The Curse King had definitely seen better days. Right now, he was the definition of thoroughly routed. Tattered inky robes flapped in the wind, exposing large swathes of skin so pale they were almost translucent. Long locks that’d once gracefully cascaded down his back like a waterfall now resembled a bird’s nest.
“What are you looking at? I’ll dig out your eyeballs if you keep staring at me like that!” The Curse King glared viciously when he noticed that Haidong Lin’s eyes were set on him. The Curse King’s aura was muddled—he’d plainly experienced a daunting battle and barely escaped by the skin of his teeth.
“What did you run into?” Lu Yun jumped with shock when he saw the state that his enemy was in.
“What else could I have run into? A zombie formation by Corpse Refiner trash!” the Curse King forced out through grit teeth. “Lu Yun, the Corpse Refiners are very dangerous. I highly recommend that you dig them up by the roots and burn them all! Do you really think that the Corpse Refiners in the world of immortals have been cowed by the immortal dao? They’re just biding their time until they can take it!”
“You’re not in cahoots with them?” Lu Yun’s eyes widened with surprise. Eliminating the Curse King somehow no longer seemed to be the priority; the Corpse Refiners were apparently much worse.
Lu Yun had seen the Curse King in all thirty-three loops and seen firsthand how the man had schemed against him, strewing curses and plots throughout the world of immortals and Hongmeng. In that critical battle, he’d lured Mo Yi out to kill her, but the Dao King died for her thirty-three times.
No matter how one viewed it, the Curse King was Lu Yun’s archenemy, but what if that was in doubt? Was his real archenemy a faction that he hadn’t bothered to take note of in the thirty-three loops?
The Corpse Refiners!
“Pfft, heh!” the Curse King snorted at Lu Yun’s question. “Me, ally with old fart Jiang Chen? He’ll eat me the second I’m distracted!
“Didn’t you experience thirty-three cycles and see many things? Did you not see the final withering of the immortal dao?” His pitch-black eyes narrowed slightly.
Lu Yun frowned and sank into deep thought. He’d never actually caught a clear glimpse of the demise of immortal dao. If it wasn’t for that cycle’s version of him sitting alone in the void, his future self wouldn’t have paid attention to the changes in immortal dao. Rather, he’d been distracted by unending despair from that cycle’s version of him and hadn’t had energy to spare for anything else.
“I’ll tell you what happens—the immortal dao never dies. It continuously reincarnates in the Discarded Land. Whether it reincarnates into a complete version or fragmented version, the Corpse Refiners always devour it in the end!”
“You mean Jiang Chen?” Lu Yun looked at the Curse King. “The ancestor of the Corpse Refiners in the world of immortals?”
“Naturally,” the Curse King nodded. “He is their forefather, a zombie that escaped from the Abyssal Hell with his own dao. He built the dao of corpse refining, and if my guess is right, he’s also here and wants to refine the world of sequence into one of corpse refining dao.
“This Abyssal Hell isn’t just your home ground, it’s also Jiang Chen’s. It is not a foregone conclusion who will win if the two of you meet in battle here!”
Haidong Lin looked steadily at Lu Yun, not saying anything. He’d finally realized that he really seemed to be of no help after entering the abyss.
“Alright, I’ll ally with you for now,” Lu Yun said solemnly. “But I want to see what you really look like. You’ve used disguises from the start, I don’t even know if you’re a man or a woman!”
The Curse King rolled his eyes and glared at Lu Yun.
“And!” Haidong Lin interjected. “Were you the one who sprayed our faces with honey just now? What kind of honey was it? Why is there honey here?”
Jolted out of his glare, the Curse King stared wordlessly at the two weirdos in front of him.
“It doesn’t actually matter if you help me or not, I’ve already reached an agreement with the Time Guard. She’ll help me in moments of need,” Lu Yun suddenly mentioned the guard being held captive in the Disordered Hell.
“Time Guard? Her?” Contempt blossomed across the Curse King’s face. “She’s just an obstinate, willful, spoiled little brat. What good can she do, and you’re looking to her for help? Would you have been able to capture her if she’s that capable?”
Lu Yun paused sheepishly; he’d thrown out a random thought just to test the Curse King. There was no agreement whatsoever between him and the guard. He hadn’t even had time to project a mental replica to talk to her yet. His full attention was needed in a place like this Abyssal Hell.
“You know her?” He seized on the Curse King’s tone; the man seemed to be well acquainted with the Time Guard.
“Hmph,” the Curse King snorted in lieu of a response. He returned to his previous appearance of a young man with long black hair, skin as white and translucent as paper, and so handsome that it was uncanny. If it hadn’t been for the obviously male characteristics on his body, anyone might mistake him for a woman.
