Wu Ying frowned as they walked the inner perimeter of the village. In the village center, he heard the fearful murmurings of the villagers and saw the blazing lights the villagers had started to offer a modicum of safety and illumination. But at the edges of the village, where the bangua signs marked the beginning of the spirit formation, Wu Ying found the leaking light an annoyance. Unfortunately for their night vision, the pair had to often turn back toward the village center thanks to the twisting paths.
“Can you see anything?” Wu Ying asked, his voice barely above a whisper. Not whispering though, because that would make his voice carry.
“A little,” Tou He said, eyes resolutely fixed on the outside of the village.
Before Wu Ying could speak, a low buzzing sound permeated the air. The pair took off immediately, knowing that the noise originated from the spiritual formation activating. In seconds, the pair dashed backward, treading through the streets back toward the main road and the harsh illumination of the bonfire, before crossing over to the path that led to where the noise originated.
By the time the pair arrived, the only sign of the hopping vampire’s previous presence was a pair of footprints in the soft earth. A short distance from the first pair, the cultivators eyed another set of footprints that marked the vampire leaving. Any further footprints were lost in the abyssal darkness of the night.
Wu Ying hissed in frustration, looking at the mostly-gone waning moon. This was the third attempted breach of the formation the pair had failed to reach in time. Having to traverse between buildings and being forced to stare at the bonfire within the village meant that by the time they reached the breach attempt, the vampires had left. If they continued with what they were doing, the pair might as well go back to the residence and sleep.
Standing where the formation had been recently tested, Wu Ying could tell that the formation itself was wearing down. It would likely last tonight and perhaps a few more days, but it would not last forever.
“Shall we try to follow?” Tou He said, gesturing toward the footprints.
If they stood there long enough, their night vision would return. And there was enough moon and starlight that they could follow the tracks if they had their full night vision.
“Dangerous,” Wu Ying pointed out. He hesitated, looking at his friend who returned his gaze placidly, and shrugged. “We run for the formation if we meet more than two.”
They could probably handle more, but there was no way to know how fast reinforcements would arrive. One each they could probably handle.
“Lead on.”
Cold. Wu Ying shivered the moment they crossed the formation, his peach-wood sword in hand. As he extended his senses, Wu Ying felt how the yang energy from the surroundings had been leached away, replaced by the yin of the vampire. As a monster that existed by feeding on the yang chi of others, it also exuded the yin chi of its makeup. A hopping vampire that did not feed often enough would rot and eventually have its corpse form destroyed. At that time, a strong enough ghost would inhabit another corpse, though others would dissipate, losing their hold on this plane.
All of which meant that a particularly sensitive cultivator could track one of the monsters via the way they drew yang chi from their surroundings. Unfortunately, Wu Ying had yet to gain that level of expertise, something he regretted.
“Can you track them?” Wu Ying said.
In answer, Tou He pointed at the footprints in the soft earth, making Wu Ying snort. At least he had an answer. Keeping one eye on the footprints and another on the surroundings, the pair moved into the darkness and down the hill.
Wu Ying tried to keep his breathing even and slow, drawing the cold night air into his lungs rhythmically while listening for the jiangshi. All the cultivator could hear was the crackle of the distant fire and the occasionally raised voices of playing children, ignorant of their parents’ concerns. After weeks of living with the fear of the vampires, the children had adapted and bounced back. Well, all but those who had been drained.
A pair of footprints became two. Wu Ying felt a shiver go through him when he spotted the new footprints. The hairs on his body stood on edge as a feeling of dread ran through him before Wu Ying shook his head, gesturing for Tou He to continue. It did not matter how he felt, they still had a job to do.
The footprints headed down to where a short wall demarcated one field from the other. As the pair approached it, a noise ahead made the pair hesitate. As they peered into the darkness, the pair of jiangshi the cultivators had been following hopped out from below the hill, approaching a spot in the wall which had been broken through.
For the first time, the cultivators saw the monsters they were hunting. Long, claw-like fingernails, black with rot, sat on arms extended stiffly before them. Feet together, the rotting corpses stared at the pair of cultivators. One monster’s face was so decayed that its jaw hung askew, showcasing a long tongue and greenish-white skin. Clad in the ornate, ragged robes that they had been dressed in upon burial, the monsters hopped forward with nary a sound.
Wu Ying hissed and raised his sword. He was so focused on the vampires to the front, he was startled when Tou He spoke.
“To the right.”
Wu Ying glanced that way and felt his eyes widen as another pair appeared. “Shit. Run on three?”
“Let’s just run,” Tou He said, crouching lower as he held the staff before him.
Acting on instinct, the pair turned in unison and dashed back the way they came. At first, they were neck and neck, but Wu Ying found himself outpacing his friend. As he debated slowing down, another figure hopped into view.
Snarling, Wu Ying raised the tip of his sword and shot forward, pushing his entire body into a single lunging strike. The Sword’s Truth caught the jiangshi as it finished landing, the blade sliding between the monster’s upraised arms and entering its heart. The monster thrashed around, motions jerky as rigid limbs refused to bend, fingers tearing at Wu Ying’s arm and the top of his head. Recovering forward, Wu Ying twisted and kicked, sending the vampire off his jian. The vampire thrashed on the ground before stilling, its gathered chi dissipating as its heart was destroyed.
The meaty thunk of a staff behind him made Wu Ying turn, his sword coming up to guard his body. It was fortunate that he did, as a lurching jiangshi was warded away, its grasping arms pushed aside by the rising blade. Reacting on instinct, Wu Ying released a series of quick cuts even as he backed off, his gaze slipping away from the monster to eye his friend as he fell back.
For some reason, Tou He was a distance from Wu Ying and caught in a desperate battle with three of the vampires. His staff blurred, forming defensive patterns that beat aside grasping arms. Each blunt blow left hissing, burning wounds on the green-white flesh of the vampires. Tou He’s style, the Mountain Resides, was a staff style that excelled in defense. But even then, three jiangshi was more than his limit.
“Wu Ying!” Tou He called as he backed off, his staff blurring as he struck out and retreated to keep himself from being surrounded.
“Hún dàn!” Wu Ying growled as the vampire he was fighting hopped forward again. He blinked away the blood that had begun to collect above his eye, deciding to gamble.
Dragon Stretches got Wu Ying below the arms, while he used Clearing the vermin from the Doorstep to cut at the vampire’s feet. As he stood, Wu Ying focused on his off-hand, borrowing his chi and the guard of his sword to give him the time he needed to form the attack.
A sudden bellow erupted from Wu Ying’s chest as he focused his attack. The attacks from the Mountain Breaking Fist style were numbered instead of named. The first fist started above his lowest floating rib, fully chambered before it was launched with stone-shattering power through the synchronized, matching motion of foot, hip, and fist. The blow caught the jiangshi right above its solar plexus, shattering the sternum and sending the monster flying away from Wu Ying. The attack was not without cost though, as Wu Ying swayed for a second at the sudden release of chi.