.
He sprinted across the deck, vaulted over the railing, and leaped off the research vessel.
Except for his farewell to Li Weiyi, he hadn't hesitated for a moment.
"Senior Brother..."
Li Weiyi chased after him onto the deck.
Outside, the wind howled like a raging demon, threatening to tear them from their feet.
He didn't know why Zhao Meng was doing this, but he knew that if he didn't follow, this might be the last time he ever saw his senior brother.
Watching Zhao Meng's figure grow smaller against the icy wasteland, Li Weiyi's heart sank. He, too, leaped over the several-meter-high railing, plummeting onto the frozen ground below.
Hearing the heavy thud behind him, Zhao Meng, who was already dozens of meters away, abruptly stopped, turned, and ran back.
"What are you doing chasing after me?" Zhao Meng roared.
"After Master died, you're the only family I have left!" Li Weiyi retorted, "If we die, we die together. If we live, we live together."
Tears welled in Zhao Meng's eyes as he tilted his head back and let out a helpless, sorrowful sigh.
.....
"Roar!"
The bear-like creature's roar echoed from the deck of the research vessel above.
With a thunderous thump, it leaped down, landing near Li Weiyi and Zhao Meng, and began to advance step by step.
In the dim light, the creature's teeth gleamed snow-white and razor-sharp. One eye burned crimson, while the other wept blood incessantly.
From the meter-long sword wound connecting its neck and abdomen, blood gushed forth, staining the ice crimson.
Though mortally wounded, it was not immortal. Yet its single eye remained fixed on the pouch hanging on Zhao Meng's chest.
"Alright! If we die, we brothers will die together today. If we live, we will live together!" Zhao Meng raised his shotgun, his expression even fiercer than the bear-like creature's.
Li Weiyi gripped the Yellow Dragon Sword tightly, his gaze as sharp as its blade, like a drawn bowstring, poised to strike.
Suddenly...
A baby's cry echoed from the seabed - a deep, resonant sound that reverberated across the Arctic, causing glaciers and snow ridges to tremble.
It sounded both like weeping and laughter.
To be precise, there wasn't just one infant's cry; they came from different directions, their eerie resonance sending chills down one's spine.
The bear-like creature across from them immediately showed signs of terror, trembling as it stared behind Li Weiyi and Zhao Meng. It lowered itself to the ground, its earlier ferocity completely gone.
Li Weiyi and Zhao Meng slowly turned their heads.
What they saw was a house-sized infant's head suspended in mid-air, its long black hair cascading down.
When it laughed, the corners of its mouth split open, stretching all the way to its ears.
The dark red tongue inside its mouth was several meters long.
The neck connecting the infant's head extended like a pillar into the icy seawater below.
"Boom!"
In the next instant, a second infant's head crashed through the research vessel's deck, rising all the way to the tenth-floor cabins, as if trying to rival the sky in height.
"Splash!"
A third infant's head pierced through the ice cap ten meters away, emerging behind Li Weiyi and Zhao Meng with a low, mournful wail.
A fourth, a fifth...
Nine Infants' nine house-sized heads rose from the sea, their terrifying forms looming in the air with overwhelming power.
Scaled, tentacle-like necks coiled around the research vessel, gradually crushing it into twisted wreckage.
The creature's massive body, hidden beneath the waves, flipped the crumbling vessel onto its side.
Screams, cries, wails, and the thunderous crash of falling objects echoed across the deck.
Li Weiyi, who had never known of Nine Infants' existence, felt as if he had been plunged into a demon-infested hellscape, his heart pounding with unprecedented terror.
When Nine Infants' eighteen bone-green eyes locked onto him, Zhao Meng, his heart filled with dread, forced a bitter smile and muttered to himself, "Trying to use the Buddha's Relic to divert this calamity was always a foolish delusion. I shouldn't have clung to such vain hope."
All nine heads of Nine Infants let out eerie, piercing shrieks as they lunged toward Zhao Meng like nine striking pythons.
"Whoosh!"
Whether it was Li Weiyi's blood staining the Dao Ancestor's Tai Chi Fish or some other cause, the Chan Sect Sect Leader's insignia around his neck suddenly erupted with a dazzling azure light.
The radiant glow, as magnificent as the Arctic aurora, shot skyward, instantly filling the heavens and earth.
Nine Infants, their nine mouths emitting piercing cries, recoiled in terror from the azure light unleashed by the Dao Ancestor's Tai Chi Fish.
Simultaneously, the satchel Zhao Meng wore across his chest began to tremble violently and burst into flames.
Inside, the golden and silver coffins containing the Buddha's Relic shattered, releasing a crimson beam that hurtled toward the Dao Ancestor's Tai Chi Fish around Li Weiyi's neck.
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END OF CHAPTER
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