Chapter 17 An Ensemble of the Damned

“If only I could fly like Neo…” Feng Bujue, in freefall, gazed lazily at the night sky and sighed from the bottom of his heart.

Perhaps, with the improvement of his Soul Power, one day he really could fly, but certainly not now.

“Ugh… this is gonna hurt.” Feng Bujue stopped his wild thoughts and slowly rotated in mid-air, his legs slightly bent, preparing to land.

As a result, the impact of landing wasn’t as severe as he’d imagined, and his survival points dropped less than expected. Feng Bujue himself wasn’t sure why.

Actually, this was a sign that his Fighting Specialization was approaching B-rank…

Whoosh—

The giant monster wasn’t far away, already closing in on Feng Bujue. Accompanied by a low growl, its massive claw came crashing down.

At this moment, it was obviously too late to pull out 【Miss Moxxi's Bad Touch】from his bag, and due to the distance and angle, using 【Death Poker】to attack wasn’t ideal either.

So, Feng Bujue steeled his heart and burned another 800 Stamina Points, unleashing the 【Nanto Flying Dragon Fist】.

Since leaving Stan’s house and escorting Randy, Sharon, and Shelly to the mall, exactly half an hour had passed, and the 【Nanto Flying Dragon Fist】's cooldown was complete.

This time, he used the skill while in the Spiritual Consciousness Gathering Technique state, so the attack’s power was naturally even more astonishing. As his fist bloomed, the fighting spirit fully revealed, it actually forced the giant monster back five or six steps.

The guinea pig was enormous and walked on all fours, so those five or six steps were equivalent to dozens of meters.

High cost, high reward. With those dozens of meters of strategic space, Feng Bujue was basically safe. He quickly used Death Poker to strike the guinea pig’s eye, forcing it back further.

As the playing cards flew out, Feng Bujue canceled the Spiritual Consciousness Gathering Technique and turned to sprint, scaling the wall.

Right now, he didn’t have a huge backpack on his back, nor was he carrying anyone, so climbing this building was easy for him.

Without any skills or tools to assist him, Feng Bujue relied solely on his own physical fitness and Soul Power to clear the way, pulling off various extreme parkour moves with ease.

In less than ten seconds, he flipped onto the rooftop, out of the giant monster’s sight.

…………

Peruvian Jungle, beneath the ruins.

Here, there was a rectangular tunnel. From the inside, the walls, ceiling, and floor were all made of yellow rock and soil. Broken wooden stakes and large pieces of rubble were scattered throughout the tunnel, but these things didn’t seem to affect the structure of the passage.

Suddenly, from a corner, a figure holding a torch emerged.

It was Stan, who waited a moment for his little friends behind him as he walked past the corner. "This way, guys."

The other four children followed closely behind. At this moment, Kyle seemed to have made another discovery. He said, "Do you guys hear that? It sounds like water flowing."

"Yeah, it's coming from over there," Cartman added, pointing forward.

Not far ahead, there was a rectangular exit, and bright light emanated from outside the exit.

As they spoke, the group reached the end of the tunnel.

Stepping out of the opening, their vision suddenly broadened. Before them appeared a magnificent underground temple.

The space was very wide and sloped downward overall. Several large braziers were embedded in the gray stone walls around them, and for some reason, all of these braziers were burning. Many water curtains hung high above, the water flowing from the gaps in the stone cave. A suspension bridge with a huge drop and winding left and right ran through the temple, connecting to several stone cliffs; beneath the stone cliffs was a circular waterfall that plunged straight into the abyss below.

Looking around, two giant human-shaped statues were built in front of the walls on either side of the temple, kneeling and facing each other. The facial designs of the statues had a distinct ancient Inca civilization imprint, and from their huge "mouths" hung water curtains that flowed directly into the waterfall below.

“Guys, this is incredible,” Cartman exclaimed, looking at the spectacle before him.

The four main characters exchanged glances, and Stan said, "Let's go, let's go take a look."

Before he finished speaking, the four of them walked forward side by side.

"No," Craig's voice sounded from behind. "I'm not going."

The other four were stunned. They all stopped, and Stan, who was at the front with the torch, turned around and said, "Huh? What are you talking about?"

Craig replied calmly, "I don't want to follow you guys anymore."

"Dude, we have to go check it out," Stan persuaded.

"Why?" Craig asked.

The four of them looked at each other, and Stan was the first to reply, "Because… uh… that's just how things are."

"Every time we encounter similar terrible situations, you guys have to get involved, just because 'that's just how things are,'" Craig complained.

Stan said unhappily, "Hey! We're not the ones painted on the temple prophecy wall! Coward!"

"Whatever," Craig replied, "Say whatever you want, I've made up my mind. I've decided not to mess around with you guys anymore."

Kyle asked, "Then what do you want to do?"

