HCB Chapter 778: The Master Bravely Resists the Black King's Might, and Meiji Outwits the Demonic P
Chapter 778: The Master Bravely Resists the Black King's Might, and Meiji Outwits the Demonic P
At the same time, in the suburbs of Yunzhou, three hundred miles away.
Master Chen was reading a book under the sycamore tree in the front yard of the fasting center, holding a teacup. Just as the tea was about to reach his lips, his Adam's apple suddenly stopped.
The celadon cup at the fingertips had spider-web-like cracks.
His pupils contracted violently, the teacup fell to the ground with a clang, and as the broken porcelain splashed, his whole body shot up like an arrow.
The bamboo slips on the desk behind him were blown all over the sky by the strong wind.
He didn't even look at it, but placed his right hand on his chest and slowly spread it out - the pale golden "heart scene" spread like ripples.
Wherever he passed, the servants who were drying talisman papers, the disciples who were wiping magic tools, and even the yellow dog napping under the eaves, all stopped abruptly.
"Lü Ruici!" Master Chen's voice was like a bronze bell tempered with ice.
"Take everyone out through the side door and leave the fasting area within thirty breaths."
Lu Ruici, who was sorting out the talisman bag in the corridor, was shocked all over. When he looked up, he met Master Chen's sharp gaze.
Without asking why, she pulled out the bronze bell from her waist and rang it. The crisp sound of the bell startled everyone who was still doing their job.
Some people subconsciously touched their swords, others picked up the instruments on the table.
But she pulled him by the collar and pushed him towards the side door: "Don't take anything! Save your life!"
Master Chen's "mindscape" was still spreading, and he could clearly sense that the evil energy in the southeast was surging like a living thing.
The smell was so strong, as thick as ink that could not be dissolved.
Filled with the stench of rotting flesh and the smell of rust, even the moonlight was dyed dark red.
He turned and looked towards the southeast, his robe fluttering in the wind, his fingers trembling slightly within his wide sleeves.
This is not the evil spirit of an ordinary monster, but a sign of great disaster that is enough to overturn an entire city.
"Master!" Xiao An, the servant boy, rushed out of the stable, leading the Qingzhui horse, the reins leaving red marks on his palms.
"The carriage is ready!"
Master Chen glanced at the ebony carriage pulled by the green horse.
The carriage curtains were woven with black iron and gold threads, and the shafts were engraved with the evil-suppressing spells of the Demon Suppression Division.
He reached out and pressed down on Xiao An's shoulder, his force so strong that it almost broke the boy's bones. "I'll go meet that thing, you take the rest of the people through the secret passage."
"No!" Xiao An's eyes instantly turned red, and she clutched his sleeve tightly.
"You said you would teach me how to write the last volume of the Huangting Sutra! You can't—"
"Shut up!"
Master Chen suddenly raised his voice, but his words softened as he pulled off the jade token from his waist and stuffed it into Xiao An's hand.
"Take this to the Demon Suppression Division branch and look for Shen Changqing."
"Remember, if I don't return in three days, write down what I saw today in a letter and present it to the abbot."
Before he finished speaking, he had already lifted the curtain and jumped into the car.
The green horse neighed loudly, sparks flew from its four hooves, and it pulled the carriage towards the southeast like an arrow.
The curtains were blown aside by the strong wind, and Master Chen could be seen sitting in the middle of the carriage.
With his left hand pinching the evil-suppressing spell, his right hand still clutched the half-broken teacup—
The breath just now clearly brushed past the edge of the teacup, leaving a charred mark on the glaze.
The further southeast you go, the more scorching the heat becomes.
Master Chen lifted the carriage curtain, and the sight before him made him gasp for breath:
In the originally flat valley, a sea of fire more than a man high suddenly appeared.
Tongues of fire wrapped in black and red evil spirits surged, as if countless invisible hands were tearing the air apart.
In the thick clouds farther away, a huge shadow was gathering, with a head like an ox.
The horns were like halberds, and every time he blinked, blood dripped from his eye sockets.
When it hit the sea of fire, what splashed up were not sparks, but pieces of black hair.
"What, what is that?" Xiao An had climbed onto the carriage at some point, huddled behind Master Chen, his voice trembling.
Mr. Chen's knuckles turned white from pinching.
He had seen the records in ancient books - the Black King, an ancient evil creature, feeds on resentment, and every time it appears, it will massacre a city.
Twenty years ago, the head of the Demon Suppression Division risked his life to seal it.
But now... he looked at the black hair slowly crawling under the giant shadow.
