Chapter 342 Leaving the Rest to Me
The wolf and the Bei were in a mutually beneficial relations.h.i.+p.
In tales, the Bei had no forelegs and so was unable to move around on its own. It had to ride on the back of the wolf to travel.
Compared with the fierce and predatory wolf, the Bei was not that good in fighting. But it was highly intelligent and often a.s.sociated with smart schemes. If there was a Bei living in a pack of wolves, then, it would play a role similar to the Army Advisor, and the terror-inspiring ability of the whole pack would be taken up a notch, too.
Nevertheless, that could only be heard in tales.
Especially in folk tales.
It was just that those who had seen the creature called Bei was very scarce.
None of the countless martial art experts on the pasture had spotted any Bei, though they had encountered numerous packs of wolves.
Therefore, there was another theory saying that there was no creature called Bei on the planet, which was probably the product of the folks’ wild imagination.
Given that the Wave-making Master and Gu Bansheng were old freaks with an extraordinary lifespan, they surely had heard of those tales about the Bei. But to their utter astonishment, on that day, they saw one with their own eyes. Moreover, the Bei they spotted was a very special one. It was the master of Wolf Temple, one of the Nine Superbs in the World… It could be said that the Bei they discovered was standing at the top of the pyramid in human society.
Such a secret would cause a huge sensation around the globe if it ever got out.
Yet, though the two had learned the secret, they appeared to be… dying.
The Bei’s fur was fully gold. He had only one short foreleg and one hind leg left, which was the same as he a.s.sumed the human form as Jiang Qiubai. The Bei was still standing upright. He shone in golden light as if he was burning, and patches of his fur were turning into ashes…
He continued burning his life.
Meanwhile, the pressure in the golden prison was becoming more and more suffocating.
The Wave-making Master roared. He was crushed out of shape by the invisible pressure. Blood spilled out from his mouth, nostrils, eyes, and ears, squirted out from his wounds, forming a cl.u.s.ter of blood fog which wrapped him in. Gu Bansheng was not much better off. Cracks could be heard in all parts of his body. His bones were being snapped, his muscles squashed, his limbs squeezed into piles of mince under the intangible pressure.
What was more terrifying was that golden wall seemed to have been absorbing the blood spurting out of the two Superbs and transforming it into energy to suppress their powers in turn.
“Ah…” Cried the Wave-making Master.
Gu Bansheng felt his facial features were about to burst open.
They all sensed that death was befalling them.
That was definitely not what they had expected.
Hoping for a miraculous escape, they exerted themselves to turn on all the instruments and secret methods. A variety of strange beams of light flew out of their bodies and bombarded the golden wall frantically.
The Wave-making Master opened his mouth and spat out a dark blue pearl which seemed to be made of pure seawater. That was the Shark Pearl, the most treasured object of the Great River. At the same time, Gu Bansheng also strained to drive his Half-holy Half-evil Black-and-white Stone Sword with all his might. Next, two streams of light containing the power that might be able to undermine the world crushed squarely on the golden wall.
“Well, it’s too late… Meet your doom!”
A trace of outrageous cruelty revealed in the eyes of that Bei, the true forme of Jiang Qiubai.
Rumble!
With a thundering noise, the Shark Pearl and the Half-holy Half-evil Black-and-white Stone Sword fell into pieces. Their fragments were quickly ground into dust by the pressure in the golden prison and shot in all directions. The Taoist patterns, the energy, and the Spiritual Qi in the two objects overflew to the air and were instantly absorbed by the golden wall.
The Wave-making Master and Gu Bansheng spilled out mouthfuls of essence blood at the same time.
That pearl and that sword were the most precious object in their factions. But they had already been grounded into dust!
“The golden prison has drawn support from the Everlasting Heaven. Even immortals and demons will be wiped out by it, let alone you guys. You two avaricious men, you’ve eyed the treasures in my Wolf Temple and stretched out your greedy paws towards them. Then, you have to bear the consequences.” The Bei announced. He was aging bit by bit. His vigor of life was draining, but his eyes were incredibly indifferent.
In the blink of an eye, the Wave-making Master and Gu Bansheng were ground to death. Their flesh and bones were reduced to mist, which lingered inside the golden prison.
Their souls emerged. They bellowed, flailed about, but it was of no use.
“Sacrifice your lives and be buried with me.” Said the Bei uncaringly.
Memories flashed back. He thought of the day he comprehended the Great Way and obtained a human form in the Everlasting Heaven. On that day, he vowed that he would never betray a man. Now, he finally kept his words and returned to his original form.
“Senior fellow apprentice, I managed to safeguard this place for you.”
“The Wolf Temple is yours. No one else can take it.”
At the Nine Heaven Gates, the Bei was still wearing a smile, but the light of life in his eyes was dimming.
At that precise moment—
Swoos.h.!.+
A flash of scarlet light rose from the floor in the golden prison.
It was the black-and-red wolf sculpture the Wave-making Master carried. It suddenly sprang to life and began to suck in the mist of the essence left by the Wave-making Master and Gu Bansheng after they were ground in the golden prison. Then, as if being energized, it transformed into a black wolf as large as a calf, issuing black-and-red mist from every pore. Its eyes were reflecting seething scarlet light, which were obviously filled with sinister Qi.
At that scene, the eyes of the souls of the Wave-making Master and Gu Bansheng lit up at once.
“Immortal, help us…”
Like a drowning man who just grabbed a floating wood, their souls shouted the pleads at the top of their lungs.
