Crane and Blood, The Mountain Cries (2) 

'What are they doing?'

Gu Yue Bo and the Bai Clean Leader frown as they watch Lo Jik and Bai Ning Bing avoiding battles. Meanwhile, Tie Ruo Nan's rapt attention remains on Fang Yuan, who travels with Qing Shu and Fang Zheng to deal with the Bai Clansmen.

Suddenly, under the chase of Bai and Xiong Gu Master, Lo Jik and Bai Ning Bing run into each other.

"Hahahaha!" Bai Ning Bing laughs. "I have to thank you for your Healing Gu, Lo Jik! Do you like my new arm?" She waves her right arm, splitting the Xiong Gu Master in half.

Lo Jik grabs the Bai Gu Master's head before smashing him against the nearest tree, snarling, "You cunt! I will personally shove that arm up your ass!"

An intense battle unfolds under everyone's gazes as they realize the truth. The higher-ups knew Bai Ning Bing had a Plunder Gu she had taken from a fallen Xiong Gu Master. To think she would steal a Gu from Lo Jik yesterday. It explained why she was healed!

However, Lo Jik and Bai Ning Bing barely give their 30%. They just move flashily.

"Are you seeing things?" Bai Ning Bing whispers. "They are only clouds."

"Do you think I would risk my life?" Lo Jik snorts. "Whether you believe is upto you. But I don't intend to stay a day longer."

"You're no fun, scardey cat. I'm going to go fight Fang Yuan."

"Bye," Lo Jik decisively turns around when Bai Ning Bing laughs.

"You fool!"

"Hah!"

Lo Jik already steps sideways with a fistful of sand flying at Bai Ning Bing.

"Hmph!"

Both use cheap tactics. No.

They came prepared WITH such tactics.

"Did you bring the Gu?" Lo Jik questions, weaving the fatal Ice blade in the nick of time.

"Defeat me and find out," she snorts.

"Is there ever a simple answer with you?" He rolls his eyes.

"Defeat me and find out," she smirks.

<<<>>>

Oil and Fire Dragon coil around the rock arms like celestial armors. Xue Leng's meticulous control of his Gu cannot keep the Gu Yue First Gen's might at bay. The Blood Guillotine, the Bladewing Blood Bat Gu, and the Blood River Python chip at him.

Suddenly, the Puppet lets out an earth-shaking howl!

The sound crashes into the Guillotine and the Bats, reducing them by half. The Snake trembles as the blood pond spreads apart from the puppet, leaving an opening in the shape of a bowl.

"Naive!"

Gu Yue First Gen snorts. Blood Wight Zombies possess leathery wings. He unfurls his wings when the space ripples. A titanic iron hand flies out from the empty space before smacking the First Gen Gu Yue again!

His annoyed snarl echoes in the Blood Arena!

Their battle continues for hours! The two Gu Masters try to get an upper hand. The First Gen Gu Yue has the terrain advantage where the Blood River Python can heal extremely fast in the Blood Pond. Meanwhile, Tie Xue Leng has a Super Clan's backing and different Gu to form an impeccable set!

<<<>>>

Gu Masters pant raggedly. While many killed each other, some allowed others to submit and accept defeat. Tie Ruo Nan and others soon saw how the Xiong and Gu Yue Clansmen banded together to eliminate most of the Bai Clan's Gu Masters. The situation shocked and angered the Bai Clan Leader. He instantly understood the next target would be Bai Ning Bing!

However, Bai Ning Bing has been tackling Lo Jik since early afternoon!

It's already evening!

The duo would fight each other, destroying a section of forest, before retreating to recover their essence.

They followed the cycle eight times now!

'Such amazing battle talent,' Tie Ruo Nan admits she hasn't seen such intense combat potential from the young masters of her Clan. However, her gaze quickly returns to Fang Yuan.

"Surrender, Bai Ning Bing!"

Several Gu Master corner Bai Ning Bing on a cliff.

Qing Shu stands brilliant among the assaulters. He singlehandedly took care of 43 Gu Masters from the Bai Clan! However, everyone feared Bai Ning Bing more.

"Hehehe," Bai Ning Bing snickers. The evening sun taints everyone blood-red.

"Surrender?" her gaze falls on Fang Yuan before returning to Lo Jik.

"What do you think?" She questions Lo Jik while briefly glancing at the sky.

"You know what I believe," Lo Jik snorts.

Bai Ning Bing is all in to leave the Mountain. However, she does not believe Lo Jik's claim of a Myriad Crane Calamity in the clouds.

"Wait!" Tie Ruo Nan shouts. Her body jolts.