Those things that should have been burned by the flames actually grew stronger and stronger in the fire.
"It's the Black King."
"It seems that the seal from that year has finally loosened."
"W-Where's the Night Squad? They're not around here..."
"Night?" Master Chen sneered and glanced at the edge of the sea of fire.
In the sea of fire, a slender figure was carrying a black coffin on his back and dragging a chubby fat man as he staggered forward.
The black coffin was wrapped with nine chains, each of which was emitting black smoke;
Most of the fat man's collar was burned, revealing the silver team emblem "Night" on his waist - it was Shen Qingzhu and Baili Pangpang.
"Why is that girl here?"
Master Chen's pupils suddenly shrank, the Qingzhui horse's hooves suddenly raised, and the carriage turned in mid-air.
"Xiao An, control the horse!"
"Master, where are you going?!"
"Help!" Master Chen pressed his palm on the floor of the carriage.
The "mind scene" surged out like a substance, and the originally raging sea of fire was suddenly pressed down three feet by an invisible barrier.
He stared at Shen Qingzhu, her heels stuck in the cracks of the scorched earth.
She fell forward, and the chain of the black coffin brushed against the back of her neck, leaving a bloody mark.
The fat man in her arms had fainted, his head hanging beside her shoulder.
There was still some oil stain at the corner of her mouth - it was obvious that she didn't use the magic weapon in order to protect the fat man.
"Qingzhu!" Master Chen shouted at the top of his lungs, but the fire was too big and his voice was swallowed up as soon as it came out.
He watched her stumble again, the weight of the black coffin almost crushing her waist.
Suddenly I remembered the little girl I met in the Demon Suppression Division three months ago.
At that time, she was still wearing the badge of an apprentice demon slayer, standing in front of the abbot and saying
"I'm going to the most dangerous place," now it has come true.
The back of Shen Qingzhu's neck was burned by the heat wave.
She could hear her own heartbeat, and every step she took felt like stepping on red-hot iron.
The thing in the black coffin was struggling, and the chains made her shoulders burn with pain, but she didn't dare to let go.
This is the last magic weapon to suppress evil that was snatched from the fishing village. It contains the souls of twenty-seven villagers.
"Fat Master, bear with it for a while." She lowered her head and said to the unconscious Baili Pangpang, her voice hoarse as sandpaper.
"After we get out of the sea of fire, I'll treat you to Yunzhou's best—"
The words stopped abruptly.
She looked up and saw through the surging waves of fire an ebony carriage breaking through the wall of fire.
The green horse's mane was stained with sparks, but it still neighed and galloped wildly.
The curtain of the carriage was blown open by the wind, revealing Master Chen's tense face.
"Master!" Her eyes instantly felt sore, and her trembling legs suddenly regained strength.
The weight of the black coffin seemed to be lighter. She dragged Baili Pangpang forward, and her heels made a harsh sound as they scraped against the scorched earth.
Mr. Chen waved to her in the carriage, and the curtains were ripped by him.
She could even see the jade pendant on his waist glowing warmly in the firelight—
That was the "Guardian Jade" bestowed personally by the head of the Demon Suppression Division, which could block three fatal injuries.
"Hold on tight!" Master Chen's voice pierced through the sea of fire.
Shen Qingzhu gritted her teeth and rushed forward. The black coffin hit her back and it hurt, but she didn't care.
She saw Master Chen's fingers pressing on the car wall, and the light golden "heart scene" spread like ripples.
Wherever it passed, the fire retreated half a foot.
Baili Pangpang's feet finally stepped on the pedal of the carriage.
Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, a muffled sound suddenly came from the black coffin - a chain broke.
Black hair spurted out from the cracks in the coffin like a poisonous snake and wrapped around her wrists.
"Qingzhu!" Master Chen's pupils shrank suddenly, and he suddenly opened the mechanism on the roof.
A copper arrow engraved with spells shot out from the top and accurately cut through the black hair.
Shen Qingzhu used his strength to rush into the carriage.
Baili Pangpang was thrown onto the soft couch by her, and he crashed into Master Chen's arms, hitting his forehead so hard that it hurt.
But she laughed so hard that tears came out: "Master, I knew you would come."
Master Chen said nothing.
He stared at the purple mark on her wrist left by the black hair.
He glanced at the giant shadow of the Black King slowly approaching outside the car and secretly made a gesture with his fingers.
The pale golden "heart scene" solidified in the carriage.
Like an invisible net, it tightly wrapped Shen Qingzhu and Baili Pangpang.