"It's simple," Craig spread his hands and said, "Watch."

With that, he turned around and started to walk back…

The four main characters looked at him in shock, their expressions as if to say: Doesn't this kid know the script?

Craig was like a rare character in a horror movie who had the intelligence of a normal person; he actually turned back.

He returned the way he came, walking out of the ruins. On the contrary, the quartet followed behind him, shouting somewhat helplessly: "Wait! Craig!"

Just like that, Craig walked in front, and the four of them followed him at a distance.

Unknowingly, they walked out of the dense forest, crossing a wilderness, a grassland, and a lake in the moonlight…

Along the way, those four jerks would occasionally blurt out: "Dude, Craig, we should go back to the temple!" "Look, there seems to be something over there!"

But Craig always responded firmly and calmly: "No, don't look, stop dreaming."

Several hours passed, and Cartman finally couldn't help but say, "Dude, this is so boring! We're wandering aimlessly!"

Craig remained unmoved and replied, "That's right, how precious 'boring' is! I just love it."

…………

Two hours ago, the shopping mall rooftop.

“Okay, now, Sharon, Shelly, and Mr. 【Bleep】 are with me on the roof of the mall.” Randy aimed the portable camcorder at his wife and daughters and explained, “We escaped here from the street, and we also met the Stotch family here.” He turned the camera to the other three survivors hiding on the roof.

The Stotch family consisted of three members: the father, Chris, was a latent homosexual (he never admitted it, but he had been caught hiring male prostitutes); the mother, Linda, was a crybaby and extremely prone to nervous breakdowns (she had gone crazy several times); and the son, Butters, was a potentially bisexual, extremely innocent, silly, and cute child.

Butters was an important character in *South Park*’s children’s cast, second only to the four main characters. He had many scenes in the series, and his character had gradually improved over multiple seasons and had considerable popularity.

“This is Chris and Linda, and their son, Butters,” Randy said as he moved the camera.

Butters fidgeted nervously, waved at the camera with a slightly nervous expression, and said, "Hi everyone."

At this time, Feng Bujue was leaning against a wall on the side, restitching his torn wound…

Earlier, when he carried an adult and a child and forcibly jumped to a height of more than ten meters and made a throwing motion, his wound had already burst open. Now, thinking back, the moment of loss of focus when falling from the air must have been a mental blur caused by massive blood loss.

“What should we do next? Mr. 【Bleep】,” Randy asked, running up to Feng Bujue after filming a series of shots.

Feng Bujue really didn’t want to pay attention to this idiot and even had the idea of ​​killing him. Anyway, the side quest was already completed, and the system didn’t stipulate that he couldn’t kill characters from the series.

But thinking calmly, indiscriminately killing the main characters of this world was not a good idea; the chain reaction it would cause was immeasurable. So, Brother Jue chose a plan to cooperate with the NPCs.

“I remember…you play guitar?” Feng Bujue suddenly asked a seemingly unrelated question.

“Ah? Well… yeah, I do,” Randy replied. “Why do you ask?”

“Good,” Feng Bujue responded, but he didn’t answer the other person’s question.

In fact, Brother Jue was just confirming something. He had a relatively deep impression of the character Randy. He remembered that this guy had participated in a choir when he was young and was even pulled by a record company to become a member of a male idol group (the group was called “The Jew Boyz”. Randy joined at eighteen, and a year later the record company said they were already nineteen, too old, so the group was disbanded); in the Guitar Hero episode, he played "Carry On My Wayward Son" on an electric guitar; and he had even been a resident singer in a bar.

In short, Randy could at least play one instrument, had good singing skills, and could dance. Don't look at him as an unrestrained middle-aged uncle, but he was much stronger than those feathered creatures who learned guitar for a few months, only had KTV singing skills, and dared to go to talent shows without even understanding sheet music.

“Does anyone here play the panpipes?” Feng Bujue asked again.

“Uh… I can play the harmonica,” Chris responded. “Why are you asking this, Mr. 【Bleep】?”

“Okay, I think you can handle it…” Feng Bujue replied, then turned to Butters and said, “Butters, you can play the drums, right?”

Butters was an honest child, and he nodded and said, “Yes, sir, but I’m not very good at it.”

“It’s okay, just knowing how is enough,” Feng Bujue pondered. “Well… I myself can play the shakers (a shaken idiophone, also known as a maraca, which originated as a rhythmic percussion instrument among the South American Indians), so…” He thought for a moment and said, “Perfect, the four of us guys can form a panpipe band.”

“Panpipe band?” Randy asked. “Do you mean those Peruvian panpipe bands that were detained by the government?”

“Yes, sss… ah.” Because Feng Bujue was not very focused, the needle in his hand accidentally poked the wound. As he withdrew the needle, he explained, “The weak point of those guinea pigs is panpipe music. As long as we find the instruments, we can use panpipe music to drive them away.”

