Crippled

"Arghh!" Zuo Er yelled out in pain.

After seeing what had happened to him, Yen Fen was suddenly joyful. Through out the remaining journey as his shield, her hatred for him grew stronger and stronger.

Her throat was already sore from the constant screaming but she was able to muster a weak laugh.

"I hope you die bastard", she thought to herself.

She looked on as Lan Huang appeared from behind her with another arrow ready to be released.

Zuo Er wasted no time and limped forward quickly.

"Come here and protect me!" he yelled at the spectating disciples.

Looking at their miserable leader, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and cover him. In the seconds it took to bring him out, Lan Huang released three more arrows. One struck his other calf and the other two pierced through his spine.

Zuo Er howled under the pain as several disciples of the Tao Feng quickly shielded him. He turned back and glared at Lan Huang with fury. Almost immediately, his expression of anger became shock and fear.

"My lower meridians...what did you do?!" he screamed out.

However Lan Huang ignored him and turned back.

"I swear I will repay you tenfold!" Zuo Er spoke menacingly, "Agony and torment is nothing compared to what I will do with you!"

Thus, he left the mountain, his voice slowly drowned out.

Despite not killing him, Lan Huang looked satisfied with what he had done. However, Yen Fen was not.

"Why didn't you kill him?! Why?!" she asked him.

"Hmph, the next time you see him, you will understand that death is not the worst punishment in this world", he answered before looking at her body.

His arrows were still stuck in her body. The fact that she was still conscious was rather impressive. Lan Huang walked up to her and knelt down.

"What are you doing?"

He reached out for the arrow in her shin.

"Don't move", he calmly spoke and concentrated.

In one smooth motion, he took out the arrow and the wound began to spout fresh blood. He took out a white bandage and quickly wrapped it around the wound. He quickly moved, grabbing onto the six-headed arrow and broke off the shaft.

"This arrow needs to be removed a certain way, taking it out now would tear your shoulder apart. For now, it stays in there", he told her.

He helped Yen Fen up and moved back towards Wen Jing's group. Walking up the mountain, four shadows flew past the as a recently awakened Qiu Bing chased after.

"Retreat! The Junior Sect Leader has escaped, there is no point in staying for much longer", the voice of Zhou Dong entered their ears.

After giving a closer look, Lan Huang recognized her along with the fat elder, Wang Yuan, and the elder that used a fan. As for the rest, he didn't need to think very hard to know what happened to them.

"Come on! Where's that little bastard of yours?!" Qiu Bing yelled out.

Despite having just awoken from the effects of Zuo Er's Shen Shatter Bell, the emperor seemed almost unstoppable.

None of them noticed Lan Huang and Yen Fen passing by. Senior Qing, Fu Men, and Du Hua chased after Qiu Bing but stopped when they saw the pair.

"Where's Zuo Er? What happened to him?" Senior Qing looked at Lan Huang.

"He's escaped but you don't have to worry about him. He will spend the rest of his life a powerless cripple", he smiled at her.

Senior Qing pondered his response before turning back.

"So be it", she said, "He may be a cripple but he is still alive, there's no telling what he'll do. In any case, we should return to the main hall and recuperate. Afterwards, the fate of the Tao Feng will be discussed."

Having chased out the remaining elders, Qiu Bing had come back with an unhappy expression. He was not yet satisfied and wanted to kill the rest of them.

"Cheh, those cowards can run better than they can fight", he spouted.

Despite his grumbling, everyone could agree that they needed time to recover.

At the end of this ordeal, Clear Spring Mountain was a complete mess, littered with corpses and the once beautiful landscape was filled with signs of battle. Ruptured ground, burnt shrubbery, severed trees and collapsed buildings was all that could be seen. It seems that there were numerous battles that had taken place throughout the mountain.

The coming days were spent in peace. Surprisingly enough, none of their forces suffered too greatly. In fact, many of the dead bodies found were from the Tao Feng and they were disposed of accordingly.

At the same time, a shocking piece of news had come about.

The Clear Sky Kingdom, Eternal Blade Sect, Heaven's Gate, several other smaller sects and some famed experts had declared enmity against the Tao Feng Sect. Anyone associated with them or is a part of the Tao Feng were to be captured. Especially in the Clear Sky Kingdom where its emperor, Qiu Bing, had announced that any trace of the Tao Feng found within the kingdom were to be put to death. The act of Zuo Er threatening his children had incurred their wrath.

Furthermore, since Clear Spring Mountain was a part of the Clear Sky Kingdom, they were all at odds with the Tao Feng. Qiu Bing's power only reached the edges of his kingdom but those of Clear Spring Mountain could travel past that. With that in mind, he passed down an order to Senior Qing to have bounties on the entirety of the Tao Feng.

With the sudden declaration, other sects made their moves, either shunning the Tao Feng or declared hostility towards them.

During their time in recuperation, many of the experts that resided int he mountain began talking about how they would deal with this troublesome sect. The Tao Feng were an eyesore of a power and this time they've gone too far. At this time, Yen Fen stepped up and revealed what Zuo Er was chasing after. Being betrayed by him, she no longer wanted anything to do with him and had in fact wanted the see the destruction of the Tao Feng.

Her leg and shoulder was wrapped in clean bandages after Lan Huang was able to remove the six headed arrow. Yen Fen's pretty countenance was replaced by a rather vengeful expression, speaking each word with hatred. She stood in front of the many experts and revealed Zuo Er's motives.

"Zuo Er and the sect master, Dai Mian, spent most of their time together. Zuo Er was eager to learn and Dai Mian saw his potential. It didn't take long for him to become favored and his place as the next sect leader was set. Even before it was official, some had already began calling him the Junior Sect Leader", Yen Fen paused, slightly uncomfortable before saying her next words.

"Before he had reached such a height, I was there for him. I protected him. As the daughter of the Yen Family, I had the power and he came to it. He was a perfect man but after he became Dai Mian's personal student something changed. He became conniving and cold. Once the Tao Feng began what Dai Mian "the Conquest", Zuo Er revealed to me why this had begun. Dai Mian had believed that a calamity would come but he wasn't too sure. However, once the Demon Continent had revealed itself, he had become certain. He wanted to gather the strongest of the continent in order to prevent this calamity. He needed to sacrifice them in order to appease the heavens. This was why Zuo Er was especially targeting you all, especially the head of Clear Spring Mountain, a new Sky Realm cultivator."

Hear what she had to say, many of the older generation were lost in thought.

"Okay, you may leave now girl. There is much to discuss", Qiu Bing sent Yen Fen out before returning to the table.

"This type of information...is a bit difficult to handle" one of the experts spoke.

"We should inform everyone but at the same time keep it private. Only we of the older generation should know of this. These younglings do not yet have the power to do anything."

"Indeed, preparations should be made."

"We must also speak with the High Council about this."

"Yes, but until then the Tao Feng should be suppressed for now."

These talks continued until the next day as everyone exited the main hall with a goal in mind.

"Well, I must go. There are things that I must attend to", Qiu Bing said his farewells and left with his two children.

The Fisherman, Wang Yuan, had mysteriously disappeared and his two disciples left hurriedly to find their master.

Of the guests that came, only Fu Men and Du Hua stayed. The former was waiting on Elder Fei while the latter wanted to relax.