Chapter 55: The Counterattack
Not a single root grows on the Wen. Never befriend a Miao. To die a dog’s death on Crow Ridge. The Wen, Miao, and Luo were three clans with their own hidden strengths and power. The Wen has the Death Trademark while the Luo has The Centipede. The elite a.s.sa.s.sins from the Miao were called The Swarm.
Once The Swarm in the jungle were launched, it would be a never-ending tale until death!
The Wen and Luo were extremely strict and brutal when it came to training their secret force, however, they were still human after all no matter how well they were trained. The Miao, on the other hand, was a whole other story. Members of The Swarm were selected once they were been born and were treated very differently from other human babies. The Miao turned them into parts of the swamp and jungle with black magic and witchcraft, transforming them into beasts that knew only about killing and black magic. The Swarm was only interested in finding unusual ways to kill someone.
Thud.
Just as Wen Leyang and Mumu were about to turn back, the baby zombie Ah Dan fell from a tree.
The last Centipede in the group was quick to react, with a light jump he sprang to his feet and caught the baby zombie firmly in mid-air. However, not a second later he had uttered a hoa.r.s.e shriek and his burly body trembled violently as he fell hard onto the ground.
Ah Dan had bit into his throat and was pulling forcefully. The strong body of the man jerked once as his scream came to an abrupt end with his limbs twitching uncontrollably.
Mumu could not help but cry out as this particular member of The Centipede had appeared in her nightmare with a torn and b.l.o.o.d.y neck.
Although Ah Dan was a zombie, it normally looked cute and naïve with a silly smile on its pudgy face. It was a well-accepted and popular zombie in Luo family. No one expected it to suddenly turn and attack the others.
The people from the Luo have yet to react while the Death Trademark, not having as many scruples, flashed their weapons and came das.h.i.+ng towards Ah Dan.
Ah Dan’s face was stained with blood, its silly smile had turned ferocious and with its light and brisk body, it counterattacked as it snarled fiercely. Mumu urgently reminded them to not get bitten by it as she flipped out her Spirit Needles. She shouted to Wen Leyang, “Help me hold him!”
Wen Leyang’s speed was much faster than the others. He took a step towards Ah Dan and wrapped his arms around the little zombie like an iron vice as wave after waves of huge force kept churning out from his palms. Ah Dan struggled desperately and all of a sudden, its sungla.s.ses fell off its face.
Wen Leyang wan taken aback for a moment as the eyes of the little zombie were wide open and both pupils were glowing with a strange, bright red color.
The little zombie opened its mouth suddenly and smiled foolishly at Wen Leyang. Against the light from the campfire, the bloodstains and bone fragments were clearly visible on its blackened teeth.
Little Chili Pepper took a Spirit Needle and pierced it mercilessly through the top of Ah Dan’s head all the way into its body. Its small body s.h.i.+vered quickly as the second Spirit Needle was pierced through his ears.
The little zombie straightened its body suddenly and closed its eyes.
Stunned, Wen Le yang asked, “This…can be considered as a cross?”
Just as Ah Dan had closed its eyes, the mud bubbling sound began again from all directions and the campfire in the center of the campsite suddenly erupted into plumes of flame and flew towards everybody!
Wen Buzuo squinted his eyes as he looked at the scattering fire in the sky and shouted to the Death Trademark suddenly, “The earth!” Everyone from the Death Trademark, including the reserved Wen Bushuo, acknowledged with a shout. All fifteen people from the Death Trademark moved quickly and bombarded the ground with hard punches, each hit caused the soil to fly upwards and create a barrier of dirt against the approaching flames. Before the flames could reach the ground, numerous dragons of dirt had been created and they soared into the sky, effectively blocking the flames from reaching them.
Little Chili Pepper waved and commanded, “Soul Rus.h.i.+ng!” as she took a flying leap into the Wen’s group.
