The Immortal Emperor Returns

Chapter 252 Jing Hong!

Chu Xun could not believe that apart from Emperor Ao, the silver-haired woman was another Cultivator before him.

Unfazed by Chu Xun’s shocked demeanor, the silver-haired woman looked relatively calm. Having seen the visions of the Lovesickness Tear, she knew Chu Xun was a Cultivator too.

Hum!

The air quivered and the ground shook. A thick and ancient aura swept across the area and a huge stone obelisk came crushing down on into the ground.

Chu Xun stared motionless, as stunned as a hare caught in a snare.

The Demon-slain Finger! The silver-haired woman demonstrated the very same Demon-slain Finger technique he used so many times!?

The Demon-slain Finger—scaring all the gods and ghosts by the third finger!

Boom!

The huge obelisk-like pillar drove into the ground, kicking up a storm of sand and dust that engulfed Chu Xun whole.

The crashing force threw him into the air and he crashed to the ground, with blood trickling through the corners of his mouth. If he had not recovered from the shock just in time to defend himself, he could have been grievously injured.

“Who are you?!” Chu Xun yelled, sounding both frantic and confused, “Why did you know how to use the Demon-slain Finger technique?!”

As far as he could remember, he had taught this magic to only one other person—Jing Hong.

“How did you know about the Demon-slain Finger?!” gasped the silver-haired woman in response instead.

“I invented this spell,” answered Chu Xun, “Of course I know about it.”

The woman’s eyes betrayed a visible hint of surprise and she gasped before she knew it, “But if that’s the case, why am I using it?!”

“That should be the question I’m supposed to ask you,” muttered Chu Xun, “I’ve ever only taught one person before this technique...”

But before he could finish, it dawned upon him. A strange, unbelievable notion that made him convulse and shudder. He looked up, staring at the woman with disbelieve and apprehension, “Impossible... This couldn’t be...”

“What are you saying?” inquired the woman.

A myriad of emotions surged suddenly amidst his shocking comprehension—longing, guilt, sorrow, and many more.

“Is it really you?” Chu Xun begged hoarsely. Everything that had happened—the Demon-slain Finger, her being a Cultivator like he was, and her insistence on how he had been treacherous—pointed only to the single-most probable reason. A reason that he dreaded very, very much.

“Are you... Jing Hong...” Chu Xun stuttered, gazing dreamily at the silver-haired woman.

The woman’s eyes wavered, but only for one fleeting moment before she returned to her cold and aloof self, protesting, “What Jing Hong?!”

Chu Xun felt his heart skipping a beat. A dark look descended over him. “Is that you, Jing Hong?”

“I don’t know any Jing Hong. You mistake me for someone else,” retorted the woman curtly.

Chu Xun fell silent. After several moments, only he broke into a bitter and weak smile. Was he really mistaken, he wondered.

“Could you please remove your veil?” Troubled thoughts boiled inside his mind and he needed to be certain.

“What do you wish to do?” spat the woman cautiously with apparent disgust.

That remark and the woman’s manner jerked him awake. That was not Jing Hong, for he realized that Jing Hong would never be so hostile towards him.

But how would he explain the Demon-slain Finger?

“Are you from the World of Cultivation?” Chu Xun asked. He needed answers.

“So what if I was?”

“Have you heard of Lady Jing Hong, the Fairy, and Chu Xun, the Immortal Emperor?”

The woman looked bewildered momentarily and answered, “No, I don’t.”

“Then from whence did you learn to use the Demon-slain Finger?”

“I don’t know.”

“How did you come to Earth?”

“I don’t know.”

“What is your name?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then take off your veil. Please.”

The woman raised her head, her gaze faltering uncertainly. Still, she managed to gasp, “Don’t follow me. Or I’ll kill you.”

With that, she vanished into a bolt of light and fled.

Chu Xun stood there quietly, looking far into the direction she left in, his mind confused and troubled.

Was she really Jing Hong, Chu Xun asked himself again and again. Finally, he decided he needed answers.

Swoosh!

He turned into a bolt of light himself and gave chase.

It took him almost a half-hour to catch up to the woman.

This time, the silver-haired woman gave no warning. She performed hand seals and channeled her True Energy and from behind, Chu Xun could sense her powers rippling violently.

Chu Xun withdrew a little.

“I mean you no harm. I only wish to know if you are the person whom I miss the most,” cried Chu Xun, desperately trying to explain himself.

