Chapter 82 - Xi...?

"Aaaagh!" Xin heard a muffled scream from behind their lines. Someone broke the sauna's reinforced front door in just one hit, then attacked the disciples inside. Xin raised his pointing finger, asking his friends to give him a moment to focus on his qi infused perception.

"They're flooding into the sauna! There is also a troop advancing from behind that inn down the street!" 

"I'll join the melee! Help in the sauna if possible!" Rui Ming rushed downstairs. 

"Zhan, come bring some soldiers to defend here! I'll shoot from the doorway!" We have to hold this street while our troops are dealing with whatever happened in the sauna, Xin thought. If they attack us from two sides, we'll lose this flank. Holding this building is crucial.

"I'd call you a coward, but you saved my ass! Deal!" Zhan also rushed downstairs and ran out. Xin quickly locked the door behind him.

Xin looked around. He could have opened the window shutters and shot a bolt or two at the advancing enemies, but as a mortal, it was unwise to draw attention to himself, given his lack of rank one immunity. Better use this time to look for something useful.

He ran upstairs and kicked the dead rank one master's body over. No dao shards in his pockets, no bags of holding, either. He is bald, so no point checking his core, as he doesn't have one. Checking the dead mortals' would be a waste of time, so Xin ran downstairs.

He approached the headless body of a "chameleon" master who ambushed them, a huge crimson puddle staining the carpet he fell on. Xin raised the corpse's hand — there is a ring on it, seems enchanted! Whatever it is, I have no time to attune to it. Xin kept searching.

That's it! Xin found a bag of holding, tucked in the master's belt bag, and swiftly opened it. 

A sack of cultivation materials, and three spirit stones. What a waste of time. Xin prepared to cut the master's finger off, to retrieve the ring, but heard the rumbling of his squad's arrival, followed by a choir of battle cries and the blades' clanging. 

Disappointed, Xin looked through the hole Murong Zhan cut above the lock. There was a scramble of two dozens of mortals on this flank. Several steps aside, Rui Ming was engaged with a Fist sect master with a blue, rank one armband, armed with a meteor iron sword. Judging by the subtle golden glow both fighters produced, it was a duel.

Xin looked behind, towards his sect's combat lines. It seemed that the enemies were advancing faster than their own forces, whatever happened in the sauna slowed their troops' advance. He heard shouts and slashing, but had to focus on the immediate situation. 

Xin wasn't comfortable staying in the house, so he left the door open to let his squad retreat here if things went sour, and rushed outside, scanning the battlefield.

A moment later, he heard some rustling from the direction of the enemy camp, at the inn's upper floor, then two mortal level disciples jumped from the inn's roof and landed near Rui Ming. Xin pointed a crossbow at them, but with the speed and ferocity of Rui Ming's duel, he risked shooting his friend, so he held his shot for now.

"It's a duel, let's push while they are fighting!" One of the duo, a bald young man shouted. He was armed with hooked blades, and wore a thick linen shirt under his robes. He was quite brawny and had a brave, determined facial expression.

"Yes!" A tall and slender young woman, also bald, armed with dagger length trident forks responded, as they ran through a hole in their formation, formed by the duel, past Rui Ming and towards Xin.

Twang! Xin shot the man armed with hooked blades. He tried to dodge, but Xin's wood qi infused shot was too fast, taking him by surprise. Xin heard the shoulders of his crossbow creak weirdly, they might break soon! Xin felt his qi reserves get low, but he anticipated it and chewed on a spirit stone he held in his mouth in advance.

"Shit!" The bald man dropped on the ground, holding his belly. Xin's double element shot infusion technique was too strong to be stopped by mortal defensive methods. "Aggh! Kill 'im, I'll... Heal... Sis..." He moaned to his partner. She didn't answer, just threw him a small glance and kept charging at Xin.

Reloading technique. Bowstring infusion. Bolt tip infusion. Twang.

