Chapter 395: Old Nemesis
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation
Lu Chao Chao was utterly bewildered.
An old acquaintance?
From within the coffin, a pair of pale, slender hands stretched out. A young man in black robes sat up, his face stern, his brows laced with frost, and an unmistakable murderous aura surging in his eyes.
As soon as he sat up, his gaze fell upon the plump little girl staring up at him.
She looked about three or four years old, still brimming with innocence. Her round, bright eyes were like gemstones, and she wore a lotus-pink dress. Her hair was tied into two small buns, adorned with sky-blue ribbons at the ends, from which tiny bells dangled.
She was the very picture of innocence and charm.
Chen Yuan’s lips curled into a bloodthirsty smirk, but when his eyes landed on Lu Chao Chao…
His smile froze instantly.
The infamous Ghost King, feared by all, even rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
What?
Had he just woken up too suddenly?
Was he really seeing the person who had once skewered him with a single sword strike?
Shi Yun, who stood beside the coffin, beamed at him with excitement. “Ghost King, I have brought you a surprise! I spent a hundred years guarding the gates of this prison before I finally found this little baby! She’s alive, white and chubby, an actual living human child!”
“A human. A living human.”
The only living person to have entered this infernal prison in a hundred years!
Shi Yun watched as the Ghost King stared at the child. With a dull thud, he lay back down in the coffin.
Inside the coffin, the once-mighty Chen Yuan clutched his head, his expression contorted in agony as he screamed internally.
Lu Chao Chao!!
He had just woken up after thousands of years, and the first thing he saw was Lu Chao Chao standing at his bedside?!
For thousands of years, he had been hiding, evading, escaping—and yet, the moment he opened his eyes, Lu Chao Chao was right there!
Hearing Shi Yun’s praises from below, Chen Yuan’s face turned bright red with humiliation. Even the coffin lid couldn’t hold him down.
Chen Yuan was obsessed with the way of the sword.
He was born for the sword. The sword was his life, his beloved.
He had spent three thousand years cultivating, and before Lu Chao Chao appeared, he was the undisputed number one sword cultivator. People praised him, revered him.
But then, at eighteen years old, Lu Chao Chao had suddenly emerged from nowhere!
With just one sword strike, she had shattered his lifebound spirit sword and left him gravely wounded.
Over the years, he had challenged Lu Chao Chao three hundred and forty-nine times.
And lost. Three hundred and forty-nine times.
Eventually, his obsession with defeating her turned into a heart demon, driving him down the path of darkness, until he was hunted by the righteous path.
In the end, he was slain by none other than Lu Chao Chao.
She was his nemesis, his heart demon.
With her around, he would forever live in her shadow.
After his death, his soul had wandered, eventually finding refuge in this infernal prison. Here, he carved out his own dominion, using the prison’s celestial treasures to rebuild his strength.
He had thought…
That by becoming a ghost cultivator, he could finally reclaim his honor. But the moment he opened his eyes, there she was—Lu Chao Chao!
Why was he even born in the same era as her?!
As Shi Yun continued calling out to him, Chen Yuan’s temple throbbed with frustration. He wanted nothing more than to slice her in half!
Sitting up once more, he floated gracefully before Lu Chao Chao.
Her bright eyes remained fixed on him, making him feel strangely guilty. He clenched his right hand into a fist, turned slightly, and coughed lightly.
“They speak nonsense. I have never claimed to be on par with the Sword Immortal.”
“The Sword Immortal is unparalleled in talent and peerless in swordsmanship, recognized by the heavens themselves. Who could possibly rival her?” His voice was righteous, filled with conviction, as if he truly accepted his inferiority.
Behind him, Shi Yun whispered, “Didn’t you say she was just a talentless brute?”
Chen Yuan’s face darkened, and Shi Yun immediately shrank back, lowering her head.
Men were as fickle as the sea. How quickly he changed his tune.
