Chapter 222 - Plot
The night was dark and windy, lights extinguished in thousands of houses, heavy clouds in the firmament, the moon was not seen, only a few stars remaining in the horizon, twinkling with weak light.
The night breeze [suo suo] blew past above HeYang City, like a wild ghost wailing, it was indeed somehow chilly and horrible, recalling the calamity this place had suffered recently, the streets in the city and outside of it, not a human was seen. On the long ancient path, a few dry leaves occasionally blew down by the wind, lonely drifting up and down, drifting far away.
In this deep night, a dark figure suddenly floated in the city, like an apparition, silently landed outside the city, swiftly sweeping towards the south side of the ancient path. Not a moment later, a grey figure tightly pursuing, on that dark figure.
These two people naturally were the shaman demon and ShangGuan Ce, from the southern border to deep inside the Central Plains, this pursue has been going on for one day.
ShangGuan Ce with his deep enigmatic skills from FenXiang Valley, in addition with an unfathomable Nine cold ice freezing thorn weapon, the shaman demon had a hard time dealing with him but his own strange skills, each time was unexpected, in impossible situations it could evolve into different kinds of styles, made ShangGuan Ce extremely vex, each time it looked like he was about to get him but each time he managed to slip out.
If it was somebody else, encountering such situation, most likely would have already given up, however ShangGuan Ce, carrying FenXiang Valley master’s command, the shaman demon most likely knew the the secret to the southern border ancient shaman Heaven’s Fire, no matter what, this was what FenXiang Valley was determined to get and so refused to give up on the pursue.
But this insistence, was not all in vain, the level of their skills were displayed out to see, the shaman demon was unable to match against him for the time being but the different strange skills that the shaman demon used each time to escape, were all being observed by ShangGuan Ce, slowly he begun to have an idea, and now, when shaman demon wanted to again escape, it had started to become more and more difficult.
This point, ShangGuan Ce was aware of it, the shaman demon was even more acutely aware, however even though he was aware of it but he was really helpless. If there was any tricks to lose this hateful person, he would have use it long along this thousand miles pursue but ShangGuan Ce was someone with a reputation for almost hundred of years, he was even an influential figure in southern border, his skills, cultivation, knowledge and experience, all were top notch, far surpassing Li Xun and the rest of the second generation disciples. Although the shaman demon repeatedly displayed strange skills but each and every were seen through by him, at most deceiving him for only a moment, escaping for a distance but not long after, eventually he was still being pursued.
Actually ShangGuan Ce, or should say FenXiang Valley Yun Yilan’s determination to capture himself back, the shaman demon in the few exchanges of conversations with ShangGuan Ce, long understood it but to him, he was determined not to be caught without trying. This night, looking as ShangGuan Ce was getting closer, and ahead after the ancient path receded swiftly, areas with mountains were sparse, instead the land gradually was flat and wide, a stretch of wilderness appeared.
At this kind of place, where could he still run to?
The shaman demon laughed bitterly behind his black veil, exerted strength and brushed over but the swift wind sound behind him, was getting near and nearer.
And when he was at his wits end, suddenly he seemed to have discovered something, twisted his head and looked to the side. He was known as the ‘shaman demon’, from his nickname one could guessed what kind of skills he was specialised in, furthermore his body was different from a normal person, towards spirits and ghosts energies, he was ten times more sensitive than a normal cultivated artist, still on the main street ancient path, while fleeing, he could sharply sensed that in a remote area at one side of the path, there was a deep dark ghost energy, emitting out from a far distance.
The shaman demon was overjoyed, did a quick turn in the air and with swift speed swept over to the wilderness, ShangGuan Ce snorted, like a duckweed, with a drift and swing, extremely at ease, easily turned and again pursued with speed.
Just that with this slight delay, the shaman demon again gained some distance, his figure also appeared slightly blur, ShangGuan Ce was not overly worried, pursuing for so long, he had more or less had an idea of this shaman demon’s skills, expected that he couldn’t make any tricks out, right now, he was feeling more like a cat catching a mouse.
Exerting huge amounts of energy, pursuing for thousands of miles, consuming effort and mentally, see how I would punish you when I get you?
