Kyushu · Endless Nagato

Chapter 25 The King (4)
But Sumiko did not come.

"It seems that we can only ask others about Xumizi's whereabouts," Xue Huaiqing said to An Xingmian, "I don't think he will come. In the past, only my master could force him to come here, but now my master It's dead. So no one can make Sumiko come here unless he wants to."

"I can't help it. In fact, I didn't expect to have such good luck to meet Sumeru here," An Xingmian said. "It's already very good to find a group of living corpse dancers. Take your time to ask."

"You can think about it, but are you not in a hurry?" Xue Huaiqing glanced at him, "Nagato may cease to exist at any time, your time is very tight, unlike me..."

"What's wrong with you? You still haven't told me why you are looking for Xu Mizi." An Xingmian asked sharply.

"I just want to find an answer, a dispensable answer, and it doesn't matter if I can't find it," Xue Huaiqing said, "so I'm not in a hurry."

"Don't be in a hurry, I should be in a hurry, but what's the use of being anxious to death?" An Xingmian said, "I try my best to do my part, and whether things can be done is beyond my control. If Nagato hits Doomed to extinction, it is useless for me to cut off my own head."

"It seems that the mentality of you long-door monks is quite good." Xue Huaiqing said lightly.

"It should be said that my mentality is quite good, and my mentor is much more anxious than me," An Xingmian smiled. "By the way, you keep talking to me, aren't you afraid of arousing suspicion from others?"

"Corpse dancers often talk to themselves like this. A corpse servant like you is the best listener," Xue Huaiqing said. "After years of living in isolation, if you don't speak, you may soon forget how to say it."

An Xingmian sighed softly through his nose: "You guys are really lonely... Hey, is it about to start?"

Xue Huaiqing turned her gaze away, and saw a vigorous and strong old man striding forward on an earthen platform that had already been set up.As Xue Huaiqing said, there is no specific organizer for the corpse dancers’ seminar. This earthen platform was built spontaneously by the corpse dancers and ordered the corpse servants to cooperate. It is tall and wide, and it is very solidly rammed. It is just used for martial arts competitions. .In each workshop, people will carry out similar tasks according to the local soil characteristics, and they can finish well every time.This is a very strange phenomenon: a group of people who have never had an organization and no leader can respond to the call so tacitly and complete a large-scale gathering. This may be a unique way of unity for these lonely people.

"Who is that old man?" An Xingmian asked.

"I guess he should be Yun Guhe, a human being adopted by Yuren, one of the initiators of this seminar," Xue Huaiqing said, "He may not be as powerful as Sumeru, but he is a corpse of this era. One of the most prestigious dancers, who once became famous for helping the Emperor Yu put down the rebellion."

"Helping Emperor Yu put down the rebellion? So powerful?" An Xingmian was very curious.

"I heard that the Emperor Yu was attacked, and almost all the guards around him were killed, but Yun Guhe used the corpse dance technique to manipulate the dead body to stand up and fight, and finally when he was exhausted, the reinforcements just arrived to save Yu. Therefore, he may be the first corpse dancer in history to receive a reward from the king."

"What a wonderful life," An Xingmian sighed in admiration, "Then why didn't he stay as an official for Emperor Yu? Now there are officials from Yuren and Heluo in the human court, and there have been humans in Yuren's dynasty for a long time. And Meizu."

"He might not want to, but Yuhuang doesn't have the guts," Xue Huaiqing said, "Who knows if he will kill Yuhuang one day, and then manipulate Yuhuang's body to become a puppet master? Corpse dancers will never May gain the trust of outsiders.”

An Xingmian didn't answer, thinking in her heart, I let you use the corpse dance technique to invade my spirit, is that enough to trust you?

At this time, the eyes of the corpse dancers were all focused on the earthen platform, watching Yun Guhe.Yun Guhe's name sounds elegant, but his appearance is kind and pleasing, with a round face, rosy complexion full of smiles, coupled with a strong figure, it really looks like a man who can be seen everywhere in the rivers and lakes. It is not like a corpse dancer who is always associated with nouns such as darkness, mystery, loneliness, and indifference.But when he spoke, something was different.

"You lunatics and monsters who are far away from the world, have you been lonely for a long time?" Yun Guhe's voice was like a bell, full of anger, "Then quickly start killing each other! Don't be afraid of death, death is eternal liberation!"

This was his entire speech. It was concise, cold, and to the point. It made An Xingmian a little at a loss when he heard such speeches for the first time.He looked at Xue Huaiqing, and found that she was also in a daze, and her hands were unconsciously clasped together.

