While they waited for Luse Zhimei's arrival, surrounded by darkness and filled with anticipation, Yichen felt the sensation of being watched again, but not in the way he believed came from Ying Long's power, but from something different, something that could only be described as sinister. The feeling was so intense that it made his skin crawl, and he gripped the hilt of his Yun Guang more tightly than usual, perhaps to try and control the dread he felt.
"You're not the only one, Xiao Zhuo... I feel it too," Ying Lei confessed, mirroring Yichen's unease. He also looked around, as if they were already surrounded, even though they couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.
"Wen Xiao, where is Luse Zhimei?" Yichen asked through their mental connection, and he could feel Wen Xiao's confusion before she answered.
"To be honest, she was heading towards your position, a few kilometers from where Gu Yue is walking towards Li Lun's team, but she suddenly disappeared from my sight. That's worrying, guys," Wen Xiao said, struggling to locate her again, knowing that she was far more dangerous than Gu Yue, which was why Zhu Yan had chosen to confront her instead of the Lady in White.
"She didn't disappear, she's camouflaging herself with the environment. She's always been smarter than Gu Yue, whose arrogance leads her to act without thinking. Zhimei never rushes into a fight without knowing her enemy. Li Lun is strong, so she'll be cautious, and if she sees that the situation isn't in her favor, she'll flee. Demonic pride means nothing to her; as long as she survives, anything goes. Stay alert," Zhu Yan warned, for although he couldn't see her, like Wen Xiao, he could feel her demonic energy approaching.
"Isn't that even stranger? If she's not fighting battles, that she can't win, why did she come to challenge Li Lun? There's no way she can defeat him, right?" Pei Siheng's question was logical, only adding to the mystery they were trying to solve.
"That's precisely why she's heading towards us, instead of somewhere else. She knows exactly where Li Lun is waiting and is avoiding a direct confrontation with him. I have my demonic energy concealed, and the rest of you have less cultivation than she does, so she considers us less dangerous than Li Lun," Zhu Yan explained, and Yichen chuckled.
"Should we feel insulted?" Yichen asked, and Zhu Yan looked at him and winked mischievously.
"Of course not, Baobei. Being underestimated actually benefits us. Since she can be unpredictable, let's form a circle. Anything that looks distorted is an illusion. Anything that approaches you, no matter how small or insignificant, could be her. And whatever happens, don't let her touch you directly, because she has a special ability that can inflict a lot of pain with just a touch. That's how she hunts," Zhu Yan warned them, and they did as he suggested and waited.
Suddenly, Wen Xiao saw a female figure emerge from the trees, shrouded in darkness, and shouted a warning to the team to prepare for a fight. Zhimei lunged first at Zhu Yan, who was disguised as a minor demon, with barely perceptible demonic energy. She pounced on him with long, sharp claws, ready to tear the flesh of a weak demon, but she ran into an invisible energy barrier that sent her recoiling in surprise. The reason was, that the demon she had attacked hadn't moved an inch. He simply watched her with an almost amused expression.
Then, with unwavering determination, Yichen focused his energy on Yun Guang, his blade gleaming brightly in the moonlight, like a deadly fang. He unleashed a barrage of ice projectiles that streaked through the air like elongated rainbow diamonds. However, Zhimei moved with astonishing speed, transforming into an infernal fire beast, that danced swiftly among them.
"You'll have to try harder!" She taunted, her voice low and menacing, as she dodged all his attacks.
Ying Lei stepped forward, weaving intricate spells around them like webs of golden light, but Zhimei evaded them skillfully, her laughter echoing through the grove. Siheng's unlashed his golden threads, that pierced the earth, the trees, and even the air itself, as he relentlessly continued to target her. His goal to attempt to trap her within Ying Lei's sealing spells with the help of Wen Xiao as she gave him directions. Yet, she slipped away with a grace born of primal instinct. He came close to reaching her several times, but she narrowly avoided her own destruction, by changing forms, in the blink of an eye.
As Zhimei gained confidence that she could at least handle the younger ones, she reverted to her true form and, with a swift movement, hurled grotesque balls of flesh at them. These spun through the air like repulsive rocks made of her malevolent energy. Zhu Yan's eyes widened in horror, as he understood their true nature. The skins of those Zhimei had murdered, sacrifices to fuel her dark powers.