Thirteen Centipedes immediately sat down with their legs crossed and took out their Spirit Needles. They strummed the needles rapidly, making a deep and dull sound. The sound began to pick up speed and soon entered into a weird tempo. Everyone from the Wen felt their hearts beating faster to keep up with the odd rhythm of the vibrating Spirit Needles. The sound of blood rus.h.i.+ng filled their ears and they felt so impatient that they wanted to dance around.
Little Chili Pepper moved about and fed a small fingernail-sized piece of black jade to each of the Wen Bucao. Once they held that in their mouths, a sense of coolness immediately rose from their heart and calmed the agitation in their blood down instantly.
When Mumu got in front of Wen Leyang, he shook his head instead. The Soul Rus.h.i.+ng sound by The Centipede did not have an effect on him. He only felt his pores shrinking and closing on his body, effectively shutting off his body from the soul rus.h.i.+ng and possessing rhythm.
It was a counterattack!
The Wen Bucao blocked the scattered flames in the sky as the Crow Ridge took advantage of that and launched their Soul Rus.h.i.+ng killing attack.
Neither the Death Trademark nor The Centipede were ordinary people who only depended on using a knife to fight. After consecutive setbacks for being inattentive, they were quick to respond and cooperate to launch their counter attacks!
There was a sizzling sound and the light from the flames began to fade quickly. The mud which had been thrown up into the air were being charred by the flames into thick puffs of smoke. As the flames were put out by the mud, the sky faded back into darkness rapidly.
Just as the firestorm went out, the flowing sound of the mud was replaced with high-pitched screeches as several dwarves which were less than half a meter in height appeared from deep within the jungle. They were howling in pain and were struggling to walk. They seemed to be inexorably drawn towards The Centipede. Suddenly, there was the sound of a small explosion as the head of one of the smallest dwarf suddenly burst apart like a rotten watermelon. Its bony body spun around several times before falling onto the ground.
The other dwarves too did not last very long after as their heads exploded one after the other, leaving only their small bodies.
The rustling sound of the mud had subsided once again.
Wen Leyang and Little Chili Pepper looked at each other and smiled in tacit understanding.
The faces of the people from the Death Trademark and The Centipede were beginning to turn pale. Both the action of punching the ground to raise the mud dragons and launching the Soul Rus.h.i.+ng killing attack were extremely physically demanding and consumed a lot of their energy. Even the nail-like Wen Bushuo’s footsteps were slightly shaky.
Two Centipedes got a hold of Ah Dan and tied him to the back of Little Chili Pepper with a red string. Of course, the zombie wouldn’t die but with the two Spirit Needles in its body, it would behave like an ordinary corpse and would not be able to acknowledge its master again until it was brought back home. The witchcraft of the Miao had been able to drive the little zombie into a frenzy, it was indeed a formidable sorcery.
Wen Leyang looked questioningly at everyone and was acknowledged with a nod. This victory had raised the morale of the elites from both families. The Wen had defended while the Luo had attacked, the perfect cooperation had brought everyone closer than before.
Wen Leyang and Little Chili Pepper walked side by side. Together with the remaining twenty-eight elites, they continued to speedily transverse into the jungle.
It was a few miles down the road and all was quiet, they no longer heard the squis.h.i.+ng sound of the mud anymore. Wen Buzuo, as if he’d just remembered something of note, went quickly up to Wen Leyang and said in a secretive tone, “Actually…we didn’t need to worry about the rain of flames just now.”
Not understanding his meaning, Wen Leyang gave him a puzzled look.
Wen Buzuo swallowed hard before saying, “In the nightmare, none of us had burned to death!”
Not knowing to laugh or cry, Wen Le Yang gave him a stern look. Just as he was about to speak, his expressions changed unexpectedly as he yelled, “Watch out!” In a flash, he had thrown himself forcefully towards the back of Wen Buzuo’s body. In that instant, the rus.h.i.+ng sound of the mud could be heard again!