Black Belly Wife

Continued from the previous chapter

"I'm glad that you're all here."

When everyone heard the voice, they saw a man in a Guanyin mask coming out of the forest, followed by nine bald monks in Laughing Buddha masks.

"It's you!" Chu Changge exclaimed.

Murong Yunshu looked sideways at him. "You know each other?"

"He is the chief culprit who flooded the Shaolin Temple with blood." Chu Changge's eyes were cold as he continued, "And the one who knocked me off the cliff."

"I only blame myself for not adding a cut to you merely because I found it a bit troublesome at that time. Otherwise, I wouldn't have to come all the way here just to cut weeds and eliminate the roots." The Guanyin Man said.

"Since it's too much trouble for you, then I will do the cutting of weeds and eliminating the roots for you. Don't worry. I have a cruel heart and malicious means, also a cold-blooded person. I will definitely not show you any mercy. I promise to chop off every single part of you cleanly and thoroughly until none is left!" The words 'none was left' were layered with the sound of him gnashing his teeth. It complemented Chu Changge's smile that was hiding a dagger at the moment.

The Guanyin Man laughed sarcastically and said, "You couldn't win against me at the Shaolin Temple that day, and you still won't win against me right now."

"How will you know if I haven't tried it yet?" Chu Changge sneered and said to Murong Yunshu with a sideways glance, "You and Lu-er should leave first."

"Mmm." Murong Yunshu nodded obediently and pulled Lu-er, who had long been scared out of her wits, inside the wooden house.

Chu Changge looked back at Chen Ting and coldly said, "There is nothing for you to do here."

Chen Ting moved his lips but said nothing.

"Still not backing off?" Chu Changge emphasised.

Chen Ting frowned and wanted to speak several times before he eventually asked after a long interval, "Can't I just watch the battle?"

"No." Chu Changge 'sent' him into the wooden house with a slap, and at the end, he cast another warning look before turning to face the Guanyin Man. He said, "If I don't unmask you today, I, Chu Changge, will not have the face to set foot in the Central Plains again in the future."

"You won't even have the life to set foot in the Central Plains again either!" The Guanyin Man sneered as he instantly retreated ten metres away, and nine corpse souls immediately gathered in front of him from both sides to form a barrier. The Guanyin Man suddenly joined his palms together and muttered incantations.

North Guardian shouted impatiently, "If you want to fight, do it, or just get out of here. Who are you reciting sutras for?"

When North Guardian had hardly finished speaking, he saw the nine corpse souls suddenly shuddering like they had been struck by lightning. Afterwards, they went and attacked him at lightning speed.

"It's good that you guys come to me. I've been waiting for this for a long time!" North Guardian flashed a spear sharpened from wood and met the enemies head-on.

When East, South and West saw this situation, they were about to aid North Guardian but stopped by Chu Changge. "The Guanyin Man is the main target."

West Protector: "But Lil North, he......"

"He won't die." After throwing out these words, Chu Changge flew up in the air, sweeping past the corpse souls tangling with North Guardian and heading straight for the Guanyin Man.

The three men East, South and West, no longer hesitated and followed Chu Changge in forcing their way towards the Guanyin Man.

When North Guardian saw that none of them came to his aid, he could not help but exclaim, "We agreed to fight together. How come I'm the only one getting beaten up?!"

South and East were so focused on protecting Chu Changge's formation that they had no time to pay attention to him. Only West Guardian called out as he fought, "You carry on first. We will go to help you after we have settled everything on this side."

North Guardian wanted to cry. "I can't carry on anymore!" He was already using his pair of hands as if he had nine, and he was still being beaten up. "What the hell are these things? Why don't they die after I've stabbed them so many times!"

This time, even West Guardian ignored him. North Guardian felt deeply abandoned and was overcome with grief. Then he turned his grief and anger into strength and desperately took out his rage on the enemies in front of him. His killing power suddenly increased a single fold.

