Chapter 438 - Coup

Everyone froze and looked at the buns in their hands. It smelled so good, how could it be tasteless? Qingluan was startled a little, then she grabbed the bun in Xiao Chen’s hand and took a bite. Her face seemed to become even more startled.

“Probably, probably I bought wrongly.” Qingluan’s tone was a bit far-fetched, and after she said it, she rubbed the buns into the paper bag and threw them into the grass.

Xiao Chen smiled weakly, had he begun to gradually lose his sense of taste? Would it be his smell, hearing, vision next…

A gust of wind blew and blew up the white hair behind his shoulders.

Qingluan coughed and said, “Okay, everyone gets ready to leave.” The rest of them stopped eating, and Qingluan turned to look at Xiao Chen, saying, “Lord, where do we go now?”

Xiao Chen took a deep breath and asked, “Did you store the Corpse Puppet I asked you to pick up earlier properly?” Qingluan said, “Yes, it’s stored properly.”

Xiao Chen nodded. Even if he was going to die, Xiao Ning had to be rescued before he died. This was his promise to Su Xiaomei, but there were so many pros in the Wuyin Monastery. Putting aside the four Great Divine Monks; Tong, Gui, Ji, Le, even that old monk outside the Devil Repressed Tower was a pro. How was he going to deal with them?

“Koo-chee! Koo-chee, Koo-chee!” The Koo-chee beast suddenly yelled and interrupted Xiao Chen’s thoughts. Xiao Chen looked at it with a smile, and said to the others, “We can’t stay here too long; let’s leave here first then talk about it.”

The group flew on their swords for more than 150 kilometers the northeastward. When they arrived in a crowded small town, it was seemingly livelier as compared to the desolate Robust Spirit Town. The 13 of them were rather eye-catching but Xiao Chen was not bothered. He was still thinking hard on a plan to rescue Xiao Ning.

At this moment, two middle-aged men walked towards them. The two men seemed to be discussing something. When they were neared, they only heard one of them whispering, “That great devil head is incredible. Which of the current Perfected Immortal Sect Leaders can beat him?”

Another person said, “Well, you don’t say. Recently, Wuyue Peak has been in an uproar, and the people are competing to be the first. That devil head seems to be looking for someone to fight. I’m afraid that there will be another carnage.”

Xiao Chen was deep in his thoughts initially, however upon overhearing their conversation, his heart sank as he thought, “It’s Great Devil Gu Feng!” Suddenly a thought flashed in his mind, and he asked Qingluan, “Have you heard someone who called himself Gu Feng awhile back then?”

Qingluan frowned, recalled for a moment and said, “This person is not a person of the Devils’ sects, however he’s full of Devil Qi and is insane. Earlier, he opened a Wind Floating Platform on the top of the Wuyue Peak in the Middle Continent, challenging cultivators from everywhere. What he had said was that he wanted to make a list of celestial honors, which led to a crowd of heroes gathering, and he also seemed to be finding someone who he would fight with him to death…”

Xiao Chen nodded and thought that it had to be Gu Feng. He was sealed by Xiao Ning for thousands of years in the Human World. When he broke out from the seal that day he mentioned that Xiao Ning had agreed to a duel, but had secretly joined forces with several major sects and ambushed him. Presumably, he now had a deep hatred for Xiao Ning.

However, Xiao Chen believed that with Xiao Ning’s character, if he had agreed to a duel then he would do it fairly and he would never join forces with others for an ambush. As for what had actually happened, Xiao Chen had some clues after what Patriarch Guanshan had said before, however, it would be difficult to trace and investigate for the time being. As for why Xiao Ning was besieged by the Five Major Sects later, it could only be known after Xiao Ning was rescued.

Xiao Chen frowned, but it was that he had thought of a plan. He smiled and said, “Very good, very good!”

Qingluan and Ziyun’er had never seen him smile since they met up with him in the Miasma Mountain Range. Now that they finally saw the gloominess on his face was cleared up, they were also happy. Ziyun’er chuckled and said, “What is very good? That devil head has no respect for anyone, what’s good about that? Or does the Lord want to go onto that celestial list?”

The thought that he could save Xiao Ning soon and also learn the truth of many things and the trace of Master, Xiao Chen temporarily set aside his troubled thoughts and smiled, saying, “Neither, nor. There’s a senior I want to save. Come with me.” Then he led the 12 people to an inn, and after closing the door, Xiao Chen told them about everything in the Devil Repressed Tower.

The twelve were a little stunned by what they heard, Xiao Chen nodded his head and said, “That’s about it. Now we will divide into two routes. You go to Wuyue Peak to find Gu Feng. I’ll go to Wuyin Monastery. Then we’ll meet in Huai Prefecture City, if you arrive first, crush the jade note.”

Qingluan frowned, and said softly, “Lord, I’m afraid of you being alone…” Xiao Chen stretched out his hand and said, “It’s okay, don’t worry about me, but you must keep in mind that you must not offend that person. After you meet him, you just need to tell him that you know where Xiao Ning is, and then take him to Huai Prefecture City, where I will wait for you.”

Qingluan contemplated for a moment before she finally nodded and said, “The Lord must be careful. The rest of us will now head to Wuyue Peak.” After that, she led the other 11 people out of the room.

After the aura of the 12 people could not be sensed, Xiao Chen suddenly leaned on side of the bed and coughed vigorously and his white hair fluttered on his back. From behind, he looked like an elderly person who was about to die…

“Koo-chee! Woo… Koo-chee…”

The Koo-chee beast kept going around him. After a while, Xiao Chen finally stopped coughing and slowly paced his breathing. He turned around and looked at the beast and said, “Brother Koo-chee, don’t worry, I’m fine. Let’s rest for a night and we’ll set foot tomorrow…”

“Woo… Koo-chee.” The Koo-chee beast nodded.