"Where did Fang Yuan disappear to?" Her shout alerts Gu Yue Bo. Indeed, Fang Yuan is nowhere to be found.

Before Tie Ruo Nan can do anything, a green light shoots at her with the massive pressure of a Rank 5 Gu Worm!

Tie Ruo Nan's eyelids jump when she sees her father's mask drenched in blood. Before she can say anything. A mountainous metal hand ripples from the space before grabbing Ruo Nan and flying away.

The perfect distraction!

Thunder Wings sprout behind Fang Yuan as he takes to the sky!

"No! Don't!"

Fang Yuan hears Lo Jik's hurried shout. As if he can stop!

How can Fang Yuan let go of such a terrific opportunity to escape Qing Mao Mountain and the Tie Clan's narrowing investigation—

His pupils shrink.

Not only Fang Yuan.

Everyone hears a ghastly buzzing noise!

It's not the cranes Lo Jik expected.

The Rank 5 Blood Guillotine!

<<<>>>

20 Minutes Ago.

"Die!"

Tie Xue Leng roars as the voice disarrays the remaining Bladewing Bats. However, his throat is strained, too. His rock puppet is broken from various spots. Xue Leng reforged the puppet using the surrounding blood soil. However, it is soft and breaks effortlessly. The terrain's advantage began to accumulate. Even the Gu Yue First Gen was hard to deal with since a Blood Wight's body is more durable than metal. However, it cannot recover essence naturally. Xue Leng's enemy's body is dead. His aperture is the same!

Tie Xue Leng manages to find an opening—

*Shiing*

Gu Yue First Gen straightens his wings and flies around the arm, slicing it open! His bloody visage stabs into the puppet through that weakness before tearing out from the other side with a sturdy man in his arm.

The Blood Wight grips Xue Leng's throat, commenting, "Thou art admirable, Junior."

He lost. Xue Leng's old injuries acted at the last moment.

As his last breath leaves his body, Xue Leng recalls his memories.

He roamed the Southern Borther and imprisoned every Demoning Gu Master with extreme prejudice until that fateful day!

"What are you doing?!" The mortal woman sternly shouted at him, a Rank 4 Gu Master, as he captured a thieving Gu Master.

"Imposing justice," Xue Leng replied then.

"You fool! Open your eyes! He stole from me because he wanted to feed his sick mother. He is a Gu Master, but his life has been more pathetic than us villagers. If anything, he deserves his mother's slaps and scolding than your useless justice!"

The first grey of Xue Leng's life was when he not only let go of a thief but also helped and guided him. She opened his eyes to many new things.

She gave him a daughter.

'Ruo Nan… sorry. Father is going ahead.'

Xue Leng's gaze dims as he slowly reaches for the Gu Yue First Gen. He gently taps the Blood Wight before his body turns cold.

Gu Yue First Gen watches as the mask breaks down and flies away. He doesn't stop the Gu. Even Gu Yue First Gen knows the Tie Clan and must leave the mountain. But he is unwilling to let his schemes go to waste!

First, the Zombie must put great effort into containing the Rank 5 Gu. Secondly, the Tie Clan might track the Gu. Third, he smells of conspiracy.

Briefly thinking, the Gu Yue First Gen takes out a Gu. It's incredibly mysterious. This Gu is like the taijin light sphere with a white and black 'light' chasing each other in a circle.

Rank 4 Yin Yang Rotation Gu!

This Gu is a set. It can completely heal a target. This Gu can also revert a permanent Zombie into a human. The First Gen Gu Yue sighs.

He rouses the white Yang Gu. A blinding glare fills the arena!

Sometime later, blood water erupts from the Gu Yue Clan's square! The Gu Yue Village is in poor shape due to the vibrations and tremors from the earlier conflict. The sudden eruption of blood water shocks the Gu Yue villagers!

"Y-You! Who are you?!"

A Gu Master shouts at an Old Man. His white hair and mustache flow like an immortal deity as he laughs.

"Fret not, Junior. Thou art my blood. I'm the First Leader. Hurry. Gather around. A great calamity seeks to destroy the Gu Yue's Foundation."

Others could not refute his claim as the First Gen Leader since Yao Ji saw the man's portrait. Everyone hurriedly gathered around him. Several Gu Masters have questions. However, they don't fear standing in the Blood Water since their Clan Ancestor did. Gu Yue Ancestor's disposition gave the Gu Masters the fantasies of mythical Immortals.

"Is that all?" Gu Yue First Gen frowns.

"Reporting to Ancestor," Yao Ji steps forward. "Other Gu Masters are in the nearby competition against the other two clans. Both these Clans are vile and aim to usurp the Gu Yue's foundations!"

