Trying To Tame An Evil Overlord

She raised slowly and growled at them like a territorial beast but did not lunge at the cultivators with brandished claws. Instead, her gore-coated hand reached for her sword hilt and drew it with expert grace.

Yuan Xuelan cursed and squatted to lower the man he was carrying on his back. Before he could even get the guy off him, the corpse seemed to blink out of existence and appear right in front of him.

And the only reason why Yuan Xuelan didn"t have a sword stuck in his skull was because Mingshui was there to stop and redirect the blade.

"f.u.c.k!" He swore, unable to hide his shock and racing heart. The man on his back was dropped onto the ground and Yuan Xuelan quelled his fear to draw a set of talisman and spread them across the hall.

Those talismans were expensive to make but Yuan Xuelan used them without holding back, fearful of the beast that they faced.

At first glance, they did nothing too special and only cleansed the slightest amounts of resentful energy in the air but the effects increased over time. Eventually, the resentful energy acc.u.mulated could be unleashed in a powerful blast.

But for now, Liu Sumeng was left defending them against the terrifying beast.

The Ivory Sword Saint was careful with his movements, even a signal breath of error would cost him his life. Where the corpse lacked in swordsmans.h.i.+p, it made up in leaps and bounds with its strength and speed. To begin with, this woman clearly had decent skills when she was alive. And now dead she was only even more fearsome.

Refusing to show any weakness, the Ivory Sword Saint gritted his teeth and narrowed his focus, knowing that each second that flew pa.s.sed, Yuan Xuelan"s talismans will cleanse away more resentful energy.

"Sumeng!" Yuan Xuelan bellowed from behind before Silei came down in a blazing electric arc.

But even lightning was not fast enough to catch the corpse off-guard. The evil fiend twisted out of range and stepped forward to cut Yuan Xuelan.

Liu Sumeng intervened and stopped the strike from connecting with its target. With a single breath-worth of reprieve, Yuan Xuelan took this opportunity to regain his stance and was able to slice into her arm with his blade.

The corpse did not react to the pain but her counter attack was fierce and too fast for Xuelan to keep up with and he didn"t even notice the sword cutting through his thigh.

Liu Sumeng kept his cool by the barest thread. Mingshui came upwards and cut into their foe"s neck.

Not enough. Though he sliced through her jugular, a knee came up and the Ivory Sword Saint couldn"t completely dodge in time, not when he was so greedy with trying to sever her head. A moment too late, the knee collided with Liu Sumeng"s arm. Mingshui clattered to the ground.

A curse was thrown out of Yuan Xuelan"s lips as he unleashed a powerful surge of fire and lightning from his sword, creating a barrier and effectively pus.h.i.+ng the corpse back. The attack had dipped in deep into his spiritual energy and Yuan Xuelan struggled for control over the chaotic whirl of power inside of him.

How come he was still an idiot like this!? So d.a.m.ned weak even with a treasure like Silei in his hands.

"Sumeng, are you okay!?" His voice raised in alarm.

The Ivory Sword Saint was slow to respond. His right arm throbbed with flaring pain and shook uncontrollably. When he tried to flex his fingers they only curled weakly. What a d.a.m.ned fool he"d been.

But it should still be enough mobility to cast simple spells. He reached and picked up his sword with his left hand instead. "Don"t mind me. Worry about yourself."

"Don"t mind-" there was frustration in his voice, "How could I not mind...! You"re hurt!"

"So are you."

Yuan Xuelan frowned and looked down at his thigh and the blood now pooling beneath him. With adrenaline singing through his veins he could hardly feel any pain. Of course, he was not stupid enough to simply ignore an injury but right now he couldn"t afford the time to take care of himself.

He thought about the grades of restorative pills they had on them and their chances with this insane devil.

They could defeat it.

But Yuan Xuelan did not want to waste all their energy on this piece of trash before even getting to Peng Jipei! Dammit, there was still Cao Hong"s resurrected corpse to deal with! And Sumeng was already getting needlessly injured! How annoying...!

He was so eager to activate his talismans and just blow the whole place apart--

"Wait, you fools, don"t act so rashly," Huo Tang, who was still nestled inside the comforts of Liu Sumeng"s robes peeked her little head out to warn them. Yuan Xuelan almost didn"t listen to her. Especially not when he saw the corpse flinch, about to rush at them once more.

Something fell from the floor above.

A foot was driven into the corpse"s skull! The cut in the thing"s neck stretched and a terrible crack came with a tearing noise. The corpse"s head thudded on the ground and rolled.

A new person now stood in front of the cultivators, a smaller back turned to them.

But it was a familiar figure. Yuan Xuelan was reeling and couldn"t hide his astoundment, "What the heck!?"

Liu Sumeng was flabbergasted as well but contained his shock with a calm countenance. "Xiao Hao," He said, voice accusing. He hadn"t missed how the girl"s eyes had s.h.i.+ned a golden light when she dropped down from the ceiling, a telltale sign of the Hui clan.

