Chapter 401: Commanding the Scorpion Emperor

The clean-shaven man saw it too. The two exchanged a glance, neither knowing who the newcomers were, but both certain they were no ordinary people.

An ordinary giant flying bird was already beyond the means of most people. This particular kind, known as a Caiyun, was rarer still, and naturally far more expensive. Blind Man could see nothing. He merely sniffed and listened.

The man and woman aboard the multicolored flying bird had plainly noticed the other mount circling nearby. They flew over, studied the three people on it, then veered away and continued circling at a considerable distance.

The clean-shaven man tilted his head and asked softly, "Who are they? Do you recognize them?"

Elder Bai said gravely, "I've seen her before. She's the female Chancellor of the State of Wei."

"Ah!" The clean-shaven man was startled. "What is she doing all the way out here from the State of Wei, with so little escort? Isn't the State of Wei afraid something might happen to her?"

Elder Bai said, "Haven't you heard who guards her? For someone of her status to come to a place like this, nine times out of ten she came to visit Lan Ming, Pavilion Master of Boundless Pavilion."

The clean-shaven man swiftly looked toward the man beside the woman and was startled again. "Ximen Qingkong, the number-one expert on the Golden Core Ranking?"

Elder Bai gave a slight nod. "That's him. With Ximen Qingkong personally guarding her, he's worth more than a thousand troops. There are only a handful of people beneath Heaven who would dare touch her. She can go almost anywhere she pleases."

The clean-shaven man asked, "Then what do we do? Could they interfere with us?"

Elder Bai said, "Given their identities, they shouldn't involve themselves in someone else's affairs without reason. We'll act according to the situation."

The man and woman aboard the multicolored flying bird were also examining the scene below.

The woman asked curiously, "Why have the sand scorpions piled themselves into a mountain?"

The man frowned and shook his head. "Never heard of it. Never seen it. I don't know either."

He turned his head, his gaze going into the distance. The colossal Scorpion Emperor could already be faintly seen charging toward them.

The woman looked toward the other flying bird and asked, "Who are those three? Could this have something to do with them?"

The man lifted his eyelids and swept them a glance. "No idea. Dressing so furtively in broad daylight and even wearing masks—one look says they're not respectable people. They're probably people who can't bear the light of day. Since they can use a flying mount, they should have considerable background as well."

On the other bird, Elder Bai and the clean-shaven man had also turned toward the place where sand and dust were billowing into the sky. With such a commotion, it was impossible not to notice.

Once they saw what was coming, both exclaimed in shock, "The Scorpion Emperor!"

They were truly stunned. Could Yuan Gang actually summon even the rare and almost never-seen Scorpion Emperor?

"The Scorpion Emperor? Where? Which way?" Blind Man asked excitedly, tilting his head to listen.

The clean-shaven man replied, "Straight to your right. I say, can you even see it?"

Blind Man said, "Smelling it would still be useful."

The two exchanged another glance. Fair enough. If Blind Man memorized its scent, perhaps one day, if they ever needed to find the Scorpion Emperor, it might prove useful.

"The problem now is that if they keep hiding inside that mound and refuse to come out, all these sand scorpions converging from every direction and causing such a huge disturbance will sooner or later draw more people over to watch. Never mind whether someone they know might interfere. If this drags on, our own identities could easily be exposed."

Elder Bai's tone was grave as he watched the Scorpion Emperor draw rapidly closer. Blind Man tilted his head and listened. The clean-shaven man lowered his gaze in thought. It was indeed troublesome enough that neither had any interest left in admiring the rare Scorpion Emperor... Inside the mountain of sand scorpions, Yuan Gang listened carefully to the sounds outside. The attacks seemed to have stopped.

Even so, he did not dare leave the fortress lightly. He did not know what was happening outside. Who could say whether the enemy was trying to lure him out?

"Cough, cough..."

Su Zhao coughed again in his arms. This time she managed a faint murmur. "Yuan Gang..."

The scorpions had piled so densely around them that no light remained inside. Yuan Gang could not see her condition, but he heard her voice and lowered his head. "Hold on a little longer. Once enough sand scorpions gather that your master has nowhere to land, he won't be able to sustain his spiritual power forever. He'll have to leave. The moment he does, I'll take you to get your wounds treated."

"Yuan Gang..."

She seemed to want him to listen.

Yuan Gang answered at once, "Speak. I can hear you."

Su Zhao whispered, "Su Zhao. Zhao means illumination, brightness... white. Turn my name around, and Bai Su is my true name. My name is Bai Su. Remember, my name is Bai..."

Her voice grew weaker and weaker until it vanished completely.

Yuan Gang's heart lurched. "Su Zhao! Bai Su..."

There was no response. He immediately crouched down, supporting her with his legs as he held her, and checked beneath her nose and then the pulse at her neck. Both were already very faint. Su Zhao had fallen unconscious.

In his impression, Su Zhao was not a weak cultivator. She ought to have been able to endure more than he could. He had clashed head-on with Elder Bai several times and suffered only minor injuries, so he had assumed that Su Zhao, who had taken only one blow, could not possibly be injured too badly. Only now did he realize with alarm that her wounds were far more severe than he had imagined—severe enough to render a cultivator unconscious.

At this point, he no longer cared whether the silence outside was a trick to lure him out. Nor did he care whether leaving might place him in danger. Saving Su Zhao came first.

He stood again with Su Zhao in his arms and was just about to roar, conveying his intent to the sand scorpions so they would open the defensive fortress and let him out. Several rumbling impacts suddenly sounded from outside. He could hear large numbers of sand scorpions abruptly growing agitated. Then several shafts of light pierced inward.

