59 Chapter 58: Rescue (2/2)
She stared at me, perplexed. I noticed a cluster of villagers nearby, also giving me the same confused stares. I didn't recognize any of them, but they seemed to know me. I guessed they were also from Chun Xiang Village.
Not that it mattered. They were under my protection right now, regardless of which village they were from, and I only cared about delivering them to safety. Turning away, I stalked toward the exit while keeping an eye out for more interlopers and guards.
”Hey…isn't he…a little different from before?”
”Yeah…I don't remember him being this…this…”
”Ruthless?”
”Yeah…I guess so. But I guess he had no choice but to be ruthless to survive.”
”The kid has changed so much since the last time we saw him.”
”He…grew up? No…even so, he grew up too quickly.”
”Didn't they say they captured him and he was locked up in one of the torture rooms by that monster elder? What happened to him?”
”He escaped?”
”…he probably went through a worse hell than us…”
”…”
I could hear them whispering behind me. Apparently they were taken aback by my mentality. Some of them felt sorry for me.
I ignored them all.
As we neared the exit, I suddenly threw myself against the wall and gestured for all of them to stay back.
”Stay here,” I instructed them. Frowning as I detected the familiar sense of qi, I slowly crept along the wall and peered around the corner.
Someone was fighting intensely against a large group of people. A young man my age, who emanated an unyielding sphere of golden, earth qi that protected him by repelling the attacks of the hooded, masked figures who surrounded him.
”Kuh!”
”This brat is tough!”
”Damn it! Why can't we handle a single kid?!”
That kid was none other than Zhu Jiao. Even though he was outnumbered by several opponents who were older than him, he was more than holding his own. I guessed it wasn't surprising, given how he possessed a sexagenary of qi – in other words, the amount of qi he received was equivalent to roughly sixty years of cultivation.
On the other hand, despite his vastly superior quantity of qi and his overwhelming strength, he lacked experience in combat. That was something that his opponents took advantage of, relying on tactics to win. Clearly brute force and raw strength wasn't everything. Zhu Jiao was being pushed back slowly but surely.
”Ugh…”
Gritting his teeth, Zhu Jiao waited for one of his opponents to become overzealous with his attacks before he lunged forward and punched the guy's chest. The hooded figure was flung backward, blood spraying out of the gap that served as a mouth for his mask, and crashed into the wall with a loud thud. The concrete cracked from the impact and he slid down, unmoving.
”Whoa!”
”Zhang!”
”Be careful! This brat is strong! Getting hit by him even once is no joke!”
The Chinese Parasol Tree Sect members immediately grew wary of Zhu Jiao's overwhelming power and retreated in high alert. They continued their relentless assault, predicting Zhu Jiao's fairly predictable attacks and seizing chances to attack when he showed an opening. Despite Zhu Jiao's impeccable defenses, his supposedly impenetrable Golden Kirin Armor was slowly being worn down by the sheer number.
”Kuh!”
Clenching his fists and gnashing his teeth from frustration, Zhu Jiao tried his best to defend from the next onslaught of attacks. He lashed out, only for his target to deftly dart out of reach. At that moment of overextending himself, one of the Chinese Parasol Tree Sect members attacked him from behind, causing him to stagger.
These guys are good…they're no ordinary henchmen. They're a lot better than the reserves who remained behind earlier.
The current batch of enemies were clearly on a different level from the sentries and reserves I had faced thus far. My only chance was to take them out by surprise, or I would be dragged into a long, unwieldy fight.
I couldn't afford to do that right now.
Pressing myself against the wall, I counted the number of assailants. There were five of them, and they were slowly breaking Zhu Jiao's defenses apart. If I attacked too soon, I wouldn't be able to take them out and I would be dragged into a stalemate, but if I left it too long, my good friend Zhu Jiao would be in danger.
My timing had to be perfect.
Taking a deep breath, I began drawing upon as much natural qi from the surroundings as possible while purifying my innate qi. Juggling a few calculations in my head, I waited until all five had their backs turned on me before I stepped out and materialized my icy qi into physical form. Clashing my volatile innate qi with that of the surrounding elements, I launched a hail of ice swords at the group of Chinese Parasol Tree Sect members.
”!!!”
Distracted as they were by the desperately defending Zhu Jiao, none of them saw my attack coming and they were all pierced and impaled by the powerful icy projectiles. Splashes of blood slapped wetly against the concrete floor and walls as the five of them were brought low, precious red fluids leaking from their mouths and wounds.
”Who?!”
”What?!”
”Ugh!!”
They struggled to turn around and counterattack, but already frost was rapidly expanding across their wounds and freezing their bodies from the point of entry. Coughing and wheezing, they sought to break free of the ice, but I didn't give them a chance. Striding forward, I froze a pair of ice swords and slashed them, delivering the finishing blow and killing all five of them.
”Hey, Zhu Jiao.”
