Chapter 53: A Cornered Beast
Rain fell in the mountains without any warning.
The disciples took shelter in a cavern, while Xiao Nanfeng began perusing the scriptures in the Lady Arclight's jade token. Reading by spiritual power was far more convenient than with parchment.
The next day, at dawn, the torrential downpour finally stopped.
"Elder, we're not far from Mt. Crow now, and we might encounter huge flocks of crow spirits along the way. Do you have any suggestions or advice as to our formation?" Ye Sanshui asked the Lady Arclight.
"They're already here." The Lady Arclight pointed at the horizon, an uncommonly serious expression on her face.
Everyone looked over to see huge flocks of crow spirits heading over, so large in number that they seemed like thunderclouds in the sky. There were at least fifty thousand crow spirits, twelve of which were golden, and they were all led by a ten-meter tall giant golden crow, the size of a large house with its wings outspread.
"That's... a spirit king?!"
"Why are there so many crow spirits? Is this the entire flock?!"
"Twelve golden crow spirits, and tens of thousands of ordinary ones? They came prepared!"
The Taiqing disciples all drew their weapons in shock.
"Excellent! The crow spirit king is a cultivator at Spiritsong. It's well worth the trip to obtain a Spiritsong inner core." The Lady Arclight's eyes lit up.
She flew into the air, straight toward the flock of crows.
"Who dares block our way? For killing my descendants, you'll perish!" The crow spirit king was actually able to speak a human tongue. It roared in outrage, sending a wave of energy toward the Lady Arclight.
Rather than retreat, the Lady Arclight continued forging forward, blocking the waves of energy with her body as she drew her blade.
A beam of white light emitted from the Lady Arclight's blade, illuminating heaven and earth. A large slash of white sword energy shot straight at the spirit king.
Just as the slash was about to land, another slash appeared from the crow spirit king's back, countering the attack.
The two constructs of energy exploded in mid-air in a huge explosion, battering the nearby crow spirits.
"Who's there? Who's hiding on the crow spirit king's back?!" the Lady Arclight cried out.
The crow spirit king suddenly spat out a huge fireball straight at the Lady Arclight, intending on swallowing her whole.
"Wretched knave!" The Lady Arclight sent another slash of sword energy forward,
causing the fireball to explode. However, the figure on the crow spirit king's back took that opportunity to strike with yet another sword slash. The Lady Arclight hurriedly lifted her blade in defense, but her defense, erected in haste, fell short. She stumbled back a hundred paces.
Everyone had seen the sight—there was a figure on the crow spirit king's back!
"It's... the red-robed eunuch that was at Marquis Wu's manor?!"
"Damn eunuch, what are you doing here?! Were you hiding your skills all this time?" The Lady Arclight glared at the old eunuch on the crow spirit king's back.
"Didn't expect this, did you, Lady Arclight?" the red-robed eunuch called out, laughing.
The Lady Arclight's face turned dark as she looked at the red-robed eunuch and the crow spirit king. "You're in cahoots with each other? Then, Marquis Wu himself must also be..."
She suddenly turned her head to see a group of people appear on a nearby mountaintop.
The marquis stood at their center, with four black-robed men behind him. To his sides were his three children, along with a large group of guards.
"Marquis Wu? You've tricked us?" The Lady Arclight blanched.
Marquis Wu no longer pretended to be sick and frail. He looked calmly at the Lady Arclight. "Quite so. You almost destroyed my manor, and I'll have you pay with your blood."
"We'll see about that!" the Lady Arclight cried back.
She shot straight toward the marquis in a beam of light.
Just then, one of the black-robed men behind the marquis drew his longsword and headed for the Lady Arclight.
A huge explosion rang out. Although the Lady Arclight wasn't hurt, the attack impeded her forward progress.
"Another cultivator at Spiritsong?" The Lady Arclight grew increasingly concerned.
"Take her down alive!" the marquis suddenly commanded.
"Yessir!" the four black-robed men chorused.
Not far away, the eunuch in red and the crow spirit king also launched themselves at the Lady Arclight.
The crow spirit king launched another huge fireball at the Lady Arclight, while the eunuch in red sent an incredible sword slash in her direction, as did the black-robed man who had acted just now.
