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The river water surged and spread, but Tang Lin was not the least bit aware of it. After all, it was originally just up to his knee, and now that it had risen past his knee, it really didn't make much difference for someone of Tang Lin's size. However, once it reached that point, it became a very crucial plot point in The Storm Riders.
In The Storm Riders, the Leshan Giant Buddha was the beginning of many stories and the place where many stories ended. Inside this giant Buddha was a hollowed-out cave, and living inside this cave was a powerful Divine Beast—the Fire Qilin.
Both main characters of The Storm Riders, whether in the comics or the movies, had numerous connections with the Fire Qilin.
In the comics, Nie Feng inherited the Fire Qilin's bloodline from his Nie Family ancestors, often going berserk, while in the movie, Nie Feng greatly increased his power by consuming the Blood Bodhi infused with Fire Qilin's blood to defeat Xiong Ba.
In both the comics and the movie, the other main character, Bu Jingyun, got himself a Qilin Arm, which was the original source of the Qilin Arm, not the kind that lonely people practiced at home.
And when the river water flooded past the knees of the Leshan Giant Buddha, flames would burst from the top of the statue, as the Fire Qilin could not withstand the moisture below and needed to come out for some air.
Unfortunately, King Nie only knew this legend but didn't know why. Tang Lin was even more clueless, given that The Storm Riders movie was older than he was; knowing about Xiong Ba and the Qilin Arm was already not bad.
Therefore, when the roar of the Fire Qilin suddenly appeared, both King Nie and Tang Lin were stunned.
Flames erupted from the head of the statue and quickly spread. The Fire Qilin burst out from within the statue, and King Nie was the first to bear the brunt, innocently blocking the Fire Qilin's path.
The Fire Qilin, though called a Divine Beast, was extremely violent. Upon seeing King Nie, it roared and lunged at him. The speed of the Fire Qilin was incredibly fast, not slower than the Qinggong of a Martial Arts expert.
Poor King Nie, whose attention was mostly on Tang Lin, was caught off guard by the Fire Qilin's surprise attack. He barely managed to block with the Bloodthirsty Blade, warding off the Fire Qilin's scorching claws and avoiding being disemboweled, but he didn't notice his foot being caught by the Fire Qilin's other claw.
An intense heat spread, and King Nie felt the skin and flesh of his leg thoroughly cooked, then he was forcefully dragged by the Divine Beast, completely losing balance. For a Martial Arts master, losing footing meant total failure, and King Nie was thus dragged into the entrance of Lingyun Cave by the Fire Qilin.
It was not until King Nie disappeared that Tang Lin realized, the person who summoned him was gone just like that?
"What the hell? Could it be a direct mission failure?" Tang Lin hastily reached out toward the entrance of Lingyun Cave.
His fingers reached in, crushing most of the entrance, but got stuck before even a finger could fit through. The inside of the entrance wasn't a straight drop, even calling it a winding path was an understatement.
"This is supposed to be an easy difficulty world?" said Tang Lin, displeased.
Now, unless the entire Leshan Giant Buddha was dismantled, Tang Lin had no way to rescue King Nie.
But dismantling the statue would take an unknowable amount of time. Tang Lin feared by then there wouldn't be much left of the bones, let alone avoiding accidentally killing King Nie during the demolition process.
Tang Lin opened his front pocket, looked down at Oro.
The dark-skinned girl had been lying on the edge of his pocket, watching everything unfold. When she saw Tang Lin's gaze, she didn't even wait for him to speak: "NO! Not a chance!"
Oro wasn't foolish; she had watched the battle between Xiong Ba and King Nie with wide eyes. For "mutants" so powerful to still fall to a fire-spewing beast, would she jump in to save him? That was a death sentence!
Their partnership agreement clearly stated, Oro was only to provide certain assistance, definitely not to include sacrificing herself.
Tang Lin thought about it and didn't push Oro. It had taken him time to nurture this little one, a rather eye-catching young lady, and he couldn't bear sending her to her death.
Just then, a frantic voice cried out.
"Dad!"
A child, who looked less than ten years old, climbed to the top of the statue, crying out and running toward Lingyun Cave. It was one of The Storm Riders main characters, Nie Feng.
How could Tang Lin let him rush to his death? He still hoped Nie Feng could fulfill King Nie's wish if he died. So Tang Lin immediately inserted his finger into the entrance of Lingyun Cave, blocking it completely.
Nie Feng went up to Tang Lin's finger, pounding furiously with his small fists, but Tang Lin didn't even feel a tickle. This child hadn't seriously trained in martial arts yet, and was no different from an ordinary person.
"Nie Feng, don't be impulsive. I'll find a way to save your dad," Tang Lin persuaded.
The young Nie Feng looked up, glanced at the Giant, and then continued to hammer away at his finger.
Sorry, standard Mandarin was too perfect; Nie Feng couldn't understand.
Damn, this is why promoting Mandarin across the country was such an important basic policy!
Tang Lin racked his brains to recall the lines from the master Zhou's movie, then used very imperfect Cantonese to say to Nie Feng, "Kid, calm down!"
Nie Feng understood this, he was first shocked, then he shouted loudly at Tang Lin: "Can you help save my dad?!"
Speaking Cantonese was difficult, but Tang Lin could understand most of it with a bit of guesswork. Nie Feng's request, Tang Lin of course couldn't refuse, so he nodded to Nie Feng and said: "You... go away."
Originally, he should have said "stand aside," but he really couldn't recall that phrase, so he switched back to Mandarin. But Tang Lin added hand gestures, pointing into the distance, and Nie Feng was a smart child, quickly understanding Tang Lin's meaning and hurriedly ran off in a distance.
Tang Lin looked into the entrance of Lingyun Cave, all was pitch-black, who knew where the Fire Qilin had taken King Nie.
After thinking for a moment, Tang Lin said to Nie Feng again, "Your dad... knows how to..."
At the end, Tang Lin got stuck, having to mimic a dog paddle to replace the word swimming.
Nie Feng understood, nodded quickly, "Yes! My dad is a great swimmer!"
The phrase "great swimmer," Tang Lin got that, having received the answer he wanted, Tang Lin took off his backpack and pulled out a gigantic water jug, opened the lid, and poured it into Lingyun Cave. This jug had a full liter of cool water, one of the pieces of equipment Tang Lin had prepared for himself.
To Nie Feng, it was like a waterfall appearing out of nowhere, the rushing water roared into the entrance of Lingyun Cave. In just a few seconds, the jug was emptied. Tang Lin listened closely, it seemed he heard the roar of the Fire Qilin from inside, but it was still a bit far.
"Looks like it's still not enough," Tang Lin muttered to himself, then pressed the water jug into the river beneath his feet.
A massive whirlpool appeared on the river's surface, even the tumultuous waves couldn't hide it. After filling half the jug, Tang Lin started pouring water into the cave again. Repeating this process three times, Tang Lin heard the sound of flowing water change, the hollow cave inside the statue was probably close to being filled.
Just as he was about to pour another jug, he heard a roar and a swift red figure shot out of the entrance of Lingyun Cave.
The Fire Qilin was finally forced out by Tang Lin, and not only that, King Nie was riding on its back, one hand gripping the Qilin's horn, while the other clung to the Snow Blade, furiously hacking at the Qilin's neck.
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