Chapter 132 — The Fierce Spirit
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"Step aside!" the Lich said slowly, after a long silence.
The fierce spirit regarded him coldly. "Before the Goddess's statue, have you still no remorse?"
The black robes stirred again. Beneath them, it seemed, he too was deeply agitated—yet he did not, after all, turn to look once more upon the stone woman.
"I was not wrong. It is the Goddess who was wrong!" he said, his voice harsh.
"ROAR!"
The fierce spirit howled in sudden fury, a howl like thunder from the heavens crashing down upon the mortal world, blasting sand and stone into the air for li around: "Beast! Shameless wretch, that you dare speak such words!"
Far off, Jin Pingyue knitted her brows and could not help pressing her hands to her ears. At such distance she could not make out the exchange between the black figure and the white, but this sudden explosive roar of the fierce spirit came at her almost like thunder at her ear, leaving her ears ringing.
In the distance, the Lich's face was hidden behind black gauze; no expression could be seen. But by his voice alone, ever more desolate and anguished, one could tell: "I was not wrong, I was not wrong..."
He murmured to himself—whether to the fierce spirit, or to himself, or perhaps to the stone statue behind him, it was impossible to say.
"Hei Mu, kneel at once before the Goddess's statue and beg forgiveness. Put an end to your foolish delusion, and we are still brothers. Otherwise, from this day on, do not blame me for turning merciless."
The Lich trembled. He raised his head. "You—you still count me as a brother?"
"I do!" the fierce spirit bellowed. "Only break off this mad longing, beg forgiveness before the Goddess's statue, then stand watch with me over the Goddess and guard this Ancient Cave of Demon Suppression—and you, Hei Mu, will forever be my brother!"
The Lich's black robes drifted in the wind, and one could faintly sense the turmoil within him. Yet after only a moment his body gradually stilled, and he fell silent. The fierce spirit watched him, and the earnest hope in his face at last turned to a deeper wrath.
"You still will not turn back?" the fierce spirit roared.
The Lich's voice was now wholly calm, as calm as his everyday tone. Quietly he said, "I have no road back."
"ROAR!" With a furious bellow the fierce spirit swept his giant sword down through the air, slashing past before the Lich. In an instant sand and earth flew up, and the ground near and far seemed to shake.
Jin Pingyue's expression changed. This fierce spirit's cultivation was higher even than she had imagined.
Yet the Lich showed not the slightest fear. Coldly he regarded the fierce spirit. "Elder Brother..."
"Silence!" the fierce spirit raged. "I am not your elder brother!"
The Lich said mildly, "Even if you do not acknowledge me, I will still forever acknowledge you as my elder brother. But back then it truly was the Goddess who was wrong. As matters stand, I mean to do for the Goddess what she left undone!"
The fierce spirit grew more furious still. "Are you mad?"
The Lich drew a deep breath. "Even if I am mad, this is a thing I will do!"
With that, his form drifted, and he floated toward the Ancient Cave of Demon Suppression. The fierce spirit, plainly beside himself with rage, gave a great shout and brought his giant sword down straight at the Lich's head. The force of this blow surpassed the last; the rock walls about the cave mouth shuddered and seemed on the verge of collapse.
Watching from afar, Jin Pingyue could not help but worry for the Lich—but by now he had vanished into the Ancient Cave of Demon Suppression, his figure screened by the rock walls, and she could no longer see how he and the fierce spirit traded blows.
Within the ancient cave, when the flying sand and stone had settled, the fierce spirit howled on without cease—but the Lich's figure was already gone.
Only from the deep darkness at the cave's heart came the Lich's faint, distant voice: "Elder Brother, in life and in death you were a hero without peer. It is only that we are now the same kind of creature. Why must you..."
The fierce spirit shrieked shrilly, a wail of desolation, as though a blazing fire were consuming his heart and lungs.
Silence fell within the Ancient Cave of Demon Suppression. Plainly the Lich had gone far.
The fierce spirit fell silent. After a moment he slowly turned toward the stone statue at the cave mouth. His vast white body twisted slowly, and gusts of white vapor coiled about the stone woman like blue smoke.
"Goddess..."
A low choking sob, born of grief and vicissitude from a world apart, carrying a faint note of helplessness, echoed quietly between heaven and earth. And his figure too began to drift apart, slowly fading in the black vapor and sinister wind.
Before the Ancient Cave of Demon Suppression, calm returned, as though nothing had happened at all. Only the woman's stone statue still stood there quietly, and the never-ceasing cold shrieking, from deep within the cave, calling on and on.
That sound seemed sharper, more bitter still.
In the Central Plains, in the south, Mount Huqi.
Beneath the desolate mountain range lay concealed the main hall of the Nether King Sect of the Demonic Cult, where countless disciples came and went in ceaseless bustle.
In the deepest part of this place, within a vast natural cavern, the Nether King stood expressionless upon a platform, gazing down at the two ancient marvel-beasts in the blood pool below.
The Kui Ox soaked in the bloody water, motionless, its eyes gone dim. And the Yellow Bird, which had struggled so fiercely not long ago, seemed now suppressed by some eerie force; its spirit too had flagged, and it floated quietly in the blood, no longer stirring.
The Fuxuan Cauldron, suspended alone in midair, glowed with red light and turned slowly, casting beam after beam of red radiance down to enshroud the Kui Ox and the Yellow Bird.
A thick stench of blood filled the cavern.
A black shadow flickered, and the most mysterious figure in the Nether King Sect, Master Gui, flew up to appear at the Nether King's side.
The Nether King looked at him. "How goes it?"
Master Gui was dressed somewhat like that mysterious figure who had appeared in the southern lands, the Lich—both in black robes, both with faces veiled in black gauze. Only his voice sounded somewhat older.
Now the black gauze stirred slightly, and he gave a small nod. "It is nearly done. The Kui Ox is subdued; within three days the Yellow Bird too can have its spirit drawn into the formation. The Four Spirits Blood Array is already half complete."
The Nether King said nothing and slowly nodded.
Master Gui said mildly, "Setting aside the orthodox sects—with but half the power of this Four Spirits Blood Array, it is already enough to sweep away the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect and the Confusion Sect."
The Nether King glanced at him. Slowly he said, "What I must deal with is the Canglan Sect's Immortal-Slaying Sword Array."
Master Gui was silent.
The Nether King turned and walked slowly away, saying as he went, "I will hasten the search for the other two marvel-beasts. The affairs here I leave to you."
Master Gui watched that figure recede from behind, strange lights flickering in his eyes—what he was thinking, none could say.
After a long while he turned back, sunk in silent thought. Then of a sudden he sighed, and with a flicker of his form flew back down toward the blood pool below.
Within the ancient cavern, the reek of blood abruptly grew stronger again.
The Nether King emerged from the blood-pool cavern, hands clasped behind his back, and walked the long corridor until he came to a crossroads. After a moment's hesitation a flicker of sorrow seemed to pass across his face, and he turned onto the path to the right.