Chapter 341
Xinyi gathered everyone in the main chamber. 18 Resonants and 42 Attuned stared back at her. Under each of their masks was a kid was a kid who's supposed to be going through college just about now. Four had gone missing. Most likely dead.
"Listen carefully," Xinyi said. "There's a Beggar Sect squad doing beggar things outside this cave. They're luring our patrols out and killing off the inner disciples one by one."
Murmurs spread through the disciples. Even their voices sounded so young.
"They're targeting the inner disciples specifically," Xinyi continued. "Weakening our numbers before making a larger move. This was typical beggar tactics. Eliminate the main forces first before mowing the rest."
"Elder Zhou, what are your orders?" #1 asked.
"All Resonants will stay inside this cave and create a detection array at every entrance. No one leaves without my explicit permission." Xinyi's eyes pointed at every entrance of the cavern they stayed in. "I'll take 6 outer disciples to patrol the area and investigate what's happening out there."
The outer disciples looked at one another, probably hoping they wouldn't be chosen. Unfortunately for them, Xinyi didn't have much choice here. She continued, "based on the fact that only one squad lost its inner disciples, it means there's only one assassin. Or at least one small squad of assassins working together. If there were more, multiple patrols would have been hit by now. This is a surgical operation, not a full invasion."
"Elder Zhou, that's too dangerous. At least take 2 inner disciples with you. If the assassin is strong enough to kill Resonants without detection, then it could pose a problem for you." #1 stepped up, head held up high.
"Stand down," Xinyi said, flaring her signature to bear down on him. "The order is final."
It was the most efficient way. No child to bother her during her patrol route, other than the 6 outer disciples. She at least needed them to give an excuse to the Grand Elders in case she gets asked why she didn't bring in any 'meat shields'.
#1 bowed his head, and said, "I'll have another cup of coffee ready for you by the time you get back, Elder Zhou."
"Good." Xinyi turned to the outer disciples. "Numbers 35 through 40. You're with me. Everyone else, stay here and follow #1's orders until I return."
6 disciples separated from the group. 2 female, 4 male. All of them were Early to Mid-Attuned. Cannon fodder, essentially. Hopefully, she wouldn't need to use them as such.
Moving through the cave exit, they followed her as she led them through the dark tunnels. Xinyi squeezed through gaps between boulders and ducked under sharp rock formations from the top. Vaulting over a ledge, they emerged into the canyon.
The foreign night sky stretched over them. Canyon walls rose on either side, orange-red stone that had risen over millennia of rainfall and dry spells. Multiple cave entrances dotted the cliff faces, most were natural, some carved out by the wild life that were mostly worms.
This entrance was one of the more discrete ones, hidden behind multiple giant boulders and hard to find unless you knew exactly where to look. The Grand Elder had found this cave entrance as it led to the largest veins of blue green gems.
Xinyi extended her spirit sense. She saw nothing, for now, as no signatures or movement could be sensed from her surroundings. Whoever the assassin was, they knew how to hide.
"Stay close," Xinyi said. "Don't speak unless I ask you a direct question."
She led them toward #11's patrol route.
The path wound along the canyon floor, following the base of the western cliff. It had a large ledge, wide enough that multiple people could fit side by side.
There was no possible way that disciples of a Jiuling sect would fall randomly from a ledge this wide.
#11's squad had been assigned this route because it covered the approaches from the spike field. If anyone tried to enter the canyon from that direction, they would have been spotted.
That was the working theory, and it didn't work.
Xinyi found their tracks easily enough. Boot prints in the sand. 4 sets, walking in formation.
The tracks continued for about 200 metres before they changed.
The formation broke. The prints became erratic, scattered. Signs of sudden movement. From the looks of the prints, there was no struggle. Instead, all 3 had their training kicked in. Whenever an ambush was to happen, the strongest one would be in the front while the weaker ones covered the rear.
They were supposed to go back to the meeting point if there were any anomalies, but they chose to continue their patrol.
Xinyi didn't understand that one. There was no point in trying to locate the hostiles if they didn't come back from the patrol. Luckily, the hostiles didn't seem to care about the outer disciples.
The remaining tracks led to a cliff's edge, where the second inner disciple was snatched away, leaving only two sets of footprints belonging to the outer disciples.