“What? How is that possible?” Chris asked doubtfully.

“Ha… I really didn’t expect to hear the word ‘impossible’ from you guys,” Feng Bujue sneered. “Last time you were trapped here by a large group of hobos (South Park had a ‘Hobo Night’ crisis, which was similar to the movie *Night of the Living Dead*, except that the zombies were replaced by hobos), why didn’t you consider the so-called rationality?”

“That was different,” Chris shrugged.

“Hobos, hippies, lobster people, future immigrants… I thought you should have gotten used to being invaded by strange creatures on a large scale,” Feng Bujue said.

“Uh… Mr. 【Bleep】, you seem to know a lot about our town. Are you a local?” Sharon asked.

“I’m a superhero, of course I know these things,” Feng Bujue casually said perfunctorily. “Jesus and Santa Claus are my good brothers, and their information is very well-informed, so I know more about your town.”

Everyone showed an expression of "that's how it is."

While speaking, Feng Bujue had finished treating the torn wound, again ending the bleeding.

He glanced at the game menu. Currently, his survival value was 24%, and his Stamina Points were only 5632900. Considering that he had just drunk a supplement not long ago, drinking another one in a short period of time would be very uneconomical, so he planned to stretch it out as long as possible and not drink the second bottle unless absolutely necessary.

“Well… every subsequent action must be cautious. Even if Flying Dragon Fist cools down again, I don’t have the Stamina to release it a third time,” Feng Bujue thought in his heart.

He took a breath, packed up his medical supplies, and stood up, "So… does anyone know where the music department of the mall is?"

“It’s on the northwest corner of the fourth floor, next to the book area,” Linda replied.

“Okay, let me explain the current situation,” Feng Bujue said. “Ladies, gentlemen, and… children. As you can see, these giant monsters that are rampaging everywhere are very powerful, and conventional weapons have no effect.” He raised a finger. "As far as I know, they only fear one thing, and that is panpipe music." He sighed, "Since panpipe music CDs on the market have been classified as dangerous goods by the military and confiscated… right now, if we want to drive away these monsters, we have to play them ourselves."

“But I have to hold this camcorder; I can’t play the guitar,” Randy said righteously, saying another line that showed off his lack of limits.

"Randy!" Sharon yelled at her husband, "What kind of time is this!"

“It doesn’t matter, Mrs. Marsh,” Feng Bujue said easily, turning to look at Randy, “You can get a special headband and tie the portable camcorder to your head, so it won’t affect filming or playing."

This showed Feng Bujue's dark side; he had no intention of reminding Randy… that there was no tape in the camcorder at all.

“Oh, that’s a great idea!” Randy replied happily.

"Then, everyone, follow me," Feng Bujue said as he walked towards the door leading downstairs, "As long as we get the instruments, we will be safe. Let’s act quickly before those monsters attack."

…………

Peru, Machu Picchu ruins.

This place is known as the "Lost City" of the Inca Empire, located on the steepest and narrowest ridges between the Old Man Peak and the Young Man Peak in the Andes Mountains.

By the way, this is a place where alpacas are produced. I don’t know why I specifically said this…

That night, thunderclouds were densely packed, and a Chinook helicopter landed on this ancient mountain peak.

Two fully armed U.S. soldiers and three men in black suits walked out of the helicopter.

The five people soon reached the edge of the ruins. The Minister of National Security, who was walking at the front, suddenly stopped and turned back to say, "You wait here."

After saying that, he didn’t wait for his subordinates to respond and walked forward alone.

Ahead, between the walls of the ancient city, there was a relatively wide square. In the center of the square, there was an area that seemed to be an altar, where a tall golden statue stood.

This statue was about three people tall, and everything from head to toe, including the base, was made of gold (the ancient Incas' metal processing industry was quite developed, and theoretically they had the ability to create such a golden statue. However, this statue here is fictional in the South Park plot and has a certain spoof nature). The statue looked like an elderly Native American, holding a wooden stick in his right hand and…a panpipe in his left hand.

The Minister of National Security walked step by step to the statue, finally stopping about two meters in front of it.

Suddenly, he opened his arms and shouted at the statue: "Look! I stand on your land!" He said, moving closer, "I've waited too long for this moment."

After saying that, this guy unzipped his pants and started peeing on the statue…

While peeing, he laughed wildly, "Ha… hahahaha… hahahahaha!"

The colleagues standing behind him were dumbfounded, thinking: Is the commander crazy?

“Hahaha… where is your bullshit prophecy! Ah?” After the Minister of National Security finished peeing, he shouted arrogantly at the statue, “No one can stop me! No one!”

Unexpectedly, before he finished speaking, five elementary school students walked out from behind a broken wall next to the square…