Chapter 142 — Calamity
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 6 of 6
The white-boned demon serpent hissed again and again, beat its wings, and gave chase.
Qinglong flew on for a while, and being after all deeply versed in the Dao, he gradually left the white-boned demon serpent and the other monsters far behind. Seeing that the distance had grown considerable, he was just wondering whether he ought to shake off these monsters and turn back to Qili Dong to see how the Miao were faring—
—when at that moment, from the corner of his eye, he caught a flash of purple light in a patch of forest below, and then blood splashed up, and the hissing roars of demon beasts rose and fell on every side. In an instant, demon beasts from all directions were rushing toward the spot beneath him.
Seen from the air, countless hideous demon beasts came clawing and fanging, surging like the boundless waves of an evil sea—a sight truly breathtaking.
And mingled among them was the angry shout of a woman.
Qinglong's heart stirred; several thoughts flashed through his mind like lightning, and at last he wheeled downward to take a look.
The moment he entered the forest he caught a foul stench that made him want to retch. Everywhere lay the corpses of demon beasts, torn limb from limb upon the ground, blood splashed all about. And not far off there was indeed a woman fighting a horde of demon beasts, in her hand a treasure that flashed with purple radiance, its edge flickering bright—plainly no common thing.
Qinglong's eyes narrowed, and he blurted out, "The Purple Radiance Blade... you are Jin Pingyue?"
The woman seemed startled as well. She glanced back, her body drifting over, yet her hands never paused; where the purple radiance flashed and extended, three more demon beasts were cut down.
"Who are you?" Jin Pingyue said coldly, alighting beside Qinglong.
Qinglong was puzzled. With Jin Pingyue's cultivation at this moment, why did she not rise into the air and fly? Once in the sky, only a scant few of these demonic beasts could follow; would that not make things simple?
Though such thoughts ran through his mind, Qinglong still made ready to answer. Yet before he could open his mouth, he and Jin Pingyue both shuddered at once, as though struck by some premonition, and together they raised their heads and looked ahead.
The countless demonic beasts that had been sunk in a frenzy only a moment before suddenly receded like the turning tide. But from deep within the forest ahead, a cold killing intent came sweeping toward them, and the chill of that formless intent was such that even two figures of their lofty cultivation could not help but shiver.
A shock ran through Qinglong's heart. In the southern borderlands there could still be such a terrifying thing as this!
Even as they stood frozen in dread, the next instant, behind a giant tree ahead, a figure flickered abruptly into view, and a man came slowly walking out.
He was clad in garments of vivid silk, his black hair falling loose upon his shoulders, his hands long and white. His features were handsome beyond measure; he was a youth so beautiful as to verge on the bewitching.
Qinglong stared, somewhat dumbstruck. But almost at that very moment he suddenly sensed that Jin Pingyue's body beside him, for some unknown reason, had begun to tremble faintly after the youth appeared.