ShangGuan Ce coldly laughed, with a confidence that he had the situation under his control, in a relaxed mood continued to pursue.
Soon, the thing that appeared before the shaman demon confirmed his surmise, this was indeed an extremely Yin place, known as morgue in Central Plains, it was also a place where corpses were temporarily stored before being buried, but looking at the state of this small house, most likely it had been abandoned for a very long time.
The shaman demon couldn’t help but feel disappointment, his intention was, as this morgue was heavy with Yin energy, it was an excellent place to use his most of his unusual skills but the morgue which was abandoned for a long time, the effect would be much reduced, especially those skills similar to Ghost Way, which could control the corpses, that was quite powerful, and along the way he did not have the chance to use it, if he could take the chance and suddenly use it, most likely that ShangGuan Ce that old fellow would lose much advantage.
Just that this morgue had been abandoned for such a long time, naturally there would not be any new corpse in there.
However although somehow disappointed but to the shaman demon, this was the best place for survival, immediately without hesitation, the dark figure [suo] a sound, swept into the morgue which looked dark and suppressing.
But when he was heading in, a tiny thread of thought brushed past his mind: this morgue had been abandoned for so long, why was it still had such a strong yin energy?
This night was dark and windy, the small house in the morgue was in darkness, couldn’t even see his fingers ahead. However, to martial artists, especially shaman demon with this kind of body which was not ‘normal’, this darkness was not an obstacle, soon he could ‘see’ most of the morgue house. This was indeed abandoned for a long time, the thousand of holes on the walls, in extreme ruins, the altar ahead which was meant to hold the worship items, had already collapsed to the ground, in the house, a few coffins lay in a disarray, some not even closed properly.
Hearing sharp wind sounds outside the morgue, it was clear that ShangGuan Ce was already near, the shaman demon did not hesitate, with a tremble, his hands suddenly had several strange-shaped metal weapons similar to nail but the weapons were covered with metal spikes, and then without even looking, his fingers shot out, [suo suo suo suo] sounds, the metal things all disappeared into the darkness, flying into the corners of the small house.
And when every metal weapon disappeared into the darkness, a faint blue light suddenly was seen from the tail end but that was only a moment, vanished in an instant. After which, the yin energy which was penetrating into the bones, suddenly turned ten times stronger, as if it could really stab into the bones.
The shaman demon sneered, glanced around, his body suddenly floated up, towards a coffin at the corner of the house. This coffin looked ordinary, the cover was not even closed properly, half of it was outside of it.
The shaman demon quietly slipped in, the place where ordinary people avoided and felt fear, he seemed to like it very much and after his body slipped in, the cover which was lying sideways, was also pulled into position by him.
The next moment, the sounds of wind stopped, the house immediately in silence, ShangGuan Ce’s figure, appeared at this house entrance.
The shaman demon calmed down, and happened that the coffin was in a bad shape, a few cracks on the wood, through that he could see every move of ShangGuan Ce, he felt even more conceited, as long as ShangGuan Ce didn’t notice and walked two more steps into the centre, he would trigger the ‘Yin Mei’ formation, using the strong Yin energy here, ShangGuan Ce would definitely could not react in time.
He was anticipating but ShangGuan Ce seemed extremely careful, did not rush to search for the shaman demon, instead stood at the entrance, carefully peered around, looked like he would not be entering the house soon.
Shaman Demon felt disappointed, scolded silently that the old thief was really cunning, when he focused again, he then slowly noticed the place he was in.
Unexpectedly, the next moment he had a shock, his own soul almost flew away.
In this coffin, there was another person!
Actually for the shaman demon, even if the coffin contained a corpse, or even worse, a skeleton, he would not bat an eyelid, and maybe he would also felt somehow a kinship, but below him in this coffin, was actually a living person!
And ever since he entered this small house till this coffin, he had not detected this person at all, not even the sound of his breathing. With the shock, his entire body started to tremble but he managed to control himself with difficulty, did not shout out loud or jumped out of the coffin, but his forehead, back, palms started to sweat.
The next moment, what made him even more shocked, was that he discovered, this living person underneath him, was not breathing...a living person with no breathing!
