Chapter 213 — The Inner Demon

Hades walked toward Taotie, his steps steady and calm. Little Gray, perched on Ming Li's shoulder, turned its head to watch Hades's receding back, gave two squeaks of "zhizhi," and suddenly fell silent.

Taotie, sprawled on the ground, seemed to sense something. Its massive head shifted to one side, then lifted; its huge eyes opened as well, and two beams of ferocious light fell instantly upon the approaching Hades. A low, rumbling growl rolled faintly from its great maw.

"ROAR..."

The once placid, tranquil atmosphere of the chamber turned inexplicably tense. Behind Taotie's head, the armor hard as iron plating tightened plate by plate; its great mouth slowly parted, baring a fearsome array of sharp teeth.

Hades faced this dreadful beast without a trace of fear on his countenance; rather, in the gaze he turned away from Ming Li, strange lights flickered without cease, and among them a wild joy and craving that could not be concealed.

He faced the Taotie—visibly enraged now—without even pausing his steps. And behind him, Ming Li watched his back, brows already faintly knit.

Taotie plainly could not abide such provocation. Its ferocity fully bared, its great eyes gradually shifting to a red glow, its enormous body slowly rose, assuming a posture of attack. Hades, by contrast, seemed utterly to disregard the beast's reaction, all his attention fixed solely upon observing Taotie's every aspect.

At last, when Hades drew near and set one foot within three feet of it, Taotie could contain itself no longer. With a mad roar that set the surrounding stone walls trembling faintly, its vast bulk leaped abruptly into the air, claws and fangs spread wide, and pounced upon Hades.

Within the once-calm stone chamber a gale rose abruptly with that enormous body; chairs and tables that had stood neatly arranged were blown instantly outward, striking the walls with a series of "bang, bang, bang" and splintering into pieces. Quick as a blink, the colossal beast had already hurtled down upon Hades's head.

In the distance, the monkey Little Gray let out several calls—"zhizhi, zhizhi..."—though it sounded not in the least worried, but rather somewhat gleeful at another's misfortune. The monkey, long since possessed of uncanny intelligence, clearly held no fondness for Hades in his present peril, and would have been glad enough had Taotie smashed the fellow dead with a single blow.

Ming Li, however, plainly did not share Little Gray's view. His faintly knit brows, after a few imperceptible flickers of doubt passed through his eyes, drew even tighter—as though in that instant he had glimpsed something he had not anticipated.

The enormous body came crashing down amid a howling gale, a sight to shake the soul—yet in but a fleeting moment, like a ghost or specter, Hades's form vanished clean out of being from a place where escape seemed utterly impossible. Taotie's devastating pounce met only empty air.

The next instant, Hades's grey figure appeared abruptly behind the momentarily astonished Taotie. He reached out a hand and, swift as lightning, seized the flesh at the nape of Taotie's neck—by his manner, it seemed he meant to lift this beast that all the world feared with his own magic, as one might pick up an ordinary cat or dog.

The grab looked none too swift, yet Taotie could not dodge it. With a low snarling roar, its neck was already held fast. But Taotie was, after all, a beast of unnatural kind; held though it was, it showed not the slightest intent to submit—rather it seemed only the more enraged, bellowing again and again, the iron hide over its whole body tightening at once until its entire frame appeared to swell by a third. Hades's expression changed; at the same moment he felt a sharp pain in his right hand—the palm he had warded with the true arts of the Demonic Sect seemed unable, after all, to withstand this beast's monstrous strength.

Hades did not hesitate; he released his grip and retreated three steps in quick succession.

Ming Li and Little Gray, standing to one side, saw it plainly: upon Taotie's nape—hide that turned aside blade and spear—there were now five gashes red as fresh blood, and the wounds looked anything but shallow, blood already seeping slowly out. Taotie raised its head and roared, sunk now in utter fury, then swung about abruptly to face Hades. And Little Gray, crouched on Ming Li's shoulder, leaped up as well, flailing its arms and jabbing a finger at Hades with a stream of "zhizhi" shrieks, in a perfect passion of wrath. Though no one in that stone chamber understood monkey speech, it needed no asking to guess that Little Gray's words just then were mostly curses and imprecations.

After a few curses, Little Gray seemed still unappeased. It gathered itself to spring to the ground, plainly intending to lend its friend a hand and give this loathsome Hades a sound thrashing. But it had scarce leaped into the air when a hand reached out from behind and caught it, hauling it back by main force—it was Ming Li.

Little Gray was somewhat startled and somewhat angry, and set up a ceaseless "zhizhi zhizhi" at Ming Li. Ming Li paid it no heed, only staring tight-browed at the scene before them. After but a couple of cries, Little Gray too suddenly turned its head—something in the chamber had clearly caught its attention.

Amid Taotie's tremendous roaring, the great fanged and clawed bulk lunged at Hades; and Hades this time showed no intent to dodge, but merely raised his arm.

A streak of dark red radiance swept across the sleeve of Hades's robe—soundless, yet in an instant it filled the whole stone chamber with a faint reek of blood. A deeper, stranger roar burst forth out of the vague void; there was no sound of tearing silk, yet it seemed to rend asunder the very space within that chamber—and even Taotie's heaven-shaking bellow faltered into silence before it.

The dark red light blazed up in an instant, wrapping Hades's entire body, flickering and unsteady, until his figure could no longer be made out. Taotie too seemed to sense something; amid its astonishment a hint of dread appeared, and it could not help but retreat a step.

An ancient cauldron of crude, archaic design, looking somewhat battered and broken, rose slowly from the depths of the red light. As it emerged, the chamber was bathed in a bloody red glow, so that nothing within but took on a ghastly crimson, and the stench of blood grew so thick it turned the stomach.

The dread in Taotie's eyes deepened; yet goaded by that bloody reek, the ferocity hidden in its very bones seemed to be lured forth and burst loose. After several hesitations, it did not turn and flee, but with a great roar lunged once more at the ancient cauldron.

In the distance, Ming Li's brows were tightly knit; his body stirred involuntarily, then he forced himself still again, his eyes fixed hard upon the ancient cauldron.

Once upon a time—ten years past, perhaps—on Liubo Mountain in the Eastern Sea, he had seen this primordial artifact as well. He had never thought to see it again, and now it seemed to have wholly changed its appearance.

Taotie's vast bulk hurtled at the Fulong Cauldron, but when it was still three feet from the vessel, a thunderous boom issued suddenly from within the cauldron, as though low, mysterious incantations were being murmured in the void; then a beam of red light descended from overhead, enveloping Taotie's entire body.

At once Taotie began to tremble from head to tail, its face twisted in extreme agony. It howled to the heavens, yet as though all strength had been drained from it, it tumbled down out of midair. Ming Li's expression shifted slightly—the Fulong Cauldron's power was greater than he had expected, plainly no longer what it had been in years past.