by Jeremy Bai
As the Golden Immortal sped forward in pursuit, he pointed his golden spear out in front of him with his right hand, then found a button inlaid in the base of the spear and pushed it with a click.
A twanging sound rang out as the spearhead broke apart into four hooked pieces, which blurred through the air toward Bao. Each of the four pieces was connected to a thin golden thread which, in turn, were part of a fine golden rope connected to the base of the spear.
The four hooks and the golden rope moved faster than the eye could track, and before Bao could reach the wall, they wrapped around her left ankle.
Before she knew what was happening, the Golden Immortal swung the spear to the side, sending her tumbling out of the air and onto the ground of the courtyard. The hooks detached from her ankle in the process, and she flipped head over heels until she splashed into the small pond in the corner.
She rose up, soaked and dripping, the Golden Immortal closing in with the two Lions of Peace. He pushed the button on the bottom of the spear again, and the hooks and rope swished back into place, returning the spear to its original shape.
The brief time it took for him to reassemble his spear gave the Lions of Peace a bit of a lead on him, and they reached the pond first. They lashed out with sabers, and water droplets flew about as Bao dodged both attacks.
Then she unleashed the same move that had failed so spectacularly on the Love General.
“Phoenix Palm!” Bao grinned as her fingers jabbed into a series of acupoints, then slapped her hand down onto the shoulder of the Lion of Peace.
The man screamed and staggered back, twitching visibly. As he did, the red outline of a palm was just visible on his shoulder.
The Golden Immortal was shocked, but that didn’t prevent him from extending his spear once again.
It clicked, and as before, the spearhead broke apart into four hooks as it shot toward Bao.
This time, though, she was prepared.
“Dragon Cleaves the Clouds.” She flipped backward, sending the hooks flying off to the side, and she landed a few paces back.
The other Lion of Peace slashed out again with his saber, but she dodged it easily, and before the Golden Immortal could reassemble his spear, she leapt up onto the wall and disappeared.
“Dammit,” growled the Golden Immortal. In his years away from Daolu, he had focused hard on training, and he had already achieved a sixth breakthrough in his qi cultivation and was proceeding toward his seventh. Were it not for the fact that he had been so intent on capturing Bao alive, he would likely have beaten her soundly.
Behind him, soldiers were pouring into the courtyard. There were already dozens of them, and the flow didn’t seem to be slowing in the slightest. After taking a moment to issue a few more orders, he leapt onto a decorative rock formation and then flew up onto the wall. It immediately became obvious where Bao had disappeared to.
“Iron Awl Hu’s mansion,” he murmured.
***
The former residence of Iron Awl Hu was now the headquarters of Sunan and the Golden Dragon Sect. Although it was well guarded, Bao was one of the highest-level martial artists in Daolu. She had spent much of her younger days hopping over walls and running through the back alleys in Yu Zhing, and besides, she was familiar with how the mansion was guarded.
With her qinggong, it was a simple task to scale the wall, and before any of the guards even realized it, she was outside of Sunan’s room.
The guards outside the door stared at her in shock for a moment before drawing their weapons.
“Intruder!” one of them shouted.
“That’s Chieftainess Bao, you idiot!” the other growled.
“Is Sect Leader Sunan awake?” she said. “If not, wake him.” I don’t have time for this. “SECT LEADER SUNAN!”
A muffled grunt could be heard from inside the room, then a crash. A moment later, the door swung open to reveal Sunan, bleary eyed but dressed in armor, a saber gripped in his right hand. Because of the siege, he had taken to sleeping in his armor. When he saw Bao standing there, his eyes widened.
“Bao? What are you doing here?”
“The Golden Immortal is in the city. He tried to kill me. Well, capture me.”
“The Golden Immortal?” Sunan said incredulously.
“He’s here with the Lions of Peace. And soldiers. Hurry!”
Not waiting to give any further explanation, she dashed out and leapt up onto the wall of the residence, to be joined almost immediately by Sunan as well as two other Golden Dragons.
