As if Dai Lin also noticed something, his manner changed to an icy one as his eyes sparkled with thunderbolts; following their change, a brand-new scene occurred.
With a series of swishing sounds, a group of individuals garbed in different wears jumped out from a few corners, some being southerners while others dressed in a manner suggesting their northwestern and northeastern origins.
They each held onto different weapons, some being blades, chain balls, and other weapons as they stared at Feng Yu with a cold look in their eyes.
Feng Yu smiled underneath his mask as he turned to face them, his red eyes from behind its two openings having a sharp gleam as he asked, "Well you, fellow practitioners sure took your time to take action; I had to find a remote setting to give you a hint of boldness. Tell me, are you sure you're after my head?"
As if the men didn't care, they stared at him silently with their weapons at the ready. Not long after, a snort was heard as one individual walked out of the group. It was a man with a more massive build than the others with his face covered by a cloth. He held one curved blade in his hand as his other firmly grasped onto a poster of Feng Yu's face with the Crimson Mask as he spoke, "Crimson Mask, your even bolder than I imagined. You think that you can walk sideways in the south simply because you relied on external help to sabotage the Devil's Nest. Hmph! Today, I, Desert Wind, and my fellow bounty hunters will not only sever your head, we’ll also kill your companions and take them with us to Easthaven for more rewards. Huhu... I hope you've said your prayers, men, surround them!"
Not even wasting a moment, the group fanned out as they blocked off all routes of escape for Dai Lin and Feng Yu; the look on Desert Wind's face turned savage as he saw this, his eyes even showing a hint of excitement. Nevertheless, unlike Desert Wind and his cronies, Feng Yu and Dai Lin seemed to be at ease, having idle conversation.
Dai Lin glanced at Feng Yu and spoke, "Young Master, it seems that your fame isn't too good, only these kinds of trash are willing to riskily bite the bait."
Feng Yu chuckled and replied, "It seems so, looks like I'll need to be a little fiercer."
Dai Lin laughed as he spoke with a hint of lightning bolts in his eyes, "Oh, then count me in... I, too, need some of the action; I've heard that these Desert Wind Bounty Hunters though not famous, they are all at the low levels of True Foundation realm."
Feng Yu made a faint smile and said nothing; he knew that Dai Lin must have more or likely wanted to burn off some steam; even if he did take action, he would do so in a manner to not let his identity be discovered.
Desert Wind and his cronies naturally heard both Dai Lin's and Feng Yu's words; their manner instantly grew colder as their anger rose by several degrees.
"These insolent wretches, kill them!" Desert Wind yelled as he pointed his curved blade towards them, his harsh-looking face vaguely visible from the cloth pulsing with veins due to his anger.
"Die!" The bounty hunters cried out as they all attacked in unison, their weapons shining in colorful rays as their First Tier to Third Tier True Foundation realm energies erupted in full.
Feng Yu scoffed at this as his eyes carried a powerful intent, causing the air around his being to grow unusually sharp as his hair started to rise up. However, before he could do anything, Dai Lin tapped Feng Yu's shoulder and spoke, "Young Master, allow me."
Feng Yu paused his actions and sighed, restraining his Extremity Sword Intent as he spoke, "Go ahead."
Dai Lin's eyes flashed at these words; he turned his head toward in front of them, ignoring the others coming from the side and behind them as he reached his left arm forward and spread his fingers.
"Punishment Chain Arts - Sealing Release! Come forth, my Enforcers!"
Dai Lin said as the golden chains wrapped around his arms unfurled by themselves, drawing a circle above Feng Yu and himself. The moment the circle appeared, it expanded rapidly to a few meters as a region of darkness formed at its center.
A terrifying power erupted from its core, causing the bounty hunters to halt their steps upon noticing it, each having a dark feeling in their souls.
Desert Wind looked at this with a trace of fear on his face as he thought to himself, 'Just what in the world is that technique?'
The other bounty hunters' minds also thought the same, but they didn't dare to turn their backs as they each looked on with a cautious mood.
Suddenly, two roars were heard, one sounding like a tiger's cry and the other more of a horse. In moments, two large beasts appeared from the region of darkness, falling onto the ground at two different sides.
