Chapter 204: Lin Qi’s Hidden Move
Chapter 204: Lin Qi’s Hidden Move
As soon as the raspy, duck-like voice sounded, Lin Qi threw himself flat and rolled on the ground. Enzo and Yulian tumbled to either side. Near them was a ring of jagged black stones. They ducked inside this stone circle, a nearly flawless piece of natural cover.
Vic simply pressed himself flat into the snow. His figure gradually grew dimmer and indistinct. Night shrouded everything; even Lin Qi, who had just watched him lie down, couldn’t see where he went. Lin Qi grinned smugly. Now that they had money, Vic had bought many strange little gadgets from the Thieves’ Guild in the Imperial Capital. Some of those things could cause serious trouble.
Lin Qi moved his recently reattached arm. His shoulder still ached a bit, but it wouldn’t affect fighting. He took a deep breath. Success or failure hung in the balance right now. Taking down this croaky-voiced fellow wouldn’t just mean a big payday; it would also help Long Cheng perfectly conclude this trip West.
Long Cheng also dropped the large pack on his back. He slowly flexed his hands, then coughed up another large mouthful of dark, crimson blood.
After coughing gently a few times, Long Cheng slowly let out a long breath. “Jiang Yong? Does this cripple finally have the guts to show himself?”
A strange, harsh cackle pierced the air. Accompanied by rustling footsteps, Jiang Yong emerged slowly, flanked by sixteen eunuchs in green robes. He wore a blue robe, a black cloak, and a tall, cylindrical blue hat. On the hat perched a silver-colored poisonous lizard. A long sword hung at Jiang Yong’s waist. One hand rested on the hilt, his chest puffed out, exuding the imposing grandeur of a great general.
Except the troops following him weren’t battle-hardened veterans, but sixteen lowly, bowing eunuchs. This made his grandeur and majesty take a significant discount.
Lin Qi and his group were in a roughly circular depression a hundred meters in diameter. They hid near its center. Jiang Yong and his men, inevitably, descended into the depression, walking slowly to a spot about twenty meters away.
As Jiang Yong stepped down, a woman in a pale golden robe emerged, followed by dozens of warriors. Her face was covered by a gold mask. On her back was a strangely shaped sword, at least two meters long but only a finger’s width. A bitter wind swept her long hair, causing the strands to dance wildly. The hair sang with a sharp, vibrating “buzzing” sound, like taut strings.
Long Cheng laughed. He shot a venomous glance at the woman with the sword. “Jiang Yong, since when did you start associating with women? What could a castrated cripple like you even do with one? How did you win her over? With your fingers? Or your tongue?”
Jiang Yong trembled with fury. He pointed at Long Cheng and shrieked, “Long Cheng! You! You! You are still a Great General of our Celestial Dynasty! Your mother is Imperial nobility! Your bloodline is incomparably noble! How can your words be so obscene? So vulgar?”
“Pah!” Long Cheng stared coldly at the woman who gave him a strong sense of danger and chuckled icily. “You all want to kill me. Shouldn’t I hurl a few insults? Tell me, woman, helping Jiang Yong so vigorously, what exactly are you after? This eunuch lacks the equipment. He can’t satisfy you in bed. Why not come try it out properly with your uncle here?”
Jiang Yong’s face turned ashen grey, then deathly pale. Thick Purple Qi emanated from his body. His hands abruptly turned transparent, like crystal.
But faster than Jiang Yong could react was the woman known as Jie. Long Cheng’s crude insults were unbearable. Enraged, she let out a sharp cry. Her body transformed into a blazing figure of golden fire hurtling straight at Long Cheng. She didn’t draw her sword. Seething with rage that turned her vision greenish, she merely lifted her right elbow, holding it horizontally before her chest like a siege ram, and smashed forward.
Jie had unwavering confidence in her strength. It was Divine Power. Besides, Long Cheng was coughing up blood. Heaving mouthfuls of it. The blood plasma he coughed up was jet black, clearly indicating severe internal injuries.
It made perfect sense. Long Cheng suffered consecutive blows from an Earth Dragon Knight, then was attacked by a necromancer. His injuries were inevitable. With such internal trauma, Long Cheng could use no more than a tenth of his full power. Kill him quickly, deliver his head to that Jiang Yong who always smelled faintly of urine, and when his guard was down… strike him down.
Picius’s orders were clear: kill both Long Cheng and Jiang Yong. Let neither leave the Empire.
Jie’s eyes burned like fire. She snarled, “Filthy, lowly sinner! Let divine punishment purify your soul! Purify your body! Purify your foul tongue! You…!”
She was just ten meters from Long Cheng – a distance she could cover in a fraction of a heartbeat. The technique Jie used belonged to the secret teachings of the Church’s Temple of Punishment. She had once shattered an immature Frost Titan of the formidable northern Alien Race with this very move. Though immature, that Frost Titan possessed Middle Heaven Rank strength!
Long Cheng’s battered body couldn’t possibly withstand her blow. Divine Flames shimmered in Jie’s eyes.
