Chapter 287 - The Return (2)

Chapter 287 The Return (2)The seven dark-cloaked assassins had been waiting for them! The students of Elder Plum were startled to see themselves ambushed, “YOU! Who are…”

Two magic bolts flayed at them before they could finish, but Xiao Chen reappeared out of nowhere to parry the magic bolts. He looked coldly at the seven assassins pursuing them. “You’ve come for me. Spare the others.” He sent a jolt of True Energy into the Flying-cloud Stone, giving it a nosedive down to earth. With a deafening crash, it landed on the ground.

“We’ll be able to get to Tianyuan City from here. Leave everything else to me and go back!” With that, Xiao Chen lunged at the seven men.

Elder Plum’s students immediately steered their stone conveyance up into the sky and bolted back in the direction from whence they came.

Huangfu Xin’er threw herself into the fray to assist Xiao Chen. With most of her powers returned, she turned into a deep scarlet mist that enveloped the seven men, lashing them raw with her razor-sharp fingernails which had elongated like menacing fangs, leaving death and decay in her wake.

The battle waged for tens of minutes with hardly any side showing any signs of giving or taking the battle. The seven men held their ground with a synergy so impeccable that could only be whetted from countless hours of tireless training, hardly dissimilar to the modus operandi of the Hidden Fragrance Wafting Under the Moon.

In a brief moment of respite, Xiao Chen landed before a huge boulder. An angry glare from him flashed furiously at his attackers. “At least allow me the name of the man who has commissioned you for my life.”

By now, Xiao Chen was quite as good as certain that these seven men were operating under commands from neither the Clans of Ling and Zuoqiu. Their tenacity and skills were proof enough that they must be working for a faction far stronger and powerful.

“Nothing that a dead man needs to concern himself with!” The leader of the seven hissed ominously. As he spoke, he pounced forward, sending an arc-like magical bolt from his saber that missed Xiao Chen barely by tens of feet and slammed into the boulder behind him, smashing it to smithereens.

“Your skills and synergy are immaculate and even rare. But hark my words: you are still miles behind the most dangerous and deadly assassination squad that walks this earth: the Hidden Fragrance Wafting Under the Moon…”

A deathly and putrid aura, reeking of blood and decay, immediately shrouded the woods around the clearing, before twelve voices echoed across the glade in unison, “PRAY FORGIVE OUR LATENESS, MASTER!”

The leader of the seven yanked his head back in surprise, only to find that all six of his subordinates were lying in puddles of blood, their heads all missing.

“Your courage to dare intercept me so near to Tianyuan City is admirable. But how will that courage fare you against my most subordinates…”

For once, the lone man found himself almost petrified by fear. Frantically weaving the spell for his Earth-fleeing Skill, he rushed to formulate his escape when Xiao Chen breathed with ice in his voice, “Qingluan.”

Two shafts of light streaked from the thickets around the man, followed by a loud crack that rang like the splitting of wood and blood began pouring from him. He collapsed to the ground, trisected at his head and waist.

Xiao Chen watched with dismay; he had wanted Qingluan to capture the man alive to find out the secret identity of his enemy. But everything was too late now.

“MEOW! What a horrible this is!” Zhiluan shrieked with fright, its cat head finally appearing from behind a tree.

Huangfu Xin’er walked to Xiao Chen and surveyed the twelve ravishing lasses now standing before them. “I’m leaving,” she muttered frigidly without allowing Xiao Chen to respond and transformed into a brilliant red glow that streaked towards Tianyuan City.

“Xin’er…” Xiao Chen sighed. This parting would see them both as strangers once more, he feared.

After a heartbeat, Qingluan came to him. “Master,” she addressed Xiao Chen, “Shall we be returning to Tianyuan City?”

Xiao Chen grinned gently at her, amused at her ever-so-serious demeanor. “Ah,” he said suddenly, “How did you know I’m returning today?”

“We have been patrolling around here for signs of you, Master,” Ziyun’er quipped, “We’ve discovered the trails of these seven men loitering suspiciously around here lately, so we laid around here in hiding. Where have you been, Master? We were worried sick and were beginning to think if you’d abandoned us for good.”

“Impudence!” Qingluan snapped at once.

Ziyun’er stuck a tongue out playfully. Xiao Chen giggled and replied, “It’s fine. I’ll tell you everything when I have the chance later. How fares Tianyuan City now? Is there anyone else who had been missing?”

“You were right that you were not the only one missing, other than the Empress of the Heartless Palace who was evidently with you, Master,” Qingluan revealed, “There’s another who’s yet to return, Xiaoyue of the Thousand Feathers Sect.”

Xiaoyue? So she’s missing too? Xiao Chen mused quietly. Immediately he asked, “So she’s not back yet until now?”

“Indeed, Master. Lady Xiaoyue has yet to show herself.”

“Is she still lost, or is she remaining in hiding?” Xiao Chen began wondering, his eyes narrowing. “Could she be hiding in the bowels of Tianyuan City? But what for? Is she trying to mislead everyone into thinking that she is missing herself for some unknown designs? But this would mean she would have nothing to do with everything that has happened in Tianyuan City until now.”

His thoughts wandered to the night in the Forest of Illusory Moon, when Qin Xinyan had spoken privately to him after his help in defeating Wan Gufeng. Qin Xinyan had led him aside to divulge to him a secret about their previous excursion to the Wuwang Wind Cloud City.

