Trying To Tame An Evil Overlord - Chapter 98 Don’t get cold fee
On the top of the Wayward Wind Temple, powerful winds gathered and swirled. Zhao Fanyu’s barrier glittered without disturbance as Huo Tang and Yuan Xuelan found themselves occupied by Peng Jipei’s undead puppets.
Yuan Xuelan, who had previously been reasonably calm, was feeling a slow climb of white-hot rage knowing these fiends were controlled by that bastard cousin of his.
He growled as one came toward him clashing with Silei’s sizzling power.
Huo Tang as well felt this flare through the contract, spiritual energy was fed to her in wild bursts, “Calm yourself! You damned fool!” But her words fell on deaf ears.
“Come out you coward! Come the fuck out!” Yuan Xuelan bellowed and seemed to have forgotten about the Wayward Wind Sect Leader who was in the midst of performing a ritual.
Annoyance would be putting her feelings lightly, but Huo Tang was also terrified at the power and strength that Yuan Xuelan seemed to gain during a burst of rage. It was hardly ordinary and acutely alarming.
But for now, it was attracting the attention of the corpses that circled around him. She’ll have to keep an eye on the rude-boy to make sure he wasn’t being too rash and got himself killed prematurely.
With much elegance, she dodged the edge of a sharpened blade and kicked one of those things in the gut, leaving behind a gaping hole. Organs trailed on the ground but the corpse continued to advance with little effort, slicing and thrusting expertly.
And when she evaded one, another came. Two of these damned corpses were on her, stealing her concentration, leaving her little time to harass Zhao Fanyu’s barrier with spells.
She was still trying. It was the only thing she could do.
Next to her, Yuan Xuelan danced in the midst of three terrifying corpses. Their hollow eyes did not daunt him. He only had one thing on his mind; Cleave these damned toys and pull their mastermind out from the shadows.
Yuan Xuelan only wanted that.
Reason was tossed aside and he thought of nothing else but destroying his foes. He drew a series of talismans and fanned them out, already knowing these fools do not react much to them.
When the talismans stuck to rotting limbs, they became slowed and weighed. Yuan Xuelan didn’t waste a single breath and struck at the nearest corpse, severing a hand.
It flopped on the ground like a stranded fish and Yuan Xuelan couldn’t help but stomp on it just to hear bones crunch beneath his feet, “Come out, Peng Jipei! Show me your cowardly face and explain yourself!”
“T-There is nothing to explain!”
And Xuelan thought, ‘This fucker really deserves to die!’
A corpse came at him, sword brandished and Yuan Xuelan didn’t even flinch when it sliced through his bicep, he twisted over to evade another strike and countered against all the silver edges.
The talismans were burning off with black flames of resentment so Yuan Xuelan unleashed even more, uncaring that his stock thinned precariously.
With the corpses slowed down, Yuan Xuelan ignored more slashes coming his way and lunged at the nearest fiend and cut into its head. There was resistance at the spine. Yuan Xuelan chided his own technique, knowing that if it was Sumeng instead, his sword would have sliced through bone like paper.
Aggravated, he unleashed another surge of lightning and fire through Silei that ate through rotting flesh, turning it into a black char. The head fell to the ground but the body remained standing.
A sword edge thrust at him and Yuan Xuelan barely evaded just enough to keep his life, a deep gash colored his side and he could only feel the thrum of adrenaline and anger.
Damn Peng Jipei, that coward who only hid and couldn’t even fight his own fucking cousin head-on!
And at this point, he had completely forgotten about Zhao Fanyu who was wrapping up the chant for his ritual. Huo Tang cursed. The barrier was so thin now! If only she had been given a little more time then…
But it was far too late. Streams of light reached out from the urns and gathered at Zhao Fanyu’s feet before shooting up at the ceiling. Silver streams crept into the tiles with long skinny tendrils until the structure began to creak and shift. The roof of the temple rumbled and slowly folded open, revealing the azure sky above.
The light at Zhao Fanyu’s feet shot upwards into a blinding pillar that pierced the heavens, parting clouds. The sky rumbled in response and Huo Tang could feel space pulling and warping.
A dimensional pocket was unlocked and came undone, releasing the contents within. A shining orb, no bigger than a peach, fell from the sky and dropped into Zhao Fanyu’s palm.
The glow dimmed, unveiling a deep blue color, dotted with tiny swirling lights. The origin of the name ‘Ten Thousand Eternal Star Bead’ appeared simple enough.
Zhao Fanyu’s breath was heavy, brows glistening with sweat. He glared at this Forbidden Treasure with a sneer, “Never has this wretched thing ever brought to me any fortune…”
The animate corpses were still engaged with Yuan Xuelan and Huo Tang. The phoenix cursed and shouted a warning she knew would fall of deaf ears, “Idiot boy, do yourself a favor and be wary of the bead’s power!”
It was said that the Ten Thousand Eternal Star Bead was the weakest of the three Forbidden Treasures. It wasn’t as flashy, and it could not topple mountains or dry oceans. But while its ability seemed almost mundane in comparison to the other treasures, to say it was the weakest wasn’t necessarily true.
Any capable and well-read person would understand that it was hardly so simple.
The Ten Thousand Eternal Star Bead had the ability to alter and exchange fates.
