Black Iron PaG.o.da thought, If the two sides don"t fight I won"t have a chance to escape. d.a.m.n! If only I had a concealed weapon.
The voices above the ditch neared. It was two people searching side by side. Below the voices were louder, three figures in white drawing near. He could tell from their voices that the white figures were less skilled than the men in black.
The two men in black shoutes, "Stand up! Come out, draw your weapon!" They were less than thirty feet away.
Black Iron PaG.o.da readied himself and prepared to go all out.
The three in white slowly straightened up. One of them said, "Why don"t you state your name first?"
"Black Zombie Nangong Liang. Now yours."
"Endless Valley of Wuling, Iron Arm Ape."
"Stand aside, junior!" Black Zombie fumed. "Make way."
Iron Arm Ape hesitated, then turned and left quickly with the other two. He knew he was no match for Black Zombie.
Black Zombie sneered to himself as he headed down.
Black Iron PaG.o.da was hiding in the weeds, not in the woods, so Black Zombie seemed a bit careless as he went on talking with his companion to his left as they walked. "Junior Iron Arm has already searched up ahead, we"ll head up over the ridge on the right."
This was bad, this guy was breaking off toward a line that would take him right to Black Iron PaG.o.da"s hiding spot. Even if they weren"t searching they would still run into him.
Black Zombie was leading the way, walking through the gra.s.s heading straight for Black Iron PaG.o.da. He was less than ten feet away. One more step and he would step on Black Iron PaG.o.da. But if he looked down he would surely see Black Iron PaG.o.da among the weeds.
At that critical moment, a crisis was imminent. Suddenly someone yelled from behind, ""Edler Nangong, there"s someone on the ridge."
Black Zombie"s left foot was already raised, but he looked up. "Must be Master Magnanimous… Ackk!" That final noise was accompanied by a hand shooting out.
He looked up, heedless of where he was stepping, his foot coming down on Black Iron PaG.o.da. The moment had finally arrived.
Black Iron PaG.o.da had been thinking he might be lucky and dodge out of the way, but that would be a disaster, not a blessing, because there was no way he could dodge. He thought to use his whip, but Black Zombie was too highly skilled, if he used that long then that fiend would certainly be alerted and would be untouchable.
As Black Zombie stepped down, Black Iron PaG.o.da suddenly shot up, seeing everything clearly as he slammed his fist right into him and Black Zombie"s s.c.r.o.t.u.m exploded to pieces.
Black Zombie was defenseless in that split second, and so PaG.o.da"s fist smashed right on target. It was too sudden so there was no time to counter with his Cadaverine Palm. He instinctively slammed his palm downward onto Black Iron PaG.o.da"s left shoulder. He didn"t have time to use his Cadaverine Palm, but the force from a blow from this internal arts master with his decades of arduous training was enough to smash a stone from a distance. Black Iron PaG.o.da"s Primordial qigong had a hard time resisting Zombie"s full force as he made one last blow before death.
"Ai…" Black Iron PaG.o.da cried out and fell back down, then rolled downward. His left shoulder was fractured, the skin split open. They were too disparate in strength, that internal arts master"s last dying blow was too much for his Primordial qigong to handle.
"Arghh…" Black Zombie"s savage wail shook the heavens as he sailed upwards, cras.h.i.+ng to the ground eight feet away and rolling quickly downhill. A gigantic conqueror of his age, in a moment of carelessness, died at the powerful fist of a junior man of the jianghu a hundred times less skilled than he. To be honest, it would be really hard for others to believe.
He wasn"t hit with the Cadaverine Palm so Black Iron PaG.o.da could take it. His shoulder was broken, but whatever, you"d have to cut his head off to kill this guy. He tumbled down thirty feet before rolling to a stop. He gritted his teeth and knelt on one knee and vengefully unraveled his whip.
Black Zombie"s companion didn"t know what had happened. He ran over in shock after Black Zombie and so did not expect a whip to suddenly lash out at him. It was too sudden for him to stop running and the whip snapped him in the throat and his dead body fell backward.
On the ridge, men in black and two in white flew down. A man in black arrived first and roared, "Who dares attack Seven Spells" men?"