On the other hand, the Guanyin Man never expected Chu Changge and the others to surround him. When he was thrown into confusion at that time, he immediately summoned the corpse souls back to assist him.

The corners of Chu Changge's mouth curled into a sneer as he sent a palm towards the Guanyin Man's facemask and said, "Old East, intercept them." The nine corpse souls could only move together, and it would be enough to use only one of them to hold them back.

"Yes!" East Guardian immediately left the group surrounding the Guanyin Man and intercepted the corpse souls.

North Guardian, whose hands and feet were all in confusion a moment before, was dumbfounded. Why did they all run away without saying a word? Did they think he was too weak to fight them?

Such a disgrace. Such a great disgrace!

North Guardian leapt into the circle of corpse souls with a cold snort and joined East Guardian in warding off the enemies.

"What brings you here?" East Guardian asked.

North Guardian snorted coldly while saying coolly, "Although you are unkind to me, I can't be unjust to you. I have just fought with them and know how difficult they are."

"Lil North, you are indeed my good brother!"

Of course. North Guardian snorted with his nose up in the air. However, after that, he turned sorrowful and resentful. He found that he became the lone army putting up a brave fight struggling hard without support) in the encirclement. "Old East, how can you......" He was still thinking of continuing to accuse a certain someone of being heartless and faithless. However, with his hands and feet were all in confusion, having to deal with the enemies' attacks on his front and rear, he wished he could even use his nose to defend himself. Thus, he didn't bother to complain any further.

"Work hard, Lil North." East Guardian laughed out loud and joined the siege on the Guanyin Man once more.

At that time, the Guanyin Man was being attacked by Chu Changge and the three South, East, and West on all sides, and his strength gradually ran out. Whenever he tried to summon a corpse soul to come to his aid, Chu Changge always struck him a fatal blow. If he did not thwart the attack, he would surely die.

Murong Yunshu's right hand gripped the door tightly. Her eyes never left Chu Changge, just like his shadow. Her heart was in her mouth all the time.

Knowing that she was distraught because of Chu Changge, Chen Ting comforted her, "He already has the upper hand. It won't be long before the other side goes down."

"Is that so?" Murong Yunshu's fingers had been clutching the wooden door tightly until they left finger marks on it. If, as Chen Ting had said, Chu Changge was about to win, why did her heart’s uneasiness grow more robust over time? She always felt that something terrible would happen.

No. She had to do something. She couldn't just sit there and wait. [+]

Murong Yunshu asked Chen Ting, "What did North Guardian mean when he said that those nine Laughing Buddhas could not be stabbed to death no matter how hard he stabbed them?" Her intuition told her that those nine Laughing Buddhas were the key.

"Those nine Laughing Buddhas died a long time ago, so of course he couldn't stab them." Seeing her face of confusion, Chen Ting continued, "They are corpse souls, whose very selves are dead bodies."

Murong Yunshu was shocked. "How can a dead body act the same as a living one?"

Chen Ting shook his head with a look of little understanding and said, "All I know is that someone can manipulate them. As for how to do it, I'm afraid only that Guanyin Man knows."

Murong Yunshu sniffed and looked at the Guanyin Man, trying to find a breakthrough point from him. Unexpectedly, as soon as her eyes moved over, she saw a scene that shocked her―― the Guanyin Man was absorbing South, East and West's internal forces.

Cosmic Absorbing Power Technique! This was Murong Yunshu's first reaction.

Chu Changge also realised that his opponent knew the Cosmic Absorbing Power Technique, but it was already too late. At the same time he drew back his palm wind to his hand to avoid his internal force being absorbed, the Guanyin Man had already sent a summoning order to the corpse souls.

With East, South and West's internal forces already being absorbed, Chu Changge was about to step in to stop the corpse souls himself when suddenly a voice came from behind him――

"Leave these nine monsters to me. You go and save the others."

