Chapter 497: The Roadblocker, Underworld King
Harley Quinn's gaze swept over them, and she waved her hand fiercely, directing the twenty-odd Hulking Men. Their unusual eyes glowing with a strange light like those of a cat demon after being swept by Harley Quinn's gaze, they pulled out pitch black handguns from their waistbands and pockets and rushed into the Alley shrouded in thick mist.
Seeing Harley Quinn's casual, effortless method of spellcasting, Constantine took a deep drag from his cigarette.
As a Shaman, Constantine had mastered the knowledge of various schools, including spell, curse, witchcraft, stealth, and illusions.
He could also control the probability of events, have premonitions about the future, and use magic arts to resist external damage and protect his physical body. He could use sensing art to find others, had driven golems using magic arts originating from ancient Judaism, and had summoned Demons using traditional European dark magic. He was skilled at using magic arrays and talismanic seals for concealment, and could even hide himself from the First of the Fallen using talismanic seals. He could control people's minds to acquire money, and knew how to use quantum magic to find information on the network. Relying on magic, he could travel through Hell.
Yet, the price he paid to obtain this magic knowledge was undeniably heavy.
Once upon a time, obsessed with dark magic, he resorted to every conceivable trick and method for the mystic arts of those Mystical Schools, including cheating, swindling, kidnapping, and abducting.
Kidnapping and extortion, breaking in and theft were commonplace.
In his youth, he used a honey trap to approach the heirs of families with dark magic inheritances who were naive about the world.
Seducing medieval Witches old enough to be his grandmother and exchanging his body for knowledge made him notorious throughout the entire Magic World, and even earned him enmity with quite a few Demon Hunters because of it—
After all, the relationship between Demon Hunters and Witches was well-known. Constantine had cuckolded several Demon Masters from various schools more than once.
Even with Constantine's diligent pursuit of knowledge, he barely managed to master the dark magic knowledge from various schools and countries by his forties, becoming a well-known knowledgeable (scoundrel) Mage in the Magic World! Knowledge of mysticism had always been priceless in the Magic World; it was like gold. Precious knowledge was mostly passed down through bloodline inheritance—
But how long had Harley Quinn been exposed to these mysterious Taoist arts? Two years? Three years?
Opportunity like this truly couldn't be envied! But thankfully, he had also obtained this opportunity!
Constantine stubbed out the nearly burnt-out cigarette in his hand, then felt the inner pocket of his trench coat. The powerful "magic tool" items inside undoubtedly gave him great confidence.
Compared to his previous "creditors"! Constantine had been living quite comfortably under this "Tang Song," "Boss Tang," these past few years. At the very least, this one was very fair in his dealings! And unlike those old friends, He wasn't constantly coveting his soul!
In this day and age, a good Boss was hard to come by. Constantine currently had no plans to change jobs, at least not until he acquired enough "Taoist Arts" knowledge. He was still willing to work under the one surnamed Tang! Constantine took out another Silk Cut cigarette from the pack. After smoking Cuban cigars for a few months, he found he still preferred the taste of these cheap cigarettes.
"Click!" The silver-plated lighter's flint struck, and a burst of firelight flared, illuminating Constantine's unkempt face.
In the firelight of the cigarette, a black figure flashed through the thick mist in the Alley not far away!
Constantine blew out a smoke ring fiercely and exchanged a glance with Harley Quinn, who was beside him, bored to the point of tapping a baseball bat against a car hood. The two walked towards the thick mist, one after the other.
"Da da da—" The sound of leather shoes and high heels on the stone slab road of the old Street Block was exceptionally clear in the silent night. "There's something strange about this mist. I've lost contact with my little pets!"
Harley Quinn paused her steps, flicked a finger, and a White Bone Glazed Bead flew through the air. The Bone Bead transformed into a Skeleton Demon over two meters tall in mid-air and howled as it pounced into the thick mist.
The moment the Skeleton Demon's figure disappeared into the thick mist, Harley Quinn felt she had lost contact with that Skeleton Demon.
Harley Quinn's mouth twitched, and a crazy, clown-like smile appeared on her face: "Little cuties, are you playing a game of hide-and-seek with me?"
Hearing Harley Quinn's crazy laughter, Constantine skillfully quickened his pace and moved away from her side.
Harley Quinn laughed loudly as she reached behind her, pulling out a rocket launcher from who knows where. She shouldered it and aimed at the mist-shrouded area ahead.
"Whoosh!"
The doctored rocket whooshed into the pitch black thick mist, exploding with a boom and turning into a fireball!
From the scattering fireball, countless firelight scattered, and sparks filling the sky turned into fire birds. The fire birds spread their wings and soared into the sky, their scorching high temperature evaporating large areas of the thick mist.