Xiao Chen chuckled and tried to exercise his skill, and found that his skill had regressed to the middle stage of Nascent Soul Realm. When he was in the valley with the chief envoy, he was still at the peak of Nascent Soul Realm. This feeling was not the Wisdom-forsaking Technique that Bai Ying taught him, it was a drainage of power, and life force…

At night, Xiao Chen went to rest and the Koo-chee beast lay next to his pillow, just like that year when he was in the Devil Repressed Tower. It was about midnight, and a cool wind blew in through the window. Xiao Chen opened his eyes in confusion and found himself in a different place. The place was somewhat familiar, and it was… that mystic domain in Daoist League of the Five Continents!

Xiao Chen focused himself and walked to a cold cave, where the self-frozen white-haired man was. He touched the thousand-year-old ice gently, and the white-haired man in it still had the majestic aura, however, now that he too had white hair, somehow he felt similar to him and felt a sense of familiarity.

Suddenly, the man opened his eyes. Xiao Chen was startled but was not scared. He asked, “Who are you? Why do you repeatedly appear in my dreams? Is this your dream now, or is it my dream?”

The man said nothing and looked at him quietly, then he said suddenly, “How did your body…” Then he stopped abruptly.

“My body?” Xiao Chen looked at the white hair on his shoulders. Until now, he did not know where this “Undead Body” of his came from and asked, “Who are you? Do you know my master?”

The man closed his eyes and said coldly, “You can’t even deal with one of my puppets now. When you can defeat my twelve puppets, then you can come and ask this question again.”

Xiao Chen looked at the twelve blue sarcophagi placed neatly in the cave. Indeed, each puppet inside seemed to have the strength of Grand Completion Realm, which was so much stronger than those millennium centuries-old Corpse Puppet of the Corpse Refinery Sect. If Evernight did not save them, Leopard Cat Spirit and he would have been dead.

“The dream is not a dream, leave here!” Suddenly the man bellowed, Xiao Chen immediately felt suffocating dizziness. When he woke up, he felt moist on his face, which turned out to be the Koo-chee beast licking his cheek.

The sky was bright outside, and the summer heat was steaming in July. Now it had begun to be a little bit warm. Xiao Chen sat up, meditated a little and found that his skill had not yet to recover. He thought about the man in his dream last night. “What you think about in the day you will dream of it at night. It was probably just a dream,” he thought.

“Brother Koo-chee, let’s go.”

After paying for the room, Xiao Chen went to the town to find a carriage and headed for Huai Prefecture. In this way, when he was in a crowded place, he took the carriage and when the place was remote, he flew on the sword.

On the third day near noon, Xiao Chen passed through a blossoming valley on his sword. The sky was raging hot and he finally could not take it anymore and landed. The place was flourishing with plants and flowers, and it was cooling. Feeling a bit familiar, Xiao Chen looked around, only to find that it was the Falling Flowers Valley where the Heartless Palace was located.

“Koo-chee! Koo-chee, Koo-chee!” The Koo-chee beast called out to him twice softly and immediately ran towards the entrance of the valley. Xiao Chen quickly shouted, “Brother Koo-chee, come back!”

“Koo-chee? Woo…” The Koo-chee beast looked at valley entrance again and reluctantly came back with a hum. Xiao Chen smiled forcefully and said, “Let’s go.” Then he looked up and looked in the direction of the valley entrance, his heart hurt immediately, and he sighed.

They continued and walked for another mile, the sun in the sky seemed to be more vicious, Xiao Chen’s lips turned white, and his steps were a little wobbly. He walked up to a big tree, thinking that he would take a rest first, however, he suddenly blackout and fainted.

“Koo-chee! Koo-chee, Koo-chee!” The Koo-chee beast seemed to be frightened and bit onto his sleeve and shook it violently, but no matter how hard it tried, Xiao Chen was not waking up. It finally looked at the direction of Falling Flowers Valley, and quickly ran to the valley.

Moments passed and the 30 minutes passed slowly. Xiao Chen was still unconscious. Suddenly, there was a rustle in the distance. It seemed that a figure approached slowly, and a cold air gradually diffused, adding a bit of coolness to this hot summer day.

At this moment, a rapid walking sound rang in the distance, and then two girls in purple from the Heartless Palace and the Koo-chee beast ran over quickly.

The two female disciples had seen Xiao Chen before, and now they saw him with white hair, they could not help but feel hesitation. Then one of them immediately stepped forward to check on Xiao Chen’s breath and heartbeat, and said to the one behind her, “Master Xiao may have been seriously injured; send him back first.”

In the valley, a female disciple said, “You send Master Xiao to the bamboo house first, and I will inform the Empress.” Immediately after speaking, she went to the apse of the Heartless Palace.

At this moment, in a quiet hall behind the main hall of the Heatless Palace where the light was dim, a woman in red could be seen sitting down with her legs crossed and constantly practicing some strange exercises.

Her lips were bright red, and her fingernails were blood red. There were dozens of blood-red mists around her body, and those red mists slowly passed through the many skulls stacked beside her. It was weird and awfully scary.

Suddenly, there was a rush of footsteps outside, and the woman in red slowly took back her skills and said coldly, “Have you found Chu Lingjiao?”

“No, Empress. We have found Master Xiao outside the valley.” The voice outside was a little trembling.

The woman in red opened her eyes suddenly, her pupils turned blood red, and she said coldly, “Master Xiao? Which Master Xiao?”