58 Escaping the Trap

To complement Gong Lan's offensive, Cha Ming abandoned his Gentle Staff Art. Instead, he took advantage of his increased speed to outmaneuver his opponents using Ghost Steps and strike them fiercely with Sword Staff. Every few exchanges, he increased the weight of his staff by several times and used Quake Staff to disrupt their rhythm. His Mountain Stance Technique enabled him to fully concentrate his weight during these important strikes.

He took several strikes to his torso in exchange for his offensive. They whittled away at his Iron Skin, and it ultimately resulted in a deep gash across his leg. He ignored the pain, however, and yelled out toward his allies as his opponents reeled under the aggressive blows of his Quake Staff. "Now!"

Despite being injured, he changed the healing formation into a snowflake formation, which suddenly restricted the Ling brothers' ability to dodge. The two mercenaries with enhanced speed took this opportunity and slashed at the younger brother's legs. He couldn't block because he was busy defending against Gong Lan, who had leapt up into the air and executed Blood Saber Art—Twin Decapitation. The younger brother was forced to his knees, and Cha Ming struck once more with Quake Staff, smashing his skull.

"Brother!" The elder brother's eyes became bloodshot, and he withdrew a black pill from his bag of holding and swallowed it. Cha Ming's eyes narrowed as he saw the eldest Ling brother's aura increase sharply, reaching a level that caused their group to tremble—half-step foundation establishment! Evidently, the man had used a forbidden medicine to force up his strength, just like Zhou Xian had in the past. He followed up by immediately lashing out at Gong Lan with his most powerful blow yet. A crimson light flashed as she was pushed back without injury, and Cha Ming saw the crimson lotus brooch she had been wearing crumble into dust.

Only desperate cultivators used such medicines, as the side effects included prolonged weakness and sometimes crippled a cultivator's foundation. Cha Ming could understand this act of madness. He'd betrayed his companions to save his brother, only to lose another. He had nowhere to run, and he could only try his best to kill Cha Ming and his companions. Although Cha Ming understood him, he still couldn't forgive the man. Betrayal was unforgiveable.

Meanwhile, the battle between the weaker mercenaries and the devil cultivators had taken a turn for the worse. Another ten had fallen, giving them the opportunity to surround their targets.

"Zen, Xiong, go help them. Leave him to the three of us!" Cha Ming yelled. The two nodded and filled in the gaps, preventing the devil cultivators from flanking the weaker mercenaries. The presence of the two greater cultivators reversed the tide, instantly leading to the decapitation of one of the wounded devil cultivators and the suppression of another.

Just as things seemed to be improving, however, the three women who had been resting nearby suddenly opened their eyes. They began singing a macabre tune, which caused the mercenaries to turn sluggish. Even the two stronger cultivators were affected, albeit to a lesser extent.

"Fan, quickly. Go kill those three and come back!"

Their last helper, who was still under the effect of the Cloud Step talisman, quickly darted out toward the trio. Two devil cultivators broke off from the main group to intercept him, but Cha Ming had anticipated this. He threw out three Stone Wall talismans, which instantly blocked off their path and gave Fan a straight line to the three women.

He was unable to keep paying attention to Fan's actions, however, as the eldest Ling brother's aggression skyrocketed.

"I'll kill you!" he said and started attacking Cha Ming without reservation.

Cha Ming could only grit his teeth and increase the weight of his staff to minimize the recoil from each blow he defended against. He used his most skillful technique, Sword Staff, to repeatedly parry the other man's blows. Unfortunately, the difference between half-step foundation establishment and qi condensation was substantial. Each strike blocked caused Cha Ming to cough up blood.

Gong Lan didn't give up, however. The bloody tempest, which Ling Tong had been able to keep at bay with his superior qi, weapon, and techniques, suddenly erupted with furious killing intent. This caused him to back up, granting Cha Ming a breath of respite. He used this opportunity to pop another lesser healing pill from his bag of holding. He also slapped out two healing talismans for good measure, one for himself and one for Gong Lan. He then charged to support her offensive, manifesting a lethal sword with his spirit pearls and slashing at Ling Tong from behind.

The man snorted and activated a movement technique, which brought him right beside Gong Lan. She let out a vicious yell, causing her killing intent to skyrocket once more. She deflected three consecutive blows, and on the third, her baleful aura increased once more, followed by a familiar crack. It was a sound that all qi condensation cultivators would recognize: Gong Lan had broken through to the eighth level of qi condensation!

Cha Ming finally caught up to them using Burst Steps and began assisting Gong Lan once more. Yet despite their progress, the eldest Ling Brother's defense was ironclad. It was time for desperate measures.

"Gong Lan, get ready!" he yelled, activating the Healing Flower manifestation once more. He gave up on parrying and instead struck out with one Quake Staff after another.

He was full of openings, which his opponent took advantage of immediately. Cha Ming cringed as the expected counterattack came slashing toward his arm. But instead of blocking, he jumped into the blow, using his Gentle Staff Art to offset the blow slightly and avoid damage to his internal organs. The sword bit down hard into his left bicep, almost shearing his arm in half. He ignored the pain and held on to the sword with all his might, causing it to dig deeper into his bloodied arm. Fortunately, the flow of blood had been slightly stemmed by the residual medicinal strength in his body and the Healing Flower manifestation.

