"What are you trying to do?" Hua Yaozhu's heart skipped a beat. She had not expected her teacher to move so quickly. Before she could even meet the person delivering the message, she had turned back to leave because of the signal—only to be blocked by the manor's Dark Guards in the blink of an eye.
"By order of the Manor Lord, we ask that Miss cooperate." The masked leader spoke in a low voice. He stepped forward and reached for her wrist.
Smack!
Hua Yaozhu suddenly wrenched herself free. Her whole body rolled like a giant python, shooting through a gap between the masked men.
The leader gave a sinister chuckle. His clawed hand was sharp as an eagle's hook, the muscles in his arm bulging high as though they had swollen several times over. He lunged forward and grabbed.
"By the Manor Lord's order, those who resist shall be killed without mercy!"
His shrill voice rang out at once.
The others attacked simultaneously. They had all cultivated the same Eagle Claw Skill, every pair of hands like iron hooks as they viciously dug for Hua Yaozhu's chest, abdomen, and back. With the strength and cultivation of four men, if they caught hold of her, they could tear bloody holes straight through her organs and bones.
"Break!" Hua Yaozhu had cultivated external martial arts for many years and feared nothing. Her body shuddered fiercely, and her dress exploded into countless scraps, shedding the eagle claws that had touched her. Clad in gray-white **, she burst through the gap and fled twisting into the distance like a true giant python, moving at a speed comparable to an ordinary Inner Family expert!
"Trying to run?!"
The four men hurried after her.
The five raced through the forest, and before long, a figure appeared ahead of Hua Yaozhu.
The figure wore a white dress and a white veil. A cluster of pristine bamboo was embroidered over her chest. It was Snow Bamboo.
"You dare defy the Manor Lord's orders." Snow Bamboo gave a soft laugh, extending her slender hand. Faint white Sword Qi gleamed over her five fingers as she struck with incredible speed. In an instant, she was before Hua Yaozhu's chest.
If that strike landed, it would leave five bloody caverns. With Inner Qi erupting afterward, even an Inner Family expert would have no choice but death.
Unable to evade in time, Hua Yaozhu's eyes reddened as her speed suddenly surged.
"Die!!"
She thrust out her hand and clawed straight at Snow Bamboo.
Clang!
Their claws collided, producing a series of metallic clangs.
Hua Yaozhu cried out in pain and was knocked flying sideways. Yet even in such a crisis, she borrowed the force to flee.
Snow Bamboo merely smiled and chased after her like lightning, flicking her hands as if playing a pipa. Streaks of white Sword Qi shot forth, pursuing Hua Yaozhu's back from three directions.
The two exchanged dozens of blows in midair in rapid succession. Every collision gave off a piercing crash that shook and echoed violently through the forest, making everyone who heard it pale.
Just then.
Ssh!
A red streak suddenly drifted in from afar and struck fiercely at Snow Bamboo's back with a palm.
Bang!
Red mist exploded, and the red figure retreated swiftly.
Snow Bamboo spun away at high speed, taking out a pill bottle with one hand and swallowing a Detoxification Pill. With the other, she drew a talisman and burned it to ash, neutralizing the poison.
"As expected, a Red Pavilion fiend!"
Her gaze beneath the veil was ice-cold.
"Attack."
At her sharp cry, dozens of people rushed out of the forest. All were skilled in lightness arts, swiftly surrounding Hua Yaozhu, who had been about to escape, and the red figure.
Most of the dozens held talisman stones, glaring covetously at the two Red-Clothed Women standing back-to-back in the center.
"Attendant Yao, please take action." Snow Bamboo suddenly bowed from afar toward an empty space to one side.
"Certainly, certainly."
A man's voice suddenly sounded.
Hua Yaozhu and the other woman both changed expression and separated at once.
Ssh!!
A ball of white light shot over like lightning. Just as the two women dodged apart, the white light actually changed direction by itself, curving through the air toward the Red-Clothed Woman.