One being a massive familiar red striped tiger with two tails, while the other was a Unicorn, a pure white horse with long hair and a longhorn that shone in an icy and bright radiance.
Looking at both creatures, one would notice five glowing stars on their foreheads, while their eyes, which seemed a bit hollow, had blue lightning bolts.
'What in hell? A Two-Tailed Crimson Tiger and Ice Horn Unicorn, aren't these Tier 3 Variation Essence Beasts!" A bounty hunter exclaimed in alarm.
"Not good, they're both at the Fifth Star, we’ve got to escape!" Another bounty hunter said, bringing even more shock to the others.
The bounty hunters didn't dare to dally after hearing their companion’s words; each began to flee in separate directions.
Desert Wind had an angry look on his face as he faced them and shouted, "You cowards, get back here!"
He was about to attack as his Fifth Tier True Foundation realm energies skyrocketed, but sadly, it didn't seem that he or his men would have any more chance for interaction.
"Kill them all," Dai Lin commanded in a cold tone as he gazed at the two beasts at their sides.
Feng Yu looked on with keen interest, he had never seen this technique of Dai Lin before, but as he felt the thunder energies inside of their bodies, he couldn't help but to exclaim inwardly.
'Amazing, I'd have never thought that he could transform the Old Master's
While Feng Yu observed in amazement, the eyes of Two-Tailed Crimson Tiger and the Ice Horned Unicorn flashed in an even brighter blue lightning bolt. Still, as for their bodies, they erupted with dense crimson and icy blue energies, respectively.
"We serve the master! Crimson Scar Light! Icy Ray!"
They both shouted as the Two-Tailed Crimson Tiger opened its mouth, shooting a beam of crimson light towards the sky while the Ice Horned Unicorn also fired an ice beam in the same direction.
Desert Wind seeing this, was a bit panicked, but as he saw the energy going off course, he sneered while gathering his full power, "Haha, you're little attempt to finish us was in vain, prepare to die!"
With that said, Desert Wind blurred as after a flash he had appeared direction within the range of Dai Lin and Feng Yu, his curved shaped blade shimmering in cold lights as he coated it with his maximum energy.
In this instance, he was only moments from unleashing his strongest attack, but suddenly, the rays fired by Variant Essence Beasts had started to spiral around each other before they transformed into a single overbearing ray.
With an explosive sound, it burst apart, raining down different rays of energy towards each of the bounty hunters; before any of them could even react, these rays crashed into their bodies before they froze and decimated all of their targets.
Shocked by the current scene, Desert Wind opened his mouth to speak but could only usher a few words, "I... I..."
He wanted to say more, but sadly, he found that his entire body was beginning to freeze, his eyes showing a dreadful look as he stared at Dai Lin and Feng Yu before he froze and shattered to bits of pieces.
Dai Lin didn't think anything of this; neither did Feng Yu, who lifted his head to stare at the evening sun as he spoke, "It's getting late, let's head back."
Dai Lin nodded as he glanced at his two obedient enforcers and spoke, "Return."
Following his command, the Enforcers turned into two rays of light that were swallowed by the chains' dark regions once more, which soon bounded itself onto Dai Lin's left arm.
After doing this, he then followed behind Feng Yu as the two vanished from this alley, leaving behind the dismal scene of frozen and shattered corpses.
Chapter 300
Merchant Jin Teng, A Charming Moment
It didn't take long for Feng Yu and Dai Lin to arrive back within the House of Weavers, making their way towards the special resting quarters, but at this hour in the afternoon, most of those who were once gathered in the outdoor halls had long since left to handle their own affairs.
By this time, only a few persons from Bandit Town's Desert Hunters along those from other groups were seated at different areas conversing in hushed tones. Some cast looks towards Feng Yu's party, but none took them seriously, none except for the Desert Shaolin Temple members, who looked at Feng Yu with deep eyes.
Naturally, Feng Yu and Dai Lin paid them no mind as they went towards the section which had a large room for his group, there he saw that Leon, Toram and Lang Kuang were idly seated and chatting, but as for Miren Fei, and the other girls, they had yet to arrive.
