Chapter 1 Anomaly

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Bang, bang, bang…

The sound of Soru (Moon Step) tearing through the air echoed frequently as a swift shadow leaped through the swamp’s airspace at high speed.

Due to the excessive time spent communicating with Fuling, Feng Bujue had no choice but to accelerate his pace.

Relying on his memory, he returned to the edge of the Mocking Forest and successfully located the footprints left by Uncle Waste Wood and the other three. Following these traces, he continued to pursue them at high speed, arriving at the edge of the swamp.

At this moment, there were twenty-two minutes remaining until the deadline for completing the main quest.

“Whoa, whoa… what is this…” As Feng Bujue reached the edge of the swamp, he noticed something strange on a section of the flagstone path ahead—four black, humanoid stains.

“No way…” Although he couldn’t see clearly from a distance, an ominous premonition arose in his heart.

With trepidation, Brother Jue walked onto the flagstone path along the dirt trail. He quickly approached the stains, lowering his head for a closer look. At this distance, he could finally confirm… these four stains were the outlines of Uncle Waste Wood, Tianma Xingkong, Honghu, and Jibei.

“What kind of pLAy is this…” Feng Bujue muttered, squinting. “Covering themselves in ink and then lying on the ground for a commemorative imprint…?” He immediately dismissed the idea. “Hmm… no. These four stains are like silhouettes, with very smooth edges, and not a single extra black spot around them. They aren’t 2D cartoon characters. Even if they were completely submerged in liquid, it wouldn’t be possible to create such stains on the ground…”

Thinking this, Brother Jue crouched down, preparing to reach out and touch the stain to examine what it was.

Unexpectedly, at that instant… a gust of wind swept past, and a black shadow suddenly attacked from the side.

Feng Bujue reacted with lightning speed. He used the tip of his foot to push off the ground, leaping uphill (the downhill direction being the swamp) to create distance from the unknown threat. In this fleeting moment, [Death Poker] had already appeared in his hand, ready to strike.

“Heh… your skills aren’t bad either.” A shrill voice rang out.

Brother Jue turned his head, locking onto the enemy with his gaze. It was… a black, ethereal, giant hand.

“Oh? ‘Also’ not bad, huh…” Feng Bujue said in a rather calm tone, his face completely devoid of surprise. “So, you’ve already encountered a few skilled fellows before.”

Brother Jue’s wording was impeccable. He neither specified who those “fellows” were, nor did he imply any relationship between them and himself. He purely used the content of the other party’s short sentence to make a reasonable deduction, then used the other party’s words back against him.

“They’re right there on the ground…” The black hand pointed to the stains on the ground with its index finger. Then, laughter emanated from the palm. “Heh… you’ll soon be just like them. Hehe… I can even let you choose a good pose.”

“Tsk… wiped out, huh…” Feng Bujue glanced at the four figures on the ground again, pondering. “But… judging from the game menu, they’re all still alive. There should be a way to restore them…”

“What’s wrong? Scared speechless?” The black hand pressed aggressively.

“You’re the ‘Hand of Imprints’, aren’t you?” As Feng Bujue asked this question, the expression on his face gradually turned cold, indicating that… he was getting a little serious.

“Ha! Interdimensional Traveler, you actually recognize me?” The Hand of Imprints laughed.

Of course, Feng Bujue didn’t recognize this guy… However, Brother Jue had just gathered a lot of information from Fuling, so he knew that there were four guardians on Jumo Island: ‘Hand, Eye, Heart, and Soul’. The ‘Hand’ among them was called the Hand of Imprints.

“Hmph… I know a thing or two…” Bluffing was Feng Bujue’s specialty. As soon as he heard that he had guessed correctly, he sneered and continued, “I also know… that your gang of guardians are actually pretty ordinary. But… each of you has a special ability.” He pointed to the ground. “These four… were caught in your little trick, and that’s why they were imprinted on the ground, right?”

Brother Jue’s words were also a test. He pretended to know a lot about the other party and displayed an arrogant and contemptuous attitude to provoke him. In reality… he had no idea what the abilities of the four guardians were. It wasn’t that Fuling refused to tell him, but even she didn’t know.

“A little trick?” The Hand of Imprints’ shrill voice rose sharply. “Hmph… you ignorant fool, you dare to say that?” As it said this, it actually turned its back (the back of its hand) to Brother Jue and gave him the middle finger. “I’ll let you experience… my little trick right now.”

“Alright~ That’s exactly what I want too.” Feng Bujue replied.

Right now, Brother Jue’s stamina and Spirit Energy were both running low. After successively using the Nanto Flying Dragon Fist, the Spirit Energy Cannon, and a large number of Soru (Moon Steps), his body was naturally showing signs of fatigue. If he were to fight the other party normally, his chances of winning might not even be fifty percent. Moreover… Uncle Waste Wood and the others were definitely not weak in direct combat, and there were many of them. How could they have been dealt with?

