Chapter no.39 Schemes

[ Dreamland - Lighthouse ]

The four women stood frozen in shock, their eyes wide as they stared at the lifeless body of Zheng Ating sprawled out before them. The air was thick with the smell of blood and burning, and the ground beneath their feet was littered with debris and rubble.

Feng Danying held the Seven Branch Prison Sword tightly in her hand, her knuckles white from the force of her grip. She gazed upon the giant 10-foot hole in the lighthouse wall, her mind still reeling from the power of the Parasitic weapon.

The corpse was a grotesque sight, its flesh torn and burned, its eyes wide open and unseeing.

" Ating !" Xiao Wen'an screamed as she ran toward the corpse of Zheng Ating.

" Please, please; No !" Xiao Wen'an screamed as she held up the upper half of the corpse in her hands.

Xiao Wen'an screamed as she turned to the shocked Feng Danying.

" Is this what you wanted? Who's the killer now ?! Huh !_

' I didn't mean to kill Zheng Ating, no; it just happened so fast.'

Lan Yue thought as she saw the others looking at her in fear.

" D, D, Didn't you see her lunging at me? I didn't kill her, no, no, no, it was ...."

Lan Yue tried to justify her actions as Xiao Wen'an exclaimed," No, you wanted to kill her !"

In the hysteria of the room, Feng Danying screamed out in terror.

" You'll kill us all just like Ling Ling and Zheng Ating!"

" Shut up right now !" Lan Yue screamed as she turned towards Lan Yue as pointed the sword toward her.

At that moment, Li Yung lunged at Lan Yue with a talisman clutched tightly in her hand.

Lan Yue turned, her heart racing as she watched the girl hurtling towards her. She knew that if she didn't act fast, Li Yung would reach her and the talisman she held could do unspeakable harm.

With a quick movement, Lan Yue swung her sword but this time due to her conscious swing, a large chunk of her spiritual Qi was taken as a wave of spiritual Qi instantly vaporized Li Yung before blasting a hole into the wall.

" Huh, I see how it is." Lan Yue chuckled to herself as she saw Feng Danying as she swung the sword again and the wave of spiritual Qi instantly decapitated Feng Danying on the spot.

Xiao Wen'an looked in horror as Feng Danying's headless corpse slammed into the ground with the head rolling to a stop on the wall.

Lan Yue turned towards the shocked Xiao Wen'an but before she could act any further, she heard the sound of cracking walls. At first, she didn't pay much attention to it, thinking it was just the usual sound of the old Lighthouse. But as the cracking grew louder and more frantic, her smile slowly began to vanish.

She turned around, and what she saw made her blood run cold. The damage to the lighthouse was much worse than she had thought. The walls were buckling and cracking, and chunks of plaster and stone were falling from the ceiling.

Panic began to set in as she realized that the lighthouse was falling apart and she was trapped inside. She ran towards the open hole in the wall

Meanwhile, Xiao Wen'an felt the floor beneath her feet shook violently. She could hear the sound of the ocean crashing against the rocks below.

Suddenly, there was a loud crack, and the entire lighthouse began to tilt to one side. Xiao Wen'an was thrown to the ground, and she could feel the weight of the building crushing down on her. She closed her eyes, expecting the worst.

Lan Yue stumbled out of the building and onto the rocky beach, just as the lighthouse broke apart, falling into the ocean below.

As they watched the lighthouse collapse, they could see the beams and walls crumbling, the tower bending and breaking, and then finally, it disappeared into the sea with a tremendous splash. The lighthouse was gone, and all that was left was a cloud of dust and debris floating on the water.

Lan Yue, stared out at the ocean, her heart heavy with the weight of what had just happened.

Lan Yue was caught off guard as a sudden gust of wind kicked up dust behind her, and she quickly turned to face the source of the disturbance. What she saw made her heart skip a beat. A figure had landed behind her, shrouded in a dust cloud that sparkled with a shimmer of silver.

Without hesitation, Lan Yue swung her sword, launching a wave of energy toward the unknown figure. The wave crackled with power as it hurtled towards its target, but to her surprise, an ethereal armored hand reached out from the dust cloud and backhanded the wave of energy, shattering it into a million pieces.

Lan Yue took a step back, her sword arm trembling as she tried to process what had just happened. As the dust cleared, she saw that the figure was a man, his upper body covered in an ethereal silver armor that made him look like a six-armed Ashura. The armor was intricately detailed, with swirling designs that seemed to move and change as the light caught it.

