Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 502: I’m Right Here, Little Junior Brother!! (part 2)

Looking closely, it looked like the huge shroud was made of countless individual Garmentfolk who had been fused together. There were shirts, pants, hats, gloves, and all sorts of other apparel. But none of them were colorful. They were all ashen white. The terrifying fluctuations rolling out from the shroud made it so that the sky seemed as dark as evening. It was the same color as the skin of a rotting corpse, and created a very oppressive atmosphere. The ashen white lands seemed withered, and they were rife with an aura of death. In fact, if you scanned the area with divine will, you would find that the Garmentfolk who made up the shroud were all dead. Their corpses had been formed together into this huge shroud. It looked extremely ghastly.

Xu Qing didn’t say anything.

As Emperor-Receiving Prefecture’s army proceeded, they eventually caught sight of the army formed from the various sects and species of Injustice Prefecture.

Combined, they numbered well over a million individuals, and they were all under the command of the Swordsage Court. They were scattered at the edges of the huge shroud, and had tapped into the full power of their cultivation bases to send the enormous shroud forward at a slow pace. There were all sorts of taboo treasures at play, their powers filling the dome of heaven and connecting to the shroud to power it. The shroud was being used to cover an enormous black funerary garment. Compared to that garment, the cultivators seemed like tiny bugs that counted for nothing.

That said, what was most plainly visible was the shroud. It had been stretched up all the way to the funerary garment’s chest. At the same time, dozens of Void Returning cultivators under the command of the Swordsage Court’s grand elder were using various divine abilities and magical techniques to attack the funerary garment.

Counterattacks came in the form of black streams of energy with vicious figures inside them. They represented all species imaginable, but they all wore the same attire: black funerary garments that pulsed with shocking mutagen.

Down below, the huge black funerary garment was like a massive chasm, pulsing with a terrifying and evil aura. Shocking howls echoed out, filling heaven and earth. At the same time, there was breathing. Each breath caused an explosion of black mist that was so dangerous even the Void Returning cultivators had to avoid it. And it caused the encroaching shroud to wave and ripple.

This was how the forces of Injustice Prefecture were sealing Forbidden by the Garment.

The arrival of the forces from Emperor-Receiving Prefecture caused an immediate stir. Many cultivators looked excited.

Along the way, Xu Qing had used his authority to notify the Injustice Prefecture’s Swordsage Court that they were on the way, so their arrival wasn’t a surprise. Instead, the Injustice Prefecture forces had been looking forward to seeing them.

The grand elder from Injustice Prefecture’s Swordsage Court was a middle-aged cultivator. Upon seeing the incoming reinforcements, he excitedly said, “Many thanks for your assistance, Secretary-General Xu! And many thanks to the help from all you Fellow Daoists from Emperor-Receiving Prefecture! Please, help bolster our strength to complete the sealing!”

Xu Qing nodded. Knowing that now wasn’t the time for casual conversation, he gently patted Qingqin. The great bird let loose a cry, shot forward, then sent forth a beam of its godlight toward the black funerary garment. The godlight smashed into the vicious streams of black energy, causing them to collapse. The funerary garment shivered and howled in rage.

At the same time, cultivators from Emperor-Receiving Prefecture flew out and, under the leadership of the various sects, settled into place into the Swordsage Court’s two formations of yin and yang. Being used to the process from their previous experience, they immediately joined in the chanting of the sutra.

“We embody the energy of heaven and earth; the dao shall curse the ghosts to be sealed.”

“The paramount yin-yang dao sealing cannot be violated.”

Brightly colored light flashed in heaven and earth. Wild winds screamed everywhere. The power of Emperor-Receiving Prefecture caused the two formations of yin and yang to glitter brightly as the sound of the sutra echoed out.

The ground quaked, and the black funerary garment vibrated visibly. Thanks to the reinforcements from Emperor-Receiving Prefecture, the exhausted cultivators from Injustice Prefecture felt enlivened. Now, the huge white shroud advanced a bit faster than before.

Xu Qing stood atop Qingqin’s right head, fighting the attacks being sent up by the funerary garment. As he did, his transmission jade slip suddenly vibrated, and a voice message came in.

“I’m right here, little Junior Brother! I can see you. You’re finally here. Quick, I need help!”

