Chapter 28 - Big bad kitty cat, very mad then sad (Patreon)

[Table of Contents]

Chapter 28 - Big bad kitty cat, very mad then sad

“Woof!” Su Xiya whimpered a sorrowful cry, reaching the grey streak a third of a second too late. “Woof! woof!”

She got up, then glared at the revealed Imperfect Heaven 3rd order dusk valley lion with abhorrence. A signal beacon left her storage artefact, the flying fox origami rising up and exploding in the sky.

“GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!”

The fiend radiated not an ounce of hatred less. Its prided tail was missing a third of the way through, severed off as when its aura sent Yung flying; the sword got all the momentum it needed to cleave right through. Not to mention the other damage. Alas, for it would sire cubs no longer.

“Fucking luck!” Maque cursed at the sheer stupid turn of events.

The fiend roared bleary-eyed, dark qi gathering in its maw.

Dusk Valley Roar!

Elder Gangkai’s bastion of talismans blocked the sinister wave for a second before collapsing. That was all the time Maque needed to move out of the way.

His two subordinate Imperfect Heaven 2nd realm cultivators stepped beside him.

“Boss!”

“I know; take the kids and leave.” Maque said.

“But—”

“Don’t bark back! If we get distracted, we all die!”

The two nodded reluctantly and picked Ziyou Ling and Youjin Chun up.

“Elder Gangkai!”

“Pa?”

“We buy time.” Elder Gangkai said. “Take Chao.”

“We can’t,” When one of the two madlanders tried to touch the weird artefact that shielded Youjin Chao, his hand sizzled.

“Leave him.”

Maque brought out two large axes from his storage artefact.

“Alright, beasty, I’ve killed fiends more vicious than you. I ain’t about to bite the arrow here!”

He ran in, the earth cracking in his wake.

He hoisted one axe high up and one below.

Five fold earth cracking assault!

Pouring Origin qi into his dao shards, Maque spun, and he began the fight with one of his strongest compound martial arts. The blades hit the chaosfiend like a windmill of pure violence.

“Roar!”

The dusk valley lion recoiled before pouncing away with no apparent injuries, only a little groggy from the hit.

Su Xiya threw a talisman at it with her tiny paws.

A golden cage trapped the lion inside. It bashed against the walls, but currents of golden electricity stopped it.

Meanwhile, Youjin Gangkai had finished charging up his dao shard too.

Dim gold severance, first form!

He swung his sword, and tens of Dim gold threads cut at the trapped creature from all directions. Like a rack of bladed wires shredding a fruit to ribbons, but the threads were stopped by the powerful dusk-coloured hide.

“Dodge!”

Maque shouted, and Youjin Gangkai dove out of the way of the second Dusk valley roar.

Su Xiya kept throwing talisman after talisman at the lion. The fiend roared again, trying to barge out of the replenishing restraints. The fox yao jumped over the head of the larger cat, slashing down with her claws.

Six tiny gashes appeared on the fiend's back, and with sizzling smoke, the wounds started withering.

“Nice!” Maque cheered.

The gashes healed faster than they withered.

“Fuck it!” He threw a spear straight at the beast’s eye.

The dusk valley lion dodged, then shot another wave of dark qi.

Straight at Youjin Chao’s shielded body.

“Young Chao!” Maque tried to save him, but it was too late.

The beam hit the reflective surface, which broke, throwing a bewildered boy out like a kicked pebble.

The dusk valley lion recoiled, blasting backwards and hitting the golden cage with an electric screech. When it got up, Maque saw that half of its face had melted, the residual chaotic qi eating away at its flesh.

“GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!”

It howled, the qi in its body going berserk.

Youjin Gangkai and Su Xiya didn’t miss the chance.

The burly Youjin elder zoomed past the small fox and stopped right under the large fiend’s neck, and pierced up.

His sword failed to skewer the fiend’s hide, but that wasn’t the objective.

Dim gold severance, fourth form!

Hundreds of qi shockwaves in the form of tiny Dim gold silk entered the fiend’s throat and turned the muscle inside into mush.

The fiend lashed out before it cried, its qi-covered paws hitting Youjin Gangkai like a battering ram.

The Youjin Elder flew straight through ten trees before coming to a halt.

But the fiend hadn’t won.

Maque took the opening to jump, and was now mid-air above the creature. He took out spear after spear and threw them at the beast like ballistic artillery, his arms straining with Origin qi as his martial art did its deed.

Sevenfold meteor spear!

The spears, surrounded by intense fire and earth qi, hit the dusk valley lion one after another at precisely the same spot. The final spear piercing straight in.

