by Tony Tran
Jiangshi present were full-fledged ones because only three complete black pearls had been created. So, if New Moon City’s lord only had three complete pearls then all of the creatures present were made with defective pearls.
With a wave of his hand, an inscription covered appeared out of thin air and a wall of bars stretched from side to side of the corridor, leaving but a small gap for the monsters to squeeze through.
Along with the cage’s appearance, Ai withdrew her Queen of the Night whip and dozens of black vines then shot out of the walls, latching the cage into place. With the vines keeping it in place, the cage was able to prevent the bulk of the monster horde besides a few from making it past.
Besides holding the cage in place the black vines also struck out at the monsters. Of course, they weren’t enough to turn any of the monsters into ash, but they were able to keep the monster back.
“You there, lead your men and inform our men above ground to move out of the city. God knows if he had placed magic circles around the city.” Zhang commanded because he thought the current situation was not something that these men could handle so it would be best for them to leave and inform the others above ground to leave also.
“The rest of you form up and kill whatever gets past the cage!”
“Honey I’ll be back!” Ling yelled to Zhang as she decided to head for the surface. Without any water present she wouldn’t be of too much used so her first priority right now would be to head to the surface and come back with the massive store of water that was brought for her use.
With a nod, Zhang began to face the few a Jiangshi that was squeezing through the side of the cage. But before it could make its way through, a throwing knife pierced through the air and imbedded itself into the Jiangshi’s forehead. However, despite having a knife lodged into its head the Jiangshi continued forward as if nothing happened.
“I’m sure these ones are the same as the ones chained at the entrance…” Zhang though as creases appeared on his brow. But then it was as if a light bulb appeared atop of his head.
Remembering back to how he had gotten rid of the hundred or so Jiangshi that were bound by the entrance of the corridor, another throwing knife was withdrew from Zhang’s interspatial ring and shot forth at the Jiangshi.
Moments later the second throwing knife lodged itself into the Jiangshi’s chest and the instant it did the Jiangshi bursted into dust as two halves of a partially black pearl fell to the ground.
“Unless there was sunlight the only way to kill these defective Jiangshi was to damage the pearls inside their chests that serve as their cores.” Said to the people beside him, who in turn told those beside them. Soon this bit of information was known by the entire group. This tiny bit of information could have possibly meant the difference between life and death.
Soon one after another the Jiangshi that managed to squeeze through the side of the cage were dealt with in an orderly manner. Although Zhang somewhat regretted having to break the pearls, there currently was no other way to kill them.
Each pearl represented hundreds if not thousands of people converted into essence. Making them very precious, especially for someone like Zhang who did not like harming innocent people. It was highly unlikely that he would ever sacrifice thousands of people to produce things such as these pearls, however if he could acquire them through other means that he was all for it.
Only a fool would turn down a hard treasure worth the lives of thousands of people.
“After this is over, I’m going to collect those broken pearls and see what I can do with them… Maybe the shards will still work but to a lesser degree.” He thought as he eyed the dozens of broken pearls lying about on the ground.
“To think your using my cages to hold back my army back…” The provincial lord’s voice rang out from within the monster horde. Not long after he walked up from the mix of monsters and placed his hand on the cage.
Instantly the inscriptions on the cage stopped glowing and allowed the monsters to easily rip through the iron bars.
“Fall back!” Zhang yelled as he withdrew another cage and used it to buy himself and the others some time. He didn’t want a brawl to break out because that may end up too risky. The last thing he wanted was for the people he saved to be turned into lesser Jiangshi and used against him. Considering their levels of cultivation, they should be able to hold their own against the monsters, well in normal circumstances but currently the vast majority was suffering from memory loss. Meaning their minds were in disarray and which in turn could affect their combat capabilities.
Zhang also noticed that despite having high cultivation a few of these people seemed to lack proper form. From the way, their held their weapons and positioned their bodies, he could tell that before this incident they were most likely just regular people.
A true cultivator’s body had proper form and such things etched into them. For example, even if Zhang had lost all of his memories, if he was given a pair of twin swords he would still be able to use them fairly proficiently. Muscle memory could not be erased like the memories stored in the mind.
If someone was a farmer for all of their life, even if they lost all of their memories they still be able to use a shove with proper form and such if given one.
“Silky! Taking your masters out of here! Quickly!” Zhang said. Of all of the Wraith Spiders, Silky was the only one present. The others were at the very front of the group, while Silky stuck around with Yuying and the girls.
With a screech in reply Silky shot silk at the four beauties and caught them in a thick web. Once it’s cargo was secure Silky scurried onto the walls and made its way toward the front of the group, carrying the four beauties to safety.
