Chapter 70 — Ambush
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 5 of 6
With Lu Xueling joining the fight, the situation on the field changed at once. Her cultivation was already very high, and after escaping the Abyss of the Dead she had advanced further still; moreover, she held the divine weapon Tianya. Liu Gao and the wild dog, two against one, were actually getting the worse of it.
As for the old leader, the moment he saw Zhang Qingyue join the battle, his heart skipped a beat. He was not afraid of the brat's powers, but he greatly dreaded that strange staff in his hand. Sure enough, the moment Zhang Qingyue arrived, he drove the black-iron staff to block several red lights, his expression not changing in the least; the evil aura of the Red Demon Eye, which Song Dayi and the others so deeply feared, seemed to have no effect on him at all.
This freed Song Dayi and Du Biyan's hands, and immortal sword and dice immediately went for the old leader. The old leader roared again and again, but no matter how he increased the power driving the Red Demon Eye, Zhang Qingyue was only somewhat strained in blocking the force of the red light, and was not in the slightest affected by the evil aura.
In but a moment the old leader was struggling to keep up; in his fluster he glanced aside and saw that Liu Gao, the wild dog, and even the beautiful woman seemed unable to gain any advantage. He could only shout, "Retreat!"
As he shouted, the Red Demon Eye suddenly burst forth, shooting out seven or eight red lights in rapid succession; Zhang Qingyue barely blocked five, but the remaining few lights held Song Dayi and Du Biyan back for a moment. Seizing the gap, the old leader turned and fled, and the several men of the Blood Refining Hall in the distance also scattered backward.
Lu Xueling gave a cold snort; heedless of Song Dayi behind her shouting, "Do not chase a cornered foe!", she sent the Divine Sword of the Heavenly Dipper streaking through the air in pursuit. Zhang Qingyue was startled and hurried to follow.
The blue light of Tianya was like lightning, and in an instant it had caught up. The Wild Wolf Daoist, running at the very rear, felt a chill wind at his back; the very hairs on his back stood on end, and he could not help but shriek, "Help!"
The old leader and the others were greatly alarmed and hastily looked back; but just then, behind the men of the Blood Refining Hall, deep in the dark forest, a white light suddenly flashed, and a white flower drifted out.
Zhang Qingyue, standing behind, stopped in his tracks, struck dumb for a moment.
That strange white flower flashed again and again in the air; in an instant, where the white light swept past, it seemed to conjure countless white petals into a rain of blossoms filling the sky, like a sea of serene, pure flowers, rushing toward Lu Xueling's blue sword of light.
Lu Xueling's Divine Sword of the Heavenly Dipper did not retreat in the slightest but charged straight up; in an instant, these two strange lights and rare treasures collided.
Time, in that moment, seemed to pause for a fraction of its flow.
Suddenly, an invisible yet violent wave of energy burst forth from those two treasures and surged out in all directions from them as their center. The fallen leaves, like rain, were blown up into the sky, and of the people on the ground, several actually staggered back a few steps.
It was a long while before the bitter wail of the wind gradually quieted. Lu Xueling drifted back to stand beside Zhang Qingyue; he looked at her and saw that her face seemed paler still, as though even the color of blood had left it.
Lu Xueling seemed to sense Zhang Qingyue's worry; she glanced at him and gave a slight shake of her head to show she was all right. Zhang Qingyue turned and looked ahead.
In the darkness, that strange white flower slowly revolved in midair, and after a moment gradually descended. All was silent around, when suddenly a jade hand, white as snow, reached out from the darkness and gently caught this "Flower of the Wounded Heart."