Chapter 81 - Chicklet Yi's house.

You're doing great. Keep hunting. Xin felt an approving presence in his soul.

He was more attuned to his totem now, and he could understand it better, even if their communication didn't involve words.

"Grant me your strength!" Xin demanded, his heart filled with hunting enthusiasm. 

The totem purred angrily. 

Get close and personal. Slice your enemies into pieces. Eat their meat. Ambushes are acceptable, as long as they end in a bloody massacre. I hate that shooting thing you use!

"Shut the fuck up! Give me your strength!" Xin demanded aloud now. The totem had the audacity to ask him to become a cannibal?! 

"Xin, is everything alright?" Rui Ming was confused.

"It's the totem." Murong Zhan guessed correctly. "Are you fine?"

"Yes. Don't tell anyone about it. I'm fine."

Fine? You call this fine? I want to go and live in the steppe! We had a deal! I'll tear your soul into pieces! 

"Calm the fuck down." Xin thought to himself. "Easy, easy." His internal voice was relaxed, hoping that the tiger would mirror him and calm down.

Rawr! I'm giving you my strength, but if you fail me, I'll tear your soul apart!

"Fine." Xin thought. Try me, brat.

Xin felt his nose get slightly snotty again. He wiped it with his armguard. He then felt a myriad of different smells around him.

Body odour. Blood. Feces. Intestines. Meat jerky. Boiled rice. 

"This house seems empty." Xin tapped the wall of the sauna with his hand.

"Let's occupy it. Get some crossbowmen inside." Murong Zhan said. 

"Inform the others and perform the same maneuver on the other flank. Simultaneously."

Ding! A loud ringing sound emanated from behind them, where the rank two masters were fighting.

"What's going on?" Rui Ming asked. Many other fighters also anxiously turned their heads back.

"I know as much as you do. Some metal path method was unleashed, I guess. Zhan, grab a shield. Hurry." Xin tried to refocus his comrades.

Murong Zhan nodded. He then peeped around the corner, a shield in one arm, a chakram chain in the other. 

"Seems clear." He reported. 

Should we send the internal disciples to scout ahead? They are more expendable, it seems smarter. No, we should probe with strong, small and rapid groups. Xin pondered their options. There is a line of fire towards them from behind the inn, down the left passage. The bulk of the enemy forces, situated in the centre, couldn't reach them with their fire here. Should be relatively safe.

Rui Ming commanded his troops to await his signal. For now, they were mostly serving as reloaders for the designated marksmen, operating closer to the central passage.

Murong Zhan emerged from behind the cover, and ran up to the backdoor of the sauna. 

"It's locked." He said. Xin rolled his eyes, couldn't you check before you ran up?

"Where is Lei? He'd get it open in seconds." Xin was anxious about his friend disappearing like that.

"No need. Hope he's fine, but I'll handle this." Murong Zhan leaned his chakram on the lock's shackle. His weapon emanated a golden glow, then started vibrating in his hand.

"That your dao shard?" Rui Ming asked. He had his bow at the ready, drawn from his bag of holding.

"Nah, it's the same technique as before, just with more qi." He answered, as his chakram sliced the shackle of the hanging lock. Xin noticed how trivial this task was to Murong Zhan. If he was still a mortal, it would require more effort, but for a Foundation stage master, it took just a few breaths. "We can enter." The young noble informed his squadmates.

"I'll be on the lookout, signalling to the squad. Advance, I'll cover." Rui Ming said. 

"Sure." Murong Zhan slowly opened the door, its creaking filling the trio with anxiety. Xin followed closely with his crossbow drawn, leaving his polearm near the doorway. Can't carry both effectively in such tight quarters. 

Murong Zhan entered a backroom, previously filled with instruments and firewood. It was empty now. Xin sniffed the air. Nothing remarkable.

If I was a Fist sect's member, Xin thought, I'd soak the buildings in fuel, give them up and let our sect enter, then set them on fire, all while blocking the exits using the soldiers. Or I'd hide some wood path masters in the walls, earth path masters underground and set up a nasty ambush. Should be mindful of something like that happening.

Murong Zhan entered a short corridor, then advanced into the sauna's lounge room. Several sleeping bags and rice bowls were there, but no people. How long were they even occupying this homestead? A day or two, Xin thought, based on the amount of litter and smell.

"Let's check the actual sauna. Under the benches, too." Xin said. 

Murong Zhan entered the sauna room. It looked quite ventilated and dry. Not used recently. 

