Chapter 64: Nanfeng from the Skies
Two Immanence-realm crow spirits were leading ten black-armored warriors into the valley of the boar's lair.
"The crow spirits saw Taiqing disciples in this valley while scouting?"
"Be careful—don't get complacent."
The ten cultivators unsheathed their blades and slowly approached the valley. On the waist of one man was cinched the head of a Taiqing disciple—they had found and killed one of them, and would claim a bounty with that head.
Within the boar's lair, the Lady Arclight was meditating when she suddenly heard a crow's caw in the air. Her eyes shot open.
"No!" She suspected that her location had just been found.
Because of her previous abduction, her relics and treasured sword had all been taken from her, and she was still terribly weak. What could she do?
Suddenly, she noticed the erhu that Xiao Nanfeng had given her.
The Lady Arclight suddenly had an audacious thought. She would pretend to have recovered with the expectation of scaring away her enemies. Picking up the erhu, she hobbled to the front of the cave, then sat atop the boar spirit's skeleton, closed her eyes, and began to play.
The ten black-armored cultivators had just walked up to the entrance to the valley when they heard a desolate erhu tune from a distance. Nervous, they looked deep into the valley and saw the Lady Arclight.
"It's her?!" The ten cultivators sucked in a deep breath and ran from the valley in fright. They panted for breath with terrified expressions on their faces.
"Damn it, what are these crow spirits thinking? Are they trying to get us all killed?!" one of them cried out.
Clearly, the Lady Arclight's plan had been effective.
"No, she hasn't chased us here..." One of the cultivators quickly calmed down.
"She must not have discovered us. What, do you want her to chase us down and kill us?!" another cultivator yelled out.
"The marquis' bounty claimed that, as long as we can kill the Lady Arclight, we'll get a promotion of three grades as an official, as well as a hundred thousand taels of gold! What if she did discover us... but hasn't recovered from her critical injuries yet? What if she's just trying to scare us away?" The cultivator's eyes glimmered with greed.
The other cultivators didn't need much in the way of convincing. Three grades' worth of a promotion, and a hundred thousand taels of gold...
"It's not impossible, but—"
"She was heavily injured, we all saw that! There's no way she could have recovered so quickly!"
"That's true!" The ten cultivators looked at each other with mounting excitement.
"Let's go have another look!" another cultivator suggested.
The ten cultivators made their way stealthily back to the valley, where they hid by its outskirts and watched the Lady Arclight play the erhu from afar.
"That boar skeleton's at least ten meters tall. It has to have been a spirit at Ascension-realm, at least. Could she have killed it?" one of the cultivators wondered, a frown marring his face.
The other cultivators were silent in worry.
"That boar skeleton might just be a coincidence. She's surely very weak, or she would have sensed us with her spiritual power! If you're still worried, let's watch a bit longer. If she really is that strong, we'll split up and run off immediately, but if she's only trying to trick us, then we'll strike at her and get rich together!"
In the end, the cultivators' greed won out over their fear. They patiently waited by the edge of the valley.
By the entrance to the lair, the Lady Arclight continued playing her erhu. Though her eyes were closed, her hearing was incredible. She had been relieved that the cultivators were scared away initially, but now, they had returned and were watching her from afar.
She couldn't help but be nervous. She continued playing incessantly, but how long could she last? There would hardly be any reinforcements to aid her in this hidden realm. The longer she played, the more she felt a sense of despair overwhelming her. She had played for a full two hours, but those cultivators and the crow spirits hadn't left. She felt as though she wouldn't be able to feign healthiness much longer.
The cultivators outside the valley glanced at each other, excitement in their eyes. They had guessed that the Lady Arclight was simply bluffing.
They nodded at each other, grabbed hold of their weapons, and began walking toward the Lady Arclight.
"Die, Lady Arclight!" the leader shouted, slashing at her with his sword.
The Lady Arclight's eyes were despondent. Was this indeed where she would die?
Just then, a beam of golden light flashed before her.
The black-armored cultivator that had raised his blade stumbled back, a golden sword having pierced through his head and causing it to explode.
"What?" Everyone blanched.
The flying sword swerved toward a second target. The cultivator was staring at the Lady Arclight, not expecting a sneak attack from behind. The moment his companion was killed, he grew alert, but the Immortal Cicada was too quick. He didn't have time to dodge.
With a great explosion, the second man's chest burst open in a shower of blood.
All the cultivators quickly reacted, attempting to dodge the third slash of the Immortal Cicada. It smashed into a rock and caused it to explode into smithereens, missing its third target. The next moment, it flew toward the Lady Arclight's side and whirled around her, preventing the cultivators from getting close.
The cultivators glanced around warily in search of the flying sword's owner, only to see a figure at the entrance of the valley.
Xiao Nanfeng had returned, descending out of nowhere like a heavenly soldier and rescuing the Lady Arclight from near-certain death. The crows in the sky cawed in rage.
Xiao Nanfeng glanced up at the scouting crows, then at the remaining eight black-armored cultivators, especially the one with a Taiqing disciple's head hanging around his waist. Killing intent emanated from Xiao Nanfeng in waves.
"Apologies for startling you, Elder. Leave the rest to me." Xiao Nanfeng sucked in a deep breath.
The Lady Arclight felt a sense of palpable relief, followed by deep worry. She knew that Xiao Nanfeng had just ascended to Immanence, but his opponents were eight Immanence-realm cultivators! Furthermore, they were wary of his Immortal Cicada. How would Xiao Nanfeng be
able to fend off their attacks?
"The marquis has placed a bounty on Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er. If we kill either of them, we'll receive a promotion of two official grades and a bounty of fifty thousand taels of gold!"
"According to our information, he's only at the peak of Acquisition."
The eight cultivators, initially nervous, quickly found themselves blinded by greed. They shrugged off the fact that two of their number had died, confident that they would be able to defeat Xiao Nanfeng easily and claim the bounty.
Two of the cultivators struck immediately, one from the front and the other from the back, afraid that Xiao Nanfeng would escape. They wanted to claim the bulk of the reward!
Xiao Nanfeng targeted the one with his senior brother's head cinched to his waist. Rather than retreat, he shot forward and punched at the cultivator, seizing the initiative.
His opponent froze momentarily, then sneered in disdain as he too punched forward at full strength.
The two fists met—and the black-armored cultivator's fist exploded in a burst of flesh and blood. One finger was blown off completely.
The cultivator screamed. Before he could do more, Xiao Nanfeng had rushed forward, smashing his other fist into his neck. With an audible crack, the cultivator's neck broke, cutting off his scream, as he died on the spot.
"What?!"
Before the cultivators could react, Xiao Nanfeng had already whirled toward his second target. He didn't hide his skills; he activated Hegemon's Fist once again.
The four illusory fists caused the cultivator to panic. Within moments, his nose was struck by Xiao Nanfeng's fist, and he was sent sprawling to the ground. Just as he was clambering back up, Xiao Nanfeng's knee smashed into his head, cracking his skull and killing him instantly.
A double kill!
He moved far too quickly for an Acquisition-realm cultivator. By the time the opponents realized the truth, it was too late.
"He's not at Acquisition at all!" one of them shouted in fear.
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