By that light, Yuan Gang saw two enormous pincers thrust into the scorpion fortress. Either pincer alone was larger than several ordinary sand scorpions put together. Yuan Gang stared in surprise. What was that? The pincers looked like those of a sand scorpion, but could any sand scorpion truly be this enormous? The packed scorpions before him were forced aside. Something else squeezed inward—a colossal creature. In the beams of light entering from outside, Yuan Gang finally saw clearly.

A sand-scorpion head as large as a house had pushed its way into the fortress. Even he was stunned. Several shafts of sunlight pierced the gaps around the Scorpion Emperor's uneven shell and fell upon Yuan Gang: powerfully built, bloodstained, saber in one hand, a woman in his arms, long hair hanging loose over his shoulders. The giant sand scorpion looked as though it could swallow him in one bite. The Scorpion Emperor seemed to be sniffing his scent as well.

One vast creature and one man faced each other in a scene almost dreamlike in its strangeness, made more fantastical still by the beams of light falling around them through the gaps in the emperor's shell.

Seeing no hostility, Yuan Gang steadied himself and said to the Scorpion Emperor in a clear, forceful voice, "Boundless Pavilion!"

He believed a monster this enormous must have lived in the desert for many years. Surely it knew where Boundless Pavilion was. The Scorpion Emperor shifted its enormous pincers. The motion looked almost like it was shoveling forward. Both pincers pushed into the sand and came to rest directly in front of Yuan Gang. Yuan Gang understood instantly.

Holding Su Zhao, he strode forward without hesitation and used one of the pincers like a staircase, running up it before leaping onto the Scorpion Emperor's enormous head.

The Scorpion Emperor pulled its pincers free and lifted them above its head, almost as though shielding itself. The two massive claws formed a canopy over Yuan Gang. Then the giant body rose. A great mass of sand scorpions was instantly overturned and flung aside.

As the Scorpion Emperor raised its head, Yuan Gang watched countless sand scorpions around them tumble away and found himself standing once more beneath the open sky...

High above, four pairs of eyes aboard the two circling flying mounts had watched the Scorpion Emperor plunge its head into the mound and crouch there. Now they watched it rise again. Piles of sand scorpions were overturned. Many others still clung to the Scorpion Emperor's shell, some hanging from it, others crawling over it. The enormous pincers shielding its head opened. Yuan Gang was revealed standing upright atop the Scorpion Emperor, Su Zhao in his arms.

The woman on the multicolored flying bird pointed in astonishment. "Look! Someone's standing on the Scorpion Emperor's head!"

The man's eyes narrowed sharply. Elder Bai also pointed toward the Scorpion Emperor's head, signaling for the clean-shaven man to look. There were some things he needed his companion to witness as well, so that when they returned, there would be proof that he had not failed through lack of effort. There truly had been extraordinary circumstances. The scene before them fully proved that what he had said earlier was no excuse. The target really was being protected by the sand scorpions.

The clean-shaven man nodded, uncertainty and alarm in his eyes. Blind Man kept flaring his nostrils, sniffing the air. Yuan Gang raised his head as well and stared coldly at the people on the two flying birds above. Blood streaked his face and powerful bare chest. His trousers below were torn to rags. The piled mountain of sand scorpions began collapsing.

Standing atop the Scorpion Emperor's head with a woman in his arms, Yuan Gang was now higher than anything around him, as though he stood upon a mountain summit. The Scorpion Emperor turned. Its enormous stinger vibrated violently, producing a deep buzzing sound. Then its many legs began moving. It charged across the desert, trampling some sand scorpions and sending others flying.

Its legs were long and its movements swift. A single stride covered an enormous distance. Its massive size made it appear ponderous, but in truth its speed across the sand was astonishing.

Standing atop its head, Yuan Gang rose and fell with every movement. Long hair streamed behind him in the wind as he held Su Zhao horizontally in his arms. The army of sand scorpions on the ground began racing after the Scorpion Emperor. They could not possibly match its speed, yet they continued pursuing all the same. The scorpions still arriving from afar stopped, changed direction, and began running after it too.

It gave the impression that wherever the Scorpion Emperor went, a vast host of sand scorpions would always follow.

Elder Bai's voice sank. "We can't let her escape. Attack!"

The flying mount beneath them immediately carried the three in swift pursuit.

On the multicolored flying bird, the man asked, "Chancellor, shall we return, or follow and have a look?"

He himself wanted to see what happened, but still had to ask the woman's wishes.

She said, "A spectacle like this is rarely seen. There's no harm in broadening our horizons."

The multicolored flying bird turned and followed. Before long, the two realized the three people on the other mount were trying to kill the people atop the Scorpion Emperor. The flying bird dove.

Elder Bai and the clean-shaven man swung their swords at the same time, sending two fierce waves of sword qi slashing toward Yuan Gang atop the Scorpion Emperor. Yuan Gang was about to evade and respond when he discovered there was no need. Several pairs of the Scorpion Emperor's eyes flashed with strange light.

It seemed experienced in dealing with such threats and knew what danger looked like. Its two massive pincers rose like giant umbrellas to cover the top of its head. The pincers were not used for walking anyway. They were free to serve as shields. Once again, Yuan Gang disappeared beneath their protection.

Boom! Boom!

Two sharp blasts rang out. The fierce sword qi struck the enormous pincers head-on. The sword qi shattered. The pincers remained hard and unmoving, completely undamaged save for two new white marks. Elder Bai and the clean-shaven man were both startled. They had not expected the Scorpion Emperor to actively defend Yuan Gang from attack. What shocked them even more was the Scorpion Emperor's tail. The pillar-like appendage moved with astonishing flexibility, whipping up a howling gale as it lashed violently toward the diving flying mount.

[End of Chapter 401]