The Tale Never Ends

The monsters were nearly so close to bludgeoning Shang Pei when his voice thundered like a blasting trumpet across a battlefield. But before they could even graze his overcoat, they fell facefirst into the ground like blocks of ice, smashing into the ground with a crunch before they broke into pieces.

I looked more closely, my eyes narrowing into a slit as I struggle to see in the night. The rain was falling like a shower of needles and bolts from the sky, hammering into the assailing horde of black-haired jiangshis, bringing them down while pummeling them into pulps of flesh and meat.

The leader of the pack, the huge monster, gave a roar of defiance and fury. A lightning bolt in the distance illuminated the night sky that I almost thought it was morning for a transitory second. But as swiftly as it came, the lightning bolt disappeared just as quickly and darkness pervaded again the sky overhead us. But before the dark of the night devoured the last sliver of light, I saw thousands of shadowy, little silhouettes rise up from the ground and flew like bees towards the huge monster!

What came after the brief deluge of light, was the unstoppable tide of darkness. For a few seconds, I could see nothing at all as the blackness closed in on me like a staggering weight; the light earlier was too bright that I needed more time to get used to the darkness.

The first thing I saw when my eyes grew accustomed to the absence of light was the many broken limbs, severed torsos and all other parts of the mutilated jiangshis fusing into the body of their leader, the hulking monster. They melted into him, becoming one with it and its length and girth slowly grew as more thick hair began to sprout and grow from every inch of it. The more it grew, the lesser it looked like a man, looking more and more like a wolf-man or a werewolf by the second, although the burgeoning foul aura and the stench of decaying flesh told me otherwise!

A series of explosions that echoed off the walls of darkness around us followed after another guttural thunder from the giant monster and a huge wave of foul aura rippled across the empty, weed-sprinkled field! An aura so thick and full but yet so evil! I felt my hands quivering. This accursed thing had absorbed its own kind to bolster its strength! It is no longer any ordinary undead, but the strongest of their kind, a Wretched Ghoul!

The last of the explosions reverberated into the night and rain fell like a pouring sheet of water over us. I looked back at the Triune. The huge saber propped against his shoulders suddenly began to grow in length and change in shape!

Growing rapidly before my eyes, the saber morphed and changed within seconds into a long polearm, a long guandao that shone with a cold fury that would have made any foe shudder. He flung his limp, wet hair back over his shoulder and his face turned to stone, his eyes flashing with an unmistakable fit of anger and hatred.

By now, I fully understood it. Shang Pei’s magic must be related to the Element of Water and the rain could not have come at a more better time; a Heaven-sent boon for his magic that greatly augmented his powers, thus allowing him to shape matter out of water and ice. And the guandao he now wielded must be it.

But how would he fare against a Wretched Ghoul? I wondered. How would his cold magic manage against a fiendish monstrosity of the foulest and most dark?

Like a prelude to the impending showdown I was expecting to witness, Shang Pei let loose an ear-splitting roar and the Ghoul responded with a thunderous shriek of its own!

With his foot firmly planted into the ground, Shang Pei pivoted and swung his weapon with all his might and weight! But the Ghoul emitted a long and rasping growl, vanishing instantly in the puff of vapor like a magician’s trick!

A pair of startled yelps escaped the throats of Old Man Chen and Xie Bingyi. But Shang Pei was clearly faster than them; his hands rose and he made a hand seal over his forehead. The air screamed as if a thousand arrows were whistling through the air and the rain fell like an endless barrage of icicles that bombarded the ground mercilessly. Then came a deep thud and something black and large crashed to the ground behind Shang Pei. It was the hulking Wretched Ghoul!

Its back was slick from the rain of water and ice, but the hairs of the monster stood on their ends like a porcupine’s quills. It stood up, lumbering over Shang Pei, its eyes flashing dangerously with anger and malice. Shang Pei swiveled on his heels, whirling around and swinging his long guandao at the monster behind it. But it evaded with hardly any effort and a short but hideous chuckle.

Xie Bingyi, who had remained with Old Man Chen, extracted a yellow talismanic strip warily just as the monolithic fiend evaded Shang Pei’s attack and drew closer towards them. He held it tightly between his fingers when the monster leaped near and tossed it at the Ghoul when it came within range. The yellow strip of paper stuck to the fur on the back of the monster and Xie Bingyi began his crooning chant and the talismanic paper erupted into flames and the same brilliant glow burst forth again. Only this time, the concentrated aura of Yang energies did not swirl around the conjurer of the spell Xie Bingyi but instead around the body of the Ghoul!

