Chapter 424 - The Meticulous Plot

There was scarcely anyone who was not gripped by the fear sown by witnessing the terrible fight between Xiao Chen and the former High Chieftain. But no one believed at any rate that he would emerge victorious; the evil auras radiating from the twelve Corpse Puppets were just too strong. Too strong beyond the belief that anyone would be able to defeat them.

Hanging a few yards above the ground, Xiao Chen’s hairs flailed violently with the high winds reaching down to flay at his face. His anger and hatred were what fueled him now, keeping his veins coursing with adrenaline and frenzy as he continued to fight against the ancient Corpse Puppet. His enemy’s black-onyx eyes glimmered with malice as it sent a tacit command to its comrades and they moved as one, lunging in unison at Xiao Chen. Twelve magic bolts they sent at Xiao Chen; the magical energy projectiles fused as one and slammed into Xiao Chen and he fell backward, groaning at the pain he felt in his chest where he was hit.

A man flew up to catch him. It was Yu Yifeng, who had anticipated this. He quickly muttered, “Retreat for now! Senior Fengxi has gone to the Mystic Lands of Kunlun for Perfected Immortal Tian Yi for help.”

“Wait…” Xiao Chen hissed through his clenched teeth, looking more sorrowful than angry, “B-but… but Muxue is still with them…”

“We’ll think of something! Come on, let’s go!”

Luo Shangyan broke from the crowd, coming towards them. The twelve High Chieftain Corpse Puppets merely hovered at where they were, showing no signs of pursuing. With their vigor sapped and their morale spent, the invaders of the Orthodox Path turned and retreated under the lead of the Elders from various schools and sects, moving in orderly files down the slopes. Xiao Chen balled his fists in frustration; but there was no other choice. He relented with utmost reluctance and withdrew with his companions from the Jade Qing Sect.

Standing alone in the dark, Su Lianyue watched as Xiao Chen returned into the fold of the Orthodox Path with a sulk before she disappeared, leaving her hiding place.

The joint invasion of the Summit of Mystics by the Orthodox Path might have gravely crippled the Corpse Refinery Sect, but not without a great cost; almost every school and sect which had taken part in the invasion had suffered many a great loss. So great that another assault was virtually impossible without the help of more reinforcements.

By evenfall, the army of mages retreated for almost a hundred of miles to a place called the Ridge of Broken Souls, a tranquil forest with lush vegetation but with lesser foul energies swirling about. They stopped for a rest for the hurt to tend to their injuries and the exhausted to replenish their powers but there was little talk and banter as the invaders licked their wounds; their spirits were low and tension ran high.

Xiao Chen propped his back up upon the trunk of a large tree. A placid and emotionless expression hung on his face as he watched into nowhere in particular with a blank and hollow stare. His clothes were filthy; caked with blood, sweat, and dirt and his battle-wearied self was utterly spent with the fatigue setting in as soon as the spiking emotions he had during his fights at the Ridge of the Fallen Drake were completely no more.

Yu Yifeng came to look at him. In his hand, he held a set of fresh clothing. “Put this on,” he said gently to Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen did not even raise his head. He simply found no words to respond, merely keeping his gaze locked upon the few blades of grass right before him. An old man, dressed in a frock of green, walked slowly to them. “Can I trouble you with a few questions, young friend?”

Xiao Chen could feel powers of the Nirvana Realm radiating from his seemingly-frail person, yet still, the old man spoke in an amicable tone. But his presence was hardly unnoticed; many heads began to turn and look at them. Small wonder it would seem, as Xiao Chen had heard many a great number of whispers of his name all the way here.

“Ask away,” Xiao Chen responded brusquely. He was still restless from the unresolved victory and Muxue’s captivity.

“Well,” the old man smiled, “I have heard a great deal about you and I wish only to confirm a few things…”

“ENOUGH OF THIS!” A woman’s shrill scream tore across the watchful silence of the woods before the old man could finish, “Enough of all this! All of you have been talking behind Junior Brother Xiao since we’ve been leaving the Corpse Refinery Sect! And what are you up to now!?”

Xiao Chen looked and found a seething Qingyu glowering at the old man, standing beside Yu Yifeng. The latter grimaced and urged hushedly, “Come on now, Junior Sister. We treat our seniors with respect.”

Miffed, Qingyu scowled at the cyan-robed elderly man, “It was only by Junior Brother Xiao’s help during the fight earlier that we managed to escape alive! Many more of us could be dead or worst if not for him! Yet now you still wonder if he is one of the evil folk!?”