Then he was there, sword striking like lightning at Black Iron PaG.o.da, who was not yet standing. It was a merciless attack.
Black Iron PaG.o.da hit the ground and spun around as he roared back, "Master Cai fears nothing! Ai… yo!" He was pretending to be Wenchang.
He took three sword thrusts, sparks flying, but he couldn"t block the fourth one, and he didn"t quite get the fifth one either and was stabbed in the chest and right hip. He yelped and toppled over.
The second man in black arrived, brandis.h.i.+ng his sword and hollering, "Androgyne is not dead yet, it"s not your turn to strike."
It was Outcast Androgyne. The two started fighting, Seven Spells roaring like a clap of thunder as they launched an all-out battle rarely seen within the martial fraternity.
A third person pounced on the tumbling Black Iron PaG.o.da, laughing madly. "Don"t argue with me, this one"s mine. Hahamuahaha…" It was the strange figure who had been after Black Iron PaG.o.da before, who was unbelievably quick.
The fourth person leveled a sword from behind and charged toward the strange guy"s back quick is lightning, shouting, "Mountain Demon Shan Tang, don"t hurt this humble nun"s disciple"s benefactor."
Mountain Demon Shan Tang was more concerned about protecting himself. He turned and swung his sword. It moaned like a dragon through the air and clanged against her sword in a shower of sparks and the two floated eight feet away from each other. "Holy Four Heavens Nun, you mind your business, I"ll mind mine. What are you doing?"
Holy Four Heavens Nun was White Demon Ke He"s master. She was first of the Two Nuns among the Thirteen Greats, here on behalf of White Demon to repay the favor done for him in Xi"an.
Mountain Demon said, "That guy stole my half of the Autumn Mountain Mist painting, get out of the way you old nun!"
"This humble nun wants you to get out of the way!" Four Heavens shouted, and the two of them went at it again.
The first person in white to arrived was Gold s.n.a.t.c.hing Silver Sabre. He called to the second in white, "We want him alive, get him!"
Silver Sabre flashed his sabre and hit the still-rolling Black Iron PaG.o.da twice. He used the back of his blade and nailed him in once in the thigh and on the top of his shoulder. Black Iron PaG.o.da grunted and dropped his whip as he went limp and his vision went dark. His right lung had been punctured by Seven Spells" stab, he couldn"t take it any longer, not with two hits from the back of a sabre as well. Not even a man made of iron could withstand all that.
The other in white picked him up and ran downhill with him, but he didn"t make it more than sixty feet before a dark figure flashed before him and a throwing star sunk through the tip of his nose. He cried out savagely and fell on his face.
Lonestar Silver Sword appeared and grabbed Black Iron PaG.o.da and with a kick sent the white-clad man with the throwing star in his face flying.
Gold s.n.a.t.c.hing Silver Sabre uttered a long cry and charged forward.
A dark figure appeared suddenly with sword swinging and they whirred together and clanged twice, each feeling like they had struck flint against a stone.
Silver Sabre flew back ten feet, leaving an opening, the other still standing in his original position, sneering. "Tell your valley master that you are no match for this sovereign. Fighting you is a great stain on my reputation. If you don"t learn how to behave, this sovereign will not be so kind. Go on! We"ll meet again."
It was Black Flag Sovereign himself coming out to check him. Gold s.n.a.t.c.hing Silver Sabre gasped. He had been waiting to continue the fight, but eight men in black appeared, glaring like tigers, and Lonestar Silver Sword, who had captured Black Iron PaG.o.da, was already nowhere to be seen.
Not far up ahead, Seven Spells and Outcast Androgyne, Four Heavens Nun and Mountain Demon had clogged up the ravine, swords whirling about all over. No one dared go in there. Four of the Thirteen Greats were there in their first all-out fight.
Lonestar Silver Sword carried Black Iron PaG.o.da down the mountain, paying no attention to whether he was Cai Wenchang or not. At least Black Iron PaG.o.da had said he was "Master Cai", so he probably was him, plus he didn"t have time to stop and look closely. He had to get out of there first. Three men were guarding him, front and rear, and he was going fast. He didn"t notice Blissful Monk playing the waiting game, watching him from behind as he followed. The two men in front made way as they warned, "When the black decree is waved, the world obeys."