The only response coming from the woman was a long and dangerous chain. A real chain that she produced from inside her voluminous sleeves.

Chu Xun evaded it easily.

Boom!

The spot he once stood on turned into a huge crater with sands and dust falling like rain around him.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Another two sets of chains—both as white as milk—took into the sky. Whistling through the air, the chains intertwined with one another, weaving a large net glinting proudly in the Sun and it bore down on Chu Xun.

Chu Xun made no attempt to evade. He stood there waiting, allowing the large net of chains to wrap around him, sending jolts of pain shooting through every fiber of his being and more blood escaped his lips.

“Why did you not defend yourself?” asked the woman suspiciously.

“I only want to know if you are her,” gasped Chu Xun weakly.

“I repeat: I am not the Jing Hong whom you seek,” hissed the woman coldly. She flailed an arm, ripping the net free and flinging Chu Xun out.

He staggered to his feet and straightened up. “Then can you take off your veil?”

“Don’t tempt Fate, fool. Next time, you might not be so lucky.”

“You would have killed me if you really intended to,” muttered Chu Xun, bolting suddenly towards the woman.

He must see the woman’s face. He needed to see if she was Jing Hong.

“How you love Death so much,” the woman snarled with brimming anger, her True Energy gushing like a tidal wave at Chu Xun’s demand to remove her veil.

A strange glow coated the skin of the woman’s slender arms as she weaved more hand seals and she tapped at the air.

Swish!

Wild winds blew at her command, and multitudes of plum blossoms materialized in midair. With each of them almost the size of a man’s hand, they swirled and spun with the gentle idleness that matched the grace of swans in a lake.

Winds whipped and howled around them.

However, all the grace and lithe evaporated just as quickly as they came. The air rippled with undulations of immense force radiated from the plum blossoms, and next second, they screamed through the air, shooting straight at Chu Xun.

Chu Xun’s glare constricted at the sight of impending danger and he leaped, transforming into a bolt of light that zipped to safer grounds a thousand meters away.

Boom! Boom!

A series of earth-splitting explosions ensued, and the earth cracked and opened into fearsome gashes that stretched far and wide. What was a hilly mound that Chu Xun just perched not long ago was now a smoldering piece of barren land.

“I do not wish to fight. I only want to know if you are her,” said Chu Xun flatly.

“You treacherous cur... Everyone has the right to kill you. I might not be Jing Hong; but I would kill you too if I am really her,” hissed the woman with as much venom as a snake, her voice laced with nothing but utter contempt.

“I have not been treacherous,” clarified Chu Xun, “But something important has driven me back to Earth. She knows that.”

“Lies. Then what about her spirit? For ten thousand years, Jing Hong waited dearly for you. Yet you fell in love with another. You unfaithful dog. And yet you dare deny your treachery?”

Every word that came from her mouth stuck so deeply in Chu Xun’s heart like stakes being driven through him. He could not dare disagree; he had indeed been unfaithful to Jing Hong.

“Is that why you’re unwilling to identify yourself to me? I can explain,” said Chu Xun.

The silver-haired woman retorted gruffly, “I repeat again: I am not your Jing Hong.”

Before Chu Xun could answer, she went on, “If you do not cease to keep away, I will destroy the spirit. I will do it.”

“Don’t you dare,” Chu Xun growled, suddenly turning angry.

“We can put it to the test. Do you really wish to risk it?” snorted the woman coldly before she vanished into a flash of light and fled.

Chu Xun stood rooted to the spot. She was right; he could not risk it. He would never dare. Hua Qingwu would never wake up again if her spirit was destroyed.

Unbeknownst to him, the silver-haired woman did not stop until she fled for 50 kilometers. When she finally stopped for a brief respite, she looked utterly lost herself as she murmured, “Who am I?”

For reasons unknown and yet undeniable to her, she felt an incomprehensible and inscrutable familiarity to Chu Xun when she was with him earlier.

...

Chu Xun turned around and left. He stopped to think halfway, falling into a deep trance of thought that did not broke until after several hours, and by then, the sun was already setting outside.

For a few more hours, he lingered on. Yet no matter how he tried, he just could not get his head around it all.

With Hua Qingwu’s spirit held hostage, Chu Xun knew he could not go near the silver-haired woman. Yet somehow, something in him told him that her soul would be safe with her. A strange notion that even he felt amazed by.