Shen Cui watches everything with a shocked expression.

Suddenly, she feels something pinch her.

"Good!" The Gu Yue First Gen smiles.

"Ow!"

"What was that?"

"A fish?"

"Wait? A bat—"

Shen Cui is already pale as she notices hundreds of bats almost perfectly hidden in the Blood Water, staring at her as a delicacy.

Shouts echo as these bats pounce and attack everyone.

Shen Cui doesn't survive for moments when hundreds of bats feast on her flesh!

"Hmph!"

Gu Yue First Gen takes out a Crystal Skull from his aperture. It flies around and collects Gu from all the Gu Yue Clansmen, extracting it from the Blood Water. The Skull turns blood-red and flies atop the Gu Yue First Gen before opening its mouth and spouting a shower of blood.

Surprisingly, this blood is fragrant!

Such a strange sight.

*Fssshhhh*

The blood water rises as the Rank 5 Blood River Python reveals itself.

Gu Yue First Gen jumps atop the Python as Rank 5 Blood Guillotine flies out.

'Competition? So, there must be more Gu Masters!'

Thousands of bats and locusts create the first wave of Blood Calamity!

<<<>>>

Fang Yuan drops to the ground. His body breaks into cold sweat as he rushes down the slope. Two other individuals are the same—Lo Jik and Bai Ning Bing!

'What is going on?' Gu Yue Bo is flabbergasted. However, the expression of the Clan Leaders changes when they hear a majestic Crane's cry! As if a domino effect, thousands of cranes cry at once!

A group of migrating birds?

They look at the sky, turning pale!

One… two…

Ten Thousand cranes fly past the clouds like a descend of immortal creatures. However, nobody has the heart to enjoy the sight as two loud voices boom.

"Greetings, Senior Brother."

"It was indeed thou, Junior Brother."

<<<>>>

"You were right," Bai Ning Bing hisses as she dodges one crane before meeting her blade against the beak of another crane! These cranes dive to attack the Gu Masters with their sharp beaks. Dozens of Gu Masters are already dead!

"You think?!" Lo Jik sighs as he is on the defensive. It's not just the crane they need to worry about. A green bamboo armor covers his body as he keeps a lookout for the Blod Guillotine Gu.

They cannot move!

The pressure of the attacks is too much!

"Gu Yue juniors, collect near me!" One of the men on a grand Blood River Python laughs.

"No!" The other Elder on the Myriad Crance, the cause of so many deaths, has the cheek to blame—"Your ancestor is the wanted criminal of the Immortal Crane Sect from the Central Continent! He stole a Blood Sea Ancestor's Inheritance from me and intends to kill you all!"

Such knowledge shocks everyone.

"Let's stay and watch Rank 5 Leaders duke it out!" Bai Ning Bing grins as Lo Jik runs down the second he watches the Blood Water spread down.

Thousands of Blood Guillotines consume other Gu Masters and multiply in number, making others fearful and furious! Before the Gu Yue Members could gloat at their enemy's weakness, the Blood River Python suddenly lunges down at them!

It opens its mouth and crushes a dozen men. From its mouth flies a Crystal Skull.

"My Blood Skull!" The Elder on the crane cries aloud!

Everyone's hope dashes seeing the Gu Yue Firs Gen attacking his own blood before showering in their blood!

When others despaired, long shadows erupted from Gu Yue's body before tightly binding him!

The what, why, how, who—all of it is ignored!

A chance!

That's what Gu Masters like Lo Jik, Fang Yuan, Qing Shu, and others think. Not a chance to attack—but escape!

One must be sufficiently strong to find gains in another's conflict.

Qing Shu grabs the dazed Fang Zheng and escapes in one direction. Fang Yuan flies at a low altitude, leaving Qing Mao Mountain!

Bai Clan Leader turns to look for Bai Ning Bing before realizing she is already gone!

"Hahaha! Where art thou running? The Qing Mao Mountain is done for!"

The tied Gu Yue First Gen laughs crazily. He can still control his forces as the dangerous Blood Gulliotine, bats, and the Blood River Python attack the Elder on the crane.

Gu Yue Bo and the Bai Clan Leader glance at each other. They nod before trying to carve a path, only to die trying. After all, the duo missed the golden chance to escape!

Blood floods the Qing Mao Mountain as corpses of birds, animals, and men litter the ground.

A humongous python and a hill-sized crane battle.

The clash of two disciples from a distant land ravages three Clans.

They destroy everyone and everything—except a few.

<<<>>>

"It's fucking tight and smells! I should kill you, asshole!"

"Sorry for having a fucking biological function! It's just a fart. Everyone has it."

