" Ms . Liu , " Yang Changtian repeatedly called out, getting angrier. Finally he snapped , " Liu Ying ! That is enough ! " he yelled .
Yang Changtian's angry roar echoed through the group and it broke Liu Ying's trance , and she immediately disconnected from the sigil .
When the sigils disappeared from beneath them , Jin Wei and Da Xiong rushed to help Liu Ying, who was still too dazed to stand up. After standing she patted their hands and then waved them off , " I'm fine don't worry. "
Yang Changtian strode over to her , standing right infront of her , hands crossed he glared, waiting for an explanation.
Liu Ying saw his glare and sighed , " I apologise Mr. Yang , it was not my intention to space out."
Yang Changtian didnt back down , he needed a valid explanation, " What happened ? " he demanded.
Liu Ying sighed again and answered him ,defeated. " I…. saw something."
Yang Changtian uncrossed his hands , " What did you see ? " he asked .
Liu Ying turned her head to look towards the cave. " Mr. Yang , when I transfer energy to a larger group , I close my eyes to make it easier for me to see their energy veins . This allows me to target specific individuals . When I connected to the sigil moments ago , I saw something unusual ."
" Unusual ? How so ? " Yang Changtian pushed.
Liu Ying pointed towards the cave , " Inside there , there is a person who is half Crazy and half human."
Yang Changtian , Jin Wei and Da Xiong looked at each other in surprise.
" Senior you mean there's a person who is only half affected by the fungi ? " Jin Wei asked .
Liu Ying shook her head , " No , this person is likely the origin ."
Yang Changtian immedialty grabbed Liu Ying and led her close to the cave's entrance. " Do you remember where you saw her exactly ? "
Liu Ying shook her head , " I only see their energy veins Mr. Yang , but I can direct you in that direction. "
Yang Changtian nodded .
Liu Ying closed her eyes and tried to spot the energy vein again , after a while she managed to isolate it from the others. She focused on it , and found out that it was located a few degrees off North , so she informed Yang Changtian who immediately began to search in that area.
He noticed a figure , wearing a weird cape standing in front of a fire. Focusing on the weird robe , he managed to focus solely on this figure , he was staring at an old crow of a woman who began to dance around the fire adding herbs into it. He remembered about the Shaman who gave Song Lian and the others those bone charms. He disconnected from his skill and explained what he saw to Liu Ying , who also agreed that it might be the so-called shaman , so Yang Changtian turned to wave Song Lian over.
Song Lian rushed over and Yang Changtian questioned him , " Your shaman , is she a really old woman who wears a weird looking robe ? "
Song Lian nodded and Yang Changtian exchanged a knowing look with Liu Ying.
" She's performing a ritual inside right now , and I reckon it can't be anything good , " Yang Changtian whispered to Liu Ying, who nodded in agreement.
" What's the current situation inside the cave ? " Liu Ying asked him , " Considering what you saw , it would be better for us to act soon."
Yang Changtian nodded , " We can take care of the Crazies ourselves, while I can't see inside the cave because of the darkness. Judging by how many retreated , there aren't many left ."
Liu Ying thought for a while , " Okay then , we'll divide the members into three groups , offensive group , rescue group and defense group ,in case that women's rituals call more Crazies over here."
Yang Chantian agreed and they began to divide people into groups.
Liu Ying called Jin Wei and Da Xiong over. " As I said these two also received hidden weapons training , so I can leave them with some of my weapons , so let's keep them and my other juniors as the defense group, " Liu Ying suggested, and Yang Changtian agreed. So Liu Ying briefed Jin Wei and Da Xiong before handing them some of her weapons. Jin Wei and Da Xiong nodded, accepting their task.
" As for the rescue team , the disciples of our sect have received basic medical knowledge, " Yang Changtian started. " So we better make them the rescue team."
Liu Ying nodded , " That leaves us with Mo Ling and those guys. Guess they're on the offense team by default. "
Yang Changtian shot Liu Ying a look , he had a feeling that Liu Ying didn't like Song Lian and the others too much, but that was not relevant now , the both of them approached Song Lian and his group , Mo Ling was also with them chatting away without a care in the world . He spotted the two of them approaching , " Brother Yang ! Ms. Liu ! " he waved at them.
