They Are Archenemies, But They Have A Child - Chapter 14

Chapter 14: The Promise

Cloud Qingwu no longer hesitated. He closed his eyes, his nostrils subtly twitching, using his sense of smell to locate a familiar aura.

After a moment, he opened his eyes, locking his gaze onto a tree branch near the exit. Qu Lin was there.

But there was still no trace of Xiao Dao’s aura here.

Cloud Qingwu pulled out a machete from his robe. He had grabbed it from the Qu family courtyard before leaving. His spiritual power had still not recovered, so he couldn’t use his ice spear.

He could only make do with this for now.

Fortunately, Qu Lin’s location was relatively low, so the machete was enough.

He leaped up, swinging the machete hard toward the target branch.

Crack!

The branch broke. The small ice crystal coffin instantly fell to the ground. The moment it landed, the coffin melted into a puddle of water, leaving Qu Lin’s small body lying quietly in the center.

Cloud Qingwu stepped forward, intending to check Qu Lin’s condition. However, the moment he approached, the little girl, who had been lying with her eyes closed, suddenly snapped them open and struck out directly with a palm.

Just before the strike connected, Cloud Qingwu sidestepped, simultaneously gripping both of Qu Lin’s hands and bending them backward, preventing her from attacking further.

Before he could make another move, a sudden gust of wind erupted. In an instant, the suspended small coffins swayed violently. The sound of wind chimes rang out continuously, like the wailing of the mountain itself.

Amidst the hurricane, sharp screams sounded. The previously quiet tree branches suddenly came alive, the twigs relentlessly spreading and enveloping Cloud Qingwu.

“Demon, cease your wickedness!” Cloud Qingwu was agile, dodging the branches. He bit his finger, quickly writing a talisman on the machete with his blood. The clumsy machete immediately glowed, and with a strong force, flew directly toward the center of the hurricane.

A muffled groan sounded, and the intensity of the hurricane eased.

The spiritual power, relying solely on external forces, couldn’t compare to his former strength, but it was enough to force the demon to reveal its true form.

The demon was covered in feathers, with a human body and nine heads on top, flapping its wings, ready to attack Cloud Qingwu again.

It was a Guhuo Bird (Nine-Headed Bird).

But it was somewhat different from a typical Guhuo Bird.

Cloud Qingwu swiftly dodged the attack. A fierce white light burst from his body. The massive beast with a lion’s body and deer antlers violently pounced toward the Guhuo Bird in the air.

With a sharp shriek, more vines wrapped around the Bai Ze.

The Bai Ze swung its body. The vines failed to tighten, all snapping and falling to the ground.

There was a huge difference in the sizes of the two. All of the Guhuo Bird’s killing moves were weakened when they landed on the Bai Ze’s body. However, Cloud Qingwu currently lacked spiritual power. Relying on his inherent physical strength could only barely maintain a relative balance in the situation. He couldn’t subdue the opponent.

He had to find the opponent’s weakness for a decisive strike.

Cloud Qingwu observed the surroundings while dealing with the Guhuo Bird’s attacks. Soon, he noticed the breakthrough point.

He found that the closer he got to the trunk of the giant tree, the more intense the opponent’s attacks became. It was as if she couldn’t tolerate it for a moment, wanting to drive him away from the trunk as quickly as possible. At the same time, no matter which head was the primary attacker, the eyes of the other heads were constantly fixated on the trunk.

The Guhuo Bird before him was different from the usual. Her demonic aura was not pure. Based on his understanding of demons, the entity before him was most likely only a half-demon.

Half-demons usually fell into two categories: one, like Leng Lici, was born from the union of a demon and a human; the other was forcibly turned into a demon using external power. The one before him belonged to the latter.

For the latter, if they wanted to maintain their demonic power, they needed continuous integration with the external power. They could not leave this external power source for long.

Therefore, as long as he found the “heart” of this giant tree, he could strike decisively.

However.

As Cloud Qingwu was forced to distance himself from the tree trunk yet again, he had to admit that he couldn’t do it right now.

“Ah—!”

A person’s alarmed voice came from the cave entrance, followed by the dull thud of someone falling in panic.

Cloud Qingwu looked at the cave entrance, his eyes brightening. The person who came was Qu Wen.

“Qu Wen! There’s a machete on the ground! Check the tree trunk for any glowing spots and use the machete to chop it!”

Qu Wen swallowed hard, looking at the Bai Ze, his eyes filled with panic and a hint of reverence: “Bai… Great Bai Ze God.”

Seeing Qu Wen immobile, Cloud Qingwu urged: “Hurry!”

Qu Wen’s rationality returned. He quickly scrambled up from the ground, picked up the machete, and ran toward the tree trunk.

The Guhuo Bird saw this, flapped its wings, and tried to rush over, but the Bai Ze’s charge forcefully blocked her, preventing her from advancing even an inch.

Qu Wen successfully reached the tree trunk. He meticulously examined every part of the trunk. The more he looked, the more anxious he became. The bark showed signs of age, but there was no glowing spot to be found.

A chorus of bird cries erupted simultaneously from the many mouths of the Guhuo Bird, instantly sounding like ten thousand birds returning to their nest, surging toward the giant tree. The giant tree responded to the call, its branches instantly lengthening several times, collecting into a net, intent on strangling Qu Wen.

“Qu Wen, watch out!”

The Bai Ze fiercely thrust its antlers forward, trying to bite the Guhuo Bird to stop her attack, but the Guhuo Bird was incredibly nimble, dodging again.

Cloud Qingwu’s heart sank. He couldn’t risk Qu Wen’s life.