The neighing of the Qingzhui horse suddenly changed its tone.
Master Chen opened the curtain and looked out. The huge shadow of the Black King had come ten feet closer.
Its eyes were fixed on the carriage, and its mouth was grinning, revealing its sharp white fangs.
"Xiao An, urge the horses!" Master Chen's voice was as heavy as if a piece of iron was pressing down on him.
"Even if it costs my life, I have to get them out."
Xiao An's hands were shaking as he gripped the reins.
He looked at the raging sea of fire outside the car, and then glanced at Shen Qingzhu who was huddled in the corner of the car.
She was wiping the dust off Baili Pangpang's face with her clothes, her movements as gentle as if she was coaxing a child.
He suddenly remembered what Master Chen often said: "The way of a cultivator is not to be self-sufficient, but to be unable to bear the suffering of the world."
The four hooves of the green horse ignited golden flames.
That is the natal fire that Master Chen stimulated with his "heart scene", which can burn away all evil.
The carriage was like a meteor, cutting through the sea of fire and rushing straight towards the giant shadow of the Black King.
In the carriage, Master Chen's palm was pressing on Shen Qingzhu's back.
His "heartscape" is still spreading, like an invisible net.
The black coffin was quietly wrapped around her waist - he knew that the real trouble had just begun.
The original text contains two different story lines, and there is no direct connection between the two story lines.
This is a mixture of content that is unrelated to the main text of the novel.
The following is the novel content after removing irrelevant content and retaining only one story line:
The sandalwood in the ebony carriage was scattered by the burning smell.
Shen Qingzhu leaned his back against the soft couch, his nails digging deep into his palms - when the black hair brushed against his wrist just now,
He could clearly smell the stench of a rotting corpse mixed with rust, and at this moment, the purple marks were spreading towards his forearm at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Baili Pangpang was still unconscious, his belly rising and falling with his heavy breathing.
The oil stains at the corners of his mouth shone dark yellow in the firelight, as if all his strength had been drained away.
"Qingzhu." Master Chen lowered his voice and placed his knuckles on her forehead to check her temperature.
"Tell me from the beginning. How did you end up in a fire scene where the Black King's seal was loose?"
Shen Qingzhu's Adam's apple moved.
She recalled that three days ago, when they were collecting souls in the fishing village, the old village chief had grabbed her wrist and said, "The coffin contains the last twenty-seven souls."
I remember when the black coffin was just carried out of the village, black hair suddenly emerged from the valley and wrapped around the coffin like a living thing.
Thinking back to when Baili Pangpang blocked the black hair for her, he took a claw from that creature...
Fatty said that his mother said before she died that a fat man’s life should be used to protect others.”
His voice trembled, and he lowered his head to hold Baili Pangpang's hand.
"We could have escaped, but three of the chains of the black coffin are broken, and the soul is about to disperse..."
"Silly girl."
Master Chen wiped the black dust off her face with his thumb, took out a small jade bottle from his sleeve and poured out the pills.
"Hold this in your mouth. This is the Miasma-Clearing Pill given to me by the First Master."
Before he finished speaking, the Qingzhui horse suddenly neighed as if it was about to die.
The carriage shook violently, and the firelight outside the curtain suddenly became three times brighter—the giant shadow of the Black King was already within reach.
The two horns on the ox's head pierced the clouds, and black blood oozed out from every wrinkle, dripping onto the shaft of the cart, immediately corroding a charred hole.
"Xiao An! Control the horse!" Master Chen suddenly opened the carriage curtain, his left hand still holding the half unbroken celadon cup.
He could feel the Black King's gaze scraping across the carriage like a blunt knife, like a thousand-year-old beast sizing up its prey.
The "heart scene" condensed into a light golden barrier around him.
But cracks have begun to appear on the edges of the barrier - this thing is more ferocious than what is recorded in ancient books.
The Black King's giant claws suddenly retracted, and a dark knife emerged from his palms.
The blade was wrapped in layers of resentment, and each line contained the cries of countless wronged souls.
It opened its mouth wide, and blood beads on its fangs fell to the ground, exploding into black flames a meter high in the sea of fire.
"Be careful!" Shen Qingzhu rushed over and grabbed Master Chen's sleeve.
Before he finished speaking, the black knife had already chopped down with a sound of breaking through the air, and the sound of the wind made the copper lamp in the carriage shake violently.
The lamp oil splashed on Baili Pangpang's face, but he didn't even move his eyelashes.
Mr. Chen's pupils shrank to the size of needles.
