Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

0Ming Yue staggered forward, stabbing Blood Moon into the ground. The dead members of the Fourteen Evils were right, she was injured and didn't have much energy left. The fight had to be quick if she wanted to win.      0

There was chirping in the skies above before Xiao Yin flew down, landing on her shoulder.      

The Star Owl gazed at her, chirping softly as if worried about her wellbeing.      

Her breath was a bit rough and haggard. Leaning on her sword, she grasped it tightly, making sure not to let go.      

"It's fine, Xiao Yin, I just have to rest a bit", she said, taking a seat down to rest.      

Even though, she managed to kill those five individuals in a matter of seconds. They were still five Sky Realm experts and so she needed to use her full power. As vast as her pools of energy was, she could only use Pale Moon for so long.      

Most of her strength was drained and her body was near its limits but she did it. Six members of the Fourteen Evils died and with the others ones that she killed, that was eleven dead.      

"Haah, three more to go. But, I still need to deal with the followers first."     

She sighed before forcing herself to stand up, using Blood Moon as a staff.      

"Are you sure you aren't pushing yourself too far? You still have time to recover."     

Xue Yue suddenly spoke out, even carrying a tone of concern in her voice. It was rare for her to be like this but even she could see the exhaustion.     

Ever since the young cultivator found out that Ying Yi and his crew were in danger, she jumped into action. She barely had time to rest or recuperate, just doing enough to move around. Even with the Eternal Heart Ring at work, it was not as potent as before now that her cultivation had grown. Sooner or later, it would not be enough.      

"She's right, you are not in good shape. You need to rest, at least for more than a few minutes. That did barely anything to help you."     

Even Senior Zhen had something to say. he might've been sheathed but he still saw everything.     

But still, Ming Yue shook her head, straightening up while taking a deep breath.      

"I'm fine, I'm fine. The difficult part is done. I just need to deal with the rest of them", she muttered.      

Her voice was somewhat strained, forcing those words out. Just barely recovered, she walked forward, heading back to where the followers were camped. Her steps were slow and her feet dragged a bit but she slowly ventured back.      

On the other side, Ying Yi was still chained to the chair, his hands tied behind him. He seemed unconscious, staring down at the ground with his eyes closed. There was a small puddle of sweat under him, slowly shrinking as it dried.      

Suddenly the tent flaps burst open as someone rushed in, quickly spotting him.      

There was a slight gasp before they ran to his side, brandishing a sword. Going behind him, the sword came swiftly, striking at the chains. Unfortunately, they did not break that easily.      

They clicked their tongue, striking at it several more times.      

Outside, one could hear the shouts and the clamoring of weapons before someone shouted out.      

"We can't hold them for much longer! How long before you can free him?!"      

They looked up from the task and yelled back.      

"I just need a little bit! Just buy me as much time as you can!"     

Focusing back on the task at hand, they swung their sword even more fiercely, chipping away at the chain links. With so much noise and commotion around him, Ying Yi began to stir, groaning softly as he squirmed a bit.      

"Leader, we're almost free, we'll get out of here alive!" they said to him, swinging away.      

The shouting and fighting slowly closed in on them.      

"They're trying to escape! Surround them!"     

"Where do you think you're trying to go?! None of you are going to escape alive tonight!"     

"I doubt that your rescuer will even succeed!"     

The evil cultivators taunted and jeered at them, slowly cornering them to the tent. Even though a majority of their forces were away, they still outnumbered Ying Yi's men.      

Swinging the blade once more, it finally cut through the chain, leaving a clear and crisp ring as they fell away.      

With a smile on their face, Ying Yi's subordinate quickly grabbed him and lifted the man up, placing his arm on their shoulders.      

"Ugh."     

He groaned, slowly waking up but he was weak and exhausted. Barely able to walk, he was practically dead weight.      

"Come on, we'll escape. We'll all survive together!" they said, bringing him out of the tent.      

But that smile of theirs was shortlived as they saw the situation outside. Everyone was cornered, swinging their weapons in defense against the attacks of the followers. Even if they were at their best, breaking out was easier said than done.      

With all of them injured, such hope was meager.      

If they truly wanted to escape, they had to make a sacrifice.      

"Ehehe, did you really think that you could have escaped while our leaders are gone? We are always keeping watch of you."     

"You know that it's a pointless struggle. Even if all of you die here, there are still ways to extract information from your bodies. We have the Witch with us after all."     

Looking at them like prey, the followers all had confident smiles, fully believing in those leaders of theirs.      

And those of the Intelligence Guild had grim looks on their faces. Their eyes slowly panned from one side to the other, taking a careful look at who was around them. Their knuckles had gone white from grasping their weapon tightly.      

They were tensed up and beads of sweat formed.      

They had to break out of this encirclement, they had no other choice but death. All of them knew that surrendering would not change this fate. If they were going to die, clinging onto that meager hope was all they had.      

But then something happened, there was a very sharp whistling sound, one that made everyone stop for a moment.      

"What's... what's that noise?"      

The whistling didn't stop, instead, it grew louder. The shrill sound was worrying to hear but it didn't take long for them to see what was causing such noise.      

With a flash of silver, something flew through the evil cultivators, moving at a swift speed. The next moment, blood spewed out as dozens were killed in an instant, all of them dead from a gash in their necks. They fell to the ground, bleeding out and choking on their own blood.      

"What is this?!"      

The others were shaken, eyes wide open as they all took a step back in fear.     

Who or what could've done this?     

None of them could fathom it and there just wasn't enough time for them to figure it out as the whistling returned. The small silvery light made another pass and even more had become its victim.      

"It can't be. Is there someone else? Another rescuer?!"     

"Oh no, is the other one just a diversion?"     

Thinking this, they all ignored Ying Yi and the others, turning their attention toward the silvery light.      

"If they attacking like this, they have to be somewhere close! They can't be far from us! Quickly spread out!" one of them shouted.      

"But what about them?"      

"Forget it! If they aren't of any use, they can die. But if we manage to capture the rescuer, we may be rewarded, think about it!"     

Stirring up their greed, the fear lessened just a bit for them as they all focused on the silvery light.