"No one here. The shutters in the lounge are closed, it seems like a decent position for crossbowmen to shoot into the inner courtyard." Murong Zhan whispered. Why aren't the enemies defending this building then? It seems that they are also not flawlessly organised, and their losses and injuries are forcing them to make sacrifices. 

"Don't open them just yet. Let's get Ming's squad inside." 

Murong Zhan nodded.

A minute later, six more people entered the house, four of them armed with crossbows.

"Report." Rui Ming requested, pointing a finger towards where the central squad was centred.

"The shootout is dying down. They keep rotating, and so do we. No one's advancing for now. Master Ting is dead, their sword path master was captured by master Xiaodan. Him and that monk are outside, staring at each other from far away. Seems we're on our own." The disciple relayed everything he knew.

"Fuck, Elemental Hall overseer Ting? Where's Wu Lei? Last time I saw him, I helped him capture a rank one master." Xin's main priority was inquiring about his friend.

"I don't know. Someone said they saw him head towards where master Ting held the line."

"I haven't seen him, but I retreated through the trees, might have missed him." Murong Zhan added.

"Fuck!" Xin was fuming. Don't you dare just die on me, Lei!

"Calm down." Murong Zhan put his hand on Xin's shoulder. "They've given up a part of their defences. There is only one rank two master on each side, and they're both exhausted. Their strategy is to either outheal and outlast us, or to counterattack."

"They have more people in the houses, I heard them. Seems they've got some spare rank ones they kept from expending qi."

"Means they will counterattack, Xin. Through the flanks, probably."

"Unless they are waiting for reinforcements to come. But most likely, you are right."

"Can the backdoor be locked?" One of the disciples asked.

"Yes, but the hinge on the inner lock is pitiful, it won't last long. The front door looks quite durable, though, and the shutters are too small to squeeze through."

"I suggest we probe the house up the passage. Xin, do you know anything about it?" Rui Ming asked.

"It's the house of Chicklet Yi's family. Spacious, several rooms, has a second floor, but it's pretty low."

"Think we probe it. Leave some troops behind the sauna and advance, retreat if it's more than we can chew. The homestead is not that big, it's hard to get isolated from our troops here." 

"I agree. Disciples, you'll have to open fire at the inner courtyard once we advance." Xin said. "Prepare to open the shutters. The second guy holds a shield, and you both spot for each other." - Xin showed them how to protect the crossbowmen shooting from the cover. 

"Thank you, disciple Xin. We've been taught this." One of the older internal disciples responded. There was a hint of annoyance in his voice, being bossed by a newbie internal disciple. "Guys, get ready."

The trio got ready to scout ahead. It was a risky endeavour, but could also bear some juicy fruit. Establishing a strong flank presence would slice the field in half diagonally, instead of holding just a quarter of the homestead, like they were doing now.

Xin sniffed the air again. The corpse smell is no stronger or weaker than before. It seems the fighting hasn't escalated much. It's crucial that Ming's squad suppresses their movement with crossbow fire. Xin still felt a pleasant embrace of Rui Ming's warm wind technique covering him. Combined with his greaves, Xin felt he could outrun a horse if it came to it. And if the chase was prolonged, he had endurance bracers. Perfect, such freedom emboldened the young hunter.

"Let's move," Murong Zhan said quietly. The other two nodded.

There was a small space between the two houses they'll have to run through, and the enemies will certainly notice their movement and reinforce. Need to move swiftly. 

"Go!" Murong Zhan started running first, but was quickly passed by his friends dashing past him. Xin was slightly intoxicated by the running speed he had currently, and felt the urge to activate his greaves to enhance it further, but restrained it. 

Twang! As Xin ran through the open space, he launched a run-by shot at an enemy hiding behind the barrel, looking at a central passage. His sense of smell allowed him to pinpoint the opponent's location and pre-aim.

Miss. Fuck. At least that's some suppression fire.

Murong Zhan brought up the rear, and got shot at, since his other friends disappeared behind the wall too fast. Luckily, one bolt missed him, and another hit his shield.

"On the right flank! Reinforce! Reinforce!" A desperate voice of some enemy monk cried out.

"Get the door open! Xin, track the flank, I don't want any people behind us!" Rui Ming commanded. They heard their own troops open the shutters and start suppressing the enemies with crossbow fire.