Soon after another screech could be heard coming from the front of the group, and unknowns to Zhang the other Wraith Spiders began copying Silky. One by one the other spiders began carrying off the people in the group in silky sacks. This caused the speed of the group to drastically increase, creating a small gap between them and the horde of monsters.
At the far end of the group, Zhang was making inscription covered cages appear one after the other, because with a wave of his hand the lord of New Moon City was able to dispel the inscriptions allow the monster horde to charge straight past.
“Futile attempts won’t help you against me.” New Moon City’s lord said to Zhang.
Despite being at a higher level of cultivation, Zhang felt that something was off about the man chasing after him. From his mannerisms, speech, and a variety of other things, Zhang felt something odd about this man.
“Once we reach the exit, I’ll smash a hole in the ceiling and turn your monster horde into dust… Then I’ll deal with you and then harvest all of those black pearls.” Zhang thought as he shot a glance the lord of New Moon city.
“Hey! Maybe next time you chase after a guy, you should tell him your name first!” Zhang shouted. He did not know his pursuer’s name and referring to him as the lord of the new moon province was getting annoying.
“Why should I tell my name to someone who will just end up dead in a bit.” The lord of New Moon City said mockingly.
“Snooty fucker… Once we get out of here I’m going to kill you…” Zhang cursed in his mind, as the group neared the staircase that lead out of this dark world.
Chapter 19: Genius
As Zhang and his people ran through the long corridor while being pursued by the horde of monsters and the lord of the city, their eyes soon saw a beacon of hope and survival. A massive spiraling staircase came to view. Although the forty men stationed to reflect sunlight down from above were no longer there, their mirrors were tied to swords that were stabbed into the cracks on the walls, and a tiny sliver of light managed to make its way down into the darkness.
The Wraith Spiders along with their queen had been the first to arrive and quickly sped up the walls and made their way onto the surface. Not having to use the staircase at all made them ascend at unbelievable speeds, had they been
just a bit earlier they would have caught up with Ling and those who had left earlier.
After the spiders emerged from the underground, the rest of the group along with Zhang arrived at the bottom of the staircase.
Looking back at the horde behind him Zhang cursed, “If only I had affinity with earth magic instead of fire magic. Then I’d just collapse the damn corridor on them.”
“But in a bit, I’ll turn all of you into ash and dust…” He thought as an evil grin crept onto his face as the staircase came into view.
“Ha give a fool, false hope and he won’t fight back as hard.” New Moon City’s lord laughed as came out of the corridor just a few breaths after Zhang. With a horde of grotesque monsters behind him, the city’s lord stretched out his hand and pressed into the wall on his right and dozens of runes appeared on the wall.
Soon thousands of runes lit up and illuminated the dark underground chamber. These runes could be seen stretching from the bottom of the staircase all the way to the top. Moments later a rumbling sound could be heard as the staircase in front of Zhang began to move.
The stone steps were slowly moving into the walls and with enough time the entire staircase would be gone and so would be the only hope of escaping. Unless one could fly the distance from the bottom of the chamber to the exit was too high.
“Run! Quickly!” Zhang roared. Only a few hundred men and women who weren’t carried off by the Wraith Spider were running up the shrinking stairs alongside Zhang. They were not even half way up yet but the staircase was already half of its original width.
The monster horde had halted its advance and was simply watching Zhang and his men run up the staircase. It was clear that the city lord was certain that Zhang and his men would not make it to the top of the staircase. Thus, he stood watching as if he were to watch a play unfold.
“Had this place not been rigged with traps and mechanisms, I’d gladly fight that bastard…” Zhang thought as he shot a glare at New Moon City’s lord.
As the staircase steadily shrank, a crooked smile crept onto the city lord’s face as he watched his prey struggle to escape. Like a lofty king who was on a hunt and was watching lowly animals scamper about until they were too tired to fight back, New Moon City’s lord stood motionless with his vision locked on Zhang.
But as wise men say, an opportunity not taken is an opportunity lost, because the sound of rushing water soon drifted down from the surface and filled everyone’s ears. Moments later as if a dam had burst open, a jet of water shot down from the exit that the staircase led to.
The water pressure was so strong that the stone that surround the exit began to shatter and large chunks of stone were blasted away by the water. Not knowing what was happening Zhang’s new recruits watched in horror as the flood of water gushed down the staircase. In their minds, they were believed they were going to be swept away by the water and considering how narrow the corridor below was they would certainly drown.
However, moments before the water slammed into them, it turned and flowed down the side of the stairs. Then much like a snake, the water coiled back up from the side of the staircase and continued flowing down the staircase. By now the water made it impossible for the monster horde to pursue even if they wanted to.
