Yi Wangyou, being the vaunted man he was, didn’t engage in a verbal tirade with River Monster. Su Xiao, on the other hand, fired, “Shut your lecherous lips up. You won’t kill anyone!”
“Big Boss Sis, leave her to us,” offered one of the unorthodox sect group members.
“Who’s the missy? I want to strip her, and then take her home as my wife,” another one commented.
River Monster, maintaining her confident sneer, commanded, “Black Bear King, kill him.”
Because Su Xiao’s fan base was a group of unaffiliated people slapped together, they didn’t have the teamwork to form a defensive formation to stop the black bear’s speedy, violent charge. They, instead, hurtled their own ways, but the bear stayed locked on to the target River Monster assigned.
Out of nowhere, the black bear bellowed at the heavens, clearing everyone around it out. Dangling from its mouth was the bloody corpse of the man who expressed a desire to take River Monster home as his mouth.
River Monster meandered over with a smile: “You need not feel anxious. I did tell you I am here to kill you. You didn’t think any of you would get away with your lives after my declaration, did you? Our friend here was first to offer his life in a painless death.”
“Everyone, keep cool. They have a big group, but so do we. Roll up your sleeves, and let’s g-”
An archer on horseback at the rear of Evil Spirits’ forces pierced through the other side of the speaker’s head with his arrow. Emperor Yuansheng cast his gaze over to the archer and thundered, “Abels!”
Abels set down his iron bow and called, “River Monster.”
River Monster, instead of turning back to Abels, ordered, “Get rid of the barbarians.”
Evil Spirits’ group howled according to their sub-groups’ code to raise morale.
“Charge!” commanded River Monster.
Evil Spirits marched forward like an army avalanches, roars blowing leaves off their branches. While there was a case to be made about the martial world’s pugilists eclipsing Evil Spirits’ minions as individual cases, the former had no experience against formations in warfare. In contrast, Evil Spirits always fought against Beijiang’s military due to their profession. Moreover, Abels was a first-class commander in his own right, while they were competent enough to last four to five exchanges with the likes of Yi Wangyou.
The elite pugilists had qingong to fall back on, but that only kept them away from attacks. Those not so proficient were quickly cut down, rather, disassembled effortlessly.
Evil Spirits’ group remained inside a mobile purple ring that maintained its radius at all times. The elder ambling at the centre of the ring moved the ring of mist along with his steps, keeping himself at the centre. He didn’t need to lift a finger to kill anyone for those who touched the purple mist would bleed from all of their orifices until there was nothing left to bleed.
“Hahaha, over a hundred dead to collect already, perfect. Thank you for your contribut-, cough, cough, cough, hahaha.” Every time he laughed, several more men would collapse as corpses.
Emperor Yuansheng’s group believed Abels real target was them, and killing over half of those present was just the opening ceremony. Despite not being friends with those who were murdered, anger churned within Su Xiao, hungry for revenge.
“Everyone get around Master and retreat. They outnumber us greatly, so we’re highly susceptible to being separated. Dugu, you stick to Master. Interim Patriarch Yu and Su Xiao, be ready for anything from the centre. Long Zaitian, you bring up the rear. As soon as I give the signal, go like your lives depend on it,” Ming Feizhen communicated mentally to his team.
“Roger that!” Dugu and Long Zaitian instinctively responded.
“Wait a second. Why’s he playing the commander? Protecting His Majesty goes without saying, you goof,” Long Zaitian realised after responding. “What about you?”
“I have something to do, of course.” Ming Feizhen broke off from the escort, heading toward the horde of enemies. “Here we go. Your priority is staying alive. If you’re separated from the group, regroup at Dragon Phoenix Inn. Take care.” Ming Feizhen reached behind to touch Su Xiao’s head and said, “Don’t die. Disperse!”