The woman screamed. Both hands threw out great clouds of red mist, her fingertips growing longer and sharper as she struck repeatedly against the underside of the white light from the side.
The white light revealed its form: it was a silver-white flying sword. Yet what horrified her even more was the dense mass of refinement runes covering the sword.
Bang!!
Blinding white light erupted. The woman was flung away, crashing through a tree trunk before rolling to the ground and coughing up a mouthful of blood.
"Red Pavilion fiend, you dare enter my manor's territory? You don't know whether you live or die!" A white-bearded man slowly emerged from behind a tree trunk.
At the sight, Hua Yaozhu's eyes became even redder, blooming with an eerie, blood-colored brilliance. Two streams of blood slowly ran from her nostrils.
"A Qi Refiner...!" she hissed.
"Yao happened to be free. When I heard there was a chance to hunt Red Pavilion fiends, I rushed over in high spirits. What a pity—it is only an ordinary little Demoness. What a disappointment..."
This manor Qi Refiner was one of the Attendants Lin Xin had kept behind in the manor. He had broken through to the Qi Refining Stage only last year. Both his cultivation and talent were among the finest, and he was an expert the manor had focused on nurturing.
"You're courting death!" Blood seeped from Hua Yaozhu's eyes, and wisps of red mist and bloody aura faintly emanated from her body. The sight made the other man's expression change.
Ssh!
The Red Pavilion's distinctive movement technique unfolded abruptly. She charged straight at the Qi Refiner, far faster than before.
Scarlet radiance more than an inch long burst from her five fingers, dazzling and piercing.
"A great Demoness!?" The cultivator surnamed Yao was greatly startled. He immediately flung out several black stones, drawing swords with both hands at the same time. His twin swords crossed, weaving a net of sword light.
The sword net was torn apart by the red radiance as easily as paper.
The cultivator surnamed Yao retreated explosively. A small white shield of light appeared before him, blocking the red radiance.
With a crash, the Spirit Light Shield shattered into four pieces. The red radiance pierced into the cultivator's chest in a clawing strike.
Bang!
Red mist burst apart, blood mingling with scarlet light.
The cultivator surnamed Yao gave a muffled groan, his chest turning blood-red as his sword blades slashed at Hua Yaozhu's waist, producing two crisp clangs.
The sharp blades could not cut through Hua Yaozhu's skin. Yet the runes on the swords lit up, and with a crack, the collision transformed them into two Azure Serpents. Twisting wildly, they bit down hard on two pieces of flesh at Hua Yaozhu's waist.
"Ah!"
Hua Yaozhu screamed, shaking her opponent away before whirling around and leaping past several people rushing at her. Blood flashed, and several men fell with blood spraying from their throats.
But several talisman swords immediately shot toward her.
Boom!!
Blinding white light exploded, engulfing Hua Yaozhu once again. Before the light faded, she burst out from within it. Her entire body had been blasted charred black, many patches of skin scorched and blistered. Her dress had also burned and shrunk tightly against her body, becoming a blackened mess.
"Capture her! Dead or alive!" Snow Bamboo said coldly. Many manor Dark Guards around her raised talisman swords like spears, preparing to throw them at Hua Yaozhu.
"She isn't Hua Yaozhu! She is a great Red Pavilion Demoness who has possessed her body!!" the cultivator surnamed Yao roared. Someone helped him up as he hurriedly used detoxifying medicine and an Advanced Sweet Rain Talisman to clear the poison.
"A great Demoness? Once you have entered my manor's domain, even if you are the great Demoness Xiao Qingsheng, you will not return!" Snow Bamboo sneered.
Several people took turns throwing talisman swords.
Balls of white light exploded incessantly. Hua Yaozhu dodged left and right, in utter disarray.
"Set the formation!"
Snow Bamboo gave a fierce shout and flicked out a talisman. It shot toward a patch of ground precisely where Hua Yaozhu was about to land.
