Torsten Hewson
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v5c36: A Chance
🕑 Added 2024-08-10 05:19:16 +0000 UTCYushang was the first through the door into the prison—they came to a scene of pure bedlam. There were gouges in the floor, the glow stones were cracked, and there were several panicked-looking men and women running away from the door toward a central junction.
“East Wind—that idiot! Shit!” somebody was shouting orders. “Euthanize the subjects! We can’t risk them waking up—”
That was all Yushang needed to hear as she stormed around the corner. There were a bunch of people in robes, looking shocked and distressed, but Yushang’s attention was immediately captured. Yushang’s ability to tell who was trustworthy and who would hurt her manifested in the way they looked. Good people looked good. Bad people looked bad.
The leader who was shouting was one of the worst she had ever seen.
Yushang saw two visions overlapping each other. One vision was of a middle-aged man with close-cropped blonde hair and a slightly receding hairline. He had on goggles that reflected the light, and a broad nose. He should have been nondescript.
Yet Yushang saw a monster in him. A beast. A horrific creature that had only the worst of intentions. It wafted off him like a miasma, an aura of malevolence and callous cruelty.
The smell of blood and death filled her nose, and Yushang’s pupils dilated.
She saw his head turn toward them as needles pierced one of the man’s subordinates and lightning consumed the others.
Yushand was upon him in an instant, her sword swinging from the side, only to rebound painfully as a talisman on the man’s chest flared with green light. A sudden blast of force and fire hammered into Yushang’s chest, and her Qi screamed as something foreign ripped its way into her body. It burned as it lashed her—but her own Qi attacked it, sending the invasive energy reeling.
[Tremoring Palm]
The monster’s hand burned with more green fire as he reached for Yushang’s chest—more accurately, her heart.
He clearly wasn’t expecting Yushang to simply stomp her foot down, arrest her unbalanced body, and then increase the mass of her sword by twelve times.
[Shattering Avalanche]
The Heavy Sword fell like a meteor. It hammered again into the shield of energy, and it felt like lances of fire were being driven into her arms. Yet her hands remained on her blade—and there were few things that could stop an avalanche from the Fangs.
The green bubble popped, holding for only an instant. Ascending Mountaineer cleaved the man in two, from shoulder to hip. Yushang kept her momentum, spun around, and before the man had fully realised he was in two pieces, brought the flat on her blade down on his head.
The top half of his body turned into a fine red mist.
Yushang’s chest heaved as she staggered backward, shaking her head. The invasive Qi was still echoing around her body, and she grimaced as she circulated her Qi, trying to force it out.
Ri Zu was by her side in an instant, her hands on Yushang’s shoulders. She pulled Yushang away from the corpse, her eyes narrowed. Yushang felt the familiar, welcome touch of Ri Zu’s Qi as it instantly went to work, attacking the invasive Qi and driving it out.
“You’ll be good… but no reason not to try and speed up the purge of demonic Qi,” Ri Zu stated simply. “Han?”
“On it,” the rotund man said, reaching into his pack and pulling out one of the little packets he and Ri Zu had made; they contained the formation to draw out Demonic Qi, a wire, and a small bundle of Spiritual Herbs. Her friend slapped the seal paper on Yushang’s arm, and instantly sweet relief flooded Yushang’s body. Yushang let out a breath of relief as Ri Zu and Han stood by her side.
“Let's get these doors open!” Fenxian shouted, moving deeper into the prison. One of Ri Zu’s shadowy helpers squeaked and pointed out the way. Fenxain walked past Yushang… but paused and turned to her, clapping Yushang on the shoulder. “Nice one, Sister.”
“A fine blow,” Shao Heng agreed, before stooping down to rifle through the corpses’ belongings.
Yushang nodded to them as they moved past her with Yingwen, attempting to determine the best way to open the cell doors. Yushang tried to ignore the rumbling and roars coming from outside the prison complex.
Yushang glanced at the entrance, when she noticed two of their members were missing.
Spooks had grabbed the door, pulling it back into the prison complex, while Yun Ren illusioned things so that it looked like the room was still sealed.
“It’s not going to fool anybody strong… but every little bit, eh?” Yun Ren said.
