Chapter 54: The Altar
"A disguise?" Yu'er cried out in shock.
"That's right. I read a medicinal tome about how to treat facial paralysis. By reversing the technique, I can manipulate facial nerves to tighten or distort them, changing the structure of your face. It might hurt a little, so bear with it!"
Xiao Nanfeng jabbed the needle quickly into several places on Yu'er's face.
Yu'er hissed in pain, but Xiao Nanfeng didn't stop.
"Alright, get used to your new appearance. I'll do myself next," Xiao Nanfeng finally said.
By making use of the reflection from a small puddle of water, Xiao Nanfeng quickly began pricking his own face.
At the same time, Yu'er found a little puddle through which to look at herself. She almost screamed upon seeing her reflection. The figure reflected in the water certainly couldn't be her! Her brows were permanently raised, her eyes slanted downward, her face seemingly paralyzed. She was a sorry sight to behold; it was difficult to tell whether she was even male or female.
"What happened to me, Nanfeng?!" Yu'er cried out.
"Haha, you'll return to your original appearance when you suffuse your facial nerves with qi, but try to keep the disguise up for now," Xiao Nanfeng whispered.
Yu'er still seemed a little disdainful, but her life was clearly far more important.
Just then, Xiao Nanfeng raised his head, shocking Yu'er. He was no better off than she was—they were both stupendously ugly!
"Will this disguise be sufficient?" Yu'er asked.
"Not quite. Let's bury these corpses first so no one notices anything amiss," Xiao Nanfeng advised.
The two of them made a move, pushing the two corpses into a pit of mud, then covering it up and leaving the scene.
From the air, the crow spirits caught sight of them, but they were dressed in the crow troops' armor, so the crow spirits didn't pay them any special attention.
They didn't head off in search of the other Taiqing disciples; it was hard enough for them to fend for themselves, let alone worry about others.
As they found an isolated crow warrior, the two of them swiftly took him down. They brought him to a secluded area within the forest. Yu'er kept guard as Xiao Nanfeng began to interrogate him.
He infused large quantities of spiritual power into his eyes, then shot them out as laser beams of blue light, inciting intense fear in the restrained warrior.
The warrior didn't dare resist, and he divulged everything he knew. Once the interrogation was over, Xiao Nanfeng beheaded him.
"Have you finished the interrogation?" Yu'er asked.
"We'd better find a few more warriors to interrogate and see what sort of different information we can pick up. I feel as though this battle won't last much longer—we might not have much time left," Xiao Nanfeng strategized.
Yu'er nodded, and the two of them headed off in search of their next victim.
Two hours later, Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er supported each other, their bodies covered in blood, as they met up with a group of injured crow warriors.
One warrior was checking on the condition of the wounded.
"The two of you really are badly hurt!" he gasped in surprise.
Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er's armor each bore a few long scars that split their armor and revealed blood and flesh. The blood had dried and scabbed over, turning black.
"We encountered a few mad Taiqing disciples. Which camp are you from?" Xiao Nanfeng's voice was hoarse and weak.
"I'm from Camp A. Don't worry, we've been lying in wait in this mountain for a few months for just this day. None of those Taiqing disciples will make it out alive!"
"The two of us are from Camp B. We're badly wounded, so we won't take up any more of your time. Let's have a drink sometime when everything's over."
"Go on, there are a few crow spirits over there to bring you back to camp to heal up," the warrior told them.
The crow spirits each held onto a length of rope with their claws as the two 'wounded' were brought away on a rope harness.
In mid-air, Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er had an aerial view of the ongoing manhunt through the forest.
They could see that many of the Taiqing disciples had been struck down screaming. Quite a few had spat out fresh blood as they slumped on the ground, as though dead or close to it.
They even saw Ye Sanshui surrounded by a group of crow spirits and black-armored warriors, wounded all over, fallen to the ground with a pool of blood spreading from him.
The Lady Arclight wasn't faring well, either. She was at the center of a chaotic storm of attacks. They could hear her furious shouts, but the enemy combatants had surrounded her and were peppering her with so many attacks that they couldn't even see her. Regardless, it was clear that she too was suffering.
Yu'er clutched her mouth, her eyes tinged with red.
