Chapter 479 Asking One What is Love Supposed to Be?
The origin of the Black-robed Organization was not complicated.
About 30 years ago, a manned s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p from Earth slipped into a s.p.a.ce-time crack by mistake and crossed a distance that couldn’t be completed by the technologies on Earth, then it came to that planet by accident.
There were 21 astronauts of a.s.sorted nationalities on the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p, all of whom were the elites on Earth that survived that s.p.a.ce-time teleportation.
Obviously, that so-called multi-nation s.p.a.ce exploration project was a cla.s.sified operation. As far as Li Mu knew, there was no relevant public report on Earth. Probably only the high-ranked government officials of various big nations knew about it. And the project was certainly of some military purposes. Therefore, the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p carried a large number of weapons and related facilities that were way beyond the average technology level on Earth 30 years ago.
Those 21 astronauts could be said to be the best of elites selected by the governments of all countries. No matter in terms of knowledge or physical const.i.tution, they outstripped the ordinaries bigtime.
They were the lucky ones.
After experiencing the s.p.a.ce-time teleportation beyond their understanding, instead of drifting in the vast universe until they died, the 21 Earth residents landed on a planet suitable for human beings to live on.
But they were unlucky as well.
Because when they just gained a foothold on that planet and set up their base, ready to work hard on getting back to Earth, they found that the base they built was located in ancient ruins of the witch tribe. One of their team members accidentally triggered the tactical deployments of the witch tribe and woke up the ancestral cultivators of the witch tribe who had been sleeping underground.
In the end, the experts of the witch tribe had taken over the bodies of the Earth residents with certain wicked secret arts. Through their memories, the experts had also mastered Earth’s technology on the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p.
Such technology interested the experts of the ancient witch tribe very much.
In the past 30 years, the ancient witch tribe had taken control of that science team from Earth and secretly expanded its territory. They had established a huge faction hidden under the surface of the water, which was the so-called Black-robed Organization.
While controlling those Earth residents, the Black-robed Organization was also silently seeping into the outside world. After all, if they wanted to build a base, to create weapons, to convert men into mechanical men, they needed a large amount of finance, minerals, and manpower.
As a result, the Black-robed Organization had secretly groomed many people.
Li Gang was selected and trained by the organization, and that was how he achieved what he had today.
Of course, since then, Li Gang had also become a puppet of the Black-robed Organization, letting himself be manipulated. On the surface, he was a powerful Commander of Border-provinces and also a martial art master, but secretly, he had to take orders from the Black-robed Organization and do all their bidding.
That Heavenly Medical Faerie was also one of the 21 members of the Earth science team. She had been possessed by a witch from the ancient witch tribe since then. However, because of the witch’s insufficient cultivation, after the possession, Heavenly Medical Faerie’s body had mutated and so her face began to be covered with sarcomas.
Anyway, the witch from the ancient witch tribe developed feelings for Li Gang during the selection process. She forced Li Gang to marry her and gave birth to their son, Li Xiong.
Back then, when Li Gang rose to fame in the Western Qin Empire, his strength and status were greatly improved. So, he reckoned that he could get rid of the control of the Black-robed Organization. And out of the harsh demand for power, he made his own decision to marry the mother of the real Li Mu in that world. But later, he failed in the resistance against the Black-robed Organization and paid a heavy price for it. After that, he had to divorce his wife and take Heavenly Medical Faerie back to his mansion.
As to Heavenly Medical Faerie, Li Gang both hated and feared her.
In addition to Li Gang, the Black-robed Organization had their p.a.w.ns in all the major empires.
Jiang Qingluan, however, had a more special status.
Because of his white beast fangs and the patronage of the outer s.p.a.ce, he was practically on equal footing with the Black-robed Organization, and the two parties benefited from each other. That was why he was able to borrow several “G.o.ds of War” among the mechanical men from the Black-robed Organization when he entered the Tomb of the G.o.d of Sin that day. Originally, he believed that under the suppression of the tactical deployment in the Tomb of the G.o.d of Sin, those mechanical men could defeat all the other parties. With the help of his beast fangs, he could be the biggest winner. But to his surprise, when he came across Li Mu, his prospect of victory shattered straight away.
“He deserves to die!”
Surveying the experts of the ancient witch tribe kneeling on the ground in front of him, Li Mu’s eyes were filled with swirling killing intent.
As an Earth resident, of course, he would take a stand for the imperial examination team. The ancient witch tribe was evil. After mastering some Earth technologies, they combined them with their witchcraft and used living people as experimental materials. Indeed, they had done countless heartless crimes.
Still, they wanted to achieve more.
The martial art power could not allow the experts from the outside world to enter the Star Graveyard, whereas the power of technology seemed to be able to do it. They hoped to make use of the Earth technologies to return to the solar system, to return to Earth, and to take the legendary treasures buried in the Star Graveyard.
It could be imagined what kind of b.l.o.o.d.y storm would be stirred up on Earth if they really succeeded.
“Your honor, please spare my life!”
The blond-haired man pleaded in the language of that world, “I am willing to contribute everything of the Black-robed Organization to your honor. From now on, the Black-robed Organization will be your most loyal lackey.”
The Black-robed Organization was well aware of Li Mu’s reputation.