‘Every little bit!’ Spooks agreed. Yushang chuckled as Yun Ren bumped his fist against Spook’s antler. The Thunderhoof had to keep his head low, or they would gouge into the ceiling—this place had a lower roof than the other tunnels.
“You good, Yushang?” Yun Ren asked.
“You know me, your pretty sister is made out of tough material,” she responded, feeling quite a bit better already. She raised up her sword to hopefully clean some of the blood off it. Poor Ascending Mountaineer looked disgusting. She hadn't been able to control her Qi enough that her blade was kept pristine, like a true Master would have been able to accomplish.
“Don’t I know it—”
“These bastards!” Fenxian’s roar echoed through the hall, and all three of them startled. Yushang shot to her feet, curious as to what had caused the outburst.
All of them were gathered around the first open door. Shao Heng was holding a set of keys he had obviously looted off one of the corpses of the demonic cultivators. Uncle’s veins were bulging out in his forehead, and he looked like he was going to explode with fury.
Yushang glanced into the cell.
She wished she hadn’t.
A man was strung up on a rack, the flesh of his arms flayed open and what looked like spikes of black material were being implanted into his bones. It was a disgusting, horrific sight, and it made the pile in the back of Yushang’s throat rise, before she forced it down.
Ri Zu was at the man’s side, her face twisted into a scowl. She glanced up at the rest of them.
“It's bad, but not as bad as it looks. His body is doing an admirable job of fending off what they’re doing to him—and Ri Zu thinks she knows why. His Qi has very, very small amounts, nearly unnoticeable, of Bi De’s Qi. It seems the shipment of herbs made it to Shenhe’s team,” Ri Zu narrated, her eyes narrow with concentration. “But Ri Zu doesn't know if he’ll be able to fight. If Elder Shenhe is in the same state…”
The mood, already tense, got just a bit worse at that statement.
“Ri Zu must do triage. She does not know if she has enough medicinal supplies for everyone. The most capable of fighting will get the resources so they may continue fighting. Yun Ren, please go back and guard the door. Shao Heng, keep opening the cells.” Ri Zu then cocked her head to the side. “The rest with Ri Zu. She thinks she has found Elder Shenhe.”
Yushang was glad to leave and started marching down the hall again, while Yun Ren went back to the front.
The door that they eventually arrived at was bigger and obviously much more heavily reinforced than the others. Shao Heng went through all the keys one by one—but none of them worked on this door. Han frowned and tapped at it.
“It's warded, but these wards were keyed into the main one that Master Shen Yu destroyed. It's heavily damaged, but not completely destroyed…” Han paused for a moment, before trailing off. “It's a blood ward—damaged as it is, we may be able to fool it with the blood of one of the cultivators here. Otherwise… it's brute force.”
Yushang pulled out her sword… which she still hadn't cleaned off.
“Will this work?” she asked, feeling a bit sheepish.
“It’ll work enough,” Han said and started to get the door open.
=================
It had been three minutes, but it was three minutes that felt like an eternity as the mountain occasionally shook. There were explosions now, closer than ever, that made the caverns rumble.
Shao Heng had opened more cells, and there were Shrouded Mountain Sect disciples laying in neat rows in the hallway with medical seals slapped over them—but… it wasn’t looking good. All of them were poisoned and had massive scars from invasive surgeries.
The only bright spot was that Bi De’s Qi had suddenly surged, filling the room—and the Qi of this “East Wind” had faltered—before disappearing. Yushang allowed herself a smile at his victory.
“Got it!” Han suddenly shouted as the door shuddered and groaned.
If the first cell was bad, then this one was much, much worse.
Elder Shenhe, for that was only whom it could be, was staked to the floor. She was bound by titanic chains. Needles were stabbed all over her body, dripping poisons into her from foul-smelling reservoirs. She was covered in seals.
It was a gruesome sight, and one that made Yushang’s heart fall further.
Several roars sounded from nearby. They were close.
Ri Zu touched the woman and recoiled before pressing her hands fully to the Elder.
Three heartbeats passed.
“We have a chance,” Ri Zu stated.
The tension broke as Yingwen and Fenxian both grinned.
The roars sounded closer.
“Uh, guys?” Yun Ren shouted back down the hall. “We’re going to have some company soon, I think!”
Everybody turned back for the door.