He recalled the notes left by the first monk when he sealed the Black King twenty years ago: "The Black King will wield a sword when he transforms, and when he draws the sword, the city will fall."
He threw half of the celadon cup into the air with his backhand, and drew a bloody mark on the palm of his hand with his fingertips - that was a forbidden technique that used his own essence and blood to stimulate the mindscape.
The celadon cup exploded in mid-air, and a pale golden light wrapped around the broken porcelain pieces, condensing into a three-meter-long giant sword. Densely packed demon-suppressing incantations appeared on the sword.
"Go!" Master Chen shouted.
The giant sword rushed towards the black knife with the force of wind and thunder, and the sound of metal clashing resounded throughout the suburbs of Yunzhou City.
Shen Qingzhu was shaken and bumped against the wall of the carriage, and a bump immediately appeared on his forehead.
But he ignored the pain and peeked out through the gap in the curtain - where the giant sword and the black knife touched,
The golden waves and the black flames were tearing each other apart like two living creatures biting each other.
Sparks hit the carriage and set the curtains on fire, making them crackle.
"So strong..."
Xiao An's hands gripping the reins were all sweaty. The golden flames of the Qingzhui horse had weakened by three points, and the horse's neck was covered in blood foam.
"Master's natal sword, the one that once slew the Hydra King..."
"Shut up!" Cold sweat broke out on Master Chen's forehead.
He could feel his mindscape rapidly slipping away, and the extinguishing of each spell felt like cutting his meridians.
The resentment on the black knife suddenly surged, and the giant sword broke into two halves with a "crack".
The black knife's remaining force did not diminish as it chopped down on the "heart scene" barrier, actually tearing a gap of half a meter wide.
Black flames mixed with evil spirits poured into the carriage through the gap.
Shen Qingzhu immediately covered her mouth and nose, but the smell still penetrated her throat, making her stomach churn.
Baili Pangpang suddenly groaned, and the unconscious man curled up into a ball. The silver team badge on his back was burned red by the black flames.
That was the Night Squad's emblem, made of thousand-year-old cold iron, and it was melting at this moment.
"Master!"
Shen Qingzhu rushed over and used her body to protect Baili Pangpang. The black flames burned the ends of her hair, causing her to cry in pain. "Think of a solution quickly!"
Black blood oozed from the corner of Master Chen's mouth.
He knew that this was a backlash of his mental state, but he couldn't retreat - the two children in the carriage were the youngest sparks of the Demon Suppression Division.
He bit his tongue and blood spurted onto his palm. His "heart scene" suddenly expanded and the gap was barely filled, but his temples turned completely white in an instant.
At this moment, the Black King's roar suddenly changed its tone.
Its bull head suddenly turned to the northwest, and the fierce light in its pupils suddenly disappeared, replaced by fear.
The black knife fell to the ground with a clang, the blade cracked into spider web patterns, and began to melt.
The black flames seemed to be pulled away by an invisible hand, and disappeared completely in the blink of an eye, leaving only scorched earth and a few wisps of black smoke.
"This is..." Master Chen was stunned.
He saw the giant shadow of the Black King being dragged to the ground by countless chains, at the end of which was a man covered in blood.
That was Cao Yuan, the wandering monk whom I had met at the Demon Suppression Division branch three days ago.
At this moment, his eyes were shining with a strange golden light, and half of a black knife was stuck in his chest, but the wound was healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"The Black King...is his..." Shen Qingzhu's voice trembled.
She recalled the nonsense that Baili Pangpang had said before he passed out: "Cao Yuan's blood is hotter than black flames..."
Master Chen said nothing.
He watched Cao Yuan slowly stand up. The huge shadow of the Black King had completely merged into his body, and even the black knife on the ground disappeared.
The night wind lifted Cao Yuan's clothes, revealing half of the jade token on his waist.
The pattern on the jade token was exactly the same as the "Evil-Suppressing Seal" used to seal the Black King.
"Gee!" Xiao An suddenly swung the reins, and the green horse dragged the scarred carriage across the sea of fire.
Master Chen looked at Cao Yuan, who was gradually shrinking outside the carriage, and clenched the half-piece of celadon cup back into his palm.
He needed to return to the Demon Suppression Division immediately and tell the Chief what he had seen tonight.
The revival of the Black King is probably not as simple as the loosening of the seal.
Shen Qingzhu looked down at Baili Pangpang and found that his eyelashes were trembling, and he was obviously about to wake up.
Just as she was about to breathe a sigh of relief, a slight "click" sound suddenly came from the carriage - it was another chain of the black coffin, and one of them broke.