Chapter 429 - The Undead versus the Undying

Ta… Ta… Ta…

The footsteps reverberated like drums, growing louder and louder as the mysterious person drew closer to the entrance. Everyone tensed like a nocked arrow, keeping their eyes intently on the entrance, trying hard not to blink while waiting for the person to emerge.

A gust of cold wind issued from inside the cave, gushing out like a burst of wraiths and apparition that made goose pimples oozed on everyone’s skin. Even the sky seemed to darken with flat, dark nimbuses massing overhead.

Ta… Ta… Ta…

Xiao Chen stifled a shiver as he readied himself to see who it was coming. His heart was shaking with every nerve and muscle in him taut beyond imagination. He could hardly even move. He kept his eyes peeled on the entrance like everyone else and he glimpsed a silhouette surfacing out of the darkness.

Everyone’s breaths held like forever when the person finally stopped at the entrance of the cave. What remained of the defenders, nearly a dozen of them, fell to their knees and bowed reverently. The Divine Corpse had awakened! But the lion’s share of the disciples and acolytes who had given their lives in defense of the Sect would never be able to witness with their own eyes her majesty and terror.

Xiao Chen’s finger throbbed. It was not Muxue nor was she Weiyang, but a completely different person. A woman whose face he did not know. With her lips dyed red and her hair made wonderfully, adorned with a deep-scarlet hairpin, and clothed in a long robe of red which tails fluttered with her every step, she looked more like a bride on her wedding day than a terrible harbinger of death. But her cold glare and placidly deadpan expression only suggested otherwise.

Cold winds howled like wolves, lifting the woman’s sleeves but a little, revealing her milk-pale arms. No amount of perfume on her could remove the stench of decaying flesh from her nor hide the fact that she had been dead for more than three millennia.

This was none other than Red Sleeve, the actual leader of the Corpse Refinery Sect.

An agonizing silence filled the compound as no one dared to move a muscle. No one knew how powerful was Red Sleeve and she was doing a great job in concealing her aura. Yet everyone felt as if they were stepping on a bed of needles.

Red Sleeve stepped out into the open, her passive and disinterested eyes scanning the mob of mages surrounding the mouth of the cave before finally resting on Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen flexed his finger, managing only to utter a hateful “You!” Then she disappeared; appearing right before him with a speed quicker than the wind.

Xiao Chen felt his breath drained from. His mind was quick to register what was happening, but he could barely move as if the flow of Time has been suspended. Then he felt another stab of pain in his chest and his strength was leaving him just as screams and gasps of fright began chorusing around him.

Blood dripped onto the ground into a pool and he saw Red Sleeve’s arm speared through his chest.Read the next chapter on our novelhall.com

“MY LORD!” Qingluan and Ziyun’er gasped, their faces horror-struck. Shadows danced around Xiao Chen and Red Sleeve menacingly as all twelve of the Hidden Fragrance Wafting Under the Moon sprang into action and swooped down from all directions on Red Sleeve.

Yet none of their blades had so much as grazed Red Sleeve. Instead, all twelve of them fell backward, spewing froth and blood from their mouths as they crashed into the ground. No one saw what happened. Everything happened just too quickly.

Blood poured out of Xiao Chen’s mouth as he struggled to stand. At last, his eyes closed and he began to fall back, ultimately crashing to the ground in a heap with a huge poof of dust and gravel. No one breathed, their dread and disbelief completely painted on their faces. How is this even possible… That redoubtable Xiao Chen defeated with just one blow…

“JUNIOR BROTHER!” Luo Shangyan screamed, her eyes wide and her face aghast with terror and panic. Her body trembled uncontrollably and beads of tears rolled down her face like pearls falling from a necklace to the ground.

Red Sleeve, with her impassive and cold stare, regarded Xiao Chen who was lying dead on the ground for several seconds before she finally spoke with ice, “Put him together with the girl of the Mystic Yin Body. Have them buried together in the evenfall. May this be the least that I could do for them.”

“Understood, My Lady!” Two of her female stewards declared and came forward. They moved to either side of Xiao Chen and was about to lift him up when one of them cried suddenly, “My Lady!”

“What is the matter!” Red Sleeve hissed, radiating a palpable annoyance in her angry but cold voice, while maintaining a frigid glare on the mob of mages of the Orthodox Path surrounding her.

“H-he’s… he seems alive!”