Xinyi crouched at the edge, enhancing her vision with spirit sense. At the very edge of the cliff, that's where she saw it. It was almost invisible to the naked eye, a slight depression in the sand. A footprint, but not a normal one. The distribution was all wrong, too light as if whoever made it defied gravity.
Core disciples without spirit sense wouldn't have noticed this. Even most Resonants would have missed it. The print was barely there, just a slight displacement of sand where someone had stepped.
"Is something wrong, Elder Zhou?" #35 asked from behind her.
"Shut up. I'm concentrating."
Xinyi traced the footprint with her eyes, following the trail it led to. Another depression. Then another. Each one lighter than the last, spaced at an alarmingly wide space from each other. She couldn't tell whether this person was running or walking.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
Whoever made these tracks had completely different footwork from the Beggar sect that she knew. Could they have evolved? Those beggars always had hidden manuals from their constant spying.
Xinyi followed the trail.
The footprints led her along the cliff edge for another 50 meters before turning. The trail descended, following a narrow path down the canyon wall. #11's patrol route would have covered this spot too, as it was the area that had the highest chance of infiltration from the spikey region.
If the beggars were already here, the transportation array should also be compromised, along with the spatial distortion array. Of all the times these beggars chose, they were giving her a tough time with a mission that was supposed to be her escape.
Climbing down with the 6 outer disciples, the trail continued to the base of the canyon that wove between sudden drops and edges, each still marked with the same slight depression. Xinyi followed it, spirit sense guiding her.
Finally, the canyon stone gave way to the sand dunes that led to the spiked region. Without the transportation array, it would take a couple of days to move through the wide sand dunes.
The spikes were also a gold mine for the blue green gems, but the place was indefensible to hostile forces, thus, the Grand Elders chose not to mine that area.
Xinyi noticed an unnatural mound had formed on the sand. Crouching down, she dug it out with her fingers. Inside the mound was a dead wormling. Its body crushed by what looked like a hand, as if grabbed at the centre and squeezed.
Wormlings don't just randomly die with their guts completely spilled out like a toothpaste tube. For one to be lying here... did the beggars bury it here?
Xinyi's spirit sense caught a slight disturbance in the sand in front of her.
Before the disciples could say anything, she raised her finger to her lips to silence them.
Wormlings burst from the ground.
A dozen of them launched themselves at Xinyi's face, circular mouths gaping, rows of teeth dripping with mucus. They jumped out of the sand fast like it was water to them.
Blood Qi surged around her.
Xinyi didn't even need to draw her sword. The crimson energy flowed from her body in razor-thin streams, slicing through each wormling as they flew toward her. Bodies split in half. Green blood sprayed across the sand.
A thought of 'this is too easy' crossed her mind. That was when the sand in front of her exploded. Wormlings flooded the area they stood in, pouring out like a living tide of bodies, writhing over each other.
Without even saying anything, the 6 outer disciples moved into a defensive formation with Xinyi at the forefront. Each of them showcased the rigid forms of the Blood Blade sword, sending out tens of sharp Blood Qi outwards that cleaved multiple wormlings at once.
Xinyi joined in, this time drawing her sword to maximize her Qi efficiency rather than wasting it on sharpening her ambient Qi.
But something was wrong.
This was no random swarm. Wormlings didn't coordinate like this. They were ambush predators, not pack hunters. They didn't flood an area in waves. They didn't attack from multiple directions simultaneously. It was the goddamn beggars again, finding a way to herd these wormlings.
Xinyi's eyes shifted left and right. Her spirit sense focused around her for any sudden movement from a hidden beggar.
Still nothing.
"Cover me!" Xinyi shouted. "The beggars are after me! Stay in formation and don't let anything through!"
The outer disciples moved their swords along with their Blood Qi to kill the wormlings as they created a circle around Xinyi. When a wormling broke through the formation from the top, it was then that #36 was grabbed by something and disappeared.
Xinyi caught a glimpse of his terrified face just as the assailant grabbed him.
Launching herself at #36's still visible signature, she chased wherever this thing was taking him. #36 was one of the younger ones in her squad. She just turned 18 last month too.
