546 Scenery (1/2)
Chapter 546: Scenery
Translator: TransnEditor: Transn
Looking at Ye Hongyu's fluttering robes, Long Qing's face suddenly became cold. His eyes grew darker and darker until they looked dead. The greedy and icy aura in the pebbles by the lake grew all the more stronger.
However, there was always a ray of light in this dark and cold place that could not be erased.
It was a light that came from the blood-colored divine robes, with a strong metallic scent of blood.
The sleeves of the robes danced on the banks of the lake. Every time the sleeves were lifted, a strong wind with a scent of blood and a sacred aura would rush towards the vortex that was formed by a deathly silent aura.
The strong winds resembled the moss-covered rocks of the West-Hill Divine Palace's You Prison. The wind, swirling in the whirlpool, was just like the lake water that fell from the empty sky, and it made its surrounding Qi of Heaven and Earth vibrate to all directions.
Numerous roars rang across the quiet lake. Affected by Long Qing's grey eyes and Ye Hongyu's attack, the water in the lake bubbled as if it was boiling. The fish hidden in the depths of the lake were either dizzy or dead. They gradually floated to the top the water, piling up like patches of deathly white on the surface of the water.
The wooded mountains far away had not escaped the terrifying collision of the aura. The branches, extending towards the surface of the lake, had broken noisily. The trees rustled. The sparse yellow leaves on the trees floated in the air, not knowing whether they would fall into the lake or be crushed to smithereens by the wind.
The tail feathers of a few magpies cocked up because of horror. They flapped their wings, trying their best to fly far away. However, they had eaten too much in order to survive the harsh winter of the Wilderness and had become too fat. They could not speed up and were not able to escape the aftershock of the battle between the two powerhouses. They wailed mournfully before falling to the ground and dying.
...
...
Several small scratches appeared on Ye Hongyu's body. Tendrils of blood flowed from these wounds, permeating through her thin divine robes and flowing slowly to the ground.
The divine robes which were soaked with blood was a vibrant red. It seemed like captivating red flowers that were washed by dew. She was beautiful and seductive with the damp robes stuck to her body.
She looked pale, but was still as beautiful as ever. There wasn't a speck of dirt nor any trace of blood on her skin after a battle. Her eyes were especially bright but were serene. The divine robes soaked in blood became a stark comparison with her seductive body.
She was still serene and beautiful even with a bloody body, which had indicated how powerful she was.
Over ten fallen knights were heavily injured on the pebbled ground by the lake. Their blood flowed, dyeing the pebbles beneath them red.
Long Qing knelt on the ground on one knee. His hair was damp with sweat and was plastered on his forehead. The silver mask he wore was missing, so his severely burnt face was revealed.
Ye Hongyu walked forward slowly.
More blood would ooze out with every step she took. Her expression did not change at all, as if she could not feel any pain, and it seemed like she had more than enough blood to lose.
She walked towards Long Qing and said, ”You are indeed much stronger than before. I am surprised that you did not manage to kill Ning Que at the Red Lotus Temple. However, it is a pity that you are still not as strong as I am.”
Long Qing lifted his head with difficulty and looked at the approaching blood-red robes. He looked at her horrible appearance with a strange smile. For some reason, he did not tell Ye Hongyu about the strange incidents that happened to Ning Que during their battle at the Red Lotus Temple.
”I'm not interested in the black jade throne at all. You really don't have to pay such a huge price, and take the risk of trying to kill me alone, without taking any of your subordinates.”
He said as he panted, still with a strange smile.
Ye Hongyu walked forward and stopped several feet away from him. She said, ”I would never believe that you have lost interest in all things and are going to roam around the Wilderness for real peace. I know that you are not interested in that, so I won't let you grow any stronger and become a threat to me.”
Long Qing placed a hand on his knees and said wearily, ”You have never talked too much nonsense before killing someone. So I wonder why you have allowed me to say my last words?”
”I heard that you told Ning Que that you think you are the Son of Yama?”