The handmaiden barely finished gasping with shock when Xiao Chen’s eyes blinked opened suddenly. A glow of red flashed momentarily in his eyes and two quick bangs followed; he had delivered two quick blows into the two handmaidens and they crashed several yards away.

“Where is Muxue!!” Xiao Chen rose up, his eyes flaring with fury as he bellowed like a lion roaring with its teeth bared at Red Sleeve but the Queen of the Corpse Refinery Sect merely whirled around to watch him with her ever-so placid and contemplative stare. Out of the blue, like a bolt of lightning from the sky, a huge boom erupted and Xiao Chen flew headlong down to the ground tens of yards away, crashing into a couple of huge boulders with such great force that they crumbled.

But just when everyone else was reeling with shock, Perfected Immortal Fenglan tarried not; he quickly weaved a quick spell, summoning into form more than a dozen of magic bolts in the form of golden swords to attack Red Sleeve. But before he could let fly his attack, Red Sleeve appeared right in front of him and landed her foot into the elderly man’s abdomen, sending him careening into a nearby coppice and smashing a handful of trees.

“Teacher!” Zuoqiu Yang yelled. As if on a cue, Perfected Immortal Qing Chen and the rest of the mages sprang into action, brandishing their what magical relics and weapons at their disposal. The sky was splashed with myriads of colors from the barrages of magical bolts that rained on Red Sleeve. But even before the attacks met their mark, the mages fell one by one. The Queen of the Dead leaped, ducked, kicked, and punched with blinding quickness that no one could even see her before they collapsed.

At the other side of the compound, the remaining survivors of the Sect beheld their Queen’s otherworldly power and speed with agape expressions. The forces of the Orthodox Path were so vast with no lack of mages wielding powers of the Nirvana and the Apotheosis Realms. Yet not a single one of them could withstand Red Sleeve’s demonic might and were soundly defeated with ease…

Unlike the dazzling magical spells and hexes that the mages so desperately hurled at her, Red Sleeve used only simple kicks and punches. Yet there was no one in the entire army of mages who could counter her terrifying speed and strength. Be they mages of the Nirvana Realm or the Apotheosis Realm, no one remained standing before her as the Queen of the Corpse Refinery Sect dispatched her foes with the ease of swatting flies.

Everyone watched in awe of the deadliness of Red Sleeve’s simple attacks; Xiaoyue, Su Zimu, Yu Yifeng, and even Zuoqiu Yang… All of those who were still on their feet cowered with fear, slowly inching backward with fear, their morale completely shattered to bits. Here before them stood the very physical personification of unconquerable power!

“BEGONE!” Red Sleeve spat venomously with ice. She flailed the billowing sleeves of her robe with triumph and disdain as she wheeled around, casually strolling back in the direction of the cave entrance.

“Wait just right there.” A voice broke the quivering silence and every head turned. Xiao Chen rose up from among the pile of rocks and debris, heaving and puffing with both strain and rage. He unleashed another roar at Red Sleeve, “MUXUE! WHERE IS SHE!”

Red Sleeve stopped in her tracks and slowly turned eerily, her eyes dull and devoid of any color or life save for cold fury. With the speed of a zap of lightning, she lunged at Xiao Chen, with dirt and dust buffeting into the air in her wake and everyone, most notably Luo Shangyan yelped with dismay.

Bang!

This time, Xiao Chen was able to defend himself! Their clothes undulated violently in the winds caused by the eruption of their clashing powers as Xiao Chen’s eyes met Red Sleeve in their wordless melee until the Queen of the Corpse Refinery Sect finally spoke, “Do you think I lack the power to destroy you?”

“Where is she…” Xiao Chen growled in return, his eyes bloodshot with fury. Blood dribbled gently out of the edge of his lip as he panted for breath, his voice deep and hollow like a Xiao Chen no one had seen before.

“BEGONE!” Red Sleeve snarled and delivered another punch into him and Xiao Chen crashed into another heap faraway, much to the horror of everyone watching.

“She’s dead,” Red Sleeve muttered to no one in particular. Satisfied that she had performed the coup-de-grace for Xiao Chen, she spun and began heading back into the cave.

“What… what did you say…” A shaking voice, limned with anger, came from the mound of rubbles as Xiao Chen slowly clambered back to his feet. Only anger and vengeance drove him and his eyes were now a shade of red.

Red Sleeve halted. Word by word, she repeated, “I said… she’s dead…” Slowly, she turned back. But at her final syllable, Xiao Chen lunged at her like a tiger and a hand of his clutched at her throat, slamming her into the rocky face of the cliff.

