While they could travel on foot, it would be slow and would require them to spend even more time within the State of Wei. With the alarm sounded and the approaching army, taking too long to get back to Shen was a bad idea. Wu Ying himself could run and keep up with a horse, but he had an advantage that his friends didn’t in that he could cultivate while moving. If they ran, his friends would eventually run low on chi. And if they came across enemies while tired…
“We should kill them,” Bao Cong said, having already planted his flag in the ground and extracted his bow. He’d strung his weapon as he spoke, hissing softly as his wounds continued to bother him.
“We can find another group and take their horses. We are too close,” Li Yao rebutted. “There might be another patrol.”
“And if we run, we will get caught. I don’t intend to fight an army,” Bao Cong snapped. He fitted an arrow to his bow, but rather than fire, he looked at Wu Ying, waiting for his confirmation.
Wu Ying looked at Tou Hei, who shrugged, then at Yin Xue. The noble returned Wu Ying’s gaze placidly, offering no hint of his thoughts. Once more, Wu Ying glanced at the approaching group, surprise flickering within him when he noted a familiar face in the patrol. Perhaps it was destiny. This was the third time he’d met the man.
“We fight.” Wu Ying suited action to words, extracting a crossbow from his storage ring.
He loaded it quickly, amused to see Yin Xue copy him. Together, the three archers in the group moved to a position within their formation to fire upon the cultivators. They would have one good shot before they would have to fight the six members of the patrol. It would be best if they managed to finish this fight fast.
Wu Ying glanced at his bracer, making a face as he noted the dull color in the jade, the lack of sheen or pull of power within. It had yet to recharge. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the energy to recharge it himself. He would have to finish this fight with his skills alone.
Tension wrapped around the group as they waited for the cultivators to near their hiding spot. When they were within thirty yards, Wu Ying began the silent countdown with his fingers. As he neared the end of the count, Senior Cai, the cultivator in the front—the same one Wu Ying had fought in the night and had met on the road—jerked his head up. He opened his mouth, shouting a warning even as he drew his sword.
Wu Ying’s fist clenched, and arrows and bolts shot forward. Unfortunately, their surprise had been ruined. Senior Cai cut Wu Ying’s bolt apart before it hit. Bao Cong’s attack was much more effective, as it glowed red and plunged directly through the raised arm and lightly formed aura shield of his target. It tore through the armored chest of his opponent, leaving the body to topple to the ground. As for Yin Xue’s attack, his left a bloody surface wound on his opponent’s arm.
A moment later, Tou Hei and Li Yao dashed forward. Even if Li Yao was unhappy with the orders, like a good soldier, she committed to the attack fully. With her explosive lunge, petals of ice formed around her spear, containing the majority of what chi she had managed to recoup in the hour they had hidden away. It was a powerful attack, made more effective by its surprise nature. The attack caught two of the cultivators and their horses, throwing them off their steeds onto the ground, ice coating wounds and frosts rimming their bodies. One of the cultivators, too slow to move even his hand to draw his weapon, had his own sword frozen shut.
Tou Hei, behind Li Yao’s explosive attack, launched his own. Unlike Li Yao’s flamboyant skill, his was more contained. But each beat, each blocked strike sent sparks from his staff as the fire chi contained within his attacks grew in strength as he rushed his opponent. A missed block, a strike against his opponent’s chest, and the tip exploded in flames, throwing his opponent off his mount.
That quickly, two of the opponents were down permanently, another injured.
Wu Ying grinned, for this was going well for them. He rushed forward as he tossed aside the crossbow, drawing his jian as he raced to cut off Senior Cai from escape. He did not have to have worried about that, for the cultivator spurred his horse in a charge directly at Wu Ying.
“You are seeking death! Attacking me. You will not be able to run this time,” Senior Cai roared as he turned to charge at Wu Ying.
Close behind Wu Ying, Yin Xue skipped around Wu Ying’s slowing down form, turning to target one of the surviving cultivators. It was one that had been blown off his horse by Li Yao, the cultivator having managed to get to his feet. Rather than stay, he’d turned, running at an angle with the intent of fleeing to safety.
Meanwhile, Wu Ying noted how Bao Cong was fumbling, attempting to put another arrow in his bow but failing, as his most recent attack had left him white-faced and exhausted. Stubbornness and endurance could push one only so far, before exhaustion caught up.
A twist of his sword, a lunge, and Yin Xue caught the fleeing cultivator in the hamstring. His blade tore along the unprotected back of the man’s legs, depositing him on the ground.
Wu Ying dismissed the man, focusing on the charging equine and its angry rider. As he stared, he realized that he was at a major disadvantage. His opponent wielded a dao and was seated high above on his horse. Wu Ying, on the ground, faced the choice of standing his ground and being run over, or struck as he dodged.
Wu Ying’s gaze flicked back and forth between the incoming horse and Senior Cai’s raised weapon, before he dropped into a lunging crouch. He formed a small crescent of sword intent, sending it out with some of his chi in fast-flowing flickers of damage and regret.
The poor horse had no defense for its hooves and feet. The attack sliced one then another of its hooves apart, sending it stumbling and falling with a loud neigh. It thrashed on the ground, its screams of pain making Wu Ying’s heart ache. The poor animal had done nothing to him, but to survive, he had little choice.
Even as he was getting over his moment of guilt, Wu Ying had to dodge and twist. Rather than go down with the horse, Senior Cai had jumped off the horse, landing with a roll then approaching the distracted Wu Ying as he dealt with the horse. If not for the last moment twist of his body and the armor that lay under his robe, Wu Ying would have been gravely injured. As it was, he felt a bruise forming from his left collarbone to his opposite hip, one that throbbed with every breath as Senior Cai’s sword sparked against chainmail and the bruised body beneath.
Rather than let Wu Ying catch his breath or footing, Senior Cai continued to attack at full speed. Each sword cut came at a different angle, chained together in a form that gave Wu Ying barely a moment to block them. Worse, Senior Cai imbued each attack with chi, such that even when Wu Ying blocked an attack, portions of the sword intent cut past his blocks, tearing at his robes and skin. Wounds appeared on Wu Ying’s body as the armor he wore beneath his robes was unable to stop all the damage, limited in size as it was.
Forced back, almost losing his footing, Wu Ying let himself drop into a reverse lunge, committing his body to the ground as he sprawled. The Dragon stretches his Tail gave him a moment of respite as the dao attacks whiffed over his head, while his jian slammed into Senior Cai’s upper body. The enemy cultivator staggered backward, his expensive and enchanted robes taking the attack without breaking. Even as the cultivator fell backward, his return strike hammered the jian, beating it aside. To Wu Ying’s surprise, the accumulated damage shattered the sword, leaving Wu Ying with the stub of his weapon.
Wu Ying groaned, his hands trembling from the attack, fingers spasming. Instinct drove him to close the distance, moving sideways to dodge the attack while he pivoted into a drop step. His hand rose, palm outstretched to catch his opponent’s arm as it came around to cut at him. The first portion was part of Dragon catches the Rainbow, but Wu Ying transitioned to his unarmed styles. He stayed close using the Northern Shen’s Wind Steps, circling his opponent as he moved, ensuring he was always on his opponent’s empty hand. Each second, each moment, he choked up his opponent’s strikes with quick, vertical punches—the Fourth Fist of the Mountain Breaking Style. Also known as Raindrops on the Mountain. Each strike kept Senior Cai staggering and twisting, moving to attack him and failing.