Chapter 1654 — The Fool of the Southern Heaven
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 5
Despair filled Huotian Zun's heart. He turned his head, and there was Lady Yuanmu at his back, smiling as she pinched the twin lotus on its single stem, ready to deal him the killing blow.
Strange to tell, the moment Lady Yuanmu raised the lotus in her hand, she halted, and did not unleash that fatal strike.
Huotian Zun was taken aback. She stood there, and upon her face had appeared a look of alarm---an alarm that grew ever deeper.
Her expression held no feigning; she already held the upper hand by far, and had no need to pretend.
Yet not only did Lady Yuanmu show alarm, her very body began to tremble, and at the same time the black mole at the center of her brows began slowly to change, from black to red.
"You little slut..."
Lady Yuanmu clenched her teeth and hissed: "You pick this moment to jump out---are you courting death?"
Huotian Zun did not grasp her meaning. Thereupon he struck her hard, and in an instant the twin lotus in Yuanmu's hand swelled huge, snapped shut with a swish, and wrapped Lady Yuanmu within it.
Huotian Zun's blow fell upon layer upon layer of petals, striking them down in a shower, but the frightful force still reached deep into the twin lotus.
A muffled groan came from within the lotus, and then another voice sounded: "Little slut, how could this palace concede defeat just like that? This palace is the orthodox one, the true owner of this body. Now that you have nursed your wounds, it is the perfect moment for this palace to take the body back..."
"Elder sister, contending with me for the body will only play into Huotian Zun's hands!"
"If you do not withdraw, this palace will perish together with you, and let Huotian Zun kill us both!"
...
Huotian Zun hammered blow after blow, broke open the twin lotus, and charged inside, to find Lady Yuanmu frozen there, unable to move.
In a single instant he unleashed countless divine powers upon the woman; Lady Yuanmu was struck and sent bouncing high, then dashed hard against the ground.
Boom!
Huotian Zun came down and planted a foot on Lady Yuanmu's chest, a fevered light glittering in his eyes: "My fortune is still heaven-shaking; I am not meant to die. Yuanmu, be on your way..."
Then the black mole upon Lady Yuanmu's brow turned wholly red; her eyes regarded him coldly, her voice became the Empress Consort's own timbre: "Huo, my dear minister, you dare trample this palace's body?"
Sss---
One of Huotian Zun's legs was seized by the Empress Consort and smashed hard against the ground; he was battered senseless, though luckily the Empress Consort, too, was gravely wounded, and did not take his life outright.
A savage light flared in Huotian Zun's eyes. He thought: "She has just been badly hurt by me. This battle is not necessarily lost!"
Zushen Wang and Xutian Zun drew near, and saw that the twin lotus had closed its petals, entwined tightly together, its flower chamber swelling and shrinking, now expanding, now contracting, while waves of frightful divine-power surged from within, appalling to behold.
Zushen Wang and Xutian Zun were gravely wounded; they exchanged a glance, and each showed a look of dread.
The battle within the twin lotus ended quickly. Of a sudden the petals split apart and a streak of firelight rushed out---the man drenched in blood, none other than Huotian Zun.
Zushen Wang and Xutian Zun struck at once to bar his way, and the three traded blow for blow outside the flower chamber, fast against fast. Xutian Zun hewed off Huotian Zun's left arm; Huotian Zun wrenched Xutian Zun's head from front to back, so that she was staring at her own backside.
Zushen Wang roused the Tiangong flesh-body and smashed Huotian Zun's head into his own chest cavity; a pair of eyes grew from Huotian Zun's chest, and his right hand seized Zushen Wang, who stood upon the Tiangong's face, while Dao-fire spun like a wheel and twisted his body into a dozen wheels, flesh and primal spirit stretched thinner than a fried dough twist!