Get Them Out First

Mo Yifan had not yet let go, but Xu Sheng had already turned back.

"You're going back in?"

"Take the children down the slope. Don't crowd around the entrance. Lu Song, Ren Yu, check your messages!"

He had already sent a message to the team: Deacon Du is pinned down. Bring a shield and vines inside and help me move the beam.

Mo Yifan opened his mouth, but Xu Sheng had already slipped through the entrance into the quarry.

The dust settled slowly, and the torches lit only half the open ground. Ji Juechen stood in front of Du Wenhe, holding his sword across his body to defend him.

Du Wenhe's right leg was trapped beneath a fallen wooden frame, with a block of stone resting on top. Blood continued to seep from the wound on his shoulder as he raised his uninjured hand, still controlling the green vines.

Dong Chang was bleeding from his side as well, but he was nowhere near too badly hurt to stand.

A tail swept toward Ji Juechen, forcing him back two steps. His sword scraped against the stone wall with a sound that made Xu Sheng's ears tighten.

"White Wings? Who told you to come back? Go!"

"The children are all out. Don't move yet. I'll see how to shift this beam."

Xu Sheng stepped over the broken wood on the ground and crouched beside the frame.

The stone was heavier than he had expected. He tried pushing it once, but it did not budge, and Du Wenhe sucked in a sharp breath of pain first.

"Don't push yet. The beam underneath... it's pressing right on my leg."

Xu Sheng stopped immediately and looked along the beam. One end was wedged among the fallen timbers, and two stone slabs hung from the other. If he pushed it aside recklessly, they would only come crashing down.

Dong Chang saw Xu Sheng enter and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Now I don't have to go out and find you."

Ji Juechen did not answer, but the edge of his iron sword grew sharper still.

Dong Chang flicked out a claw, knocking the sword tip aside. He stepped halfway in and slammed his shoulder forward. Ji Juechen was forced to roll to the side, several fresh cuts appearing in his sleeve.

Rather than go around the frame, Xu Sheng kicked away a swaying short timber on its side and hid his sword behind a broken beam.

Dong Chang turned in pursuit of Ji Juechen. Just as his long tail swept past the edge of the frame, a crimson-gold flash of sword light slashed out through a gap in the wood!

Scales flew.

The blade sliced through two scales on the side of his tail, opening a bloody gash. Dong Chang jerked in pain and lashed his tail, sending wood chips and fragments of stone flying.

Xu Sheng spread his white wings to protect his head and face. A blow struck his shoulder and back, making him suck in a breath.

But he did not retreat.

He thrust his steel sword through another gap, and Dong Chang checked his stride, no longer coming straight around. Ji Juechen seized that instant to regain his footing, bringing his sword tip back toward Dong Chang's throat.

"Little brat!" Dong Chang glanced down at the blood on his tail, his expression turning ugly.

Xu Sheng kept his eyes fixed on Dong Chang's feet.

One ring can't take on three rings head-on, so make him run into the frame first! With all these broken beams piled up in front of us, why insist on standing out in the open and taking a beating?

Du Wenhe panted and reached out to catch the hem of Xu Sheng's clothes.

"Have the children left?"

"They have. Yifan's watching them. Please let go first. I can't move it like this."

Xu Sheng looked down and pulled his hem free from beside the beam, then reached for the spot where it pinned Du Wenhe's right leg. Two stone slabs were stacked behind the beam. He had to make them fall toward the empty side before the leg could be pulled out.

He looked up and shouted to Ji Juechen:

"Ji Juechen, move to the east side of the frame. Don't let him come straight over!"

The boy shifted two steps, his sword tip still pointed at Dong Chang.

Lu Song was the first to squeeze in through the entrance, his shield scraping against the rock wall. Ren Yu followed close behind him.

"Yifan took the children down the slope." Lu Song caught his breath. "How do we move it?"

Xu Sheng glanced at the shield in Lu Song's hand.

"Save him first. Lu Song, block this side. Don't let falling stones hit him. Ren Yu, wind your vines behind the beam. Once I cut through the short brace, pull left and let the stone fall onto the open ground."

Ren Yu crouched, found the position and gave the vines a test pull.

"It's too heavy. I can't pull it by myself."

"You don't need to lift it. Once the brace breaks, it'll fall on its own. Just guide it in the right direction."

"All right, go ahead."

Seeing them try to move Du Wenhe, Dong Chang advanced again.

Ji Juechen's second yellow ring lit up. He raised his soul power once more and stepped forward, thrusting his sword straight at Dong Chang's throat. Dong Chang tilted his head aside, then caught the blade in his claw.

The iron sword let out a piercing scrape.