With a glint in his eye, Zhang looked upward at the growing hole in the ceiling that lead outside. Soon enough the hole was five times larger due to the force of the water grinding away at the stone. A goddess then descended atop a column of water and graced Zhang with a lovely smile.
“I’m back!” Ling said with a corky smile on her face as hundreds of glittering droplets of water sprinkled down around her.
“You’re late.” Zhang said with an equally corky grin on his face as he stood looking up at his wife, totally ignoring the fact that the staircase was still shrinking into the wall.
“You seem to be needing some help, my powerful husband.” Ling said with a grin.
“Only because you’re late, my lovely wife.” Zhang replied with a grin.
The people around him looked in disbelief as this couple continued their conversation, ignoring the predicament they were in. Perhaps in the hearts of everyone present, besides Zhang and Ling, they were cursing the fact that these two could not read the current atmosphere and were flirting. But if these two were not doing what they were currently doing then they wouldn’t be themselves.
For, Zhang and his wives are known to drift into a world of their own during times when danger is present. Is they had acted any differently than Zhang and the beauties might as well be someone else.
“Then perhaps I’ll lend you a hand. But like sister Lingqi often says. What do you have to offer for my services?”
“Well I have nothing to offer you my dear, but I do have something to offer to mother in law and father in law.” Zhang said as the staircase continued shrinking and was currently only wide enough for three people to stand side by side. Compared to before when it was wide enough for ten people to stand side by side, the staircase was about to completely shrink into the wall.
“What could you possibly give mother and father?” Ling asked as Zhang’s replied piqued her interest.
“Grandkids.” He said with a proud look on his face.
“Lots of grandkids.” He then added while puffing out his chest proudly.
“If that's all you can offer then I’ll think about lending a helping hand.” Ling said with slightly blushing cheeks. It was not as if she was new to the things that occur in the bed chamber but openly implying such things in front of others still made her a tad embarrassed.
“If elder sis doesn’t want her parents to have grandkids then my father would be glad to take their place. He’d be more than happy to have new grandkids, since newborns are very rare down there.” Yuying’s voice echoed down from the hole in the ceiling.
“Maybe if sister Yuying takes me down there to visit, I’ll be able to find my mother and father and I’m sure they’d be more than happy to meet their grandkids.” Lingqi’s voice soon followed.
“Me too! Me too!” Ai’s voice of course, was added to the mix.
“Damn…I took too long...” Ling cursed in her mind.
“Deal! I’ll do it for mother and father.” Ling said as she waved her hand then the water in front of Zhang froze into ice. With another wave of her hand the ice’s smooth surface was reshaped and turned into the shape of a staircase. There was even railing to prevent anyone from slipping on the ice and tumbling down.
“Deal.” Zhang smiled as he watched those in front of him take their first steps onto the ice staircase.
A scowl had appeared on the previously gleeful and mocking face of New Moon City’s lord as he gazed upward at the newly constructed flight of ice stairs. He could be considered lucky because after Ling froze the water and created the staircase, no more water flowed down anymore.
Although it wasn’t much but enough water had gushed down that the water level was high enough to cover his ankles.
“Hmph don’t think that you’re safe just because you have a new flight of stairs…” The city lord muttered in displeasure as his hand reached out once more and pressed onto the wall.
Moments later runes once more covered the walls and soon the wall began morphing and thousands of spikes could be seen protruding from them. Afterward the walls began rotating in a spiral motion, creating what would seem like a meat grinder.
“Sigh, can’t anything be easy these days?” Zhang mumbled with a sigh as he saw the spiral of spikes began expanding and enclosing on the ice staircase.
If the spikes grind against the ice staircase, then more than likely the staircase would shatter and send maybe not Zhang but many of his new subordinates to their deaths. If the fall didn’t kill them then they’d join the horde of monsters below.
Thus, many of Zhang’s new subordinates began desperately running up the icy staircase in the hopes of survival. Even with their high cultivation it still took a fairly long time to ascend the staircase. Th
is was because most of the new subordinates were warriors and not mages, had they been mages like wind mages, water mages or earth mages then they would have been able to use the elements to escape. Had they been fire mages like Zhang then escape would have also been fairly simple.
But being warriors, especially ones who did not know how to fully utilize their cultivation, these people were like sitting ducks or sheep waiting to be led to the slaughter. Perhaps if they escape alive and receive training from Zhang, then they would be able to unleash their true potential. But for now, they were like unchiseled diamonds just waiting to be cut and polished.
“Tch... “Clicking her tongue and with a wave of her hand, Ling liquefied parts of the staircase and made platforms on the rotating spiked walls.
“Make your way up using the platforms.” She yelled. Since the platforms were covering the spikes and apart of the wall, they could not be shattered. Of course, ascending would be a tad more difficult, they did not have to worry about their escape route being shattered.