Pure Yang energies enveloped the Ghoul; it squealed and howled in pain, frantically clawing at its back but the white glow in its back burned with the scorch of the fires of Hell, roasting it alive as its flesh sizzled and seethed! Seeing his chance, Shang Pei delivered another stroke with his weapon, slashing down fiercely at the monster’s head! The rain of water and ice answered the summons of Shang Pei, shelling at the monster from all directions, painting a strange and surrealistic scene as I watched from a distance.

A sonorous hum groaned to life and vapor began pouring from the blob of white glow still melting the flesh of the monster now squirming at the excruciating pain! The volleys of ice and water spikes reduced the strength of the talisman’s magic as the Yang energies began to dwindle; Shang Pei’s magic was dwarfing over Xie Bingyi’s talisman and it began to fail before it too, was shredded into pieces like the rest of the monster’s body, leaving only an unrecognizable mash of bones and flesh with hardly any furs left. Much of the monster’s hairs have been reduced to ashes by the white flames of Xie Bingyi’s magic.

The Triune heaved a breath of relief and the guandao in Shang Pei’s grasp began to dissolve into streams of water that ran down the weapon until nothing was left. The weapon, first a saber before turning into a guandao, was completely formed from ice; a fitting testament to Shang Pei’s masterful grasp of ice manipulation sorcery!

Xie Bingyi nodded approvingly as a smile curled on his lips. Then he kicked lightly at the Seer who was lying facefirst on the ground. “Get up, come on! Stop trying to pretend you’re dead!” Old Man Chen turned and chuckled playfully then he got up. He was barely firm on his feet when he saw another dark shadow racing towards them from the backs of his companions! I saw it too; an ominous and shadowy silhouette, closing in swiftly towards Old Man Xie and Shang Pei under the cover of the pattering raindrops!

“Goddammit!” The Seer spat suddenly and he reached his arms forward to push his comrades aside like a set of doors. The desperate shove threw both Xie Bingyi and Shang Pei off-balanced and the former hissed angrily, “WHAT THE HELL!? WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU…” Before Xie Bingyi could finish, a gigantic paw that resembled a bear’s forearm smote at Old Man Chen’s chest from the space between his two companions!

The Seer braced himself for the blow only to hear a loud boom! The unknown monster which had attacked was sent flying for meters away before crashing into the ground.

But the me watching from the sidelines saw everything: just when he was being pushed aside to safety, Shang Pei had realized what was happening! He twisted while struggling to regain his balance, channeling his powers to his fists that they glowed brightly in beryl green and he delivered a forceful punch into the face of whatever it was that nearly struck Old Man Chen!

But just when Shang Pei’s fist hammered into the face of the monster with a dull boom, what came along was the pronounced nasty crunch from the very same hand that struck the blow! Shang Pei’s vociferous howl of anguish! Xie Bingyi scrambled from the ground and clutched at Shang Pei’s injured hand. That punch earlier must have fractured his wristbone and damaged his tendons! The voodoo healer examined briefly the hand still quivering from the throbbing pain before he yanked a talismanic strip and wrapped it gently around the hand. With his hymnic invocation, the talisman shone with a gentle luminescence that was gradually absorbed by the hand.

The glow ebbed gently as if being injected into Shang Pei’s hands, but he was unable to suppress a yell of pain as if he had gone mad!

The evil voice cackled again derisively, only this time it sounded mildly subdued. “I see. You do have a few tricks hidden up your sleeves!” We turned to look at the monster Shang Pei had just sent flying. It was the very same massive Wretched Ghoul that he had just defeated before! But I understood how. It had survived the onslaught later by using one of the many lesser jiangshis it had absorbed as a decoy while it escaped certain death!

But now that Shang Pei has lost the use of one of his hands, the Triune possessed neither the power nor means to defeat this abomination. My heart raced quickly. Then a sudden thought rose in me, Does this mean I have to intervene here as well?! But my powers are no better than even the Xie Bingyi now! What can I do?

But there was hardly any time to think. The Ghoul leaped into the air, lunging for the Triune with the ferocity of a stampede. I quickly muttered the incantation for controlling my sword. But I was not even halfway when the air screamed a sharp, piercing whistle and something drove through the Ghoul’s head like a powerful lance!