Chapter 460: Intimidation

Yuan Fang stayed close beside Niu Youdao with a monk's saber in each hand, looking nervously in every direction.

Guan Fangyi glanced at the White-Wing Rakshasa still twitching on the ground and hissed angrily, "Why aren't we leaving? Have you gone mad?"

Niu Youdao replied, "Too late."

Strange sounds came from all around them.

One grotesque "person" after another crawled out from behind rocks and trees.

Within moments, dozens of Butterfly Rakshasas had appeared. One by one, savage expressions spread across their faces as they fixed the group with fierce eyes and slowly opened the butterfly wings folded behind them. White light shone through the cracks in most of the opened wings. Several glowed blue. One set of wings split with blood-red radiance.

A Blood Rakshasa?

Guan Fangyi's pupils contracted sharply. A talisman had already appeared between her fingers.

"Bastard, move! The talisman in my hand should be enough to protect us for a while."

Niu Youdao, however, turned his eyes toward Yuan Gang.

"It's up to you."

The muscles in Yuan Gang's jaw shifted. He bit through his tongue, opened his mouth, and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva. It sprayed over Niu Youdao in a fine mist. Niu Youdao allowed it without resistance. Yuan Fang was not spared either. Even Guan Fangyi, still staring in astonishment, was sprayed full in the face. She raised a hand and wiped at herself. A faint smear of blood covered her palm.

She had almost instinctively used spiritual power to block it, but when she saw Niu Youdao allowing Yuan Gang to do as he pleased, she realized there had to be a reason and let herself be sprayed. Only after the stuff hit her face did she remember that it contained Yuan Gang's spit. Her temper nearly exploded. She was a woman who loved beauty and naturally valued cleanliness as well.

This was the first time in her life anyone had sprayed saliva all over her face, and of all people it had to be the man she disliked most. The disgust nearly overwhelmed her. She had no time to demand an explanation. The Blood Rakshasa standing atop a rock abruptly opened its fanged mouth.

"Yaa!"

Its furious shriek rang out. The Butterfly Rakshasas surrounding them immediately shot forward from every height and angle. They attacked together. Niu Youdao remained steady and unmoving, both hands resting atop his sword hilt. Yet beneath that stillness, one could sense force gathering, ready to erupt. Yuan Fang's face and eyes showed obvious fear and tension. Since entering the jianghu, he had never truly fought a serious battle.

During the battle outside Star-Plucking City, for example, he had fled and hidden himself. Only after Niu Youdao finished fighting did he dare show his head again. Now he regretted insisting on following Niu Youdao out here. What was so great about broadening his horizons? It was far safer to stay tucked inside his den. The outside world was much too dangerous. Guan Fangyi clenched the talisman tightly, ready to unleash it at any moment.

Yuan Gang stood with the Three-Roars Saber angled in one hand, facing the Blood Rakshasa on the rock. But the furious battle Yuan Fang and Guan Fangyi expected never came. The charging Butterfly Rakshasas braked violently. Their wings snapped upright. One after another, they dropped to the ground roughly a zhang away from the four people. Fear appeared on their faces. Slowly, all of them began backing away, as though terrified of something they could not understand.

Guan Fangyi, nerves stretched taut, stared in astonishment. She remembered the three Blue-Wing Rakshasas that had tried to attack them earlier. They had reacted almost exactly the same way. Then she thought of what Niu Youdao and Yuan Gang had just done. Her head turned toward Yuan Gang. At last she realized that this abnormal reaction was probably connected to him. Seeing the other Rakshasas retreat instead of attacking, the Blood Rakshasa atop the rock became furious.

It pointed one claw toward Niu Youdao's group and let out another shrill "yaa," the cry full of threat.

The ring of retreating Butterfly Rakshasas stopped. Now they looked caught between advance and retreat. They did not dare step forward and attack, yet they feared the Blood Rakshasa too much to keep backing away.

Whoosh!

