»They're gone, they made it,« he gasped. Now there was nothing left for them to do but hope that Zhen yan could seal the plain.
He looked over at the man, who continued to play triumphantly. They had to stop this madman. He had never intended to discuss. He had planned, like them, to end it all in one night. Wang Bing wen's warning to the leaders not to come in person had been thrown to the wind. He had caught them all at once. Yian had his fingers entwined with Bing wens. Blood was seeping from his eye, and the other one was spurting suppressed rage.
»I'll kill him,« he growled. Bing wen vomited another gush of blood. He felt torn up inside, completely shredded, as if only his body was holding back all the organs and the blood pulp inside him. Yian caught him as he collapsed. If he hadn't fought to protect him, his body wouldn't be in such a terrible state. He stroked the black hair from his blood-covered face. Bing wen coughed and reached for his sword.
»I'm behind you,« he gasped, exhausted. A rage welled up in the fox, a rage he had never known before. Scarlet flames blazed up and Gao Teng fei had to interrupt his game. His eyes slid to the fox and a smug smile played around his lips.
»Come here if you want to die!«
Yian suppressed the pain in his eye, which had been pierced by the jade. Bing wen had risen and unsheathed his sword. Gao Teng fei gave them both a disparaging look. The courtyard filled with soldiers from his clan. Ruthlessly, they plunged their swords into the hearts of the living.
They clawed at the guards' robes for help, but not a single one showed mercy. Although Bing wen felt as if he were being torn apart inside, he stood back to back with Yian. He controlled his breathing, cut himself off from physical pain, and was ready to fight to the death.
»Yian,« he said. ‚This is your last chance. I never forced you to pay your debt. Go... now!' he said solemnly. But his own words broke his heart.
»No!« The pain in the fox, emanating from the wound in his face, seared and ate through his bones. But he turned around once more and, after taking a deep breath, hugged Bing wen.
»If you allow me, I'll stay with you until the end,« he said, gently pressing Bing wen's shattered body against him. Bing wen swallowed the lump in his throat. Although he was more dead than alive, he felt warmth and confidence. The soldiers pounced on them. Yian let his scarlet flames flare up, surrounding them like a flaming blossom.
Caressing Bing wen's skin, he penetrated him and flooded him with burning fox magic. They broke apart, and Bing wen struck out, knocking back a handful of soldiers in one blow. Blades crossed and sparks flew into the night. Yian fought his way to Teng fei.
The latter used the sounds of his devilish tool to create a protective circle around himself, so that Yian's flames were destroyed. Yian opened his fans, and the nine-tailed fox began to move on them. With fluid movements, it leaped out of the paper and grew to the size of a hundred-year-old oak.
With a thunderous roar, it swept away the soldiers that approached it and burned down everything its four paws touched.
»Are you so desperate, Ghost Fox?« Teng Fei asked condescendingly. ‚That you summon your true body? You know what will happen if I destroy it?' Teng Fei raised his flute to his lips when suddenly a soft whirring sound was heard.
A dagger flew just past Yian's ear. He felt the cool breath of air as it whizzed past him at lightning speed and broke Teng Fei's flute in two. Gao Teng fei glared at the splinters in his hands. The dagger whirred back, just as a second one shot out.
Yian ducked. An incredibly fast, delicate body ran across the battlefield. With only one eye, even he had trouble recognizing the black shadow that mowed down one soldier after another. Teng fei reached for the chain attached to the dagger and the shadow was pulled to the ground. »Xueling?« Bing wen had sunk to the ground, his white robes soaked in blood.
The nine-tailed ghost fox stood protectively over him, nudging him with his head and licking his face with his tongue. Embarrassed, Yian turned away. His true body did what it wanted to do; it was not bound by earthly feelings such as shame or inappropriate timing. Teng fei pulled on the chain and Xueling was dragged forward.
A razor-sharp saber shot out of the darkness and the smoke that had settled over the battlefield. Teng fei let go of the chain to dive out of the way of the blade. His hair had come loose from his braid and his anger was clearly written on his face.
»How did you get in here?«
»We are Youxia, we don't always follow rules and restrictions,« the thunderous voice of Wei meng answered. Xueling let her daggers slide back into her hands.
»Where are Ying yue and Zhen Yan?« she asked Bing wen quietly. Bing wen, who had collapsed between the tails of the spirit fox and was almost only kept alive by magic. Pointed to the sky. Xueling blinked briefly, but then assumed that it meant that they had escaped and were carrying out their part of the plan. That meant they needed time.
The petite girl took up a fighting stance. She would buy them as much time as she could. Gao Teng fei found himself surrounded by two fierce-looking Xia and a fox positively burning with rage. He drew his sword, a long, thin blade, from his belt and ran two fingers along the smooth edge. A black smoke settled around the clean steel.
»He is corrupt to the core,« Yian remarked.
Gao Teng fei must have exposed himself to and absorbed jade over a long period of time to be able to control it to a certain extent. But he was only human, he couldn't take on the true ruler of the Daiyu Plains, and without his surprise attack, he would have been a dead man tonight. All three prepared to attack him together.
A mighty tremor shook the earth. From afar, an enormous rumbling and thundering could be heard. Silver lightning flashed across the sky and the air filled with the scent of spring blossoms, and the bright light of the full moon made its way through the clouds.
When Gao Teng fei realized what was happening, they leaned on him, leaving him no time to issue any orders. The few clan escorts who had not joined the banquet flocked to the square. When they saw what had been done to their clan leaders, they furiously pounced on the remaining Gao soldiers.
The massive stone walls around the residence began to crumble. Magic and massive attacks cannot withstand them in the long run. When the gates fell, the battlefield was flooded with white robes. Wang Bing wen's troops joined the fight and pushed back the rising mass of demons. Gao Teng fei fought back against the onslaught. He stabbed, he cursed, and with satisfaction he heard the falling fighters at his feet.
Daggers whirred around his head, a saber missed him by a hair's breadth and the wind blades of Yian's fan slashed his shoulders and back. The air vibrated. Magic and blood mingled and made the earth tremble. The ominous thunder and lightning above them did not let up, yet the demon hosts that reached them were few.
Someone must have been wiping out the bulk of the erupting Yao before they could flee across the plain. Suddenly, a shockwave overcame Teng Fei, not just him, everyone went down. A high-pitched shrill sound pierced their heads and the sky was brightly lit, for a moment it was as if an unfathomable power expanded over them and then collapsed. Took them to the ground before it withdrew at breakneck speed.
The shards of black jade that he had absorbed burst in his body. Pierced him from the inside. Before he could react, he felt himself being stabbed from behind. The tip of a saber stabbed out of his chest. Gao Teng fei wanted to break free when the daggers pierced his shoulders and pulled him to the ground again. Pain shot through his body. He had dropped his sword. As he looked up, he saw the fox coming towards him.
He looked terrible. His robe was in tatters, the wound in his eye had spread like an infection over his face and the right half of his body. Yian gasped as he reached him. He raised his blood-soaked fan and, without wasting another word, cut his head off his shoulders. Then he collapsed. Xueling could no longer stand on her feet, when the pressure on her daggers eased, she was pulled to the ground and no longer moved.
The air was filled with power, a stifling heat. Wei meng dropped down next to her and gently patted her on the shoulders. He closed his eyes and Yian lay protectively around the unconscious Bing wen. It was as if everything were breaking apart. As if the world were being taken apart into all its individual parts. Bodies bursting, bones splintering. Would nothing be able to survive on the Daiyu plain as it was fifty thousand years ago?