Long Xiyue said softly, "The Dog-Beating Formation requires at least eighteen people to activate. There are a hundred and forty-four around us, making this a grand formation. Everyone, be very careful."
Tang Qingxuan drew her flexible whip and snorted. "Dog-Beating Formation? They're the dogs!"
Hu Xiaotian said, "Help one another and keep yourselves safe. I'll break their formation."
Long Xiyue said, "The Dog-Beating Formation is also called the Dog Character Formation. All its arrangements are based on the character 犬, meaning 'dog.' Its true command center lies at that single dot."
Prompted by her reminder, Hu Xiaotian looked around and realized they stood between the two sweeping strokes of the character 大, caught in a pincer attack. The enemy's command center, meanwhile, was concealed behind the mass of beggars.
The Dog-Beating Staffs in the beggars' hands bent in unison. With a shout, the staffs, curved like bows, sprang toward Hu Xiaotian and his companions. More than a hundred staffs shot inward with piercing whistles, as though fired from powerful crossbows and mighty bows.
Hu Xiaotian shook his saber, conjuring a cloud of light that shredded every incoming Dog-Beating Staff it touched. Long Xiyue struck at the same time. Green shadows flickered around her Green Bamboo Staff, which instantly became more than a dozen staff images, tapping the staffs flying toward her with the speed of thunder before one could cover one's ears. An unbroken series of hollow knocks rang out as she deftly knocked down those force-laden staffs, using four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds.
Tang Qingxuan swung her flexible whip, while the other warriors drew their sabers in unison to block this volley of flying staffs. The beggars who had launched the first attack swiftly scattered. Through the gaps they left, thirty-six beggars charged at their opponents like