The Immortal Emperor Returns

Chapter 407 To the Death

Zang Fengling’s sanguinary gaze fell upon the centuries-old edifice of the Chamber of Lead-glass, beholding its pulchritude and divinity.

“Bi Keyun, you old hag! Show yourself and surrender!” Zang Fengling bellowed viciously.

A figure leaped and stood on the wall of the compound of the Chamber – a middle-aged woman who could only be one of the Chamber’s Elders.

“Ungrateful brat. The Lady Superior had shown you mercy by letting you go this morning. Yet instead of feeling remorseful or grateful, you return with a host at our gates! Do you really think that the Lady Superior would not touch you!?”

“I came this morning with the sincerest intent, you old hag! Yet Bi Keyun, that old witch wounded me and had me thrown out! That is a humiliation that I will not stand for! A humiliation that I must avenge on my own!” sneered Zang Fengling.

“Impudence! The Lady Superior shares equal seniority with your father! How dare you speak ill of her!”

“Enough prattle, you old hen! Open your eyes and look closely! The tables are turned; not only Yao Baiyue will prostrate herself humbly and willingly at my feet, but the rest of you lot – yes, that includes your precious Lady Superior – shall also become slaves to me and my men!”

“You wicked bastard!” glowered the Elder, and her face flushed with fury, “You’ll never live till tomorrow!”

Her hand came up and fired a jet of white light at Zang Fengling. Such was the stroke of an Eighth-grade Human King that one single attack carried devastating force and deadliness.

Zang Fengling only needed to behold the incoming attack with despise.

One of his men, an elder of the Zang Family who was also an Eighth-grade Human King, rushed forward and fired another energy bolt of his own to parry away the incoming attack.

Boom!

Winds tossed violently at the collision of the two energy bolts.

“You might look a tad seasoned, but still a beauty nonetheless. I’d fight you – from here to the bed!” teased the Zang elder.

Acolytes and other members of the Chamber have always been addressed as “Lady” as a sign of respect. To hear with their own ears the utterance of such obscenities was rare, if not outright impossible. The middle-aged woman seethed crossly.

“You’re an Eighth-grade Human King! How dare you speak of words unbecoming of your stature and dignity!”

Unfazed, the Zang elder cackled vilely, “They say members of the Chamber are all sworn to chastity. Yet I did not mind your being an old maid. In fact, you should be grateful that I’m willing to afford you the pleasures of being a woman. How dare you insult me! All right then. It’s your choice. I’ll have to do it the hard way then.”

“You beastly thing,” growled the Elder of the Chamber, so angry that she was literally panting for breath. Her eyes flared with anger as she swore to kill this man.

“Take my advice, you old hen. Tell Bi Keyun to surrender. Do you see my army of men behind me? They’re all hungry for some female company. So you can either let us in nicely, or you can let us go in hard and all those young and pretty girls of yours shall suffer more,” threatened Zang Fengling wickedly.

“I’ll kill you, you filthy animal!” cried the Elder. She threw herself forward, her hand coming up to fire at Zang Fengling a scythe-like energy bolt.

Boom!

The Zang elder threw himself in its way and swatted aside the energy bolt before lunging at the middle-aged Elder.

“Since you want to play, woman, then let us have some fun!”

Another Zang elder quipped suddenly, chuckling nastily, “I like women with a bit of character too! I hope you won’t mind my intruding?

The first Zang elder hooted back, “Of course not. We can have all the fun with her tonight. A threesome!”

“Hahahahaha! This is good, brother! Let us share all the fun and women together!”

The Zang elders attacked together.

Fighting against one enemy of similar strength might be manageable for an Elder of the Chamber of Lead-glass, but defending herself against the onslaught of two warriors with strength equal to hers? That was an altogether different matter. Before long, a blast of energy caught her and she crashed back over the wall and back into the compound of the Chamber.

“Are you alright there, woman? It was an accident. Don’t overexert yourself too much, dear. We’ll still need you to help warm our beds tonight!” shrieked one of the Zang elders horridly from outside. He did not dare to go in alone.