"Yes!" Xin reloaded his crossbow. Meanwhile, Murong Zhan was working on the lock. This time, it wasn't a hanging lock dangling in the hinge, but a proper system, made of thick reinforced metal. Murong Zhan stared at it, contemplating how to get it open most optimally.

"Are you retarded? Slice the door wood and see if you can open it from the inside! Fast!" Xin gave him the advice. 

"Care, don't get your hand sliced off!" Rui Ming warned him. Indeed, there could be an opponent behind that door.

"Fuck!" Murong Zhan grabbed his chakram, infused it with a golden glow, cut a thick hole in the doorwood, stepped away from it and peeped inside, his shield raised just in case.

Swoosh. Rui Ming released his bow, and a qi infused arrow travelled in a slightly curved arc behind the corner of a tavern building, forty steps away from them, down the passage. 

"Agh!" Someone shouted out in pain.

Xin was amazed. He was reloading, so he didn't see what happened. It seems Rui Ming saw someone aim from behind the inn's corner and punished them.

"Get us in! Faster!" Xin was anxious. We aren't winning a shootout on this narrow street.

"Troops! Get ready to reinforce!" Rui Ming kept peppering the enemy with suppression fire. They were badly protected from the fire down the passage, but if they were flanked from the central area, their own troops would be able to defend them with their own fire.

"I'm in!" Murong Zhan unlocked the mechanism from inside, then pulled the door knob. Well, just as the peasants got rich enough to get fancy backdoor mechanisms, they get evicted or killed by a bunch of sectants. Such is the fate of a commoner, thought Murong Zhan. He opened the door wide, then hid behind the corner. No fire followed. 

"Get in! Get in!" Xin finished reloading and pushed Murong Zhan's back. The young noble groaned and ran in, clearly anxious.

Before his eyes, he saw a long table, a big oven with a bedding on top of it, a small ancestor shrine on the windowsill in the corner of the room, a cupboard and a small chest, with a linen carpet underneath.

Xin pointed his finger upstairs as he sniffed the air. Rui Ming asked "how many?" with his eyes. 

Xin showed him three fingers, then four, and shrugged. Rui Ming nodded.

"Any mortals? Come out, I'm giving you a chance to surrender, you'll be slaughtered afterwards, as per rules." Rui Ming shouted.

"You rank one or two?" A voice echoed from upstairs.

Rui Ming considered lying, but it could make the whole giving up process into a massacre, and potentially endanger his friends. It was also a crime.

"One!" 

"Fine, I'm also one! I will match you!" 

Twang. Xin suddenly turned his body and shot his crossbow at the wall. Murong Zhan and Rui Ming both jumped in surprise.

A moment later, an almost transparent humanoid silhouette formed, pierced by an arrow, and quickly turned translucent. An ambush!

"Fuck!" Murong Zhan quickly recomposed himself and ran up to it, slicing at its neck with his chakrams, in a scissor-like movement. The opponent's head rolled on the floor.

"What's going on?!" The voice from upstairs called up. 

"Rush! Rush! Rush!" Xin shouted. 

Rui Ming quickly read the situation. We need to attack while the enemy is confused! He quickly ran upstairs. 

Clang! Clang! Swoosh! Slashing of flesh. Screams. Xin followed Murong Zhan, who was reinforcing Rui Ming, and could finally see what was happening.

"Aaagh! I give up!" A bald monk holding a quarterstaff glowing with qi cried out, severely injured after just a few seconds of fighting the Windsplitter. Rui Ming looked to the side, and saw a young disciple start rushing him, felt threatened, so he stabbed the surrendering master in the eye and stepped back, guard raised. Slash! Murong Zhan threw a chakram at this foolish disciple, slicing his neck. He then threw another chakram and pierced his temple.

Interestingly enough, Rui Ming wasn't punished for executing a surrendering enemy, it seemed that the inspector found his actions justified, as the master was still an active threat, having not dropped his weapon. There were two more people left in the room.

"We give…" One man tried to raise his hands and was shot in the forehead by Xin, who used his dual element shot. Second man lost composure, lunged at Rui Ming and was stabbed in the guts. The Windsplitter quickly finished him off.

"Clear?" He asked Xin.

"Agh... Curses! Clear! I think." Xin was overwhelmed with sensation, to say that the rank one master's ambush downstairs left him anxious would be an understatement. The fight upstairs was just flowers in comparison. 

"Good! Ming, call the troops up here!" 

Xin hushed them and infused his hearing once again. 

"Get ready! We're getting pincered!"