Fork in the Road
“Great, now there are three options. Mu Yu went down the middle one, so which path do we choose?” grouched Seventh.
“We have no choice but to split up again,” responded Sixth.
“We can’t split again,” disagreed Fifth.
“Which way do we go, then?” questioned Sixth.
“Third and Fourth, you two follow down the left path. Everyone else take the right path. We know each other’s auras. Retreat if you notice anything off,” voiced Second, then telling himself, “I’m overthinking it. A mere Spirit Severing Realm cultivator is no match for us. Gui Han was able to subdue him through sheer cultivation even though Gui Xuanyue mentioned his style is bizarre.”
Not long after the six twins left, Mu Yu returned to where the fork in the road occurred with a big smile across his face. “That’ll teach you to stay in your own lane.”
“Mu Yu, let’s prepare some surprises for them,” suggested Xiaoshuai.
“Way ahead of you.”
Mu Yu deleted the middle path and took the left path. Fighting all six at once was dangerous, but fighting the six one by one was another story.
***
What’s going on? It told me Mu Yu was on this path when it told me he was on the other path an hour ago. The six’s signals are weakening the further I go. If I keep going, I’ll lose track of them. Should I follow the soul item’s directions and search for Mu Yu or regroup with my six twins? Toss it, I can handle him on my own. I need to find him, anyway. I’ll just force him to show me the way out! internalised Gui Ximing.
Just as Gui Ximing took his first few steps, he spotted Mu Yu leaning on the chains up ahead. Mu Yu raised his head as though he was getting tired, remarking, “You’re slow, man!”
“I didn’t give you enough credit, it seems. Have you been waiting?”
“Enlighten me: what are you doing here in my lane instead of finding your own?”
“To have you show me the way out, obviously.”
“What makes you so sure I’ll show you the way out of this maze?” teased Mu Yu.
“You don’t have a say,” Gui Ximing asserted with his voice and Body Synthesis Realm energy intensifying as he inched closer.
A gale abruptly blew all the energy away, starling Gui Ximing. Mu Yu subtly raised one side of his lips. “It seems I do have a choice.”
Gui Ximing bolted over, or so he thought he would. Mu Yu shook the bridge as Gui Ximing lifted his leg and then deleted a portion of the bridge. Mu Yu then broke plank by plank, all the way to Gui Ximing’s feet, and generated a force that pulled Gui Ximing downward. Gui Ximing activated the soul energy inside Gui Yuzi’s skull to balance out the force pull down with an upward force.
“I was hoping you’d fall. What a pity,” ridiculed Mu Yu.
Gui Ximing released ghost qi to shield himself from the chains slamming against his body. Standing on Gui Yuzi’s soul item kept him from falling into the depths of who-knew-what, but it meant he was a stationary target. Regardless, he provoked, “Is this all you’ve got?”
“What about you? Why don’t you come over here to fight me?” taunted Mu Yu, knowing he couldn’t overpower Gui Ximing despite borrowing the formation lines here.
“As you wish!”
Gui Ximing jumped onto a chain, using it as a spring to close the gap. Mu Yu spawned vines carrying pure death qi along the chains, chasing Gui Ximing’s legs. Prepared, Gui Ximing rotated in the air and fired a spurt of soul energy, vanquishing the vines.
The souls on the island weren’t technically dead; soul energy from soul items could nullify Mu Yu’s death qi. Since Mu Yu couldn’t go on the offence, he distanced himself from the chains to prevent Gui Ximing getting into close quarters. As a result, the two stared off in a stalemate, hovering on thin air.
“You can control the chains?”
“I did tell you this was my Fortune Ground. I gained control of this place once I obtained my fortune.”
Mu Yu was the one creating the forks in the road to split up Gui Ximing after his authority over the domain revealed the oddity he noticed was that Gui Ximing had six twins with him.
“Which also implies you know the way out?”
“But I’m not telling you.”
Gui Ximing laughed through his nose. “I don’t need you to tell me; I only need you to know.”
Gui Ximing sent a torrent of ghost qi imbued with soul energy, shrouding Mu Yu. Somehow, Gui Ximing was able to glide over to Mu Yu, surprising even the controller of the domain. Mu Yu tried to create distance again. Alas, the ghost qi around was a barrier.
“Did you really think I haven’t learnt anything from the failures of others? You didn’t even realise you were being led by the nose. Your tricks won’t fool me,” scoffed Gui Ximing.
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