Chapter 252: Concourse of the Underworld
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The manifestation of a cloud was physically formless. Even when it was shattered, it would gradually rea.s.semble itself, totally unaffected by the blow.
The man dressed in gold scoffed, making a slow landing, but his expression grew darker.
"Lord, did you discover something?" someone asked.
"No." The man clad in gold said darkly, "The weather earlier was the sign of a storm but the rain did not come after so long. The gloom is moving away, dissipating… I was suspicious, so I tested it out…"
He continued ominously, "I must have thought too much about it. Unless Supreme Wind, Cloud, Thunder, and Water are working together, such a phenomenon would hardly ever occur. But I checked for any strange deific consciousness around us earlier and didn’t get anything. Even if these four Supremes weren’t dead, their absence for a single year couldn’t have allowed them to improve to the point of being able to wholly evade my senses. As long as it’s affirmed that it’s not them, everything is fine!"
Yun Yang was profusely breaking out in cold sweat high above in the clouds.
If he had not risen another five hundred feet just for the sake of being safe, he might have been ripped into shards by this sword light. Even if his cloud manifestation was unafraid of physical weapons and it would not have been life-threatening, he would still be injured and would have exposed traces of himself.
Even then, his body had been caught in its ripples and was aching everywhere. He even felt a throbbing headache that did not seem to be going away anytime soon.
Just like the man in gold dress had said – if it had really been Supreme Wind, Thunder, and Water here, they would never have escaped his probe. After all, it was impossible for the three Supremes to have improved as much as he did!
Who was the man clad in gold? How could his ability be so stupendous?
The clouds continued moving slowly while people underneath packed up speedily. A while later, the men in black descended the mountain led by the man dressed in gold.
Seeing that everyone from the other party had left, Yun Yang turned to retreat, even though he was indignant about the situation.
When he was near Tiantang City, he saw a ball of saber light roaming about faraway in a futile search. It was like a headless fly darting about…
Yun Yang snorted inwardly and rose up high in the clouds, leaving quietly.
I still have a lot of things to do, I have no time to play hide and seek with you!
…
Faraway, within a dark eerie palace, First Court King Qinguang was speechless with his head lowered, the top of his head peppered with saliva froth.
"Are you dumb?" A person dressed in white was sputtering in disbelief. "Don’t you think you’re dumb? I’ve never seen someone as foolish as you in too many years!"
There were another eight people around who rolled their eyes as they surrounded First Court King Qinguang.
"This is an idiot!"
"I knew that he was stupid before, but I didn’t expect him to be this stupid!"
"He’s stupid’s father, imbecile!"
"He’s denser than a pig. I’m speechless anyway, too speechless…"
"Ol’eighth! You b.a.s.t.a.r.ds need to watch your mouth! Don’t insult the pigs! Pigs aren’t as idiotic as he is, you can’t give a backhanded insult to compliment him…"
First Court King Qinguang stood in the center, looking pitifully wronged. "I didn’t think it would escalate to this…"
"Say, what were you even thinking of?"
The saliva froth of the muscular man sprayed on King Qinguang’s face the moment he opened his mouth. "No matter how dumb, stupid and dense you are, you should at least check the records! You actually skipped this step and you’re crying pity that you"ve been tricked? Can you even blame the other person for this?"
"Things shouldn’t have gotten to this stage even if there"s nothing but dung in your head!"
First Court King Qinguang kept quiet with a pout after being chastised.
"This child who gave the mission was rather sly, though. He must be the foul and revolting type. Let me go kill him!"
Someone else stood up and said angrily, "Tell me his name quickly, I’ll go put him in his place! No matter how dumb and stupid and dense my brother is, I can’t let him be manipulated like this!"
King Qinguang opened and closed his mouth, still not speaking.
"Have you gotten addicted to being manipulated? Still taking your time to tell us who he is, are you?"
The rest questioned him as well. "Quick, quick! I understand you’ve been made a fool of; we’ll just kill He Hanqing then but this person who played us for fools can’t be forgiven!"
The corners of First Court King Qinguang’s lips twitched as he said, "I’ll never tell you all this person’s name. You fellows can’t kill him…"
The other nine men cried out in confusion, "Did you really turn f*cking stupid? Not only are you stopping us from killing him, you won’t even tell us his name? What are you thinking?"
"Have you found your gratification from being tricked? Are you addicted to it? You’re a pig! Why am I making absurd comparisons again? Sorry, pigs!"
"I don’t f*cking get it… Could it be that this idiot here has been stricken with the other party’s beauty entrapment or enchantment pill? Say, is the person exceptionally beautiful that you’re infatuated with him?"
"Really, who knows if the person might really be a beauty. It’s acceptable to forget everything before a beauty…"
"Impossible, even if it’s acceptable. Boss, check him. Has he been bewitched by some mysterious arcane magic?"
"I think a tras.h.i.+ng is the most practical answer to this. Who knows, he might wake up." Someone was rubbing their hands together in antic.i.p.ation.
"This person really can’t be killed…" First Court King Qinguang was near to tears now. "If he can be killed, would I have not let all of you go?"