As the thick mist gradually dissipated, a woman wearing a black dress and a veiled hat appeared before Harley Quinn and Constantine, standing there like a sculpture.
"Who are you?"
Constantine looked at the unfamiliar woman before him with some surprise. His gaze inadvertently glanced at the geomantic compass in his left hand.
The pointer on the geomantic compass spun rapidly the moment the woman appeared, clearly indicating that the woman before him was the powerful source of interference.
The woman's face was covered by the hat veil, making her appearance unclear. But in the darkness, Constantine could feel a powerful force gathering on her body. That powerful energy was like when he had directly faced the true body of the First of the Fallen.
Who was she? Why was she here? "Hey, miss! We're looking for two little mice who stole our things. Do you know them?"
Constantine's hand holding the cigarette pinched several clumps of constantly gathering and dispersing black cloud mist. Within the cloud mist were surprisingly several miniature, eerie sword implements. However, Constantine didn't immediately shoot out the Nine Children Ghost Mother Sword in his hand. Instead, he waved his hand towards Harley Quinn behind him, signaling her to calm down.
"Miss!" Constantine shouted loudly, "If there's any misunderstanding here, it's best for both sides to negotiate clearly?"
"Negotiate? Are you here for Xia Dongqing?"
In the darkness, the slightly pale face beneath the woman's veil showed a bit of curiosity and a trace of suppressed anger! "I know what you want. Do you want to snatch my brother's soul? That won't do. Before you, many people have set their sights on my brother. Now their souls are still in the Eighteen Levels of Hell in the Underworld. When I'm bored, I like watching them being tortured and listening to their miserable screams. It makes me feel much better!"
Acha's calm words were colder than the night wind blowing in the deep night.
"Your brother's soul? I think there must be some misunderstanding!"
Constantine's eyes twitched immediately. Accustomed to walking on the edge of a blade year-round and skilled at using one force to destroy another, he knew just from this sentence that Acha before him must have misunderstood them in some way.
He didn't know exactly what Tang Song had sent them, these Reincarnators, to this World to search for, but it was definitely not someone's brother's soul. But what was strange was that according to the geomantic compass's guidance, the thing they were looking for was indeed on that person named Xia Dongqing.
Acha was precisely the Underworld King of this World, Acha. She was also the biological younger sister of the former Primal Human Leader, Chi You!
Back then, Chi You led the Primal Human tribe to rebel against Heaven and fight against the Ancient Gods!
After failing, Chi You was torn apart by five horses. His head was suppressed under Mount Shouyang, and his four limbs were sealed in various places around the World. However, his pair of eyes were hidden away by Acha.
Using her identity as Underworld King, Acha secretly used the power of Samsara from the Underworld to continuously nurture Chi You's soul hidden within the two eyeballs, wanting to resurrect her brother! In this life, she chose Xia Dongqing as the sacrificial offering for Chi You's resurrection. She didn't expect her plan to be detected by K'un-Lun. The Ancient God sent Jiutian Xuannü down to the mortal world, which led to the entire Soul Ferry story.
After Tang Song's sky sealing and earth locking, Underworld King Acha decisively retreated back to the Underworld after witnessing Tang Song's divine ability of capturing Ying Zhao with a single palm strike.
Anyway, even if the sky falls, the Ancient God, that Old Undying One, will bear the brunt. She wouldn't be the one to stick her neck out—
What she didn't expect was that she had only just returned to the Underworld when she received a phone call from Zhao Li, saying that he and Xia Dongqing were being chased, and the other party was likely coming for the soul of Chi You within him.
For her brother, the unwilling Acha could only force her way out of the Underworld—
Unfortunately, she didn't expect Tang Song's strength to be so powerful!
The moment she broke through the barrier sealing the Underworld, she knew the price of provoking Boss Tang.
Tang Song's sky sealing and earth locking was precisely to prevent the supernatural power of this World from interfering with his search for the eternal particle and the main god's remnant artifact, especially the power of the Underworld.
If the eternal particle were to roll around in reincarnation a few times and have its aura washed away, it would be truly difficult for him to find this thing.
Precisely because of this, the Underworld was also a key target of Boss Tang's sealing. Underworld King Acha was like a bighead carp hitting a sealing fishing net, directly hitting Tang Song's muzzle.
Although Tang Song was discussing the Way with that Old Monk at the time, just a little bit of power he dispersed was not something Acha could resist! Under a single strike, this Lord of the Underworld was severely injured.
However, a dying camel is still bigger than a horse. Although Acha was severely injured by Tang Song's palm strike, she was not someone Constantine and Harley Quinn could withstand.
