Kokonoe Shuichi vaguely sensed something amiss. He reined in his horse and fixed his gaze ahead. Blue robes fluttered, and in a flash, the man had already reached him.
It was a young man in his twenties, smiling faintly at him. "Fellow Daoist, please stay!"
Kokonoe Shuichi grew wary, not merely because the stranger had appeared so abruptly and possessed extraordinary bearing, but also because he spoke the language of the Central Lands. His brow rose. "Who are you? Why are you blocking our way?"
As he spoke, the warriors and Blade Guard commanders behind him cast cold, fierce looks at the newcomer. Only Chiyu Xiao trembled and rubbed his eyes, scarcely able to believe what he saw.
Hong Yuan's expression remained unchanged. "I came from the Central Lands and would like to borrow something from you," he said with a smile.
Kokonoe Shuichi's eyes flickered. "Oh? What would you like to borrow?"
At last, Chiyu Xiao cried out hoarsely, "Lord Negi, be careful! This is the man-"
"Your head!"
Hong Yuan abruptly reached out and clawed at the air toward Kokonoe Shuichi and his companions. Whoosh! A sinister wind arose from nowhere, as though sweeping out of the hells of the Nine Hells.
Chiyu Xiao, the Blade Guard, and the accompanying warriors felt an indescribable chill invade them, eating into their bones and dissolving their souls. As their bodies froze rigid, an enormous portal opened in the darkness, like the legendary Gate of the Underworld.
An enormous skeletal hand wreathed in raging black flames reached out, seized their bodies, and squeezed.
Splat!
Like eggs being crushed one after another, Chiyu Xiao, the Blade Guard, and the warriors felt searing agony throughout their bodies as their flesh shattered and sprayed in every direction.
Strangely, they could actually watch themselves being