Stranger Danger

Chapter 653: Call of the Nether

Su Xiu and Ah Su were childhood friends who grew up together. Ah Su was a year older than him, so she cared for him like an older sister. No matter what happened, she always took his side and protected him. Later, they joined the West Kunlun, one of the Nine Demonic Ways.

East Kunlun, one of the Three Temples of Dao, called themselves the ancestral ground of Taoism. West Kunlun was the opposite. They worshiped the Progenitor Demon Rahu, and they called themselves the ancestral ground of the Dark Ways. Naturally, West Kunlun was one hundred percent a demonic sect where the law of the jungle reigned supreme.

There were twelve abodes in West Kunlun, and the head of the Nethercall Abode noticed Su Xiu’s talent and took him as an inner disciple. In most other places, this was the opportunity of a lifetime and the best thing that ever happened to them. But for Su Xiu, it was the beginning of an unending nightmare.

The head of the Nethercall Abode was cruel, violent and sadistic. He especially loved torturing other using all sorts of unusual methods. For example, Su Xiu had lost his legs because the abode head had tortured them for three days straight using the Wind of Ultimate Purity of the Nine Heavens and the Destructive Water of the Nine Nethers.

Ah Su wasn’t chosen by the abode head. She had willingly joined the Nethercall Abode as a servant to protect him. Every time the abode head tortured him, and every time someone bullied him, Ah Su would step in front of him and bore the brunt of the damage. This was why Ah Su had become like this.

Even in her mentally disabled state, Ah Su never forgot to stand in front of him and protect him from all dangers. She was like a gigantic tree or a faithful umbrella who would endure the wind, the rain, and even the lightning for him.

If his life was mostly composed of pain, darkness and hatred, then Ah Su was the single ray of light and innocence that kept him from plunging completely into the darkness.

That was why he had three wishes in his life. The first was to kill the abode head of the Nethercall Abode, a.k.a his master. The second was to become an accomplished person; someone no one could ever torment again. And third, he wished to heal Ah Su so she could enjoy the rest of her life in true happiness and health.

Today, one of his wishes had come true. His master—the old bastard both him and Greenlake Bai had spoken of—was finally dead due to his scheme. He had schemed with Greenlake Bai to leak his whereabouts to his sworn foe, causing him to be ambushed and grievously injured by his enemies. He died from his injuries not long after he returned to West Kunlun.

It was a shame he wasn’t able to kill the old bastard with his own two hands, but it was still a wish fulfilled.

Now, he only had two wishes left. One, to become an accomplished person, and two, to heal Ah Su back to full health.

Unfortunately, it was very difficult for him to fulfill his two remaining wishes with his current strength. If he missed the opportunity of a lifetime in front of him, he was going to regret this forever.

He neither wanted to live under another’s shadow forever, nor did he wish for Ah Su to be forever stuck in a quagmire of darkness and confusion. He wanted her to live under the sun and be happy, forever.

In the past, Ah Su willingly became his tree and protected him from all harm.

Now, it was his turn to step up and find that ray of hope for her.

That was why he wasn’t going to give up Nanke. He was going to grasp this life-changing opportunity with all his might not just for himself, but also Ah Su.

As for whether he would offend the Eight Legions and Di Shitian with this act, he wasn’t too worried.

Forget that there was a fair chance Dream Master was lying to his face, so what if he was actually telling the truth?

Dead men tell no tales. If they all died here, then no one would find out that Nanke had fallen into his hands.

“Are you sure you want to make an enemy out of the Eight Legions, friend?” Dream Master asked casually. It was impossible to tell if he was angry or annoyed.

“That’s our question. Are you saying that everything under the heavens belongs to the Eight Legions so long as it doesn’t have an owner?”

Greenlake Bai taunted before Su Xiu could say anything, “Anyone who doesn’t give up an opportunity to the Eight Legions is an enemy, is that it? If I didn’t know better, I would think that you’re the masters of the world!”

Dream Master paid her provocation no heed. “Of course anyone can lay claim to an unowned possession, but the opposite? That is a very different story.”