A streak of blood-red light shot forward. Seeing that none of its kind dared act, the Blood Rakshasa had finally decided to lead the attack itself. Yet when it reached the same distance of roughly one zhang, its trajectory abruptly veered aside.

Whoosh!

It circled the group once and landed in a new position. Unlike the other Butterfly Rakshasas, it did not retreat.

Instead, it faced Niu Youdao's group and gave another "yaa."

No one could tell what it was trying to express. Yuan Gang stepped forward with his saber held at an angle. One step after another, he walked directly toward the Blood Rakshasa. Yuan Fang felt sweat gathering in his palms. Master Yuan really was Master Yuan.

What ferocity!

Guan Fangyi's expression shifted uncertainly. As Yuan Gang approached, the Blood Rakshasa instinctively drew one clawed foot backward. But it immediately put the foot forward again, refusing to show fear.

"Yaa!"

It thrust its neck toward Yuan Gang and shrieked furiously, seeming to threaten or warn him not to come any closer. The Blood Rakshasa roared.

Yuan Gang immediately answered with a deep, explosive "Roar!"

The emotion in his voice unmistakably carried anger.

"Yaa!"

The Blood Rakshasa screamed again. Its wings beat once, and one claw pointed toward the dead White-Wing lying beside Niu Youdao, as though it were explaining something. Niu Youdao frowned. The situation was not quite what he had imagined. He could faintly sense that Yuan Gang's suppressive effect on a Butterfly Rakshasa at the Blood Rakshasa's level was not as absolute. Concern for Yuan Gang rose within him. His palm, resting on the sword hilt, slowly tightened around it.

"Awooo...!"

Saber light flashed. Yuan Gang suddenly gripped the Three-Roars Saber in both hands and hacked down with all his strength. A tiger's roar exploded from the blade like a thunderclap in a clear sky, shaking the heart. The Blood Rakshasa instinctively crossed both claws above its head to block. Powerful wind surged. Yet the Three-Roars Saber stopped in midair. Its cold edge hung barely an inch from the crossed claws. It did not fall any farther.

The Blood Rakshasa slowly lowered its claws. Still badly startled, it raised its head and looked at the blade suspended above it.

Then it gave Yuan Gang a soft, unwilling "yaa."

"Roar!"

Yuan Gang answered again. This time, the anger in his voice was far stronger. The Blood Rakshasa immediately began retreating slowly.

After backing away several steps, it turned, spread its wings, and shot into the air with another "yaa."

The surrounding Butterfly Rakshasas instantly beat their wings and followed. In the blink of an eye, they had folded their wings again and disappeared behind the surrounding rocks and trees. Yuan Gang turned and walked back with saber in hand. He gave a slight nod to Niu Youdao, indicating that the danger had passed. Guan Fangyi and Yuan Fang stared at him, dumbfounded. What they had just witnessed had nearly left both of them stupid.

A crisis had simply dissolved like that?

"Master Yuan!"

Yuan Fang suddenly broke into a fawning smile and hurried forward to welcome him, bobbing his head and bowing repeatedly. The obsequious expression did not match his upright, respectable appearance in the slightest. After witnessing this scene, Yuan Fang's esteem for Yuan Gang climbed another level. It even gave him a comforting explanation for why he was always at a disadvantage before Yuan Gang. With Master Yuan this ferocious, of course it was only proper for him to behave himself.

"Big fellow, you understand the Butterfly Rakshasas' language?" Guan Fangyi asked uncertainly.

To her eyes, what had just happened looked exactly like a conversation with the creatures. Now she finally understood why Niu Youdao had dared drop into the forest. So he had come prepared.

"No," Yuan Gang replied casually.

Guan Fangyi did not believe him. "You were obviously talking to that Blood Rakshasa just now."

Yuan Gang could not be bothered to answer her. The two of them had never liked each other. There was nothing worth discussing. Niu Youdao could not pretend nothing had happened. In an environment like this, there were things he needed to understand clearly. His previous assumption had already proved incomplete. He had seen what happened with the Snow Fiend in the snowy mountains. He had heard about Yuan Gang controlling the Scorpion Emperor in the desert.