However, evil red beams shot out from the eyes of that giant black wolf. After a quick glance, it swooped upon them and took a big bite, tearing off half of the Wave-making Master’s soul. As if enjoying something quite delicious, the wolf swallowed down half of the Wave-making Master’s soul in only a few bites. Immediately, its body swelled until it became large as a grown horse. Its black-and-red mane billowed freely, rendering it an evil wolf marching out of h.e.l.l…
“Hoo—”
The wolf let out a prolonged howl.
After that, it charged at the golden wall and crushed against it.
Rumble!
The golden wall trembled. Cracks appeared, as though it were a wall of gla.s.s being hammered.
Despite its effort, the signs const.i.tuted by the blood-colored small snakes inside the wall started to swirl and soon repaired the wall.
However, as the huge evil wolf desperately thrust itself against the wall over and over again, the cracks in the wall increased fast. Gradually, the mending speed of the blood-colored snakes could hardly keep up with the emerging pace of the cracks. In that way, it was only a matter of time before the golden wall collapsed.
Upon seeing that, the Bei, whose vigor was fading, suddenly bounced up, his eyes inexplicably sparkling with the light of life again.
It looked like a burnt oil lamp just got refilled with a little bit of extra oil and the flickering fire grew brighter again.
“It’s you! You led them into the Wolf Temple?” Demanded the Bei.
He was enlightened the moment that huge evil wolf appeared.
According to the old books in the Wolf Temple, there was a kind of evil wolf in the outer world. They were the foe of the Wolf Temple.
“But this one must a demon from the outer world. When did it get into this world?”
The huge evil wolf howled, taking no notice of the Bei’s question.
It dashed back, snapped at the remaining half of the Wave-making Master’s soul and munched away at it like a voracious eater.
“No! Ah… No, I don’t want to die… Immortal… No, you da*n demon, ah…” The Wave-making Master’s soul wriggled like mad. But he had no means to escape the sharp teeth and paws of that huge evil wolf. At last, immensely aggrieved, all of his soul was gulped down. That prestigious Superb, a man standing at the top of the martial arts practice, was finally killed by the so-called immortal he trusted and became nutrients.
“I don’t want to die…” The Wave-making Master let out his last sign.
Watching all that by the side, Gu Bansheng was horrified to the limit.
He knew cooperating with a demon from the outer world was basically as dangerous as traveling along with a tiger. Nonetheless, given his confidence in his ability and the iron law that forbade the true form of the demons in the outer world to descend on that planet, they chose to take a risk. But neither of them foresaw that they would end up with becoming other creature’s meal… They were tricked at the beginning of the scheme.
“Greed sure can kill!”
The Bei kept singing the ancient melodies.
Alarming rings of huge bells carried over from every part of the top of the heavens.
Behind the Nine Heaven Gates, golden light flooded out. The Bei struggled to its foot, mustered the might he did not know he had and lunged at that golden wall. He was going to reinforce the wall with the last bit of his mauled body.
“No matter what, I can’t let that red-eyed evil wolf into the Everlasting Heaven!”
“Otherwise, not only the Wolf Temple but the pasture and even the entire Divine Land will be turned into the Samsara Land of the b.l.o.o.d.y Abyss Demon.”
“What the ancient book in the Wolf Temple recorded is just too dreadful!”
The Bei blundered forward, heading for the golden wall step by step.
“I can’t die now!”
“Can’t!”
A power that came from nowhere supported the moribund Bei to approach that golden wall inch by inch.
Howling…
That huge evil wolf caught the smell of danger as well. It raced towards Gu Bansheng’s soul and opened its mouth.
The souls of the Nine Superbs contained unparalleled energy and could considerably build up one’s strength. That huge evil wolf was merely a cl.u.s.ter of hostile energy at first. But after it devoured the soul of the Wave-making Master, it was almost tangible like a real wolf. If it swallowed Gu Bansheng’s soul, too, it would be substantialized. That equaled to the descending of the real demon.
“How could our Superbs be so easily tricked…”
Gu Bansheng naturally would not just sit there and wait for it to eat him up. It had only caught the Wave-making Master because he was off his guard at that time. But unlike before, Gu Bansheng was alerted. His soul let out a deafening roar and dazzling rays of light shot out from his soul as he turned into a stone sword with one side black and the other white, which resembled the Half-holy Half-evil Black-and-white Stone Sword. That was a spiritual sword he conjured with all his faith, willpower, and understandings on martial art he gained in his life. Next, it decisively thrust at that huge evil wolf.
“Hoo…”
The wolf howled furiously, but it dared not confront that sharp sword head-on.
Because it had also sensed the horrifying destructive power that spiritual sword generated.
The Superb had cast his last but also the wildest move. Even immortals and demons could not survive it.
The huge evil wolf jerked its head sideways to dodge the attack of that spiritual sword. Then, it banged itself frenetically against the golden wall, creating more cracks. But its bones fractured, too. A stream of blood-like energy shot out from its mouth and nostrils. Indeed, it was injured, but clearly, it still wanted to get out of the golden prison at all costs…
“Let us all be destroyed.”
The Bei’s vision became blurred.
All that he could compromise, donate, and sacrifice… was done.
It was time to sacrifice him.
As that huge evil wolf might break through the wall at any given second, and that Bei was about to be fully merged into the golden wall, all of a sudden, a large, firm hand appeared without any notice. It propped the Bei up and grabbed him back.
“Leave the rest to me.”
A familiar voice said.
The Bei abruptly stiffened.
“My senior fellow apprentice! You are finally here?”