Lu Chao Chao tilted her head, circling around him thoughtfully. “You look kind of familiar… Have we met before?”
Chen Yuan averted his gaze to the sky, nervously clenching his fists inside his sleeves. “I have an ordinary face.”
Lu Chao Chao hummed in acknowledgment but did not take her eyes off him.
“Where’s the food? Shi Yun said there was food here!” she asked, eyes sparkling with expectation.
Chen Yuan’s face remained impassive, but internally, he was cursing.
This was supposed to be a surprise? This was a disaster! One wrong move, and he’d be sent straight to reincarnation!
Oh, wait. He was a ghost cultivator now. There would be no reincarnation for him.
“Food? You must be joking. No one in this entire prison eats food! The only thing we feast on is tender human flesh like yours—” Before he could finish, a deep, resonant humming echoed from beyond the mountain gates.
Everyone’s expressions shifted dramatically.
A distant rumble followed, growing louder by the second.
Shi Yun shuddered. “It’s a beast tide… A beast tide comes once every hundred years!”
Countless figures shot out from their coffins, assembling behind Chen Yuan.
“Follow me into battle!” Chen Yuan commanded, leading his army of vengeful spirits into the fray.
The roars of beasts filled the air, chilling the soul.
“Ever since the Black Dragon fell into slumber, these fiends have run rampant across the prison. The eastern sect of the demonic path has also been eyeing this place greedily!”
“Waaah!” Shi Yun wailed. “Living in this prison is just too hard!”
When a beast tide hit outside, even souls were devoured without mercy.
“Fiends? Do they have souls? Can they talk?” Lu Chao Chao asked cautiously.
Shi Yun sniffled. “The fiend beasts can’t talk, but some have rudimentary intelligence. They used to follow the Black Dragon’s lead, but ever since it fell asleep, they’ve run wild. A beast tide every hundred years—turning the prison upside down.”
“Why do you ask?”
Lu Chao Chao patted her chest, gripping a sword in her tiny hands.
“If they have souls and can speak, it’d feel a little weird… Almost like eating kin.”
Standing atop the peak of Ten-Thousand Souls Mountain, she looked down upon the endless horde of beasts.
Ancient trees, towering into the sky, were reduced to splinters beneath the fiends’ feet.
Chen Yuan’s expression darkened. “The mountain is lost. Everyone, retreat immediately!”
“The mountain is lost! Retreat!”
Shi Yun stomped her feet in distress. “My old locust-wood coffin! No! I have to go back for it!”
Lu Chao Chao stood atop the peak, her blade shimmering as she slowly drew her Sunshine Sword.
Chen Yuan’s eyelids twitched violently. He grabbed his subordinates and hastily backed away.
Oh no!
The nightmare had arrived!
As the Sunshine Sword emerged, the sky churned with spiritual energy. A white arc of light cut across the heavens.
The sword’s massive shadow cleaved toward the beast horde.
Boom…
This one strike could split the sky itself, nearly tearing the prison in half.
The invisible barrier in the sky trembled violently.
The ground was split in two, scorched black in all directions. The terrifying horde of beasts fell silent in an instant.
Shi Yun, still carrying her old coffin, stood frozen in place, dumbfounded.
Her grip loosened, and the coffin thudded to the ground.
Her knees gave out, and she collapsed in sheer terror.
What… had she brought home?!
Before her eyes, the beast tide dispersed like a receding tide, scrambling away in terror, trampling over each other in their haste.
“Quick, quick! Catch one!”
“Make sure it’s tender and juicy!” Lu Chao Chao pointed at Chen Yuan.
The mighty Ghost King, head lowered, once again found himself at Lu Chao Chao’s mercy.
Shi Yun stared at them, utterly speechless.
“You idiot! You bring home anything you find?!”
“She was sent into this prison at three and a half years old. Think about why!” Chen Yuan was about to faint from sheer indignation.
She really would pick up anything!