Yang Changtian and Liu Ying stopped right infront of the group .
" Mo Ling you're with us in the offense group , " He then turned to Song Lian , " Mr. Song, you and your group are also with the offense team , any objections ? "
Song Lian and the others shook their heads .
" Great , then before we go inside , as you all know we are out of sedatives and arrows , so we can only use our swords to fight , Ms. Liu will give you a small lesson about where exactly to strike to render your opponents unable to move."
Liu Ying stepped forward , " We cannot directly kill the Crazies , so our only option is to render them unable to move. So we must aim at the tendons of the legs and arms , then just for safe measure , we will sever the jugular vein in the neck."
Everyone watched carefully and nodded.
While Liu Ying taught them , Yang Changtian was busy analysing the situation inside the cave , unfortunately his skill was limited due to the darkness inside the cave so he could only observe the illuminated areas. Yang Changtian saw the people inside paincking ,they were running around finding things to fight with . Then he saw the old crow come over to the people and hand them each a small charm . That charm ! That'll only make them more aggressive , this woman was doing this on purpose. After handing teh charms around , the old crow led an old woman away from the group.
Time was running , they had to hurry and save those people !
Yang Changtian whipped around ," Liu Ying ! We have to go inside now ! " he yelled.
Liu Ying turned around to look at him weirdly , but she didn't say anything, just nodded and rushed over with the others.
" What happened ? " Song Lian asked, confused.
" I just saw that shaman of yours handing the other people in there those bone charms you were carrying , " Yang Changtian explained.
Song Lian's eyes widened, " But those will attract the Crazies and make them more violent ! " he stuttered .
Liu Ying nodded at him grimly.
" We have to hurry and save them now. Let's go ! " Yang Changtuan instructed them .
Liu Ying quickly called over the rescue team and together they slowly entered the cave, Song Lian was in the front leading them along with Yang Changtian , while Liu Ying was at the back guarding against any potential attacks from behind.
Soon they reached a cavern , it was faintly lit by an opening in the roof . They spotted some movement from one corner , they all turned alert. In the darkness they spotted a group of Crazies continuously clawing at a stone door.
" That's the door that blocks the entrance to the hideout , while it's sturdy , I don't think it might hold on for much longer. " Song Lian whispered.
Liu Ying walked over and whispered something to Mo Ling . Mo Ling immedialty nodded and took her place. Liu Ying then approached Yang Changtian , " I asked Mo Ling to take my place, " she explained.
Yang Changtian looked at Mo Ling who was happily chatting with the rescue team and nodded at Liu Ying.
The offense team formed a semi circle with Liu Ying , Yang Changtian and Song Lian in the front.
Yang Changtian couldnt use his Sword of light here .
Meanwhile Liu Ying unsheathed her swords and a faint blue-green glow illuminated the whole cave . For a moment Song Lian and the others forgot about the Crazies and they turned to stare at her swords.
" What …in the world .." Song Lian muttered confusedly.
" They're made from a luminous fallen star , " Yang Changtian casually answered.
Song Lian's eyes were almost popping out , " A luminous fallen star ?! I heard the most favoured concubines of the King receive a small amount of powder every few years , even the King himself only gets a small pearl. But she's got two whole short swords made of it."
Kong and Ling felt their souls leave their body. Song Lian even tried to give Liu Ying his sword , so that she didnt dirty such a precious thing.
'But Liu Ying just shot him a look , shutting him down almost instantly.
Yang Changtian shook his head chuckling.
Song Lian finally relented, still groaning about it.
The group moved to the center of the cavern and formed a circle around the rescue team . Liu Ying then pulled out a dart and threw it at a Crazy . It struck the Crazy right in the back , so it turned around enraged. With a shrill yell , alerting his companions of the intruders , the Crazy came rushing to attack the group .
Yang Changtian slashed at its tendons and then finally sliced its neck with ease , Liu Ying followed suit. The two of them began to breeze through the Crazies , only leaving a few for the rest. And they certainly weren't complaining either.
