Leng Rui put a finger to his lips to motion for silence while he gave Wang He a look to tuck away the bodies on the floor.
Once the corpses were hidden, Leng Rui took out a skin-thin mask and put it on. Then he signaled for everyone to hide while he strode to the door.
“What a bloody disgrace,” grumbled Jing Lei.
As the proud sons of the Assembly of Immortals, to hide and cower like mice was nothing short of a humiliation.
Leng Rui opened the door once they were ready and found himself face-to-face with a group of acolytes of the White Feather Guild.
“How can I help you?” Leng Rui asked.
The acolytes studied Leng Rui’s face. With the photos of the sons of the Assembly of Immortals now circulating on the Internet, everyone could hardly miss them.
But with the mask, Leng Rui managed to hoodwink the acolytes.
The acolytes merely proffered some words of caution with barely any hint of suspicion before they went away.
But in their message, the acolytes addressed the sons of the Assembly of Immortals as “scum”, and hearing that filled Leng Rui with such rage that he could only crack his knuckles to prevent himself from bursting.
A lofty scion of the Assembly of Immortals was now enduring insults hurled his way without being able to disclose himself. The mere shame could drive them to such madness that the rage itself could easily create enough turbulence in the flow of their magical powers to cause an internal injury.
“Vermin… I’ll kill them all!” Jin Yujie growled as he came out of hiding with undisguised malice and rancor.
In the meantime, the Queen of Elves, accompanied by Jing Hong and Hua Qingwu, perched at the top of the spire of the tallest building in the city, watching everything.
Jing Hong and Hua Qingwu stirred in unison as they spoke, syllable-by-syllable with mechanical precision, like a pair of twins, “Found them.”
The Queen could hardly believe her ears. “What?! I found nothing?!”
Jing Hong and Hua Qingwu threw themselves off the edge of the top, speeding towards the little shabby hut. The Queen chased after them, catching up to them with ease.
Jing Hong pointed a finger at the little tenement where Jing Lei and his comrades were hiding inside.
The Queen nocked an arrow to her bow and drew its string to the fullest. The arrow trembled in her grip and the accumulating energy made the air around her warp and twist.
“Wait,” said Hua Qingwu suddenly.
“What’s wrong?” asked the Queen.
“Your arrow might kill the innocent people inside,” said Hua Qingwu.
“Silly girl. Do you think they’d spare the humans inside?” snorted the Queen as she released her hold. The two-meter-long arrow left her fingers in a deadly dash of green and it screamed through the air, thrusting inside through the window.
“Boom!”
The arrow went in and erupted in a huge detonation that caused a huge explosion inside, shattering the windows.
The explosion did no harm at all to other tenements nearby, showing the Queen’s precise control of her powers. A full blast from her could have easily brought down a whole skyscraper.
Five shadows dove out of the windows of the tenement, bolting like a pack of routed dogs towards the city gates.
Jing Lei and his comrades could not have felt any more shame and indignation. It was only by a stroke of luck that Leng Rui saw the Queen of Elves when he was looking out of the window. That gave him enough time to call Wang He who had used his Talisman of Destruction just in time for them to prevent fatal damage.
“Running, eh?”
The Queen sniggered as she nocked more arrows, letting loose a volley of five arrows.
“Wang He!”
Leng Rui cried when he turned his head and what he saw frightened him.
Wang He conjured his Talisman of Destruction once more to keep them safe.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Five arrows slammed into the golden dome of light projected by the Talisman of Destruction, threatening to perforate it before they each erupted in explosions that shook the earth.
More cracks appeared on the piece of paper as its glow began to wane.
“Another Charm of Pyromancy Conveyance!” Leng Rui reminded him loudly.
Deep inside, Wang He was sobbing. He brought with him a total of five Charms of Pyromancy Conveyance for this trip and only for urgent use. He had just used one before, and using another one now would mean that the elements for ensuring his safety had just been reduced by two.
“On the double, dammit!” Leng Rui snarled at him.
But not without good reason; the Queen had just fired another salvo of arrows at them and the deadly missiles were coming straight for them, howling shrilly through the air.
“Bang! Bang!”
More waves of steam and heat swept from the point of impact when the arrows struck the golden dome of light and invoked another terrible explosion.
The Talisman of Destruction shattered and the golden dome of light vanished.