At almost the exact moment that they alighted on the wall, three figures appeared on the wall of the Golden Immortal’s residence to the east. A second later, five more figures appeared, then even more, until the entire wall was filled.
In the middle was the Golden Immortal himself, flanked by a Lion of Peace and dozens of soldiers.
“Sect Leader Sunan,” the Golden Immortal called out, “did Chieftainess Bao pass along my message?”
Sunan turned his head slightly to look at Bao. “Message?”
She snorted coldly. “The Love General wants to recruit you. And me.”
“I take it you said no?”
“I didn’t say anything. I just threw a knife at his face.”
Sunan chuckled.
The Golden Immortal pointed his spear at Sunan and Bao. “You have two choices: submit or die. Choose quickly.”
Bao’s hands clenched into fists. “He’s strong. And that spear he has is dangerous. We can’t fight him and all of those other people at the same time.”
Addressing one of the Golden Dragons, Sunan quietly said, “Get word to the chief minister and Dragon Lord Sima. We’ll try to buy some time here.”
The man nodded and dropped off the wall.
When the Golden Immortal saw that, his eyes flickered with cold light. “That’s answer enough for me. Kill them!”
Chapter 47: Explosive Flight
Sunan squinted his eyes shut as he smashed through the wooden windowpane and into the Drunk Ox Wine Shop. He caromed off a wooden shelf inside the room, sending several jugs of wine and alcohol smashing to the ground before landing in a heap in the corner of the room.
As he struggled to his feet, a blur crashed through the fragments of the window, and the Golden Immortal was standing over him.
“You should have submitted,” the Golden Immortal said, pulling his spear back to deliver a blow.
As Sunan had come to find over the course of the past few minutes, there was something special about the Golden Immortal’s spear. Not only could it shoot out hooks to bind an opponent, it was incredibly tough. Sunan had made the mistake of trying to block a blow from the spear with his forearm and had nearly received a broken arm as a result.
Earlier, the Golden Immortal led the Lions of Peace and the other ordinary soldiers in a rapid charge on the Golden Dragon headquarters. Fierce fighting had broken out, with Sunan and Bao teaming up against the Golden Immortal.
With so many people involved in the fighting, chaos quickly ensued, and the sheer number of people the Golden Immortal had at his command put the Golden Dragons on the defensive. For each of his soldiers who fell, there was always another to take his place, with more lurking off in the background and jumping up onto the estate walls.
Before long, Sunan and Bao found themselves fighting on the north wall of the estate, which overlooked the Drunk Ox Wine Shop.
By that point, Sunan, Bao, and the Golden Immortal had all received minor injuries, but nothing more. Then the Golden Immortal landed a lucky kick on Sunan’s chest, sending him flying off the wall of the estate and into the shop itself.
Sunan’s saber had been ripped out of his hand during the fall. His shoulder and knee ached, and blood was oozing out of his mouth. Just when the Golden Immortal was about to strike with his spear, a hoarse shout rang out, and any remnants of the poor window were completely obliterated as Bao flew into the room.
“Phoenix Palm!”
Sunan had seen
Bao unleash Phoenix Palm on two different soldiers who had been foolish enough to interfere with their fight with the Golden Immortal. The results had been devastating, and although the soldiers hadn’t been killed, they had been immediately rendered incapable of fighting.
This was the first time he’d seen her try the move out on the Golden Immortal.
Lips pursing into a frown, the Golden Immortal twisted to the side. “Golden Dodge!”
Spinning away from her attack, he twirled through the air, landing a kick on Bao’s side that sent her smashing into another nearby shelf. More bottles of wine and alcohol crashed to the ground, a few of them landing on Bao herself.
By this point, the floor was slick with wine.
As soon as the Golden Immortal landed, he pushed the button on the bottom of his spear, and the claws blurred into motion, latching on to Bao. Then the Golden Immortal jerked the spear to the side, sending her smashing into another cabinet of wine jugs and into Sunan, knocking him down again.
Pushing the button again caused the hooks to release and the rope to snap back into the spear.