“Either Fenxian or Yingwen should stay, so she has a friendly face and familiar Qi nearby,” Ri Zu advised. “Han, keep working on the Shrouded Mountain Sect disciples.”
“I shall stay,” Yinwen said. “Better to not have a weak link in the frontline.”
“We’ll hold for as long as you need,” Fenxian said. “Don’t let us down, Miss Ri Zu.”
Yushang nodded. They just had to hold.
She had once last glimpse of Ri Zu and Yingwen pulling off seals and pulling out needles before she marched into the hallway.
A chance. That was it.
But it had to be enough.
==============
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Well. I didn't have "Emergency well pump repairs" on my bingo card today, but that was what happened. Honestly it wasn't too bad replacing it, just took a while. One more chapter for this week.
Edited by: BargleNawdleZouss, Massgamer,
Comments
D J Meigs
I’m hoping Nezan has a good armor of plot. His departure felt so much like raising flag and we know Mei Mei’s relative has a longer role to play, I haven’t been able to shake off the concern, and knowing Bi De won his fight makes it worse somehow.
Trevor Mergen
Thanks!
Angel
Interesting perspective. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed each chapter since then. I went back and looked at the chapters after reading your comment to see if I was missing something due to the pacing of days between chapters, but personally feel this is all going to flow beautifully once we can go back and read the whole arc all at once. Maybe you’ll find your missing something soon. ☺️
Aune
Can't shake the feeling of something missing since the build up to "v5c32: Like Ants to an Elephant", and it's abrupt cut off . like, the rest are fillers with no substance in comparison.
Ibuks5
Ri Zu speaking in first person shows that it's about to go down
Angel
My heart was pounding in the first paragraph!! You sure know how to build the tension, then deliver on it big time! A few little editing things to tighten up, but I’m sure you’ll get those before it goes to publishing. Can’t wait for the next chapter, and thank you for publishing it even with your well going out, that’s crazy!
Angel
Not to mention everything she learned as a disciple of the Shrouded Mountain! She’s got quite the repertoire now and I love it! She’ll have so much to teach her master when she gets home. 😃
Sean Ulrich
Also… Rip… and tear… until it is done
WolfKnight22
Do not go gently into that good night. Old age should burn and rave at the close of day. Rage Rage against the dying of the light. I say show these demonic cultivators the meaning of fear and destruction
umbrellaes
I hope Bi De destroyed his cultivation but not him. He is a victim of demons too 😢
Truedragon5374
My Door and Lock are impenetrable! Yeah, but your hinges and door frame aren't. 😀
WyrdWizard
You right I did that wrong
Rakkis157
It wasn't that quick. The battle was something like 5 minutes or so.
Abhimanyu Susobhanan
I think East Wind being defeated may be an intentional mislead. It's too easy.
Rakkis157
Glimpse is also correct
Just A Dude
Very common trend amongst the troops that liberated the camps... and when things DID get reported they were brushed off by the tribunals at the slightest excuse of a reason. It was probably the most extensive example of "Fuck 'em, they're Nazis," in history.
Just A Dude
Look at the timeline. They came up with it independently.
Aki_Iokua18
Yeah, that sounds about right.
Aki_Iokua18
Minor correction; East Wind was not a higher “realm” but a higher “stage” of the same realm as Bi De. Given Bi De’s advantages (Protagonist Power, his techniques being super effective, his enemy being strong but unskilled) it’s not too surprising that he’d be able to bridge the gap between stages.
John Berry
This is awsome
Laura H
I hope your grandfather was able to deal with the hideous things he found in that camp, Truedraagon. Bless him for rescuing those poor people from the horrorsthey were undergoing!
Gray Code
Heck, if i'm reading correctly, the guy Yushang just splorped is Shou Tsetung, the _replacment_ Head Spiritual Doctor of the Heavenly Demon Base. The previous head is presumably still alive (though in a coma because an insufficiently suppressed Shenhe nearly tore his head off.) If Doctor Lan is still in the base, he's probably a high priority on the evac swords. If he's not...
Rake1810
Very good chapter, felt short but no complains from me
Lola
That’s not good. All of them have got to take a dirt nap. Need to erase all traces of what ever formations and formulations they used too, to prevent reverse engineering. It would be nice if they could capture all the artificial demons, as well, but making sure they have no trace of the project left is more important. If the experiments cannot cooperate, they need to die.