That terrified the five out of their wits. Knowing better than to delay, Wang He quickly took out his second Charm of Pyromancy Conveyance and uttered the incantation to activate it. The talismanic strip burst into flames in his grasp.
“Whoosh! Whoosh!”
The Queen of Elves fired more arrows at them.
Jing Hong joined in as well, launching a horde of ice lotuses at them.
Hua Qingwu activated the powers of her sword, firing energy bolts in her throes of cold fury, launching them at her enemies.
The Charm of Pyromancy Conveyance blazed furiously and emitted a huge fiery flash of light that engulfed Jing Lei and his comrades.
But before they could escape, the Queen’s arrows managed to get inside the sudden burst of light.
“Bang!”
A puff of blood burst out from inside the rich, fiery luminescence, followed by a sharp cry of pain.
Then the fiery light declined in just the blink of an eye and the sons of the Assembly of Immortals were gone.
Jing Hong’s and Hua Qingwu’s attacks that came one second late struck the ground, eliciting harmless eruptions.
“Damned, they’ve escaped again,” griped the Queen, evidently displeased.
“One of them is hurt,” observed Jing Hong with a steely grin. One or even more of them had been hurt by the Queen of Elves’ arrow–and very badly too.
“Let’s go. They won’t be far,” said the Queen, hungry for blood. The fact that the five had slipped through her fingers twice left her very angry and displeased.
It was easy chasing after the five, but how? Jing Hong, Hua Qingwu, and the Queen could not know where they had gone to by now.
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Not far away, a crowd of warriors had clustered together. They had seen with their own eyes how the Queen’s arrows had managed to hurt the five before they were gone and the ear-splitting scream that was proof enough that at least one of them was injured told them enough about the Queen’s prowess.
Tales of her feats quickly graced news websites and forum articles, causing quite a riotous furore.
“Look at those scum! They think we Earthlings are to be bullied! Let’s see if they’ll dare to come back!”
“Just a bunch of trash easily routed by three beautiful ladies. Is this the best that Assembly of Immortals can do?”
“Let’s work together, everyone. Do what you can and report whatever you find about the whereabouts of these scum. The ladies need some help!”
“Let’s do this together, everyone! It’s time we bring the fight back to those dogs!”
The sons of the Assembly of Immortals had been so victorious in their string of triumphs in sacking every city in their way, leaving the warriors of Earth daunted and intimidated. Now that there emerged someone powerful enough to turn the tables, the warriors of Earth now felt avenged and vindicated enough to join in the effort to help locate the sons of the Assembly of Immortals.
“Let’s have a rest here while we await information then,” suggested the Queen.
Jing Hong and Hua Qingwu could hardly object. With no knowledge yet of where Jing Lei and his comrades had gone to, there was little they could do.
The Queen imperiously took over the stronghold of the White Feather Guild.
The Master of the White Feather Guild must be wail in despair. He had barely rid himself of the scourge of the sons of the Assembly of Immortals and now his own stronghold was being occupied by three immensely powerful ladies who had emerged from nowhere.
…
In a cave several hundred miles away from Baiyu City were Jing Lei and his comrades.
“I swear I’ll kill that bitch! I’ll kill her!” Yu Xiyuan glowered frenziedly, his face convulsing grotesquely with rage and malice.
Jing Lei and the others could only watch him in silence.
Yu Xiyuan was not livid without reason; anyone could be as manic as he was when one lost his leg.
With one of his legs gone, Yu Xiyuan was effectively out of the running of becoming an elite in the Assembly of Immortals.
“I’LL KILL THEM ALL! KILL THEM ALL! I’LL WIPE THE EARTH CLEAN OF ALL THESE VERMIN!” Yu Xiyuan’s eyes turned bloodshot and the veins on his sinewy neck were bulging visibly.
The Queen’s final salvo of arrows had destroyed one of Yu Xiyuan’s legs.
“Whoosh!”
Yu Xiyuan lunged at Wang He, firing an energy bolt at the latter.
Wang He could barely react when he saw Yu Xiyuan diving at him. By the time he realized what was going on, Yu Xiyuan’s fist slammed into his chest, sending him hurtling backward.
That stunned Jing Lei and the others.
“What is the meaning of this, Yu Xiyuan?!” Wang He spat with venom as he dabbed at the blood trickling out of the edge of his lips. He summoned every ounce of his Internal Breath and retaliated swiftly, firing a blow that knocked Yu Xiyuan off his feet. Yu Xiyuan spewed blood and froth.