Chu Changge turned his head to look. It was Chen Ting!

Chen Ting was no match for the corpse souls and could hardly last even half a minute.

However, Chu Changge had no choice. If he went over to save Chen Ting at this moment, there would be no more chance to kill the Guanyin Man, and then everyone would have to die.

His mind was made up. Chu Changge turned back to face the Guanyin Man. Using all his strength, he used both of his palms to cut the Guanyin Man's arms off.

"Ah――" A single blood-curdling scream resounded through the sky. The Guanyin Man fell to the ground, with his arms bleeding profusely.

Chu Changge was about to take advantage of the situation to add a strike to the Guanyin Man's life, but the corpse souls got to him first and carried him away.

Since the corpse souls appeared, then Chen Ting......

Chu Changge abruptly turned around and saw Chen Ting lying on the ground, with blood pouring out of his mouth in a steady stream as if the blood would not stop until the man was dead.

<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/PoEEkJd9bg0hciQqT1/giphy.gif">

"Brother one-eyed!" South, East, North and West immediately sent their qi to Chen Ting.

"It's useless." Chu Changge said indifferently. "His entire body's meridians have been broken. Even if you all infuse your entire body's true qi into him, you will still be unable to save him." If there were still salvation, he would have done it a long time ago.

South, East, North and West withdrew their hands and looked at the weakening Chen Ting as their hearts filled with grief. Chen Ting was going to die because of them.

Murong Yunshu was also heartbroken and said with a sobbing voice, "King Sheng's great cause has not yet been accomplished. Why would you......would you willing to die......"

Murong Yunshu's words sent a glimmer of courage for Chen Ting to struggle one last time. He opened his eyes with difficulty and used all his strength to spit out a few words, "Help King Sheng.....find......find......the little prince......"

He let out his last breath and passed away.

Murong Yunshu bit her lip and kept nodding. She promised that she would help King Sheng find the little prince.

Everyone's attention was focused entirely on Chen Ting that no one noticed Chu Changge's eyes lost focus the instant Chen Ting let out his last breath. Just like a helpless child staring dazedly at his sleeping family members who didn't seem to wake up.

<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/Vg5dzkNWYWCz7ToCg8/giphy.gif">

*

Looking at the cold tombstone, Murong Yunshu hesitated to leave. She could never accept that Chen Ting was still a living person in the morning, but he had become a mere monument at night.

"Miss, it's windy at night. Let's go inside and rest." Lu-er persuaded from beside her. [+]

Murong Yunshu ignored her and stood in silence, mourning for a long time in front of Chen Ting's grave before asking softly, "Where is your Guye?"

Lu-er replied, "Practising his sword on the beach."

At these words, Murong Yunshu nodded slightly and said, "You go back to the house to rest first. I'll go find him." After saying this, without caring for whatever reaction Lu-er had, Murong Yunshu walked straight towards the beach.

Not long after, Murong Yunshu found Chu Changge on the beach, where he was raising his sword to slash the sea, stirring up countless waves.

After throwing down Qinglong, Chu Changge crumpled to his knees, looked up to heaven and gave a long, mournful and sorrowful cry.

Murong Yunshu's heart panicked as she ran forward and followed Chu Changge in kneeling on the ground. She hugged Chu Changge from behind with her heart continuously feeling distressed. "It's not your fault." She comforted him in a low voice.

"It was my fault. I could have saved him then, but I didn't." Chu Changge said guiltily.

"You must have your reason for not saving him."

Chu Changge shook his head. No matter how good the reason was, it couldn't be an excuse to give up a life.

"I was there when I saw him rushing out without the slightest hesitation. He wouldn't blame you."

Chu Changge still shook his head sullenly, "You don't understand."

As soon as Murong Yunshu heard his words, she stopped persuading him and only said, "Yes, I don't understand. Chen Ting's death did make us all sad, but it only gave us sadness. And yet, you fell apart. What is this all about?"