"Avoid them!" He instinctively shouted, pushing Yichen behind him, just as one of the hideous projectiles whizzed past them, emitting a stench of blood and decay. Ying Lei's heart pounded as he cast shimmering shields around them—a protective barrier forged solely from his will.
"That's so gross!" He almost puked, as he charged forward with shields raised high. The foul balls struck his barriers with sickening thuds, but were repelled back into the forest, like discarded remnants of a horrific nightmare.
"Don't you like my babies? How about these?" Zhimei mocked, infusing the balls with her malicious demonic power, bringing to life, four grotesque replicas of themselves.
The vision was repulsive. As seeing themselves transformed into identical corpses, like the walking dead, an image designed to terrify them. Those were also not mere corpses, they were pulsating with dark energy, and everyone could feel, in their own skin, the insatiable hunger for killing they projected.
As the hideous imitations drew closer, a palpable darkness that threatened to consume everything emanated from them like a shroud of death. Ying Lei's golden barriers flickered under the relentless assault of claws and dark energy that slammed against his golden shields. Cracks began to appear on the shimmering surface, as if reality itself trembled with fear. Dark, tainted tendrils threatened to seep through the cracks, filling the interior with a foul stench and an oppressive energy.
"What the hell is this?!" Ying Lei shouted, looking at Zhu and Yichen for a second, before determination etched on every feature of his face. Knowing what he needed to do next, he focused his energy on slowly reinforcing the barrier to sealing the cracks. In response to the horrors looming over them, Yichen wasted no time and acted immediately. His eyes blazed with an electric blue as he plunged his sword into the ground.
"Nightmares have no place here, demon!" he roared. And as if answering his call, ice erupted from his sword, spreading like a divine wave. The ground froze beneath their feet, transforming into a shimmering reflection of stars and ice crystals that illuminated the night with a bluish-white cadence against the dark backdrop of Zhimei's creations. Yichen's powerful energy struck the replicas like a tidal wave, instantly turning them into crystals, that shattered into thousands of pieces.
"Zhu Yan, it's a distraction! She's going after Yichen!" Wen Xiao's voice echoed in their minds, a warning they couldn't ignore, normally. But Zhu Yan was already expecting it, having followed her with his gaze, carefully analyzing each of her movements, her speed, and the time it took her to shapeshift. Nothing escaped his notice.
So, when she intertwined her essence with that of the replicas she had created to distract them, and slipped through the cracks in Ying Lei's shield, he knew she was going after his Baobei. Just as Wen Xiao shout her warning, his hand was already extended towards Yichen, and he caught the dark energy that threatened to strike him.
"Back off!" Zhu Yan shouted, and a second later, the dark energy trapped in his hand changed form, becoming a serpent ready to bite him.
However, he had a shield that covered every part of his body, like a second skin, just like the others. Since Zhu Yan knew she was quite dangerous, and that her touch was deadly, he had cast the spell on everyone before the battle. It was simply a precaution, as he didn't want to take any chances with her. That was why Ying Lei allowed his shields to weaken in certain areas, and Yichen used his ice power to give her the opportunity to slip through the cracks, amidst the chaos.
Thus, her bite only reached the dense demonic energy covering his body and nothing more. Finding herself trapped, she tried to break free from his grip while reverting to her original form. But although Zhu Yan was forced to release he,r due to the transformation, she couldn't escape her prison.
There was a skill that Ying Lei hadn't used before, as it hadn't been necessary. This skill had been passed down to him by the mountain gods who had raised him, a divine power that still lay dormant, a power capable of shattering mountains. It was another relic from the time of the gods, the very dagger that Kunlun made. As it was a sacred relic, Ying Lei didn't dare use it as his main weapon, and only kept it in his dimensional pouch, for special occasions or emergencies.
This time, when Zhu Yan trapped Zhimei, Ying Lei drew the black dagger and plunged it into the ground, that make the earth bellow their feet tremor for a moment, releaseing it's power to the deep of the earth. Then, a golden symbol, in the language of the earth itself, shone in the darkness, activating the formation he had already created, when he first tried to capture Zhimei with his golden web. The ancient formation release orange threads that bind her to the ground for good, unable to escape. They had conceived a plan in their shared consciousness, and now they can rejoy in their victory.
"You caught her!" Wen Xiao exclaimed excitedly. She had also participated in their pretense to be wakers, wanting to see if the demons would react to her intervention or not. So far, none seems to notice her touch on their minds.
"Of course. How are the others?" Zhu Yan asked her.
