Martial Sovereign of the Turbulent World

Chapter 185: Chapter 183: Spiritual Light and Huai Hai, True Dragon Emperor

WHOOSH—

Fu Juemin let out a soft breath, and a large plume of white mist scattered before his eyes.

He ambled up the stone steps, one after another. Kitty was ahead, carrying Madam Ding, while Big Cat followed behind him.

The four of them were now on Purple Cloud Mountain, in the outskirts of Shenghai. Their destination was Purple Cloud Temple, located at the very peak.

Fu Juemin glanced at the scenery on either side. All he could see was a vast expanse of glistening white.

It was said that the main path up Purple Cloud Mountain was lined with red maples. Every late autumn, the mountainside would blaze a fiery red, drawing crowds to the mountain to admire the foliage.

Of course, there was no chance of seeing such a magnificent sight now.

’Su Hui seemed to really like the maple leaves of Purple Cloud Mountain...’

Fu Juemin recalled what Su Hui had told him of her past back on the Luan River, and he found himself thinking of her.

After the turmoil on the Xuanwu Platform, the crowd had scattered with incredible speed. He hadn’t seen Su Hui again after coming down and wondered if she had left early.

As he was lost in thought, Big Cat’s voice came from behind.

"It’s still a ways to the top. How about I carry you, Young Master?"

Fu Juemin shook his head, indicating it wasn’t necessary.

After he and Aunt Ding returned to Ink Garden by car, they immediately switched to a horse-drawn carriage and headed straight for Purple Cloud Mountain, bringing no one else besides Kitty and Big Cat.

The mountain was steep and the path was slick. It was difficult for Aunt Ding to make the climb, which was why Kitty was carrying her, but he himself had no need for such assistance.

"Li Huaisuang is the key to finding the Fish Demon that swallowed the gold and treasure from the White Dragon."

"Do Li Huaisuang and Master Huai Kong both reside in Purple Cloud Temple?"

Fu Juemin thought for a moment before asking.

Madam Ding’s soft reply drifted back from the steep, hidden mountain path. "They do.

Li Mingyi will be arriving in Shenghai any day now, and Mr. Wen will certainly want to meet with him.

Before that happens, it would be best if nothing happened to either Li Huaisuang or that gold..."

Madam Ding paused before continuing, "A little while ago, in the Su River and Lijiang area, that Fish Demon with the gold was lured out and nearly captured...

...but something went wrong, and it managed to escape.

So... I thought I’d come over here and take a look."

Fu Juemin’s heart stirred at her words.

’The White Dragon’s Fish Demon was almost caught?!’

’Could it have something to do with that Toad Demon Species?’

The image of the Toad Palace master fighting the strange Westerner on the riverbank, then both giving chase to the Fish Demon, flashed through his mind. A flurry of guesses raced through his head.

The group of four continued to press on. Fu Juemin, Kitty, and Big Cat were all martial artists, their steps light and quick. Even so, it took them over half an hour to finally reach the summit of Purple Cloud Mountain.

They had climbed a side peak of Purple Cloud Mountain. The summit wasn’t large, holding only a small Zen Buddhist Temple.

Madam Ding dismounted from Kitty’s back, her expression serious as she instructed Fu Juemin, "I will go in and request an audience with Master Huai Kong. You, Kitty, and Big Cat are to wait here...

As for whether Master Huai Kong will agree to see you... that will depend on your luck."

Fu Juemin had no objection and nodded, waiting outside the temple.

Outside the temple was a small open area.

In the open area, an old tree stood quietly.

A seven or eight-year-old Little Novice Monk was holding a broom taller than himself, earnestly sweeping the freshly fallen snow under the tree, one stroke at a time.

The old tree’s branches were gnarled and knotted. Although covered in thick snow, a deep, dark green color still showed through.

At first, Fu Juemin thought it was a loquat tree, but on second glance, that didn’t seem right. After studying it for a moment, he recognized it as a Bodhi Tree.

He practiced two great Iron Body Strange Skills from the Buddhist Sect of a past dynasty and had leafed through his share of Buddhist Scriptures, but Bodhi Trees were a rare sight—let alone an ancient one like this.

Fu Juemin walked around the Bodhi Tree a few times with great interest, but the novelty quickly wore off.

Bored with waiting, he noticed the thick layer of snow on the ground. A glint in his eye, he suddenly bent down, packed a snowball, and flicked his wrist.

SPLAT—

The snowball splatted against Big Cat, leaving a perfect white mark.

Big Cat looked down, then raised his head and looked at Fu Juemin with a blank expression.

Fu Juemin had already crouched down, smiling and beckoning to him. "Come on, let’s have a snowball fight."

Big Cat stared at him silently for a few seconds before finally nodding. "Alright."

Before long, snowballs began to fly everywhere under the Bodhi Tree.

Fu Juemin, Kitty, and Big Cat darted and dodged, throwing snowballs and evading them, getting completely caught up in the fun.

Fu Juemin had almost forgotten how long it had been since he’d goofed around like this. He had been an office drone in his past life, and though he was a Young Master in this one, ever since arriving, he’d been consumed by training, Demon Hunting, and maneuvering between factions. One crisis followed another, and it felt like his nerves had never truly unwound.