But Xiao Hao didn"t turn around. The corpse, though headless, did not fall. Its sword still held forth and slashed down at the girl that knocked its head off.

"What the heck!!?" Yuan Xuelan exclaimed, horrified at the ugly headless thing. But he noticed something else as well, his talismans were soaking up resentful energy at a much faster rate.

"Not bad," he thought and trained his eyes toward where the head had rolled and activated the closest talisman.

Boom!

Smoke and debris scattered and woops. That might have been a little more effective than Xuelan expected. The large wooden pillar was broken and splinted with fire licking at wood. There was smoke as well and that might not have been what he intended.

He pulled out a different talisman to quell the flames and had to take a moment to wonder why they didn"t fireproof this d.a.m.ned place with spells and enchantments!? Was the Wayward Wind really that poor?

Liu Sumeng watched how the corpse"s movement slowed after the explosion. But even with the head now completely destroyed, it still moved as if it had eyes and ears.

But the Ivory Sword Saint had a better idea about how to deal with it. He raised his weakened hand and formed hand seals for a basic purification spell. It was hardly much but helped the talismans extract the resentful energy even faster. With his sword in his other hand, he eagerly took the challenge and joined the battle once more.

Xiao Hao was still a suspicious person but right now they were fighting against a common foe. Liu Sumeng kept alert but worked with the strange girl.

The fiend"s movements were much slower now and easier to manage. Yuan Xuelan quickly tied a piece of cloth around his bleeding thigh and joined the fray as well. With the three of them, they made quick work of the beast, cleaving off limbs one piece at a time.

And with each severed piece, Yuan Xuelan destroyed it either with the roaring blaze of his sacred sword or took one of his talismans to obliterate it into dust and soot.

From its wounds, more resentful energy bled out until it was reduced to nothing more than a heap of flesh that Yuan Xuelan took no chances against and cremated every last bit and piece. The hall was filled with the scent of smoke and burning flesh.

With the heat of things over, they could finally address the strange new development before their eyes.

Yuan Xuelan and Liu Sumeng stood opposite of Xiao Hao.

She looked at them while keeping a straight face. Or well, she was trying to. But her lips were pulled down every so slightly and eyes refused to look up. They were brown again, but Liu Sumeng hadn"t forgotten their golden s.h.i.+ne. "Who are you?" He asked.

Yuan Xuelan scrutinized her as well. He hadn"t thought much about it when the Ivory Sword Saint first brought up her familiarity but now it was bright in his head as well.

There was definitely something about her. However, the only connection Yuan Xuelan was able to make…was a strange one. And he couldn"t see how it could shed any light on this current situation.

But now that the idea struck him, he was unable to unsee it either. This Xiao Hao… looked very similar to his s.h.i.+jie"s handmaid Xiao Hei!

Were they related? But that wouldn"t really answer anything now would it?

"I"m…" the girl tilted her head, "Xiao Hao?"

"You clearly weren"t looking for people to escort you through the canyon, huh? Care to tell us what you"re doing here?" It was Yuan Xuelan"s turn to throw some accusations with arms crossed over his chest.

Xiao Hao perked up at the question. "Actually, I came to help!" She chirped.

The cultivators were not ready to believe her so easily and there were more questions on the tip of Yuan Xuelan"s tongue. But he didn"t get a chance to ask them because a new voice decided to join the conversation.

"Don"t trust it!" A harsh voice croaked, drawing attention. The Wayward Wind disciple that had been left on the ground earlier was now awake and sitting up. He climbed up slowly on shaky legs. His sharp glare never for a moment left Xiao Hao. In fact, he didn"t even dare to blink.

"That thing is a demon! One of the Demon King"s spies!"

The atmosphere froze. All eyes were on this Xiao Hao.

And when the girl did not respond, not even to defend herself, the Wayward Wind disciple continued with a sneed, "Xiao Hao huh? I suppose Hei Xiang wasn"t your real name either."

Xiao Hao remained quiet. The name Hei Xiang was familiar to Liu Sumeng in the corner of his memory. Wasn"t that the supposed rat that sat within the Wayward Wind Sect and caused its downfall? He had heard the whispers of such a story in the past but he hadn"t been extremely interested in the details.

But it was a well-told story, about a demon that infiltrated the Wayward Wind in search of treasure. This treasure was not found. But the demon, in its rage, had decided to burn the sect down from the inside out.

Of course, there were many variations of this story as well, where the demon was actually the late sect leader"s lover or that the treasure had in fact been stolen or even the version where the demon was the Demon King in disguise. Liu Sumeng wondered how much of it was true.

The Wayward Wind disciple seethed, "You"re a Hui aren"t you?"

"...h.e.l.lo, Li Zheng. It"s been a long time."