Chapter 848 - 848 14.124 Last Violet Star - (Past) Lao Hei and Xiao Bai.
848 14.124 Last Violet Star – (Past) Lao Hei and Xiao Bai.
In the Xie Clan’s Territory...
After Zero snuck through the secret pa.s.sages that connected to the hidden chamber under the Xie Clan’s main mansion and his teammates’ auras can be felt coming from this direction. He moved away from the battleground where Lu Yi and the others were engaged in combat and looked for the rest of his men. He travels silently while avoiding making any noise in the dim pa.s.sageway that connects to somewhere.
Then Zero glanced at his own shadow where some of his teammates were hiding and said, “What is this place? Why is our companions’ aura leading in this direction?” On his way here, he discovered them and they followed him. “Are you certain this is where it was?”
“I’m sure, Leader!”Please visit f????e??o???. co?
“They definitely dragged our comrades’ bodies into this location. We didn’t dare to approach so closely as we felt a strong aura of resentment coming from here.”
“Resentment Qi? Are you sure?” asked Zero.
“We are sure. It was definitely resentment qi.”
Zero says, “Then this might be the hidden hideout of the Demonic Cultivators that worked for the Xie Clan. But how come they weren’t fighting above like the other Clansmen of Xie? They are so detached from them...”
“Leader, actually I came here once. This place is weird and the strangest of all is the man that leads them...”
.....
“Hm? What are you talking about?” asked Zero only to be surprised by the scene before him.
A red flower called Lycoris is in full bloom covering the whole area. Hidden within the cl.u.s.ter of red flowers were corpses wearing full black robes. There was no smell of blood or decay on the corpses, which were placed in a row in the garden of red spider lilies. Instead, they had the fragrant perfume of lycoris. A man in white robes with white hair and blind eyes was standing in front of them.
He appears to be the living dead, although he is actually still alive. He exudes a deathly air despite not being at all influenced by it. Yes, like meeting a ghost in broad light.
The blind man has a spectral appearance, yet he also seems kind and elegant. No one could dispute the peculiar atmosphere of otherworldliness emanating from him, despite the fact that his look isn’t as sophisticated as Lord Bai Wuan’s. It’s nothing like the domineering air Bai Wuan exhibited when he was immortal. Instead, it was a sense of isolation and disconnection from the living. Yes, the somber vibe that comes with being in a home that is haunted and full of spirits.
The blind man gazed in Zero’s direction as if he could see him there, his pupils white. When Zero stares at this man, he can immediately sense the powerful aura of death and resentment on him. However, this Demonic Cultivator was completely untouched by the negative energy, in contrast to the other Demonic Cultivators who were. It is the same sensation as running across someone who was connected to the afterlife. Zero had experienced this sensation just once before. It was the same feeling when he first met Bai Wuan and thought that he wasn’t an ordinary person when he first saw him. A being individual who doesn’t belong in this world. A person who is unaffected by anything in this life, not even death.
The blind guy with white eyes asked, “Are you coming to pick them up? When I saw them, I knew that they weren’t going to die like those other people who perished. Your souls are no longer linked in this realm but rather in a place that is within reach yet so far away. You and the others who were hidden in your shadows shared the same aura.”
A bit stunned Zero controlled his expression and remained his usual poker face while giving the blind man a scrutinizing gaze, “Are you a member of Xie Gui?” Zero questioned. “Who are you?”
“Me? I’m someone without a name. Born without normal eyes but can see through this world more clearly. You... are human yet not. You have a mortal’s body but your soul is free from the reins of the dead. You can be revived however many times you want as long as that person whom you surrendered your soul to is still alive, and you would be able to live forever.”
“Your people are different. They are like you, but not as well. Only you are able to bring them back to life since their lives were in your hands.”
“You may call me Xiao Bai, but I am not a.s.sociated with Xie Gui. I just followed my destiny and waited here for that person to come to visit me.”
The blind guy known as Xiao Bai turned around and stopped looking at Zero. He did nothing but stand there vulnerable with his back straight on them. Watching the Lycoris garden without saying anything anymore. Zero received the impression that this individual had been waiting for him to pick up his group. After all, his people make up the sole corpses in his garden. Sadly, he wasn’t the person he had been looking for.
In order to awaken his comrades, Zero moved toward the red spider lily garden. When Bai Wuan picked them up, he bestowed on them the gift of immortality. While his brothers submitted their souls to him, he offered his to his lord. They could be revived as long as he is still alive, and Zero would live forever as long as Bai Wuan does.
Their names were now listed in the book of the registry that serves King Wuan rather than in the archives of the underworld. Their Lord is an Immortal from the Upper Realm, something they have already known. They would continue to exist in the underworld once he returns there and they would live there in order to govern and maintain the realm of the dead.
Once Zero’s qi had invaded his subordinates’ bodies, they started shaking as if they weren’t dead corpses at all. The qi of Zero is a catalyst to wake them up, the moment they woke up, their wounds vanished completely. Even though they aren’t alive, they weren’t all that different from the living. They had been ghosts who had been reincarnated as underworld beings that only existed for the Underworld.
The dead bodies in the flower field began to awaken one by one. They even began to stretch, as if they were accustomed to situations in which they would die and then resurrect.
“Boss, you’re finally here!”
“Did the little lord and his man safely returned to the Lan Zhuayun Sect?”