But the beast had aimed its maw upward, and Maque couldn’t dodge.

Dusk valley roar!

Ten thick waves of chaotic qi spread out. Maque gathered his Origin qi and hit the air, trying to move out. But it was impossible.

A large explosion rocked the sky, and Maque fell down like a rag doll.

Elder Gangkai caught him before he impacted the ground.

"This is bad," The burly elder said. His left arm was bent out of shape, and a giant claw slash was across his sternum.

“Yeah, and water be wet.” The gang leader spat out a mouthful of blood and innards. His whole body was charred, flesh melting like goo. And worse, both his feet from the calf down were a mangled mess. He couldn’t fight anymore. The pain was unimaginable, but Maque was a Origin qi user, so he would bite through it.

The dusk valley lion was in no better shape. It had finally broken through the restraints, but half its face was melted. Its fur sizzled from Su Xiya's barrage of talismans. Its throat was mutilated, and a large spear stuck out of its back. It had probably pierced through its spine. But as luck would have it, the dusk valley lion could still limp, meaning its spinal cord was uninjured.

It grinned sinisterly before vanishing from sight. Four large clones appeared a second later with the exact same wounds.

“Bastard. It was pretending to be a normal pride of Dusk valley lions.”

“A new tactic.”

Maque nodded. This creature was the typical shrewd coward. Strong to the weak but weak to the strong. But it was careful, if nothing else.

It was known to play with its prey like a typical house cat, torturing its victims until their minds gave out before going for the kill.

But this illusion ability. It was new.

The foliage rustled, and Youjin Chao walked out, limping.

“Young Chao.” Maque acknowledged. Youjin Gangkai gave the injured teen a nod.

“Uncle Maque, Elder Gangkai.” The teen spoke with a roughed-up voice, bleeding from all orifices.

Four Dusk valley roars shot towards them.

The vambrace on Chao’s arm expanded, creating a reflective tower shield.

The beams swerved aside at the last moment.

Youjin Chao clicked his tongue, “It’s learning.”

The dusk valley lion’s clones circled their small defensive position. It purred, growled, and coughed but didn’t approach.

“It’s taunting us,” Youjin Chao said.

“Can you even take on another shot?” Maque asked, popping some healing elixirs.

“We will have to find out,” Youjin Chao replied.

“To rely on a child.” Youjin Gangkai sat down in a sombre mood.

Su Xiya came running with a scroll in her mouth. She gave it to Maque, then unloaded the rest of her talismans and plopped down on her side.

All out of battery.

“To rely on a puppy.” Youjin Gangkai’s mood grew worse. But he picked up a scroll, injected Spirit qi into it, and threw it at one of the clones.

The Lion pounced away, but the thunderbolt hit it square in the middle. It vanished into a poof of smoke.

Another lion appeared, a big, monstrous grin on its face.

“Bastard of nine fathers!” Maque cursed, sitting up. He powered up some defensive talismans from the pile with his remaining Origin qi. A shimmering barrier appeared, covering them in multiple layers.

Beam after beam of dusky qi hit the construct. Maque hit qi depletion and spat out more blood.

“Woof.” Su Xiya bounced, her tail plucked up.

The three men and four lions turned eastward towards Dim Gold City.

There, in the sky, was an expressionless woman sitting upon a giant floating fan.

Su Yafeng, the cavalry, had arrived.

***

Chao stared, his jaws agape. Mouth moving, yet only groans coming out. He had trouble breathing.

“By the mad heavens,” Ziyou Maque panted too, “That missy is angry.”

Youjin Gangkai could only nod.

The world had taken on a blueish incandescence as the fog rolled like the deep sea. The mist, laden with thick wind qi, covered hundreds of meters of the surrounding forest in streams of azure.

The trees toppled, and the dusky clouds flew. Dust rolled up, only to be blown away with the leaves.

A sweet, refreshing scent tickled Chao’s nose.

The dusk valley lion yelped, snarling at the sudden intruder, but all its clones, including the hidden main body, vanished the next second.

“It ran!”

An oversized silhouette of the dusk valley lion appeared in the windy blue world.

It was invisible, but its movement disturbed the fog, making its route obvious.

The fiend noticed the anomaly too.

Three more silhouettes appeared and disturbed the wind.

“The clones are tangible!” Chao muttered. No wonder the feedback from his sword felt so real.

“Woof,” Su Xiya’s call was tired.

"Understood." Su Yafeng said, her mellow voice ringing throughout the forest like the chime of a bronze bell, and she swung her fan gently as though she was caring for a sleeping child.

