Chapter 26: Strangers
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The sword came flying unexpectedly at his face. Yuelong kicked off the ground and leapt high up in the air, successfully dodging the sword.

Thud!

The sword pinned itself into the ground. 

“That was close,” Yuelong thought to himself. Cold sweat had started to seep out from his back. He was caught completely off guard.

“Ge! Are you alright?” Xiao-Kai rushed to his side, glancing into the forest for anything suspicious. 

Everything was quiet and still except for the falling leaves of the trees. Not a single breeze could be felt in the forest. 

Cangming materialized in Yuelong’s hand. He stood in front of Xiao-Kai and searched through the forest with his third eye. Faint tendrils of dark purple energy led his eyes upwards into the canopy of the forest. Concealed behind the branches were multiple masked figures. Masks similar to that of the people they met at the demonic dual cultivation ritual.

“Return what is ours and you and the boy shall be set free!” Demanded one of the masked people.

Yuelong’s mind instantly went to the cloud shape badge that he had picked up from the forest. So it must be something important for these people…

“And if I refuse?” Questioned Yuelong with a sense of pride.

“Then you won’t be able to see the light of day,” threatened the masked man. “So make your choice, to die, or to give it back.”

“Ge, what are they talking about?” Whispered Xiao-Kai. “I didn’t steal anything!”

“Don’t, worry, Xiao-Kai, it isn’t your fault.” Assured Yuelong. “Whatever they do, just dodge and stay behind me, okay?”

Yuelong could see a hint of fear in his eyes. But the flashback of what Xiao-Kai did to the demonic beast back in the forest resurfaced in his mind. I think you’ll be fine with that kind of power…but at the same time, it can greatly harm you. I’ll just have to make sure that you don’t have to use that type of mysterious power.

Even though Yuelong had an idea that they were after the cloud shaped badge, he still questioned the masked people, “What exactly are you looking for?”

“Enough bullshit, we know you took it!” One masked man said.

“Just hand it over and you won’t die!” Another voice croaked. 

Yuelong sighed and stepped forward, shielding Xiao-Kai. “Bring it on, if you do not fear the fury of the Heavens!”

For a moment, the masked people looked at each other and nodded. At once, half a dozen people jumped down from the canopies and landed on the forest grounds. Each had a slightly different mask. Some of them had tusks while others didn’t, one of them had multiple eyes while the rest had two. The masked people each wielded a different weapon as well. A spear, a whip, a spiked bat, a bow and arrow. It seemed that they were prepared to kill whoever was in their way.

A murderous atmosphere quickly settled in. The six masked people lifted their weapons in an offensive position. A cold shiver went down Xiao-Kai’s back. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Yuelong and his abilities, it was the fact that Yuelong was outnumbered and that he wouldn’t escape this battle unharmed. 

“Prepare to die! Fan Yiheng!” They boomed. 

Fsh! Fsh! Fsh! Crack!

The enemy had rapidly launched three consecutive arrows and one cracked their whip at Yuelong. Caught off guard by them calling out his name, he didn’t parry or dodge the attacks. Up until the last moment, he summoned up a barrier. The arrows splintered and the whip stopped short at the barrier.

“Look at the mighty Yixiao Zhenjun, hiding behind a barrier!” A masked man mocked. The other masked figures laughed.

Slightly aggravated, Yuelong dispersed his shield and charged at the figures. Xiao-Kai immediately hid behind a tree, praying to Heaven that he would not be noticed. 

The spearman jabbed at lightning speed, Yuelong easily parried and dodged the sharp end of the spear. He leapt high into the air and cut down with all his might at the spearman. The masked figure grunted under Cangming. Cracks began to emerge in the wooden shaft.

Luckily for the mask figure, the other people intervened and saved his life. A whip lashed out at Yuelong. He spun in the middle of the air, barely dodging the whip. Just right after he landed, he felt a swift gush of air on his right cheek. Followed by a sting and a trickle of liquid. 

“Your archery skills are crap, you missed him!” One of the mask figures said to the archer. 

“Hmph, I'd like to see you try! That son of a bitch isn’t that easy…” The archer took aim again. 

Yuelong jumped in front of the spiked bat wielder and swiftly sliced at his opponent. Shielded by the bat wielder, the archer failed to aim at Yuelong with his deadly arrows. Faced with the incredible agility from Yuelong, the bat wielder began to falter. Due to the weight of the spiked bat, his movements were slow and clumsy.

Another sword parried Cangming, forcing Yuelong to fall back a couple steps. The sword user had now joined in on the fight. Yuelong scanned his opponents. A swordsman, nearly broken spear, terrible archer, a whip, a spiked bat, and… Yuelong glanced at the figure standing behind all the other fighters. He wielded no weapons. Come to think of it, I don’t think he even talked…

“Where are you looking at!? We’re your opponents! How disrespectful, this mother fucker!” The swordsman spat. He lunged at Yuelong with swiftness. 

With a twist of his body, Yixiao Zhenjun dodged the attack and slammed his elbow down at the attacker’s back. The swordsman grunted once and lost his consciousness. 

“One down, five to go,” Yuelong murmured with satisfaction. It was a very long time since he had moved this much. And he was kind of enjoying this.

Yuelong lunged at the group of masked figures and engaged in tight combat. Parry, left step, slice, turn, stab, left step, slice… 

The masked one without a weapon stood back and watched the battle. From his pocket, the masked one drew out silver needles. He watched and waited for the perfect moment to launch their sneak attack.

Observing the masked one, Xiao-Kai noticed a small glint of silver in his hands. His stomach suddenly felt like he had boulders for dinner, an uneasy feeling washed over him. His instincts told him that he needed to step in. The teen looked around for any weapons available. At once, he noticed a couple rocks at his feet. He quickly picked a sharp rock and held it tightly in his hand.