#36 was just a meat shield. This would lead her to the culprit that was messing with her mission. That's what Xinyi told herself. A clear lie, otherwise there was no way she would have memorized each of their numbers a day before being sent out on this mission by the Grand Elder.
Xinyi pushed herself faster. The canyon surface blurred past her. Then the thing took a sharp right turn towards the sand dunes, away from the canyon.
She knew it was a trap, but a gamble to kill this son of a bitch that was delaying her freedom. Probably even save #36, not that she cared or anything.
The sand dunes rose around her as she ran. The rocky terrain of the canyon had completely disappeared as they entered the waves upon waves of sand dunes. Glancing back once, she saw the canyon only through her spirit sense enhanced vision.
It was around 8 kilometres away now, and the thing had no sign of slowing down. At this speed, it would mean that the culprit was at least at Harmonic.
Then it stopped, throwing #36 onto the top of the sand dune. Xinyi skidded to a halt just above #36's unconscious body.
Footsteps in the sand moving away from the body. Light impressions, barely visible, and disappearing after cresting the dune.
Xinyi looked back down at #36. It was too late anyway. Chasing that thing without holding another human was practically impossible. Hoisting her up onto her left shoulder, she held her steady with one arm while her right hand drew her sword.
Suddenly, wormlings burst from the sand once more, coming from every direction, dozens of them at a time. Their circular teeth spun within their mouths as a greenish liquid splashed out of their mouths.
Taking one deep breath, her sword moved like a blur. To an outsider, it would be as if her sword didn't move from her side. The only evidence of movement was the sharp Blood Qi that was sent out in a flurry all around her.
All the wormlings that came out of the sand were instantly cut up by her blade. Yet this horde seemed to be never-ending. All Xinyi could do was wait until it was all over.
For minutes that seemed like forever, she kept sending out barrage after barrage of crimson crescents at the horde. Her Qi reserves were deep, yet going all out for minutes on end without conserving.
Finally, the tide slowed. The surviving wormlings retreated, burrowing back into the sand. The area around Xinyi was carpeted with shredded corpses of wormlings and green blood.
Allowing herself to take a moment to breathe, she looked at where her spirit sense directed her.
5 signatures approaching from the direction of the canyon. They were the outer disciples she had left behind, all of them looking horrified at the slaughter that had transpired.
"You fools!" Xinyi shouted. "I told you to hold your position!"
"Elder Zhou, the wormlings retreated after you left! We can't just leave you behind!"
"I gave you an order-"
Again, her spirit sense told her of one more thing arriving. When things go bad, it gets worse. When it's already worse, it becomes even worse.
A mystic stage signature, moving within the sand dunes, approached them from the direction of the spiked region.
That thing was fast, faster than her, faster than the idiot outer disciples that had just turned their mistake into suicide.
Xinyi threw the body at #35 who caught the unconscious disciple by the collar.
"Leave!" Xinyi shouted. "All of you get back the cave! Now!"
#37 drew her sword. "Elder Zhou, we can't just abandon you! We'll fight together!"
"We're not leaving!" #38 shouted as well.
"Fools!" Xinyi's Blood Qi flared, her killing intent sharply hanging over the 5 disciples' throats. "Leave now or I'll activate your death marks myself!"
The disciples hesitated for one more second, then turned tail and ran towards the canyon with all their speed along with the unconscious #36.
Turning back at the new encounter, maybe the whisper was right. She had only seen this giant worm thing once, and not even the Grand Elder at Late-Mystic could kill it.
It was unknown whether she'd live through this ordeal, but her fighting would be the only chance that the disciples would escape to the safety of the rocks.
The sandworm burst from the dune. Its body arced up and then descended where Xinyi stood. Its circular mouth was massive. The triangular teeth that the wormlings had couldn't compare to the sharp needle-like teeth this giant one had.
Pulling a red pill out of her pocket, she chewed it, and a rush of Blood Qi entered her dantian, filling it to at least half. Xinyi then put her two hands on the handle of her sword.
She'd either die from this, giving her the freedom she wanted, or continue living as a prisoner of the sect.
Both options sounded like the worst things that could possibly come from this mission. Yet she smiled as she saw the mouth slowly descend in her direction.