What did she think of?An Xingmian wondered, would this 19-year-old young woman think about her long life ahead, that she would live a life of loneliness and desolation all her life, and then wait for the seminar every few years to go crazy with her life?Will she start to regret her choice?At least, all this is invisible on the surface, because Xue Huaiqing never likes to show her emotions outside.After a moment of melancholy just now, she quickly returned to normal.

Yun Guhe only said that sentence, and then walked down the earthen platform slowly along the steps.The corpse dancers seemed to be very used to his self-deprecating voice, and no one even let out a cooperating laugh.Completely different from other similar gatherings, corpse dancers do not like to communicate with each other, and although there are a large number of corpse servants they bring, it is impossible to talk without the owner's drive, so the venue is still quiet, and a needle can be dropped on the ground. audible.

An Xingmian was guessing what would happen next, a thin middle-aged man had already stood on the earthen platform with a corpse servant.Thirteen corpse servants followed behind him, only one less than the Changshengzi and He Qi, which shows that his skill is not bad.This man was tall and thin, with exposed veins on his hands and a sallow complexion, he was closer to a walking corpse than his strong corpse servants.

"I've seen this person before," Xue Huaiqing said in a low voice, "his name is Yang Zhong, and he mainly practices poison, so he doesn't control many corpse servants, but he uses poison very powerfully, and my master treats him very well." Three points of fear. It seems that his temper is also more irritable than ordinary corpse dancers, so this time he is the first to jump out to challenge."

Yang Zhong stood on the stage, and everyone was waiting for him to speak, but he was silent for a long time, without saying a word, just looked up at the sky with a straight face, as if he was sure that his opponent knew that he should take the initiative to come to the stage.Sure enough, finally a person stood on the stage.It was a young woman who looked only two or three years older than Xue Huaiqing, but she had a lot more seductive temperament.With a smile on her face, she looked at Yang Zhong almost sweetly, followed by eight corpse servants.An Xingmian remembered that Xue Huaiqing had said that she could manipulate up to five corpse servants. It seemed that this woman had progressed much faster than Xue Huaiqing in corpse dance.

"When you left me, you could only control five corpse servants. Now you can take eight with you, which is great." Yang Zhong said, his tone was very flat, but An Xingmian could hear the hatred hidden in it.

"It's not because of your teachings, Master, that Wan'er can be what she is today." The woman still smiled brightly, and her voice was soft and melodious, very pleasant.

"My teachings are still secondary. The poisonous scriptures you stole from me are probably more effective." Yang Zhong's voice was a little more cruel.

In just three short conversations, An Xingmian already roughly understood the relationship between the two.A woman named Wan'er was once Yang Zhong's apprentice, but later she stole Yang Zhong's poison scriptures and betrayed him.Yang Zhong naturally wanted to hate Wan'er to the bone, but Wan'er dared to show up at the seminar today, and dared to stand on stage to challenge Yang Zhong, so it is conceivable that she was fully prepared.

"It seems that the world of corpse dancers and the world of ordinary people are still interlinked," An Xingmian said to himself, "The old routine between master and apprentice has not changed for thousands of years."

"Corpse dancers are humans too." Xue Huaiqing replied briefly.

Both watched the fight on the field.The two corpse dancers each occupied a corner of the earthen platform, and the corpse servants they brought stood facing each other, almost motionless.After several minutes, these corpse servants still did not move, like a group of clay statues.

"Why are they not moving?" An Xingmian couldn't help asking.

"Look carefully at the color of the air." Xue Huaiqing said.

An Xingmian's eyes widened, and he quickly saw the clue.The color of the air on the earth platform is changing, that is because the corpse servants are emitting some extremely light-colored gas from their bodies, but the gas colors of the corpse servants on both sides are different.The poison gas released by Yang Zhong's corpse servant is light blue, while Wan'er's gas is mixed with some purple.

After a while, even without Xue Huaiqing's reminder, anyone could see the abnormality in the field, because the color of the poisonous gas continued to deepen.The cyan and purple smoke mixed together, causing some changes in the complexion of the corpse servants, and their skin began to turn blue.

"I guess, this is probably to test whose corpse servant is more resistant to poison?" An Xingmian said.

Xue Huaiqing nodded: "Yang Zhong specializes in poison techniques, and their master-student confrontation is naturally based on using poison and resisting poison. But this woman named Wan'er is not simple, she can fight Yang Zhong so well For a long time, the wind will not fall."

It seems that Wan'er has indeed learned some essence from the stolen poisonous scriptures, her purple energy has never been suppressed by the green energy, and Yang Zhong's complexion is getting uglier.Even if he could win in the end, it would be embarrassing to face a stalemate with a young opponent who was once his apprentice for so long.