"I don't!"

*Prt*

"You were saying?"

"Shut up! I have a body and biological function, too!"

"Wait! What the fuck? Do you eat flowers?"

"No?"

"Then why does it smell like it?"

"Stop sniffing it!"

"I'm not intentionally doing that! Your ass is near my face!"

"As if yours isn't? I'm gagging! I should have left you out there to die!"

"You would be the one dead without me realizing the truth!"

"Hmph!"

"Oh? Wait! Hurry! Lend me the Plunder Gu!"

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

"Only if I get half of the share!"

"Naturally! You get half! Now fucking hurry!"

"Here! Do you have a see-through vision?"

"Nope. It's a Shadow Gu. Now let me focus."

"Is it that Gu Worm?"

"I'm trying to take both!"

"Fucking amazing! Hehehehe! I didn't make a loss saving you!"

<<<>>>

Blood drenches Qing Mao's soil, and corpses litter the ground. Wild beasts and humans fall to the Blood Calamity. The Blood Guillotine consumed thousands of Gu Masters in the three Villages before multiplying beyond belief, ravaging the Crane Tide. An entire section of Qing Mao forest is carpeted with dried husks of once beautiful and elegant cranes. The state of the mountain changed in two days!

Its beautiful forest is broken. The three settlements are deserted as the corpses of Gu Masters trying to escape the mountain lie not far from their homes. Children and livestock—the Blood Calamity sees no difference.

Even Heaven weeps as autumn rain descends on Qing Mao Mountain.

The sound of rain dropping on the feathered cranes fills an entire section of the forest with muffled noise.

If one looks closely, the body of one hundred-crane King twitches. This crane has multiple holes through his defensive feathers. Its wolf-sized body tries shifting before its weight presses the soil inside. Suddenly, two creatures emerge from the shadows of the corpses.

These creatures look canine enough. However, they have no fur. Instead, they look like projected silhouettes of lightning wolves. The two 'beasts' trot soundlessly, biting into the crane's body and moving it away. However, this crane is merely a 'layer' on a pile of corpses! The two shadowy wolves meticulously remove the crane corpses from the pile. This continues till they reach the expansive base of a giant thousand-crane king. The two wolves struggle to move it. However, the weight of the crane is too massive. Even if the Blood Guillotine drank its blood, its flesh and bones are relatively heavier!

A light-silver mist flashes around the beasts as another shadowy wolf splits out from them.

The three wolves then merge.

Three streams of shadow swirl until forming an elephant-sized Lightning Frenzy Wolf's silhouette!

This is how amazing Multi-Shadow Gu is! The shadows can continue multiplying and fusing as long as the Gu Master has primeval essence! Its speed of creating shadow creatures is also a notch above the Gu, like the Grass Puppet Gu that forms Grass Puppets for the Gu Master to control.

However, the disadvantage of the Gu is that the shadow sentries cannot move farther than 100 meters from the user and don't have outstanding attack power. Also, a Gu Master must be able to divide their consciousness into different perspectives since all the Shadow Creatures' senses are connected with the user.

The Elephant-sized Wolf moves the crane's body before imploding into an inky splash and disappearing from the material plane.

Under the crane corpse is a weak shoot of a plant. This tendril is brown and crystal-like. Feeling the weight disappear, it tries surging again.

Blood-drenched soil breaks around it again as a plant spouts. The tender shoot grows at a pace visible to the naked eye. 1… 3… 5… 20 meters high!

For a moment, the plant's height surpasses the forest. It stands alone like a grim tower surrounded by corpses! The surface of the plant is brown and uneven. It looks like rock, but touching it will reveal the texture of a tree's bark.

*Pop*

The one-meter-wide 'pencil' tower struggles to rise as if stuck. More soil breaks loose, and a bulbous shape 'fruit' emerges, connected to the towering shoot! This bulbous fruit is brown and smooth.

*Pucch*

A pale hand stabs out of the fruit's skin from inside, frantically tearing open a space.

*Puaaahhh*

A beautiful figure suddenly pushes herself out of the fruit, gasping for fresh air. Rain falls on her head as she takes another deep breath. Her looks can mesmerize any man at a glance. A heavenly beauty with a knack of excitement. She looks at the dark clouds, sighing with a smile. She rises like an immortal fairy born by Heaven and Earth—

*Bam*

A rough foot plants into her ass, sending her flying into the corpses as Lo Jik shouts, "Move your fruity ass! Damn!"

He gasps for fresh air, hurriedly climbing down the plant.

These two are Bai Ning Bing and Gu Yue Lo Jik.