Behind him, a man in black brought up the rear, frequently looking behind him. Blissful Monk gradually closed in, coming on like lightning.
The ravine led out to a slope, and below that a small mountain trail, so he was near the foot of the mountain. Between the slope and the trail was a thicket of small pine trees.
The four went singlefile and out of the pinewood and onto the slope.
The man in black bringing up the rear exited the pinewood and suddenly felt a gust of wind at the back of his head. Distracted, he turned to his left and swung his sword. "Who"s attacking…" He dropped to the ground before he finished.
Blissful Monk had struck from behind, smas.h.i.+ng the man"s skull with his staff.
Lonestar Silver Sword was alerted by the sound of the dead body dropping and he whirled around. "Who"s there?"
"His Holiness!" With the response came his monk"s staff.
Lonestar Silver Sword tossed Black Iron PaG.o.da to his companions and said, "Take him and go on ahead." Then he charged after Blissful Monk.
The two men in front turned around and had not caught him yet when two dark figures shot out of the pine thicket next to the trail and attacked mercilessly.
"Arghh…" the two men screamed, staggered, and fell.
"Save him first," the taller person in gray said.
"Dad, it"s not him, this is Black Iron PaG.o.da. I fear…" This was a girl"s voice.
"Give him a cleansing vacuity pill. We still need to save him anyway."
Three people in white showed up. One said, "Put him down and state your name."
The tall one in gray raised his Chief Star Brush, every facet on the tip of the brush like a mirror reflecting the starlight, shooting out a dazzling light. He thundered, "In Whitecap"s Misery, those who come do not return."
It was Fang Song and his daughter. His Chief Star Brush was his mobile signboard. Friends of the martial fraternity who saw that dazzling Chief Star Brush not only would see ghosts in their eyes, their blood would run cold as well.
The girl helped Black Iron PaG.o.da swallow a cleansing vacuity pill and immediately drew her Yin-Yang Bone Sword. This sword was really a strange piece of sorcery. At night, the yang side twinkled brightly and sporadically, and the yin side looked like it was covered in black fog. The skull and crossbones hologram on the blade seemed to be alive, magnifying and shrinking at intervals, floating intermittently.
They split up left and right, one going forward, the other to the rear, and in the middle of them was Black Iron PaG.o.da, barely conscious and on the verge of death.
The three in white vanished into the night without a word.
One after another, everyone was scared off by their weapons.
Mountain Demon Shan Tang arrived. He uttered a long cry and pounced at the girl, his sword sweeping out like a rainbow cutting across the sky.
She stood her ground steady as a mountain, calm as the waters of a deep pool. She swished her sword out in a bright rainbow arc, black fog spreading out in all directions. Countless skull and crossbone images twinkled and surged forward. This was her grandmother, Devil Sword Demoness" "Heaven Snare Demon Sword""s consummate move, "Phantom Net". She only need to turn and whatever direction she attacked she could stop any enemy"s attack and destroy any weapon that was not an ancient magical blade. Back then, her grandmother, Demon Sword Demoness Dong Shuang"e had used this move to break through a mountain of sabres and a sea of swords, and get out of countless difficult situations. It could save one"s life, and was truly the most mysterious swordplay technique. If she had not been using the Yin-Yang Bone Sword then one would not be able to tell that it was a mystical technique, because the move was possible because of the sword, and the move and the sword only worked together. It"s fame rocked the martial fraternity and became Misery Valley"s unique, secret skill.
Mountain Demon Shan Tang knew what he was up against, but he was only after Black Iron PaG.o.da, he didn"t care about anything else, so he mustered his courage and presented his sword. The swords met and the force of his sword which could injure someone from a foot away was dispersed by the jolt of the Yin-Yang Bone Sword.
Countless metal shavings turned into a rain of metal and actually shot back at him.
Mountain Demon still didn"t know his opponent was Miss Xiaojuan, he thought it was Misery Valley"s old Demon Sword Demoness! He relaxed his grip. He knew his sixty years of internal force cultivation to produce that sword qi was no match for that demon sword. He uttered a long cry and fast as light off the surface of water he admitted defeat and got clear away from there.