Ji Juechen did not continue pressing against him. He withdrew his sword and retreated to the side of the frame. Dong Chang pursued him, only for a bundle of tough vines to appear at his feet.

This time, he did not rush to tear them apart. He went around them first, then swept his tail at the people beside the frame.

"Deacon Du, hold him with your vines!"

Du Wenhe sent his green vines along the ground, past the frame, and wrapped them around Dong Chang's ankle from behind. Dong Chang raised a claw to cut them, but Ji Juechen's sword was already closing in on the side of his neck.

The two of them bought Xu Sheng that little bit of time.

Xu Sheng brought his sword down on the short brace.

Crimson Holy Judgment flashed for an instant, and the brace snapped.

The stone tipped. Ren Yu gritted her teeth and pulled on the vines while Lu Song raised his shield to block the fragments falling toward Du Wenhe. The beam slowly shifted a little, and Xu Sheng immediately supported Du Wenhe's back and dragged him out.

The stone slab beside them crashed to the ground just as his right leg came free.

Lu Song's shoulders jolted, and the face of his shield nearly struck his own. A yellow ring lit up beneath his feet, and Profound Armor Body Protection held against the impact, keeping him from dropping to his knees.

Seeing that Du Wenhe was free, Ren Yu released the vines and hurried over to support his other side.

"I'll hold him on this side."

Only then did Xu Sheng see that Du Wenhe's right leg had swollen. At the slightest movement, his toes drooped uncontrollably.

"Don't let him put his foot down. We'll carry him between us."

When Dong Chang heard that, his face darkened completely.

The children were already gone. If the deacon was taken out too, he would not have a single person left to use as a bargaining chip.

His third, purple ring lit up. He moved swiftly through the shadows, circling the frame and closing in on Xu Sheng.

"Get down!"

Ji Juechen rushed over, thrusting his sword past Xu Sheng's shoulder.

Xu Sheng ducked. The tip of a claw grazed the base of a wing on his back, hurting so much that he nearly let go of Du Wenhe. Lu Song thrust his shield over, and Ren Yu reached out to catch Du Wenhe as well, keeping the two of them from falling together.

Xu Sheng turned and called for Mo Yifan. A moment later, an answer came from outside the cave.

"The children are all down the slope. Deacon Tang's taking them away. I came back to help!"

"Don't come up. Send the signal first, then take Deacon Du down!"

Earlier, the children had still been in the yard. If a distress signal had gone up, the people guarding them would have been alerted first. Now the children had been taken away, and reinforcements were on their way outside. This was the perfect chance to light up the quarry for them!

Mo Yifan stood outside the cave, pointed the signal tube issued for fieldwork upward and pulled the cord.

With a shrill sound, a red light rose over the scattered rocks into the night sky.

Xu Sheng glanced at the opening behind Dong Chang and suddenly raised his voice:

"There's someone else on the west side! The one with the short blade-don't let him escape!"

No one answered from the west.

But Ye Xiao, standing at the western opening, had stopped in his tracks. He looked at the red light overhead, and his expression gradually changed.

At dusk, they had seen only five people and thought they could keep them all there. Now the hall's distress signal had gone up. Who knew how many had already arrived outside?

He craned his neck to look beyond the wall. The longer he looked, the more it seemed as though people were hiding in the shadows. He no longer dared touch the chest of awakening equipment he had originally meant to go back for. Turning, he kept close to the foot of the wall and circled toward a hidden path farther away.

Xu Sheng saw him and felt slightly relieved.

He had finally scared that tail away, saving them the trouble of being blocked at both ends.

He was helping Du Wenhe into the tunnel, and with every step, the wound on his arm throbbed. Ji Juechen was the last to retreat into the narrow passage. A notch had appeared in his sword, and the blood from his shoulder had already soaked through his clothes.

Xu Sheng saw that the wound was still seeping blood, and his heart tightened.

"What happened to your shoulder?"

"Get Deacon Du out first! Lu Song and I will hold him off."

Ji Juechen turned sideways, allowing Lu Song to bring his shield to the front.

"All right. Don't push yourself too hard. I'll be right back."

Xu Sheng helped Du Wenhe farther in, making room for the two of them at the entrance.

The ground suddenly shook beneath their feet.

Dong Chang slammed into the shield. Lu Song braced his back against the stone wall, his face turning pale. Green vines curled around the edge of the shield and wound around Dong Chang's forearm. Ji Juechen immediately thrust at the skin exposed behind his claw.

Dong Chang was forced to pull his hand back, but he still blocked the narrow passage.

The sloping path behind them was still open, but Tang Heng was injured and the children were moving slowly. If Dong Chang chased after them, no one would be able to stop him.

"Ren Yu, hand Deacon Du over to Yifan and go down with him! Lu Song, let's hold on a little longer!"