Clearly, a conventional method wouldn’t work to defeat this guardian.

“You want to play dirty…” Brother Jue curled up one corner of his mouth, scanning the other party with a malicious gaze. “I’ll play along to the end.”

“Ha! I’ll make sure you can’t be arrogant any longer!” The Hand of Imprints shouted sharply, flipping its palm.

In the next second, the space around them solidified, and a mist-like shadow encircled the one person and one hand, forming a cylindrical area.

“Hehe… welcome to… the Rock-Paper-Scissors Domain!” A sinister laugh came from the Hand of Imprints’ palm.

“Huh?” Feng Bujue’s face stretched out, and he said weakly, “So that’s the ability?” He put on an expression of disgust and contempt, squinting at the other party. “I thought you’d use some more technical tricks, like a pole dance or something…”

“What’s that…” The Hand of Imprints’ momentum instantly dissipated, and its tone was filled with a sense of annoyance.

“It’s a form of dance.” Feng Bujue shrugged.

“I’ve heard of pole dancing…” the Hand of Imprints said.

“No, no, that’s for people with bodies.” Feng Bujue said, “For you… you’d need to find a pillar and get a few buckets of lubricant…”

“What kind of dance is that! There’s no skill involved! You better stop it right there!” The Hand of Imprints interrupted, roaring.

“As a right hand, your awareness is laughably childish…” Feng Bujue solemnly raised his right hand, his hand shaped like a flame. “Hmph… you’re like someone standing in knee-deep water, yet claiming to have seen the ocean. You’re the truly ignorant one…” He slowly changed his hand gesture, giving the Hand of Imprints the middle finger. “In front of this Hand of God, you don’t even have the right to make vulgar gestures!”

“In a sense, you really are a god…” Even the Hand of Imprints couldn’t help but retort, “With a passionate, domineering, and aloof attitude… you casually carry out such obscene words and deeds…”

“Heh… save the whimper of a stray dog for after you’ve failed.” Feng Bujue flicked his arm. “Let’s fight! It’s just rock-paper-scissors!”

Seeing that the other party had stopped the nonsense, the Hand of Imprints also coldly snorted, bringing the topic back to the main point. “Hmph… don’t be so impatient… this is obviously not ordinary rock-paper-scissors. For the sake of fairness, I’ll explain the rules before we begin.”

“Oh… if the opponent doesn’t know the rules, the ability can’t be fully effective, right…” Feng Bujue replied directly.

“Noisy!” The Hand of Imprints was instantly exposed, and it became somewhat annoyed. “If you don’t want to listen, we’ll just stall! There’s no escape from this domain!”

“Alright, alright… go ahead and say it.” Feng Bujue spread his hands, pretending to shake his head.

“First, let me talk about the rules of victory and defeat.” The Hand of Imprints continued. “Rock beats scissors, scissors beat paper, and paper beats rock. If both sides choose the same thing, then it’s a draw.” As it spoke, it changed its hand shape, making the shapes of rock, scissors, and paper respectively. “The first side to win three times wins. There’s no time limit between each round. If you want, you can wait a week between two rounds, heh… as long as you’re not afraid of starving to death in the Rock-Paper-Scissors Domain.”

“Mm-hmm, what else?” Feng Bujue nodded in response.

“If I win…” the Hand of Imprints said, “I’ll slap you into the ground.” It paused. “Just like I did to them…”

“Sorry, to interrupt,” Feng Bujue interjected, “May I ask… did you compete with those four one by one?”

“Yes.” The Hand of Imprints replied, “However… I enclosed all four of them in the Rock-Paper-Scissors Domain from the beginning to prevent them from abandoning their companions and running away.”

“In other words… when you were competing with the first person, the other three were watching from the side…” Feng Bujue added.

“Yes.” The other party replied.

“Then you defeated the first person, slapped him into the ground, and the second person came to compete with you, and so on…” Feng Bujue continued, “You consecutively defeated all four of them…”

“Hehe… that’s right.” The Hand of Imprints replied smugly, “How is it? Feeling scared yet?”

Brother Jue didn’t answer this question, but simply said calmly, “I understand, please continue with the rules.”

“Hmph…” The Hand of Imprints suddenly felt bored. It clenched its fist and continued where it left off, “If you win… although we all know that’s impossible… but just in case, if that really happened, then… I’ll let you pass through here.”

“Just let me pass alone?” Feng Bujue asked. He seemed to already know something, and said with confidence, “What if I win you again? That is, achieve ‘three wins’ again.”

“Hehe…” The Hand of Imprints smiled slyly, “Those four… are indeed your companions, aren’t they?”

Feng Bujue remained silent.

The Hand of Imprints didn’t need him to admit it. It pointed to the figures on the ground and laughed, “Starting from the second time, for every three rounds you win against me, I’ll release one person from the ground and grant them the right to pass.” Its voice lowered, “But you need to think carefully… excluding the draws, if you accumulate three losses in every five rounds…”