The man stood tall, his head held high, and his eyes fixed on Lan Yue. He was a formidable sight, with broad shoulders and a muscular build that hinted at great strength. But it was the armor that drew her attention, the way it seemed to pulse with otherworldly energy that made it hard to look away.

Lan Yue was not one to be intimidated easily, but she couldn't help but feel a sense of awe as she looked at the armored figure before her. She had never seen anything like it before and couldn't even begin to understand how it was possible.

The man didn't move, but Lan Yue could feel his gaze on her, and she knew that he was assessing her just as she was assessing him. She kept her sword at the ready, her body tense and ready for anything.

" Looks like you girls made quite the mess."

Hearing the feminine voice, Lan Yue glanced to the side and saw Lin Lai looking at the debris.

" Why don't we talk ?" Lin Lai turned and suggested before she dodged the wave of spiritual Qi.

" Hmm, looks like you aren't going to take no for an answer."

" Ha, now that I got this sword why would I need to follow you, you whore !"

" Awe, that makes me so sad. Zhongli, can you please remove her ?"

Lin Lai exclaimed as Lan Yue lunged forward, her sword held high above her head as she brought it down towards Lin Lai. The sword was a blur as it sliced through the air.

But as the sword reached its target, something unexpected happened. The sword didn't release a wave of energy as it should have, instead, it was caught in midair by Zhongli's ethereal hands.

Lan Yue, who had been expecting her sword to connect with Lin Lai, looked surprised. She had not foreseen this outcome and for a moment, she was frozen in shock.

.....

Lin Lai's face meanwhile shifted as it adopted more fox-like feathers as she tried to find the odor of human corpses through the rubble of the destroyed lighthouse.

Lin Lai made her way through the rubble of the broken lighthouse, her fox-like face etched with a smile that almost looked like a smirk.

As she walked, she suddenly caught a faint smell of something foul, and her nose twitched in recognition. It was the smell of death. She followed the scent, making her way through the twisted metal and broken stone until she came upon a small clearing.

There, lying in a heap of rubble, was a survivor, Xiao Wen'an. She was covered in dust and debris, her clothes torn and bloodied. Lin Lai could see that she was in bad shape, her injuries severe. Her left leg was broken, and the bone was visible through the skin. Her right arm was also broken, and it looked like it had been crushed. Her face was swollen, and she had a deep gash on her forehead.

Xiao Wen'an was conscious but barely, her eyes fluttered as she looked at Lin Lai. "Please help me," she begged, her voice barely more than a whisper.

" Where is Ling Ling's corpse ?" Lin Lai coldly asked causing Xiao Wen'an to look at her in shock.

" S, Sis..."

" Just answer the question."

" I don't know."

Xiao Wen'an's answer caused a frown to form on Lin Lai's face as she made her way towards Xiao Wen'an who felt a smile form on her face.

Lin Lai suddenly pointed her finger towards Xiao Wen'an's forehead confusing her as Lin Lai pushed forward and like a hot knife through butter, Lin Lai's pointer finger went through Xiao Wen'an's forehead killing her instantly.

" A shame, I lost my meat shields." Lin Lai whispered as a wave of fire went from her arm into Lin Lai's head frying it to such an extent that Xiao Wen'an's eyeballs melted into goo.

Leaving the corpse behind, Lin Lai searched for Ling Ling's corpse because of the master ring that she had. Ling Ling was an innocent woman that spilled a lot of her sect's secrets to Lin Lai with the biggest being; a secret method to control the wielder of the Seven Branch Prison Sword which was made out of fear that the wielders would turn on the sect due the high of power the parasitic weapon gives them.

...

Lin Lai stood before the giant slab of concrete, her eyes caught a glimpse of something shiny, buried deep beneath the slab. Without hesitation, she raised her hand, and with a wave of energy, she vaporized the concrete, revealing a corpse lying beneath.

It was a woman, her body crushed and broken, her clothes torn and bloodied. Lin Lai recognized her as Ling Ling.

Lin Lai looked at the body, her eyes caught sight of something glittering on the woman's finger. It was a ring, a gold ring with a large, sparkling gemstone. Lin Lai's heart skipped a beat as she recognized the ring.

Lin Lai reached out and gently took the ring from Ling Ling's finger. She examined it closely, taking in every detail. The ring was made of gold, the band thick and sturdy. The gemstone was a large, sparkling diamond, its facets catching the light and casting rainbows in all directions. The diamond was set in a gold claw setting and it was surrounded by smaller diamonds that added more sparkle to the ring. If one looked carefully one could see a small inscription array embedded into the diamond.

Lin Lai remembered Ling Ling's words; whoever has the master ring, has the power to control the wielder of the sword.