In that instant, the shaman demon decided clearly, this person was indeed alive, because two people in a coffin, there wasn’t much space to say with in the first place, with his sharp wits, he soon sensed that this person’s heart was beating slowly but for some reason, this person’s mouth and nose was not moving. The shaman demon quietly stretched his hand to check, after some time, there was indeed no movement, this person was not breathing.
The shaman demon felt goosebumps, this inconceivable thing was before him, the shaman demon initially wanted to plot against ShangGuan Ce but now that his mind was in a mess, he couldn’t concentrate for the moment, his blood churning. Just that he was after all a person with deep cultivation, immediately felt something amiss, quickly used true way on himself, calmed his mind.
Then, at that time, when the shaman demon was deliberating on what to do, an even bigger surprise, again made him dumbfounded, at a loss.
The coffin, suddenly a light sound [pa!]
Like, something joining together, the sound was very light, almost inaudible but in this small house, to these cultivated people, it was totally a different matter.
ShangGuan Ce almost at the same time, whipped around, stared at this corner.
And in his shock, the shaman demon realized that this coffin, started to emit a strange evil energy towards all directions, threads like ropes, controlled this entire coffin space tightly, with his powerful skills, facing this inexplicable evil energy, he couldn’t defend, in that instant he was immobilized, trapped by this invisible evil force in this coffin.
The shaman demon was almost scared out of his wits. But, almost as not enough, this moment, in the dark coffin space, he could felt the fat ‘living’ person underneath him, suddenly awoke, opened both of his eyes. The two of their eyes met, in that space, in that strange atmosphere, looking at each other...then, that nameless fat person, that quietly, facing the shaman demon, smiled.
ShangGuan Ce stared intently at that corner but did not go to investigate immediately. Although he did not have the shaman demon special ability but with his level of skills, naturally he could make out the things in the house and at the same time with his knowledge, what kind of place this was.
But he was not the shaman demon, ShangGuan Ce had never like morgue this kind of place, especially to an elderly, he even more did not like it.
At the same time, with his skills, when he first entered the house, he could sharply sensed that in this house, the yin energy was not normal, it was far more than what a common morgue had. The shaman demon’s speciality skills, he was clearer than anyone else, and in this place, naturally it was where the shaman demon most prefered, therefore he had to be careful!
ShangGuan Ce used true way to protect his entire body, carefully scanned this strange small house again, after confirming nothing seemed suspicious, he slowly stepped in.
Just that he was halfway when he suddenly retreated, at the same time his right hand with a flash of cold glint, the Nine cold ice freezing thorn appeared in his hand.
Old people, seemed to be especially more careful. He finally headed to that corner, made his first step. Outside the house, a gust of yin wind blew past, [wu wu] sounds, made one hair stands.
ShangGuan Ce on full alert, every change in this house was watched by him, but the surroundings were in darkness, other than silence there was still silence, not a single sound.
He sneered, suddenly loudly said, “Old man me has long known you are in that coffin, old friend, if you still don’t come out, don’t blame me for attacking the coffin with the person inside, making you suffer.”
There was no reply, it was still silence.
ShangGuan Ce angrily humphed, said, “Playing the devil!”
After speaking, he did not hesitate, stepped forward and at the same time his weapon burst out in cold silver light, instantly the surrounding temperature dropped.
But at that moment, a spot of faint blue light quietly flew out from another corner, covered with yin energy, attacked ShangGuan Ce’s back.
ShangGuan Ce was on full alert but this dart was laid by the shaman demon, concealing its own yin energy, the entire thing could absorb the yang energy in the surrounding and covered itself with, ShangGuan Ce with his deep skills, could sense every movement in this place, although his skills was amazing but he did not expect at that moment, it became his weak point, forsaw by the shaman demon and created a sly attack.
ShangGuan Ce did not sense the environment was different, until when that thing was almost three chi behind him, the sound of wind urgent and great yin energy, he was shocked, in that instant, with no doubt of him using his deep skills, he immediately stepped forward, in an hairbreath increased the distance, at the same time his weapon instantly drifted to his back. A flash of cold light, the silver light instantly illuminated the entire house, just that in this strange atmosphere, the beautiful light now looked pale, made one goosebumps.
