Huang Hong Lin was preparing to receive guests in her mansion when she received an urgent call from one of her staff.
Like almost all major cultivator clans, the Huang family set up security formations and killing arrays around their home, drawing intricate patterns in the courtyards to form barriers and lethal beams of qi. Any intruder would find it difficult to get past them.
Fortunately, Bai Xiao Li had no intention of getting past the barriers or killing arrays.
Leading a squad of four, she crept closer to the Huang manor that Huang Hong Lin specifically stayed in, watching the huge structure from afar. Without any hesitation, she summoned her spirit, Madam White Snake. The beautiful lady, with skin the color of pearl, and a massive serpentine tail stretching behind and over her, stood and watched.
"Even for me, it'll be difficult to smash through those barriers and formations," she murmured.
"We don't have to destroy the barriers and formations," Bai Xiao Li replied, thinking hard. "We just need to draw the residents out of the house."
"But why would they leave the safety of their home and formations?" Another one of her teammates asked, bewildered. The question made sense. Only a fool would discard their home ground advantage and confront the enemy in a place just outside their territory. If she was in Huang Hong Lin's place, she wouldn't leave the safety of her formations either.
However, she had a solution to that. One that she had planned alongside Hu Li Jing earlier.
"Have you forgotten the plan?" She asked her teammates, smirking. "We'll just have to give her a good reason to leave her house."
That was, of course, the reason for the call. Huang Hong Lin accepted the call on her smartphone and listened to the panicked voice of her staff member, the one she sent to receive her guests.
"Mistress, bad news! Your allies have been attacked on their way to the mansion! I can see the battle from afar. They have been attacked by Hu Li Jing and her group! Right now they are fighting fiercely on the highway!"
"So she planned an ambush, huh?" Huang Hong Lin scowled, but she wasn't surprised. Hu Li Jing had always struck her as scheming and cunning. No doubt she had all this calculated for some time now. She then rushed out. "You guys stay here. I'll be helping my friends."
"But mistress…"
"No buts. None of you are trained in cultivation techniques or combat. What can you do if you follow me?" Huang Hong Lin was already aware of what her staff was about to say and she shut them down instantly. She shook her head firmly and bade them to stay back. "I'll be going first. Stay safe and don't come out until I return."
"You too, mistress. Please be careful."
"Yeah, I will. I have to hurry, or the allies I spent so much effort to recruit will be doomed before the Spirit War even reaches its peak."
Inwardly, Huang Hong Lin doubted that her new allies would be defeated so easily. The whole reason why she approached them was because of their strength and abilities. At the same time, she was aware of how powerful Hu Li Jing and her spirit, Su Da Ji, were.
However, the reason why Huang Hong Lin didn't approach them was because she knew she couldn't trust them. Strength and power were all very handy, but what was the point when you couldn't trust your allies? She knew from previous experience the sort of person Hu Li Jing was. She was a scheming bitch who wouldn't hesitate to plunge a knife deep into the backs of somebody she supposedly called a comrade.
The girls following Hu Li Jing should be aware of her notorious reputation too, but they allied with her because of mutual benefits. Moreover, most of them planned to stab her in the back once they got what they wanted. Those who had no such intention were simply duped by Hu Li Jing, ignorant of the fact that she would inevitably discard them the moment they outlived their usefulness. Not that Huang Hong Lin planned on enlightening them. They wouldn't believe her.
Not that they were any of her business. She wasn't obligated to save any of them. If she could reduce the number of people in Hu Li Jing's group, that would be excellent, but she wasn't naïve enough to think she would be able to. Some people only believed what they wanted to believe. Besides, Hu Li Jing was very persuasive and charismatic.
As expected of the person who summoned Su Da Ji.
Huang Hong Lin hurried out of the house. She would have taken a car, but that would draw too much attention to her. If her friends were already under attack and she was rushing to their assistance, the enemy would see or hear her coming from a mile away. She would throw away any advantage she would have otherwise gotten through the element of surprise.
No, she would do this intelligently and turn the tables on the enemy.
However, it was only after she had gotten a couple of kilometers away from the gates of her home that she sensed somebody stalking her. She cursed under her breath, inwardly relieved that she had chosen not to drive a car. There were people in place to ambush her, but she had managed to avoid them by taking the forest route and disappearing into the trees.
If she had been driving, she would be wide open, in full view of her ambushers and very vulnerable.
"That was very smart of you."
Unfortunately, despite Huang Hong Lin's best efforts, she wasn't able to avoid all of her pursuers. Wooden branches and vines whipped out to entangle her, but she managed to pull out her talismans and burned them before they could reach her. Skidding to a stop, she raised her hand and caught sight of her assailant.
The good news was that there was only one of them so far.
Bai Xiao Li stood on a branch of a towering tree, the entire forest coming to life around her. Like extensions of her own limbs, the wooden vines, branches and verdant tendrils curled and lashed out, trying to ensnare an escaping Huang Hong Lin, to no avail.
"That was a smart move," she conceded grudgingly. "Using the terrain to your advantage and forcing us to split up. Fortunately, I cultivate the wood element, or it would be difficult for me to find you."
"So you've found me," Huang Hong Lin said coldly. "What will you do now? Buy time for your friends to get here? Or try and defeat me yourself?"