"Why not? Does the other party possess some powerful background or a special ident.i.ty?" Half of the group questioned the poor man.
King Qinguang kept silent.
"F*cking h.e.l.l, you better say something…" A few of them were hopping about in impatience. "When have you f*cking turned into an enclosed gourd? You’ve always been an empty vessel, haven"t you?"
"This person…"
First Court King Qinguang said stiffly, "His ident.i.ty is very important…"
"How important?" Someone else asked aggressively. "Even if it’s Dugu Chou’s illegitimate son, I’ll kill him too this time around! Just hurry up and tell me!"
The corners of King Qinguang’s lips pulled before he said, "This person… is either the Nine Supremes’ Supreme Wind or Supreme Cloud."
Once King Qinguang’s words left his lips, the rest of the group fell dead silent.
Nine of them stared at First Court King Qinguang with their eyes as round as saucers, as pin-drop silence permeated the entire eerie palace.
After a long time, someone finally asked, "You – how did you know? Are you sure?"
"How can I not know… A Gold-ranked a.s.sa.s.sin under me was subdued by him. I went to find fault with him and engaged him in a duel… Could you all not know the manifestation powers of Nine Supremes?" First Court King Qinguang chuckled bitterly.
A person in gold robes coughed and said, "Are you really sure? Or was it just a guess?"
First Court King rolled his eyes. "Do all of you really think I’m that stupid? There must be a reason behind what happened, otherwise how could things have come to this?"
The brothers kept quiet then.
"I believe no one will forget the past about Haunting Temple…"
First Court King Qinguang chuckled humorlessly. "Other than Big Brother and Ol’third, the rest of us brothers were trapped in the strange environment of Haunting Temple that time and couldn"t escape. Although our cultivation skills are mystical, they can only hinder the bizarre power of Haunting Temple but we couldn"t hold out forever. Once it was dragged out, we’d have been turned into ghosts by the temple and be forever trapped inside..."
"Luckily the place was not far from Yutang’s battlefield and what a coincidence it had been that Supreme Earth was turning the tides of warfare using his mystique skill of swirling earthen dragon… It had been Big Brother and Ol’third who found Supreme Earth and Supreme Earth had brought his two brothers along – using his power of earth to overturn the outer layer of Haunting Temple, Supreme Wood to direct an abundance of woody plants in penetrating Haunting Temple, followed by the infiltration of Supreme Water’s power. Only then did the shackles of Haunting Temple break and the brothers were saved from the impa.s.se. We brothers owe the Nine Supremes an immeasurable favor…"
"Although Big Brother sent some treasured gems over as a token of grat.i.tude afterward, how can we forget such a favor? How can we not requite it?"
"Although Supreme Earth and his group didn’t know who they’d actually saved back then and didn’t know the true symbolism of what they had done… they didn’t even know that there were eight of our brothers still trapped underneath… can we really forget their virtuous help?"
"The reason I wasn’t on guard and got tricked so easily then… it’s because I’ve had an exchange with this person, I’m sure that he must be one of the Nine Supremes."
"That’s why I stopped. That’s why I didn’t pursue the incident of him taking my Gold ranked a.s.sa.s.sin and was even so very fond and friendly." First Court King Qinguang was still chuckling bitterly. "That’s why I went over without a care when he looked for me. That’s why I’d agreed without checking when he asked me to kill someone."
"Because I know that I couldn"t reject him – can’t refuse his request."
"Of course, it also happened because I genuinely and sincerely wanted to do something for him."
King Qinguang pulled a long face. "I’ve never thought that the person he wanted to kill was actually Supreme Lord Spring Frost – not only is this target out of my expectation, it’s taken me aback because he’s beyond my capability. However, I’ll accept it regardless of the consequences. Actually, whether he tricked me or not, I would have accepted this request! I also believe that if it had been any one of us brothers this times – even when he had explained clearly face to face that his target was Supreme Lord Spring Frost, can you all reject him? Who dares say that he wouldn"t have done the same?"
The other nine people were smiling helplessly, tinged with a sense of awkwardness.
Indeed, how could they not acknowledge such a colossal grace? It could never be refused.
"Although the Nine Supremes didn’t know who it was they’ve helped, we owe them this debt. We can’t possibly act as if it’d never happened!"
First Court King Qinguang said, "From what we know, all of the Nine Supremes have perished… I guess there’s only this one left. It would have been alright if we didn’t know about it but since we do now, and he has asked a favor, we have to fulfill this promise, no matter what!"
"It’s the hardest to repay the debt of favor. If the payment of that day"s grace was not to this person, who else? Are we really going to ignore our conscience and fool ourselves?"
First Court King Qinguang said in anguish, "All of you called me an idiot and said I’m dumb and dense. Even if I were really stupid and dumb and dense and idiotic in this matter, who’s asked us to owe them such a debt? He has come to ask for it, we have to repay it! That fellow might not know about it, but we do!"
The weak smiles on the rest of the nine men’s faces grew even more feeble as they had nothing to say.