The buzzing murmurs around them stopped at once and everyone hung their heads in shame. Indeed, none of them would have been here if not for Xiao Chen’s timely ability to control the army of Blood Corpses.

The elderly man stroked his beard and smiled. “I’m afraid you have misunderstood my intentions, young girl. I am not suspicious of our young hero’s allegiance. But there is something…”

“RED SLEEVE!” Xiao Chen cried suddenly, his hands clawing deep into the soil.

“Red Sleeve?” The elderly man uttered with surprise, his forehead creasing into a frown. He was meaning to ask Xiao Chen some questions to understand more about the Corpse Refinery Sect. More information would be needed to redraw new plans for a future campaign and Xiao Chen seemed to know more than what they knew about this infernal order. He mulled quietly at the name Xiao Chen mentioned, knowing that it could be something significant.

Xiao Chen heaved a long and deep breath, his eyes gleamed with a cold fury. “True. Red Sleeve is the name of a girl. The girl who is the Divine Corpse of the Corpse Refinery Sect. A woman who should have been dead for three thousand years!”

“WHAT!? THREE THOUSAND YEARS?! That would mean that she carries at least three thousand years’ worth of Malicious Grudge!”

Anxious chatters and worried murmurs chorused from the rest of the mages around them while more began to sidle closer, hoping to be able to glean more information from Xiao Chen. The elder seniors of the Orthodox Path came directly over and gathered around the large tree, neither of them bearing any grudges or enmity towards Xiao Chen, unlike Qi Heng and the rest of the Order of the Divine Fire who would prefer to remain afar.

The senior leaders discussed and talked and eventually began squawking fiercely at each other like chickens bickering and snapping at each other, only to be silenced by a harsh “SILENCE!” by an annoyed Perfected Immortal Feng Lan who finally joined them. He threw his sleeves indignantly and continued when he finally got the silence he wanted and drew the attention of his peers. “Let Xiao Chen speak,” he glowered in a low voice. He turned to Xiao Chen and said, “Speak, Xiao Chen. This is a matter of grave importance. Let bygones be bygones for now. The existence of the Corpse Refinery Sect is a bane to all mankind and we would appreciate any intelligence you can supply us.”

Xiao Chen exhaled wearily. “This woman is sustained by her intense emotion of grudge. That makes her very, very dangerous and she belongs nowhere. Not here and certainly not in the rest of the Three Domains and certainly not the Six Paths of Samsara. But she is no common Corpse Puppet. She’s older than them. Possibly even the true founder of this accursed organization. And one more thing, she has many dealings with the Administration of Heaven, the brotherhood that deals with souls.”

“What?!” A few voices gasped as the buzzing started again. The elders ringed around the tree looked awed and shocked by this news. Facing an enemy who was no part of the Three Domains and the Six Paths of Samsara, while being closely involved with the Administration of Heaven definitely seemed more than they could stomach…

“What else do you know?” Perfected Immortal Feng Lan pressed and the boisterous crowd of mages around the tree immediately quiet down.

Xiao Chen drew another breath before he continued. “For three thousand years, Red Sleeve has been looking for the Mystic Yin Body. An extraordinary physical trait only girls birthed on the seventh day of the seventh month could be born with. But none of them ever survive her harsh tortures. And I am not sure myself what does she intend to do with them…”

The truth of the Corpse Refinery Sect’s purpose was well beyond the anticipation and comprehension of everyone listening. The senior leaders of the Orthodox Path – Qingfeng, Zi Mo, Fengxi and Perfected Immortal Guyang of the Immortals’ League included – tensed as they brooded quietly. They had seen firsthand the might of the Sect and hazarding another haphazard assault would only result in more deaths and total failure.

Xiao Chen waited until the commotion simmered down and he went on, “But that is the point: the seventh day of the seventh month. We must stop her before this day. Fail, and she will be more powerful than any mortal that ever walked the earth. The horrors that would follow, I’m afraid I cannot fully describe.”

It was grim tidings, but everyone believed him. The things that they have witnessed during the invasion of the Summit of Mystics and the reactions of the members of the Sect only attested to what Xiao Chen had revealed and no one found any reason to doubt him.

Nevertheless, Xiao Chen has also a reason to divulge to everyone the information he knew; a personal reason: Li Muxue. He understood that he would never be able to rescue her without help and he needed to stop Red Sleeve before the seventh day of the seventh month!

