In the blood-soaked courtyards of Qianyuan City, some monsters don't stay dead. But Jiang Dao has a method for everything.
"Sever!" the woman in white shrieked, her eyes now twin pits of obsidian. She'd just sent Jiang Dao flying with a palm strike, but she wasn't finished. With her cry, dozens of shadowy tendrils materialized in the air, whipping through space like incorporeal chains. They swarmed him, wrapping around his tumbling body with the unforgiving tightness of steel wire.
The tendrils bit deep. Even with his body fortified by the Iron Shirt and Golden Bell techniques, his skin split, weeping blood. Jiang Dao let out a primal roar. He threw caution to the wind, flooding his body with the full, unbridled force of 240 years of cultivated inner energy. The power surged through every vein and muscle fiber, amplifying his strength to an explosive new level. It was so potent it seeped from his pores, cloaking him in a shimmering, paper-thin shield of pure energy.
The shield held. With a seismic shudder, Jiang Dao flexed, and the black net of shadow-stuff shattered into nothingness.
The moment he was free, the woman was on him again. She moved in a blur of white fury, a living phantom. He couldn't track her, couldn't predict her. For a few desperate seconds, all he could do was fall back, letting the thin film of his Health Preservation Art absorb the storm of her attacks while he searched for an opening. His inner energy, his life force, was draining like a ruptured dam.
Suddenly, she lunged, her hand a claw aimed for his heart. Her nails, hard as daggers, tore through his energy shield and sliced into the muscle of his back. She was digging for his heart, but his body had other plans. In an instant, his back muscles clamped down like a vice of living steel, trapping her hand.
"Got you," Jiang Dao growled, his voice a low tremor of promised violence. He spun, his own hand lashing out like a raptor's talon.
Splat. He seized her by the forehead. She let out a piercing wail, trying to wrench her arm free, but his flesh was impossibly dense. As her struggle grew frantic, Jiang Dao's fingers tightened, unleashing the full, crushing power of his Eagle Claw skill.
CRACK.
A sickening sound echoed as her skull caved in. Green smoke hissed from the wound. Her eyes, filled with pure venom, locked onto him as her free hand clawed for his chest. But he had her now. One hand was an anchor in her skull; the other, glowing with the volatile energy of the Wind Thunder Poisonous Sand Palm, began a relentless assault on her torso.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Not every strike carried the signature thunder-flame of the technique, but each one landed with the force of a battering ram. They were two primordial beasts locked in a death dance. Finally, with a sickening tear of flesh, she ripped her hand free from his back and was thrown across the courtyard.
Jiang Dao staggered, slick with his own blood, his eyes two chips of ice. The woman was a wreck. Her body was riddled with holes leaking black, viscous blood that sizzled where it touched the ground, the wounds refusing to heal. She swayed on her feet, one eye burst, her face a twisted, melting mask of wax and hatred.
"You're… not human," she hissed.
A terrible, booming laugh erupted from Jiang Dao's chest. "You were going to kill me? Eat me?" he mocked, his monstrous muscles flexing. "With this pathetic amount of power, you're not even worthy of licking my boots!"
The words were poison, and he knew it. He had to keep her here. Her speed was supernatural; even wounded, she could vanish if she chose. He had to bait her, to make her rage override her instinct.
It worked. Her face contorted further, the single remaining eye glowing with a feral red light. With a final, soul-splitting scream, she launched herself at him.
"Saber!" Jiang Dao's roar shook the very stones of the courtyard.
Guo Dutian, one of his lieutenants, reacted in a heartbeat, flinging a heavy steel saber through the air. The woman's attention snapped to the blade. She changed direction mid-air, a streak of white lightning closing in on the weapon. But it was a feint. Just as her fingers brushed the steel, Jiang Dao was behind her, a monolith of silent, terrifying power. He clapped his massive hands on either side of her head like he was swatting a fly.
BOOM!
The impact was catastrophic. Blood erupted from her eyes, ears, and mouth. The saber clattered to the ground, forgotten. Before she could fall, Jiang Dao grabbed a fistful of her long hair with one hand and the saber with the other. Every muscle and vein in his body stood out in sharp relief as he channeled every ounce of his remaining strength into the blade.
"God-Slaying Single Slash!" he bellowed.
The saber hummed, cloaked in an eerie, shimmering energy. It sliced through the air, seeming to bend space itself as it swung toward her neck. The blade met a resistance like thick, stubborn leather, but it cut through. For the second time that night, Jiang Dao severed her head from her body, yanking it free with a brutal tug.
He kicked the headless corpse away. It twitched for a moment, then lay still in a spreading pool of black blood. But Jiang Dao didn't relax. His eyes were fixed on the head still clutched in his hand. He'd seen her regenerate from this very injury before. He wasn't making that mistake again.
"Playing dead?" he snarled. "I don't care if you're dead or faking. You're not coming back from this." He turned to Guo Dutian. "Get a cauldron. Fill it with oil and set it over the fiercest fire you can build. I want it boiling."
"Yes, Hall Master!" his men stammered, their faces pale with awe and horror.
Soon, a massive fire roared in the courtyard, the air shimmering with heat from the cauldron of bubbling oil. Jiang Dao held his head up, a cruel smile twisting his lips. "Let's see you regenerate after a hot oil bath."
As if in response, the woman's eyes snapped open. A scream tore from her lips, but it was too late. Jiang Dao tossed the head into the cauldron.
Splash.
The screams that followed were inhuman, a symphony of agony that curdled the blood. The head thrashed in the boiling oil, the skin blistering and crisping to a golden brown. After a minute that stretched into an eternity, the screaming stopped. There was only the sound of the crackling fire and the bubbling oil.