Boom!
Three talisman swords shot over, explosions erupting in waves without the slightest regard for expenditure.
With the formation in place, the Dark Guards rotated constantly. Their throwing points were unnervingly precise.
Before long, after several consecutive barrages, Hua Yaozhu dove to the ground, covered in blood. She braced herself, trying to rise, but a mouthful of rebellious blood spurted out, leaving her able only to collapse again.
"Is this all you can do?" Snow Bamboo said coldly as she walked before Hua Yaozhu.
Hua Yaozhu lay prone on the ground. Through blurred vision, she raised her head and saw not only Snow Bamboo's boots before her, but also a pair of long black boots patterned with white markings approaching slowly.
She wanted to look up at their owner, but with a bang, Snow Bamboo stepped on her head.
"A great Demoness?" Lin Xin's voice came from above.
He looked down at Hua Yaozhu sprawled at his feet.
"A Red Pavilion undercover agent..."
He then cast an indifferent glance at the other Demoness lying nearby.
"Kill them." He said it casually and turned to leave.
"Yes."
Snow Bamboo gave a cold smile. A longsword appeared in her hand, aimed at Hua Yaozhu's head.
Ssh!
Ssh, ssh!
Suddenly, dozens of red shadows sprang up from forests on all sides. Red mist spread everywhere, encircling everyone from the manor, Snow Bamboo included.
Black-red wooden stakes slowly rose from the ground. Every stake was hung with many tiny infant bones, their ghastly white gleam sending ghostly aura soaring to the heavens. They formed a circle around the area.
Beneath the rising red shadows, vague, indistinct figures also emerged from the ground. They were groups of resentful spirits with blurred faces, closing in on everyone like walking corpses.
"Lin Xin, you killed my disciple back then. Today, you will pay your blood debt in blood!" Amid the red shadows, a woman with disheveled hair and a white mask screamed.
"An ambush?!" Snow Bamboo's expression changed drastically. She stabbed downward with her sword, but struck empty air. Hua Yaozhu had somehow been rescued.
She hurriedly joined the others in keeping watch. Stack after stack of Resentment Energy Talismans were drawn out and burned. The ashes of Sweet Rain Talismans and Poison Avoidance Talismans also gathered in great quantities, forming a thin gray serpent that coiled around them.
Puff!
Countless streams of red mist gathered into hazy red shadows vaguely shaped like people. Together with the lunging Demonesses and resentful spirits, they charged at the group.
For a moment, it was as if the manor's people stood on a lone island battered by surging seawater, surrounded by a blood-red, venomous sea current. Countless waves of red attacked and poured toward them from every direction.
Lin Xin's expression darkened as he lightly rested a hand on his sword hilt.
Ssh!
Countless streaks of white Sword Qi suddenly descended from the sky.
Like raindrops, they continuously struck down the red shadows in the air with sharp hisses. Every streak of Sword Qi was like a spike, stabbing viciously into the ground.
Some Sword Qi even pierced through red shadows and skewered the resentful spirits beneath them as well, finally punching deep holes into the earth.
Lin Xin's hand slowly released the sword hilt. At some point, a burly figure had appeared before him.
"Red Pavilion has come looking for my teacher. But did you ask me first?" Nan Shunqing laughed loudly. His figure shifted from illusion to solidity as he appeared before the manor's people. He had not departed after all, but had remained near the manor.
"Rambunctious Young Master?! Mere junior! Behold my magic treasure!"
The leading great Demoness flew into a rage. With a sweep of her sleeve, a blood-colored ring shot out and smashed directly toward Nan Shunqing.
"You think I fear you!?" Nan Shunqing let out a long howl, thrust out his belly, and a hand tore through his trousers and emerged from within, striking fiercely toward the great Demoness...
Snow Bamboo and several people behind her could not help bursting into laughter. (To be continued.)
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