3 Repelling the Cinder Army

The peaceful streets that Sun Yin left earlier were now a maze of chaotic paths. The citizens were running away from the north side of the city. It seemed that the Cinder Army could ravage through their barricades at any given moment. Sun Yin, however, looked around in awe. The evacuation felt to be systematic as there were no crying children being left behind. Then again, it did not make the streets less populous and noisy.

The wave of people almost swept Sun Yin away from Lu Bang, but her grip on his sleeve made it all the way through the central plaza. There were more cultivators guiding the citizens to the exit while briefing fellow brothers about the contingency plans. Lu Bang made his way to the man with a thick long beard and big arms. He wore a blue sash belt as if denoting another rank, probably higher than most.

"Lin Dong, Lin Kun sent me to help you." Lu Bang almost spat, but he dared not to in front of the agitated man.

"Help me? What can you do, really?" Lin Dong took a break from guiding the citizens. He stared down at the man before him. "I have enough men to guide and guard here. If anything, maybe you should … well, handle traffic." He then used his hands to shoo him away. "Go on. I am busy here."

"Seriously?" Lu Bang clicked his tongue. He walked back to Sun Yin and pointed to the direction the sea of people was taking. "Just follow them to the gates. You'll be out of the city in no time."

Sun Yin only turned to the direction of the current. She gazed for too long that she bothered Lu Bang who was waiting for her to move. He turned to the direction as well … only to jerk aloud.

Before words could escape Lu Bang, hysterical screams tore through the crowd. The woman grabbed Lu Bang by the waist and leaped through the air. Paper talismans dropped from her sleeves, and one by one, she threw them in the air. Each talisman turned into a small protective shield, but instead of its defensive function, it served as Sun Yin's stepping stone in mid-air. In less than a minute, she crossed the sea of people towards the gates, with a big man tucked under her arm.

She arrived by the gates where some cultivators were holding back a wall of corpses with their defensive arrays. She dropped Lu Bang to the ground and assessed the situation through her eyes only. However, one brother yelled at her, not knowing how she got there.

"You there! Get back!"

It did not last long until the barriers broke. The cultivators from the sect—also known for the weakest defensive arrays—had no chance of holding back the corpses that flooded the path. The crowd continued to cry in terror as the corpses ran towards them. However, they seemed to forgot that Sun Yin was standing in-between them.

She pulled out three talismans from her sleeve and threw them in the air. They formed a triangle, and with a hand seal, the triangle grew bigger and spun in great speed. It went to push the corpses away. The ones that kissed the array burned relentlessly, letting the furious blue flame ride more corpses along the way. With a loud explosion, the corpses that flooded the path were gone.

"Is this the only path to get outside the city?" Sun Yin bent down to pick Lu Bang up from the ground, making him sit.

"No, but that's the only—holy shit, how did you do that?" Lu Bang stared up at the 'delicate, vulgar' woman.

"Only what?"

"P-Path to the harbor!" one of the thrown brothers answered for him. "Big Sister! We're landlocked by mountains! We have to get these people out to the sea!"

Sun Yin turned to the brother who spoke. What he said was true, but it did not necessarily mean that was the only way. To the far west of Huayuan was the city of Heici which based another cultivation sect. There should be a path through the mountains. However, they seemed to not take that direction; was there something between the Heici Xu sect and the Huayuan Lin sect?

Lu Bang got to his feet and grabbed her arm. "No time to space out! They're coming back!"

The woman snapped from her thoughts and saw that the corpses were gathering in front of them again. Sun Yin frowned at the options they had, more than the things before her. She pulled out some more talismans and charged through the incoming wave. She threw the talismans in the air which carved a hole through their wall.

"Everyone, follow me!" Sun Yin called as she ran through, making a tunnel under the rushing corpses.

With Lu Bang urging the people, they continued to run through the tunnel Sun Yin created. They were too scared to go, but they were more scared of being killed. From underneath, they saw the corpses growling and beating the barrier. However, there was this blue spark that caused them pain at every strike.

Since the corpses were attracted to the people underneath them, they did not bother rush to the front. They even chased the ones underneath so newer people could enter the tunnel without fear. Even the cultivators behind them made use of the tunnel to get the other side.

Sun Yin doubted their choice of evacuation, but she found herself enlightened when she got to the harbor. There were purification arrays in the water, and the ones who made it out earlier where in boats. The corpses would not be able to swim since they would be toasted by the water. She stopped running and watched the sea of people who avoided running into her. The ones who reached the ports got into boats prepared by the people of the Huayuan Lin sect.

"How honorable, how resourceful." Sun Yin smiled at the plan. They must have thought of these months into the war she waged against the First Society. She never attacked towns or cities; the most she did was attack a temple while bypassing the town. To think about it, she did ravage Huayuan Lin sect's temple multiple times. "Were they planning to do this if ever I did attack them?"

"Woman!" Lu Bang's voice came from behind and grabbed her arm. He dragged her forward and into a boat with no skipper. "The tunnel collapsed behind us. They're coming."

"Woman? I have a name!" Sun Yin hissed as she was thrown into the boat. She gathered her hanfu and sat properly as Lu Bang pulled the anchor out of the water. She then watched Lin Dong's men get into the boat, taking their own seats.

Lin Dong held what seemed to be a machine and turned the engine on with a hand seal. The boat started to get far, and the passengers watched the corpses ravage the harbor. They tried going into the water, but they got burned at every attempt.

Sun Yin turned to Lu Bang who sat next to her. "What about the ones on the other side?"

"Should be able to repel them fast. Master Lin is with them!" someone else answered her question. Soon, he was supported and agreed upon by the rest.

"Oh..." Sun Yin only shaped her mouth into an 'O' before smiling. She raised her hand to her face and covered half of her face with her sleeve. "How sure are you that they can repel the Cinder Army?"

"Because Master Lin is the best! He was to succeed the Chief Cultivator if tragedy strikes!" They roared in excitement and pride for their master. Lu Bang nodded in agreement.

"I see, I see. So the Cinder Army is here to kill Master Lin then." Sun Yin flashed a grin, grabbing Lu Bang by the collar and throwing him into the water.

The whole boat rocked, but the brothers were too surprised to react. One second they were happy—the next, they were terrified. Soon, they were all waiting for Lu Bang to float in the water. The coreless brother was furious, but he saw the wide grin on Sun Yin's face. They would ask her about what she just said, but they were too dazed for that.

"Lu Bang, catch me!"

"What?!"

Sun Yin gathered her hanfu, high enough to show her legs to a boatful of males. Their eyes were like glued to the snow-like skin, and yet it disappeared as Sun Yin leaped off of the boat. The boat rocked again to their disappointment.

By catch, she meant using him as a stepping stone. He was distant enough to help her cross to the other part of the harbor. She landed on Lu Bang's shoulders before leaping again to make the jump. It did send him down to the water, but he swam up as fast as he could.

"Stay in the water! Meet me there!" She pointed at a location and ran from one port to another, not scared of the corpses that noticed her. As long as she was in land, she could be reached by the corpses.

"Why am I doing what you ask of me?!" Lu Bang complained while in the water. He ended up swimming to where she pointed at—more like he was following her to where she was headed.