They let it burn all night. Jiang Dao stood watch, a silent, blood-caked sentinel.
Only when the first rays of dawn painted the sky did his strength finally give out. He collapsed, his body screaming in protest, a deathly chill seeping into his bones despite the fire.
"Hall Master!" Guo Dutian and the others rushed to his side.
"Check the pot," Jiang Dao rasped, his voice raw. "See if she's really dead."
Steeling themselves, a few of his men used long nets to dredge the bottom of the cauldron. They pulled up nothing but a handful of charred, brittle bone fragments, unrecognizable and smelling faintly of scorched meat.
"It's just… fragments, Hall Master," Du Feng reported, his voice shaky.
A cold smile touched Jiang Dao's lips. "Grind them to dust. Feed them to the dogs," he commanded. "Do the same with the body. I don't want a single cell of that thing left in this world."
As his men scrambled to obey, their fear and reverence for him solidifying into something permanent and unshakeable, Jiang Dao slowly pushed himself to his feet. "Send a rider to headquarters," he said, his voice regaining its strength. "Report that the Flying Eagle Hall was targeted by a vengeful spirit. Report that our casualties were heavy. Tell the Gang Leader we need reinforcements."
Nearby, hidden behind a veranda pillar, a little girl of seven or eight watched him. She hadn't slept, had seen everything. The night's horrors had carved themselves into her young mind. She couldn't comprehend how any man could face such a creature and win.
Jiang Dao's head turned, his gaze locking onto her. He walked over, his heavy footsteps echoing in the quiet morning. "You watched all night," he said, his voice low. "You're not afraid?"
The girl just bowed her head, silent.
He studied her for a long moment before turning away without another word. Only when he was gone did she look up, her expression lost and unreadable.
…
By sunrise, all of Qianyuan City was buzzing. The underworld was in an uproar. Five Spirit Children had descended on the city last night. Jiang Dao had dealt with two; the city's other masters had managed to eliminate the other three. But not before over five hundred members of the martial world were slaughtered.
At the Raging Flame Gang headquarters, the news landed like a physical blow.
"So this was retaliation?" Gang Leader Fang Tianba asked, his voice grave.
"The Hall Master said he killed a spirit in Greenstone Town," Guo Dutian reported. "This was their revenge."
The hall was thick with a tense, oppressive silence.
"Go back," Fang Tianba finally said. "Tell Jiang Dao to recruit whomever he needs to fill his ranks."
After Guo Dutian left, the Left Protector spoke, his eyes narrowed to slits. "Gang Leader… those things last night. They were from the Spirit Child Palace, weren't they?"
A chill went through the room. Spirit Child Palace. The name was a curse, a nightmare. They could handle common spirits, but the Spirit Child Palace was an organization of non-human entities, a force of nature that could wipe their entire gang from the map without breaking a sweat.
"What are your thoughts?" Fang Tianba asked the room at large.
"Gang Leader," one of the hall masters began, sweating, "Jiang Dao has brought the wrath of the Spirit Child Palace upon us. Perhaps… perhaps we should hand him over. Appease them. If they decide to truly retaliate…"
"Hand him over?" Fang Tianba's gaze was unreadable. "And you think that will save us? The Spirit Child Palace is known for its vengeance. They don't leave survivors."
"With all due respect, Gang Leader," the Left Protector cut in smoothly, "if we hand him over, we have a slim chance of survival. If we don't, we have none."
"I agree," another chimed in. "I second the motion." One by one, they voiced their assent. Fear was a powerful motivator.
Only the Right Protector offered a different view. "Gang Leader, perhaps we are not yet at the brink. My sources say the Spirit Child Palace has its own troubles. They've acquired some great treasure and are now being hounded by other, equally powerful factions. If they had the resources for a full-scale revenge, they wouldn't have sent a mere five spirits."
"So we just wait and pray?" the Left Protector scoffed.
"We don't abandon our own," the Right Protector countered calmly. "Jiang Dao brought this trouble upon himself while acting in the gang's interest. To betray him now would be a poison to our morale."
"Then he should be a good man to the end," a supporter of the Left Protector sneered. "If he truly cares for the gang, he should make the ultimate sacrifice."
"Enough," Fang Tianba's voice cut through the bickering. He turned to a silent old man. "Vice Gang Leader, your opinion?"
The old man started, as if waking from a nap. "Ah? Me? I have no opinion. The Gang Leader's wisdom is supreme!"
A muscle twitched in Fang Tianba's jaw. "Dismissed," he sighed.
Later, in the privacy of the back gardens, the Right Protector found him staring into a koi pond. "Are you really considering it?" he asked. "Giving up Jiang Dao?"
"What choice do we have?" Fang Tianba said, his voice weary. "The Spirit Child Palace… to them, we are less than insects."
"It's a gamble that could backfire," the Right Protector insisted. "They might take Jiang Dao and kill us anyway. We have other options. First, we strengthen our ties with the imperial court. The Daye Dynasty has spirit exterminators in its service. Their help would be invaluable. Second, we put out feelers and hire freelance exterminators. Build our own strength. Handing over Jiang Dao should be our absolute last resort, not our opening move."
Fang Tianba nodded slowly, a thoughtful expression on his face. "You and I agree." He had brought Jiang Dao in to be a counterbalance, a powerful piece on the board. He never imagined the man would kick over the entire table and invite a god to the game.
"Any news on the cultivation manual?" he asked, changing the subject.
"Still searching."
"And Guo Linyu's side?"
"The Left Protector has his estate locked down tight. My spies get caught and killed every time they get close."
Fang Tianba's brow furrowed. "Keep looking," he commanded. "Find that girl. Whatever it takes."