What was more, their understanding of Li Mu was even far more thorough than that of some powerful sects and well-known families. Thus, they knew perfectly well about the formidability of the world’s top one broadsword cultivator.
In particular, the strength Li Mu demonstrated when he abruptly showed up was overwhelming like a thunderbolt sweeping the fallen leaves, jamming many of their prized weapons made from a combination of witchcraft and technology. That made them realize that they had no leeway for resistance in front of Li Mu.
Li Mu did not bother to talk to those people. He directly hacked them with a strand of his Broadsword Intent and destroyed the soul of the Great Sage of the witch tribe that had possessed the blond-haired man from Earth.
The knees of the blond-haired man gave way and he slumped to the floor.
But Li Mu suddenly made a sound of surprise, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.
Because he felt that as the soul of the Great Sage of the ancient witch tribe dissipated, there was still a faint fluctuation of consciousness in the blond man’s body, which, like a candle in the wind, could be extinguished at any time.
“The soul of this white man from Earth still hasn’t vanished yet?”
Li Mu was surprised to see that after the member of the ancient witch tribe took over his body, the soul of the original owner of the body had remained intact instead of being devoured. It was just imprisoned in the body, sort of like the case with Shangguan Yuting, who also had Bai Mochou’s consciousness in her body.
That was a pleasant surprise.
He employed some measures and helped the remnant strand of consciousness to reoccupy the body of the white man with his strong spiritual force.
A moment later, the white man slowly woke up and exclaimed. “Oh, my G.o.d, I’ve…” He blurted out in English, and his consciousness was a little confused. After a while, he realized what had happened and lowered his head to look at his hands in shock. Then, he said ecstatically, “I’ve recovered? I’ve got my body back from the devil?”
Li Mu now understood everything.
There was still hope.
That was the best he could have.
He opened his Third Eye and scanned the bodies of 20 Earth science team members who had been possessed. He could clearly see their original souls in their bodies. It seemed that their souls had not been completely devoured because of the ancient witch tribe’s special methods of soul-taking.
With a stir of his mind, Li Mu released his Broadsword Intent, which directly eliminated the souls of the ancient witch tribe experts in those bodies.
It was not until the Broadsword Intent reached Heavenly Medical Faerie that Li Mu noticed something unusual.
“Her soul has actually merged with the soul of the original owner of the body. If I forcibly destroy it, it will hurt the original owner’s soul as well. Well, this is a bit tricky.” Li Mu hesitated.
Among the 21 astronauts from Earth, two of them came from China.
Aside from a man named Song Changlin, that Heavenly Medical Faerie was the only Chinese female member in the team. It could be said that as these two people had the same nationality as Li Mu, they had the closest blood relations.h.i.+p, and so Li Mu was most concerned about them.
“Haha, you can do it. But once you kill me, she will die, too. Hahahaha!” As Heavenly Medical Faerie witnessed her companions being killed, she appeared to be a little crazy. She stared at Li Mu darkly, and the sarcomas on her face became more and more ferocious.
But considering Li Mu’s stable state of mind, how could he be irritated by her?
Li Gang, who was standing beside Li Mu, only wished that this woman would die in front of him right away, so that he could rid him of her control. Even though this woman was nominally his wife and had a son with him, he could not hide the undisguised killing intent in his eyes.
Heavenly Medical Faerie looked at Li Gang, and her eyes gradually softened. She said, “I don’t hate you for bringing him here. I just want to ask you, in spite of your wish to get rid of the control of the organization, do you have a little bit of love for me in your heart?”
Li Gang spat and sneered, “Love you? You’re a monster. Only a nut will love you.”
Heavenly Medical Faerie smiled wryly and said, “So to speak, you have been lying to me all along, haven’t you?”
“Yes.” At that moment, the depression and psychological distortion acc.u.mulated over the years finally broke out. Li Gang’s face was also twisted like old bark, and he was no longer that gentle and refined middle-aged handsome in usual days. “You make me sick.”
“But we have Xiong’er, our son, and we…” said Heavenly Medical Faerie, with a desperate look in her sarcoma-surrounded eyes. Only the one who had been hanging to the last life-saving straw in drowning would have such a look.
“Humph, that little b.a.s.t.a.r.d. When you die, I’ll send him to h.e.l.l to see you as well,” Li Gang snarled, showing zero compa.s.sion.
Heavenly Medical Faerie smiled miserably. She appeared to have aged hundreds of years in an instant. The last trace of light in her eyes had also been emptied.
“Ah, grandpa, papa, and the others are all dead. The Soul Sect can also be considered to be finished. I’m the one who has caused their doom. Yet, I still fantasized that you, an ungrateful person whom I can never tame, will develop true feelings for me…” Heavenly Medical Faerie laughed a hollow laugh.
“True feelings?” Li Gang, who did not spare a glance at her, snapped, “What a joke!”
The eyes of Heavenly Medical Faerie suddenly turned unprecedentedly calm. Instead of looking at Li Gang, she settled her eyes on Li Mu and said, “I know that you’re from that place. And you’re here to avenge them, aren’t you? Haha, I’ve occupied this woman’s body for 28 years. Today, I’ll return it to her. She is a poor person, abandoned by her loved ones, and forced to leave her hometown… Today, I’m glad that I’ll return the jade intact to the State of Zhao. Haha, that is a phrase people in your world use, am I right?”