'Oh, I wonder what those girls are doing right now?'
Feng Yu thought with a puzzled look on his face, but after thinking for a bit, he decided not to put it on his mind, making his way over to a seat beside Leon and the others.
Dai Lin also sat nearby; his thoughts were preoccupied with the thing he had received from that strange old lady.
"Oh, Young Master, Team Leader Dai, you've both returned a bit late; what took up your time?" Lang Kuang asked as he stared at them with a curious look on his face.
Leon and Toram also gave them a look; Feng Yu shook his head and casually answered, "It's nothing, just an assassin attempt."
Dai Lin, who had recovered from his thoughts, spoke with a hint of dissatisfaction on his face.
"Hmph! They didn't know what was good for them; these southern bounty hunters are quite bold."
When Lang Kuang and Toram heard this, they chuckled as they knew that the result was more or likely a tragic one, especially since Dai Lin and Feng Yu were moving together.
The scene remained silent for a while until Lang Kuang seemed to have recalled something he smiled and spoke to Feng Yu.
"Ah, yes. Young Master, there seems to have been quite some rumors about some interesting bits of commotions in the south."
"Oh, what kind of commotions?"
Feng Yu asked in reply, as Dai Lin looked over with interest.
Lang Kuang cleared his throat and spoke once more, "Well, it's like this; I've heard bits about some conflicts in Easthaven; it seems that quite a few forces have gratitude and grudges and are duking it out in secret. From what I've learned, this is caused by the core major powers meeting together from the three Great Southern Factions, the Margerum Empire, and the Golden Dragon Empire. Other than these, a few powerful hidden societies and clans are riling things up the city, the most prominent being one of which is currently here the Oasis."
Feng Yu narrowed his eyes at this and spoke, "You mean those Corpse Sorcerers."
Leon, who seemed to be at ease, suddenly opened his mouth and spoke, "Chosen Yu is correct."
Feng Yu frowned at this; he didn't seem to have much he could go on; he glanced at Dai Lin, only to see Dai Lin looked at him and replied with a helpless smile, "I'm also a bit uncertain, I still tried to gather more while roaming, but they seem to be more dangerous than we'd anticipated. Since they can even dare to stir things up a bit in the core of the southern influences. The funny thing is, after doing a bit of research, I can't seem to find much about them, nor their allies in the Black Dunes. It's as if they aren't even recorded in the history of the Southern Wastelands."
Feng Yu made a thoughtful look after hearing those words; he pondered for a while before he shook his head and spoke, "Alright, let's leave it as is, for now, the group here shouldn't be their main force; we can always improvise if necessary during the Grand Exchange. Our main goal, after all, is to get those identity concealment artifacts as for anything else, we can use a watch and see attitude, I feel that the Weavers Enclave should still have some card in hand, not to mention our own treasures."
"Right." The others said with looks of agreement, before once more taking on an idle air, but right now, they shifted their eyes to the side as they noticed a newcomer.
Curiously, it was none other than one of the merchants from before; the skinny man walked over towards their group with a shrewd expression before halting a few feet and made court bow towards Feng Yu.
"Greetings once more, dear savior. My name is Jin Teng, a merchant from the Black Sand Commerce. After witnessing your incredible show of power, I have come intending to invite you and your fellow comrades to our union. We have an astounding assortment of incentives that I believe is more than worth your class should choose to become our hired hands, whether it be essential stones, peak mortal grade artifacts, and even low and high-level earth grade artifacts we have them all. So, I sincerely ask again, will you join us?"
Dai Lin and the others made curious looks as they didn't think such a scene would occur; they tried to hold back their laughter, as Lang Kuang's face had a teasing hint.
Feng Yu was initially surprised, but he soon shook his head and replied, "I'm sorry Mr. Jin, but my comrades nor I have any interest in joining another influence; please excuse us."
Jin Teng was a bit shocked by the rejection, but it was still within expectation; rather than backing down, he stared at Feng Yu again, trying to peer at his face behind the mask as he spoke.
"Dear Savior, are you already a part of a faction? Are you sure you're willing to give up this offer?"