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. After parting ways with the Captain back at the Ten Entrails Tree, he hadn’t heard from him at all. If it wasn’t for the fact that Xu Qing knew he could survive even after losing everything but his head, he would have thought the Captain was done for. Even still, he had always been a bit worried. And now, here by Forbidden by the Garment, he finally heard the Captain’s voice again.

Xu Qing looked down toward the ground. Down in the black funerary garment, which was more than half covered by the white shroud, there was a figure in the thick fog, waving at Xu Qing. He looked vaguely like the Captain.

However, he was quite a distance away, and also in fog, so Xu Qing couldn’t make out much of him other than a general outline. What was more, he was pulsing with a black energy that made him seem very much like the vicious beings produced by Forbidden by the Garment.

In fact, Xu Qing immediately started feeling a bit suspicious about his identity. I heard that Forbidden by the Garment has the power to produce illusions....

“I’m not an illusion! Little Ah Qing, hurry. I need help!”

Eyebrows shooting up, Xu Qing quickly considered the situation from atop Qingqin’s right head. Behind that figure in the fog and black energy, he saw a host of huge hands, pursuing the figure with madness and fury. Obviously, that figure had done something to arouse their rage.

That was all Xu Qing needed to confirm this figure’s identity.

“Senior Qingqin, that’s my Elder Brother. If it’s not too much trouble, sir....”

Qingqin was in the middle of sending magenta light blasting forth in attack after attack. Every single burst would explode multiple enemies from Forbidden by the Garment. As they detonated, Qingqin would suck them in as if he were guzzling fine wine.

Upon hearing Xu Qing’s request, he turned his heads.

“CAW!”

Turning, he dropped into the fog of Forbidden by the Garment. Any enemies he passed shrieked as they were either destroyed by godlight, wiped out of existence by Qingqin’s massive body, or devoured.

When Qingqin dropped into Forbidden by the Garment with Xu Qing, it was immediately noticed by the forces from the two Swordsage Courts. Both of the grand elders seemed shocked, and charged in that direction at the same time. To them, Xu Qing was simply too important of a person to risk losing.

Sir Bloodsmelter also took immediate action. In fact, though his cultivation base wasn’t on the same level as the two grand elders, he was actually the first to rush to help. After all, Xu Qing was essentially a member of his family. This was a battlefield, and thus, thought the sealing was important, and though the survival of allies was something he cared about, nothing was more important than the safety of his own family. That was also why he had made sure to stay relatively close to Xu Qing the whole time.

Meanwhile, Qingqin had taken Xu Qing into the depths of Forbidden by the Garment. Everything around them was dark, and the mutagen levels were very high. Deafening roars buffeted them from all directions.

Xu Qing was able to see the Captain much more clearly now.

The Captain was going all out to try to escape Forbidden by the Garment, except that the huge hands behind him were just about to catch up to him. It was a critical moment, and the Captain wasn’t holding anything back. He had a crazy look in his eyes as he shot forward. Suddenly, a host of eyes opened all over him, then popped out of his skin and shot back toward the hands, where they started exploding one after another.

Many of the hands detonated. Taking advantage of that moment, the Captain shot toward Xu Qing.

“Little Junior Brother!” The Captain extended his right hand as if to grab Qingqin. However, there was still about 300 meters between them.

To Qingqin, 300 meters was nothing. However, just as Qingqin’s right head was about to stretch forward to close that distance, all three heads’ facial expressions flickered, and the feathers on them stood erect. An intense sensation of deadly crisis suddenly rose up in Qingqin.

At the same time, a terrifying pressure swept forth from the depths of the forbidden land, causing everything to tremble violently. And it was heading right toward Xu Qing and Qingqin. There was also a thunderous roar that rippled out from behind the Captain.

“Vile thief!”

More massive hands appeared, covered with black veins, vicious in the extreme as they shot toward the Captain. Further back in the depths of the forbidden ground, a pair of bright-red eyes opened, full of madness and rage. And they were getting bigger. Clearly, the face those eyes were set into was getting closer rapidly.

The Captain looked even more anxious, but the crazy look in his eyes was even stronger. He reached out with his right hand, and a long saber appeared, which he used to chop his own head off.

His headless body then pulled back its right foot and kicked his head as hard as possible, sending it streaking toward Xu Qing. It spanned the 300-meter distance in an instant, allowing Xu Qing to grab it. The Captain sighed in relief while Qingqin backed up at top speed.