The Elder was not badly injured, but the obscenities spewed by the enemies seemed to have done more damage than their blows. Angered beyond control, her Internal Breath churned uncontrollably inside her and caused enough internal injuries to have her coughing up blood.

A few acolytes quickly carried her into the great hall where Bi Keyun was waiting.

“How are you?” asked the Lady Superior, feeding her some medicine and channeling some of her powers to help the medicine take effect quicker.

“I’m fine, Lady Superior,” said the Elder. “It’s just only those dirty things the Zangs have belched.”

Bi Keyun’s eyes blazed with wrath.

Meanwhile, every acolyte of the Chamber was ready for battle.

Bi Keyun looked worried. The Zang Family has come readied and prepared and this could be a very difficult battle.

“Baiyue.”

The fringe of Yao Baiyue’s long white dress fluttered as she stepped forward and bowed.

“Your orders, Teacher?”

Bi Keyun gazed affectionately at her prized student. It was a tradition of the Chamber that the sitting Lady Superior appoint an acolyte to be her protégé and successor to the leadership of the Chamber.

“I will lead the Elders in the defense. Take the rest of the acolytes with you, Baiyue, and leave through the secret passage,” instructed Bi Keyun.

The order surprised Yao Baiyue. She bit her lip and insisted, “No, Teacher. I’m not leaving you!”

“It is not the time to be emotional, Baiyue,” admonished Bi Keyun sternly all of a sudden.

“I’m your protégé and successor, Teacher. How can I just run off when the Chamber’s in peril?!” said Yao Baiyue.

“The Zangs have come in full force, to say nothing of the Macroprimate champions they have within their members. I fear only the worst. We need to be pragmatic. Take the acolytes with you and leave. We need to save our strength for posterity,” persuaded Bi Keyun.

“But what about you, Teacher? And what of the Elders here?” the bright and sharp-minded Yao Baiyue had guessed what Bi Keyun was trying to do.

“We shall send for you if we survive this battle, my dear.”

“But what if you don’t!?” Yao Baiyue knew full well that this was a battle where winning was easier said than done.

Boom!

A deafening crash came from outside. The gates have been breached.

Bi Keyun and the Elders all turned horrified.

“Quick! Take them and leave, Baiyue! Go before it’s too late!” Bi Keyun pressed desperately.

“You took me in since I was a girl, Teacher. You reared me and nurtured me until I am the woman I am today. Ruin is upon the Chamber today, but I will not leave. I shall gladly stand and fall with it.”

Yao Baiyue charged out the doors, heading outside.

“Baiyue!” cried Bi Keyun, but she was too late. Yao Baiyue was gone.

“Elder Bai, take the acolytes and leave through the secret passage!” Bi Keyun ordered the wounded Elder.

Bi Keyun’s gaze panned to the rest of the Elders present, her eyes searching for the suitable candidate to lead the acolytes away to safety.

Bi Keyun’s gaze panned to the rest of the Elders present, her eyes searching for the suitable candidate to lead the acolytes away to safety.

“No, Lady Superior. I’ll fight to the death. I’m not leaving!”

“What would that make us if we were to run away from this, Lady Superior? No. I’d not be sent away like a discarded driftwood! I’ll fight to the death too!”

“I’m not going, Lady Superior. The Chamber is our home. We fight for our home. To the death if need be.”

None of the Elders would leave. None of them would desert the Chamber in its hour of gravest need.

Bi Keyun sighed. She was moved by the loyalty demonstrated by her subordinates and their staunch valor to defend the Chamber to its last brick almost had her teared up.

“Very well then. So be it; to the death it is. We are the Chamber of Lead-glass and we shall stand and fall with it.”

Bi Keyun strode out the doors, heading to the gates with the ranks of Elders behind her.

Meanwhile, Yao Baiyue was already facing off against Zang Fengling and his mob of brutes.

“Surrender, Lady of the Moon! Tell the world that you’d marry me and I’ll consider giving freedom to the rest of your sisters here,” said Zang Fengling with a vicious chuckle.