"Flee! Leave me!" the Lady Arclight commanded the Taiqing disciples, then launched into an exacting defense against the group of cultivators in her way.
Fire, light, and energy erupted in the air.
The Taiqing disciples at the foot of the cliff were shocked stiff.
"Split up and run!" Xiao Nanfeng cried out. He pulled at Yu'er's hand as they fled deep into the forested mountain.
Everyone scrambled to flee as well, but the forests weren't safe, either. Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er quickly encountered a group of black-armored warriors.
"Crow troops?" Yu'er cried out.
"Take them all down, as the marquis commands!" one warrior shouted.
Xiao Nanfeng's Immortal Cicada blurred into a beam of light, instantly killing the two warriors at the very front. Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er rushed out of the enclosure and headed deeper into the forest.
"Don't let them get away!" a black-armored warrior behind them shouted.
The crow spirits in the air didn't participate in the heated battle against the Lady Arclight. Rather, they chased after the fleeing Taiqing disciples, scouting overhead as the crow troops hunted them down on land.
On a mountaintop in the distance, the marquis' three children watched the Taiqing disciples flee in grim satisfaction.
"Have a crow general ferry me over!" Xiang Zhirou shouted.
Instantly, a golden crow flew over and landed before Xiang Zhirou, allowing her to clamber onto its back.
"What are you doing, Sister?" Xiang Kun asked, frowning.
"Don't worry about me, Brother! This is a personal feud between me and that brat and wench. I'm going to catch them both myself!" Xiang Zhirou cried out confidently.
"But their flying swords..."
"Haha, Brother, have you forgotten? Father's done something to those flying swords. If I head over and summon the sword spirits, their spiritual power will be crushed, and the swords will be under my control then! One of them is at Immanence, and the other at Acquisition. There's nothing to worry about!" Xiang Zhirou crowed.
"Let me accompany you, Sister," Xiang Wei suggested.
"No, I want to take revenge for myself!" Xiang Zhirou replied.
"Father, I'll be back in no time," Xiang Zhirou called out to Marquis Wu.
Marquis Wu nodded, not paying much attention. He was focused on the Lady Arclight, as were the three black-robed men behind him who had yet to make their moves. Their role was to ensure that she didn't flee.
"Crow General, set off!" Xiang Zhirou commanded.
The golden crow took to the air.
"Guard my sister!" Xiang Wei commanded the nearby crows. A group of golden crows immediately flocked over.
In a forest some distance away, beams of golden light were rapidly killing a group of black-armored warriors. The golden light was clearly from the Immortal Cicadas; Xiang Zhirou had found her targets almost immediately.
A group of crow spirits surrounded them, along with more and more black-armored warriors.
"Haha, you're surrounded now, Yu'er, Nanfeng! Show yourselves and prepare to die!" Xiang Zhirou called out.
Just then, a flying sword soared into the air, straight toward her.
"Ha! Show yourself, sword spirit!" Xiang Zhirou cried out.
Contrary to expectation, however, the Immortal Cicada didn't stop or slow down. Rather, it shot forward straight at her.
"What?!" Xiang Zhirou cried out.
With a huge crash, the sword smashed into her chest. A jade pendant before her immediately gave off a pulse of blue light, forming a barrier of energy and blocking the Immortal Cicada's attack.
After the failed attack, the Immortal Cicada rapidly zoomed into another patch of forest and vanished from sight.
Xiang Zhirou gaped at the pendant hanging over her chest. What had happened?
"Find them! I want them to suffer a horrible death!" Xiang Zhirou howled.
The crow spirits and black-armored warriors shot into the forest in search of Xiao Nanfeng, but unfortunately, they were nowhere to be seen.
"We can't find them, Miss!" the black-armored warriors reported.
"You can't? I'm sure they haven't gone far. Keep searching!"
"Understood!"
The crow spirits and crow troops once again began searching through the entire area,
Hidden in a small shrub, Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er were hurriedly putting on the armor of the two crow warriors they had taken down.
"Nanfeng, you really are quite something. I wouldn't have thought of impersonating the crow troops!" Yu'er praised.
"That's not good enough. Here, I'll help you with a disguise," Xiao Nanfeng offered.
A thin silver needle flashed by Xiao Nanfeng's fingers.
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