Earlier, he had personally watched those Blue-Wing Rakshasas recoil from Yuan Gang. Niu Youdao had therefore assumed that Yuan Gang's aura could suppress all strange beasts. That was why he had dared follow the three Myriad Beasts Sect disciples this deep into the forest. He had believed they possessed a reliable trump card. But judging from what had just happened with the Blood Rakshasa, that assumption was not entirely correct. He felt a trace of belated fear.

Of course, there had been another reason he dared come down. The talismans Guan Fangyi carried. The woman seemed to possess quite a number of powerful talismans for protection. The true depth of her private fortune was difficult to measure.

And just now, in the heat of danger, Guan Fangyi herself had said that the talisman in her hand could protect them for a while. That proved her reserves were indeed substantial. It was also one reason Niu Youdao brought Guan Fangyi almost everywhere he went. Only a fool would leave such an excellent bodyguard behind.

"You can communicate with a Blood Rakshasa?" Niu Youdao asked.

The same question from a different person produced a different response from Yuan Gang.

After a brief silence, he said, "I don't know either. I didn't feel much before, but gradually I've started being able to sense what these strange creatures are expressing emotionally. And I can make them sense my emotions in return. Beyond that, I don't understand it."

Guan Fangyi and Yuan Fang listened as though he were reciting some heavenly scripture. Neither understood what he meant. Niu Youdao, however, nodded silently. He knew Yuan Gang was talking about the hard qigong he cultivated. As Yuan Gang's practice deepened, strange abnormalities had begun emerging little by little. Niu Youdao could understand Yuan Gang's confusion too. There was no one in the world who had undergone the same experience and could guide him—not even with a single hint.

Everything depended on Yuan Gang feeling his own way forward. He was completely blind, crossing the river by feeling for stones. Under such circumstances, not understanding what was happening was perfectly reasonable. Still, the abnormalities appearing in Yuan Gang also made Niu Youdao increasingly curious about the hard qigong he cultivated. What exactly was this **Chi You Wufang**? Could it genuinely have some connection to the legendary Chi You? Niu Youdao searched his memories of the old legends.

According to legend, Chi You took ferocious beasts as his totems. Once he entered battle, he fought without rest until death. So long as he remained alive, he would never fall, incomparably fierce, capable even of battling the gods themselves. Niu Youdao temporarily set those doubts aside. The present environment did not allow him to sit around contemplating them.

He told Yuan Gang, "Try again. See whether you can communicate with those Butterfly Rakshasas a little more."

Yuan Gang looked puzzled. "Communicate?"

Niu Youdao said, "Didn't those things in the desert help you before? Better to be cautious. We may need them in case something goes wrong."

Yuan Gang nodded. Now he understood. He turned and ran off in the direction where the Blood Rakshasa had disappeared.

Niu Youdao then faced the other two. "Those three Myriad Beasts Sect thieves probably didn't go to all this trouble merely to lure us here and leave it at that. Whatever they're after, there has to be a purpose. Even if their goal is simply to kill us, they still need to confirm whether we're actually dead. So nine times out of ten, they'll come back. Let's find somewhere to wait for them."

"You still want to wait for them?" Guan Fangyi's face darkened. "You want revenge? This is Myriad Beasts Sect's territory. Stop looking for trouble. If we can get away, we should leave as soon as possible. This old woman has no intention of accompanying you to your death!"

Niu Youdao replied, "It isn't as frightening as you think. If Myriad Beasts Sect itself intended to deal with me, those three wouldn't need to waste all this time. With Myriad Beasts Sect's strength, there would be even less need to slowly lure us all the way here before attacking. This probably has nothing to do with the sect as a whole. I need to understand why those three tried to harm me. If I cannot even figure out who my enemy is, that would be the greatest danger of all."

[End of Chapter 460]