Chapter 87 The City Of Warriors Part 23

Staring into Michio's eyes, her left hand turned into a wooden spike, and she pushed her left arm back, stabbing Michio in the abdomen, and an arrow flew from the front door, pointing directly at Lan Huan.

Lan Huan waved her hand to block the incoming arrow and did not pierce the wooden spike into Michio's abdomen. The panther jumped over from Lan Huan's left side, grabbed her right hand, and pulled her down. Lan Huan turned around, her hand turned into a mallet, and hit the black panther hard on the head. A wolf rushed forward and grabbed her wrist.

Michio fell to the floor gasping for air. When he saw Hajime's panther and wolf, he was relieved because he knew his friends had come to save him.

Yul flew forward, and the sheathed sword swung towards Lan Huan's back. Lan Huan flew forward and avoided Yul's blow.

"Michio!" Abrafo screamed and rushed down the stairs to Michio, followed by Lixin and his soldiers.

Lixin took out another arrow from the left quiver, fixed it on the crossbow, and aimed at Lan Huan.

Abrafo supported Michio up to Michio's feet and asked, "Are you alright?"

Michio said, "I'm fine...you came at the right time."

Hajime and Chen walked into the entrance and saw Yul and Lan Huan fighting in the center of the Thorne Hall. On the left are Michio and others. Hajime and other soldiers rushed towards Abrafo and Michio.

Hajime rushed over and hugged Michio. "Michio... I thought we lost you," he said happily.

Lan Huan landed on the crystal coffin, her fingers turned into vines, and violently lashed at Yul, the black panther, and the wolf.

Michio pointed to the crystal coffin and said, "The key we are looking for is inside that coffin."

Hajime asked, "Really?"

Michio said, "I'm sure the green stone in the coffin is the key we're looking for, but the coffin is very strong and there is no gap to open it."

Hajime said, "If the key is inside, we have to find a way to open it."

Abrafo drew out his sword and said, "You find a way to open that coffin, and we'll keep that witch busy." He snatched the talisman from Michio's hand, flew forward, and sent the fire talisman in Lan Huan's direction.

Michio's spell turned into four chains, tightly wrapped around Lan Huan's wrists and ankles.

Yul shouted, "Take the fight outside."

Yul, Abrafo, Michio, and Lixin held the iron chain tightly in their hands and rushed to the main entrance. Lan Huan flew past the crowd and landed in front of the stairs, Lixin shot at Lan Huan with an arrow. To avoid the arrows, Lan Huan flew to the top of the stairs, and Abrafo and Michio pulled her out from the front entrance.

While the rest of the soldiers stood guard, Shi, Chen, and Khang began looking for a gap to open the coffin with Hajime.

After carefully looking around the coffin twice, Hajime knew that he could not open the coffin because there was a spell seal on the coffin. "I can't open it." Hajime looked at the coffin and sighed.

Hajime's words made another soldier turn to look at him. Chen asked, "What do you mean it can't be opened?"

Hajime said, "The coffin is sealed by a curse."

Ping asked, "Mage Hajime, can we lift the curse?"

Hajime said, "Spell can be lifted, but the curse cannot be lifted."

Chao asked, "Then how do we lift the curse and get that stone?"

Hajime said, "The only one who can lift the curse is the one who first cast it." Hajime looked at the young man sleeping in the coffin.

The soldiers turned around and stared at Hajime. "You mean, only the witch can lift the curse?" Heng asked.

"Mmm..." Hajime replied with a heavy heart. "If she doesn't want to give it to us, we won't get it. Even the Emperor of Heaven can't lift the curse."

Chen asked, "What type of curse is so powerful that even the Emperor of Heaven can't lift it."

Hajime said, " As far as I know, the only curse that is powerful enough is called the 'curse of life'. It is said in ancient texts that the person who most wants to do something before he draws his last breath can use this curse, but at a high price."

Chao asked, "How high of a price are we talking about?"

Hajime said, "I don't know either, it's just that the price is high, therefore, one should never practice it."

Chen asked, "What else was written in that ancient book?"

Hajime said, " It is mentioned in the book that ten original mages used spells in conjunction. The original mages and the southern kings decided to lock the spell until there was a sharp disagreement between the southern kings. One of the southern kings decided to use the spell and the aftermath was devastating. It wrote that in the final battle of the Southern Kings' War, thousands of innocent people died, so, the nine original mages and the four Southern Kings decided to destroy the spell, so the younger generation can no longer practice, in order to avoid future catastrophe."

Hui asked, "Is that all what is recorded in that ancient book?"

Hajime said, " Yes, it didn't go into details."

Chen said, " Avoid the esoteric details, so that you can't do it even if you want to restore the spell."

Ping said, " If it is really destroyed and cannot be restored, how come it was used here?"

Chen looked at the crowd and said, "Maybe someone has a copy of the manuscript, and somehow it fell into the hands of the witch."

Hajime looked at the soldiers and said, "Since it can't be opened, we have to find another way." He didn't know if the crystal coffin could be moved, so he pushed the crystal coffin, and the crystal coffin seemed to be able to move from its original position. "The lid can't be opened, let's carry the coffin out first."

Feng looked at Xiang, Hui, Shi, Heng, and Ping. "We're going to carry this coffin out."