But at the moment, he should first solve the quandary of the Rock Sect. He would send someone to look for the silver-haired woman after that.

Without returning back to Pingshun Town, Chu Xun headed straight for Wujin Mountain.

He chose only to travel through dense thickets and thick forests.

Puff!

Chu Xun easily lopped off the head of a giant black ape the size of a hill.

Bang!

A silver-furred leopard cat, at more than five meters long, was blasted to bits by a single punch from him.

With his mind assailed by chaotic thoughts, Chu Xun raced amok through the woods, slaying every beast that he encountered.

Hundreds of fearsome wild beasts met their ends at Chu Xun’s hands that day. Chu Xun left a literal trail of blood through the woodlands until he stumbled upon the road leading up Wujin Mountain.

The silvery moon hung up high overhead, the sky mottled by sparkling little stars.

Chu Xun strolled alone by the side of the road, with only the unruly symphony of the roars of wild beasts to accompany him, echoing through the dark woods around him.

Two rays of light shone from over his shoulder suddenly, followed by the protesting rumbles of an engine.

It was a black Land Rover, although its chassis looked somewhat mangled as if it had suffered being pummeled by violent forces.

The occupants of the vehicle must have not expected to see someone walking alone in a deep forest infested with wild, carnivorous beasts at such a night. There was nothing nearby but a thick wilderness of woodland for miles.

The car decelerated quickly, but it did not stop; brushing past speedily by him.

With a quick glance, Chu Xun found that the car carried a total of four warriors and the strongest among them was a half-Human King.

He walked on for another ten minutes and more lights illuminated the road ahead from behind him, and the roars of engines drowned out the noises of the night.

This time, it was a group of three vehicles, and like the vehicle which had passed by him earlier, they were Land Rovers too. Only, these three were retrofitted with two-centimeters-thick armored steel plating. The first car looked as if it had been struck by heavy force too, for its two-centimeter armor plating badly deformed.

The cars carried warriors too, and among them more than one Human King.

Unlike the vehicle before, they did not slow when they came near, howling past Chu Xun with hardly any drop in their speed.

Chu Xun knew at once that it was a chase. But it mattered not to him, hence he maintained his pace.

After almost more than ten kilometers, Chu Xun came to a halt. The aftermath of a chaotic scene opened before him. All four cars which had passed by him earlier were in front of him, with three parked in a disorderly manner at the center of the road and another—the first lone car which he saw before—overturned by the road.

Chu Xun approached the overturned wreckage and peered inside. It was empty.

Whatever happened here, Chu Xun was sure that the occupants of the first car must have met a terrible fate. A half-Human King faced with three Human Kings at least, Chu Xun mused, he would need more than luck to survive.

Chu Xun looked at the rest and picked one of the cars. It was time he stopped walking.

“You foul bastards of the Sifang Sword Sect! You’re not even pigs and dogs, you lot! I will die! Oh yes, I will! But I’ll come back to haunt you all!” An angry and bitter roar rang through the deep of the forest.

Chu Xun’s hand was just about to grab the car door handle when he heard the voice and he paused. His eyes narrowed at the direction from whence the voice came, and next second, he vanished, bolting into the forest.

Chu Xun glided stealthily like a wraith and he leaped up the branch of an ancient tree, and he looked at what happened below.

Two of the four men from the first car were killed, their corpses strewn on the forest ground and the remaining pair—an elderly man and a young lad—were apprehended.

The formerly looked seriously wounded with his clothes slick with blood and his breathing erratic, while the boy was being hoisted high with his blood being drained out.

The latter looked barely fifteen or sixteen; his eyes jutting wide against the fair skin of his face with terror and fear.

The assailant holding up the boy—a Grandmaster—swiped at the lad’s supple skin with a sharp dagger, adding one more to the few gashes the boy already sustained and more blood poured out of him.

Another Grandmaster held a white bucket underneath, collecting the blood dripping off the young lad.

“What an evil thing you’re doing, you of the Sifang Sword Sect!” roared the old man obstinately with blood escaping his mouth, “Do you not fear Heaven’s judgment?!”

“Humph. How dare you speak of retribution. This boy stole what should have been our Young Master’s. Now this is the judgment,” said the Grandmaster holding the bucket, “By the young master’s orders, this boy had eaten the magical fruit which should have been his. So we are to steal his blood. Perhaps the benefits of the fruit can still be consumed by refining his blood and drinking it.”