The Tale Never Ends

I watched with shock and awe at Shang Pei’s display of his prowess. So this is Shang Pei’s magic… He possessed the magic of the manipulation of temperature. One, through the optics of my Spirit Sight I saw, which he wielded with terrifying finesse. Zhu Mei had told me before about this; that Shang Pei’s magic was of the Yin and the coldest element, and what I just saw affirmed to this.

Shang Pei dusted off the crumbs of frost from his hand and turned back, grinning at Xie Bingyi and Old Man Chen, who stared back at him uneasily. But Shang Pei made no attempt to explain, merely smiling at Old Man Chen.

It took almost a few heartbeats before Old Man Chen could recover from his bewilderment; he took the cue from Shang Pei, his hand inched up slowly and he calculated again, working on his magic to divine the position of the enemy. Within seconds, he jabbed a finger towards the north-eastern corner of the factory. “There, the north-eastern face of the factory.” Shang Pei nodded and led the way towards the wall of the compound. He lifted a foot and stomped hard at the wall, smashing a large hole that allowed them to enter the enclosure. Xie Bingyi and Old Man Chen traded a quick look before they follow Shang Pei through the hole into the fertilizer factory.

I trailed after the Triune, bending down as I passed through the wall and I looked back. I gulped hard and felt my heart drumming loudly. The shattered remains of the monster had vanished! I frantically scanned the site of the battle earlier. Even the hideous pulp of flesh of the corpse that Old Man Chen had destroyed was also missing! Dread and trepidation swelled in me and the foreboding that trouble could be waiting for the Triune sent a shudder through me.

The north-eastern corner of the factory was nothing but a weed-infested field with rows of little sheds or storehouses which I believed was used for goods storage. But they were empty now; looking more like barns now left in the lurch. Old Man Chen paced carefully, his face now slowly changing as his fingers never moving as he worked his divination. By the time we arrived at our target, he was already as pale as milk. “W-we… We’re tricked…” He blubbered weakly. But before any of his companions could demand an explanation, the thin, screeching voice from earlier came again from the dark, “Heh heh heh! Too late, I’m afraid!”

A peal of scuffing accompanied the cackling laughter and more than a dozen mounds began to swell from the ground like the goose pimples oozing on my skin. They grow like balloons and burst suddenly with a rush of bangs, revealing what was growing within: hands. Hairy limbs of revived corpses! Xie Bingyi realized things were going amiss and he took out another bundle of yellow talismanic papers from his case and toss them skillfully at the writhing hands now struggling to crack out of the ground.

Balls of flames burst into life as soon as the papers glanced off the twisting arms of the undead, lighting up the darkness around them. But the fireballs were but a short-lived spectacle with hardly any effect on the monsters; they finished burning in seconds, the yellow talismanic strips reduced to ashen cinders but the undead was still grappling against the earth’s hold of them to get out of their holes as if they had been impervious to the flames. The raspy croaks of the undead filled the darkness as I recognized what these fiends were: Jiangshis. Jiangshis with hairs, which made them all the more worst! The jiangshis slowly freed themselves, clambering up at last one by one. But unlike the others I had seen before, these monsters were clothed in attire from different times and dynasties.

Xie Bingyi had seen enough to understand that his fire magic was of no use. He stopped flinging his talismans into the air and turned to face Shang Pei, his eyes imploring for help. The half-immortal chuckled. “Just a bunch of grave-diggers! And here was I, thinking that this Cult of the Damned could throw something more terrifying at us!” But it did little to dent the confidence and disdain in the disembodied voice. It cackled again, sneering viciously, “Cult or grave-diggers, we do not concern ourselves to what you think of us. The living does not concern itself with the opinions of the dead, which you will all be joining! Once we’ve dealt with you lot, we’ll continue amassing more cadavers. By the time we’ve finished, not even the great Murong Hai will be able to do anything against us!”

“And what makes you think Brother Hai would even want to trouble himself with the likes of you?” Shang Pei scoffed with a trailing guffaw. “I know what you’re up to. But let it be known that the Dragon-slaying Blade is not something that filth like you are worthy of!” The hairy jiangshis pounced at them just as soon as Shang Pei finished, their hollow screeches echoing the martial defiance of their conjurers, the Cultists of the Damned. But relaxed and laid-back as usual, Shang Pei reached to his back and grabbed at the air. A large, menacing saber appeared out of thin air and Shang Pei’s fingers closed in on its handle. With just a spattering few swishes of his saber, he easily dismembered the jiangshis into mere chunks of rotting meat on the ground.

I exhaled heavily. There must be more than what Shang Pei was willing to let on about the Blade. More secrets that he had elected to keep from me. For an odd moment, I became uninterested in how Shang Pei would defeat the jiangshis, for I was more concerned with what he just bellowed about the Blade.