Dai Lin and the others frowned as they heard those words; they couldn't help but give Jin Teng a sharp look.
"Hmph! This fellow thinks his little items are worth shit in front of us and the young master, he doesn't know his place."
Lang Kuang said in an irritable tone; Toram chuckled at this but said nothing in reply; he merely wanted to see how things would play out.
Feng Yu cast a cold look at Jin Teng and answered, "Looks like I wasn't clear enough. Whether or not I'm a part of a faction isn't your concern Mr. Jin; we have no interest in joining your merchant firm. Now please excuse yourself."
Jin Teng frowned at those words, his manner soon changing from a meek merchant to that of a seasoned and cold individual; he glared at Feng Yu and spoke in a slightly louder tone, "Sir Crimson Mask, since you're like this, then I'll also be more direct. I am offering you this post out of sincerity one last time. If you refuse to join us, then I hope you don't mind having your identity leaked to all major forces currently gathered within the Oasis."
The moment Feng Yu and the others heard this, they glanced at each other for a moment before they each started to laugh out loud. The laughter was so intense that it caused the stern looking Jin Teng to shrink back with a confused look on his face.
'This... what's going on, do they not fear being discovered?'
Jin Teng thought as a strange look came on his face; anyone in Feng Yu's position shouldn't be so bold by any right, but how would he know that Feng Yu didn't care if his alias was discovered.
After a short while, Feng Yu finally caught his breath; he soon calmed himself before taking on a more serious mood. His peak Aura Disciple power rising over his figure as his red pupils glowed ominously from behind his mask, giving him the imposing manner of a devil.
"Get lost!"
Feng Yu shouted, causing a ripple of energy to scatter from his body, striking Jin Teng. As a practitioner, Jin Teng wanted to try and resist, but as if his low-level Aura Disciple power meant nothing, his body was blown backward by a few dozen meters as he crashed into the area of the stables.
Cough! Jin Teng coughed out a chunk of blood as he stood up from the ground with a struggle, his eyes showin
g a cold look as he glared at Feng Yu's distant location as he snorted.
"Bastard, I hope you can stay that arrogant forever!"
With that said, Jin Teng didn't dare to waste another moment as he hurriedly scampered off from these sectors, fearing Feng Yu taking action a second time.
As if Jin Teng's appearance was nothing more than a minor affair, Feng Yu, Dai Lin, and the others had continued their remaining time idly, the sky slowly grew darker as the evening had reached its peak nearing the hours of sundown.
As the bright orangish-red hue lit up the southern horizon, Feng Yu and the others noticed that Tira, Miren Fie, Tuzi Baoli, Myria, and Tiana had returned.
When they looked over towards them, they couldn't help but show surprised expressions, even more so when they saw their clothing.
Except for Myria and Tiana, Tuzi Baoli, Tira, and Miren Fei had replaced their wears with more stylish clothing for high-class women in the desert. Most of their skin had been revealed in key areas as they wore fine accessories in their hair.
"Hehe, guys, what do you think? Aren't we ladies splendid?" Tuzi Baoli said in a lively manner in her short skirt dress with beads; she jumped slightly as her hair bounced along with her bunny ears; her skirt seemed as if it was giving a tease as it flowed upwards before falling down, covering her slender legs.
Tira also made a sensual turn, almost like a model showing performing as her tiger-striped desert-style battle dress, while Miren Fei made a slight bow with a dancer-like white dress.
'Haha, wonderful, you all look wonderful!"
Lang Kuang said as his eyes lit up as when he saw Tuzi Baoli's short skirt dress, but Toram, who seemed to be more experienced, only chuckled as he saw his wife's new clothes; he spoke in a calm tone, "You look, great dear."
Both Tuzi Baoli and Tira had a pleased expression as they heard their words, Tiana who wore a cuter looking robe with an unknown creatures fur, ran towards Toram and spoke, "Look, Papa, I got a new dress!"
Toram rubbed Tiana's head and praised, "Right, my little tyrant picked good, it's better than your mothers."
Dual Sword God: Book 7: The Crimson Devil of the Redlands Page 11