It was an absolutely crippling power. There was zero way to counter or defend oneself against its effects. But the results were also oftentimes not exactly what people expected, and thus compared to the other two Forbidden Treasures, its use wasn’t as well documented.
“That thing will not grant you any wishes.” Huo Tang raised her voice, directing it toward the Wayward Wind Sect Leader.
He sighed and addressed her directly for the first time, “Do you think I don’t know that…? Having this awful thing under my care for so long… Wishes? What wishes? There is only misfortune to be had.”
“…” But if this sect leader had no use for the bead then what was he planning to do with it? Huo Tang had a sinking feeling as the sky saturated with darkness. Telling black feathers from the sky. A dark shadow loomed over and even the mindless undead puppets backed away, influenced by the oppressive presence that descended upon them.
Yuan Xuelan took the opportunity to cleave into one of the corpses that surrounded him, cursing at them. He managed to down one, but the others only retreated, and seemed to lose interest in fighting. And Yuan Xuelan was almost mad enough to follow them. But he had some reason remaining and remembered the importance of this stupid bead.
But it seriously pissed him off that his little bitch of a cousin still refused to show himself! And now he was left without anyone to turn his anger toward aside from Zhao Fanyu and the dark shadow that descended from the sky. Yuan Xuelan carefully swept his gaze across the vicinity just in case.
The cawing of ravens heralding his arrival, Hui Ziwang descended next to Zhao Fanyu from a cloud of dark wings.
“Hui Ziwang,” Huo Tang greeted this absurd demon king, “I see that you’ve grown to become stupid and self-important. Your mother should have taught you better than to be so foolish!”
Hui Ziwang paused and gazed at the phoenix. Did he know this bitch? Something told him that he did, but the memory was locked away. A shiver traveled down his spine but he hid it with a sneer, “Shut up, ugly bitch. My mother is dead.”
“You-!” Huo Tang wanted to scold this rude little kit for his lack of manners but she was also taken aback. Hui Ziwang’s mother was dead? Since when!? Surely, Huo Tang couldn’t have been cultivating in her cave for that long? Ah, to think the world changed so drastically in a mere blink of an eye!
And now that stupid kit was the supposed demon king! And he was hunting down the Forbidden Treasures! Seriously, what was he even thinking?
The demon king held out his hand and Zhao Fanyu watched him with an indifferent expression.
Huo Tang wasn’t about to let this happen so easily and shot her divine flames at them, hoping to disrupt the transaction.
Yuan Xuelan was tired of this bullshit happening in front of his face and took up Silei.
“Hey, you bastards! Don’t just ignore us here!” He lunged at them with thunder and fire, clashing with the thin fold of barrier still left erect from earlier. It shattered upon collision, allowing Huo Tang’s divine fire through.
Hui Ziwang clicked his tongue against his teeth and waved his wrist. A veil of feathers shielded them from the flames and then shot at them like a rain of ten thousand needles.
Huo Tang cursed. Seriously, she was so weak! If she had the full extent of her powers she would just burn these two fools in front of her into a pile of ashes and be done with it! But alas, she was stuck there swatting away demon bird feathers.
But no one could have guessed the following developments that were to occur on top of the Wayward Wind Temple.
Zhao Weiwei was panting and out of breath when she reached the very top of the steps. She had no voice either and couldn’t call out to her uncle. Her spiritual energy was depleted to nothingness and she wouldn’t even be able to hop on a flying sword even if she tried. But she was a smart and cunning little girl.
Zhao Weiwei plucked her hairpin from her hair. It wasn’t that sharp, so it wasn’t as though she was going to hurt anyone with it. But Zhao Weiwei had long perfected the skill of throwing stones to annoy the elders and seniors of the sect and her uncle was no exception to her long list of victims.
She took aim, quelling any apprehension or nervousness from her body and threw her hairpin!
“Ow!” The hairpin successfully penetrated the whirling thicket of raven feathers and hit Zhao Fanyu in the back of the head. For a moment he was stunned and when he looked down he saw that familiar hairpin with a peach blossom ornament.
Stunned, he whirled around and saw his niece standing by the staircase who was waving wildly for attention. She was making a scowling face, her mouth open like she was shouting but no sounds came out.
It was enough for him to read her lips saying, “Don’t!”
He was frozen in place. He knew that his Shijie would have done everything she could to save Zhao Weiwei but a part of his heart had already given up hope. But to think she could even stand before him like this! He was shocked and even angry that she would put herself into danger right after facing death.
Suddenly Zhao Fanyu was struck with indecisiveness. But no, he should still rid himself of this damned stone in his hands! As long as he kept the awful thing in his possession, he would be beset with misfortune. His sect already suffered twice! Just how many people would die!? Did he really think himself to be some sort of hero? No… In the first place, Zhao Fanyu was a regular cultivator without much outstanding ability. If it wasn’t for the Waxing Moon Tragedy he would have never been called Sect Leader!
But Zhao Weiwei was still screaming at him without a voice, her eyes desperate and teary.
“Don’t get fucking cold feet!” Hui Ziwang swore at him. Impatient, he reached out himself, uncaring of decorum and about to steal the Ten Thousand Eternal Star Bead from Zhao Fanyu’s palm.
Zhao Fanyu’s mind became unthinking. He took the bead and pitched it toward his niece!