The murky sun began to set down the westerly skies as the final rays of its glimmer slowly receded into the arms of the mountains in the horizons when the senior leaders adjourned to another corner for a lengthy discussion on further plans to stop the Corpse Refinery Sect，but the best way is calling for help.

When the night finally settled in, Yu Yifeng crept back to Xiao Chen, still holding the fresh set of clothing in his arm. “How about a change of clothes. The wind is getting cold here,” he said after looking wordlessly at him for some time.

Xiao Chen said nothing; his gaze burrowing deep into a nearby cookfire crackling cheerily with its flames flickering in his eyes. Then he heard footsteps mashing down the grass approaching him and saw Qin Shaoyang of the Xianyong Sect. The mage looked at Xiao Chen, smiling, “There are more things that need tending to, Brother Xiao. You can bet that we would be terribly busy by then. It’s best you seek out a corner and get yourself changed.”

Xiao Chen breathed hard, wishing only to say nothing and a fresh set of clothes hardly mattered to him. Then it occurred to him that there was more to what Qin Shaoyang was trying to tell him. He looked up at the newcomer for several seconds before he finally took the clothes from Yu Yifeng and walked deeper into the woods.

He found a secluded spot to change and a figure appeared before him. Even with the lack of light, he could still make out her profile: Su Lianyue.

“So, you’ve returned,” Su Lianyue said coolly, although the look she gave him said otherwise.

Xiao Chen sighed. “I’m sorry. But I have to save Muxue…”

A chuckle from her cut him off and she gave him a teasing look. “Save it. I’m only here to convey my farewells. Rest assured that I will not begrudge you if you show me no mercy in the future.” With that, she stepped once more into the pitch-blackness of the forest and disappeared.

Xiao Chen inhaled solemnly. The other three evil sects must surely be observing quietly the Orthodox Path’s invasion of the Corpse Refinery Sect. A clash between Good and Evil would not be far ahead, he brooded quietly, knowing that even if he owed the Orthodox Path no loyalties, he would never abandon his Brother Yifeng.

He closed his eyes, hoping to take a brief and peaceful respite but he saw only the memory of his tender moment with Su Lianyue. A throb of sorrow twisted in his gut as he exhaled again, alone in the dark.

Such was the life of one born in times of turmoil, where freedom is but a luxury enjoyed by few.

He changed and went back to rejoin the others. Yu Yifeng and the others were busy talking when he came back and they paused as he came near.

Xiao Chen went up to Yu Yifeng and asked, “What is Muxue doing here in the first place?” “You were once lost in the Miasma Mountain Range for three months. That is why she came here looking for you…”

Xiao Chen rubbed his fingers anxiously, feeling his heart wrenching with agony. He allowed himself to sink down to a sit under a tree, brooding morosely, she’s here because of me… and because of that, she’s taken by Red Sleeve…

Suddenly, his eyes widened and his breathing raced like a galloping horse. A thought came to him, out of the blue, why of all people is Muxue the one that Red Sleeve is looking for? Why?

Is it because she’s born on the seventh day of the seventh month? But so was Weiyang! She was also terribly afraid of the cold! Does she also have the Mystic Yin Body born only on the seventh day of the seventh month?!

Xiao Chen’s heart thumped stronger and stronger. I’ve found it! I’ve found it! Xiao Chen was brought back to life using deep sorcery that involved circumventing the Six Paths of Samsara. He never passed through Samsara and hence was not accorded the right to rebirth. Hence he was brought back to life by fusing his destiny into another human being and resurrected as another man, thus averting the scrutinies of both the Sovereigns of Heaven and the Underworld!

But the person whose body he has taken and whose destiny he had destroyed by assuming his identity would be doomed to utter oblivion; he would never be able to enter Samsara again and was completely no more. A fate so cruel and unjust for him. But whoever it was who had brought Xiao Chen back to life, he had to ensure that this wretched soul whose life and destiny Xiao Chen was to despoil had to be someone born on the same day and someone who bore the same Destiny!

It was a magic that would require great skill, immense resources, and meticulous preparation! An endeavor tantamount to moving mountains and shifting seas! Emotions swelled and burgeoned in Xiao Chen as he reeled with awe and shock; how could anyone found out about his former life’s birthdate when he himself now knew nothing of it!

If it were not for the painstaking efforts to bring him back, the actual son of the Xiao family would have been a man now with life and memories of his own… like Muxue, a princess of the Central Plains in the Human World!

What and who is behind this plot? Is someone trying to use the same magic to circumvent the Samsara to resurrect Hua Weiyang?