Ye Hongyu said, ”Of course, I am not killing you now because I need to have a rest. I do not want to die with some bum like you.”
Long Qing watched her and mocked, ”Even the Tao Addict needs to have a rest? Has your spirit been depleted by the black jade throne after becoming the Great Divine Priest of Judgment?”
Ye Hongyu did not grow angry because of his jibe. She said serenely, ”It is said that even though we are half deities, below Haotian and above the divine throne, we are still not the true Gods. So as humans, we need to take a rest.”
”All humans need to rest. Indeed... Many people have always wanted to become a God, but they do not know that, as long as they don't become ghosts, it is really a blessing to be a human being.”
Long Qing said somewhat desolately, ”I don't know if I am Yama's son or the person in the prophecy. However, I don't think I am a human being anymore.”
The blood-red divine robes gradually dried. Ye Hongyu looked at him and said calmly, ”Whether you're human or God, you'll become a ghost today. If you are really Yama's son, then I'll let you see your father.”
After saying that, she took another step forward.
Suddenly, there was a flurry of footsteps in the wooded mountains by the lake. Several powerful forces enveloped the pebbled grounds in an instant.
Ye Hongyu's gaze sharpened as she looked at the grassland barbarians holding various kinds of weapons. There were over a thousand of them, wearing leather robes, yelling as they flowed out of the forest.
Only subjects from the Left King's Palace, which was in a precarious position, would appear in the frontier fortress of the North of Yan Kingdom at this time. The powerful forces could only come from the high priests from the palace.
”So you had an agreement with these barbarians. They are having a hard time now, but they still could send high priests to come and get you. So what price have you paid for that?”
Ye Hongyu asked.
Long Qing stood up, blood and pus flowed through his black Taoist shirt. The hole on his chest must have been severely wounded once more in the battle.
”Those from the Left King's Palace are indeed living a hard life right now. They are attacked both by the Desolate Man and the Central Plains. Just like myself, attacked by the Divine Hall in the light and Ning Que in the dark. You asked what I had paid for their trust? In actuality, I paid for nothing.”
He looked at Ye Hongyu and said, ”The Yans and the Left King's Palace have been neighbors for years. They are enemies as well as friends for years. Coincidentally, I have been the friend of their new Chanyu since years ago. What's even more important is that we are both in the same boat and have common goals.”
Ye Hongyu asked, ”What goals?”
Long Qing said, ”We want to get strong again. And then... take revenge.”
Ye Hongyu kept silent.
Long Qing said, ”Actually, I did not expect that you could catch me here. Fortunately, as you have said; no matter how powerful you are, you are but human. You are not a true God, and you need to have a rest. That gives me the opportunity to turn the tides. Of course, I also felt grateful that I could live until now in front of you.”
Ye Hongyu suddenly smiled.
Her face was still pale, but her smile was radiant.
Long Qing was not in the mood to admire her beauty, though he used to gasped with admiration at her attractiveness occasionally when they were in the West-Hill Divine Palace.
Because he had seen the derision and scorn in her smile.
”I am indeed not a God, but just a human being. That is why I am curious about whether you are the Son of Yama, and why you had gone to the north and entered the Wilderness. I was waiting, because I want to see who would help you.”
Ye Hongyu looked at him and said serenely, ”Ning Que had once said something ludicrous by the Yanming lake. He said that curiosity would kill the cat. I do not understand. But I know that curiosity would indeed be a hindrance. However, it is a pity that you pose no hindrance to me for killing you.”
An incredulous expression crossed Long Qing's face. He said coldly, ”I have a thousand warriors from the grassland and seven high priests on my side. How can you kill me?”
Ye Hongyu looked at him as if she was looking at an idiot. She said, ”You are just 30 feet away from me. Even the army led by the Chanyu from the Golden tent can stop me from killing you, let alone the defeated Left King's Palace.”
Long Qing said in shock, ”But how will you escape after killing me?”
Ye Hongyu said, ”The West-Hill aims at killing you, rather than running away. As long as I can kill you, it is not important if I can escape or not.”