Randall Norman Pick
Wuxia style biometric bypass, you love to see it
Old Dog
Bi De would probably disagree.
Old Dog
As always, thank you for the chapter. Before the next chapter, anyone have any thoughts on the "10 poison resistance herb" that Mei and Jin got as a wedding present? CF: 3 rules of the demon Murphy: Nothing is as easy as it looks; everything takes longer than expected; If anything can go wrong, it will at the worst possible moment. Glad to hear you got the pump replaced "easily".
WarStrider72
Huh East Wind went down so fast and easily.... even being a realm above Bi De
Beggar of Freedom
Divines bless your kind heart!
Duke of Coffee
....... disgusting, they are truly courting death now they are caught.
WyrdWizard
She had once last glimpse of Ri Zu -> one last glance
Gray Code
The Heavenly Demonic Sect noncombatants have someplace to evacuate _to,_ and Yulong's last stage contingency is to bring the base down. I'd probably assume that they've got backups of the research at wherever they're headed, and they should be leaving in about five minutes... assuming that the evacuation swords still work.
Lola
Now that they’ve killed the scientists, they need to make sure they collect or destroy all of the research documents. Nothing can be left behind. Can’t afford to make it easy for them to restart this disgusting practice. Hope they killed every one of those worthless … staff members. Ugh, my head is filled with all the swears! I wish there was a way to make them experience the same suffering they forced on others, but I’d rather they be dead and not a problem than to risk one of them escaping. They should probably burn the bodies or dissolve them in acid or something to make sure nothing of them can be revived. Pays to be paranoid in these xianxia stories….
Justin
Thanks for the chapter. It's been a great arc and flows well with all of the prep put into it, lots of twist and turns!
Gray Code
Also, since they've been out of contact for months, Ri Z, and Han came up with the self-contained extraction packages independently of CSS Elder Yukong's idea in V4C11/The Senior Disciple.
Truedragon5374
In WW2 my grandfather was a lieutenant. He and his men found one of the "smaller" concentration camps. Not just a deathcamp prison, but one where they did medical experiments on the prisoners. Like removing organs to so how long they would live or seeing how much electricity it would take to kill them. Grandad very carefully DID NOT witness what his men did to those nazi "doctors". I think most of them ended up in the same place they threw the dead prisoners. There is true evil in the world, and it is best removed like the cancer it is.
linkhyrule5
Glad to see that instant Qi purification patch/seal that CSS made is already coming in handy :3
linkhyrule5
Honestly, I figure the sword disintegrated first... and then, with nothing to block Bi De's current ultimate technique, the rest of East Wind followed.
Nicholas Grey
Yushand was upon him in an instant, her sword swinging from the side -> Yushang
Kasinki
Take care man! Thank you for the chapter.
Angela Roberts
Totally suck situation with a bit of hope. Eesh!! Truly hope Ri Zu can work fast and that the rest can hold on. I'm on tenterhooks!
Silvris
Well, this is a bad situation for them. At least they managed to get to most of them in time to help...
Laura H
Tftc, although thinking about the gruesome things the demons and their minions are doing to those poor Shrouded Mountain folks is tough! It's a good thing that Ri Zu is able to directly counter and remove the demonic qi. All her work initially with Bi De in ppurifying the nasty qi he got from Chow Ji, followed by all her training from Meimei -- and all the herbs! -- has her in a better position as a battlefield medic than almost anyone else in the whole Crimson Phoenix Empire, it sounds like; if anyone can get the SMS people back on their feet, it's her!
Kreylix
Cool chapter!
Nemoboi
Great chapter ^^ I assume pile -> bile for Yushang's onset of nausea
Aki_Iokua18
Okay, guess I read it wrong last chapter. East Wind IS dust on the wind apparently. Shows me not to underestimate Protagonist Power I suppose. Hope Shenhe’ll be able to recover enough to help. Our guys need someone who can punch higher than they can atm.
Matsc
Oof, battlefield triage, THAT'S gonna leave some scars...
martin m
A chance is all they need. TYFTC.
Sean Ulrich
I like the thought of her having some form of synesthesia. Micro expressions and demeanor translating into different “looks”. Probably enhanced because cultivation.
BargleNawdleZouss
Combat medic FTW!
Austin
Thanks for the chapter!
