Desolate Wolf and Banishing Falcon
The ribbon around Mu Yu’s waist restricted his breathing, but he couldn’t shame himself in front of Qiao Xue, rather, he didn’t want to. Hence, he used ventriloquism to grumble to Xiaoshuai. Describing the cliff as high was an understatement. The bottom didn’t come into view for close to two hours. There were trinkets and a reservoir vaguely visible through the tree branches. It took another hour before they landed on a boulder.
There were plants and flowers in bloom, but there were no bird tweets, butterflies or bees. The entire place was still and silent. The plants didn’t object to Mu Yu touching them. In saying that, he didn’t sense any feelings of familiarity to them. He warned, “Something about this place doesn’t sit right with me.”
Qiao Xue meticulously scanned their surroundings. Sadly, she didn’t find anything. Mu Yu distinguished the desire to talk to her, less he get on her bad side. The trio had a respite on the boulder to recover after all the running. A crescent argent moon hung on the breast of heaven. A gust of mist trailed over to the quiet marsh, enveloping the trio.
Mu Yu breathed in the mist and notified, “The mist is poisonous.”
Mu Yu excreted the poison inside his body using his spiritual qi. Qiao Xue’s glowing blue ribbon warded off the poison. She reminded, “Stay alert from now. The strongest fiend beasts of Second Heaven come out to hunt at night.”
The sound coming from the marsh resembled some creature crawling swiftly. The two spun around when they heard a proud howl. A bent branch on a tall tree nearby shook. A fiend beast with the grey silhouette of a snake hissed at the moon. Upon closer inspection, it had the body of snake but the head of a wolf. Its red eyes couldn’t have been missed in the darkness.
“What’s a desolate wolf doing here?” remarked Qiao Xue, softly.
“You know what type of fiend beast it is?”
Qiao Xue ignored the question and searched the skies. It took a while, but Mu Yu eventually caught on to her thinking when he saw a ginormous yellow bird swooping down toward the desolate fox.
“A banishing falcon, the natural enemy of desolate wolves. The wolf’s howl was the declaration of a challenge at the banishing falcon. Desolate wolves love the taste of banishing falcons.”
“Can the wolf kill a ginormous bird in the sky?”
“Their chances are equal because desolate wolves could fly.”
Mu Yu thought the banishing falcon would easily win based off its sharp claws and flight advantage, but there went that assumption.
The banishing falcon reacted violently, firing a crimson lightning bolt from its mouth. The desolate wolf spread its wings, evading and striking at the same time. Nonetheless, the banishing falcon whacked the fox aside. If they got in between the two fiend beasts, they’d be ripped new holes. Mu Yu looked around upon hearing more movement encroaching from all sides.
Qiao Xue rose to her feet and suggested, “I think we’ve invaded sea turtle ants’ territory. We must get moving.”
Qiao Xue blew up on her blue ribbon by the time Mu Yu called Xiaoshuai to fulfil the courier role. Since she could fly, he queried, “We can fly now?”
Qiao Xue looked back at Mu Yu with her eyes narrowed. “We’re out of the earth elemental demons’ territory, so yes. Be careful not to alert those two Level Five fiend beasts, though.”
By the time the sea turtle ant arrived, the trio had escaped. The fend beast was only the size of a sparrow, but it had massive, soppy fangs.
The two passed by a group of shrubs.
“Your blue ribbon seems special.”
“Given its history, that’s a given.”
The two dove into the mist on the left. Suddenly, Mu Yu’s alarm went off when a red light aimed at Qiao Xue came into his peripherals. “Watch out.”
Mu Yu leapt over to Qiao Xue. The banishing falcon’s claw sliced a strand of her hair. The two lost their balance and fell. Mu Yu ripped to his side so that he’d cushion her landing. Face red, she cried, “Let go,” and quickly got to her feet.
The banishing falcon must’ve won the duel and targeted them. Either way, Mu Yu didn’t have to time worry about his aching back, let alone the results of the due. Qiao Xue expanded her blue ribbon and tried to trap the banishing falcon in its enclosure. The blue field slowed it down. Its claws were ineffective. The banishing fire suddenly discharged fire and assumed a phantasmal form. It hid itself within the fire and kept the ribbon from closing in.
“Don’t just stand there. The fire is its ultimate technique. We don’t be able to stop it if it reaches maximum speed!”
Mu Yu wanted to help, but he was struggling to catch his breath after the impact of the fall. Anyhow, he had no choice but to summon Shadow Splitter and attack using five swords. Using a combination of rigid and flowing techniques, he forced back the fire then formed a cage around it to suppress the fire spreading. His superior technique contained the falcon, but it possessed sufficient brute strength to cancel his technical advantage.
Strong fiend beasts picked up on the ruckus a while ago and were making their way toward the battlefield.
“Qiao Xue, behind you!” cautioned Mu Yu, spotting the desolate wolf from before.
Mu Yu was able to pay attention to their surroundings as he could wield nine swords simultaneously without requiring all of his attention.
Qiao Xue pulled back her ribbon and connected with a whipping attack. Even so, the wolf was able to score a heavy whip on her chest. As her ribbon was disconnected from the incarceration, the falcon busted out, landing a spiritual energy blast on Mu Yu.
The desolate wolf hunted down Qiao Xue, while the banishing falcon charged down Mu Yu. Since Qiao Xue was badly hurt, he saw no hope of winning.
“Crush the teleportation jade, now!”
“Teleportation jade? What’s that?” Qiao Xue asked from the ground, befuddled.
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