Chapter 14: Perfect Timing
"Everyone, get ready! We are under attack!"
Boom!
Not even two seconds passed after she spoke when a loud sound erupted from afar.
"What!? What is happening?" One of the confused people finally reacted, expressing her thoughts that were probably the same as the majority present.
"Aghhh, let me go! You hypocritical woman!" Tai Tu bellowed from the ground as he tried his best to break free, moving his fat arms as if he was trying to make an angel in the snow. Ming Daiyu just ignored him and continued.
"I also don't know what is happening, but-"
Boooom!
Another huge explosion cut her in the middle of her sentence. This time the commotion was enough to shake the entire building, shocking the people inside.
"Kyaaaa!"
"Why do you have to scream like that?"
"What's going on?"
"Everyone, listen to me! The most important thing right now is to not panic!"
Ming Daiyu pointed to the ones who were already tending the boy who got caught up in the middle of Tai Tu's rampage as she spoke.
"You three, stay here and keep the injured safe until an elder arrives and tells you what to do. I'm going to report a precious piece of information to the Sect Leader, don't let anyone leave or they'll be in danger."
She was about to step off Tai Tu's back, but remembered something before she touched the ground.
"Ah, right. Give a pill to… what was his name?"
"Average-guy?"
"Y-Yeah, him."
Ming Daiyu didn't want to call him that, but as she didn't remember his real name, she just nodded at the one who answered. After that, she took out the bottle of suspicious pills she had stolen from Ling Zhou's room, taking a couple of them out before handing the rest to one of the volunteers of the Medical Grass.
"You seem to also need one of these." She told Tai Tu, who was still below her. She grabbed him by the face, forcing him to open his mouth, and threw the two pills she had taken out a moment ago inside.
The two pills, both translucent; one glowing lightly in purple and the other in green, were swallowed by Tai Tu as he couldn't do anything else. Ming Daiyu didn't really know what those did, but she didn't think they could worsen Tai Tu's condition.
'The worst thing that can happen is to make him unconscious for a couple of days, and in this kind of situation, this is what's best.' She thought as she finally stepped down and let Tai Tu free. He didn't try to escape, though, as he was busy coughing on the floor.
Many things had been forced upon his stomach these couple days; it could be said he should've been used to it already. However, he couldn't, and kept coughing until he finally sprawled on the ground, appearing unconscious.
Ming Daiyu gave a couple more instructions before she left through the door, leaving Stick-boy, Tai Tu, the volunteers and the rest inside.
…
Meanwhile, at the spectators' zone where the 1v1 tournament was taking place, Yi Ren, Wang Fan and Fang Chang were gazing at the signs of destruction that rose from afar.
The rest of the people present were the same. The general feeling at the moment wasn't of fear or despair, but of nervousness and confusion. Nobody knew what was happening and, even though everything pointed to one possibility, they still couldn't be sure.
"You don't think… you forgot something important back there, right?" Yi Ren asked, seemingly nervous.
"I.. I did take everything I saw…" Fang Chang was also doubtful of whether he had made a mistake.
The first time they made something explode was at the 4th Outer Disciple's Talent competition of Gray Grass Sect, or as it was called at that time, The Legendary Legends of Future Legends and their Talents.
Yi Ren had showcased his explosive cube, which was a molded spirit stone that had drawings and formations to suck the spiritual energy of the environment, and had been left to recharge for a whole month. It had the name because it caused an explosion when it broke, releasing the compressed energy to the surroundings.
He claimed it would change the world as they knew it and that it was the invention of the century, and, as everyone was excited because a person had arrived to see their competition for the first time, Fang Chang suggested testing its destructive power.
That was Yi Ren's intention from the beginning, so he threw the cube approximately 50 meters away so that they wouldn't get caught up in the explosion. It, however, was much more powerful than they had anticipated, greatly damaging one of the buildings nearby and alerting the whole sect.