“I’m done playing games,” the Golden Immortal said. “The Love General ordered me to try to get you to submit. But this a war zone, so the Fire General’s orders take precedence. He said that if you refused to surrender, I was to kill you. I guess it’s time to put away the toys”—he tossed the golden spear off to the side—“and use the real weapons!”
With that, he pulled a pair of crimson gloves out of his robe, which he put on each of his hands. Then he clenched them into fists, and they burst into flame.
“A little gift from the Fire General,” he said, grinning.
Bao and Sunan struggled to their feet and got into ready stances. Both of them were bloodied and panting, sore from the protracted fighting. They were tired, tired in a way that they could never have imagined before, so tired that everything seemed to blur. This was different from sparring; this was real combat. Unlike the mismatched duels that both of them had fought in the past, it hadn’t ended after only a round or two.
“It’s better this way, anyway, Sunan,” said the Golden Immortal. “I’ve been wanting to beat your ass into a pulp ever since you showed up at the Green Elephant Emporium all those years ago. Finally, the time has come. Strike of the Golden Fists!” He leapt high up into the air and smashed downward with his fists.
Sunan tried to counter the move, but it was too powerful. The fists slammed into his neck and left shoulder, shooting crushing pain through his body and sending him lurching backward, vision swimming.
Bao lashed out with a fist strike of her own, but the Golden Immortal easily countered it, then kicked straight out, knocking her back.
“You two are out of your league. I’ve trained with the top fighters in the King of the Pure One’s forces. The two of you are just groping around in the dark. Strike of the—”
Before the Golden Immortal could finish speaking, someone interrupted him.
“Sword of the Scholar!”
“Slashing Axe!”
Wine jugs exploded as Sun Mai and Mao Yun burst into the wine shop, unleashing both of their signature moves. An illusory blade shot out from Sun Mai’s fingers, and as Mao Yun waved his axe through the air, a ripple spread out, destroying numerous cabinets and wine jugs as it closed in on the Golden Immortal.
The Golden Immortal was caught totally unawares. The ripple hit him first, slashing his golden robes and causing blood to spurt out from his chest. Then Sun Mai’s illusory sword hit him, destroying more of his clothing and gashing his thigh. However, things weren’t over yet.
Over the years, Sun Mai had refined and perfected his Sword of the Scholar into something spectacular. Furthermore, he was unleashing it with cathartic power. As soon as the initial blade hit, eight more illusory blades appeared and spun toward the Golden Immortal in a tempest of destructive power. He staggered backward, blood spurting out of one wound after another. One of the blades nearly severed his left arm at the elbow, and he let out a miserable scream.
Clutching his left arm, he growled, “You’re dead. All of you!”
Before anyone else could make another move, he blurred into motion, flying out of the same window he had entered.
“You’re not getting away this time!” Sun Mai shouted, leaping into the air after him. “Come on, Mao Yun!”
Mao Yun looked over at Sunan and Bao. “Chieftainess, Sect Leader. The situation is bad. Full-scale assaults have begun on the north and east walls. Dragon Lord Sima has requested your presence at the Dragon Gate.”
Sunan nodded. “You back up Sun Mai, we’ll go to Zikang. Capture the Golden Immortal alive if you can. Kill him otherwise.”
Mao Yun nodded, then leapt after Sun Mai.
All of a sudden, Sunan and Bao were alone in relative silence. They looked at each other.
“Bao, about what I said before…”
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Come on, we have to get to the Dragon Gate.”
As soon as they stumbled out of the shambles of the Drunk Ox Wine Shop, they could see smoke rising up from locations all around the city.
“This isn’t good…” Bao said.
The sounds of fighting could be heard from the north, presumably from the Thunder Gate. Although they were closer to the Thunder Gate, Sima Zikang had set up his command post at the Dragon Gate, so that was where they headed. They ran as fast as they could in their bruised and battered condition. A few minutes later, the Dragon Gate loomed up ahead. To Bao and Sunan’s relief, it had not been breached. However, the sounds of fighting could be heard from the other side, and crossbow bolts were flying over the wall.