By now, outward gender appearances was the last thing that Lu Yun would believe. He’d been tricked by Qing Yu for so long and treated her as a brother before she suddenly turned into a woman and his dao partner.
“Alright… I’ll ally with you against the Corpse Refiners,” Lu Yun nodded again. “But I don’t trust you.”
“And you think I trust you?” sneered the Curse King. “Come with me.”
He vanished where he stood, heading for where he’d met the zombies and come off worse in the exchange.
“Aren’t you worried that he’s leading us into a trap?” Haidong Lin transmitted. “He obviously comes from the same place as the Corpse Refiners…”
“Come what may, we’ll handle things as they come up. It’d actually be perfect if they’re on the same side, I’ll take them out in one fell swoop!” Lu Yun bared his teeth savagely.
Up ahead, the Curse King seemed to sense the change in Lu Yun’s expression and looked back to direct a glare his way. Neither of the two trusted the other—they were both waiting for openings to appear so they could kill their archenemy!
Meanwhile, Lu Yun finally found an opportunity to send a sliver of his mind into the Disordered Hell and project a replica. The Time Guard had taken off her mask and sprawled lazily on a black boulder, seemingly asleep.
“The Curse King says you’re a spoiled little princess, but you can fall asleep on a rock?” Lu Yun looked at her, startled.
Appearing roughly sixteen years old, her stunning visage lit this hell with its beauty alone. If it wasn’t for the mask gripped tightly in her hands, Lu Yun would never connect this unparalleled beauty with the ruthless Time Guard.
“Yaaaaawn,” the girl yawned when she heard Lu Yun and opened her eyes to look calmly at him. “We run the risk of dying at every second in this Discarded Land. Since I’m in a safer environment, I should make use of the chance to sleep.”
She rubbed her cheek with resignation.
“This makes things easier if you’re afraid of death.” A smile flitted across Lu Yun’s face to hear her thoughtless response. So that was why she’d voluntarily entered the Disordered Hell! She was afraid of death, and it was relatively safer in here.
“I’ll protect you if you tell me everything I want to know,” he grinned.
“You and what army?” the girl curled her lip. “You can’t even protect yourself, so how can you protect me? Do you really think that no one’s noticed an aberration has appeared in the Land of Reincarnation?
“You remain untouched only because you’re still an ant and can’t get up to any trouble. If you access sequence, someone will come and take you out!”
Though the girl seemed to be conveying a threat, it seemed more like a warning. For some reason, a bizarre notion bloomed in Lu Yun’s mind. The girl was on his side!
One of our own?
Startled, he looked at the girl with fresh eyes.
She sniffed and looked meaningfully back at him, confirming Lu Yun’s suspicion. She wasn’t here because she’d lost, she’d planned everything and it’d all been an act!
“Mo Yi’s senior sister?” he asked out of the blue.
Caught off guard by the sudden change in topic, the girl quickly understood what Lu Yun meant.
“She’s an idiot, a complete and utter idiot. She’s not really Mo Yi’s senior sister either, she just happened to make Mo Yi’s acquaintance. The sight of her irritated me, so I sealed her strength away and threw her into the war that fractured the original Hongmeng. I don’t know and don’t care if she survived it,” the girl continued after a moment of thought. “Though she’s an idiot, she’s got a good eye for talent. She randomly became Mo Yi’s senior sister when Mo Yi was in trouble, then took a good disciple when she visited the world of immortals. Mm, it’s the smart, quick-witted, and talented little nun that I’m talking about. And another one—the only one skilled in destiny in this cycle!”
Ah Zhi! Yu Hengluo!
Ah Zhi’s primary self—Yu Hengluo—had returned to the fourth realm and now held down the fort at Mount Astronomia. As for the little nun, she’d been cultivating in the world of immortals when she abruptly vanished one day. Lu Yun had thought that her master had taken her away, but it now seemed that the silly little nun was someone extraordinary.
Just as the Time Guard was about to go on, Lu Yun’s replica suddenly vanished.
“There’s something else I need to tell him, right?” the girl blinked. “Oh, Chen Xiao and Qing Buyi are also here. They’re much stronger than me…
“Forget it, those crazies will definitely come once they know Lu Yun is here.” The guard took out a mirror and admired herself in it. The image reflected out of it was… the little nun.
etvolare’s Thoughts
I’ve completely forgotten about the little nun, she tagged along for some part of Lu Yun’s adventures, right?
…and is she saying she sealed away her own master’s power and threw her back into a horrific war?!
