12 A Stronger, Weaker Cinder Army

Cries of awe and horror were squeezed from the Huayuan Lin sect disciples and the people in the city. They had no idea why another calamity was on its way to destroy them. The archers eyed at their target, and yet their hands trembled in fear. Arrows might only infuriate the rushing monster. They just fought against the Cinder Army, and there was another undead creature at their doorstep.

Then again, one of the archers cried as he spotted the two. "It's L-Lu Bang and Lady Sun!"

The message was passed with hesitation; were they luring the beast towards them?

Lin Kun had gone to the main gate of the western exit. The plains were covered with grass and bushes only so there were no obstacles in sight. They indeed saw the Huiqi Tiger coming their way, but it took the disciples minutes to notice the flying duo. The master took in a deep breath and rode his brother's sword to meet them in mid-air.

"Lu Bang!" Lin Kun called out, taking the brother's attention. Sun Yin, who was looking behind them as if checking if the Huiqi Tiger could keep up, turned to the front and saw the master's frustrated expression.

"Lin Kun—" Lu Bang would talk, but Sun Yin just made them pass the master by. She beckoned the master to follow them back to the main gates.

"Is that the Huiqi Tiger chasing you?!" Lin Kun did not give up on making them talk.

"Chasing? Not at all. It's following us. It's scared." Sun Yin spoke as she looked at Lin Kun from Lu Bang's shoulder. "Master Lin, you have to prepare evacuation again. Whoever's controlling the Cinder Army is not willing to let you go unscathed."

The master gasped.

They reached the main gates, and the three descended their swords. The giant cat slowed down and stayed just next to the disciples who were ready to attack it. It turned its back on them and hissed at the horizon it just ran away from.

Sun Yin took hold on Lin Kun's arm and pulled him towards her, just so she could whisper without the other disciples hearing her voice. "Master Lin, the Cinder Army was marching again. They must have taken a further route to attack the north side, but they were coming from Heici—or the mountains at least."

"Are you saying that the Heici Xu sect is controlling the Cinder Army?" Lin Kun scowled at her and her accusation against the most major sect in the Society.

"Could be, but I can't say everyone in their sect knew." She patted the sword hidden inside the cloth tied to her chest. "Your father was the only one who knew you inherited Buyue." She glanced at the Huiqi Tiger to see if it was still detecting the incoming army from the west. "Listen to me, the corpses morphed into something more lethal and yet more fragile. I hate to spread a secret, but those corpses were extremely vulnerable to fire. We need to burn them down.

"Also prepare a line of Evil Sealing Dolls. I can strengthen them to collect the malicious spirits that will bleed out of the burning corpses." Sun Yin huffed, containing her anger. "We would be able to stop them if you have enough trust in me."

"I only trust you as long as Lu Bang does." Lin Kun cared not of her distorting face. "I'll get everything ready as soon as we can." He was about to leave when Sun Yin grabbed his sleeve. He stayed and turned to the maiden.

Sun Yin took a deep breath. "Lin Kun, defensive arrays won't hold them long. We need to extract demonic energy from them to make it faster. Would you gamble the purity of Huaban and Xiangwei for this one? I could take away all the dark energy, but I could not promise they would be pure enough afterward. You might end up sealing them both for good."

Lin Kun only stared at her. Letting her taint his swords for the good of the city would result in him losing both his and his brother's swords. Though he could have another sword forged for him, Xiangwei was far more important to him than the two.

"I…" he hesitated to answer. What if they lose because he was greedy enough to keep Xiangwei? Even if they would not lose, he might be responsible for a lot of deaths just because they lacked another strong spiritual sword to help out. Would it be acceptable for him to push someone else's sword to be the sacrifice? They were the only ones who knew that Lady Sun was no one else but the Bride of Corpses herself.

He shook his head. "I'll decide later. I'll prepare everything first." He ran away from Sun Yin's reach, ignoring the tug her hand gave to him as he pulled away.

The maiden only watched him go away. She then looked around as she looked for Lu Bang. In fact, despite the grave disrespect the other senior sect members had given him, he was still helping out in organizing the juniors as how to form their ranks. Perhaps he had done this first before loitering in the infirmary. In fact, maybe he was checking on the juniors in the infirmary before they died.

"Lady Sun!" A familiar voice came from her side. Sun Yin turned to her right and saw a familiar face. It was the man that she helped with his brother Shen. "Lady Sun! Thank you for staying with us!"

"Ah, now's not the time. Why are you here?"

"Lady Sun, Master Lin told us you were lining Evil Sealing Dolls." He only had half a dozen cramped under his arms. "We only have small ones ready. There are a few big ones, but they're coming from the shop in the city. It might take a while to bring them here."

Sun Yin nodded and directed him and his fellow brothers who delivered the dolls. In fact, these dolls would be standing behind their lines serving as protection from the malevolent spirits that would try to possess them and their dead brothers. She was drawing characters on the blank talismans that would make the dolls suck dark energy once the army comes.

Lu Bang walked to the maiden's side and noticed the preparations being done by the sect. He had no idea why they were rolling oil barrels towards the backside of their ranks. He spoke even though both of them were not looking at each other. "What's the plan?"

"Burn the bodies, and then seal the demons that come from them." She continued to write in haste. "My core could only help with the talismans and Buyue. I might have accidentally kept the wrong one. I must have checked first. Then again, I had no idea it would have been divided that way."

"Hm." Lu Bang only hummed as she murmured to herself. "We should also prepare defenses against the fire. I don't want the disciples to be burned alive while fighting these monsters."

"Worry not, I will be handing them protection." She smiled even though her head was away from his sight.

The man finally turned to her and watched her write on the talismans. "You're supposed to be for the destruction of men; how come you know exactly how to extinguish your own creations? Did you think there will be one day that they would betray you?"

Sun Yin looked up once to take a look at the man's curious face. "Not at all. Only the living knows how to betray." She looked down at the talismans again. "The entire Hushe Sun sect's existence was about preventing the dead from taking over the living. I learned of these before I started destroying humanity."

"Hushe?" Lu Bang whispered as if he had heard it before.

"I'm done!" Sun Yin exclaimed as she finished the last one. She then gathered the talismans and distributed it to the helpers, including Lu Bang. "Make sure each of them has two of these!" She waved a set of two pieces to show the helpers.

After so, she noticed the oil barrels being transported to the gates. Lin Kun was inspecting the barrels, making sure that none of these were leaking. He also turned to another person and talked to him for some time.

From the movement of his lips, Sun Yin could tell they were discussing the assault and offensive arrays to be used. Their flying swords might not be enough to cut these things down, but they would be helpful in spreading the fire.

A loud cry came from the Huiqi Tiger as it lowered its chest to the ground. Its hissing and folded ears denoted the distance of the Cinder Army. Sun Yin glared at the direction they were supposed to come from, soon being joined by Lin Kun and Lu Bang. The master nodded at one person, and the person signaled the archers to shoot arrows into the distance.

The flames on their heads lit up the way, giving them a glimpse of the monstrous army of black.