Chapter 68 — Azure Dragon

~r Period:~09 Month 21r~

, nuo

Net. By this time someone had already come over to support the Old Vampire, and that bald old man, who seemed to be on fairly good terms with him, went to his side and asked something in a low voice. The Nether King, his hands now free, smiled and said nothing, his manner greatly relaxed, without the slightest sense of a powerful enemy at hand. The pale-faced scholar standing beside him exchanged a glance with him.

"Cangsong, you dog of a Daoist, do you still remember your grandfather?" Suddenly, a hoarse voice came through.

The young disciples on the righteous side all frowned together, and saw that the speaker was that ferocious-looking dwarf, who at this moment was staring fixedly at Cangsong, his eyes full of murderous light, very much like a vicious wolf.

Cangsong gave a cold laugh and said: "Demon spawn, do you remember that sword strike from back then?"

At these words, all saw the muscles of the dwarf's face twist, his teeth grinding, clearly hating to the bone. Then he nodded slowly, drew his hand across his chest from his left shoulder down toward the right, and said viciously: "Good, good, I have not forgotten, and to think you remembered too—that is even better. That sword strike, I will naturally return it upon you."

Cangsong snorted and paid him no mind, his gaze turning to those two who had stood all along to one side, composed and unhurried.

Su Wan's expression was grave; with her vision she too could tell that each of these people was no shallow practitioner, in no way inferior to the Old Vampire of moments ago, and most likely they were all old demons of the demon cult who had not shown themselves for ages.

At this moment, hearing the exchange between Daoist Cangyan and the dwarf, Su Wan asked softly of Tian Buhui, who stood beside her: "Who are these people?"

Tian Buhui's expression was none too pleasant either, his brows knit together, and he said: "That dwarf is called Baiduzi, of the Myriad Poison Sect of the demon cult; that bald old fellow is Duanmu Laozu of Jieshi Mountain, who in the demon cult has always kept to himself. These two and the Old Vampire are all remnants of the demon cult that we hunted down a hundred years ago. As for the other two, one appears to be the leader of this generation of the Nether King Sect, of whom Xiao Yichen spoke, but that pale-faced scholar I have never seen."

Su Wan drew a sharp breath. In that great war of righteous and demon a hundred years ago, her cultivation was not yet accomplished, and she had not gone deep into the wilds with Tian Buhui and Daoist Cangyan and the others. But the names of these men had thundered in her ears in those years, especially Baiduzi and that Duanmu Laozu, notorious beyond measure, outdoing even the Old Vampire.

Just then, that bald Duanmu Laozu suddenly turned his head and swept a glance toward the righteous cultivators, then abruptly cried out in a shrill voice: "Where is Wan Jiangu? Why has that dog-thief Wan Jiangu not come?"

The young disciples of the Canglan Sect were all startled, not knowing what he meant, but Tian Buhui, Daoist Cangyan, Su Wan and the others turned ashen at once, and Cangyan said coldly: "Wan Jiangu? He long ago ascended the Great Way of Heaven, and has already become an immortal. Only a clownish demon like you still stands here barking!"

The demon cult people were all taken aback, and Baiduzi, Duanmu Laozu, and the Old Vampire, who had only just caught his breath, all cried out together: "Dead?"

The Nether King and the pale-faced scholar standing to one side seemed to give a faint shudder as well.

Wan Jiangu—a name never heard among the younger generation of the Canglan Sect—seemed to hold some magic power for these demon-cult giants. The few of them exchanged glances, their expressions subtle, hatred on their faces especially heavy, mixed with a trace of dread; yet none of this could cover the joy deep in the bottom of their eyes.

Duanmu Laozu's expression was complex; he rubbed his bald head and muttered a few words under his breath. The others could not make out what he said, but the last sentence came through clearly enough: "Heh heh, to think that dog-thief would die too, heh heh, heh heh, ha ha ha ha ha..."

As he spoke, the man could not help but break into wild laughter.

The faces of everyone on the Canglan Sect side changed. Daoist Cangyan stared at him and suddenly sneered: "What are you laughing at? He may be gone, but under the Canglan Sect there is no lack of those who subdue demons and vanquish devils—more than enough to deal with clownish demons like you."

"Bah!" A contemptuous voice came from beside him—it was that Baiduzi, who said viciously: "That we cannot kill this fellow with our own hands leaves a hatred in our hearts hard to dispel. Sooner or later we will storm Qingyun, grind his bones to dust and scatter his ashes, and give him no peace even in death!"

The Old Vampire shrieked from behind: "Quite right, just so, else this century-deep hatred of mine cannot be eased!"

Every righteous cultivator changed color; seeing these demon-cult fiends, each vicious and cruel, whose words implied they would not spare even the dead, they were filled with indignation.

Tian Lingsu quietly asked her senior brother Song Dayi beside her: "Eldest Brother, who is this Wan... this Uncle-Master Wan? He seems terribly formidable—even these demon-cult fiends fear him greatly. Why have we never heard of him?"

Song Dayi's expression stirred; he seemed about to speak and then thought better of it, and with a bitter smile said: "Little Junior Sister, when we have time and are back on the mountain, ask Master and Mistress yourself!"

Tian Lingsu pursed her lips, gave a little huff, and said with a touch of pique: "Fine, don't tell me—I'll ask Mother myself." And with that she made to step forward.

Zhang Qingyue saw it and grew anxious; he reached out and caught her, saying in a low voice: "Senior Sister, with a strong enemy before us, don't go up there—we can ask later!"

Tian Lingsu looked ahead, saw that the atmosphere in the field was indeed tense, and so halted, turning back to smile at Zhang Qingyue.

Zhang Qingyue's heart warmed, but unexpectedly another cold snort came from ahead, full of anger, from the demon cult side. He looked up and saw, behind the Nether King, Biluo slowly emerge, staring at him from afar.

For some reason Zhang Qingyue felt a shock at heart and unconsciously let go of Tian Lingsu's hand.

In the distance, among the people of Xiaozhu Peak, Lu Xueling slowly withdrew her gaze from Zhang Qingyue and let it fall upon Biluo ahead, quietly studying her.

At this moment, the Venerable Great Strength, who had all along kept his brows tightly knit and said nothing, suddenly spoke: "Baiduzi, Old Demon Duanmu, when you escaped by luck in those days, you ought to have washed your faces clean and turned over a new leaf. Today you still dare come out to make mischief—are you tired of living?"

"Bah!" The several of them cursed together, coarse words and foul language streaming endlessly.

The Venerable Great Strength's expression shifted slightly, and then he saw that pale-faced scholar who had stood by all along step forward and say with a smile: "This must be the Venerable Great Strength of the Vajra Sect, I presume?"

The Venerable Great Strength looked him over and said: "That is so. And who are you?"

The pale-faced scholar smiled faintly and did not answer, only saying for himself: "If Wan Jiangu of those days stood here and spoke the words you just spoke, we whom you regard as clownish demons would still have some scruples. But with the paltry tricks of cultivation you people of the Vajra Sect command, you had best hide behind the backs of those Canglan Sect folk!"

The demon cult crowd laughed aloud, and even from the dark woods behind them, faint sounds of mockery drifted out.