Chapter 2889: Lu Shu’s Heart Devil |
River Empress Peacock was sending her voice via transmission. Every word took great effort, and every word was full of suppressed agony.
Her goal was just to urge Su Yi to escape as soon as possible!
Su Yi narrowed his eyes as he realized the severity of the situation. The Cave of Obsession is likely far more dangerous than I realize!
After getting the warning out, River Empress Peacock’s face paled. A web of cracks spread across her skin, the sight utterly imposing.
Su Yi set aside his questions and transmitted, “Don’t talk. Just listen to me and nod if I’m right.”
He could tell that she was suffering this strange torment because of her attempts to communicate with him.
But that was ridiculous, because she hadn’t given him any worthwhile leads. All she did was urge him to run as fast as possible.
Su Yi furrowed his brow. Don’t tell me someone in the Cave of Obsession doesn’t want me to leave?
River Empress Peacock nodded to express her understanding. Her delicate frame quivered, and her hands clenched; she was obviously suppressing intense agony.
However, with River Ancestor Shen Xiao and Innocence here to oversee things, there was, at least in the short run, no need to fear for their lives.
Su Yi transmitted, “Does someone in the Cave of Obsession not want us outsiders to leave?”
River Empress Peacock nodded, then shook her head.
Su Yi paused, then guessed, “Are you saying that no one who enters the Cave of Obsession can ever leave alive?”
River Empress Peacock just nodded this time.
“Even River Ancestors?” pressed Su Yi.
She nodded again.
“What about you?” asked Su Yi. “Will you die, too?”
This time, she hesitated, her eyes full of confusion.
Su Yi guessed what she was trying to say. “You aren’t certain either, right?”
She nodded.
“Is River Ancestor Lu Shu still alive?” asked Su Yi.
The answer to that question was critical. Just now, when they first entered the Cave of Obsession, River Ancestor Shen Xiao sensed that something strange was afoot. Based on their surroundings, it was clear that River Ancestor Lu Shu’s cultivation base had yet to dissipate.
River Empress Peacock paused and was just about to respond when her body stiffened, and she let slip an agonized cry.
A horrifying scene followed. Her delicate frame split into countless pieces!
Five-colored flames shot from the shattered remnants of her body, shooting into the firmament and vanishing into the layers of black cloud.
This sudden development shocked her companions.
“Fellow Daoist Su, what just happened to the Peacock River Empress?” asked River Ancestor Shen Xiao.
“I have no idea.” Su Yi frowned. “She’s been acting strange ever since we got here. It seems something’s gone wrong with her heart.”
He glanced down at where the chunks of River Empress Peacock’s body were scattered across the ground. They’d already disintegrated into ash.
There was no sign of her true name!
That unquestionably implied that she wasn’t really dead.
But Su Yi was curious about the five-colored light that had shot out of her body. It wasn’t her soul origin, but it didn’t look like a treasure, either.
Alas, it moved so quickly that Su Yi didn’t get the chance to investigate it further.
“A problem with her heart?” River Ancestor Shen Xiao repeated solemnly. “To tell the truth, I’ve been on guard against her this entire time. She knows too much, and she isn’t at all simple. I can say with certainty that she didn’t tell us everything she knows about the Cave of Obsession!”
The others were stunned, but when they thought back on it, they agreed.
River Empress Peacock was the only one with a lead to the Key to Endless Tribulations, as well as the only one who knew how to enter the Cave of Obsession. That was more than enough for them to take her seriously.
Yet now, her physical body had inexplicably shattered into pieces, and they had no idea whether she was truly alive or dead. Who wouldn’t have been stunned?
“To tell the truth, I don’t understand her either,” Su Yi said openly. “Just now, she risked a backlash to warn me to leave the Cave of Obsession immediately. She told me directly that here, even River Ancestors are doomed.”
“What?” River Ancestor Shen Xiao was startled. His eyes narrowed.
The others’ hearts grew heavier. If even River Ancestors are doomed, what about us?
“Did she say anything else?” Wang Zhiwu couldn’t help but ask.
Su Yi rubbed his forehead. “I planned to ask more questions, only for that to happen to her.”
Lu Shi said out of nowhere, “Su Yi, at this point, how much do you plan to keep hiding from us? Why not tell us everything you know so that we can be fully prepared?”
There was no doubt about it. He was convinced that Su Yi was still hiding things!
Wang Zhiwu was furious. “Who the fuck do you think you are? What right do you have to accuse Fellow Daoist Su of hiding things? If you really want him to tell you everything, how about you go first? Tell us all your hidden cards so that we can be prepared.”
Lu Shi laughed coldly and disregarded Wang Zhiwu. He just said, “Everyone has their secrets. I understand that, but our safety is on the line. Holding back now is far too unkind!”
River Emperor Winged Dragon and the other River Emperors’ expressions shifted slightly.
However, River Ancestor Shen Xiao just said calmly, “I trust Fellow Daoist Su. He’s decided to travel with us, so there’s no way he’ll harm or mislead us!”
Everyone was stunned, and their expressions shifted. After all, all of them knew that River Ancestor Shen Xiao’s trust was built on the precondition that he and Su Yi were traveling together.
