A Good-for-Nothing

298. Fengren the Sword Spirit

Translator: Dragon Rider

Compared with Li Zong, for whom things had gone pretty well, He Zheng was having a much tougher time.

When Zhou Congzhi had closed in on him, He Zheng had planned to distract Zhou Congzhi with Dan Zhu’s powers to create an opportunity for him to conjure Quintuple Lightning, which he had believed would injure Zhou Congzhi grievously, if not kill him.

However, his plan quickly fell through when faced with the harsh reality. Li Zong and the others had overpowered the demon in one fell swoop because they had made a lot of preparation. It was clearly impractical for He Zheng to flatten Zhou Congzhi within a couple of rounds. As a result, when He Zheng attempted to have Dan Zhu fly out of his forehead and distract Zhou Congzhi with a glaring light, his opponent easily divined the trick he had up his sleeve.

Before He Zheng could make his move, Zhou Congzhi seemed to have got bored of this kind of catfight-like duel, and his eyes abruptly turned black. He Zheng was caught flat-footed and gave a nervous start.

“I believe given more time, you’d be able to defeat me. Unfortunately for you, you’ve run out of time,” said Zhou Congzhi coldly, black gas billowing out of his body as He Zheng’s heart gave a horrible jolt. He Zheng, utterly unable to outdistance the black gas, watched helplessly as it engulfed him.

“I’m not going to kill you. All I want to do is awaken the dark powers in you, so that the Demonic Seed will imbibe you. Only in that way can you merge with my master thoroughly and become the new Demon King.” Zhou Congzhi’s voice was echoing in He Zheng’s ears. He Zheng wanted to shout “Stop dreaming!” but couldn’t. He found himself unable to make a single sound. It was as though his throat had been blocked.

With a silvery clank, his sword, Shadow, dropped to the ground.

Zhou Congzhi was standing before He Zheng, poker-faced, quiescent, wordless.

He Zheng fixed Zhou Congzhi with a fierce stare. Had he had the power to substantialize his gaze, Zhou Congzhi’s body would have been penetrated countless times. “I will not yield,” he mouthed to Zhou Congzhi with great difficulty.

“You don’t have a choice,” said Zhou Congzhi blandly. With an airy wave of his hand, more black gas enwrapped He Zheng solidly.

There was a faint golden light in He Zheng’s body, but what with the black gas, it disappeared from view. He Zheng’s breathing, heartbeat and pulse gradually slowed down as the golden light faded away.

Soon He Zheng wrapped in black gas heavily thudded to the ground like a cocoon.

The sounds of fighting from nearby areas gradually died away. Zhou Congzhi’s forehead was covered in cold sweat. To kill He Zheng was far more difficult than Zhou Congzhi had said it would be. He Zheng’s lightning spells, in particular, were very hard to defend against. Zhou Congzhi would have been struck to death by thunderbolts some time ago were it not for his broad combat experience.

Zhou Congzhi pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat from his forehead with it.

All of a sudden Zhou Congzhi stiffened, his black eyes flashing in the direction of Mount Xiangshan. The expression on his face turned from one of confusion into one of fury. A moment ago he had found the telepathic bond between him and his master cut off.

Zhou Yang’s shades were nowhere to be found, and he looked much the worse for wear. At ordinary times Elder Zhou always had a lot of people in his company, but now there was nobody behind him.

“Xiao Zhou, your plan has failed.” Elder Zhou’s voice was tinged with sorrow.

The United Front Work Department was a sight of total devastation. All windows of the eighth floor on which they were now standing had shattered. Wind was blowing in, making the people inside feel as though icy water were being poured into their hearts.

Zhou Congzhi turned on his heel to face Zhou Yang. At least Zhou Congzhi could still choose to remain a human. Looking at Zhou Yang, he lowered his head and called, “Elder Zhou.”

But his attention was clearly on something else. Zhou Congzhi, in spite of himself, twisted his head around to look over his shoulder out of the window. He made another attempt to contact the Demon King, but once again he failed.

Before long Zhou Congzhi had an inkling that something was wrong. He spun around and, staring unblinkingly at Zhou Yang, demanded in a wintry voice, “What have you done, Elder Zhou?”

Zhou Yang shook his head. He had made a double-faced traitor of himself. However, he was an ex-official of SMB, and the bureau was like a son to him. He had betrayed it, but he did not have the heart to see it fall.

“What could I have done? I but did what needed to be done to atone for my crimes,” Zhou Yang sighed. In fact Zhou Yang himself did not know what had happened either, but he had perceived that this time around SMB had used him as well.

Zhou Congzhi smiled a grim smile. He had cottoned on to what had happened. “What did you do to Master?”

“I don’t know,” replied Zhou Yang tiredly, shifting his gaze to He Zheng, “but I cannot let you inflict further harm on him.”

Zhou Congzhi chuckled, “Elder Zhou, the Dingshui Bead is no longer at your service. Are you still the Master Zhou I remember?”

“I’ll do what I can,” said Zhou Yang as his walking stick turned into a gargantuan golden dragon which came at Zhou Congzhi with great ferocity.

However, Zhou Yang had underestimated Zhou Congzhi as well as the influence of the loss of the Dingshui Bead on him. The exchange of their first blows showed that Zhou Yang was no match for Zhou Congzhi. The golden dragon coiled up in mid-air, floating unsupported, its gigantic body filling the whole floor. Before it could let out a howl, countless clouds of black gas formed into an enormous net which entangled the dragon, restraining its claws and torso. The dragon roared angrily. Zhou Congzhi raised his hand which erupted a jet of black gas that went squarely into the roaring dragon’s mouth, and with that the dragon started struggling violently.

