Chapter 436 - Tales of Blood (I)
Chapter 436
Tales of Blood (I)
Wan Lan felt a bit peeved, though her expression remained stilted.
She'd appeared by the shore of a small lake alongside Dai Xiu. The happiness lasted for a second before they realized there were about ten other people besides them, and they all just happened to be members of two Holy Lands who also seemed to know each other.
And now, the two were being badgered rather relentlessly by the boys and men of the group, asked to join and promised heaven and the earth if they chose to do so.
"You girls don't have to do anything; leave it to us, Brothers, and you'll come out ten times richer!" one said.
"Beauties shouldn't be sullied by menial work," another said.
She'd forgotten, having spent the past couple of years with her Master as well as her brothers, how different others were. To them, nothing past how they looked and the fact that they had no sect affiliation mattered. They hadn't even thought about the fact they'd been dragged in here forcibly and the implications of it all.
And though she wanted to say no, she held back; making enemies out of two Holy Lands on their first day here wouldn't be exactly the smartest thing to do. It was preferable to suffer in silence for a little while as they got used to this place, and then decide what to do.
Unfortunately, Little Xiu didn't think the same. Though Wan Lan had noticed her expression growing darker and darker with each passing comment and even a couple of unwanted touches, she'd hoped her little sister would endure.
Alas, it was not meant to be.
"Touch me one more time, and you will never touch another thing for as long as you live," she spat out as she shoved a young man who looked to be in his twenties away. Her words immediately cooled the atmosphere, prompting Wan Lan to sigh.
"Careful, little girl," one of them said. "Words can't be taken back--"
"--little girl?" she looked over toward me. "My Master repeatedly said that any man who calls me a little girl should be kneed in the groin with as much force as I can muster. Big Sis, I'm going."
"Little Xiu, please wait--"
It was too late.
She was off.
In fairness, Wan Lan mused, she did warn them of what she would do preemptively, and yet they still failed to react. All of them, not just the man who'd been kneed so forcibly that he immediately collapsed with an anguish-filled yelp that had even Wan Lan wincing a bit, failed to react in time. By the time they did, in fact, Dai Xiu had returned to her original position, chest puffed out, a self-satisfied look on her face.
"... did you really have to do that?" Wan Lan asked, knowing the answer.
"They were beasts, big sis!" Dai Xiu replied. "I understand you're innocent in the ways of the world, but don't worry--I'll protect you from beastly men! Master taught me well!"
"..." Wan Lan remained speechless, though she did feel a bit touched.
Now, however, wasn't the time for that. While the yelper remained on his knees, clutching his pearls, the other nine had turned violent, as though someone had snapped their fingers.
Without a spoken word, they broke out into two groups and assailed them--one group for each. Though they were strong, with quite a few having even broken into the Revolving Core Realms, they weren't... strong.
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Wan Lan ignored Dai Xiu and turned to face her side; they sent five on her, with two sitting in the back and condensing flurries of fire and earth, while the vanguard consisted of two swordsmen and a spearman. She simply pushed forward, executing Shadow Steps and appearing right by the side of one, punching out.
The other two immediately attacked her sides, likely expecting her to pull back the strike and defend, but she ignored it--her punch landed squarely, shattering the ribcage of a boy who didn't look a year over twenty, and sending him straight onto the ground. The body blasted open a crater in the dirt, kicking up a hefty rain of debris, while the two attacks landed on her body and did... nothing.
Well, that wasn't fair; they did cut through her robes, causing her to cuss. Even if she wasn't particular about her appearance, she was still a girl. Having her clothes always cut and ripped and torn whenever she fought had gotten quite annoying. The next time the Master asked what she wanted, she'd ask him for clothes that either didn't rip, or repaired on their own immediately.
Such a thing didn't exist, as far as she knew, but if anyone could bring them to reality, it was Master.
The distant flurry of fire and dirt arrived, though she simply punched out and destroyed it, swirls of twilight Qi rippling out from her fists and forearms. She pressed onward against the startled and confused bunch, striking out against the spearman, her fist landing squarely against his sternum, collapsing it. Without any delay, she executed Shadow Steps yet again and appeared against the other swordsman, grabbing him from the back and around his neck, heaving him over her shoulders and slamming him into the ground, kicking up yet another crater, with the shockwave of the impact being so strong that the ripple sent out caused a small wave to appear on the surface of the lake.
By now, the two in the distance had seemed to come to their senses and turned tail, but she was already on them, hunting them down with ease and killing both of them with one strike each.
The battle ended just as she felt her heart stir, disappointment swelling through her. Even if she, rationally, knew that the best thing would be to avoid conflict... her body yearned for something else. For a battle where she'd be breathing the scent of death. For a fight where blood would be the current she'd be fighting against.
Sighing and using Qi to clean her robes--she'd have to change them, regardless, as there was a cut on her side that revealed the bindings--she turned around to see how Dai Xiu was doing.
She was a bit slower, taking an extra twenty or so seconds to dispatch the runner. Just like Wan Lan, Dai Xiu was covered in blood as she walked over, pouting.
"You win... again..." Wan Lan grinned.
"Two still live," Wan Lan said.
"Hm. I left one in case you wanted to ask some questions. You too?" Dai Xiu said.
"Maybe one of them knows where we are?"
"We are next to a lake."
"... are you trying to copy Master's sense of humor?" Wan Lan asked.
"And what if I am?" Dai Xiu replied.
"It doesn't suit you. Only Master can pull it off."
"Humph. I know. But I'm copying him in his honor!"
"Right, right. Anyway, let's clean this place up and get away. The scent of blood might lure an even greater headache our way."
"Hm, let's."
The two that were left alive were promptly tied and gagged while the two girls cleaned up the best they could before bolting northward around the lake and through the forest of tall and looming trees.
Behind them, an eye stirred and followed.