Gong Lan didn't need to be told twice. She sidestepped the man, first cleaving off his trapped arm and following up with a lethal strike to his neck. He didn't have time to scream before she unceremoniously lopped off his head, showering both Cha Ming and herself in blood. She didn't pause to help Cha Ming after their hard-earned victory. Instead, she plunged into the nearby carnage and began dispatching the remaining devils. They weren't faring so well after the three bewitching women had been slain by Fan and their mental effects were removed.

As the battle raged on, Cha Ming kneeled and struggled to stay conscious despite the pain and the blood loss. He didn't dare remove the sword from his bleeding bicep without any assistance, so he simply endured the pain and sat cross-legged in meditation. He kept himself conscious by mumbling to himself over and over, "I need to free Huxian, and we need to save Fairweather City."

The battle was over after roughly an incense time. Only half of the original mercenaries that charged in remained, though this time, the casualties affected the weak and the strong alike. Everyone was exhausted and collapsed, popping healing pills and circulating their cultivation bases to recover. Several people were missing limbs—without any precious medicines, they would never be able to fight at the same level ever again.

Fortunately for Cha Ming, his arm was only mostly severed. After taking two minutes to recover her state of mind, Gong Lan and Fan wandered over. Fan had not been gravely injured in the battle, so he pulled out the healing pill that Zhang Yifeng had given him and handed it to Cha Ming.

Cha Ming didn't stand on ceremony and nodded to Gong Lan. She swiftly pulled out the saber lodged in his bicep, almost causing Cha Ming to pass out from the pain and immediate blood loss. He popped the pill in his mouth and continued pouring qi into his Healing Flower manifestation. After a half hour of recovery, his arm was whole and functional once more. All that remained was a thin scar where the saber had been lodged.

The aftermath of the carnage was no laughing matter. Several people had been crippled, but most of the remaining mercenaries had used spirit medicines to fully recover. Seeing that the situation was under control, Cha Ming walked over to Huxian's crystal prison to inspect it. Huxian looked at Cha Ming with a worried expression. After all, he had seen everything that had transpired. He had kept silent throughout the battle to avoid breaking Cha Ming's concentration.

As Cha Ming's hands ran over the crystal surface, he heard the voice of the red-bearded man from inside the Clear Sky world.

That's a type of stasis formation, and the one who set it was at least a foundation establishment expert. This formation should have six "formation eyes" set up inside the village. That's why the formation isn't inscribed into the ground, like the ones in the last village. Find them, then follow my instructions. A strong lock is worthless when someone has the key.

Cha Ming gave the man a mental nod, then quickly gathered Gong Lan and the four strongest remaining mercenaries. Soon enough, they found a glowing red rune in one of the shacks in the village. From what they could tell, there were no remaining rebels or devil cultivators in the village. The rest had evacuated prior to their attack, if Han Jinlong's uncle's words were to be believed.

What do I do now? Cha Ming asked the man mentally.

Paint this pattern on the floor with the Clear Sky Brush, surrounding the rune. Use earth qi, as it's the antithesis of blood and water. Cha Ming instantly became aware of a runic pattern. It wasn't like any talisman he'd painted before. It consisted of four runic symbols, joined together by geometric shapes and lines.

Is this a formation? Cha Ming asked.

Yes, dummy, it's a formation. Just paint it the same way you would a talisman. Talismans and formations come from the same source, after all.

Cha Ming followed his instruction and took out the Clear Sky Brush and a pot of liquified earth essence, absorbing some of it into the brush. He then began carefully tracing out the pattern in his mind. The process was ten times slower than if he needed to draw a talisman of the same grade. He might be great at painting runic characters, but drawing straight and circular lines was a skill that had always eluded him. After a quarter hour, the last line was drawn, and the blood-red rune suddenly sank into the floor and was absorbed into the counter rune. One formation eye down, five to go.

After two hours, Cha Ming returned to the center of the square and laid down the last counter rune, dissipating the stasis trap. Huxian jumped out while yipping, and Han Jinlong and Zhang Yifeng stood from their meditative postures. While they appeared calm on the outside, Cha Ming could sense they were boiling over with murderous intent.

"I think it's clear to everyone that their plan was to kill the weakest of us and stall the strongest of us," Han Jinlong said. "They even dared to turn the Ling brothers against us. That means that their strongest members are on their way to Fairweather now. We will take the strongest four with us and set out on flying swords immediately. Everyone else, please follow at your own pace. I only pray we'll make it there on time."

With these words, Cha Ming hopped onto Zhang Yifeng's sword, while Gong Lan jumped on Han Jinlong's sword. Two other cultivators accompanied them, and Huxian simply hitched a ride on Cha Ming's shoulders. Fortunately, the little fox was still a baby.

They left the remaining forty-odd mercenaries in Jade Spring and vanished into the night.