Bai Ning Bing doesn't care. Instead, she spreads her arms on the carpet of the snowy white corpses as rain cleans everything. The woman enjoys the rain on her skin. She inhales deeply before laughing loudly!

"We actually survived!"

Her melodic voice echoes in the lonely mountain alongside the rainfall.

Lo Jik shares her smirk.

"Barely," he shakes his head before looking around. His body moves swiftly. Bai Ning Bing's gaze brightens as she notices this. She gets up and follows Lo Jik before inspecting a hill-sized crane corpse in the distance.

"A myriad king beast corpse!" The duo's gaze reveals a greedy light. They start inspecting the crane. However, Despite using the Heaven Piercing Eye Gu, Lo Jik doesn't find any Gu Worm on the Crane. So, it's either inside the crane's body or the Gu Worms flew away.

"Step back," Lo Jik comments as a white light emerges from his aperture. The white light covers the Crane King's corpse. The Dismemberment Gu is only a Rank 2 Gu. It can readily deal with ordinary creatures or hundred-and-thousand-beast kings. But it takes several minutes to dissect the Crane King's corpse.

The hill-sized corpse turns neat pills of organs, bones, flesh, and feathers!

Lo Jik uses his Eye Gu while Bai Ning Bing searches, too. Both of them soon reveal a disappointed look.

"There's no Gu," Bai Ning Bing sighs.

"Yeah," Lo Jik mutters. "I want the Eyes of Crane King. How do you want to divide the rest of the share?"

Such a candid display makes Bai Ning Bing grin. She is the most-talented Gu Master in the Bai Clan's history. She likes such conversation more than haggling over small gains.

"I don't have a storage Gu," she admits. "Although not usable to me now, I want the feathers. Next."

"Flesh," Lo Jik smiles.

"Bones for me," she snickers.

Lo Jik takes out an eight-sectioned Gourd from his aperture before sucking in the divided corpse. The quality of myriad-beast king allows its remains to retain their quality for years. This Rank 3 Gu belonged to Mo Chen. It belongs to Lo Jik now after two days.

The two look at each other before Bai Ning Bing states, "I want the Yin Gu. You can keep the Blood Skull Gu."

Lo Jik snorts. "Blood Skull Gu is a true inheritance. Why don't you keep it? I'm happy with the Yin Gu."

They both narrow their eyes.

"I'm all up for fighting for it," Bai Ning Bing smirks. "But we are against time."

"It was my idea. That's why we survived. I get the priority," Lo Jik shrugs.

"I brought the Turnip Womb House Gu!" she points at the tall tower. "That Gu allowed us to breathe and survive underground for two days! I pick first!"

"I had the Multi-Shadow Beast Gu. We won't have the Blood Skull Gu or the Yin Gu."

"Because of my Plunder Gu. And don't forget! I'm the one with infinite foresight to bring some Clean Colon Gu! Do you know the horror we would have had to live through?"

Lo Jik sneers.

"Everyone shits their pants. Were you born a woman grown?"

Bai Ning Bing grows furious.

"We were squeezed together! We would have had each other's shit on our faces!"

Lo Jik cringes internally but doesn't reveal anything in his expression. He looks at Bai Ning Bing, questioning, "So?"

"You degenerate!" Bai Ning Bing pales. So?

Did he have the nerve to say that?

SO?!

She grits her teeth as Lo Jik suddenly mutters. "I have a refinement recipe for this Gu. We have one Yin Gu. I can create another Yang Gu."

Bai Ning Bing's gaze glitters before she grins, "Why didn't you start with that? You keep one Blood Skull and One Yin Gu. In return, you refine two Yang Gu for me."

Lo Jik contemplates before nodding.

"Let's search for their corpses," he suggests, already knowing where they are.

The woman rolls her eyes.

"Let's be quick. We also have our Clan Storage to sweep. Hehehehe!"

Three Clans.

All dead.

Only two thieves survived.

***

Alternate Title: The Competition; Enacting a Play; Cultured Conversation; The Battle Underneath; The Tremendous Battle of Rank 5 Gu Masters; Not Crane But Blood, Too; A Conspiracy; The Blood Inheritance?; The Man's First Gray; Fierce Mortal; Justice is Blind, Not Heartless; Tie Xue Leng's Disciplined Justice; A Father's Demise; The Devil Emerges; Culling Ancestor; The Crane Tide; Junior and Elder Brother; The Blood Calamity Devours Qing Mao; Running Away; The Survivors; Unwilling to Seek Benefits; The Bold and the Bold; Biological Reactions; Fruity Ass Indeed; Weeping; The Beautiful Rain; Mountain of Corpses; Changed Qing Mao; Digesting Gains