Crack! An invisible force deflected Xin's shot, and he heard a sound of shattering glass. Her white robe jumped up, too. It was a Glass Shield amulet, an expensive protective artefact! She looked unphased as she charged him.

"You cunt!" Xin roared, dropped his crossbow and activated Resonance Palms. You'll regret this.

"Die!" She opened up with two stabs, followed by a kick. Xin blocked both of the stabs, but his left wrist was sliced by one of the side prongs of her weapons. Her kick was strong enough to press him into the wall, clearly infused with wood qi. Shit, she's qi active!

Xin stabbed at her with his Resonance Palms, but she deftly avoided, backing off and looking for an opening. Oh, so she's this type of fighter. This might drag out, and I risk catching a stray bolt if they reinforce… 

Quicksilver greaves! 

Xin circled her in a feinting motion, then used the space he created to start running towards the injured young man. His sudden explosion of speed caught the woman off-guard for a moment, but she soon chased after him.

Xin smirked, his eyes emanating a killing intent. No matter what you do, you are forked! 

The injured man raised his blades to block, but he wasn't Xin's main target. Instead, Xin lazily pointed his hand behind his back, without even looking at the girl, as he knew where she was, using his heightened perception and spatial awareness. The vine emerged from his fingers, wrapped around the girl's hips and started solidifying.

Snakevine dao shard! 

He jumped to the side, away from the groaning man. It looked like he was readying a last resort attack, so it would be unwise to give him what he wanted. Instead, Xin raised his arms in a praying mantis pose, and circled around the girl.

It's over. If she attacks him, he'll retreat and attack her again when the vine fully solidifies. If she attacks the vines, this will give him an opening to kill her. And if she hesitates, he'll move for her friend. Xin stared her in the eyes. Your choice, girl. 

She looked distressed, and waved one trident dagger at Xin, trying to cut the vine with the second one. 

Worst choice. 

Xin lunged at the injured man, used his extreme speed to bait him into taking a swing, then kicked the hand that just swung at him away. He raised his arm for the kill.

"No!" The girl cried out.

"Xi..." The young man groaned before his temple was pierced by Xin's palm, his face twisted by fear. He looked terrified and confused, in his last moments, he just pointed a finger at Xin. Xin grabbed one of his blades and dismissed the Resonance Palm in that hand, then charged at the girl again.

Her attempts to free herself by cutting the vine bore no fruit, as her weapons weren't suited for it, and she just stared at him, her arms barely raised into a battle stance.

Xin took a wide swing, rubbing the edge of his blade with the Resonance Palm to infuse it, and ran it into the girl's forehead, exploiting her lack of reach and mobility.

Pop. Her skull cracked, and a mush of her brains painted the wall.

Wait, she didn't block? Must have been in shock.

"No!" Someone cried out in anguish from behind the enemy lines. "Tei!" 

Tei?

Finally, more reinforcements reached him and Rui Ming. 

Bad news was that Rui Ming was still fighting, and even if he had an edge now, the incoming enemy wave outnumbered them by several men. If they were truly daring, they'd just break the rules and kill him. It seemed like there were no rank twos around to stop them!

"You! You killed my disciples!" An old man in a straw hat, wearing a modest blue robe pointed a "bird's beak" at Xin, formed with his fingers.

"Yes!" Xin pointed a hooked blade at him, completely drunk on martial spirit. "It was fun! Now what?!"

"We outnumber you, and you're marked, so I can attack you with no consequences! How about you duel me instead! While we fight, we'll cease fire on this side! Everyone else is free to also duel, if they want!"

Shit. This sounds good for us, and if I win, this will decide this flank. But he's rank one, and is too eager to accept! It makes sense, he outranks me, why would he be afraid! 

Curses, Ming's speed-up technique is running out. It's now or never! 

"I accept!" Xin quickly turned away from him and ran towards his crossbow. A strong aggressive presence unexpectedly emerged from within. Let's play with death!