“Eh? Where the h.e.l.l is this place?! Lycoris...”
“Wow~ these are real flowers. For some reason, it is so relaxing here.”
Zero was standing next to the blind man, Xiao Bai. The latter did not interrupt or make any comment regarding what was taking place in front of him. He may not have reacted since he is blind, but Zero was aware that he is also capable of seeing other things.
“Are you the head of the Demonic Cultivation Cult?” Zero asked. “You knew I would be coming for these brats and gathered them here right?”
Xiao Bai responded, “Yes and No.”
“Yes, I created them. It is more like giving them a chance to be like a cultivator yet not at the same time. There are disadvantages and I warned them about it. But in the end, most of them had still gone insane,” explained Xiao Bai. “No, because I don’t lead them. They are free to do whatever they want. The karma they would acc.u.mulate would be for them alone.”
“Are you able to glimpse the future?” Zero inquired once again. “Do you know who you’ve been waiting for?”
The only thing Xiao Bai could see when he looked up above him was the cave’s stone ceiling. “I don’t see anything specific—just a part of an unknown future. As for the one I’ve been waiting for, all I know is that... He is a being unrestrained by the laws of heaven. Carefree and mischievous yet cruel and cold-hearted. His eyes... are the embodiment of the moon.” However, Zero believes that this man can see the sky from this location for some reason.
People who were close to Zero had a sense that they were familiar with the subject of the blind man’s story. They were debating speaking out but decided to let their boss decide. After all, that Venerated Being that saved them may be the one this blind guy really wished to see.
“I think I know who that man you were waiting for is. I can bring you to him after everything which should be done in this place is over. Wait here for a while,” said Zero as he prepared to leave this place with his people and looked for the Demonic Cultivators they were supposed to eliminate.
Neither did Xiao Bai agree to his statements nor did he attempt to stop them from leaving.
He just posed one question.
He inquired, “What is your name?” to Zero.
“Lao Hei is my name,” Zero said, before continuing to walk away without looking back. Before leading his people away from that location, he gave the blind guy just a fleeting glance.
Xiao Bai observed Zero leaving as he walked away. Despite the fact that he is blind, his eyes can see through him to his soul.
“A blazing pure black soul. It’s very lovely,” The blind man said as the Lycoris flowers before him started shaking and changing into a human shape wearing pure white attire identical to that of Xiao Bai. “It is a soul that meant death itself...”
They had to kneel down to Xiao Bai and show him respect. These ent.i.ties were undoubtedly beings who worked for the blind guy since they had always existed from the beginning.
“Master, are you going to come with them? They seem to know the being you had been looking for.”
“No, didn’t he say to wait here? He didn’t want us to get involved in the thing happening on the surface. They would be finished soon and would come back afterward...” said Xiao Bai. “What do you think of him?”
The blind guy questioned his subordinates about what they thought about Zero. They had been observing the man ever since he entered their cave which is impossible even for the human clan that lives above them is capable of. Even though they live underneath their house, the Xie Clan is unaware of them.
“That person is strong. There is something in him that makes it hard for me to imagine him dying. He isn’t like his people whose bodies would die once killed.”
“His body possesses the strongest unknown energy that grants him immortality. It is something that wasn’t originally his but... He can use it whenever and wherever he wants to.”
“Moreover, that energy inside of him is similar to master but in a much fiercer form.”
“Yes, we possessed the same energy. But mine can only create a few things while he can directly erase things. It felt weird as if we exist to complement each other,” remarked Xiao Bai.
“Master, aren’t we going to help them up there? What if that being is connected to those humans who attacked the ones that live above us?”
“Well, good thinking. Make sure to keep those humans who just arrived alive but don’t let them see you. If Lao Hei notices you, tell him I command it. He should understand,” said Xiao Bai.
The men in white standing in front of him bowed and exclaimed, “As you order, Master!” before dispersing into the cave.
—-
In the meantime, Zero and his crew run across the group of Demonic Cultivators lurking in the rear of the Xie Clan’s Mansion not far from the cave where Xiao Bai is. The backyard of the Main Mansion of the Xie Clan is the sole exit from Xiao Bai’s cave. When one of Zero’s subordinates talked to his superior, they had just completed destroying their adversaries.
“Boss, is it alright to let that blind man know about the Lord?”
“Let the Lord decide. He always likes interesting things the most. That man’s name Xiao Bai isn’t simple. My instinct is telling me he is quite dangerous himself. That cave... I didn’t notice it at first when we came in but when we went out it suddenly disappeared, didn’t you notice it,” said Zero. “Well. As long as he wasn’t an enemy we should get along with them well. They have a similar presence like us after all.”
“Yes, Boss!”
After the annihilation of the Demonic Cultivators in the rear, Zero and his team re-joined the squad that was being led by Lu Yi and the others. They supported them as they fought the Xie Clansmen until none of them remained. Sounds of flying and explosions may be heard not far from the Mansion. Clearly, the fight against Xie Gui is not over yet.
In terms of what Zero and Xiao Bai will eventually become, they will be the White and Black Impermanence that directly serves King Wuan and takes over control of the whole Underworld for him. They sift the souls and a.s.sign their standing in accordance to their collected karmas and merits before sending the souls to the Reincarnation Hall, which is governed by Bai Hua, the sister-in-law of King Wuan, or to be tried in the Hall of Judiciary.