A loud cry of “Careful!” from Xie Bingyi jerked me back from my stupor. A still-living jiangshi, who was bisected waist down, was scampering at Shang Pei from behind on its two arms like a little wolf! And Shang Pei was too busy dealing with the others at his front to look back! Just before it sank its teeth into Shang Pei, Old Man Chen appeared out of nowhere and slammed a shoulder into the upper torso of the jiangshi, sending it careening away. I looked again. Old Man Chen had his luopan attached to his shoulder when he knocked the jiangshi aside!

Peachwood struck by lightning are a substance which wards off all that is evil and foul. As one of the foulest of the undead, the collision was met with a painful groan from the monster as it staggered away. The spot where it was struck with the luopan sizzled and smoldered with fumes rising in lazy rivulets. But Old Man Chen was also on the ground himself, vomiting frothy spittles of blood. The impact has left him wounded and the Seer cursed out loud, “Goddammit! What is it?! A mountain?!” But it was hardly a surprise to me; my past experiences have shown me enough how impregnable was the tough skin of a jiangshi with hair. Old Man Chen was not only not known to be strong and sturdy, but he also depended too strongly on tools and instruments when dealing with foul beings in the absence of innate magic or powers of his own. It was small wonder that he was easily wounded.

Xie Bingyi and Shang Pei hurried to check on the fallen Seer. Xie Bingyi checked his pulse and muttered, “He’s all right. Just some internal injuries from the blow.” He dug for some more talismanic strips and laid some on his chest before he sang an incantation again.

As a firm believer of chivalry, Shang Pei had only the deepest regret and respect for Old Man Chen’s valiant attempt to save him and the strongest fury and loathing for the repulsive disembodied voice. He swung his blade and thrust a finger at the hunks of dismembered corpses strewn on the ground around him, bellowing at the top of his voice, “SHOW YOURSELF!”

Whoever was that or whatever was that, the master of the voice had never once shown itself thus far. The same voice, with its unmistakably despicable cackle, came from the throats of every undead we had encountered so far. I needed no magic or sorcery to conclude that whoever it was, he was speaking through the undead minions he controlled whilst remaining hidden himself.

“Heh heh heh heh heh! I am here!” The shrill voice howled again, this time from the mouth of another jiangshi from another corner. Shang Pei lunged forward at it, bringing down his saber hard and sending a green magic bolt in the crescent shape of a scythe that smashed the jiangshi into smithereens.

“Heh heh heh heh! Wrong! Here I am!” The voice tooted again like a dagger through the air. Shang Pei, with his eyes bloodshot with rage, sent another magic blow in its direction. Another jiangshi fell into pieces. Still, the voice came again and again, each time from a different jiangshi or corpse.

Old Man Chen yanked at the right foot of Shang Pei pants before he could unleash another blow. The latter looked down at his friend who was still lying on the ground and saw the Seer motioning imperceptibly towards the storehouses in the empty field. Shang Pei quickly caught his gist and hacked towards the direction he was pointed to!

The magic bolt darted furiously towards its mark. A dark shadow flitted out of the storehouses just moments before the magic blow pulverized the structures, but Shang Pei was already in the air, waiting for it! He howled with glee, and brought his blade down hard on his quarry! But the dark figure gave a feral howl and mauled at Shang Pei with the force and speed far greater than Shang Pei’s!

A dull bang followed as the huge, stubbly claw met the blade of Shang Pei’s saber and the force propelled Shang Pei away, sending him crashing into the ground! Shang Pei had barely been able to defend himself by parrying the monster’s retaliation or he would have been gravely injured.

The dark hulking silhouette landed on the ground. Under the dim moonlight, we saw that it was the same huge undead that Shang Pei had destroyed with his frost magic outside the factory earlier! Only this time, it looked neither damaged nor hurt, with the same ominous voice cackling smugly, “Heh heh heh heh… Often times I have heard praises lauding the demonic powers of the great Shang Pei, the Third of the Six Terrors of the Frontier. But you turned out only a huge disappointment!” Shang Pei scowled venomously at the remark, saying nothing. It was news to me nevertheless. I only knew Shang Pei now possessed the high magic of immortals and demigods. It was the first time I heard that he was once famed for his prowess in demonic magic, although he must have forsaken them all after achieving the divinity of a near-immortal.

Shang Pei rested his blade on his shoulder, staring viciously at the monster who went on again in a voice both conceited and revolting, “You mentioned earlier that beings like me are unworthy to touch the Blade, did you not, Shang Pei? What about now, hmm?!” A growl formed in its abyssal mouth and it roared! Heeding the call of the wild, the dismembered limbs of the fallen undead jerked and twitched. Then they moved. They scurried on the ground like mice, limbs attaching to torsos, calfs attaching back to thighs. Before long, the fallen undead were fallen no more as they rose again, ready for another fight with the Triune as they surrounded them in a ring of countless jiangshis!

There was no knowing if what came next was the providence of Heaven or the fluctuation of the weather following the great earthquake. Drops of rain began showering down on the weed-strewn field and they were cold as they pelted at the skins of the Triune and slowly drenched their clothes. The monster emitted another deafening snarl, and the jiangshis in thick hairs and fur lunged at the heroes!

But Shang Pei bellowed triumphantly in laughter, “Divine intervention, it is!”