Chapter 134: The Paragons
Through his observations, Ye Jun understood a few things about the village and its anomalies. For one, they were worshipping some entity whom they called Lord and used the chant He Who Returns.
He had no clue who that referred to, so he ignored it.
This Lord needed sacrifice to awaken, which made him guess that the entity was in a weakened or slumbering state. The latter one because of the three men’s existence.
He guessed that the entity was asleep, so these three did its work, making sure it got enough sacrifices to awaken. The same sacrifices also seemed to be helping the three of them.
’They are likely the Paragons the villagers spoke of,’ he thought.
Ye Jun tried to feel their threat level and safe to say, they were unbeatable opponents for him. But not nearly as dangerous as he had thought of them.
’If the entity was here, then things could be different. Maybe that attribute is related to the entity, not these Paragons.’
If the entity could control the minds of villagers, it could do the same with its followers.
’Which means there is a chance of success for us.’
Han Yuexin likely thought the same, so she decided to end things here before they got out of hand. He agreed with her, as he didn’t even want to imagine the same happening all across the North.
"How do we do that?" He asked. "And are you sure you can defeat them?"
"Yes, but I will have to be careful," Han Yuexin said, raising the flute to her lips. "I will first put the villagers to sleep, so defend me."
"Are you insane?" He almost shouted out loud. "Any of those three can easily kill me."
"Five seconds," Han Yuexin said. "That’s all I need."
Ye Jun gritted his teeth and replied, "Fine! This better work then."
They both stayed silent for a moment before Han Yuexin nodded, giving him the alert as he also summoned his daggers.
’I am stupid,’ Ye Jun thought. ’There is no way I’m surviving this.’
He could understand her decision though. Even if these people seemed to be beyond saving, perhaps there was a cure out there, so it was better to save them by putting them all to sleep.
However, that meant alerting the Paragons.
’Whatever, I’m not going down easily,’ Ye Jun inhaled deeply, his eyes turning cold and calm.
In the next second, the bubble around him popped out of existence as a beautiful melody resounded throughout the entire village. Even he felt a bit sleepy for a moment, but fortunately he wasn’t the target.
All this while, Ye Jun’s eyes remained fixed on the three young men while his instincts were ready to alert him of any danger.
It happened the very moment the melody began to play. One of the three woke up, his eyes flaring open. What surprised Ye Jun, however, were his black sclera.
’He is truly deep into this.’
The Paragon stood up and punched forward as ripples formed in the air before taking the shape of a huge fist that shot at Ye Jun and Han Yuexin.
He barely had the time to react, so Ye Jun clapped his hands together as a firewall manifested before him. It only lasted briefly against the fist and crumbled away.
But it did the intended work. Buying time.
Unfortunately, the Paragon wasn’t satisfied with this alone as he stepped forward and appeared before Ye Jun in an instant.
A fist coated in black mist descended upon him, as Ye Jun’s killing intent surged forward, taking the Paragon by surprise. That brief moment allowed Ye Jun to deliver a kick right between the Paragon’s legs.
However, he felt nothing there.
’What the hell!’ Ye Jun blinked in confusion. ’He doesn’t have balls?’
In response, he got a tightly packed fist right on his chest which threw him back a few metres. Air was squeezed out of his chest as he heard several cracking sounds.
’Fuck, he is strong!’
Ye Jun turned around quickly, his instincts flaring up, but he couldn’t respond to them. He wasn’t fast enough. The Paragon loomed over him like death, his fists inches away from cracking his skull open.
Before it could land, a gust of wind pushed him off, changing his trajectory. Ye Jun took advantage of that and used all of his passive skills that could grant him a boost and thrust the sharp dagger into the Paragon’s neck.
It slipped into the flesh but couldn’t go deep, making Ye Jun curse mentally, ’Just how strong is this guy?’
The Paragon slapped at his side, which cracked another rib as he was sent flying into the air. Quickly stabilising mid-air, Ye Jun landed on one knee, gripping his side.
"It didn’t work," Han Yuexin said, coming to stand beside him.
Ye Jun briefly glanced at the villagers. Everything had turned silent, so he assumed that Han Yuexin had succeeded, but what he saw made his heart sink.
’This is going to be tough.’
All the villagers were looking at them now. Old, young, kids. Every single pair of eyes, devoid of any emotions, stared at them, an identical eerie smile forming on their faces.
Han Yuexin glared at the Paragon and asked, "What are you?"
However, the Paragon had no intention of answering her as he simply dashed forward, wind around him carrying him forward at his command.
"Useless tricks," Han Yuexin muttered and played another tune.
It instantly disrupted the flow of air around them, making the Paragon lose control as he fell face-first before them.
Taking the advantage, Ye Jun kicked the dagger still stuck in his neck, as black blood pooled around him. However, the dagger barely moved.
Han Yuexin snorted as she changed the rhythm. A second later, many minor wounds opened on the Paragon’s flesh as he tried to get back on his feet.
She prepared to change the tune again, but stopped and turned around. Ye Jun followed suit and found the two Paragons had also awakened.
The central one stared at them with fury blazing in his eyes.
"One does not get away after ruining the Great Ritual of Salvation."