Night Skirmish
They decided Ol’ Tan would maintain the fire for an hour. If Mu Yu still wasn’t back by then, Ol’ Tan would find a way to retreat back to the cave. Mu Yu’s task was to locate the barrier, mark it and rush back. The next step could wait for daybreak.
“Be careful out there.”
To sooth the tense atmosphere, Mu Yu said, “Ol’ Tan, I want to know why you want to seek out Ageless Ku Mu.”
Ol’ Tan curled his fingers into fists and paused before answering, “I want him to exact a vengeance for me.”
“A vengeance?”
“Avenge my fallen father, and punish for stealing my wife.”
“You entered the valley privy to its dangers, right?”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s not your business. I just want to get out of here, and then I’ll talk about it once I figure out an alternative.”
There wasn’t much Mu Yu could say to that. Offering Ol’ Tan his strength would be delusional for he was weaker than the elder.
Both of them solemnly watched the rocks of daytime take on new and ominous forms.
“Remember not to let the fiend beasts stall you, or they’ll trap you.”
With a nod, Mu Yu and Ol’ Tan leapt off the cliff. Ol’ Tan made his way to the designated location to start a fire, while Mu Yu shot off, checking the fire behind as he sprinted. That was half the mission complete. Next, he had to find the spot where he could see the fire in front of him; that was the boundary.
They imagined every sound the arrival of a dangerous fiend beast. Mu Yu stepped on it, powering forward at maximum velocity. Mu Yu heard uncanny ripping and gnawing sounds in the darkness up ahead. Hence, he carefully sought a detour around it and continued on his away. He kept track of his steps as he travelled. There were roughly five hundred steps left to go. Suddenly, his feet were caught in something soft and sticky, nearly tripping him.
“Mu Yu, a fiend beast!” shouted Xiaoshuai.
Mu Yu made a dash for it as soon as he heard a deep voice, but something tripped him up. “Now what?!”
Mu Yu summoned his flying sword and used his intuition to perform a slash right next to his feet. He heard a groan, and the hold on his leg loosened. Before he could launch off again, he was elevated into the air from his arm.
Mu Yu pulled out his pill flame stone for lightning. His foe was an ashen octopus five to six metres tall. The slimy scale and rancid stench irked him. He ignored the violent eyes fixed on his pill flame stone and cut himself off from the tentacle and broke his fall with a deft roll.
Mu Yu hurled his pill flame stone into the distance. The octopus’ delayed cry finally came. It extended another tentacle, but Mu Yu already sped off in the cover of the night.
Mu Yu sensed what he speculated was a snake pass by. It took no notice of him and headed toward the fire. He glanced back in Ol’ Tan’s direction, then bolted off, only to crash into something that knocked him back.
Before Mu Yu were two golden faces, one larger than the other. They shut off then radiated again.
“What the hell is it? A big-eye monster? How damn big must its body be?!”
The fiend beast fired two light beams and swept it along a horizontal trajectory. Once the beams reached Mu Yu, he decided, “Screw this. I’m out of here.”
Ol’ Tan’s flame was flicking on and off as he fought off incoming fiend beasts.
As Mu Yu fled, he heard whistling behind him. Though he went prone on the ground to duck it, something stabbed him in the back. The fiend beast locked its eyes on Mu Yu and spewed a fire ball.
“Amphibians spit fire now?!” Mu Yu cursed as he rolled to try and extinguish the fire on his clothing.
“Mu Yu, get its eyes,” Xiaoshuai instructed from Mu Yu’s shirt.
“I need to be able to reach it first!”
Mu Yu plunged his sword at one of the eyes. Clang! Seeing the light go out, Mu Yu grinned, only to be startled when it opened its eyes. The fiend beast closed its eye to shield its pupil! He cursed, “Xiaoshuai, it’s as thick as you!”
Mu Yu retracted his sword and moved laterally to let the attack go past. He expected a fire attack, but it was a water blast.
“Single Strike! Use Mr. Deer’s Single Strike!”
“My arm will be a goner!”
“I’ll fix you up.”
“Whatever you say, then. Here goes… Eat. This!”
Mu Yu gritted his teeth as he fought off the pain of his veins popping and bones jamming together. With his force potential multiplied, he smashed his sword pommel with his left hand as he released his right hand from the handle, propelling the sword toward the pair of eyes. Had he plunged it in with his right arm alone, he might very well have crippled his arm.
“Did you get it?”
“I think I missed,” replied Mu Yu, still seeing the two flashing light sources.
“How did you miss two boulders?!”
“You take the reins then, tough guy. I can’t control all that power.”
The light stopped moving. Its flash intervals were shorter. The fiend beast’s gait disturbance quickly dropped it and restored darkness.
“That’s it?”
“Just run!”
Mu Yu sprinted off. “Man, it hurts. My arm is fractured.”
“Damn, you weak, son. Your entire arm is shattered.”
“Shut your mouth, boy!” Mu Yu had to stop running as the rocking was unbearable.
Xiaoshuai ran his claw over Mu Yu’s arm. Mu Yu reactively groaned and shuddered.
“Don’t worry. I can fix you.”
“How long is that going to take?”
“Two to three days.”
“Say what? What are we going to do about the rest of the fiend beasts on the way?”
Whoosh! Mu Yu’s heart skipped a beat.
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