Deranged, Yu Xiyuan growled with glee, “I’m killing you first.”
He clambered to his feet and stomped hard, launching himself at Wang He as the ground snapped and cracked at the force of his kick.
Wang He’s gaze turned steely and stern. Losing a leg made Yu Xiyuan much weaker. Wang He channeled his powers and fired a jet of Internal Breath at him.
“Boom!”
A pulsing burst of force broke out from the blow, causing the entire cave chamber to shake with stones falling off the ceiling. Yu Xiyuan coughed up more blood as a result of being smashed into the rock face, causing a deep hole in it.
Wang He’s eyes gleamed with grudge and bitterness as he thought, “Yu Xiyuan, how dare you attempt my life!?” Never a generous person, Wang He charged, eager to put down Yu Xiyuan once and for all.
Jing Lei threw himself in Wang He’s way. He let loose a radiating burst of his powers, forcing Wang He backward.
“STOP THIS AT ONCE!” Leng Rui yelled.
“What are you doing?! That bastard nearly killed me!” Wang He bellowed in full wrath.
Jing Lei stared at the weakened Yu Xiyuan. “What were you thinking, Yu?”
Yu Xiyuan uttered with a face twisted with a rabid rage bordering on insanity with blood dribbling out of his mouth, “I lost a leg because of him! Tell me that isn’t true!”
“You lost your leg on account of that woman! Why are you blaming that on me?!” retorted Wang He.
“You could have used that bloody Charm of Pyromancy Conveyance of yours earlier. If so, I wouldn’t have lost a leg!” spat Yu Xiyuan with venom.
Jing Lei and the others could hardly argue against that. Yu Xiyuan was right; the rest of them had to urge Wang He again and again before he finally used his Charm of Pyromancy Conveyance.
If he had only used it just a few seconds earlier, Yu Xiyuan would not have suffered such a loss.
“What a load of horseshit! Don’t go off blaming me when it’s your own incompetence that you’ve lost a leg!” Wang He snapped, refusing to admit his mistake even when he knew that it was his fault.
What was more, with Yi Xiyuan now a cripple, he had effectively lost his qualification to be an elite of the Assembly of Immortals and his decreased powers were no longer a threat to Wang He.
“What’s done is done, Yu. Keep your temper under control and focus on healing yourself,” urged Leng Rui.
None of the rest would ever want to risk angering Wang He in Yu Xiyuan’s defense anymore since the latter had now become nothing but a piece of baggage. Additionally, Wang He still had an assorted range of talismanic strips that could prove useful to their cause.
Wang He immediately noticed this too. He grinned smugly and shot a disdainful glare at Yu Xiyuan. “Useless piece of trash.”
He strode to a corner and sat down to heal himself.
Yu Xiyuan simmered down at Leng Rui’s behest, no longer screaming and howling hysterically as he did earlier. He took out some pills to consume and began healing himself too, but occasional manic and piercing glances that could easily frighten anyone were there in his eyes.
“We can’t stay here indefinitely. We need somewhere safe,” remarked Leng Rui.
“I thought Wu Kejin said he has a brother here? Perhaps we can find him,” said Jing Lei.
“If I’m right, you’re referring to Wu Keyin,” said a voice from outside the cave that terrified Jing Lei and his comrades.
The little episode between Wang He and Yu Xiyuan had distracted them enough to not notice that a stranger had arrived.
Jing Lei and his comrades rushed out of the cave and found a man with pointed, pursed lips clad in robes of earthen brown smiling at them.
“And who might you be?” asked Leng Rui.
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“Huang Wei of the Mustelid race.”
“Ah, a friend from the Mustelid race. Greetings!” Leng Rui called in salute.
“And since we’re friends, let me tell you this: Wu Keyin had long been imprisoned by Chu the Devil fifteen years ago. He now stands in the middle of Gujiang City, with his energies being used as fuel to keep a beacon alight. It is said that so long as Chu the Devil still draws breath, his spell will not be broken and Wu Keyin shall be there for eternity,” said Huang Wei.
“His powers being used as fuel?! For eternity?!”
Although they could still not visualize how that might look, still, the notion of being trapped and turned into nothing more than a human-sized street lamp made a chilly sensation run down their spines as they tried to stifle a shiver.