“Impertinence! As if the Lady Superior’s most prized student would marry a beastly thing like you!” shrieked one of the maiden acolytes.

“Foolish woman. You will all become slaves and playthings to my men if ‘the Lady Superior’s prized student’ refuses to marry me. Aren’t you afraid of what that means?”

“We are not afraid of you beastly animals! We’ve seen enough of your kind since the anomalies began!” countered the maiden acolyte venomously with the tongue of a serpent.

“Sharp words. I wonder if your moans would be more tantalizing in bed,” giggled an acolyte of the Zang Family.

“You really are a beastly animal. Look at the amount of filth that passes through your lips! Heaven knows what good are the Zangs keeping you for?” growled the maiden acolyte darkly.

“You! How dare you!” snarled the Zang acolyte when he failed to counter.

Zang Fengling raised a hand to dismiss him. To Yao Baiyue, he said, “You know as well as I do that no amount of words can lift this siege, Lady of the Moon. My heart is true, and I sincerely implore your hand in marriage. Surely my position as heir to the Zang Family is fitting enough a match for your being the successor to the Chamber? Agree to this union and my host will turn and leave and we shall end this day on a happy note. Don’t you think?”

“Quit pretending, Zang Fengling,” Yao Baoyue hissed coldly, “You and I both know the reason for your doing this.”

“Hahahaha!” Zang Fengling burst out laughing, “The Lady of the Moon indeed. Bright and sharp as always. You’re right; I’m only doing this to humiliate Yan Wushuang.”

“If that’s between you and him, why involve the Chamber into mayhem?” Yao Baiyue demanded.

“And we were just talking about how I was pretending,” Zang Fengling said, his eyes gleaming with steel, “Yet here you are now, pretending yourself. As if you don’t know that the whole world is aware of your relationship with Yan Wushuang. He loves you. Hence I shall take great pleasure in wrecking all the things that he holds dear, that includes you and the Yan Family.”

“What a spiteful creature you are, Zang Fengling. Have you not wondered why have you always failed to get the better of Wushuang? Have you not realized why?”

That sentence seemed to have struck a jugular nerve; Zang Fengling’s glare only turned more wicked and hateful.

“Yan Wushuang?! Who does he think he is? I’ll take you and I’ll destroy his family! I’d like to see what he will do to stop me!”

“Wushuang might try to stop you and fail. But aren’t you missing someone?” smirked Yao Baiyue sardonically.

By now, the whole world knew how close Yan Wushuang was to the Devil. While the name of the former might not command enough fear and respect, but the notoriety of the Devil was one that little could easily ignore or dismiss.

Zang Fengling’s expression shifted with doubt. His evil plans nearly worked to cause Yan Wushuang’s death when his spy managed to infiltrate the Fire Dragon Palace and succeeded in planting his poison. Unfortunately for him, all he had managed to accomplish was to incur the wrath of the Devil who had proceeded to slaughter every man that he sent forth for that mission.

“What do you think about your family, Zang Fengling? Do you think the Zang Family is as strong as the Broken Souls Cult before?” Yao Baiyue said in a low, but firm tone.

Zang Fengling’s face spasmed again as he remembered how terrified and shocked he was when he heard about the Cult’s destruction at Chu Xun’s hands.

The Zang Family was comparable to the Broken Souls Cult in strength and power. If Chu Xun could destroy the Cult, then he could massacre every one of the Zangs too.

“Hahahahah!” Zang Fengling erupted into peals of laughter suddenly. He shot a scathing and disdainful look at Yao Baiyue, “Quaint little mind tricks, Lady of the Moon. But you forget: the Zang Family is different today. We’re allies of the Macroprimates now.”

Yao Baiyue asked again, still scornful as ever, “And you think that the Macroprimates would fare better than the Wingeds?”

Zang Fengling nearly shivered when the notion hit him. The Macroprimates were equal rivals with the Wingeds, and the latter was only just recently defeated by Chu Xun.