"Not so fast, coward!" The man leaped with the speed matching his. But Xin's greaves would soon run out, and Rui Ming's technique would last just a few seconds more! 

"Agh!" Xin heard a rough voice cry out from the sauna. Rage? Pain? What's going on down there?

My extreme senses are overwhelming me with a cacophony of sensations! Discard them all! 

Xin leaped towards his crossbow and fell on the ground, reloading it with his technique as he rolled sideways. Sadly, he had to drop his hooked blade. His glaive was also out of reach, taunting him from near the doorway. Whatever. Shoot.

Twang! The old master didn't dodge, instead, he chose to block! 

His hands pointed to the sides, as if he was holding a rocker with two buckets hanging from it. Crane style!

Rising Crane Motion! One of his arms soared up, while another dropped down behind his back. His hand, imbued with qi, attempted to deflect Xin's bolt away!

Slash. Instead, it pierced his hand, inflicting a nasty wound. As if unaffected, the master breathed out, and, in just one motion, pulled the bolt from his hand, throwing it away!

"Agh!" He leaped towards Xin, his knee raised, his arms spread, his hand gushing with blood. This was a weird jump, as if he was truly a crane who soared into the air. 

Resonance Palms! Mantis style! Xin was forced to drop his crossbow again.

His motions were usually based on the snake style, albeit more practical, but over the past few months, his approach evolved. He added a lot of street fighting motions he saw from Lei and his companions, but was also inspired by how the mantises and their yaoguai master fought. Against the crane style, focused on deflection, mantis style should work great, with its rare, precise stabs.

A round spinning kick! The enemy master tried taking Xin by surprise, his head almost touching the ground as he spun. Xin blocked with his elbows and jumped backwards, trying to avoid a follow-up. The enemy master quickly retreated his leg, then raised his knee and spread his arms to the sides once again.

Mantis style stance. Crane style stance. He's mirroring me! He'll approach me and explode in speed and strength, and there is nothing I can do. If I reach for the crossbow, it's over. If I use my snakevine, it won't have enough time to solidify, he'll probably toss it aside and kill me moments later, I should keep it as a persistent threat instead of using it unprompted. This old man must be crafty, surviving to such an old age, and I shouldn't fall for any of the traps he's planting. 

"Looking to die of old age?" Xin raised his knee slightly, mocking his motion while falling back. "Or soiled your underwear?"

"Oh, there is nowhere to hurry, demon! Your time is running out, we both know this." He kept approaching Xin, but sped up a bit. It was quite a predicament. If Xin matched this pace while walking back, he'd give up a lot of momentum, and the opponent would launch a devastating charge. Not even mentioning grappling, where Xin would be heavily disadvantaged, with his inferior physique and qi reserves. 

"That girl. You fucked?" Xin suddenly asked.

"You!" The old master fell for his taunt and charged him with an explosive kick, his arms to the sides. 

Snakevine dao shard! There is no way he dodges it!

Indeed, the snakevine wrapped around the opponent's right wrist, but it was an unlucky angle. Just squeezing his wrist would do nothing, Xin needed to tap the vine to manipulate it again! Meanwhile, Xin was forced to reinforce his elbows with metal qi, as he blocked the enemy master's kick once again.

Crash! Xin was pushed several feet back by the kick, his arms almost cracking even after the reinforcement. What's with this power? He gives me no space to counter-attack!

"Die! Die! Die!" The old man lost his marbles, and went fully berserk. 

Now that he lost composure, look for a kill opportunity! Xin's inner voice was that of his father! 

Xin jumped towards the opponent and grabbed his shoulders, headbutting him with his helmet. Bang! The opponent headbutted him back, his hat breaking and falling on the ground, exposing his bald head. Xin felt the strain on his neck. If not for the helmet, he might have been knocked out.

"Agh!" The opponent, whose arms were still spread, closed his hands on Xin's ribs in a powerful motion.

Crane style! Dual Wing flap! Several of Xin's ribs were broken.