Chapter 142 — Calamity
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 5 of 6
A chill, baleful wind descended from the sky, shrieking through the mountains like the wailing of ghosts. The heavens were filled with black clouds pressing low, somewhat like the day the Li tribe had invaded Qili Dong, yet the menace of it was far beyond comparison with that day.
And the forest, once teeming with every kind of bird and beast, had now been turned wholly into a hell on earth. Everywhere were monstrous beasts and alien breeds; everywhere were the slaughtered carcasses of birds and animals—a storm of blood and gore.
With a long cry, a clear shadow came flying from the distance, and in a few rises and falls it was upon them. It was Qinglong.
His face was stern, his garments long since soaked with bloodstains. As the fierce wind swept past, he alighted on a branch that jutted out, cast a swift glance around, then looked behind him.
Among the forest trees that had been level ground, a piercing long howl suddenly rang out; with a great beating of wings, that giant white-boned demon serpent burst into the air, and in its two huge eyes at once was mirrored Qinglong's figure ahead. With another great roar it lunged. And close behind it, rolling black smoke and wave upon wave of hissing—countless demon beasts came swarming, all hurling themselves at Qinglong.
Not long before, the Miao settlement at Qili Dong had suddenly been encircled on every side by countless demon beasts, led by this most terrifying of monsters, the white-boned demon serpent. The serpent's body was enormous; wherever it passed, its white bones swung and swept men and beasts alike away, and it could belch poison that killed on contact. As for the other, commoner demon beasts, they too possessed boundless strength and utter savagery.
Brave and fierce as the Miao were, how could they be a match for such monsters? In the blink of an eye Qili Dong had become a hell on earth, a field of slaughter. Seeing the situation turn desperate, Qinglong made his decision on the spot: he had the Miao chieftain Tumagu withdraw the remnant Miao into the sacrificial altars, where the wizards, who knew a little of the southern frontier's sorcery, could hold out a while; meanwhile he himself charged forward and struck the white-boned demon serpent by surprise, while with swift, agile footwork he dealt blow after heavy blow, wounding and slaying demon beasts, and indeed drew the greater part of the monsters' attention upon himself.
The other demon beasts were one thing, but the white-boned demon serpent was no small matter. Even with Qinglong's cultivation, and bearing the wondrous treasure the Qiankun Qingguang Ring, he still could not prevail. And the surrounding demon beasts only gathered thicker and thicker, the pressure on Qinglong mounting ever greater. Beyond his shock, he was also minded to draw the monsters away, so he seized an opening and fled up the mountain, and indeed lured many of the creatures, the white-boned demon serpent among them, after him.
Yet since his purpose was to draw the monsters off, he was unwilling to take to the sky, and instead flitted along the forest floor. But to his surprise, it seemed the birds and beasts all over the mountains had undergone some strange change: either they had been slaughtered, or they had turned into demon beasts of extraordinary ferocity, appearing wherever he went and attacking him—truly a thorny business.
Now Qinglong soared up once more, dodging the lash of the huge tail the furious white-boned demon serpent hurled at him. He saw three or four giant trees, of unknowable age, swept aside together by the monster as though rotten wood, raising a clatter of crashing sound, and in the process smashing down many smaller demon beasts, so that wails rose on every side.
Seeing Qinglong take flight, the white-boned demon serpent reared its head skyward with a roar, and suddenly its three pairs of wings quivered, and its vast body actually rose into the air, lunging at Qinglong in mid-sky.