Soon Yang Changtian and Liu Ying stood in front of 2 Crazies , they looked more demonic than the others , with back saliva dripping down their open mouths.
Liu Ying narrowed her eyes at them , " Mr. Yang , be careful , they've evolved , and I suspect that they have the ability to spread the fungi , don't let it touch you." Liu Yinhg warned him.
Yang Changtian nodded , and he passed the message on to the others.
Suddenly one Crazy lurched at him with lightning speed, Liu Ying used her swords to block it, " Looks like their abilities have increased too. Everyone else fall back ! " Liu Ying ordered.
The other Crazy lurched at Liu Ying and it was stopped by Yang Chantian.
The two of them began to fight against the Crazies , who were keeping up with them.
After a while seeing that they weren't going anywhere with this fight , Liu Ying suddenly yelled at Mo Ling , " Mr. Mo ,switched with me for a while ! ".
Mo Lig groaned but he agreed and he came closer waiting for the chance to jump in.
" Ms. Liu , what are you up to ? " Yang Changtian groaned, just as she switched with Mo Ling.
" Mr. Yang, just trust me , if this goes on , we'll just tire ourselves out, " Liu Ying yelled back.
Liu Ying reached the center of the cavern and she drew another sigil on the ground , only this time , to anyone who was familiar with Liu Ying's usual sigil , it was reversed.
Liu Ying took a deep breath in and she began to chant something. Her palm was hovering over the sigil.
Yang Changtian felt the Crazy's attacks becoming more ruthless , it likely sensed that he was starting to get exhausted.
Meanwhile Mo Ling was barely able to defend himsder against the Crazy's attack.
Song Lian and the others could just stand in the corner watching helplessly , joining the fight would only be more burdensome for Yang Changtian and Mo Ling.
Liu Ying suddenly slapped her palm down on the sigil hard and soon a blue-green light began to grow from between the sigil , more specially they were growing from Liu Ying's palms , it was like a snake seeking out its targets , after splitting into two , the snake like energy vines attached itself onto the two Crazies. And they were held back by an unseen force, unable to even move an inch.
Yang Changtian whipped around to look at Liu Ying , who still had her eyes closed.
The two Crazies let out a shrill screech and the energy snakes gradually turned red , going all the way back to Liu Ying. She was absorbing the vital energies of the Crazies !
As the red energy reached Liu Ying she shuddered.
Yang Changtian immediately ran towards Liu Ying , he wanted to wake her up , wanted to stop her, but he could do nothing so he just kneeled down next to her watching helplessly as she continued to absorb the dark energy.
Song Lian and Mo Ling quality approached them , they also crouched down next to Yang Changtain , " Senior Yang what is happening ? " Mo Ling asked, confused.
Yang Changtuan sighed deeply and rubbed his face , " She's absorbing the vital energy from those demons ," he spat out.
" She can do that ? " Song Lian asked, confused.
" Yeah I thought her personal skill was just restoring people's energy, " Mo Ling joined in.
Yang Changtian shook his head , " I didn't know either ," he whispered.
And the whole group fell into a tense silence.
Soon the Crazies stopped resisting and the energy flow slowly turned back to its usual blue-green color. The energy vines retreated back to Liu Ying when the Crazies both collapsed onto the floor motionless.
Sensing that their jobs were done, the vines retreated back into Liu Ying's palm.
Liu Ying opened her eyes and looked around, she saw Yang Changtian kneeling by her side , and Song Lian and Mo Ling crouching down next to her, they all had worried looks on their faces.
' Oh no…' Liu Ying thought , in the next movement she felt something moving up her throat.
Yang Changtian saw Liu Ying's eyes open and before he could ask her if she was okay , he spotted a guilty look in her eyes.
In the next second , Liu Ying started throwing up blood.
Song Lian and Mo Ling both fell backwards, shocked .
" Medic , get here ! " Yang Changtian roared while trying to help Lou Ying who was still throwing up . Liu Ying grabbed his hand and she was about to say something .