They hurried into the gate and past the guards to Dragon Lord Sima Zikang’s command room. As soon as they entered, he looked up at them, face ashen.
“Sect Leader, Chieftainess…”
“How bad is it?” Sunan asked.
“Bad, sir. The Thunder Gate has been breached yet again, as expected. Defenses here are holding, but I’m not sure for how long. They’re pushing harder than they have so far. I think they’ll breach the Dragon Gate within two hours. Worst of all is I’m getting reports that there are enemy troops in other parts of the city. I’m not sure if that’s true, but fires have sprung up in numerous locations.”
“It’s true,” Sunan said. “The Golden Immortal led his men through a secret passage. Can you send men to the Pure Phoenix headquarters to try to contain them?”
Sima Zikang looked down at the map of Daolu on the table, upon which were figures representing the main squadrons he had positioned throughout the city. “I don’t think so,” he said. “Not quickly enough. Sect Leader… I think we may need to resort to the Explosive Flight of the Dragon and Phoenix.”
Bao cocked an eyebrow. “Explosive Flight of the Dragon and Phoenix?”
Sima Zikang nodded. “Chieftainess Bao, while you were… resting, we came up with some contingency plans. I think now is the time to enact just such a plan.”
Sunan frowned. “Are you sure we can’t salvage this? There are other contingency plans. Why not the Subtle Flight or the Dashing Flight? Why the Explosive Flight? They haven’t even so much as shot an arrow at the White Rat Gate, after all.”
“Sect Leader, even the greatest general or fighter must know when to back down. People are dying. We are vastly outnumbered, and we are facing elite warriors who have magic and demons on their side. We might not be able to retake the Thunder Gate today. Plus, we don’t have enough men to spare to comb through the city and track down the infiltrators. That’s not to mention that we have no idea how many troops came through the secret tunnel, or if more are coming through. We need to get out of Daolu now. If we don’t, we won’t have a chance to slip away during the night or break through their lines in an early-morning blitz. We will die here. Of that I’m certain.”
A long moment passed in which no one spoke.
“Fine,” Sunan said. “Begin the Explosive Flight of the Dragon an
d Phoenix.”
Sima Zikang nodded decisively and turned away to begin the work.
Sunan looked over at Bao. “The Explosive Flight of the Dragon and Phoenix is a retreat tactic relying on a few precisely planned and targeted explosions. The resulting fire and smoke will give us the screen we need to get most of our people through the Zhen Gate and across the Chezou River. A few of the Golden Dragons and Pure Phoenixes will cast aside their robes and weapons and remain behind in civilian clothing to act as agents.”
“Explosions? How?”
“You know how sorghum wine is flammable? Sorghum God has built stockpiles in a few key locations, and we’ve packed the surroundings with pine needles and other flammable materials. It will create plenty of smoke. Come on, we need to get moving.”
Bao’s mind was racing, and even as Sunan turned to leave, she reached out and grabbed his sleeve. “Wait.”
He looked back. “What is it?”
“I’ve made a terrible mistake.”
Chapter 48: A Zhen Bird
Smoke choked Daolu. As the Fire General’s troops poured into the city, fires raged, and the citizens who couldn’t cower in their houses ran screaming into the streets. In certain key locations, Golden Dragon and Pure Phoenix fighters held firm against the enemy soldiers. However, most members of the sect were already fleeing via the prearranged routes established by Dragon Lord Sima.
A gentle breeze had sprung up, ensuring that the smoke didn’t rise high up into the air. Instead it spread out through the city.
Everything was descending into chaos.
Sunan and Bao stood on a rooftop adjacent to the Pure Phoenix Sect headquarters, strips of cloth tied around their noses and mouths to protect against the smoke.
From that vantage point, they could just barely see into the courtyard, which was occupied by a handful of the Fire General’s troops. No more soldiers had appeared over the course of the past few minutes, leading them to believe that whatever force had been led into the city by the Golden Immortal had already dispersed. This relatively small group must have been left behind to stand guard.