He appeared relaxed and composed on the surface, but inwardly, he always felt an invisible, heavy pressure bearing down on him.

’Is it my opponents, both seen and unseen? Or is it this treacherous, unpredictable, demon-fiend-infested world?’

Fu Juemin couldn’t say for sure.

The impromptu snowball fight, however, allowed that tension to slowly melt away with the flying flecks of snow.

As the battle between the three reached its peak, the Little Novice Monk who had been sweeping nearby could no longer contain himself. He shuffled over, clutching his broom, his round, dark eyes brimming with a desire to join in.

A seven or eight-year-old child is at the perfect age for play. Besides, living atop this desolate peak, he probably rarely saw another soul.

The four-way battle left the area under the Bodhi Tree in a complete mess, with drifts of broken snow everywhere. Finally, Madam Ding emerged once more from the temple gate.

"Something’s happened."

Madam Ding’s brow was tightly furrowed, her voice hushed. "I don’t know if it’s Toad Palace, or Luo Zhengxiong, or the Westerners, but someone has found a way to accurately lure out the Fish Demon every single time.

A few more times... and I’m afraid they’ll really succeed."

Fu Juemin reached out and gently brushed the snow from his collar, his expression calm. "Then what do you plan to do now, Aunt Ding?"

Madam Ding pondered for a moment, then said, "Let’s wait until after I’ve seen Mr. Wen. Oh, right..."

She paused, looked up at Fu Juemin, her tone softening slightly with a hint of consolation. "I just pleaded with Master Huai Kong, but he still refuses to see you. However... he asked me to give you this."

Fu Juemin was startled, but Madam Ding had already placed a neatly folded slip of paper into his hand.

Unfolding it, the ink was still fresh. The handwriting was smooth and serene, yet carried a force that seemed to penetrate the paper. There were only three words—

"Spiritual Light, Huai Hai."

....

「Jianghai Defense Command, Commander’s Mansion.」

In the exceedingly extravagant yet dim and oppressive hall, "Luo Zhengxiong" had completely retreated to a corner, standing in attendance with his head bowed.

The rosewood commander’s chair at the head of the hall had been carelessly shoved aside. A three-meter-tall "monster"—an enormous creature like a veritable Meat Mountain—sat brazenly upon the black marble pedestal.

The monster was draped in a commander’s uniform, deep black with dark gold dragon embroidery. Between the strained, red-gold dragon clasps on its chest, gaps revealed rough, dark green skin that resembled crocodile hide.

Its head was freakishly large, with only a few sparse hairs on top. Its face was a mass of centipede-like suture scars. One eye was a dark yellow, reptilian slit, while the other socket housed a complex mechanical contraption like the inner workings of a brass pocket watch, which pulsed with an eerie red light from time to time.

Its entire lower face was firmly covered by a single piece of a hollowed-out, jet-black metal mask. On its back, several sharp, black-iron-colored bone spurs pierced through its clothes, jutting out menacingly.

Its abdomen was round and bloated. Its lower half consisted of two grotesque limbs, thick as temple pillars, with skin like an elephant’s hide and toes that ended in hooked claws.

The monster was currently using its enormous, backward-jointed claws—which were covered in fine, blue-black scales—to grip the mangled remains of a body it had just torn asunder. It raised the corpse to its metal mask, tearing and chewing in great, savage bites.

CRUNCH... GULP...

The grisly sounds of tearing sinew and swallowing echoed through the deathly silent hall.

Murky saliva mixed with thick gore dripped from the edge of the iron mask, splattering onto the dark red carpet below. It burned the fabric with a SIZZLING sound, sending up puffs of acrid, white smoke.

A surging heat emanated from the monster’s body, radiating outward and turning the magnificent hall into a giant steamer.

"This is... Huilan, isn’t it?"

The monster suddenly stopped. It looked at the smooth, pale thigh in its hand and said with a sigh, "I remember this scent of hers. And... on the top of her left thigh, she has a small, plum-blossom-shaped birthmark."

The monster raised a claw and used its long, knife-like nail to gently stroke a small, dark red birthmark on the thigh.

The next second, it bit down viciously with a blank expression.

Through the gaps in the black iron mask, one could faintly make out a cavernous, inhuman maw filled with rows of fine, sharp teeth.

Luo Chengying stood a few steps away, his face deathly pale, his body trembling uncontrollably.

If his trembling before had been caused by immense and complex psychological pressure, his fear now stemmed from a much more primal, physiological place.

It was the same reason a normal person’s legs would go weak and tremble uncontrollably when faced with a terrifying, ferocious beast.

Very few people in the world knew that the Commander Luo who presided over the Jianghai Defense Command, the one whom outsiders saw, was in fact nothing more than a carefully selected and trained body double.

And the real Luo Zhengxiong, his father....

...had long ago become an inhuman monster. He was collaborating with the Westerners in the Concession, using their research and technology in an attempt to piece and patch himself into his coveted, so-called... "True Dragon Emperor"!

Luo Zhengxiong ate for a while longer, devouring most of the woman’s corpse. Finally, he let out a satisfied belch, wiped the blood from his mouth, and spoke slowly. "Chenying..."