" Liu Ying , it would do you well to keep your mouth shut now , I don't want to hear anything from you," Yang Changtaion growled , his voice low.
Liu Ying could only nod.
A medic rushed to Liu Ying and examined her. " Reporting to Senior , Ms. Liu has no internal injuries , but I do not know the cause of her blood vomit," he stammered .
Yang Changtian was enraged and he wanted to yell at the medic but he was held back by Liu Ying who had stopped throwing up.
" Mr. Yang .. that's not blood , that was just the dark energy I absorbed , my body rejected it, so it made me eject it," she rushed to explain. " I'm really fine."
Yang Changtian was still skeptical so it took her some more effort to convince him.
Yang Changtian finally stood up and helped Liu Ying up too. When Yang Changtian tried to help Liu Ying to walk , she brushed him off , " Mr. Yang , I'm perfectly capable of walking on my own."
Yang Changtian just nodded and followed her over to Song Lian and the others.
They were over at the stone door and Song Lian was knocking. " Village elder ? It's me, Song Lian ."
But no one responded , so he just kept knocking .
Song Lian saw them approach him and hook his head at Yang Changtian , " They won't open up , " he said defeated , then he spotted Liu Ying , " Ms. Liu , are you okay ? You had all of us worried there ."
Liu Ying smiled at him and nodded once indicating that she was okay.
Yang Chantian led Song Lian away to speak , while Liu Yinh approached the stone door and studied it closely , she used her swords as lights to see clearer. Mo Ling crouched down next to her.
" Mr. Song , are there any other ways to get inside ? " Yang Changtian asked.
Song Lian shook his head , " The only other opening is the collapsed roof , but it's too hgh."
Suddenly they both heard a loud thud and a shockwave reverberated through the whole cavern making everyone's hair rise.
Song Lian and Yang Changtian immediately whipped around to see that the rock door had fallen , Liu Ying and Mo Ling standing near it. Mo Ling noticed their gazes and immediately pointed to Liu Ying.
Yang Changtian rushed over , Song Lian following closeby.
" Liu Ying , how did you ? " Yang Changtian began.
Liu Ying turned around , a small rock disc in her hand.
" Simple mechanics , " Liu Ying explained. " Since it was jammed, I just removed the door completely," she shrugged and handed the disc to Yang Changtian who in return handed it over to Song Lian .
" Well.. guess that's solved." Yang Changtian broke out in a small smile.
Song Lian just nodded speechless.
Suddenly they heard a clang and when they looked up they saw several women coming out holding various items , ready to fight .
When the knocking started , Shaman Hu's words echoed through their minds , Crazies would resort to all types of tricks to draw them out , so they all ran around to grab something to fight , some were even holding brooms.
When the door suddenly fell they all ran away and hid , only to see a handsome young man in a blue robe standing behind it , now that they saw her clearer , they knew that this was a young lady not a young man. By her side was another dashing man , wearing a black robe.
They all began to creep out of their hiding places , it would be easy to take on these two weak looking young masters , but then they spotted Song Lian rushing over , he was accompanied by a man in a white and silver robe.
They were speaking with the young lady
When someone accidentally dropped their broom right on top of a metal pot , a loud clang echoed throughout the whole cave. They all froze .
" Everyone , it's me Song Lian , ' Song Lian waved at them .
" Liar , Song Lian was killed when he went to raid the village , you're a demon trying to draw us out, " one woman spat out.
" Everyone , it's really me , I didn't die , these are the people at the village , they set a trap to catch us," Song Lian explained the whole story.
" Stop lying ." " Yeah , Brother Song was killed ."
They still didn't believe him.
Song Lian thought for a while and sighed , " I am the real Song Lian and I can prove it. Sister Xinyi , remember I helped you hide the dead chicken from your mother . Sister Huarong , when you were about to give birth to your second baby , your first child threw a tantrum and decided to hide in the kitchen…." Song Lian kept on saying similar things till everyone was finally convinced that he was indeed the real Song Lian.
" They all rushed to him , " Brother Song ! It's really you ." " We were so scared," they all began to whine.
Xinyi approached Song Lian , " Brother Song, where are the others ? "
Song Lian turned around and waved them over , and the rest of them also joined the group.