"It will be over soon. They are exellent, as expected. But Gu Yue isn't revealing anything useful," she replied.
"Then this one will, one way or another. She is not going to free herself from this one."
"Then I'll leave it to you. I see you have everything under control," Zhu Yan smiled.
"Oh, yes, and my Baobei looked so handsome when he was fighting..." Wen Xiao almost rolled her eyes.
"This isn't the time to admire him, you perverted monkey." And, of course, she was absolutely right, and Yichen gave his lover a stern look, as he had also overheard their conversation.
Once Wen Xiao left them on their own, Zhu Yan looked at Zhimei. There was a trace of anger in his red eyes, that made Zhimei tremble at its intensity.
"There's only one reason you're still alive, Luse Zhimei, and that's because I want some answers from you. So now, tell me, do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?" Zhu Yan asked as Zhimei tried to free herself from her restraints, without success. She even discovered with horror that she could no longer shapeshift.
"I won't tell anything to the likes of you! Who are you, anyways? This is Li Lun's territory, not yours!" She shouted, still struggling against her bonds.
"Oh, well... we were invited here, just like you," Zhu Yan said, trying to sound innocent, which made Yichen sigh and rub the bridge of his nose, Ying Lei chuckle, and Pei Siheng roll his eyes.
"You're not very smart, are you? If you were really invited, why do you need to force answers?" Zhimei asked and Ying Lei scoffed.
"She has a point..." Siheng tried to suppress a laugh.
"You're not fooling anyone with that act, get serious, Zh... Zhao..." Yichen corrected himself before making the mistake of saying Zhu Yan's name in front of a demon.
"Baobei, don't be cruel..."
"Just use a spell on her, and she'll talk nonstop," Yichen suggested, and Zhimei laughed.
"I'm a high-level demon. Do you really think you can make me talk with a simple spell?" she scoffed, daring them to try.
"You're bound, aren't you?" Siheng retorted mockingly.
"Then do whatever you want and try. I assure you, not even Li Lun can make me talk," she insisted, and Zhu Yan's red eyes darkened.
"And what about Zhu Yan?" He asked with genuine curiosity, which made her laugh, like it was the funniest thing she had ever heard and the others sigh in relief.
"That old monkey is too busy playing with the humans. One day, when we turn the tables on this world, I'll make him part of my personal collection of skins and feast on the humans until I can't eat anymore." The tension quickly escalated, Zhu Yan's energy surged with anger, and he brought his hand to his lips, a murderous intent in his aura. Immediately, Yichen stepped in front of Zhu Yan and lowered his hand.
"Remember what you warned me... you're not like that," whispered Yichen, gently caressing his cheek.
"She deserves it," Zhu Yan replied.
"Yes, her cruelty deserves punishment, but not out of anger. Be my mischievous monkey, calm down," Yichen moved closer to him, and Zhu Yan let out a deep sigh and lightly kissed Yichen.
However, back on the ground, Zhimei stared at Zhu Yan with wide eyes, completely terrified by the surge of energy she felt from this demon, who had previously seemed so weak, realizing that the energy he had unleashed for a few seconds, was that of someone close to a god. Then she realized, that only the true Zhu Yan was capable of such immense energy, even contained, and she had just threatened to kill him, not to mention the man who was probably his lover. She was truly going to die! Zhu Yan had cross the gate, and he was going to kill them all!!!
"Master, save me!" She screamed out of pure fright, and at the same time, everyone heard Wen Xiao yell 'get away' and chaos erupted. Two explosions occurred simultaneously. Zhu Yan only had time to protect Yichen, who was already in his arms, as they were too close to Zhimei, but Yun Guang protected Ying Lei and Siheng with his own shield, as he was still trusted on the ground near them.
The explosion knocked them all down, but they were unharmed, thanks to the protective spell Zhu Yan had cast on them beforehand. Yun Guang, who had also lunged at Siheng and Ying Lei in his human form, added another layer of protection. When the dust raised by the explosion settled, they saw the enormous hole left by the implosion of Zhimei's core. When she called out to her Master, Zhu Yan caught a glimpse of him for a second, and knowing how a Master could control a demon, he understood immediately, that he had only unleashed the core's destruction seal, which was already imprinted on them.
"Huan Jing," he whispered to himself as Yichen clung even tighter to him, visibly shaken.
AN: Things are getting complicated. Thanks for reading and until next time, please take care.