We stood between the tall grass and a raging river. Across the river stood a thick forest with pale trees. There was certainly some danger in the water and the woods, but right now, we were concerned with the immediate danger.
The demonic spawn stepped out of the grass and into the moonlight. He wore a human face, and may have once been handsome before whatever darkness stole the light behind his eyes. A smile stretched at his cheeks, and it was too wide, so wide that it tore the skin and left dried stains of blood running from the corners of his mouth. Long black hair hung from his head and spilled around grotesquely muscled shoulders.
Though his head was so dainty as to be pretty, his body was a hulking mass of muscle, with six arms sprouting from his torso and three powerful legs supporting the mass above. He gripped three long sabers with two hands each. His eyes darted amongst us as he strode out, and the awkward, stilted gait meant it was impossible to guess which direction he might move next.
And that foul, sterile odour of the facility, a stink like someone sucking the air out of my lungs…
I held my disciple's sword without knowing what I was doing, and wondered if I was about to get everyone killed. The members of the expedition were all brave and established cultivators in the Qi Condensing realm, but all trembled at the sight of this monstrosity.
“What is that?” Ran Qin whispered.
“I didn’t see it before,” Ran Yaliu answered. “It moved too fast when it attacked from the grass.”
“I thought it was three people,” Song Shuai said as he spun his spear. “But it’s just one large target!”
Thunder clapped as he vanished and appeared in the air beside the demonic spawn. Lightning coiled around the tip of his white spear as he thrust at the monster’s neck.
The demonic spawn twisted at the hips with a sound like creaking leather. A saber batted away Song Shuai’s attack. Lightning burst, but the second saber blocked the counterattack, and the third sliced at his shoulder.
Thunder clapped, and the third saber passed through empty air.
Song Shuai appeared beside me. Blood dripped from a cut on his arm, and he was breathing heavily.
“It is definitely faster in the dark, and it didn’t blink.”
I wished for a moment that the laws governing Howling Blossom Valley allowed for Core Formation cultivators to enter, but if that were the case, then the creature we faced would also have a higher power ceiling.
That’s right…
“Remember the rules of the valley,” I said loudly. “This thing is only Qi Condensing!”
The demonic spawn looked at me as I spoke, and cocked its head in a gesture that was eerily reminiscent of the Butcher Bird.
“Why fight?” it said in a pleasant, normal voice. “I want to talk.”
We glanced amongst ourselves, but the demonic spawn remained at the edge of the grass. I met the old Shen swordsman’s eyes, but there was no sense of a plan there. He gave me a look that seemed to say: Your call, expedition leader.
I stepped forward, and the monster fixed its gaze on me like a cat watching a mouse. I would do my best to keep everyone alive, but if he died… I wouldn’t be too upset.
“You want to talk?”
“I want to talk.”
The smile stretched a little further, and fresh blood added to the dried stains. I waited, but the only sound was the roaring of the river behind us, the rustle of grass, and the scrape of cultivators adjusting their footing on the quartz riverbanks.
“What do you want to talk about?”
“Talk.”
I frowned, but since the monster hadn’t moved and wasn’t even standing in a ready stance, I stepped closer. I held my jian at the side, not in a ready stance -- I didn’t even know one -- but attempting to appear peaceful.
“The Butcher Bird did this to you, but that doesn’t mean you have to fight us.”
“Why fight?”
“Exactly! We can both go our separate ways.”
“Senior brother… You trust this monster?”
I hesitated.
“It was human once. It deserves pity instead of more pain.”
“It might have been human once,” the old Shen swordsman said in his gruff voice. “But it isn’t anymore. Can’t you feel the demonic qi curdling the air? That thing is a monster!”
The demonic spawn’s neck creaked like dry rope as it looked at the old Shen swordsman.
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“Talk, talk, talk.”
“I know you’re not a monster,” I said. “You were human once. Look at your body; you’re still human!”
The demonic spawn cocked its head. Did it pick up that I was talking to myself? I hoped nobody else did…
It took a step closer.
“Why fight? I want to talk.”
“Yes… exactly…”
“Why talk?”
Oh, I had a bad feeling about this.
“I want to fight?”
“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “You don’t want to fight.”
“I want to talk.”
It swung a saber at my neck.
My eyes widened.
I absolutely couldn’t afford to let that blade touch my body! I was mostly air at this point, and I dreaded my expedition members seeing me pop. I launched myself back with as much force as my blood manipulation allowed. My boneless weight allowed me to float out of range of the attacks. Another saber came, but I was so light I could kick off the flat of the blade.
The last saver swung through the space I’d just stood. If I hadn’t moved in time, I would have been cut into four separate pieces!
“I want to talk!”
It dashed toward the group of cultivators with its body spinning at the waist with a hideous creaking. The heavy sabers produced gusts of wind as they passed through the air.
“Talk! Talk! Talk! Talk!”
The expedition scattered, but the monster kept slashing and shouting with a wild, childlike smile. With three legs all facing in different directions, it was capable of changing its direction of attack at a moment's notice, and the momentum gained from spinning the three heavy sabers made getting close a lethal endeavour.
But it was in the open, and we outnumbered it, and by the rules of the valley, it couldn’t overpower us… I hoped.
“Keep it busy,” I shouted to everyone. “Shen Tongtong, we need you to take it out!”