Yang Changtian swiftly cleared his throat , Song Lian immediately understood.
" Ladies we can celebrate , but right now I need you to lead us to the Shaman and Village Elder. "
They nodded and led them into the Shaman Hut.
As they got closer , Liu Ying scrunched her nose up .
Noticing this Yang Changtian moved closer to her , " Ms. Liu, what's wrong ?"
Liu Ying shook her head , " For some reason I smell blood."
Yang Changtian stopped and breathed in the air , sure enough there was a faint metallic smell in the air.
By now they had reached the Shaman's hut , so Yang Changtian rushed and whispered something to Song Lian.
Song Lian's complexion got visibly paler , he then turned to the ladies. " Ladies please step back and remain silent."
" Brother Song ? Why ? " they began to ask questions.
Liu Ying was starting to get a headache , so she began to massage her head softly.
Song Lian took this as a sign of her being irritated, " Ladies please, I'll explain later , for now please fulfill my request," he pleaded.
All the ladies finally fell silent and did as they were told.
Yang Changtian and Song Lian approached the hut silently , the metallic smell of blood was now apparent in the air. Liu Ying , Mo Ling and the others were right behind them.
Yang Changtian nodded at Song Lian , who reached out to the door , his hand shaking.
Seeing his reluctance and slowness , Liu Ying was getting impatient , she pushed him away and kicked the door open.
The scene in front of them almost made them lurch , Shaman Hu was standing over what could only be described as a bloody lump of meat , the Shaman turned around , her mouth was stained red with the blood dripping down , her sharp canine-like teeth were stained too, her robe had blood splashes and both her hands were stuffed wit the meat.
Song Lian quickly tried to look away , but his eyes landed on a pile of bones ,and pieces of skin thrown into a corner.
He immediately felt a sick feeling rising inside his stomach , " Please tell me that's an animal."
Liu Ying shook her head , her cold expression back , " That's human. See the head's over there," she pointed at something.
Everyone followed her finger to a head staring back at them, it was the Village Elder !
Song Lian almost collapsed, Kong and Ling rushed to help him. He turned to the Shaman , " How could you ? Why ?! " he began to yell.
He lunged to attack the Shaman but he was stopped by Yang Changtian who ordered Mo Ling to immediately tie the Shaman up.
Before Mo Ling could approach the Shaman ,Liu Ying stopped him. She pulled out a small needle from her sleeve and approached the Shaman who began to laugh wildly at her. Liu Ying smiled back , her smile sending shivers down everyone's spines , then as her smile turned into a sneer Liu Ying pricked the middle of the Shaman's head with the needle.
The Shaman immediately began to convulse before collapsing , she twitched around for a while before finally going still. .
" You can proceed now , " Liu Ying said to Mo Ling who nodded and approached the unconscious Shaman to tie her up.
" Mo Ling , get ready to take her back to camp , and make the necessary preparations to escort the other survivors back too, " Yang Changtian ordered him.
Mo Ling nodded and carried the Shaman outside , placing her on the ground ,ang making sure her binds were tight he walked off to get some helpers.
Some curious ladies decided to take this chance to sneak a peek , they had all heard Song Lian's yell and now the Shaman was being carried out, so their curiosity got the best of them , ignoring Song Lian's instructions , they approached the hut.
What they saw made their blood go cold , the Village elder's lifeless head that was ripped out of her body was staring back at them, the blood had coagulated so it wasn't dripping anymore , but there was a large pool of blood under the head, inside the room there was a bloody mess , with a huge lump of meat right in the middle.
They all began yelling , and this drew the attention of the others who also approached to see what happened , subsequently ending up screaming too.
All the noise was worsening Liu Ying's headache and her vision started to blur.
She began to massage her head again , but the yelling was endless . So she tried to walk out and get away from the noise.
But just as she stepped outside , her head began to spin and she kneeled down trying to stabilize herself.
Yang Changtian saw this and rushed over to her , but just as he reached her , Liu Ying collapsed onto the ground.
" Liu Ying ! " Yang Changtian yelled .