In other words, what River Ancestor Shen Xiao really meant was that so long as he kept an eye on Su Yi, Su Yi wouldn’t try anything!
“Rest assured, everyone. I don’t want us to fight among ourselves until we’ve acquired the Key to Endless Tribulations.” Su Yi took a sip of wine.
Innocence, however, was still fuming. She deliberately let some of the swarming heart devils near Lu Shi.
Lu Shi’s expression shifted, but soon, he was so beset with heart devils that he could barely defend himself. He looked utterly wretched.
“What are you doing!?” He roared and glared at the little girl.
Innocence laughed coldly. “I let it slide when you sidled up to Master to share his safe zone, but now, you’re trying to turn the others against him. Someone like you deserves to be ripped to pieces by heart devils!”
Lu Shi’s expression shifted erratically.
Wang Zhiwu couldn’t help but chuckle. Who told you to cause trouble! You brought this upon yourself!
Before long, Lu Shi and River Emperor Winged Dragon decisively moved further away. Now, they stuck close to River Ancestor Shen Xiao instead.
River Ancestor Shen Xiao didn’t object.
“It’ll be troublesome if Lu Shi and River Ancestor Shen Xiao work together,” Wang Zhiwu transmitted to Su Yi hurriedly.
“Even if they work together, they’ll both have ulterior motives, and it won’t amount to anything. River Ancestor Shen Xiao is sure to abandon Lu Shi the moment he’s in danger, and if Lu Shi finds an opportunity, he’s sure to turn on River Ancestor Shen Xiao. There’s no need for undue concern.”
Wang Zhiwu pondered briefly, then relaxed.
Su Yi and River Ancestor Shen Xiao had ulterior motives too, but so long as Su Yi was useful, River Ancestor Shen Xiao wouldn’t try anything.
But Lu Shi lacked that particular advantage. It was obvious that if he worked with River Ancestor Shen Xiao, River Ancestor Shen Xiao wouldn’t hesitate to order him around like a dog!
A full ten minutes later, light appeared in the distance. The dense black clouds were growing sparser.
River Ancestor Shen Xiao’s spirits soared. “We'll be able to fight our way out of the swarm soon!”
The heart devils they’d fought along the way were far too troublesome. When killed, they quickly came back to life, and there was a huge number of them.
They weren’t much of a threat to River Ancestor Shen Xiao, but they were extremely troublesome, and he’d long since grown sick of it.
The others inwardly sighed in relief.
If not for Innocence and River Ancestor Shen Xiao, the rest of them would likely have long since fallen to the swarm!
As for Su Yi? He never once tried to help. Wang Zhiwu, Lu Shi, and the others assumed it was because of his weak cultivation base. He was, after all, only in the Divine Wandering Realm.
Only Innocence knew that with the strength of Su Yi’s heart, defeating these heart devils would have been a snap.
It’d have been so easy for him that even River Ancestor Shen Xiao would have had to lower his head in shame!
Suddenly, Su Yi called out of nowhere, “Watch out!”
He’d only just said this when River Ancestor Shen Xiao suddenly looked up and saw a figure hurtling toward him.
Before he could get a clear look, the figure charged explosively, stirring up a monstrous wave of black sin power.
Bang!!!
A single impact was enough to force River Ancestor Shen Xiao back. His ten-thousand-foot wings of starlight quivered.
Lu Shi had been sticking close to River Ancestor Shen Xiao, so he was swept into this, too. He flew backward, and a group of heart devils came dangerously close to invading his heart.
At a critical juncture, glittering blue lightning exploded over his palm, shattering the heart devils into powder.
Su Yi and Wang Zhiwu could tell at a glance that Lu Shi had just used a Heavenly Sovereign-level secret treasure. It was extraordinarily powerful.
But they couldn’t be bothered to worry about that.
River Ancestor Shen Xiao was already locked in combat with the figure who’d attacked out of nowhere.
It was a man dressed in blood-red robes. His long hair hung loose, and his features were elegant, but his whole body billowed with terrifying sin power.
And he was at no disadvantage whatsoever against River Ancestor Shen Xiao!
“That’s River Ancestor Lu Shu! No, it’s most likely the source power of his heart devil!” exclaimed River Emperor Hong Ye.
That figure was identical to the River Ancestor Lu Shu of legend, and his terrifying aura was far beyond that of the other heart devils.
Was this the source of the heart devils?
The others couldn’t help but gasp. All of them noticed that the scattered army of heart devils was surging toward the man in red like mad, as if they’d been somehow summoned.
That robed figure was like an abyss, endlessly fusing more and more heart devils into himself.
All the while, his sin power grew stronger and stronger.
Even when River Ancestor Shen Xiao attacked with all his might, he couldn’t take him down right away!
Then, something unexpected happened.
Suddenly, yet another figure in blood-red robes appeared in midair. Its aura was every bit as terrifying as the first red-robed figure.
And as soon as it appeared, it attacked River Ancestor Shen Xiao!
It was as if two River Ancestor Lu Shus were attacking him at once, one from each side!