12dz Chapter 675 Attacked from Multiple Sides
Chapter 675 Attacked from Multiple Sides
Chapter 675 Attacked from Multiple Sides
In 1886, a novel titled "Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde" by Scottish novelist Robert Louis Stevenson was published.
The character switching between the kind and decent Dr. Jekyll and his darker side, "Mr. Hyde," in the book has had a profound influence on many literary and artistic works in later generations.
The vast majority of these works depict the usually suppressed alternate personality as the more powerful one.
On the surface, this is indeed true, because those alternate personalities are basically severely lacking in social skills, that is, they disregard the constraints of social rules... On this basis, they can naturally use various forces, including but not limited to violence, without restraint, and act recklessly without regard for the consequences.
But... are those "dominant personalities" really weak?
That's not necessarily true.
As long as this person lives in a world where social order has not collapsed, the indispensable one will always be the dominant personality; Dr. Jekyll can live well without Hyde, but without Dr. Jekyll, Hyde will most likely be brought to justice or die violently in the streets in a short period of time.
Using unrestricted power is not difficult; anyone can do it. But living a proper life, taking responsibility for one's actions, and living with dignity is extremely difficult.
If the alternate personality cannot understand this, then its final fate will be nothing more than another Mr. Hyde.
Fortunately, Cao Le was understanding.
As someone who has coexisted with Cao Weier for a long time and can communicate freely with her, he rarely makes public appearances... there must be a reason.
Even Cao Le himself knew that he was not suitable to be active outside for a long time as the dominant personality, simply because he was too "crazy".
He is like a humanoid embodiment of a chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) history that makes you want to roll on the ground and gouge out your own eyes just by recalling even a little bit of it.
His fighting strength can no longer be measured by the level of his martial arts skills. If we had to compare them, if we put him in the High Hard Circus, he could sit at the same table as Ugly Bob.
And this predicament, filled with unknown terror, is precisely Cao Le's stage.
Even Situ Ao, at this moment, felt uneasy in the presence of someone like him.
"Heh..." But despite his feigned composure, Situ Ao still maintained a calm demeanor and sneered, "Miss Cao, weren't you called Cao Wei'er? Why did you change your name?"
His words were also a test, hoping to elicit more useful information from the other party.
But the answer he received was...
"I really am Cao Le!" Cao Le blurted out, "You fucking can't understand human language, can you? Do you want a beating?"
Being verbally abused like that, Situ Ao immediately recalled the scene of being humiliated at the "inn" earlier, and his anger flared up again: "Hmph! You think you're worthy to mess with me now..."
Situ Ao wanted to retort with a sarcastic remark, but before he could utter the word "hand," Cao Le had already raised his weapon and struck him on the head with a club.
call--
The sound of the iron rod cutting through the air was deafening; judging from the sound alone, this blow was not something a human skull could withstand.
Of course, Situ Ao is no longer a pure human. Not only can he no longer feel any pain, but his five senses and physical abilities have also been greatly enhanced. So when faced with Cao Le's attack, he simply dodged to the side and then used the force to strike back, successfully neutralizing the attack.
"Take this!" As he broke through the opponent's attack, Situ Ao even imitated the demeanor of a master in his memory and shouted this.
As soon as he finished speaking, the iron rod in Cao Le's hand was indeed driven deep into the ground by his "borrowing force to neutralize the move".
This exchange essentially meant that Situ Ao had disabled Cao Le's weapon with a single move, making Situ Ao quite pleased with himself: "Hehe... How about it, Lady Cao, I... Pfft—"
While he was still giving his "victory speech," Cao Le had already used the momentum of his stick to spin around on the upright iron rod and delivered a roundhouse kick to Situ Ao's face.
Although Situ Ao no longer feels pain, he can still get injured. Moreover, the injuries he had accumulated before are still there. So this kick made his face swollen and sent several teeth flying.
Of course, he wasn't without improvement. At least this time, thanks to his enhanced physical abilities, he managed to stabilize his lower body and didn't fly several meters away as easily as he had when Yun Ge, Ma Zhao, and Xu Wei had tormented him before.
"Ah—" The next second, rage became the only emotion left in Situ Ao's mind. He immediately roared, twisted his body, and launched a counterattack.
Although Situ Ao's moves were still only third-rate, relying on his superior strength and speed, his punches still had the force of a whirlwind and the ferocity of a surging tide.
Unfortunately, this didn't work for Cao Le...
As we mentioned earlier, Cao Le is a "comprehensive martial arts master" who spends most of his time cultivating in the spiritual world. In any martial arts story, such a crazy martial arts fanatic is an extremely difficult opponent.
At this moment, Cao Le didn't even take Situ Ao's attack seriously. While skillfully dodging with the iron rod, he was also making a smug laugh: "Hey~ I can't hit you~ I can't hit you~"
His cheeky antics nearly drove Situ Ao mad. Finally, after several unsuccessful attempts, the increasingly irrational Chrysanthemum Prince made the last and most wrong decision of his life...
