Chapter Thirty-Eight: Breaking Out of the Cave

For how long Hantan Yue had lain amid the mist before the immortal palace, he did not know. Then, suddenly, a shaft of light cut into his vision, and he raised a hand to shield his face.

“Hey, hey, hey!”

At that moment, Fang Zhe shook him hard. Seeing Hantan Yue slowly rouse himself, Fang Zhe let out a breath and said, “You scared us to death. We thought you might never wake up again!”

Nearby, Mao Xuanzi came trembling up to Hantan Yue and said softly, “Thank you.”

Though still weary, Hantan Yue no longer felt the same bodily torment as before. He smiled. “If it had been the Crown Prince, she would have done the same.”

So they rested in the cave for several days. Hantan Yue regained his strength, and Mao Xuanzi recovered nearly completely. At last, it was time for them to leave.

“Whatever happens, this time we will certainly destroy the Black Mountain Demon!” Hantan Yue said as he rose, his voice firm.

Qingfeng also stood, and though reluctance lingered in her heart, the Black Mountain Demon had already disrupted the lives and affairs of so many that she too spoke with resolve. “This time, we must find the second half of the root!”

“I’m sure the Black Mountain Demon is waiting for us somewhere outside, hoping we’ll walk straight into his trap. So we need to be ready, and decide how to deal with him!” Mao Xuanzi stepped forward to make plans.

“Feng Shang, you’re the fastest among the four of us. You take Princess Qingfeng and leave. The three of us—myself, Fang Zhe, and Mao Xuanzi—will hold the rear. No matter what happens to us, remember this: you must eliminate the Black Mountain Demon!” Though none of them was truly a match for him, they still wanted to try one last time.

“Okay!” Feng Shang was the first to extend his fist.

Fang Zhe said nothing, but he too held out his fist.

Mao Xuanzi, with no hesitation at all, extended his fist.

At last Hantan Yue lifted his own, thinking to himself, “Your Highness, we will be all right!”

With their resolve set, Feng Shang carried Qingfeng on his back and together they burst out of the cave.

“Feng Shang, take Qingfeng and run!” Hantan Yue shouted once they reached the open space outside.

Feng Shang thrust out a whirl of stormwind toward the cliff, and in an instant he and Qingfeng were flung away in a sweeping arc. At the same time, dark clouds swallowed the entire sky.

“No matter what, we have to hold him off here!” Hantan Yue snorted coldly and shouted into the clouds, “Black Mountain Demon, we’re here!”

Within the clouds, a pair of red eyes looked down at them. The Black Mountain Demon stretched out a hand, and a colossal cloud-palm came crashing toward them.

“Chorus of Resonance!” Fang Zhe struck with the speed of lightning. Waves of sound rippled outward layer by layer, and the air itself quivered in response.

The Black Mountain Demon extended his other hand, sending down yet another cloud-palm.

“Scorching Fire Palm!” Mao Xuanzi attacked.

Yet the Black Mountain Demon’s twin palms held terrifying power, and neither the Chorus of Resonance nor the Scorching Fire Palm could withstand them.

At that moment Hantan Yue’s heart pounded violently, for he was gathering the power of the Black Frost Core. “Dark Ice Blade!” The ground was instantly frozen by his dark blade of ice. Facing the Black Mountain Demon’s twin palms, the Dark Ice Blade cleaved straight through the black clouds.

The moment Hantan Yue unleashed the Dark Ice Blade, the Black Mountain Demon immediately withdrew both hands. Then he opened his mouth and exhaled streams of black vapor. Those tendrils of dark mist transformed into human shapes, each brandishing a scythe as they charged forward.

“I should make my move too!”

Hidden among the trees, Boka had waited a long time for Hantan Yue and the others. At last he saw them emerge from the cave. Shocked by the increase in their fighting strength, he quickly steadied himself, remembering the words of the woman in white: “They are no match for the Black Mountain Demon. If you do not want them to die, you must act when the time comes.”

So Boka said nothing to Dark, Money, or Demon Snake. He secretly lurked alone around the cave, and at last he saw Mao Xuanzi and the others.

That woman in white had said that the figures formed from black vapor were part of the Grim Reaper, and that the scythes in their hands were the key. If one were struck by them, the body would be enveloped by the breath of death.

“Orange-amber age!” Boka leapt into the midst of Hantan Yue’s group, spreading his arms to meet the scythes of death.

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