Remembering how Yuelong had taught him to control the flow of energy, Xiao-Kai took a deep breath in. Concentrating on the flow of the energy inside of him, he conducted it to pass through his arm and into the rock. Simultaneously, he felt the palm of his grow hotter and hotter as more energy gathered into the rock. Then he threw it at the masked one.

“Ahh!” The masked one grunted. 

The rock had hit the masked one square in the face and had shattered half of the figure’s mask, revealing the horror underneath. Like the demonic mask that he wore, the face underneath had multiple eyes. Blood flowed down his face as the many-eyed man glared at Xiao-Kai. Startled, Xiao-Kai stared at the figure in horror.

Completely occupied by the other four masked figures, Yuelong didn’t notice that out of the six masked figures, one had gone missing.

A cold hand grasped his shoulder. Xiao-Kai slowly turned his head and found himself staring back at the swordsman.

“Got you, you little bitch!” He raised his sword.

Fsh! Thud!

“AHHH!!!” The screams of the swordsman echoed through the forest. Yuelong and the other masked figures looked in the direction of the scream. 

The swordsman’s arm was pinned to a tree by a small dagger. Only the handle poked out from the swordsman’s arm. Blood flowed quickly down the rough skin of the tree. 

Fsh!

Crack!

The swordsman was instantly silenced. Another dagger had found its way into the figure’s face. The wooden mask snapped in two and fell to the ground with a hard sound. 

Xiao-Kai recoiled at the sight of the man. His face was like a watery dough, rough in some spots and his skin sagged unevenly across his face. His eyes were bloodshot red and his tongue was forked like that of a lizard’s. 

Xiao-Kai stepped back and bumped into something. Or someone. His heart stopped. He felt his hands froze at the thought of having bumped into another masked figure. He trembled with anxiety. He felt two gentle pats on his back. The teen turned and looked into the face of his life-saver. 

He looked oddly familiar yet Xiao-Kai couldn’t remember where. In the dark, Xiao-Kai could make out the basic outline of his face. His head was like that of an almond’s, round from the top which came down to a pointed chin. The man made a sound, which sounded like something between a chuckle and a sigh of relief. Without another word, the man walked towards the multi-eyed figure. 

The figure backed a couple steps away from the man. “Wh-who the fuck are you? I’m warning you! Don’t come any closer!” He pulled out another patch of silver needles.

“This is between them and me, stay clear!” Yuelong demanded. How odd that this man is out at a time like this… Is he even capable of dealing with these people?

“Then let’s see if your needles are better or my daggers are,” the man said cockily. He swiftly pulled out another small knife and threw it at the multi-eyed figure. Before he even had time to launch the silver needles, the dagger had already pierced into his shoulder. His eyes widened at the attack. Not because it hit him, but from the huge force from that one dagger. The force had pushed the multi-eyed person a couple meters back. 

Yuelong watched with surprise. This person can push someone back with just a small dagger!? His inner energy must be extremely powerful… I wonder which sect he is from?

Distracted by the dagger thrower, the whip wielder cracked his whip at Yuelong. 

“Look out!” Xiao-Kai cried.

Fsh!

The whip was now pinned into a tree. This time, disarming the whip wielder as well. The whip wielder stared down at their shaking hands in disbelief. 

“They were forcefully disarmed from one single knife? Just who is this guy?” Yuelong thought to himself.

Quickly taking advantage of his time, Yuelong fought with the remaining three masked figures. Shaken by the newcomer, the three masked figures quickly lost their stand against Yuelong. In a few moments, the spear and bow had snapped and the bat wielder’s arm was broken.

Disarmed and injured, all the masked people knelt down and begged for forgiveness. 

“Please! We were ordered to do this! Please don’t kill us!” They begged.

“Speak! Tell me who sent you here!” Order Yuelong. He took out the cloud shaped badge from his sleeve. “And tell me, what is this!?”

The masked people immediately closed their mouths. 

Sheek! Sheek! Sheek!

Everyone turned their heads to the newcomer. The sound came from the knives that he was juggling. 

“They’re pretty sharp, you know. Maybe my hands will slip if I hear something I don't like,” the man said sarcastically.

Yuelong felt annoyed by this newcomer. A joke? At this time? He looked closely at the newcomer. The sun had completely disappeared but he could just make out the outline of his face and shoulder. It was oddly familiar, like he had seen him somewhere before.

Yuelong asked again, “Who sent you and what is the purpose of this badge?” He pointed Cangming at the kneeling figures. 

“It-it’s…”

Yuelong stepped closer.

“Our ma-master is…”

The multi-eyed man suddenly stood up. He made a sign with his hands and a green glow appeared under each of the kneeling figures. The leaves on the forest floor swirled around the five figures like a tornado. 

Yuelong stepped back and covered his face from the harsh winds. He took a quick peek at the newcomer beside him. He, too, was shielding his face from the strong winds. The daggers were now grasped firmly in his hands. Yuelong could see a murderous intent in his eyes. It had sent chills down his spine. This person… isn’t good news.

The tornado rose higher in the night sky, blowing leaves in all directions. Like a dragon, it flew across the night sky, carrying the masked people away.

After the winds had died down, Yuelong sat down next to Xiao-Kai. 

“You alright?” He asked the teen.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Are you?” 

Yuelong smiled and patted the teen on the head. His smile faded as he looked at the newcomer. Facing a complete stranger with unknown abilities, he couldn’t let down his guard.

“Who are you?” Yuelong questioned.

The stranger sighed. Ignoring Yuelong's question, he said, “Why don’t we light up a fire first? Shall we?”

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