While the echo of Jiang Zhiwei and Qi Xia's scream could still be heard, a shadow dashed from the stone ceiling above them. With his entire body covered in black, his white hair spontaneously floated in the air, and his face as terrifying as that of a ferocious devil. He used both his hands and feet to clasp the cracks in the stones. Like an agile ape, in a few seconds, he approached Qi Xia, and attacked from above with the posture "The Rabbit-seizing Goshawk".
The direction in which this person came from was exactly the opposite of the direction that the head of Qing Jing flew in!
Qi Xia had gone through many sneak-attack simulations in Dajiang Gang and had the basic knowledge and awareness to cope with a situation like this. She knew that if anyone threw an unknown object, the first thing to do was to hold her breath in case it was something poisonous, and the second thing to do was to remain alert and observant, in case that the object was just a dummy to divert her attention.
Therefore, although she was truly shocked by the fact that Qing Jing was dead, and she had lost the best timing to defend, she quickly recovered from the shock. Exerting strength onto her legs, she flashed away and dodged the attack which aimed at one of the most vulnerable parts of her body, her head.
Bzzz. A hand covered by an iron gauntlet stabbed deeply into her left shoulder. Then, before the Watershed Rapier could reach him, the "white-haired devil" turned over like a sparrow. Bringing along with him a rain of blood, he landed on the other side.
While Qi Xia fought with this "white-haired devil", Jiang Zhiwei began to react, too. She said in a low voice, "Left two."
Meng Qi immediately moved two steps leftward. Instantly, he saw the shine of a sword pouring onto the "white-haired devil".
Suddenly, a gray shadow rushed in from the direction which the head flew in. The long blade in his hand reflected the light of the torch on the walls and fused it into a dim and yellowish glow. It was pointed directly at Jiang Zhiwei, who could not move conveniently at the time.
Nobody expected the first attack was to also divert their attention!
The long blade slashed towards Jiang Zhiwei's left shoulder, and also towards the top of Meng Qi's head.
The shine that poured onto the "white-haired devil" abruptly disappeared. Unnoticed by anyone, the long sword in Jiang Zhiwei's hand was reversed. Without even looking back, Jiang Zhiwei pointed it directly to the upper-right direction behind her, and it looked like the gray shadow was willingly diving towards the end of the sword.
She was enticing the enemy!
The gray shadow forcibly turned half way around and used his left palm to resist the sword.
The long sword penetrated the center of his palm. However, it was at the same time pushed away, and he successfully dodged a vital attack.
"Jump back two," Jiang Zhiwei whispered beside Meng Qi's ears. Even though she spoke very fast, her words could be clearly heard.
In a battle like this, Meng Qi's little fighting experience was no use at all. The only thing he could do was to repeatedly convince himself to believe in the "expert", Jiang Zhiwei.
Jumping back two steps, Meng Qi was able to stay balanced thanks to Arhat Fists. On the other hand, Jiang Zhiwei blocked a blade attack from the man in gray. The collision of her sword and the blade gave a crisp sound.
At this time, Ge Chongshan and the others, who went to explore the surroundings, rushed back after hearing noises of the fight.
Seeing this, the "white-haired devil" and the "man in gray" instantly intensified their attacks. Although Jiang Zhiwei had Meng Qi to carry her around, and Meng Qi had just accomplished "Hundred-day Foundation", he had never learned Qinggong [1] before, so his movements were relatively slow. Moreover, oral commands had its limits and didn't allow for complicated collaboration. As a result, for most of the time, Jiang Zhiwei could only defend herself and move when it was necessary. At the moment, she and Qi Xia, whose left shoulder was heavily wounded, were in an inferior position.
Following Jiang Zhiwei's orders, Meng Qi felt the swift and fierce blades and was scared. He subconsciously thought, "Compared to this, the battle that I just had with Cheng Yong was like a fight between two three-year-old!"
After a series of violent attacks, the "white-haired devil" and "man in gray" suddenly jumped back, and left the range where they were fighting. Before Ge Chongshan and the others could arrive, they rushed wildly onto an empty path.
They were using the attacks as an opportunity to escape!
Since Qi Xia and Jiang Zhiwei were in an inferior position and used all their strength in defense, they had no spare energy for pursuit. They could only unwilling watch the two enemies leave.
Suddenly, a long sword pointed out from outside the path. It was as agile as a sly snake, and forced the "white-haired devil" and "man in gray" to retreat and dodge.
"Big Brother Zhang!" Qi Xia saw that the grieved man who held the sword was Zhang Yuanshan.
Jiang Zhiwei said without hesitating, "Front five."
Meng Qi strode forward and blocked the escape route of the "white-haired devil" and "man in gray". Jiang Zhiwei pushed her long sword and encircled the "man in gray" into the shine of her sword.
Zhang Yuanshan did not lose his sense despite being extremely sad and indignant. He used his sword to draw circles, one after another, and firmly trapped the "white-haired devil". Once in a while, his sword also moved like an agile snake and forced the "white-haired devil" into a muddle.
The Watershed Rapier also appeared along with a blue shine. Qi Xia arrived to help Jiang Zhiwei so that the "man in gray" also could not escape.
"Brother Ma! Brother Tan!" Ge Chongshan entered the stone room and immediately recognized the "white-haired devil" and "man in gray". They were Ma Lianghan and Tan Wenbo, the two masters that had been trapped previously.
The two's faces were covered by a layer of green mist, and their eyes contained a jade glow. They didn't speak a word and tried their best to seek out a flaw in the movements of Jiang Zhiwei, Zhang Yuanshan, and the others so that they could escape.
"Sigh." Ge Chongshan gave a long sigh and joined the fight with the other masters.
