Chapter 1424: A Dying Struggle

A chilling light appeared in Niu Youdao's eyes as he stared at the woman.

The situation had changed too suddenly, forcing them to react in haste and giving her an opening to exploit. In the end, they had simply been careless and underestimated her.

“Master Dao, what are you waiting for?” Lü Wushuang looked back and asked, actually using the same familiar address as everyone else. No matter how one heard it, there was a teasing note in her voice. “If you can't swallow this anger and want to settle accounts with me, shouldn't we at least get through this crisis first?”

Niu Youdao swept his sleeve and said nothing more. He too was afraid they would be too late. He immediately drove the flying mount straight toward the town.

Yun Ji raised a hand and patted Yuan Gang's shoulder, pressing him down. “We'll settle accounts with that bitch later. Your build is too conspicuous. Sit low so no one recognizes anything!”

Jaw clenched, Yuan Gang forced himself to calm down. He knew what mattered most right now. Lowering his body, he knelt on the flying mount and bent forward, at least preventing anyone from immediately recognizing him by his height and build.

Yun Ji also urged her flying mount toward the town, but she climbed at an angle into the higher sky to keep those on the ground from getting too good a look.

They truly had no choice but to be careful. By all logic, none of them should be appearing publicly at all. If outsiders recognized anything, the consequences would be disastrous.

In truth, it was not only Xi Haitang who had hoped Niu Youdao would not come. Yun Ji herself had not wanted him to take this risk. She could not even understand how someone usually so rational could gamble this much for something that, in her view, was not worth it.

Even so, she had still cooperated fully.

Because she now knew the Holy Rakshasa's other identity was Yin'er of Maolu Villa.

First Niu Youdao had done this for Yuan Gang. Now he was doing it for the Holy Rakshasa. Both were people of Maolu Villa, people at Niu Youdao's side.

And Yun Ji realized that her own position these days was not very different from theirs.

After everything she had seen, she more or less understood one thing: if she were the one in danger, Niu Youdao would probably do everything he could to save her as well...

What did it mean to withstand an attack head-on?

The cultivators surrounding the little town learned the answer that day.

Three men attacked from three directions at once, unleashing Heavenly Sword Talismans in a relentless bombardment against the Holy Rakshasa trapped in the center. She swept her arms and battered wings again and again, rapidly smashing apart the sword-aura images crashing toward her.

The place where she stood had already been blasted into a hemispherical crater. At its center, she shrieked from time to time as she fought desperately to resist.

“Heavenly Sword Talismans are limited,” Xi Haitang reminded them.

The Misty Pavilion deacon directing the operation had already used two Heavenly Sword Talismans himself and was now standing aside to watch. He sneered. “It won't take much longer. She's almost finished. Take out every Heavenly Sword Talisman Myriad Beasts Sect has. Once this monster is eliminated, you can rest assured: however many you use, Misty Pavilion will replace every single one.”

The Holy Rakshasa truly did look close to collapse. Her reactions had slowed considerably. She was plainly a spent force.

At first she had been fast enough to block every sword-aura image. Now some were beginning to land, and the frequency of those hits was steadily increasing.

Even so, the toughness of her physical body was astonishing.

Blood filled the Holy Rakshasa's mouth. Covered in wounds, she resembled a trapped beast at bay. Endless unwillingness rang through her cries. She wanted to rush out of the crater, yet lacked the strength. Whichever direction she tried, another thunderous Heavenly Sword strike came crashing down to block her.

Her eyes were full of a dying creature's desperate struggle. Her silver wings were riddled with holes, like two sheets of paper shredded by a violent storm. Little remained except the framework, and even that was soaked in blood.

Her resistance slowed further and further.

Two sword-aura images struck almost at the same time, one from the front and one from behind.

“Puh!”

Blood burst from the Holy Rakshasa's mouth. She dropped helplessly to her knees inside the crater and raised both arms over her head, enduring the Heavenly Sword attacks that continued to hammer down.

She could no longer block them.

All she could do was use her life to endure the blows and hold on until the very end.

“Stop!” A furious shout suddenly thundered from the sky.

Everyone looked up.

A flying mount had appeared above the town and was circling overhead. On its back stood Lü Wushuang with her robes fluttering in the wind, while the disguised Niu Youdao remained one pace behind her.

No one else could recognize Niu Youdao, apart from Xi Haitang.

Xi Haitang had seen this disguise before. One look was enough to tell him that the bastard had come after all, and had even dared show himself in public.

Before Xi Haitang could finish worrying about that, however, he saw the face of the proud woman standing at the front. His eyes widened in shock.

Lü Wushuang?

Of course Xi Haitang knew her. Myriad Beasts Sect guarded the Butterfly Dream Illusory Realm, and Lü Wushuang had personally visited the sect more than once. How could he fail to recognize her?

What he had never dreamed was that Lü Wushuang would appear here together with Niu Youdao.

What was going on?

Very few of the cultivators present had ever seen Lü Wushuang. The Misty Pavilion deacon in charge of the operation, however, was one of them. The instant he recognized her, he was equally shocked and could not help recalling the recent purge of Wushuang Sacred Land's personnel within Misty Pavilion.

Seeing the Holy Rakshasa suffering desperately in the crater, Niu Youdao roughened his voice and roared again with spiritual power, “Sacred Venerable Wushuang is here in person and orders you to stop! Didn't you hear?”

Even those who had never seen Lü Wushuang were badly shaken by the words “Sacred Venerable Wushuang is here in person.” Instinctively, every eye fixed on the cold woman standing above them as though looking down upon all living things.

“Stop!” the Misty Pavilion deacon hurriedly shouted.

The three men using Heavenly Sword Talismans against the Holy Rakshasa immediately released the talismans' accumulated power harmlessly into the air.