When everyone was still trapped in the illusion during their incursion into the accursed desert city, Xiaoyue was the first to free herself from the hallucinations while Qin Xinyan was the second. He woke up in time to witness Xiaoyue’s intent to murder Xiao Chen. But being weaker than the leader of the Thousand Feathers Sect, he could only remain quiet and observe while pretending to be still asleep. Fortunately for Xiao Chen, Xu Gu woke up just seconds after and Xiaoyue was forced to abandon any intents to kill Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen felt himself slick with cold sweat on his back as Qin Xinyan revealed to him Xiaoyue’s treachery. He could fully comprehend how close he was from Death when he was still trapped in the illusory domain at that time and Xiaoyue could have easily slain him with a lift of her finger. “To think that the witch even suggested an alliance,” he reflected bitterly.

“Who is this Xiaoyue actually, Master?” Qingluan asked suddenly, interrupting his thoughts when she saw him frowning to himself.

Xiao Chen recovered just as quickly and shook his head wearily. “All of you must be wary of her. She’s a cunning and devious figure, not one you should be trifling with.”

Wearing a smug and self-satisfied grin, Zhiluan marched over. Ziyun’er looked at it and cried, “Why are you here, you scaredy-cat!”

“My name is Zhiluan!” Zhiluan thundered at the top of its voice. But it quickly collected itself and spoke imperiously to Xiao Chen, “Humph! You would have long died in the snowy mountaintop if not for me, boy! You’d do best to remember this!”

“Oh? So this cat has its uses after all!” With her psychokinesis magic, she summoned the cat up into her arms, giggling cheerfully.

“Meow! Let go! Let go of me!”

Xiao Chen looked in the direction of Tianyuan City. “Let’s go back,” he said, “But quietly. It’s best to keep low for now.”

Xiao Chen got himself informed of the happenings in Tianyuan City since his disappearance. Most of the conjurers from the rest of the other sects and schools had entered the Violet Illusory Land to train where one could enjoy improvements never before experienced outside. Thanks to this boon, Zuoqiu Yang and Ling Fei, among many others were now mere paces away from reaching Nascent Soul Realm.

That would also mean that those formerly weaker than him were now beyond him in powers and magic. Xiao Chen could not help but feel tense and uneasy by this; not only he had lost millennia of time, but he had also lost another two months and was getting left behind.

Finally, Ziyun’er had another news: a Clan of Mo had emerged from nowhere, claiming to be one of the six most ancient houses. They had appeared almost a couple of weeks after Xiao Chen’s disappearance while making no attempts to conceal their intention to challenge Xiao Chen to a duel.

“Could it be Mo Yu?” Xiao Chen wondered instinctively, thinking of the traitor whom he last encountered during his time at the Three Pure Sect. “Could it really be him?” He took a deep, melancholic breath and exhaled wearily. “The enemies just keep coming out of the woodwork and each of them is stronger than the last.”

“First, the Clans of Ling and Zuoqiu, then a heretofore-unknown school of conjurers who call themselves the Fallen Immortals Sect. Notwithstanding a Xiaoyue whose loyalties still wavers like a grass stalk in the wind. Worst, my final nemesis is still waiting—Qianyu Nishang! She who had betrayed me thousands of years ago, could already be an Immortal King of the Heavens now!”

Xiao Chen rubbed his fingers, swallowing hard before damping his lips with saliva. “The enemies will only keep on growing and I cannot suffer any more delays! POWER! POWER! That is just what I need and I need to climb as quickly as possible!”

An hour later, they reached Tianyuan City. To prevent from being noticed, Xiao Chen sent Qingluan and her sisters ahead to the Daoist League of the Five Continents to inform Zi Mo.

On the way, Xiao Chen had expressly warned Zhiluan to be careful; the perils that lurked in Tianyuan City were no lesser than the Burg of the Feral Phoenix they had just returned from and it was only prudent that Zhiluan should keep itself quiet to prevent from being abducted.

The Immortal Lingzhi was hardly pleased to hear this, but it understood fully how perilous a force that greed could be. Hence it snuck quietly in Ziyun’er’s arms, pretending to be a docile cat lest it would end up on some apothecary’s chopping board.

Xiao Chen kept himself masked all the way. Even at the steps leading up the Jade Terrace Mountain, where the citadel of the Daoist League roosted up high, he allowed Qingluan and Ziyun’er to deal with the sentries who promptly waved them through without much trouble. From there, Xiao Chen went straight to Zi Mo’s lodgings. The senior of the Jade Qing Sect was the only one he trusted the most.

“Damned boy! I was so worried that you could be dead! You’d almost cost me more than a hundred thousands of Spirit Stones!”

Zi Mo blurted when he first saw an alive Xiao Chen, although he said again, “Well, you’re back. And that’s all to it. Xian’er has been crying every day about her Big Brother Xiao Chen that I had to hide from her. The poor girl blames me for your disappearance…”

The news brought a sour knot to his stomach. It was he who had brought Xian’er from the Emerald Valley of the Three Pure Sect. But he had caused much pain and agony to her in his failure as a brother.

“All right, all right,” Zi Mo remarked suddenly, “I’ll have enough of that grouchy look of yours at least for today. I’ve sent someone to fetch her. First, tell me about your adventures in these two months. What held you from coming back sooner?”

With a heavy sigh to begin his tale, Xiao Chen embarked on a recount of his encounters in the past two months: his mysterious and mind-boggling disappearance during the tournament and his reappearance at the Thousand Summits Mountain, him being pursued by the assassins, and most importantly, the situation at the Burg of the Feral Phoenix and the infernal aura at the gorge.

Zi Mo’s face curdled into a solemn grimace. “D*mn, so it is true… Something is wrong at the Pond of Gods and Devils…”