Xiang Bo finished speaking, a confident smile on his face, and waited quietly for the nightmare that had plagued him for decades to descend.
Though he had never faced the nightmare directly, he knew that in its presence, no one, not even Ying Chen, would survive!
Ying Chen, who seemed so powerful, was merely a grain of sand!
Drip, drip…
The entire archive room was deathly silent, the air seemingly stagnant. A terrifying pressure slowly descended, growing more intense with the passing of time.
“Xiang Bo… what… what have you summoned?” a trembling staff member asked in terror.
But Xiang Bo smiled, offering no reply.
His smile held a distinct trace of mockery and madness.
Today, none of the three people in the archive room would escape!
All would become sacrifices to the nightmare!
Ying Chen, too, seemed to sense the nightmare’s terror, his brow furrowed, his expression serious.
A flicker of strangeness and confusion flashed in his eyes.
Seeing Ying Chen’s expression, Xiang Bo couldn’t help but wear a playful smile and asked, “Are you scared?”
“So you do feel fear!”
“I thought you were afraid of nothing!”
Ying Chen ignored Xiang Bo, his brow still furrowed, his gaze flickering as if deep in thought.
“It’s here!”
Suddenly, Xiang Bo’s expression changed to one of tension.
He felt the nightmare’s arrival!
The nightmare’s aura emanated faintly from the void, impossibly close!
As if right beside Xiang Bo!
Xiang Bo forced down his unease, closed his eyes, and clasped his hands together, as if holding a stick of incense.
He muttered, “Unfilial descendant Xiang Wen Tian, greets your arrival. Wen Tian knows that deliberately severing my connection with you all these years is an unforgivable sin. Wen Tian only begs you for one thing: take me with you, and take this fellow in front of me as well!”
“Wen Tian’s sincerity is offered!”
With that, Xiang Bo bowed three times towards the void ahead.
Then, he remained bowed, preparing to welcome the nightmare’s appearance!
But what Xiang Bo did not expect was that ten seconds passed, thirty seconds passed, a minute passed…
There was no movement in the void!
As if the nightmare had not heard his prayer at all!
“What’s happening?” Xiang Bo’s face changed slightly.
He suddenly gritted his teeth, bit his tongue, and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Tongue-tip blood, also known as ‘child’s brow,’ was the blood with the strongest vital essence.
Whether for sacrifices or summoning, tongue-tip blood was more effective than blood from other parts.
For martial arts masters like Xiang Bo, their tongue-tip blood contained extremely potent vital essence, making it ten times more effective!
After spitting out the tongue-tip blood, Xiang Bo clasped his hands again, adopting the posture of holding an incense stick, and repeatedly offered sacrifices to the void ahead.
“Unworthy descendant Xiang Wen Tian, I implore you to descend!”
After speaking, he stomped his foot three times on the ground.
With a tremor of the ground, a powerful and terrifying pressure indeed seemed to emanate from the void ahead!
It was as if something were truly about to emerge!
Seeing this, the staff members present dared not breathe,
fearing that the nightmare, upon its arrival, would deal with them first.
The other Wind Escape Bureau personnel watching from outside the archive room also watched with bated breath, their eyes fixed on the void where Xiang Bo was making his sacrifices.
They hoped something would emerge, yet also dreaded it.
They hoped because, besides the nightmare, the entire Wind Escape Bureau was powerless against Ying Chen!
They dreaded it because, if the nightmare descended, Ying Chen would die, and Xiang Bo would accompany him to the grave!
Amidst this anxious, conflicted mood, another minute passed.
The nightmare, which they thought would appear any moment, still had not descended!
“Impossible!”
“I’ve already removed the Golden Thread Jade Talisman Robe, so it should have sensed me immediately! Why hasn’t it appeared?”
“Has it abandoned me long ago, removed me from its control list?”
Xiang Bo’s face suddenly paled, and he exclaimed, “No… it’s tormented me for decades, and it has tormented generations of the Xiang family, how could it abandon me so easily?”
“It must be that my sincerity in summoning is insufficient! My intent is not strong enough!”
Bang, bang, bang!
Xiang Bo hardened his heart and directly knelt on the ground, kowtowing to the floor!
Soon, a pool of blood appeared on the ground, testament to the force of his blows!
“Please descend!”
“Please descend!”
“Please descend!”
Xiang Bo shouted repeatedly, filled with grief and indignation.
Seeing this, both the staff members present and the other Wind Escape Bureau personnel outside felt a pang of sympathy.
They wanted to rush forward and pull Xiang Bo up, wishing he would stop tormenting himself.
At worst, they would all die at Ying Chen’s hands!
Since ancient times, who had not faced death? What was there to fear?
Just as everyone felt despair and was ready to give up, a voice suddenly echoed from the void.
“Are you looking for me?”
Everyone started, then rejoiced!
It appeared!
The nightmare from Xiang Bo’s dreams had finally manifested!
Now they were saved!
Xiang Bo was also overjoyed, raising his head excitedly and shouting without thinking, “Xiang Wen Tian, 75th generation descendant of the Xiang family, greets the Ancestor!”
But as soon as the words left his mouth, Xiang Bo’s joyous expression froze!
Xiang Bo’s body trembled violently, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, pointing at the void ahead in disbelief, repeatedly saying, “You… you… you…”
The Wind Escape Bureau personnel followed Xiang Bo’s gaze and discovered that it was Ying Chen who had responded to Xiang Bo!
Ying Chen, the one Xiang Bo had desperately pleaded with and continuously summoned, was the nightmare!
Xiang Bo had intended to summon Ying Chen to deal with Ying Chen!
“Heh heh, heh heh…” Xiang Bo let out a bitter laugh, unsure if he was laughing at himself or at others.
“Could it be… that thing has possessed him?” someone ventured a hypothesis.
But it was immediately refuted.
Ying Chen walked leisurely to Xiang Bo, looking down at him and saying, “Before this, I really thought you were going to summon something powerful!”
“I didn’t expect that the person you wanted to summon was me. And you, surprisingly, are a descendant of a seed I once planted!”
“I must say, your Golden Thread Jade Talisman Robe is indeed effective. At least until you removed it, I didn’t sense any trace of the seed’s aura from you.”
“Now, I have appeared before you as you wished. Xiang Wen Tian, 75th generation descendant of Xiang Ji, why do you not kowtow and pay your respects?”
Boom!
The moment Ying Chen uttered his last sentence, Xiang Bo’s last sliver of hope vanished.
Being able to utter the word “seed” and know his ancestor’s name, it could only be the nightmare from his dreams himself.
Xiang Bo felt a bitter taste in his mouth, his heart filled with despair, yet compelled by the seed imprint within him, he solemnly kowtowed to Ying Chen, as if before a god!
Outside the door, the Wind Escape Bureau personnel, upon hearing the words “Xiang Ji,” all changed color.
Because Xiang Ji had an even more famous title throughout history – Xiang Yu!
This renowned Hegemon King of Western Chu, was named Xiang, given name Ji, courtesy name Yu!