The Golden Armored Warriors accompanying Jie numbered over forty. They marched in lockstep, forming a crescent formation as they advanced rapidly towards Lin Qi’s group. They intended to capture Lin Qi and his men alive – Jie’s order. She wanted to interrogate them, discover their identity. They were clearly imperial subjects. Perhaps their confessions could implicate Lartus or Marrs?
Anything advantageous to Picius, or potentially so, Jie delighted in doing.
Lin Qi squinted, watching Jie’s reckless charge. What a pity for this woman.
Long Cheng moved to evade. He sidestepped three paces and leaned back against a large black rock. Glaring furiously at Jie, he bellowed, “A dragon stranded ashore suffers insults from a stray bitch! Come on then, you mongrel bitch! Come!”
Jie trembled with such fury the Divine Power surging within her almost went berserk. What had he just called her?! How could such a vulgar, insolent man exist? How dare he address a noble Divine Descendant with such contemptible language?!
Jie adjusted her trajectory mid-charge as Long Cheng shifted. She poured all her strength into this lunge. Her entire power coalesced at the point of her elbow. This blow wouldn’t just kill Long Cheng; it aimed to shatter his body. Only utter destruction could atone for this vile wretch’s crime of blaspheming a Scion of the Divine.
Five meters from Long Cheng, Jie’s foot slammed down forcefully onto the ground. Then, the earth beneath her emitted a strange, muffled thud.
A massive hand sheathed in Heavy Armor burst from the earth, seizing Jie’s slender ankle. The hand was enormous; Jie’s foot wasn’t even half its length. The huge fingers clamped down brutally on her ankle. Excruciating pain shot through her leg as her forward momentum nearly wrenched it completely off.
A colossal wolf-toothed mace whistled up from the ground! The weapon was immense, thicker than a normal man’s thigh. Fiery flames danced along its surface, radiating intense magical energy – a powerful Magical Weapon!
But deadlier than the Magic it carried was its sheer weight! Equivalent to ten full-grown bulls!
A scream of pure terror ripped from Jie’s throat! Helpless to halt her momentum, she could only watch as the massive spiked club smashed squarely into her midriff. She was a Divine Descendant, a powerful Celestial Knight, yet her body was still mortal. It could withstand sword cuts from ordinary blades, but a Magical Weapon – even magical beasts could scarcely endure such Divine Soldier weapons.
Blood sprayed from every orifice on Jie’s body; every pore misting crimson. She gasped, desperate for air, but the blow had nearly flattened her torso, leaving no space to breathe. She tried to scream, but with no breath in her lungs, no sound escaped.
Blessedly, Jie crushed a golden gem clipped to her sleeve in her panic. Fierce Divine Light instantly enveloped her body. Clenching her teeth, she gripped her sword hilt. Light flashed! The sword descended at an impossible angle, cleanly severing the foot still grasped by the monstrous hand.
Pale golden wings exploded from Jie’s back, ready to propel her skyward. But Long Cheng flashed before her, their faces almost touching. He grinned at her strangely. Blood-red light flared on his hand. The Soul-Rending Strike howled forth, whispering across Jie’s throat.
A stream of golden light tried to soar upward! Long Cheng was ready this time. His left hand shot forward. A shadowy serpentine shape burst forth! Three meters off the ground, it opened its vast maw and swallowed the ascending golden beam whole!
Seeing that shadowy serpent burst from Long Cheng’s left hand, Jiang Yong’s soul almost fled his body. “Long Cheng! You! You! You don’t carry the Blood Spirit Green Dragon Halberd?! You’ve merged weapon and spirit?! Impossible! Aren’t you only Middle Heaven Rank?!”
Long Cheng laughed triumphantly. A magnificent blaze of gold-tinged violet abruptly coated him from head to toe.
“Good, you crippled thing! My Primordial Qi cultivation was indeed Middle Heaven Rank. But my Soul Arts? I’d already reached the Celestial Rank Peak! If it weren’t for wanting Spirit and Martial arts to pierce the Saint Realm simultaneously, I’d be among the Saints by now! But then… would your idiot master still have dared to gamble with me?”
Jiang Yong yelped sharply and turned to flee.
He hadn’t gone three steps when a distorted black shadow materialized beside him. A massive, bizarrely shaped Great Scythe carried the howl of a Demon sweeping down toward Jiang Yong’s head! The scythe trailed a dark arc and churned black smoke. Within the faint haze, a twisted, grinning demonic face shrieked in savage glee!
Jiang Yong swung his sword to parry the blade. He opened his mouth for a warning shout, but the ground behind Long Cheng exploded!
A colossal figure armored like a Demon God burst into the air. Aunt Lili’s furious roar made the very earth tremble!
“No one hurts Young Master while Aunt Lili is near! You worthless pests, be good and let Aunt Lili crack your skulls!”
Booming, rhythmic footsteps echoed as Thunder charged out from all directions leading three hundred warriors clad in soft armor! Each leveled a stark silver, military-issue Armor-Piercing Crossbow!
The order rang out. Like rain, the bolts flew. Jie’s dozens of elite warriors shrieked and howled as the lethal hail tore through them. One by one, they fell, blood staining the snow.