Meanwhile, 300 meters back, a face appeared behind the Captain’s headless body and gobbled it up.

The face looked like it had been soaking in water for too long. It was swollen with rot and looked incredibly vicious. It also stank as it viciously chewed the Captain’s body. The red eyes glowed with madness as they locked onto the Captain’s head in Xu Qing’s hand. The face roared again, and masses of black mist shot toward Xu Qing.

Qingqin unleashed a cry that could pierce metal or rock, then flapped his wings. His cultivation base flared, and he accelerated, shooting out of Forbidden by the Garment.

The face raced in pursuit, but then Sir Bloodsmelter and the two grand elders launched simultaneous attacks, backed by the crushing power of Emperor-Receiving Prefecture. A rumbling boom rang out. The face howled again, but now it was even farther away from the Captain. It struggled wildly, and clearly wanted to keep giving chase.

But then the Injustice Prefecture’s shroud swept over it, ceasing any pursuit.

A cry of intense humiliation and rage just barely made it through the shroud, and it was even possible to see the fabric bulging up.

“You vile thief! I’m gonna kill you!”

The combined power of two entire prefectures was astonishing. With the sutra being chanted, and the cultivators of Injustice Prefecture working on their sealing magic, the shroud continued to extend, and the face had no way to break out into the open.

“Vile thief! Shameless! I’m going to devour you! I’ll chew you to pieces! I’ll consume you!”

Off in the distance, Nethersprite heard the words, and her expression flickered as she thought back to her own previous tragic circumstances. She felt a bit bad, and even started cursing in her heart. You little thief. I’m not going to let you get away with it. One of these days I’m going to kill you. And then I’ll eat you. I’ll devour you!

Xu Qing stood atop Qingqin’s head watching everything happening, and of course, listening. The words caused a strange expression to appear on his face, and left him feeling lingering fear. He looked at the face struggling to break out of the shroud, then turned to the Captain’s head.

At the same time, Qingqin’s middle and left head also looked at the Captain. It was the same with the grand elders from the Swordsage Court, and the other prefectural cultivators nearby. magic

Seeing that, the Captain inhaled sharply before shouting, “I did it! I did something amazing for the Swordsage Palace! I did something amazing for Injustice Prefecture! Do you people know why that moronic fellow in Forbidden by the Garment didn’t fully awaken? It’s because of me! It was for the sake of my fellow swordsages, and in order to save Injustice Prefecture, and also because of my love of humankind that I risked my life to personally go into the depths of Forbidden by the Garment!

“And then, just when that moronic fellow was about to wake up, I successfully bit out his soul-heart! And thus, he’s incomplete! That, in turn, threw a wrench into his plan to wake up. It was a completely unexpected turn of events!”

The Captain was obviously worried that people were going to get the wrong idea about what he’d been up to, and the circumstances of his return, so he preemptively offered an explanation. If people thought he was the reason for the big disaster with Forbidden by the Garment, it would be a very tricky situation to deal with.

How could he have guessed that going into that place with his friend, simply to have some fun, would turn into such a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering event? In fact, he barely ended up escaping with his life. And now that he was out, he could see the combined forces of two prefectures, numbering into the millions. Many people were glaring at him angrily. Though he wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, he could tell the situation was urgent.

In fact, it looked like some people were hefting their weapons with the intention of killing him.

Having reached this point in his train of thought, the Captain shivered. He actually felt quite wronged. He definitely wasn’t the one who started all of this!

In any case, his words caused some very strange expressions to appear on the surrounding cultivators’ faces. The forces of Injustice Prefecture clearly didn’t believe him. After all, the huge face that was chasing him was obviously still furious.... Then the forces of Injustice Prefecture looked at Xu Qing and the grand elder from Emperor-Receiving Prefecture. The grand elder was frowning.

Chen Erniu had made a deep impression on him. As he weighed whether or not the explanation seemed realistic, he looked at Sir Bloodsmelter. After all, Chen Erniu was a disciple from Seven Blood Eyes.

Sir Bloodsmelter’s facial expression was solemn as he said, “Chen Erniu is one of the most gifted disciples in Seven Blood Eyes. He grew up in my sect, and has always been steadfast and loyal. He knows his place, is straightforward, never causes disasters, and never lies. I always completely trust everything he says.”