Zhou Yang, who had not bargained on Zhou Congzhi being so difficult to handle, backed off several steps despite himself before he steadied himself.

Zhou Congzhi airily raised his other hand and with that the “cocoon” on the ground was lifted into mid-air.

He Zheng trapped in the cocoon convulsed for a few moments.

“Not so fast,” Zhou Yang snorted, summoning more of his Qi. The dragon struggled more vigorously and seemed about to break through Zhou Congzhi’s net. Zhou Congzhi, in the knowledge that this was not the right time to duel with Zhou Yang, planned to leave SMB with the cocoon of demonic Qi. Right at this moment, the cocoon containing He Zheng suddenly began to change.

First a spot of golden light punctured the cocoon, and then the whole cocoon began to thin, growing transparent as though something was swallowing the black gas.

Shadow, He Zheng’s sword, which reposed on the ground, sensed its master, numerous red cracks appearing on its blade.

“Damn it.” Zhou Congzhi had a foreboding feeling. His hand spewed out black gas again, which reinforced the almost transparent cocoon. The golden light gradually faded away, and the cocoon of demonic Qi quieted down.

But because of this distraction, Zhou Yang’s dragon managed to free itself from the net.

Zhou Congzhi, having no intention to prolong the fighting, quickly rushed towards the nearest window.

All of a sudden, a strange sound came from behind him. It was like the sound of two rocks colliding with each other, but also sounded like a blade snapping. Zhou Congzhi abruptly had a chill sensation in the back. Before he could jump out of the window, a sickeningly red sword-light whizzed at him from behind and cleanly went into his body, penetrating his chest.

Though Zhou Congzhi was a Demon’s Attendant, he was still mortal flesh. This blow instantly stiffened him.

He turned around and looked disbelievingly at the man that had just materialized out of thin air behind him.

This was a very eccentric man. His clothing was a throwback to another era, his hair long. He looked like an actor ready to shoot a scene of a costume drama.

At the same time, the cocoon of demonic Qi above Zhou Congzhi’s hand gradually cracked. Beams of red light mingled with shafts of golden light broke the cocoon completely and with that He Zheng, comatose, flew out from mid-air and landed smack into the man’s arms.

The man softly rubbed the blood-stained corners of He Zheng’s mouth with the pulp of his finger and sighted lightly, “I finally found you.”

The man put He Zheng down onto the ground, straightened himself again, pointed at Zhou Congzhi and with that a thousand blades of light came shooting out of nowhere towards Zhou Congzhi. Zhou Congzhi could not believe what he was seeing, but the next second he was reduced to ashes amid the hail of sword-light.

Zhou Yang spat out a mouthful of blood with a cough, his eyes widening slightly. Looking at the strange man in front of him, he asked in a quavery voice, “Who are you?”

The man’s eyes were so intimidating they reminded people of sharp swords. A mere glance from them struck fear into Zhou Yang’s heart. The man stooped down, intending to cradle He Zheng in his arms again.

“Don’t touch him.” Li Zong’s voice came from the doorway.

The man turned around, Li Zong’s golden dragon eyes fixed on him.

Li Zong’s face was very pale, but his gaze was quite firm. His tone was not really severe, but it sounded rather fearsome. Though the dragon horns on his forehead had disappeared, the air about him was still dauntingly commanding.

He walked in the man’s direction, halted beside him, gently cradled He Zheng up from the ground and, looking at the man, asked, “Who are you?”

The man shook his head, raised his hand and with that a sword emerged out of thin air above his palm.

It was Shadow.

“I’m Fengren, the spirit of Shadow.”

An odd expression flashed across Li Zong’s eyes as Fengren continued, “The demonic Qi still lingers here. I can destroy his body, but I can’t exorcize the evil that used to dwell in him.”

Li Zong, who knew what he meant, lightly raised his hand. As karma flames erupted from his palm, Li Zong’s face whitened further, looking even more terrible than He Zheng in his arms did.

The black gas was gradually burnt by the flames. Xiang Hailou and the others, having tied up all the loose ends, hurried to the scene in great haste. At the sight of the people inside, every one of them heaved a sigh of relief.

At the front gates of the United Front Work Department, Zhen Ni, after the situation was put under control, began to treat the injured. The Force of Rejuvenation of the Zhen family was very powerful. Zhen Ni could treat several people at the same time without having to exert herself.

Soon Chen Qianlin, Chen Kai and the others regained consciousness.

The whole bureau was in a mess. Those Demon’s Attendants had blasted a big hole in the domed magical barrier. Zong Xian, Elder Chen and Abbot Huiming were restoring and reinforcing it. In the vicinity of the bureau, staff members were fully occupied modifying the memories of common citizens with Erasure Spells who had accidentally glimpsed something supernatural. There were also some busy with reporting the incident to the Department of Homeland Security. Everybody was on the go.

Zu Zhichong and Tun Shanhai, dusty and dirty, crawled out of the Ministry of Supervision and laid down on a lawn, panting heavily.

Zhen Ni wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, “You two, come here and help transfer these people to their dorm rooms.”

The dormitory was the only place that had not sustained extensive damage.

Zu Zhichong refused to move, no matter how harsh Zhen Ni’s tone grew. Looking in the direction of the third floor, he said, “Why do I feel the third floor look a little strange? There seems to be some kind of unnatural waves of energy coming from up there. Do you think Chief has really taken care of it?”

“There’s nothing Chief can’t handle. Besides, hasn’t Lao Xiang gone up there as well? I’m sure he’ll give us a call if anything goes awry.”

While they were talking, a couple of people walked downstairs. They looked at the stranger that none of them had ever seen before, all their faces etched with perplexity.