"This guy..."
Constantine looked at Acha before him. He really wanted to explain the misunderstanding to Acha who appeared out of nowhere.
But he, being cunning, understood that there existed an irreconcilable conflict of interests between them. However, the attitude of this mysterious woman who suddenly appeared made Constantine certain of one thing: the thing Boss Tang was looking for was on that scrawny convenience store clerk, Xia Dongqing.
Moreover, this person also had other secrets on him. One body, two souls, or something else? Constantine's mind raced, integrating the existing clues while looking for a way out. For him, the problem now was how to get away from Acha before him—
In the vision Constantine saw after activating spirit vision, magic smoke visible to the naked eye was dissipating from Acha's body, wrapping around her like clumps of cloud mist—
The energy intensity was so high, it was even stronger than the First of the Fallen! Run! This was the only thought that surged in Constantine's heart after witnessing Underworld King Acha's power! Constantine showed no change in expression, neither hurried nor slow, as he threw the half-smoked cigarette in his hand onto the ground. He took out a cigarette that was stuck in the pack upside down.
The moment he took out the cigarette, his right hand holding the cigarette, his ring finger hooked, sending a signal they had agreed upon to Harley Quinn.
Harley Quinn, who originally had the corner of her mouth twitching and a crazy clown smile on her face, lowered her head and remained silent after seeing Constantine's action, starting to rummage for things in her bag of tricks.
"Who told you Chi You's soul is inside Xia Dongqing? Where are you from? K'un-Lun?"
Acha stared at Constantine and Harley Quinn with an unfriendly expression! The matter of Chi You's eyes being inside Xia Dongqing was known only to her and a few others like Zhao Li, even in the Underworld.
In her opinion, Zhao Li definitely wouldn't dare betray her, and the only other one who knew about this matter was the K'un-Lun side!
Although the K'un-Lun side had sent Heavenly Maiden Ya, this old acquaintance, to follow Xia Dongqing as an Informant, she couldn't guarantee that old fellow, the Ancient God, didn't want to strike first.
"Incorrect! You are not from K'un-Lun. Very interesting power. Magic tools refined from souls. In the Underworld, this would require enduring the suffering of the Eighteen Levels of Hell. Are you cultivators!?"
Acha's gaze fell upon the piles of white bones at her feet. For someone like Acha, the Underworld King who controls the entire Underworld, making the souls of several Skeleton Demons refined and nurtured with souls collapse was merely a matter of a single gaze.
But among the several white bone skeletons, the power contained within that was different from this World made Acha sense something!
"Chi You! The Lord of War in eastern mythology and legends, that great existence who contended with the Yellow Emperor. Hearing your meaning, his soul is actually inside Xia Dongqing? What an unexpected surprise!"
Constantine looked at Acha with a defiant expression: "Thank you for the intelligence! A human with such a special soul! I think my Boss will be interested!"
Acha stared at Constantine with a cold gaze: "I don't care who your Boss is. Just for that sentence you just said, you probably won't leave here alive today! I will reserve a place for you in the Eighteen Levels of Hell. Believe me, you will greatly enjoy life in the Underworld!"
For Acha, throughout the long years, in the cold, dark Underworld, only her brother could give her a trace of warmth. She wouldn't allow anyone to harm her brother! Not even the Ancient Gods. She already lost him once, and she absolutely wouldn't allow this to happen a second time! "Sorry!"
Constantine shrugged his shoulders. Staring at Acha before him, he said:
"Beauty, are you trying to keep me here for the night? Unfortunately, it's clear I'm not an easy man!"
Faster than Constantine's verbal attack was the lit cigarette he flicked out and the Nine Children Ghost Mother Sword that shot out from his palm! Inside Constantine's unassuming cigarette was hidden the Dragon's Breath he had prepared. This kind of flame could completely incinerate Demons, Devils, and Malevolent Spirits below the intermediate level, along with their physical bodies and souls!
As the cigarette in his hand was flicked towards Acha, the breaking cigarette, the moment it touched the flame, directly expanded into a huge ball of flame over ten meters in diameter, roaring as it covered Acha.
Beneath the flames comparable to a Giant Dragon's Breath Attack, nine black figures were hidden, like Assassins moving in the darkness, or like fish swimming beneath the Sea Surface, quickly and stealthily stabbing towards Acha.
And Harley Quinn beside him, when Constantine took action, the hand that reached into her bag of tricks also came out. She didn't want to waste another word on Acha before her.
She flung out the hand she withdrew, and a palm-sized pitch black hand grenade directly smashed towards Acha.
(End of chapter)