The wind streams roiled. They formed hundreds of azure foxes made up of dark vortexes. They dove at the fleeing silhouettes from all directions. Clawing, gnawing, severing.

"Graaaaaaarrww!" Cried the Dusk valley lion, the monarch of the forest. It was its last howl of despair, as each silhouette was ripped to shreds by a thousand angry foxes, and the Imperfect Heaven 3rd order chaosfiend was no more.

***

They had been searching for an hour, with no sight of Yung.

"How far did he fly?" Ziyou Ling asked. The group rejoined after the dusk valley lion fell to Su Yafeng. They were making their way west, trying to locate the missing teen.

The Youjin clan had also seen Su Xiya’s beacon. The patriarch himself came rushing with four elders and two of the hired mercenaries wearing outfits with starry sky motifs.

As did the Free sparrow fiendhunting guild’s forces.

“This one doubts if he is alive,” Youjin Chun said as a matter of fact. She was then growled at viciously by Su Xiya.

The smaller fox now played with the Imperfect Heaven 3rd Grade fiendcore like it was a ball. She rolled it around, sniffed it, and then sat on it.

Ziyou Maque, Youjin Gangkai, and every cultivator there sent the core hungry looks. But no one dared to approach, with a pouting Su Yafeng sitting by the playing fox kit, fanning her dutifully.

“Brother Yung is alive!” Chao said. Youjin Chun’s face lit up at the boy finally acknowledging her. But Chao’s eyes didn’t look friendly. “I do not wish to hear you speak badly about someone who risked his life to save me.”

“I—” Youjin Chun opened her mouth, then closed it. Her eyes cast downward.

Chao faced Ziyou Maque and Youjin Gangkai, “I saw a barrier appear right before Brother Chao vanished. It protected him.”

“Same ‘ere,” Ziyou Maque replied. His feet were bandaged with treasured herbs and elixir creams. A normal person would be disabled for life after such an injury, but his Origin qi would heal his wounds with time. “That lad must’ve gone totally invisible by instinct at the sheer shock. If it didn't already, this bad habit will kill him one day.”

Su Xiya trotted forwards and bit Ziyou Maque’s palm.

“Ouch! Hey, stop that. I mean, this one begs for forgiveness! The lad is definitely alive.”

Su Xiya harrumphed and released the hand.

“Woof!” Her ears perked up.

She jumped and disappeared behind a bush.

"We found him." Su Yafeng muttered, standing up and tucking away the picnic mat. She walked opposite the direction Su Xiya had gone.

Chao hesitated for a second before he followed Su Xiya; Ziyou Ling and “Youjin Chun ran after him.

“We shall look after them,” Youjin Liu said, “Youjin Gangkai and Leader Free Sparrow should remain here. This place is close to the cave and the other Imperfect Heaven 2nd and 3rd order fiends, but our scouts can observe the area if you can remain properly hidden.”

“Aye,” Ziyou Maque waved his hand, “Bring the lad back.”

The search party continued westward, cutting through thorns and branches.

They passed the periphery area of the forest, approaching the middle sections where stronger fiends roamed. Imperfect Heaven 2nd order fiends weren’t uncommon here, as was proven by the menacing roars ringing out every few seconds.

Chaosfiend and voidfiends warred without regard for their lives. The sky changed from dusk to dawn, and to dusk again, signifying that they had traversed multiple domains with either voidrifts or chaos-springs.

The group moved fast whilst keeping their presence hidden. But after ten minutes, Su Xiya turned back.

“Woof!” She yelped, digging up a weird-looking tuber pulsing with Origin qi and putting it in her storage artefact. She turned around, looking at the bunch following her in confusion.

“You! You!… came looking for the ginseng?” Chao asked incredulously.

Su Xiya woofed. She hid her flushed snout with her fluffy tail, then ran back in the same direction they came from.

The group looked at each other.

They re-tread the path, passed by the clearing where the injured rested, and ended up about only fifty meters from where they fought the dusk valley lion.

There, up on a tree, dangling from a vine by his feet, was Ziyou Yung, as awake as a comatose rock. His mouth was open, saliva dripping down as he spun clockwise and counter-clockwise, the vine rocking him like a pendulum.

Su Yafeng stood underneath, looking at the scene with interest. Lord yaoguai was seated on her head, grasping a sound transmission token with its six fuzzy paws.

“I mean, he was thrown away by a random qi aftershock, not flung with full force.” Ziyou Ling muttered, “How could’ve he ended up kilometres away? I feel dumb.”

“Shush.” Su Yafeng said, “You might wake him.” In her hand was a scene capturing token, aimed straight at the unconscious teen. On her face was the first smile anyone there had seen her show.