Mo Yifan took Du Wenhe outside the cave. Ren Yu supported his other side, protecting his injured leg as they went down the slope.

Xu Sheng watched them leave the cave, then turned back to the shield.

"They're retreating down the slope. You guard the right, and I'll take the left. We'll hold until they're far enough away, then retreat."

Ji Juechen stepped half a pace to the right.

"His tail sweeps in low. Watch your feet."

The sound of hooves suddenly came from outside the cave.

Dong Chang was the first to look back.

"Everyone in the cave, get back!"

Hearing the familiar voice, Xu Sheng finally let out a little of the breath he had been holding.

Shen Zhaolin had arrived.

At dusk, a traveling hall member had set out with a message and ridden swiftly along the official road to Soto. Upon receiving the report, Shen Zhaolin had hurried back with several guards. When they reached this stretch of mountain road, they happened to see the signal rise and were able to pinpoint the quarry.

From the time the message was sent until now, it had grown late into the night.

Dong Chang stopped trying to force his way into the cave and turned to run into the darkness. Two yellow and two purple soul rings lit up around Shen Zhaolin, and the Stone Armor Bear's thick armor covered his shoulders and back. In a few strides, he cut off Dong Chang's retreat.

A claw struck the thick armor, but Shen Zhaolin's hand had already clamped onto Dong Chang's shoulder.

The two crashed into the yard, knocking over several pieces of stone in succession. By the time Xu Sheng came out, supporting himself against the cave wall, Dong Chang had already been pinned down, and the guards were helping tie him up.

Xu Sheng did not go over. Once the guards took over at the cave entrance, he and Lu Song helped Ji Juechen down the rear slope.

The children had been met at the fork in the official road by hall guards who had rushed over, and Mo Yifan and Ren Yu had helped Du Wenhe to the roadside as well. The hall guards took out their medicine packs and tended to the two deacons' wounds first.

Xu Sheng had Ji Juechen sit down first. The boy lowered himself slowly, and when Xu Sheng reached out to help, he discovered that even his right hand was trembling slightly.

"Give me the sword. You can't keep gripping it with that hand."

Ji Juechen let go. The notch in the iron sword stood out under the light.

"That last grab of his nearly broke it."

Ji Juechen looked down at the sword, his hand still reaching to touch the notch.

Xu Sheng moved the sword a little farther away.

"I'm asking how you got hurt."

"His claw grazed me when I blocked it. It's not deep."

Xu Sheng reached to undo the cloth over his shoulder. He had barely pulled it open when he saw the blood stuck to the fabric. Ji Juechen's fingers curled, and he left the rest of his words unspoken.

And he called this not deep?

Xu Sheng stopped and called to the side, "Mo Yifan, bring the medicine pack over here first and take a look at this!"

"Coming. You sit down too, and don't move around."

Mo Yifan came over carrying the medicine pack and pointed behind Xu Sheng.

Only then did Xu Sheng try to withdraw his Martial Soul. After his white wings disappeared, the pain from the injury at their base still throbbed along his shoulders and back. It had not disappeared with the wings at all.

He drew a breath and sat down beside Ji Juechen, taking a cloth and pressing it to the wound.

"I thought it would feel better once I put them away. Why hasn't the pain lessened at all?"

He tried to look at the wound on his back, but had only turned halfway before sitting back down. A hall guard came over just then and told each of them to keep pressure on their wounds, then lowered his head to examine Ji Juechen's shoulder first.

Ji Juechen glanced at the cloth stuck to the wound and said quietly, "Tear it off. It's fine."

Xu Sheng listened beside him, slowly wiped the still-dripping blood from the sword and put it into its wrapping cloth.

Halfway through wrapping it, Xu Sheng looked up at Ji Juechen. The hall guard was soaking the cloth loose with medicinal liquid, and even the basin of water he had brought over had turned red.

He lowered his head, finished tying the half-made knot and held the bundle in his hand.

"I'll get you a sturdier one when we get back," he said quietly.

Ji Juechen turned to look at the sword, but Xu Sheng had already pressed a hand down on the bundle.

"I know. I won't throw it away. Let's patch up your shoulder first. You can look at the sword later."

Nearby, Du Wenhe heard them and opened his eyes with difficulty.

"Did all the children make it down?"

"All eight. Not one missing." Xu Sheng pointed toward the roadside. "Deacon Tang and that mother are with them. They can leave once the carriage arrives."

"And that set of awakening equipment-don't leave it in there..."

"The guards already found it." Xu Sheng moved the cloth bundle of equipment that had just been brought over to where Du Wenhe could see it. "It's all here. Get some rest. I'll watch it for you."

Du Wenhe looked at the bundle, then at the children by the roadside. At last, he slowly closed his eyes.