“The item your friend is holding belongs to us. Therefore, you are not laying claim to an opportunity. You are simply stealing from us.”

“When you steal from someone, you must be prepared to bear the consequences. Fortune and misfortune do not have a preference, it is always the people who choose them through their actions. I beseech you to think carefully before choosing misfortune, friend.”

“You speak as if you have proof. Nanke itself claims that it doesn’t know you, so who can tell if you’re telling the truth or not?”

Su Xiu smiled. “Besides, no one knows if a decision is fortunate or unfortunate until after the fact, and I'm pretty sure you can’t see into the future.”

“Mortals truly are foolish. We can pave a road for them, and they’ll still choose to walk the thorny trail.” Dream Master shook his head regretfully. He could tell that the trio were pretty strong, which was why he tried to persuade them into returning the Strange Artifact instead of attacking them outright. Unfortunately, it would seem that negotiations had broken down.

If they won’t surrender Nanke, then he would take it and their lives by force.

“And how would you know if the single-log bridge in your eyes isn’t the high road in my heart?” Su Xiu chuckled once before tapping his wheelchair.

Tap.

The area abruptly plunged into darkness. The rocks disappeared, the yellow sand disintegrated, and the plants melted as a cold wind blew. It was as if this corner of the world had plunged into the Nether.

“‘Call of the Nether’? You’re a disciple of West Kunlun! That explains your confidence,” Dream Master exclaimed with a languid smile on his face. The wind was deadly, but some sort of invisible forcefield was keeping them from entering within one meter of the man.

Su Xiu lifted his finger again, and the wind abruptly tripled in intensity.

“Call of The Nether: Stormrage”

The world grew even darker as the storm howled. It felt as if the ground itself was about to be ripped out of the earth and sucked into the sky.

Seeing this, Dream Master raised a hand and pushed. The storm sailing toward him was immediately reflected back at Su Xiu.

Ah Su wanted to help Su Xiu, but the young man grabbed her shoulder and stopped her. “It’s fine, Ah Su. I’ll handle this. Just watch your junior sister and don’t let her run away.”

“What are you saying, first senior brother? I already said I would come with you. Why would I run away?” Greenlake Bai complained, though Su Xiu didn’t even glance in her direction. He watched the mad storm surging toward him—bigger and stronger than when he first unleashed it—and began drawing shapes with his fingers.

“I ride the darkness of heaven and earth,

I command the nether of the six qis,

I call the abode of gods and demons,

I sacrifice the terrors of humanity...”

The mysterious lines Su Xiu drew in the air slowly formed a massive array as he chanted. It seemed to be calling out to some sort of mysterious existence.

“With my life as the anchor, and my blood as the sacrifice, I summon you!”

He flicked his finger, and his index finger detached from his hand and flew into the array, disappearing. His blood was also floating in the air as it slowly seeped into the array.

The array began giving off bizarre, anomalous waves of energy as it shook violently. Right before the storm was about to hit Su Xiu, a fist suddenly reached out of the array and punched it.

The storm scattered into nothing just like that.

That wasn’t all. A humanoid creature with a bull’s head, a pair of flaming horns, and dark green snakes tangled around its body slowly stepped out of the array. Big as a hill, black water covered the demon god’s feet as he let out a deafening roar that shattered the clouds and even the darkness around it.

“The Vigorous Bull Demon? You’re using the Magia of the Call of the Nether, ‘Demoncall’, which means...” Dream Master frowned deeply. “You’re the eighth named warrior on the Human Champions Ranking, ‘Demon Caller’ Su Xiu?!”

“Demon Caller” Su Xiu was the inner disciple of the abode head of Nethercall Abode. Despite his crippled legs, he was an extraordinarily talented warrior who successfully mastered the “Call of the Nether” before he was thirty. An expert in eight Magias, he was especially proficient in summoning the demon gods of the Nether and deploying them in battle. He was famed as the number one disciple beneath the Saint of West Kunlun and known as “Demon Caller” in the jianghu.

Dream Master knew this because he recognized the demon god Su Xiu just summoned. It was the legendary Vigorous Bull Demon.