As Elder Wei dithered, Wu Ying spun, assessing his friends and fellow cultivators. One, then another cultivator started trembling, their chi levels bottoming out, their bodies reacting to the lack of chi within themselves. Wu Ying’s mind spun then firmed, his thoughts clear.
“Senior Ge. Senior Liu. You must let the formation go,” Wu Ying said. “We cannot hold it. Break the formation, all of you! The rest of you, form up. We must fight and delay the taotei when it arrives.”
“Delay it?” Elder Wei said shrilly. “Are you insane? You are not even at the Energy Storage stage!”
“What choice do we have? Run?” Wu Ying shook his head, casting his gaze back to the unmoving forms. “No. We stand and fight. If we can hold on long enough for the Elders to break through, we should be able to win.”
“And if not?” Elder Wei said.
“Then it seems our road ends here,” Tou He, who had just trotted up, answered for Wu Ying. The monk flourished his staff, turning his head from side to side as the mists outside churned and boiled. “Why have they not dropped it yet?”
“Because I can’t order them to let it go.” Wu Ying turned to Elder Wei. “Please. We cannot have them exhausted when the taotei arrives. If it will fail, at least it should fail on our schedule.”
Elder Wei pursed her lips, pressing them so tightly together they turned white. After letting out a dissatisfied harrumph, she raised her voice. “Let the formation drop. Retreat and rest. We will face the taotei and delay it.”
In short order, the cultivators broke away from the formation flags, stumbling over to where Elder Wei waited. Wu Ying and Tou He helped their fellow sect members, handing out the remnants of breakfast to the hungry and tired group. The moment the group finished their food, they sat down in a loose circle and cultivated to restore their drained chi.
Without the continual infusion of chi, the formation broke down. Mists which had obscured and confused dissipated in the evening air, leaving the surroundings easy to see. The waxing moon and clear night sky gave the wary cultivators a good view of their surroundings.
“Rest well, all of you. When the taotei comes, it will not come quietly,” Elder Wei said.
She strode off a short distance, returning to her refining cauldron, and she began the process of cleansing the cauldron. Wu Ying sighed and moved around the meadow, setting up a series of bonfires if the monster did come. Thankfully, it seemed the taotei had left the immediate surroundings.
Yet as Wu Ying reached out with his senses, he could not help but note the massive shift in chi caused by the cultivating Elders. It would not be long before the monster noticed the change. And then it would return.
Chapter 22
A summer dawn was peeking around the edges of the mountains in the distance. Wu Ying yawned, sipping on the cup of tea he had brewed to keep himself awake during the chill of the night. He took another turn around the encampment, nodding encouragingly at the other cultivators who were awake. As one of the most rested individuals, Wu Ying had taken it upon himself to stay alert, allowing the others to regain their strength. Each minute, each hour, Wu Ying had expected the taotei to turn up. And yet, silence still lingered.
The howl that penetrated the meadow made Wu Ying wince. Even now, having heard the taotei repeatedly over the course of the week, he still felt the bone-deep fear the demon beast’s approach engendered. The taotei was a legendary demon, a creature of ravenous gluttony, a monster that even the heavens rejected. A monster whose existence was an affront to the heavens and the Dao of all things.
The howl was more than sufficient warning for the cultivators. As one, they roused themselves from their seats, standing and readying their weapons. Liu Tsong fell back beside Elder Wei’s massive pill cauldron, guarding her Master. From her storage ring, Liu Tsong conjured her weapon, the segmented, three-piece staff clicking together as she pulled on the internal chain to lock the weapon in place.
Senior Ge stood at the forefront of the group, bare-handed as always. Dressed in new robes, the long-haired cultivator had tied his hair into a bun in preparation for the battle. Over the course of the week, his left arm had healed somewhat, though it still lay by his side, bandaged. Beside Senior Ge, Tou He held his favorite staff, the weapon resting on the ground as he leaned on it. Li Yao, with her spear, flanked Senior Ge on the other side. When she caught Wu Ying looking, she flashed him a smile and received a tentative one in return.
“Bah!” Breaking away from the group, Li Yao strode back and kicked Wu Ying in the shin. He howled, hopping on his foot as he clutched his injured leg. “Stop looking so somber. You’re making all of us sad.”
“You didn’t have to hit me!” Wu Ying growled.
“I didn’t have to. But I wanted to.” Seeing Wu Ying put his foot down, Li Yao flashed him a smile. “When we’re back at the sect, I’ll let you buy me dinner in compensation.”
“When… that sounds nice,” Wu Ying said, offering her a tentative smile.
“Good.” Li Yao smiled then walked back to her spot.
It was then that Wu Ying realized what Li Yao had said. “Wait. I’m buying you dinner?”
Wu Ying looked around, puzzled, but none of the other cultivators were paying him any attention. Or, if they were, they weren’t looking at him. Another howl, this time much closer, drew Wu Ying’s attention back to what was truly important.
“Later. I’ll think about it later. Maybe after we kill the demon…”
Their first sight of the taotei came as it crested a small hill, rushing in its unnatural manner. Powerful forelegs bunched up and sent the monster hopping forward while the smaller hindlegs caught up to the body. In this manner, the taotei moved in a strange semi-hopping motion, like a frog’s hop reversed.
“Li Yao, Tou He, and myself will hold the front line,” Chao Kun said. “We will attempt to attract its attention and force it to spend itself on us. In turn, the rest of you are to flank it and attempt to cripple its legs. The creature is fast and dangerous, the horns along its body sharp and spirit-infused. Attack and back away immediately. Is this understood?”
Words of consent rang out from the group.
Chao Kun frowned and turned to Wu Ying. “Not you. Or you, Liu Tsong. Those who have not trained in our formations should stay behind. You will be our last line of defense with Elder Wei. Ru Ping, watch the injured.”
Wu Ying’s fists clenched, frustration at being excluded boiling in his chest.
Chao Kun did not wait for his acknowledgement, instead turning around and walking forward, stretching and rotating his shoulders to loosen tight muscles. As the taotei continued its headlong rush, the martial specialist took off as well, bare feet digging into the earth. The closer Chao Kun got to the monster, the more the wind flowed around him, wrapping and tugging at his bound hair. Beside Chao Kun, a few steps behind, Li Yao and Tou He ran. The remaining cultivators spread out.
As Chao Kun closed with the monster, he jumped, one hand pulling back to throw a punch. The taotei pushed upward with its front legs, bouncing up to snatch the cultivator from the air. A sudden gust caught Chao Kun, pushing him higher and allowing the cultivator to dodge the attack and land his own. The impact of fist on green-grey skin sounded like a hammer smashing into hardwood, muffled and loud, and it forced the taotei to stop. As a wood-air-aspected individual, Chao Kun’s ability was extremely flexible.
As the taotei stilled, Li Yao exploded forward in a thrust that glanced off a horn. The spearhead scraped the monster’s skin, her attack attracting the monster’s attention. A hopping jump nearly caught Li Yao, the creature’s explosion throwing the dodging cultivator into the air. Before the monster could continue its attack, Chao Kun was on it, throwing a series of short, air-encrusted whirlwind fists into its side before he flipped back.