”…Fei Wu…is that you?!”
Zhu Jiao couldn't believe his eyes. Not that he never expected to see me again, but he appeared terribly disturbed by my coldblooded execution of his foes.
”Are you all right?”
”Uh…yes…that's not it!” Zhu Jiao deactivated his Golden Kirin Armor and stared at me, his mouth agape. ”What about you?! What happened to you?!”
”I'm all right too. Went through hell, but I managed to escape.”
”Went through hell?” Zhu Jiao continued to stare at me, stupefied. He probably wanted to say that was an understatement, but he was unable to find words for it. Instead, he shook his head and approached me while casting a glance at the dead Chinese Parasol Tree Sect members at my feet.
It was obvious what he was thinking.
Is this really Fei Wu? He…he's like a completely different person from before…
Shocked by my callous, coldblooded execution of enemies who were, just moments earlier, giving him a hard time, Fei Wu put on a complicated expression. He seemed to want to ask something, but wasn't able to put his question into words.
I didn't wait for him to process his thoughts, and instead offered a question of my own.
”You're here…did you come for me? And I'm guessing you came with the rest?”
”Ah…yeah.” Still in shock, Zhu Jiao nodded. ”Teacher Jiao, me, Ban Zhang, Tong Xue, Tang Qi Hong and Lian Rou. We all came to rescue you.”
”Thank you.”
Bowing my head, I expressed my gratitude sincerely. I truly meant it. I had never thought anyone would come save me, having given up any hope of being rescued during the two long weeks of hellish torture.
”No, that's…”
”Where's the rest?” I cut Zhu Jiao off before he could wave my thanks away. He hesitated and glanced outside before turning his view upstairs.
”While trying to infiltrate the Chinese Parasol Tree Sect's base, we ended up running into one of the sect elders. Teacher Jiao is currently engaging him in battle, trying to hold him off so that the rest of us could break in and locate you. However, we encountered some resistance within the base and were forced to split up.”
”That makes sense.” I nodded, and then closed my eyes. Even without being told, I could sense Teacher Jiao's qi faraway, clashing with an almost equally powerful presence. That fight might take a bit longer, but currently it seemed to be in Teacher Jiao's favor.
More importantly…
”Tang Qi Hong is upstairs,” I murmured upon detecting her qi on the rooftop. Her presence was flickering faintly, and from my limited perception I could tell that she was being bombarded and overwhelmed by a hail of powerful attacks from a formidable enemy. ”She's the one in most danger right now.”
”Ah! Tang Qi Hong! That's right!” Zhu Jiao's eyes darkened. ”Earlier, before we were forced to split up, we ran into Qi Fu Ren. The bastard was clearly targeting her for some reason, and he set his new lackeys upon me.”
He gestured at the corpses who were scattered across our feet. I shook my head and smiled bitterly.
”I guess he needed new subordinates after killing off Hu Shuo and Ba Dao.”
”That lowlife scoundrel…” Zhu Jiao growled. I nodded in agreement.
”Tang Qi Hong is the one who's in the most danger right now, so I'll be going up to support her.”
”Eh?!” Zhu Jiao's eyes widened. ”You're in no condition to rescue other people! You should get out of here first! I'll bring you to safety! In the first place, we're here to save you!”
”Says the one who needed me to save him,” I smirked. Zhu Jiao grimaced at that, and lowered his head.
”Ugh…yeah…but really, what happened to you, man? It's like…you're a completely different person.”
”Well…a lot of things happened,” I replied vaguely as I started up the stairs. ”And I don't have time to explain. I need to help Tang Qi Hong first.”
”Wait! I'm coming with you!”
I nodded. ”I appreciate the backup, but first…can you do me a favor?”
”…a favor?”
I gestured toward the band of abductees who were crouching and waiting from around the corner, having watched the battle from afar. Zhu Jiao did a double take when he spotted them.
”Whoa! Where did all of them come from?”
”A hold in the basement. The Chinese Parasol Tree Sect was keeping them as prisoners. They were meant to be sacrifices for their sect leader, so that he can absorb their essence. More importantly, can you help guide them to safety? Bring them to the Imperial Guard and get those orthodox martial artists to look after them.”
”Whoa, whoa! I get that, but aren't our positions reversed?!” Zhu Jiao waved his hands in protest. ”You should take them to safety, while I go back up Tang Qi Hong.”
”Do you have any confidence of beating Qi Fu Ren as he is right now?”
Zhu Jiao stopped short when I threw him that question. The look on his face was enough to tell me everything.
”Even so…”
”I do,” I cut him off. ”I have a trump card.”
”Really?” Zhu Jiao sounded skeptical. I merely smiled reassuringly and went up the stairs, refusing to listen to any of his objections.
”Besides,” I called back to him from the top of the stairs. ”I have a score to settle with that bastard. One way or another, I'm going to finish this once and for all.”