“Of course you do!”
She dashed back to get as much distance as she could, but the demonic spawn charged after her as soon as she produced her bow. Though it looked like a brute and spoke like a child, it was far more intelligent than I liked.
“Stop it!” I shouted as I charged.
Chen Ai joined me.
“Are we sure this thing is Qi Condensing?”
“It has to be!”
Her heavy club swung towards the creature's legs, but three sabers interlocked to block her strike, and six arms were strong enough to force her back. Thunder clapped, and wind rushed as Song Shuai and Ran Yaliu darted in. Their fast-moving attacks swept for the monster’s openings, but it twisted and spun away, the heavy sabers forcing the nimble cultivators to retreat.
The monstrosity fell back, a fierce heart pounding in its chest so loud that I could hear the blood moving in its veins. It watched us with that eerie smile, and as Shen Tongtong loosed an arrow, it simply deflected the strike with a blade. Another arrow came, and another deflection.
“Talk! Talk! Talk!”
It continued to chant as it struck away the arrows.
“Stop Shen Tongtong! We can’t waste our qi.”
“Why? I want to talk! Why? I want to talk! Why? I want to talk!”
The creature tottered back and forth, watching us, and we gathered ourselves in preparation of another charge. It overpowered us individually, and the way it moved made it hard for us to get close. Not to mention the looks of sickness on the faces of the other cultivators…
“That demonic aura is disgusting,” Chen Ai said as she hefted her club. “If I can land one good hit, I’m sure I’ll break bones, but every time I get close it feels as though my mind is boiling.”
Song Shuai nodded.
“It slows me down too much to land a solid hit.”
“I can try and slow it in return,” Ran Qin said nervously. “But you’ll have to protect me.”
I glanced at Song Shuai, who nodded.
“I’ll protect you,” he said with a twirl of his spear. “Just play quickly.”
The demonic spawn watched as Ran Qin pulled out her pipa. She quickly plucked at a haunting melody, something painfully drawn out, but light, like the wind moving through the grass.
“Talk? Talk? Fight…? Talk…? Fight…”
The ever-present smile drooped into a hideous scowl.
“Why?!”
The demonic spawn charged towards Ran Qin.
“We have to pin it down!” I shouted. “If you can hit it from a range, do so; if you can’t, follow me!”
A flaming arrow shot towards it, but it deflected with a saber.
It lashed towards Ran Qin, but Song Shuai grabbed her, and they vanished with a clap of thunder.
The slowing song vanished in that boom, and the creature moved with all its midnight speed once more.
It swung and spun and defelected arrows. The heavy blades cleaved through air and quarts with equal ease.
I charged in, the sword in my hand felt useless, but I couldn’t let them fight alone, especially when their lives were at stake. The old Shen swordsman and Ran Yaliu followed me.
With three of us, we should have had the advantage, but we didn’t know how to fight together, and the demonic spawn wielded the three long sabers as though it were three people standing in one place.
Ran Yaliu moved like the wind, but she was forced to dodge more than she could attack.
The old Shen swordsman exchanged a few blows, his stance and form impeccable, but he lacked the strength to break past the monster's guard, and after it pushed back Ran Yaliu, it focused two blades on him.
I leaped in the way and knocked him aside. He didn’t expect it and stumbled, but a sword struck my arm instead of his head, so I figured he wouldn’t mind. Blood sprayed with the pressure of the air inside me, but I quickly sealed it off.
“Why? Why? Why?”
The creature swung again at me, and I moved into Cabbagy’s stance subconsciously. I swung the jian, but it felt foreign in my hands, and after a saber blow struck it from my hands, I reverted to my hands. A fist is just closed in claws, anyway.
With my body so light, I found it easy to leap up and around the sabers, but though I could get close, I lacked strength. My blows struck the demonic spawn and did nothing. I might as well have been punching the quartz on the ground.
But…
When I lashed out with my hands in an open claw and scratched at the flesh, even though I lacked the power of my blood gloves…
Something jiggled inside me. My reservoir of flesh… loosened.
For just a moment, it unsealed, and I poured muscles into my body with true flesh regeneration. It was only that moment, but it gave me strength.
With reverse transmutation, I turned muscle into blood and formed my gloves. Now, I could fight!
I dodged between blades, flaming arrows flew, the other close combatants weaved in between the sabers, we all struck as hard as we could, and though we barely scratched it, we kept it busy.
And the pipa played, slowing the monster.
Roots of stone burst up from the ground and wrapped around the legs, slowing it for a second as it strained with unearthly strength. Shen Botao held his position, his veins bulging out on his skin.
The stone roots wrapped up the monster’s legs and caught its arms. Arrows burned through the night and punctured its bulging flesh. The demonic spawn laughed, its head twisting around and around and its body following suit with that creaking leather sound. It was mocking us as it wound up for a devastating attack.
We couldn’t let it release that power!
“Hold it, Shen Botao!”
Shen Botao groaned.
Blood flowed from the wound on his chest, and he fell to his knees. The stone roots cracked and shattered. The pipa hung heavy in the air as the demonic spawn batted us away. Its terrible grin split its face until blood spattered the quartz.
Which is when Chen Ai leaped through the air with her club raised over her head like a doomsday meteor.
“I’m going to crush your head!”