Xiao Nanfeng grabbed onto Yu'er's hand, warning her not to reveal her emotions. They were too weak to make a difference in a fight of this extent. It wouldn't be wise to chance exposing themselves.
The crows ferried them for over two hours until they arrived at a large valley with tents. This was a camp for Marquis Wu's troops, and quite a number of wounded had already been brought here for treatment.
The crow spirits dropped Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er off, then flew away.
A black-armored warrior walked up to them.
"Brother, which camp are you from? I don't recognize your face." Xiao Nanfeng wheezed, taking the initiative.
"I'm from Camp B. And you two? How's the situation on the battlefield?"
"We're from Camp A. The battle's almost over. Ahem, ahem! Quite a few of our brothers died." Xiao Nanfeng looked weak, but his features contorted in anger.
"Damn these Taiqing disciples! If they're going to be caught no matter what, why bother resisting?!"
Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er continued to support each other as they walked toward a group of wounded.
Just then, the main fight on the battlefield concluded.
The Lady Arclight, bleeding profusely, had her strength sealed away as she lay paralyzed on the ground, a terrible sight to behold.
"Marquis Wu, are you aware of the price of offending the Taiqing Immortal Sect? Your entire clan shall perish in misery!" the Lady Arclight cursed.
Marquis Wu only looked calmly at the Lady Arclight. "Rather, your group of disciples and you yourself perished out of greed while going against the crow spirits. What does it have to do with me?"
"You!" the Lady Arclight cried out.
She understood everything now. The bounty and request had all been a ploy to lure them over into Wu territory. All the crow spirits listened to Marquis Wu. The moment they headed toward Mt. Crow, their whereabouts had been carefully tracked. She thought that she had been playing around with the crow spirits, but they were the ones who played her!
Marquis Wu then turned to Xiang Zhirou, who was still stewing angrily. "How many times have I told you this before? Don't look down on your opponents. That was how your grandfather lost his throne—and you intend to repeat the same mistake? If not for that jade pendant, you would have perished."
"I—I!" Xiang Zhirou grimaced, but she had no rebuke. "Yes, Father."
Marquis Wu refrained from chiding his daughter further. He asked, "What's the situation like on the battlefield?"
"Two hundred crow troops have perished, and three hundred are wounded. We've caught essentially all the Taiqing disciples except for Nanfeng and Yu'er, who have managed to flee," Xiang Kun reported.
"To flee?" Marquis Wu's eyes flashed with a chill.
"Yes. Our men are still searching for them, and they won't be able to go far."
Marquis Wu glared at his son. "Why did we lay an ambush for them here? We needed to capture them all. If even a single one gets away, our plan is foiled."
"We..." Xiang Kun frowned.
"Crow King, command the crows to keep watch over the skies. The two cultivators cannot be allowed to leave Mt. Crow," Marquis Wu commanded.
"Understood!" the giant crow king replied.
"Qinglong, Zhuque, the two of you will stay behind and assist with the search. Dig up the ground if you have to—I want to see those two cultivators' bodies!" Marquis Wu then turned to the four black-robed men behind him.
Two of them stepped forward and bowed. "Yessir!"
Marquis Wu then turned to the group of apprehended Taiqing disciples, all of whom had been tightly bound, and many of whom were bleeding all over.
"If they're dead, they'll be worthless. We need to speed things up. Let's head off immediately!" Marquis Wu cried out.
"Understood!" everyone chorused.
Marquis Wu climbed up to the crow king's back, while a group of golden crows served as steed for the three Xiang siblings and the eunuch in red.
With the crow king's command, the crow spirits grabbed the prisoners and began flying toward the huge valley in the distance,
leaving the black-robed men Qinglong and Zhuque, along with countless crow spirits and crow troops, in search of Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er.
They didn't know that Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er had already arrived at the valley in question and were pretending to be among the wounded. They had headed toward a gigantic altar at the center of the valley, of ancient make, with countless arcane runes engraved on it.
In addition to the wounded troops, there were quite a few black-armored warriors standing guard over the altar, which seemed to be of no small importance.
Just as Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er were deliberating with each other about what to do next, a huge flock of crow spirits flew over, each carrying a restrained Taiqing disciple, and deposited them on the altar like sacrifices. Yu'er's eyes widened in rage.
Xiao Nanfeng grabbed Yu'er, motioning for her to calm down.
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