"That sounds like a great idea." Bai Xiao Li smiled. "I told Hu Li Jing that I don't need help, but she sent me three assistants…just to make sure, or so she said. But I'll prove my strength by defeating you right here and right now."
"You'll find that I'm not an easy opponent," Huang Hong Lin warned.
"Perhaps…but you're no match for me either. Bai Su Zhen!"
The white serpent lady materialized, snaking through the woods to pounce on a shocked Huang Hong Lin. Fortunately, the rich girl managed to react in time and dove to the side, avoiding the venomous fangs that protruded of Bai Su Zhen's mouth.
Swiveling flexibly, Bai Su Zhen twisted about to continue her attack on the retreating Huang Hong Lin, but she was suddenly forced to duck under the two swords from Gan Jiang and Mo Ye. One blade had curved toward her neck and the other toward her gut to eviscerate her, but with a serpentine body, Bai Su Zhen managed to barely roll away.
Gan Jiang and Mo Ye interposed themselves firmly between Bai Su Zhen and their mistress, pointing their swords at Madam White Snake.
"Of course." Bai Su Zhen licked her lips and smiled wickedly. "I was wondering when the two of you would show up."
"We won't let you touch our mistress," Gan Jiang vowed, his cerulean sword glowing in the dark woods.
"We'll cut you down," Mo Ye added, her crimson sword blazing brightly in the shadows of the trees that stood over them.
The three of them then converged in the middle of the wilderness, clashing violently. Swords made scales and fangs, acid splashing about to corrode the nearby grass and bark of trees. Gan Jiang and Mo Ye moved fluidly, dancing around Bai Su Zhen and avoiding taking her on directly. Madam White Snake possessed superior physical strength, her immense size allowing her to crush or uproot trees, sending them flying about in the forest.
Gan Jiang and Mo Ye retreated, leaving a series of strikes in the process, but their blades did little more than scratch the pearly scales of Bai Su Zhen. The serpentine lady continued to attack, her huge tail whipping about to send them flying back. However, Gan Jiang and Mo Ye managed to parry the blow, their swords absorbing most of the impact.
Even so, their spiritual bodies were a lot tougher than mortal ones, which allowed them to sustain damage that would otherwise be fatal to regular cultivators and continue fighting unimpeded.
"Ugh?!" Bai Su Zhen hissed and flinched when the blades finally found a weak spot, drawing blood.
Almost as if they were communicating telepathically, Gan Jiang and Mo Ye attacked from both flanks, taking Bai Su Zhen by surprise and cutting through her sides. More blood spurted into the air, but Bai Su Zhen stubbornly retaliated, her tail lashing down. Unfortunately, she could only attack one of them. While she focused on Gan Jiang, believing him to be the greater threat, Mo Ye spun about from behind her and gouged out a huge chunk of flesh from her back.
Bai Su Zhen staggered forward, bleeding. Reflexively, she whipped her tail out in retaliation, almost catching Mo Ye. While the latter barely managed to block her tail, Gan Jiang's sword sliced from the front and cut deeply into Bai Su Zhen's chest, causing her to recoil.
"You bastards…!"
Rage filled her and she unleashed a massive surge of qi that crashed through the forest, coalescing and manifesting in wood attacks. Vines, thorns and trees hurtled toward Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, but the couple managed to cut and cleave them apart with their swords. Not even moving an inch back, they moved in perfect synchronicity, covering each other with deft blade work and advanced forward.
However, despite their best efforts, Bai Su Zhen's immense powers ground them out into a stalemate and they halted several meters away, unable to get past a tangled knot of wood. There was a literal wall of wood between them, regenerating rapidly no matter how many times Gan Jiang and Mo Ye hacked at them.
"It's useless," Bai Xiao Li sneered while she traded blows with Huang Hong Lin. The latter was moving quickly, using talismans to cast new spells to fend off Bai Xiao Li's wood attacks, but the best she could do for now was a stalemate. Bai Xiao Li knew this and her confidence grew. "My friends will be here soon. And with you outnumbered, you'll fall."
Huang Hong Lin was aware that if this turned into a battle of attrition, Bai Xiao Li's group – with their greater numbers – would prevail. It was only a matter of time.
And already she could see the three other girls approaching, jumping from branch to branch or swinging from tree to tree. Elemental projectiles blazed to life as they prepared to launch them once they got within range.
They never got within range.
"Whoa!"
"Eh?!"
"Ugh?!"
Somebody blew into the forest at such incredible speed the three girls were taken by surprised, dislodged from whatever branch or tree they were using to swing themselves forward. As they crashed to the ground clumsily, the newcomer landed gracefully on the ground between Huang Hong Lin and her would-be assailants, flicking his clothes and raising a hand beckoningly.
Huang Hong Lin's eyes widened when she caught sight of who had come to reinforce her.
"…brother?"
"Hey, Hong Lin, it's been a while." Huang Fei Hong grinned. He nodded toward the three fallen girls, who were groggily rising to their feet. "Seems like you've made a few new enemies during the time I was away."
"You have no idea."
"Oh, well, doesn't matter." Huang Fei Hong relaxed his shoulders by shaking his head from side to side. "I'm going to crush them all the same."