***

A flock of geese took flight as the sounds of crashing hooves interrupted their mid-morning bath. These were some of the first geese of spring. They migrated as soon as ponds no longer froze over in the Song Kingdom. A carriage rolled past them as they flew away to another nearby pond. It was pulled by a dozen fierce-looking horses. Their red manes were draped across large black bodies, a testament to their demonic heritage.

The carriage plowed through what most would consider obstacles in the road, like puddles and rocks. It didn't slow down in the slightest. If one looked closely, they would see that the wheels skimmed the water and shattered stones in such a way that the carriage's motion remained undisturbed.

Inside the carriage, Wang Jun and Elder Bai sat in meditation while Hong Lin and two others sifted through a large pile of documents, taking advantage of every waking moment to submerge themselves in vital information. Unlike Wang Jun and Elder Bai, these three were not cultivators. They had no natural advantage in absorbing information, making perseverance and hard work even more important.

Wang Jun slowly opened his eyes to the sight of these three hardworking individuals. He secretly praised them inwardly. He didn't require mediocre cultivators who happened to be business people; rather, he required only the best business minds. Cultivators were usually too preoccupied with meditation or fighting, not bothering themselves with what they saw as trifling activities like business and law. For a clan to survive, both supreme experts and sharp business minds were necessary.

As per his usual custom on this three-day trek, he wandered over to the front of the carriage, where the coachman Ren Wufa was seated. The middle-aged man had his eyes closed, but Wang Jun knew that he was fully aware of his surroundings. Wang Jun respectfully sat beside him and waited for him to speak.

"It seems like this latest session was very productive for you. You've improved once more, and your cultivation is at the peak of qi condensation," the man said as he opened his eyes. "When will you stop supressing your advancement and make your breakthrough?"

Wang Jun smiled and replied politely. "Protector Ren, I can't hide anything from you. I intend to break through in a few days. However, I have something very important to accomplish in the capital, and my breakthrough will have to wait until the matter is finished."

His reply prompted a snort from his protector. "I can only see your cultivation if you let me. Anyhow, what could be so important as to delay your cultivation? Strength is everything in the cultivation world."

"A few days won't matter much," Wang Jun replied. "However, the events in the next few days will affect the whole Song Kingdom. Trifling as it is, the Song Kingdom is critical to my plans. You wouldn't understand. Besides which, this task will also help a very important friend."

The man shrugged and handed a bag of holding to Wang Jun, who peeked inside before asking, "How many last night?"

"Just seven," Wufa replied casually. "Five feelers at peak qi condensation, one distraction at early foundation establishment, and an actual assassin at mid-foundation establishment. I just can't understand why you would leak your involvement in the rumors behind the princess and subsequently announce your intent to personally attend the trial. It's obvious that they would send assassins after you, but killing these small fries isn't worth giving up the element of surprise."

Wang Jun shrugged. "You're right, they aren't worth it. But the resulting chaos is worth it. I am also baiting an opponent to remain in the city for the next few days. I'm naturally not concerned about these minions while you're around."

The man sighed. "But I won't always be around…" They both sat in silence as they approached the gates of the Song Kingdom's capital, Songjing City. Their demonic horses neighed loudly as they came to a sudden halt before the city's drawbridge. The guards at the gate were not accustomed to such mounts, and they quickly made arrangements for them to enter the city, lest they provoke some unreasonable young master by delaying him.

Soon, they arrived at the Songjing Jade Bamboo Auction House. The familiar décor incorporating carefully cultivated bamboo was a sight for sore eyes for those who had been trapped in the carriage these last three days. The carriage was naturally taken care of by a group of attendants, and the six of them walked into the building.

After walking for only a few breaths, they were greeted by a squeaky voice. "Young Master Wang, welcome to the Songjing branch. Everyone and everything here is at your disposal." A five-foot-tall man in purple robes trotted hurriedly toward them and bowed slightly. Wang Jun nodded slightly in response to the bow.

"Elder Jin, you know I hate all the pomp and fanfare." Wang Jun said. "Please take us to the meeting room to review the situation. Also, I'm parched. Please arrange for snacks and tea for me and my companions. White Celadon tea is well suited to the local cuisine's flavor, am I right?"

"Of course, Young Master. We bought several limited-edition packages specifically for your arrival. If this tea was ranked second in the dynasty, no one would dare claim first," he said in a humble tone.

After a quarter hour, the tea and refreshments had been delivered to the meeting room, and everyone took a moment to relax. Everyone except Wang Jun, who reviewed the latest information at lightning speed. Their future plans would be determined by this carefully collected information.

As he reviewed the information, a smirk appeared on Wang Jun's handsome face. The smirk soon turned into a chuckle once he reached the last page.

"Elder Jin, please go ahead and send out the messenger falcon, instructing our partners outside the city to proceed as planned. Meanwhile, everyone else should review the case once more and see if they can determine any additional variables. Meanwhile… Xiao Li?"

"Yes, Young Master?" Xiao Li was one of the young attendants who had accompanied them on the journey. Besides her sharp, business-oriented mind, her looks were also top notch.

"You and I are going on a date tonight. I hear the Radiant Dynasty Pavilion's pheasant dish is to die for."