Han Bei squinted his eyes and looked at the mob that had gathered for his blood. Some wore bone-white armor and rode skeletal mounts, while few others were adorned in pale blue robes and moved on foot. Han Bei guessed that they were proficient in movement techniques.
Yet the moment that man appeared, Han Bei had no attention to spare for the others. As a dark gaze fell upon him Han Bei felt a wave of fluctuating power and malice that smashed against his will. At moments the watcher's power seemed comparable to his own. But at others? " Heavens, damn my luck, " Han Bei cursed as he felt a power that approached that of his elders. It seemed like the lord of Skeleton manor had personally come for his life." Rotten luck, " Han Bei cursed again as he found that he had lured a monster.
" Kill, kill, kill! " he heard the monster's voice as it echoed and the mob advanced toward him. Han Bei wasn't one to dismiss good advice either. He extended his arm and grabbed onto the nearest spear. Qi flowed from his pale body into the talismans plastered all over the spear in his hands and as the weapon glowed with a grey light he threw it at the good people of the Skeleton manor.
Before the bloodthirsty horde managed to pick up speed a gray streak cut down one of their numbers. The spear pierced the flesh beneath the bone-white armor and brought one of the riders down to the ground never to stand up again. Han Bei had no time to admire the successful kill as the Skeleton manor continued its advance with its lord at the very front.
He grabbed another spear and quickly looked for a new target while the distance between him and his foes shrank every second. With great speed, a single cultivator in a light blue robe broke away from the crowd. He was surrounded by a pale glow that made him an excellent target for Han Bei. " Overeager bastard, " Han Bei thought as power flowed through his arm and he hurled the second spear at the quickly approaching cultivator.
The quick cultivator attempted to dodge but the heavy spear still tore through his leg before it struck the ground. The cultivator screamed in pain but his agony soon came to an end as a massive skeletal leg turned his brain into mush. The lord of bones didn't even bat an eyelid as his chariot trampled over one of his own subordinates. From the moment he arrived the lord of bones was locked onto a single thing. Corpse!
Han Bei took the final spear. Only 500 meters divided him from the good people of the Skeleton manor and the maniac on the bone chariot would reach him in mere seconds. He allowed his instincts to choose the target. "Here goes nothing. " The spear was on a collision course with the lord of bones. A part of Han Bei hoped that Heaven would smile upon him and the weapon he threw would skewer the bloody bastard. But Heaven looked away from him that day apparently, as one of the riders beside the leader of the Skeleton manor rushed out. A woman with blonde hair and piercing eyes that wore an exquisite suit of bone armor and a polished silver blade. She cut the spear apart and returned beside her master, while the lord of bones didn't even flinch, his gaze remained unwavering.
" Didn't think that would kill the bastard anyway, " Han Bei consoled himself. His purpose was only to gain the attention of the attackers anyway, and at that, he succeeded. The unyielding fury he could sense even more than 100 meters away told him as much. " But now while I still have their attention it's time to spring the trap. " The horde of cultivators out for his blood was mere seconds away but as he moved towards the dark forest he suddenly stopped. It was like there was one final warning, a line he was about to cross. One he didn't want to cross. Shouldn't cross. Yet the dead stares of his martial siblings wrapped around him like heavy chains and pulled him forward. " They demand the blood of their killer, the blood of the undead royalty Fang Ming. And before I deliver I'm not allowed to perish, " Han Bei convinced himself as he crossed into the forest. Qi gathered into his legs as he ran away and he turned into a green shadow that moved around the twisted trees.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As Corpse vanished from sight Li Lai was beside her master. She heard him snarl, barely holding on to his sanity, " Form up and follow. " The charging force of the Skeleton manor repositioned themselves, instead of a loose crowd they gathered into a single column with the lord of bones at the front.
Li Lai watched the skeletons bound to her master's chariot as they trampled and smashed open a path while the trees moaned in pain. Li Lai shook her head. " Luring an enemy inside the wailing forest might have been a good strategy against anyone else, but even at his worst lord Wei still knows how much damage he can cause before the curse is activated. "
The corpse ran while the Skeleton manor pursued and the distance between them shrank every second. While Li Lai felt concerned about the damage they had done to the forest the prey in front of them was in sight. The corpse never managed to break away, they only ever lost sight of him for a few seconds before they located their target again. Despite her worries, Li Lai felt that the outcome was already set in stone and her mind turned to what to do about that damn chalice. " Perhaps that corpse truly has it? "
Yet an enraged howl soon interrupted her musings. " Where is he, where has that thief gone to, " howled the lord of bones. Before she managed to form any sort of response the leader of the Skeleton manor visibly aged by the second and continued the chase with even greater speed. " Heavens damn it, " Li Lai cursed as she and her companions chased after their leader.
The death throes of the pitch-black tress constantly accompanied each and every member of the Skeleton manor that dared to enter. Li Lai cursed again and again as she watched the back of her lord while his hair gradually turned from vibrant black to dead gray, " Heavens, not now, not fucking now. " She poured more qi into her skeletal steed and rushed after the lord of bones while those with lesser cultivation struggled to keep up.
She chased after her lord as the black tress flashed by but that damnable corpse was nowhere to be seen. She tried to expand her spiritual sense but simply controlling her mount at this speed consumed all her concentration. She began to worry just how much more havoc they can cause before the curse activates when the chariot in front of her gradually stopped.
Exhausted, Li Lai approached. " My lord I- " but words fled from her as a pair of deranged eyes turned back to her. The lord of bones snarled, more like an animal than a man, " It was you wasn't it, you hid him, didn't you. " As Li Lai looked at the withered visage of her lord, she struggled to form a response. But something else caught the lord of bones' attention. It was another member of the Skeleton manor. He tried to catch up as he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Fire, Fire. "
" What fire? " Li Lei managed to ask. Then it started, then the forest started screaming.