At that moment, Situ Ao stomped his foot, causing the ground to crack, and he also sprang up.
Under the moonlight, Situ Ao leaped into the air, his clothes fluttering like a lone crane spreading its wings, his figure shooting out like a sharp arrow piercing the sky.
"drink!"
With a loud shout, Situ Ao unleashed a flying kick that swooped down from mid-air; a similar move was also depicted in the 1991 game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Manhattan Project released by Konami.
This was the strongest move that Situ Ao could think of to break the deadlock, based on his martial arts skills and practical combat adaptability. In his opinion, even if this kick didn't kill Cao Le, it would break that iron rod.
But what happened? His aerial kick was only halfway through when Cao Le pulled the iron rod out of the ground that he had just stomped on.
Immediately afterwards, Cao Le grabbed his staff with one hand, rushed forward, and slightly swayed his right shoulder, delivering a move called "Slanting Star Piercing the Sun" to Situ Ao in mid-air at a superb angle.
In that instant, there was a "plop" sound.
One of Situ Ao's most vulnerable points, which he couldn't defend against, was breached...
His downward thrust became his own death warrant, causing him to suffer an irreparable and devastating injury in an instant.
A second later, a sharp pain suddenly struck, indicating that "that thing" attached to him also sensed that the situation was not good and abandoned him.
Even "that thing" felt wronged: If I had known this would happen, I should have gone to the trouble of possessing that tall, strong man. Who knew that kid would be so useless...
Clearly, for "it" to successfully possess someone, certain conditions must be met; the stronger a person's will or the more righteous they are, the harder it is for their mind to be invaded. That's why it chose Situ Ao over Ma Zhao. After all, in its eyes, both of them were just small fry with little difference, so choosing one with more evil intentions and easier control was much easier.
Who would have thought that Situ Ao, despite being possessed, was still easily beaten by Cao Le? Where could "it" go to seek justice?
Of course, Cao Le also suffered losses in this battle—his iron rod was no longer usable; no matter how clean he washed it afterwards, Cao Wei'er would never touch it.
Therefore, Cao Le had no intention of taking back the stick. He simply looked at Situ Ao, who had already been turned into a "meat skewer," and after confirming in a very humane manner that the other party had quickly died, he prepared to leave.
But "that thing" didn't intend to let him go so easily. Now that Cao Le was alone, they would make him their next possession target and slowly break him down.
Thinking of this, "it" pounced directly on Cao Le...
…………
At the same moment, on the other side of the horse-drawn carriage.
When he woke up, the last thing he remembered was that he had delivered a "self-sacrificing kick" to Situ Ao.
He didn't know how he lost consciousness or how long he had been unconscious. In any case, he was now lying alone in the woods, with neither the deserted village nor anyone else in sight.
The wounds on his body still hurt, reminding him that what had happened before was not a dream.
After sitting up and resting for a moment, Ma Zhao set off again.
Whether you say he went to find his companions or wanted to escape this mountain forest alone... it's all true.
He can accept either outcome.
Of course, Ma Zhao wouldn't call out his companions' names while walking through the woods... after all, it wouldn't be good if he shouted out something he didn't want to see.
But as the saying goes, what you fear most is what happens. Not long after he left, he heard a strange rustling sound.
The sound grew closer and closer, startling him so much that he quickly hid behind a tree and peered into the sound by the moonlight.
But then, a bluish-white figure appeared in the distance, flying towards them at an extremely fast speed.
Generally speaking, only masters with exceptional lightness skills can move at this speed while making almost no sound of footsteps.
But Xu Wei was clearly an exception: he made no sound of footsteps, simply because his feet had once again become "invisible," so he was "floating."
However, his upper body should still be able to touch objects, because Ma Zhao soon discovered that Xu Wei, who was moving at high speed, was carrying Tang Chou on his back.
"Hey! It's me!" Seeing that it was one of his own, Ma Zhao jumped out with peace of mind.
Unexpectedly, Xu Wei, who had just arrived in front of him, had also exhausted the power he had temporarily absorbed. As a result, Tang Chou, who was on Xu Wei's back, suddenly passed through Xu Wei's body and crashed into the oars with the force of inertia.
Fortunately, given Ma Zhao's current physical condition, he can still handle picking up a frail scholar.
"Whoa~ You scared me." Ma Zhao muttered as he straightened Tang Chou, whom he had caught horizontally, and put him down. "Are you two alright?"
"Something's wrong!" Although Xu Wei, now back in his ethereal state, could no longer touch objects, Ma Zhao could still see and hear his appearance and voice. At this moment, Xu Wei shouted anxiously, "We're running for our lives!"
"Huh?" Ma Zhao's first reaction upon hearing this was, "Why am I so unlucky?"
At the same time, he belatedly realized that the way Xu Wei and Tang Chou rushed over just now was indeed abnormal.
Before he could even process what was happening, another commotion came from the direction Xu Wei and the others had come from.
Upon hearing the sound, Ma Zhao turned around and saw... a strange tiger with an extremely thin appearance rushing towards him from the other side.