Consequently, the combat began to favor one side. After less than ten breaths, the "white-haired devil" Tan Wenbo was penetrated by several long swords and died immediately. On the other hand, Ma Lianghan was injured by swords and blades, and hit by Ge Chongshan's iron fan, temporarily losing the ability to fight. Ge Chongshan then pointed on several of his vital Aperture points and completely subdued him.
"Who are these young people?" Ge Chongshan asked as he looked to Zhang Yuanshan and Qi Zhengyan, who joined the battle later on.
Jiang Zhiwei sighed and answered, "They are both from the same sect as me. So is the person on the ground."
Since she had already mentioned Su Wu Ming, it wasn't necessary to mention the teachers of the others, which might lead to Ge Chongshan's suspicion. It was normal for people to not know of one hidden master, as it could simply be a coincidence. However, it wouldn't be normal anymore if there were a lot of names that nobody knew.
"Big Brother Zhang, what happened to you?" The way Qi Xia called Zhang Yuanshan now and before made Ge Chongshan give up the suspicion he had when he saw the difference between their sword techniques. Perhaps that "Sword God" Su Wu Ming knew many different kinds of sword arts and Kungfu and taught his students based on their individual talents and attributes.
Zhang Yuanshan replied with grief, "Brother Qing Jing, Brother Zheng Yan, and I first rescued Master Tan Wenbo. Everything was fine, so we immediately went to where Master Ma Lianghan was trapped. However, when we opened the last stone gate, Master Tan Wenbo suddenly sneak attacked us from behind and assassinated Brother Qing Jing. I was attacked by Master Ma Lianghan from the opposite direction and could not turn around to save him."
"Brother Qing Jing fought back before he died, and also wounded Master Tan We Bo. With Brother Zheng Yan also risking his life, we finally beat them off. However, when we pursued, we didn't expect they would lead us in circles! They even returned to the original room and cut off Brother Qing Jing's head!"
He still used the word "master", yet his tone was full of resentment.
Even though Qing Jing had tried to trip him and didn't treat him well, Meng Qi didn't feel a bit of happiness. Instead, he was sad and sympathetic. Now that Qing Jing was dead, who would be next? Would it be him?
That kind of feeling reached a maximum when he saw Zhang Yuanshan, who was always calm, sober, and cool, became uneasy, anxious, and mournful. They haven't even met the owner of the Yin Huang Castle yet, and two of their teammates had already died. What would it be like after the final battle?
Ge Yuan Shan and the others silently listened to Zhang Yuanshan's story. It reminded them of their friend who was killed by Ding Chang Sheng, and triggered their sadness, too.
"My young friend, Zhang, don't be overly sad. Young friend Qing Jing has died for justice, and we will forever remember them. Please put away your sadness for now, and come with us to the central hall to meet up with your teacher and the others." Ge Chongshan said with a sympathetic tone.
"True, this cannot be delayed. Let's go." Zhang Yuanshan put away his sorrow and regained his calm. He seemed to have become much more mature in a short period of time.
Ge Chongshan nodded. "Ok, Brother Zhang, Brother Zhao, please stay here and watch over Brother Ma. We will come back with the antidote."
They couldn't bring Ma Lianghan with them since if someone unlocked his Aperture points, they would have one stronger enemy to fight against.
"Brother Ge, that demon is planning something evil in the central hall, and we can also help. We should be as careful as we can!" Master Zhao said anxiously.
Ge Chongshan sighed. "I know, I know. The more people we have, the more hope we have. However, we can't leave Brother Ma here, can we? Maybe a man in black will come and rescue him."
After becoming injured, most of the layer of green mist on Ma Liang Shan's face had faded away. It seemed that the efficacy of the pill was not as strong as well. He yelled painfully, "Chong Shan, kill me! Kill me!"
Ge Chongshan only used sealing acupoints techniques to limit his internal power, but didn't limit his ability to move and talk.
"It seems like his self-control has become weaker than that of Master Cheng Yong…" Jiang Zhiwei whispered to Meng Qi while still on his back.
"Perhaps as time passes, it'll get harder to resist the pill," Meng Qi guessed.
Ge Chongshan's hand was shaking. "How could I! How could I?"
If he had killed Ma Lianghan when they fought, he would have regrets but not feel overly pained. Nevertheless, now that he had already subdued Ma Lianghan, he would never kill his friend. It would be an unbearable torture for his soul.
Ma Lianghan took a deep breath and said with all the strength he had, "I, I can't make it! After having that evil thing, I, I have been living in hell! Chong Shan, kill me! You will be saving me!"
Suddenly, he seemed to have accumulated some strength. He jumped up fiercely and dashed towards a long sword held by a master standing nearby.
The master was completely unprepared. Thinking that it was a sneak attack, he didn't contract but instead pushed out his sword. The sword penetrated Ma Lianghan's throat.
Ma Lianghan fell down slowly, and a weak smile appeared on his face.
"Brother Ma!" Ge Chongshan shouted with shock and sadness.
At this time, Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei saw that the shadow of the fire on the stone wall started to move like a ghost. It formed into three lines of words.
"Jiang Zhiwei, Zhang Yuanshan, Qi Xia, Qi Zhengyan, and Zhen Ding saved Tan Wenbo from the pain of being controlled by the Mind-reaving Pill. Each of them will be awarded 10 Karma points for accomplishing this side quest."
"Jiang Zhiwei, Zhang Yuanshan, Qi Xia, Qi Zhengyan, and Zhen Ding saved Ma Lianghan from the pain of being controlled by the Mind-reaving Pill. Each of them will be awarded 10 Karma points for accomplishing this side quest."
"All side quests have been completed."
Meng Qi and all the others remained silent. Their mood didn't become better whatsoever. Even if saving Ma Lianghan was counted towards their credit.