Fiend Ghost
“Wait for me! I want to give you a Xiaoshuai Junior!” enthused Xiaoshuai.
Mu Yu took in a breath in preparation for the leap of faith. Surprisingly, the two who jumped down jumped back up. Xiaoshuai cried, “Ghost! Ghost!” Qiao Xue was also visibly shaken.
“Party over already?” joked Mu Yu. As Qiao Xue came over, he said, “Rare to see you sc-.”
“Run!” Qiao Xue dragged Mu Yu back into the cave, Xiaoshuai running after them, screaming for dear life.
Xiaoshuai grabbed onto Qiao Xue’s clothing and cried, “Fiend ghosts! There’s an army of fiend ghosts!”
“A fiend what? Fiend ghosts?” Mu Yu looked over his shoulder to see green eyes on phantasmal fiend beasts aggressively in hot pursuit. “Oh, flip me!”
Fiend souls and human souls were created when they died. The difference was, unlike humans, only level four fiend beasts or higher could turn into souls once they died. The similarity was their dead counterparts were void of their former conscious. Ghost Gate harvested human souls to manipulate. Humans, generally speaking, harvest fiend souls for their own usage, such as offensive formations. The horde of several hundred fiend souls that the trio ran into were set up as guardians and equipped with their cultivation intact.
“Ow! It bit my bum!” shrilled Xiaoshuai.
The sparrow-sized dhole clung to Xiaoshuai’s tail vehemently. It was a fast, ferocious and strong fiend beast.
“Your skin is thick enough to handle it!” Mu Yu slashed the dhole away, but he couldn’t vanquish it. It changed its target to Mu Yu and called its allies in for reinforcements. “Get lost! Go for Xiaoshuai!”
“Get back!” instructed Qiao Xue.
Qiao Xue pulled Mu Yu behind her and churned spiritual energy in her free hand. She let loose her ribbon, illuminating the cave in its barrier form. The fiend souls continued to ram and batter the barrier until it was dented. Fortunately, the barrier held up.
Mu Yu plopped onto the ground and, whilst breathing heavily, asked, “What happens if they bite us?”
“They’ll devour your soul and turn you into one of them.”
“Miss me with that one.”
“Mu Yu, think of something, or I’m not going to get to eat the big honey pea.”
“What do you expect me to do?!”
Mu Yu made his way back to the formation in hopes for finding something useful. He was no longer interested in any honey pea after the close brush with death. To his dismay, he crouched down and discovered the markings on the ground were gone. Telling himself he just happened to be in the wrong spot, he tried searching other spots futilely.
“My guess is the caster doesn’t want us to return via the route we came in,” stated Qiao Xue, checking her magic item to keep track of how much spiritual energy she had left to hold the barrier.
“What are we going to do?” sulked Xiaoshuai, jumping onto Mu Yu’s shoulder.
“I won’t be able to hold them back much longer,” notified Qiao Xue, perspiring as she invoked more spiritual energy.
Boom! Several fiend souls managed to break through Qiao Xue’s barrier and raced toward her. Mu Yu sped over and drove them back. Xiaoshuai restrained them with his tail and shoved them back to the other side. Mu Yu and Xiaoshuai performed another attack to block the gap.
“We won’t last if this keeps up,” informed Qiao Xue.
From what Mu Yu could discern, the cave hadn’t been modified. Sadly, no magic exit had popped up, either. He once successfully invented a fiend beast formation during his stay at Ku Mu Valley. Thanks to the learning experience, he was well-versed in controlling fiend souls. Hence, he suggested, “Fiend souls only have a desire to kill once a formation rules over them. We need to find a way to vanquish them.”
“It’s pointless to attack what’s already dead,” disputed Qiao Xue.
“What’s already dead?” repeated Mu Yu. He realised, “That which is dead fears life most. I have a wood spirit on me. However, the fiend souls should go crazy to attain life again. That must be why they’re after us.”
Xiaoshuai tugged Mu Yu’s hair. “Throw your ugly sword out.”
Mu Yu whispered, “Will the sword be enough to vanquish them?”
“The ugly sword is so thick that I’m willing to bet drumsticks they can’t chew it off.”
“I don’t know how to summon the sword, though.”
Boom! The blue ribbon barrier fell. The horde of fiend souls charged Qiao Xue into a wall. Several of them immediately mounted her as she groaned. Mu Yu zipped over and shot sword qi to stop their assault. The moment he arrived by her side, he grabbed the fiend beast atop her and took it down. The other fiend soul hopped off and went after him.
“Argh!” Mu Yu suddenly felt a painful sensation when he made contact with a fiend soul. The sensation spread to the rest of his body, shutting down his spiritual energy and numbing his body. Once Shadow Splitter disappeared, the horde jumped him. Mu Yu rolled on the ground in agony despite not having any visible wounds or bleed.
Fiend souls’ attacks only damaged one’s soul. Thus, they didn’t leave any visible wounds on their victim. Nevertheless, the agony was far more excruciating because of how intensely it echoed in the victim’s mind.
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