劍問蒼天 - 第126章 巫妖 - 清風書屋

Ahetai stared at the pearl a few times and could not help growing tense. Though he had said he did not fear this mysterious man in black, the witch demon—however modest his shamanic power—had always been one of the Beast Demon's most important and capable lieutenants, and no one knew what strange secret arts he might possess.

Just as he was secretly weighing whether to attack at once and not let the man in black play his tricks, the man's palm closed, and he made an even stranger movement.

His hand clenched, and with a crack the black pearl was crushed outright. A moment later the fragments, like sand, slipped down from his palm.

Ahetai was startled by the gesture and gathered himself on guard; he had heard before of the witch demon's art of poison. But the mountain wind blew past, and the fragments scattered with it—and the wind was blowing in the opposite direction from him. He waited a while longer, yet nothing happened at all.

Ahetai laughed aloud. "What trickery are you up to? Do whatever you like—what can you do to me..."

Before the words were out, his voice abruptly broke off, as though something had suddenly lodged in his throat.

Almost at the same instant, a light suddenly flared in the darkness, illuminating the surroundings, dazzlingly bright. And the source of this light was, astonishingly, shooting out from Ahetai's own body.

In an instant came a series of muffled thuds—"puff, puff, puff..."—and more than a dozen rays of light burst from within Ahetai's body outward. At a glance he looked almost as though a dozen holes had been opened all at once in his body—both absurd and horrifying.

Ahetai could not utter another word. His mouth hung open; he slowly raised his head, an expression of terror and disbelief on his face.

The man in black floated coldly before him and said slowly, "His Eminence the Beast Sovereign long ago foresaw that you could not be trusted. When he transmitted the black fire to you, he deliberately kept back this Black Fire Essence Pearl. Destroy the pearl, and the power of the black fire must turn back upon its master—and you die by the very art His Eminence the Beast Sovereign gave you!"

Ahetai's eyes were full of terror and remorse. His mouth gaped wide, but only a hoarse rasping came out. A moment later the muffled thuds came again in succession—"puff, puff, puff"—and with a boom the black fire came roaring out from within his body, swallowing his whole frame, blazing fiercely.

In a short while, this ambitious man had been reduced to ashes.

Only the Bone Jade Black Staff remained, lying quietly in the ashes.

The man in black floated over and beckoned with his hand; the Bone Jade Black Staff was drawn through the air into his grasp. He gave a cold laugh and was about to leave when he suddenly turned his head and looked toward the darkness on the other side of the valley. "Who is it?" he said in a low voice.

In the darkness, after a long silence, a figure slowly stepped out—grey robes, white beard, a face deeply lined. It was none other than Shangguan Lue of Fenxia Valley.

At this moment he gazed at the man in black, then at the two crimson fires behind him, full of hostility. At last his eyes came to rest on the Bone Jade Black Staff in the man's hand.

In that look, he seemed to have aged thirty years in an instant.

Clearly the man in black had not expected to meet Shangguan Lue here, and from his manner, he and Shangguan Lue were in fact old acquaintances. After the first moment of astonishment, the man in black was silent a while, then said slowly, "Eighty years since we last met, is it not, old friend?"

The lines on Shangguan Lue's face looked deep as though carved with a knife. "You people," he said, one word at a time, very slowly, "have finally been unable to restrain yourselves from coming out, have you?"