Hajime said, "We will protect you." He looked at Chen. "Since you are seriously injured, stay by my side." Chen nodded at Hajime.

Feng swung his sword and cut off the long curtain on the ceiling. The men quickly tied the cut curtains around the crystal coffin tightly to grab hold of. The six soldiers carried the crystal coffin on their shoulders and walked towards the stairs.

Going down the stairs and entering the yard, Hajime saw Yul, Abrafo, Michio, and Lixin who fighting Lan Huan. "Don't stop," Hajime shouted at the soldiers. "Continue to walk in the direction of the main entrance."

The six soldiers clung tightly to the curtain on the crystal coffin, and together with Hajime ran non-stop to the main entrance of the palace.

Four vines quickly rose from the ground, tightly wrapped around the magic chain that bound Lan Huan's wrists and ankles. Lan Huan raised her right hand and hit the shackle on her left hand. With this blow, Lan Huan shattered the shackles around her wrists. Lan Huan raised her left hand, and five vines spewed out from the ground, heading straight for Feng, Xiang, Hui, and Shi.

Hajime spun forward sharply, blocking Lan Huan's vines with the white dragon shield. Then, another vine spewed out from the ground behind Hajime, wrapping around Hajime's waist. The vine lifted Hajime into the air and began to tighten Hajime.

"Aaah...!" Hajime started to feel the pain in his bones and screamed.

"Hajime!" Abrafo and Michio screamed.

Where the seven soldiers were standing, seven vines protruded from the ground, and the vines entangled the feet of the seven soldiers, pulling them to the left. Another vine grabbed the crystal coffin and pulled it towards Lan Huan. The seven soldiers quickly drew their swords and began cutting the vine that bonded their feet.

Seeing the crystal coffin being pulled towards Lan Huan, Yul let go of the chain that held Lan Huan's feet on the ground, jumped forward, and swung his sword towards the vine. He pushed the crystal coffin back to Michio with his right foot. Michio quickly summed up a spell and smashed the spell on the top of the coffin.

"No!" Lan Huan screamed. Lan Huan threw Hajime's body heavily to the ground.

Yul rushed forward, threw the sword, and cut the vines binding Hajime. Yul leaps forward and grabs Hajime before he hits the ground.

"Ahhh..." Hajime moaned in pain in Yul's arms. "I think my arm is broken..."

Yul asked, "Are you injured elsewhere?"

Hajime muttered, "My back... my back..." Hajime suddenly felt himself being turned around, and he saw a vine swinging towards him and Yul. "Yul!"

The vine hit Yul hard on the back, and Yul fell to his knees, while another vine wrapped around Hajime and Yul, pulling them towards the palace wall at high speed. Yul hugged Hajime tightly with both arms, turned his body, and then he and Hajime hit the wall together.

Angrily, Lan Huan created a wall of vines to separate Hajime, Yul, and herself from the others. Lan Huan pulled Hajime and Yul to her feet. Lan Huan stepped on Hajime's chest. "I'm going to kill you first." She gritted her teeth, conjured a sharp wooden spear, and holding the wooden spear in her hand. She jabbed the wooden spear down, but Yul jumped over and held it tightly in his hands. Lan Huan pressed even tighter. "You are willing to die for him?"

Yul grumbles, "I must protect him with my life."

Lan Huan pressed even tighter. "Why?" she asked angrily.

Yul grumbles, "Because...because...he…is…my…wife."

(Flashback)

Lan Huan looked at the tall young man's back. "Why can't you accept me?" she asked. "We are most suitable for each other."

The young man stared at another person approaching in the distance. The young man turned his head slightly and said, "Because he is my wife. Therefore, no one can take his place."

(Flashback ends)

Lan Huan tried hard to recall the man who broke her heart face, but his handsome face seemed to be blocked by the denseness of pine trees. The only sounds she could hear clearly were the young man's footsteps walking away and the sound of stepping on the snow.

Hajime knows that if he gets stabbed or killed, he will come back to life in a day or two, but if Yul is injured, the physical body takes a long time to heal, and worst of all, if Yul happens to die, then he will be gone forever, Yul will not be revived. Hajime noticed that Lan Huan was in a daze, so he grabbed Yul's dagger and threw the dagger at Lan Huan to distract her. Lan Huan drew back and knocked the dagger away. Hajime took the opportunity to wrap his arms around Yul and roll over to the left to make sure he was on top of Yul when Lan Huan stabbed Hajime in the upper right back with the wooden spear.

Hajime propped himself up with both hands, feeling severe pain. As he sees his own blood dripping onto Yul's chest, he feels the wooden spear slowly stabbing into his flesh inch by inch.

"Ugh…Yul... Yul...you need to pull yourself away...I can't hold on anymore..." Hajime felt the tears slowly streaming down his cheeks.

Yul looked up at Hajime when Hajime's blood dripped onto Yul's chest. "Hajime..."

A tear fell from Hajime's face to Yul's lips, and Yul could taste those slightly salty tears as they rolled down the corner of Yul's mouth. Yul stretched out his hands and wiped away Hajime's tears.

In pain, Hajime lowered his head and smiled at Yul and said, "I can't die, remember?" He tried to push himself up again. "So, please pull yourself away."