He yelled violently, stretched out his right index finger, the sharp nails cut a wound on his cheek, and blood flowed out.This move seemed to boost his strength for a short time, and the green air on the earthen platform suddenly became thicker, and blisters began to appear on Wan'er's corpse servant's skin, which could no longer withstand the erosion of the poisonous air.

But Wan'er didn't panic, instead she showed a composure that didn't match her age.She even took out an eyebrow pencil from her bosom, and began to trace her eyebrows like no one else was there.Yang Zhong was so angry that his face was livid, and the attack became more and more fierce. The skin of Wan'er's corpse servants began to mottle and peel off one by one, leaving terrible wounds, as if they were burned and disfigured by a fire.One of the weaker corpse servants even had his left eye corroded, leaving only a black hole in his eye socket, from which pus was constantly leaking out, making him look quite creepy.

The poisonous gas gradually spread beyond the scope of the earthen platform, and the corpse dancers who were closer to the earthen platform reacted differently.Those with lesser skills retreated one after another to avoid poisoning themselves or their precious servants, while the stronger masters remained motionless, and some even leaned forward on their own initiative. There was a bit of a contest between them.Xue Huaiqing was far away, so she wasn't nervous, but An Xingmian had already thought of something else.

"Even if she can steal a copy of the poisonous scriptures, this girl is probably only a few years older than you. She can't cultivate to the point where she can fight against Master, right?" An Xingmian asked, frowning.

"There is never a quick way to do the corpse dance. It can only be improved step by step, unless you are a genius like Xu Mizi," Xue Huaiqing replied, "So I don't quite understand why she seems to have a plan in her mind. The corpse servant is almost destroyed, you see, the bones on the cheeks have been exposed."

Indeed, all of Wan'er's eight corpse servants were completely unrecognizable, their skin and muscles were severely corroded, and their bones were even exposed in some places.In contrast, Yang Zhong's corpse servant only had a change in skin color, and the two were judged by comparison.Ke Wan'er was still unafraid, and there was always a weird smile on the corner of her mouth.

After a while, the flesh and blood on Wan'er's corpse servant has been completely corroded, leaving only eight bones, and the corpse dance can no longer maintain the movement of these bones.Finally, they made a crackling sound and scattered all over the place.

Just as people's eyes were fixed on the fallen bones, they didn't notice that the purple and cyan gases quietly changed, as if some of the components were gradually neutralized, and the poisonous gases of the two colors Mixed together little by little, a new black poisonous mist was created.This kind of poisonous mist has a relatively large specific gravity, sinks below, and spreads out of the earth platform.

Suddenly, Yang Zhong uttered a long whistle, and Wan'er yelled violently at the same time, the newly formed black poisonous gas seemed to be given life, and rolled towards the audience at a lightning speed, instantly throwing the people standing in front of the earthen platform A corpse dancer is wrapped in it.The corpse dancer suddenly screamed and fell to the ground.

And Yang Zhong and Wan'er jumped off the stage at the same time, standing in front of the corpse dancer.The hands of the two were already tightly held together, the appearance was extremely intimate, and the hostility just now was swept away.

"This is the purpose of the two of them." An Xingmian was not surprised at all, "The two of them pretended to be enemies and put on a show, so as to sneak attack the real enemy."

That black poisonous gas was obviously deadly, because the attacked corpse dancer was followed by seventeen corpse servants, which were already comparable to Xue Huaiqing's master, Jiang Qinyin.But after being surrounded by the poisonous gas, he immediately collapsed to the ground and howled in pain from time to time, which showed that even his skill could not resist the poison.Soon, his face became unrecognizable, too.

The other corpse dancers watched everything in front of them silently, no one questioned them, let alone stepped forward to stop them.In the eyes of corpse dancers, such conspiracies and tricks seem to be very common, and it is not worth making a fuss about.

Yang Zhong and Wan'er stood in front of the dying corpse dancer hand in hand.Yang Zhong sneered: "Five years ago, the time we met in Xiayang City, you made fun of me, saying that my 'poor corpse dance skills may not even have enough corpse servants to carry the coffin', You even persuaded my apprentice to leave me and join your sect in front of my face. Now, you don't have this chance."

"When I met you five years ago, your eyeballs never left me," Wan'er still smiled sweetly, "So I'm sure that as long as I appear on stage, you will definitely squeeze to the front Come, it’s just convenient for us to start. You must have been very happy to see our master and apprentice break up at that time, right?”

An Xingmian sighed softly: "Just because of a few verbal conflicts five years ago, he deliberately planned to take someone's life five years later? It seems that the corpse dancer is not as calm and desireless as you said Ruthless, at least the revenge is strong enough."

(End of this chapter)