The discharged force became a roaring gale that swept outward in every direction. In an instant it flattened the flames spreading through the town. But once the gale passed, embers reignited, and the fire quickly began roaring again.

Everyone remained wary of the Holy Rakshasa in the crater.

Her arms were still folded over her head, and her body seemed to be trembling uncontrollably.

Silence fell.

Then Lü Wushuang spoke. “Who is in charge here?”

The deacon hurriedly cupped his hands. “Chen Hankui, Deacon of Misty Pavilion's Song Office, pays respects to Sacred Venerable Wushuang!”

With him personally confirming her identity, the people on the ground became visibly nervous, many of them almost frightened.

Lü Wushuang looked down from above and said indifferently, “You look somewhat familiar. I seem to have seen you in Wentian City. One of Fatty Yuan's men?”

As the deacon responsible for an entire state, he was more than merely somewhat familiar. She remembered him perfectly well and was deliberately putting on airs.

Chen Hankui hurriedly replied, “Sacred Venerable's memory is keen. This subordinate did once have the honor of meeting Sacred Venerable in Wentian City.”

Lü Wushuang said, “Pass down my order. Everyone is to withdraw thirty li from this place.”

“This...” Chen Hankui hesitated and glanced at the Holy Rakshasa in the crater. They were already on the verge of success. Giving up now seemed difficult to justify.

More plainly, he was not one of Wushuang Sacred Land's people. Considering the current attitude of the Sacred Realm and Misty Pavilion toward Wushuang Sacred Land, he did not know whether he should obey.

Lü Wushuang added coldly, “Get out. Anyone who disobeys dies.”

“Yes!” Chen Hankui had no choice but to comply. After cupping his hands in acknowledgment, he swept an arm toward the others. “Withdraw!”

Before leaving, he glanced toward the higher sky and noticed a second flying mount circling above them.

The group had spent considerable effort preparing the trap and had been busy for quite some time. Yet no one dared complain or show dissatisfaction. They could only withdraw in disgrace.

As they flew away, Xi Haitang repeatedly looked back.

Now he finally understood what Niu Youdao had meant when he said he had a way.

He had actually brought Lü Wushuang out.

No wonder. With Lü Wushuang appearing personally, there truly was no need for Niu Youdao's group to fight or use any recognizable techniques. If they did not reveal their cultivation arts, naturally there was far less risk of exposing themselves.

Xi Haitang was still baffled over how Niu Youdao had somehow ended up mixed together with Lü Wushuang. Just how many secrets was that bastard hiding?

Niu Youdao watched the crowd withdraw, then fixed his gaze on the Holy Rakshasa as she slowly lowered her arms inside the crater.

The Holy Rakshasa looked up at him as well.

“Yaa...” She gave him an angry, desolate shriek.

“So this is the Holy Rakshasa?” Lü Wushuang sounded genuinely surprised. “Mu Lianze and Zhangsun Mi both died at her hands, yet she was actually brought down by this pack of trash?”

She tilted her head slightly. “You want to save the Holy Rakshasa?”

Niu Youdao did not answer. He did not explain the poisoning. He only watched the Holy Rakshasa below as she crawled on hands and knees toward the rim of the crater. At the same time, he raised a hand and gave a signal.

High above, Yun Ji immediately sent her flying mount diving down. As it swept low over the burning ground, she and Yuan Gang jumped off together. The mount streaked across the town, climbed again, and resumed circling overhead.

The Holy Rakshasa finally crawled out of the crater and staggered upright. She stared at Yuan Gang and Yun Ji ahead of her as though they were mortal enemies. She could no longer distinguish friend from foe.

Slowly, she spread both arms.

“Yaa...” She threw back her head and roared in fury.

Her tattered wings trembled open once more. Silver light appeared over them again, as though they were about to release their final radiance.

Whoosh!

She vanished from where she stood and hurled every last scrap of strength into a death-or-glory charge against the enemies before her.

Niu Youdao frowned. She was already in such a wretched, dying condition, yet she still had strength left to fight. And the force of her charge remained astonishing.

Yuan Gang, crouched slightly forward, suddenly exploded into motion as well, shooting toward her like an arrow released from the string.

In the air, Lü Wushuang narrowed her eyes.

She no longer had any cultivation, but her judgment remained. From Yuan Gang's burst of speed alone, she immediately saw that his strength had become vastly greater than before.

Boom!

The two bodies collided with a thunderous impact.

The blast of air thrown outward made the roaring flames on both sides whip violently.

At the instant they crashed together, Yuan Gang seized both of the Holy Rakshasa's wrists. The ground beneath man and demon cracked apart, and both pairs of feet slowly slid backward.

“Yaa!” The Holy Rakshasa threw back her head and screamed again. Blood poured from her mouth. She extended her arms and forced distance between them, then began driving Yuan Gang backward.

He slid faster and faster, his heels plowing through the ground like iron blades turning soil.

“Hah!” Yuan Gang suddenly expelled a fierce breath and braced with everything he had. His legs stamped down again and again, gradually slowing the Holy Rakshasa's advance.

By then Niu Youdao had already brought the flying mount to the ground. He pulled Lü Wushuang down with him and let the mount rise back into the sky.

Reaching Yun Ji's side, he said coldly, “Search the area. If anyone without eyes remains behind, leave no survivors.”

His tone was murderous.

The inside of the town was already a sea of fire. By all logic, no one should still be hiding there. But Yun Ji understood. They could not allow anyone to witness them acting.

She immediately flashed away, moving through the flames and using spiritual power to inspect every suspicious location.

Niu Youdao left Lü Wushuang where she stood and shot toward the Holy Rakshasa.

[End of Chapter 1424]