Boom!

He glowered at her. With one hand keeping her pinned to the wall, he pounded at her face again and again that a crack snapped open on the granite rockface behind Red Sleeve. Then he lifted her up by her throat and smashed her into the ground.

Boom!

Plumes of dust rolled past everyone, obscuring their vision. Through the smoky veil of dirt and grime, they could see the ground lined with cracks and fissures. Then someone noticed Xiao Chen in the air above. Like a feral beast, he swooped down on Red Sleeve who was still lying sprawled among rocks and rubbles and cudgeled his knee into her before he continued pummeling her with his fists.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY!? WHAT DID YOU SAY!? WHAT DID YOU SAY?!…”

No one could move nor could anyone utter a word, wearing on perplexed and bewildered looks on their faces. Out of a sudden, Red Sleeve’s arm shot up and caught one of Xiao Chen’s fists before it could hit her. With a glare equally furious, she spat, “I just said just now that she’s dead!” And she retaliated with a powerful kick that sent Xiao Chen into the air. She sprang up, agile as a cat, and took into the sky and landed another kick into him, dropping him to the ground in a crash.

Boom!

The lands shook and more dirt flew like a sandstorm around them. Red Sleeve descended rapidly to the ground and bent down, grabbing Xiao Chen by his throat this time and lifted him up, watching like how a predator eyes its prey. A frightened Luo Shangyan yelped, “No, please! Don’t kill him!”

But her cries fell on deaf ears; Red Sleeve ignored her, studying her prey with hate in her piercing stare. “Why did you not protect her if you so love her!? Why did you allow her to be taken and subjected to the most excruciating pain and suffering on the day of her birth?” She punched him in the abdomen forcefully again.

“G-give… give me back… Give her back…” Xiao Chen croaked after spitting a mouthful of blood and froth.

“Give her back?! Hahahahaha!” Red Sleeve burst into a shrill howl of laughter, throwing her head back. A maniacal glint shone in her eyes. “Why did she not give me back to Qing Yuan when Qing Yuan had begged so desperately? Why did she give me back to him!? WHY!? Yet there I was, watching as my betrothed was killed right in front of me! On the day where we were supposed to be man and wife…”

There was a tinge of painful sorrow in her sharp shrieking voice. Malice shimmered in her eyes suddenly. “Since you love her so much, there’s no reason you should enter Samsara without her. To her side you should be…” She slammed a fist into Xiao Chen’s head; a stroke with all her might that another wall of dust rose around them and the fear that everyone dreaded came true: Xiao Chen would never survive a stroke this powerful.

Bang!

The winds grew still and the dust finally settled. Xiao Chen’s eyes were fully wide. Blood trickled from his eyes, his nose, and his ears. The stroke had destroyed his skull and his brain and he fell backward, limp and lifeless like a ragdoll.

“NOOOO!” Luo Shangyan’s deafening and strident cry of dismay echoed through the Ridge. She charged forward with all her speed, lunging at the already-dead Xiao Chen with scarcely any regard of her safety. “LIL CHEN!” Yu Yifeng screamed as well, his eyes wide as saucers as he rushed forward.

They reached and carried up Xiao Chen’s body. But he was no longer breathing and they felt no pulse from him. He was as dead as a log.

“NOOO!” Luo Shangyan wailed, tears streaming down her cheeks. Yu Yifeng held Xiao Chen’s arm, shaking it hopelessly, murmuring in a broken voice, “Lil Chen… Lil Chen…”

“HAHAHAHAHA!” Red Sleeve guffawed smugly, turning to walk back to her cave. But no one could miss the tincture of sorrow and sadness in her tone. Luo Shangyan got up, her eyes scarlet with rage. “I’LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!” She screamed, lunging with her sword drawn.

“JUNIOR SISTER, NO!” Yu Yifeng leaped to her front and held her back the hysterical Luo Shangyan, “NO! We’re no match for her… You’d only get yourself killed!”

“Hahahahaha…” Red Sleeve’s raucous laugh went on, reverberating off the walls of the cave and out to the Ridge as she melted into the darkness, her voice delineating her victory but also the anguish of her tragic past. No one said a word. Only the soft winds blew. Out of nowhere came a voice suddenly, cold and sharp as ice, “I told you… Give me back Muxue!”

The entire Ridge could have well been frozen by the sheer frostiness in the voice.