Just as he was about to turn his body to save Qu Wen, all the danger abruptly ceased.

“Great Bai Ze God, I found it!”

Qu Wen’s delighted voice rang out. Simultaneously, the Guhuo Bird let out a shriek of agony. All the previously aggressive branches retracted, dead twigs falling to the ground.

This is the chance!

Cloud Qingwu immediately leaped forward, firmly pinning the Guhuo Bird beneath his claws.

“Speak! What is going on with these children?”

The Guhuo Bird trembled uncontrollably. The human head, which had been facing away, slowly turned around. Her lips moved constantly, but no words came out.

The moment Cloud Qingwu clearly saw the human face, he froze on the spot.

“Huan Yu?”

The pressure from his claws unconsciously eased a little. His mind was a mess. However, before he could think of an answer, a “crack” sounded, and a wooden hoop was slipped onto his heel.

He looked back at Qu Wen. A certain thought arose in his mind, but he still wanted confirmation.

Qu Wen smiled brilliantly. It was the same face, but the sunshine of youth was gone, replaced by the calmness of someone who had undergone the trials of time: “Aze, long time no see.”

Cloud Qingwu’s eyes flickered. Because of disbelief, his voice was much softer: “A… Huang?”

“It’s me, Aze.” Meng Huang smiled and nodded, stepping forward to help control Huan Yu.

Cloud Qingwu instinctively stepped forward to block him, transforming into his human form.

Seeing this, the smile on Meng Huang’s face stiffened slightly, but quickly returned to normal.

“What exactly is going on?” Cloud Qingwu’s thoughts returned to the present. He watched Meng Huang warily.

Both Huan Yu and Meng Huang had died with the destruction of the Southern Ze Kingdom three hundred years ago. They shouldn’t be here.

Meng Huang stepped back, his smile fading slightly. He looked at Huan Yu, who was still struggling on the ground: “Three hundred years ago, it was my fault. It was because I didn’t believe you that the evil spirits found an opportunity.

After you left, heavy snow fell, and I watched the Southern Ze Kingdom perish in that disaster. I thought that if I couldn’t find a path to survival, at least the souls of the dead should be together. So, I used the Ten Thousand Spirits Bag you left behind to collect all their souls. I just didn’t expect that a hundred years ago, I would regain consciousness.”

Meng Huang looked at his hand, where a wisp of black energy gathered: “Not only that, but I also gained spiritual power. This place is a natural treasure land. For the past hundred years, I have been working hard to resurrect the Southern Ze Kingdom. See, I succeeded. They not only came back to life, but they also regained the ability to live forever!”

Saying this, Meng Huang took another step forward, his eyes filled with unconcealed excitement: “Now that you’ve returned, won’t you stay?”

Cloud Qingwu looked at his former brother with complicated feelings. He knew that Meng Huang had fallen into the demonic path, but if he were to assign blame, he himself was the cause, and he had no right to pursue the consequence.

Seeing his hesitation, Meng Huang’s eyes reddened slightly, as if he had accumulated too much grievance: “Aze, we lost them once. Now that we have a chance to start over, don’t you want this, Aze?”

Cloud Qingwu’s eyelashes trembled slightly. Then he lowered his head and helped Huan Yu up: “Why did Huan Yu turn out like this?”

Meng Huang was relieved, knowing that Aze’s attitude had softened.

He stepped forward, injecting a wisp of spiritual energy into Huan Yu’s forehead. The person who had been struggling immediately fell into a coma. He gently stroked Huan Yu’s hair: “It was my fault. I arrived too late and only managed to retrieve Huan Yu’s five hun (spiritual souls) and four po (corporeal souls). So, I had no choice but to use the witchcraft of soul-snatching and ear-cutting to graft her onto the Guhuo Bird. This way, she can at least live normally during the day.”

Cloud Qingwu had already guessed the answer, but when the answer was confirmed, the needle hidden in his heart for over a hundred years still burst out, harshly tearing open the old wound on his seemingly healed surface.

Meng Huang looked at the small coffins suspended in the air: “The Guhuo Bird’s instincts cannot be suppressed at night, but don’t worry, they are my people. I won’t let anything happen to them.”

“This wooden hoop has demonic energy on it,” Cloud Qingwu seemed to believe his explanation, turning to look at the wooden hoop on his foot.

From what he had seen until now, since Ze Kingdom was a giant demon-refining furnace, it was also an incredibly solid prison for demons.

Sure enough, when Meng Huang heard this, his eyes reddened even more, as if he had accumulated too many grievances: “Aze, the Southern Ze Kingdom cannot be without you. This wooden hoop is the promise you owe the Southern Ze Kingdom. A promise that you won’t abandon us again.”

Cloud Qingwu looked at the wooden hoop, silent for a long moment, and finally sighed softly: “I understand.”

Meng Huang smiled, picked up Huan Yu and placed her on a nearby bed, then put his arm around Cloud Qingwu’s shoulder: “Aze, I’ll take you home.”

“Where are Xiao Dao and Leng Lici?” Cloud Qingwu did not resist Meng Huang’s closeness.

Meng Huang’s footsteps paused, his smile cooling slightly: “That Leng Ci is a fox demon. Have you forgotten how the Southern Ze Kingdom perished? If it weren’t for the demons causing trouble, we wouldn’t have fallen to this state. All demons should pay the price for this!”

Cloud Qingwu patted Meng Huang’s back reassuringly, just as he had countless times in the past. Meng Huang’s expression softened slightly, and his tone held a plea: “Aze, you will protect us again, won’t you?”

“I will.”

Cloud Qingwu looked up at the sleeping people in the air, saying softly.

But I will do it my way.