A female elder arrived and took all three boys away, thinking that they were intentionally trying to damage the sect. After investigating a bit, they easily found that it was an accident, but they didn't let Yi Ren and Wang Fan leave nonetheless. They ended up revealing the inner functions of everything they had shown in the competition, so they were finally freed after a couple week and spent another one recuperating.
They had promised to make their competition official and give them a prize and a badge as compensation, but they never received any spirit stones with the excuse of the debt they had for the building they almost destroyed, the batch of stones they received last week was the first and last.
"If it was us, then we should probably be leaving right now." Wang Fan said seriously as he changed the direction of his gaze, looking for a path without many people.
"I'm just joking, Brother Fang."
Yi Ren's expression immediately changed, erasing any trace of nervousness or confusion.
"I'm not aware of any of my inventions having that kind of destructive power." He added, calming down the boys.
"That wasn't funny, Brother Yi. I was starting to doubt myself."
"Indeed, Brother Yi, you should be more careful with your jokes. I was preparing my Pickle-Escape."
"Even if we wanted to escape stealthily, it's too late guys."
"What do you mean, Brother Yi?"
"?"
"Do you think the guys attacking would let anyone leave so easily?" He asked, revealing an innocent smile.
"The guys attacking? How did you come to that conclusion?"
"Apart from us, who else would do such a thing? Also, I was looking in the direction of the building when it collapsed, and I saw a person wearing a black and orange cloak…"
"Black and orange? Do you mean those guys!?" Fang Chang asked in a high-pitched tone, almost shouting.
"Why would they attack us!?" He continued, alerting some of the people that were close enough to hear.
One of them was Feng Mai, Ming Daiyu's friend, who for some reason was sitting alone behind the three boys, and had been listening to their conversation since the start. She was shocked by every word that came out of their mouths, but she remained silent; at least until now.
"What nonsense are you guys spouting!?" She shouted, catching the attention of the three boys seated in front of her.
"Who… are you?" Wang Fan sincerely inquired.
"Brother Wang, that girl is Sister Ming's friend, remember? She always follows her around, it seems she has no other friends." Fang Chang whispered in his ear, but it was still pretty much hearable.
Feng Mai's face and ears became red as she listened to what the boys said. She couldn't refute anything; she really had no friends other than Ming Daiyu, and as she had disappeared somewhere, Feng Mai decided to follow Yi Ren and Wang Fan secretly.
"W-What… Y-You mentioned we were under attack! Who is attacking us!?" She screamed, trying to erase the embarrassment from her face.
"Flaming Swamp Sect." Yi Ren answered calmly, as if he was casually gossiping about a random sect.
"Why would they attack us, Brother Yi? We're both righteous sects, they can't do that."
"Why? They must want something. In fact both of the sects have already fought before. Remember the battle of Flaming Char-"
Boooom!
Another explosion interrupted Yi Ren's explanation, this time the people finally started to panic.
"As you can see, all of that is clearly not an accident." He kept speaking, not minding the situation at all.
Boooom!
Boom!
Great sounds kept deafening all those present as the strand-like buildings fell one after the other, but Yi Ren didn't stop…
"As for the way… they only need a couple of sects to consent. Or one if it's the only other sect that is close. They could both claim that our sect did something only punishable by its destruction. Who would dare not to believe them?"
Ash and smoke now rose from every direction one could look at. There were some people frightened, but now that the reason for the occurrence was obvious, the majority of them were convinced; they had to fight. Even though the majority were still children, they were still cultivators: beings with the only purpose of killing or protecting, and now they were going to do both.
"Sigh… It seems we prepared too late, after all." Fang Chang commented as he shook off his nervousness; his expression numbed as the presence he exuded changed.
Wang Fan… No, Pickle Lord turned serious as he started removing the gray robes that covered his body, revealing his tight, dark-green clothes. Yi Ren, on the contrary, remained the same. The only difference were his lime, green eyes in which the texture became unstable; revealing imperceptible sparks of red, as he thought:
'No... we prepared at the perfect time.'