This sentence was simple, yet it would need a strong logic and an undaunted will to speak it out calmly. Long Qing's expression stiffened when he heard that.
Ye Hongyu said, ”Most importantly, once you become a meaningless corpse, there would be no reason for the Left King's Palace to detain me. Would the barbarians care for you so much that they would sacrifice their own lives for killing me, a Great Divine Priest of West-Hill? Long Qing, you're really stupid.”
Long Qing's face had become exceptionally pale. He knew that Ye Hongyu was right. If he died now, there would be no reason for the Left King's Palace to avenge him and fight with the Divine Priest of Judgment.
With the last ray of hope, he said, ”But they would not allow you to kill me because I am their last hope to survive and become powerful in the Wilderness.”
As if it was going to prove that Long Qing was right, the branches in the forest by the lake started to shake. The powerful auras that had descended upon the pebbled grounds grew more violent, flowing towards Ye Hongyu.
There was a natural and wild power in the auras, there was a hidden scent of some wild beast in the Wilderness. It was the unique spiritual attack of the grassland barbarians' high priests!
Ye Hongyu's face looked pale. She looked towards the forest with an exceptionally frigid gaze.
A proud and overbearing murmur emerged from her thin lips.
Almost at the same time, a dull painful whimper rang in the forest in the distance.
In the dark forest, a priest of the Left King's Palace, dressed in an expensive robe and bearing several bone-made religious instruments toppled onto the ground with a fearful expression. A fine bone instrument shattered, and two streams of black colored blood flowed from his nose. It was evident that he had been seriously injured.
Ye Hongyu looked towards the forest, feeling the auras. She said disdainfully, ”How dare they use their spiritual Psyche Power to hurt me. They are very brave, yet very dumb.”
A priest from the Left King's Palace had had his sense of perception shattered, even without seeing his enemy. His internal organs started to bleed. A few of the other priests from the grassland who were in the forest looked at each other. They saw shock and fear in each other's eyes.
Ye Hongyu, the Tao Addict, had shocked the cultivation world with her all-rounded skills. She was a powerful Sword Master when fighting against a Sword Master. When she faced Tactical Array Masters, she was an outstanding Tactical Array Master. When she fought a Psyche Master, she became a terrifying Grand Psyche Master. She was now the Great Divine Priest of Judgment, so how could she fear the powers of the priests from the grassland?
Ye Hongyu looked at Long Qing.
The Gloomy Taoist Sword that she had taken from him had long been abandoned casually. The sword she held now was her natal Taoist Sword that had been hidden in her blood-colored Taoist robe.
The sword seemed to have no blade. It swam out of her robes and wriggled like a fish. However, it cut a straight white line in the air.
Long Qing despaired, and smiled bitterly.
Just then, there was a loud boom!
A bolt of lightning fell from the sky and struck the Taoist Sword exactly!
The low rumbling thunder could only be heard moments later.
It rumbled endlessly.
It rarely rained in the cold autumns of the Wilderness. As usual, It did not rain today, but there was thunder.
The rumbles of thunder roared through the lake and the forest. It was a deafening sound that had caused the lake water to shake violently, and the dust to swirl on the pebbled ground.
After some time, the thunder finally stopped.
The sky had darkened and the air was filled with dust that floated upwards and became thick black clouds, shrouding the lake and mountains.
Ye Hongyu kept her Taoist Sword and looked up at the sky. She could see the thunder waiting behind the black clouds.
It was difficult to predict heaven's will and powers.
She looked at the sky silently and ponderingly.
Long Qing was shocked far away. He leaned against a large rock, with a look of excitement and wild passion on his burnt face. He laughed loudly while coughing up blood.
He looked at Ye Hongyu, and his face twisted as he yelled madly, ”I have said that I am not a human being, so I have carried the will of heaven! I am the prophecied one! Look! Haotian has not abandoned me!”
”Ye Hongyu! As long as the heavens don't want me to die, what can you do to me?”