The silver light at the most critical moment, deflected that ghostly thing.
However, without a moment to rest, with his previous step, he had activated the shaman demon’s trap, from the various corners of the house, blue lights twinkled, several yin energies shot out, and what was even stranger, that dart he had just deflected, made a semicircle in the air and again attacked ShangGuan Ce.
ShangGuan Ce in his hurry, for a moment was busy trying to keep up but he was after all not an ordinary person, the weapon flashed with cold glint, where the cold beam pointed, this entire small house almost from the roof top to the ground, was covered with a faint layer of frost.
And in this biting cold, the yin darts seemed to receive some obstructions, several slowed down, at the same time on the darts’ bodies, in this short period of time, actually had a layer of ice. Although their speed was still fast but with that slowness, it could actually allow ShangGuan Ce to recover and immediately in the silver light, [zeng zeng zeng zeng] sounds in succession, several darts were beaten to the ground, when they landed, most likely due to the cold energy from Nine cold ice freezing thorn, but under the ice, the darts were actually broken to pieces.
ShangGuan Ce had turned danger to peace, broke the shaman demon’s trap, couldn’t help but laughed out loud, bellowing to the coffing, “Now you no longer have any ideas right, still not surrendering I will…”
Before he could say “capture”, suddenly his face changed and twisted, made a painful howl, his entire body flipped out backwards, with a loud sound, he actually smashed through the wall out. In his back, a faint blue light could be seen twinkling, it was actually the first dart, not knowing since when, had avoided his attention and heavily injured him.
The fight in this small house, the shaman demon and that mysterious fat person have all seen it clearly through the cracks, especially the last part.
In the darkness, that mysterious fat person actually had some admiration, suddenly spoke, “You could actually wield that kind of ghostly thing and again controlled it, this level of cultivation is really rare!”
The shaman demon for the first time heard this person spoke, was shocked but looking at his eyes and tone, there was no hostility, he laughed bitterly, shook his head and said, “You are wrong.”
That fat person was surprised, asked, “What was I wrong?”
The shaman demon sighed and said, “Those yin things are laid in trap by me that is right, but that last dart, was another master doing it, nothing to do with me.” He hatefully said, “If I had that level of skills, I would not be trapped here.”
That fat person frowned, did not speak anymore.
The shaman demon glanced at him, with just a few conversations, he could roughly sensed the fat person’s condition, this person was actually similar to him, trapped in this coffin but what was different from him was, on this fat person, an even more powerful strange force was imprisoning his entire body channels.
The shaman demon could not help but was shocked, from the force trapping him in the coffin, even though he was highly skilled but it could actually immobilized him but to this fat person, it seemed insufficient for someone and actually casted this fearful spell, imprisoning him.
So does it meant that if this fat person was not imprisoned, he had skills so high that would cause fear?
And thinking deeper, to be able to control this fat person, what kind of terrible person would it be?
The shaman demon’s mind was in a mess, the Central Plains great lands, a place where dragons and tigers were hiding, was really not what he expected.
At this moment, ShangGuan Ce’s angry bellow was heard from outside, “Which master is there in this place, please show yourself, attacking one from behind, what kind of hero is that?”
In the small house, the shaman demon and the fat person looked at each other, obviously ShangGuan Ce with his sharp eyesight, knew that it was not the shaman demon who attacked him and was someone else.
A pleasing sound like a bell was heard, coming from the rooftop, with some mockery, sneering said, “Didn’t you said playing the devil, so I let you see, who is actually playing the devil!”
The shaman demon and that mysterious fat person trapped in the coffin, naturally could not see who the lady was.
ShangGuan Ce standing in the yard, holding in his pain, looked up, suddenly sucked in a cold breath, coldly said, “It was actually you?”
That lady laughed and said, “Not me, who would it be? He he he he…”
The laughter was clear, with a captivating allure, in this sinister night, a slender figure sat alone at the rooftop, her features beautiful, her eyes like water, if it was not Nine-tailed celestial fox Xiao Bai, who would it be?