The one that moved first was the yaoguai in front of the Wushi. The demon went ahead and got its weapon ready, with it obviously telegraphing a horizontal swing. Normally, she wouldn’t have been so worried about this attack, but the problem came with the reach of the weapon that the enemy was wielding. That club was more than long enough to reach her at this distance.

She moved to step back away from the incoming strike, only to find her body not being able to do so physically and mentally. She couldn’t take any movements backwards, none whatsoever.

She didn’t understand why. However, that wasn’t important. Right now, the most important situation was the fact that the monster in front of her had started its attack.

Her instincts kicked in. She ducked underneath the incoming strike and barely avoided getting her head turning into nothing more than a splatter of blood and bone fragments.

Her hair flew away from the sheer wind being formed by the swing and she took the second to gasp. Then, she realized the yaoguai was getting rearing back and getting ready to strike once more.

The Wushi couldn’t allow that. She used her legs to kick off the ground and launch herself towards the demon. It didn’t get the chance to block or dodge, as it was still far too busy trying to reorientate the club in its hand to get another hit.

She slammed an open palm strike into the chest of the demon with both of her hands. The impact created a soundwave that resonated throughout the area, with the force knocking the yaoguai back a few steps. The damage she had delivered upon the beast was absolutely negligent, as there wasn’t even a single bit of injury to the demon.

No, the scale armor had seemingly defended against all forms of damage. There were no cracks or dents in the armor, only dust that had formed from the wind.

The Wushi grimaced at the sight. She watched as the yaoguai in front of her staggered forward and–

The club was coming right at her face. Her eyes widened. Her legs moved to the left, but she wasn’t fast enough.

The wooden log slammed into her right cheek. Pain erupted from the impact. That sensation of not moving back struck her again, this time causing pain to erupt throughout her body. She gagged as she staggered forward, before catching herself and getting back into the groove once more. She was not going to let any of that impede her actions.

She quickly used the momentum to roll towards the yaoguai, who proceeded to try to use the moment to slam the club down onto her. In her position, on the ground and facing up, this should have been a death blow. Most people should have been flattened right then and there by all accounts, as the weapon was moving far too fast to keep up for the average being.

The Wushi was a cut above the average citizen. No, more than that, she was a seasoned warrior that had spent years to train and hone her abilities as a fighter. She trained since she was a mere child, she sparred with men far older than her, and she had dealt with plenty of life and death situations before.

Thus, she was more than prepared to deal with the situation at hand.

With a loud cry, she reared both of her legs back and kicked forward, using the dirt ground as a stabilizer to ensure she didn’t go off target.

The yaoguai had not anticipated such an event. The recoil from the strike sent the demon to the ground, with its weapon flying right out of its hand.

An opening!

She quickly pushed off the ground and landed on her feet. Without a single bit of hesitation, she rushed towards the fallen yaoguai and stomped with all her might right onto the middle of the chest.

This time, there seemed to be a bit of a crack that formed on the scales. She couldn’t help but grin at the sight, as she finally seemed to be doing some kind of damage to this tough foe.

And with that, she started stomping all over the beast. The legs, the arms, the chest, everywhere she could strike. She kept going and didn’t bother trying to stop for a single second, trying her best to inflict as much damage as possible before the demon got back up again.

That was a mistake. She had been so focused on trying to do as much damage as possible that she didn’t bother keeping track of her surroundings. Had she been more aware, she would have realized that the demon wasn’t going to keep lying there and let her hit it constantly. Unfortunately, she let her guard down, which allowed the yaoguai to grab her ankle.

A single yelp. The world blurred as she realized she was being thrown around like a ragdoll, and then–

Wham.

All breath in the Wushi’s body was taken out in an instant. Her skeleton rattled and her ears started ringing as she found herself being slammed into the ground. A gasp, before the world began to turn into a blur.

No. Not again!

She wasn’t able to do anything to defend against the second slam, this time being thrown into the ground face first. Everything went black for a split second, before her consciousness returned. Her vision was getting slightly blurry and she could feel her whole face burning in pain, with her right cheek feeling especially numb.

Then, she felt it. The bastard was rearing back to slam her into the ground again! That demon was going to keep doing this until she was either unconscious or dead, both of which were events she couldn’t allow to happen.

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The next time the yaoguai tried the same stunt, she was more than ready.

She slammed into the ground again, except this time, her whole body didn’t meet the earth. This time, her arms and hands did, making her limbs erupt in pain. With that, she gritted her teeth and slammed the other leg right into the demon’s hand, causing it to squeal and let go.

With that, she strained her arm muscles and launched herself right at the demon once more, striking it in the chest once more with her legs. The demon staggered back and she fell to the ground, but the first one to recover was her.

The Wushi jumped back to her feet, before rushing forward once more. However, she wasn’t able to get to the yaoguai fast enough, as the demon recovered enough to try to reach out to grab her.

She slammed another palm into the arm, this time eliciting a satisfying crunch and another squeal from the demon. Then, without further ado, she took a deep breath in, clenched her teeth, and began to launch a flurry of strikes towards the chest.

Each hit made several more cracks in the armor that kept on growing and getting bigger as time went on. The Wushi kept going, continuously throwing hit after hit. From closed fists to open palms to chops, she kept on throwing hits continuously.

However, she kept her eyes open for anything the yaoguai would throw to escape this predicament. She wasn’t going to fall into the trap of losing her awareness of her surroundings and letting the enemy get the drop on her.

That was when the scale armor shattered completely upon the last strike. The demon squealed, before launching a quick fist at her. With that, she redirected the hit, before subverting all the energy from that strike right back.

It went flying a good distance away, the impact having created a giant bruise on its chest. Then, the yaoguai managed to stagger back to its feet and managed to maneuver itself back to its weapon. The demon hefted the club over its shoulder once more, before taking on another stance.

She couldn’t help but spit and grin at the monster in front of her. Right here, right now, she was winning. She could easily take this demon down now, all with the help of her divine power.

But… That wasn’t something she really felt like doing at this moment. True, this would mean the fight would come to an end. She could get the chance to recover from the minor injuries she had just endured, giving her the moment to rest and help out this other girl.

But that felt cheap. This adversary deserved some respect despite the weird restriction it had put on her, the inability to back away. It still strove to fight her one on one, with its strength and power in full mass, something she ought to return the favor to.

And with that, she smirked. She gestured for the yaoguai to come at her and it obliged, dashing forward and launching a downward strike at her being. The strike was telegraphed and she could move out of the way rather easily. Just side-step and then land a finishing blow right at the body once more.

Though, something felt off. She didn’t know why, but she didn’t question her instincts. She went ahead and kept on going forward, despite the club getting closer and closer. Then, she struck, slamming onto the incoming weapon while she was right in the middle.

Her fist struck the club. The instant the two forces connected, they began to fight for supremacy. All of that took place in less than a second as the club shattered at the striking point, causing an eruption of black splinters and green fluids. The yaoguai seemed to stare in shock at the ruined club that continuously leaked green from the open half, giving the Wushi the opportunity to finish the battle once and for all.

She moved. However, as she rushed forward, the flesh stalk erupted once more. All of the eyes and ears twitched, before they focused onto her.

Whatever the demon was planning, it did not succeed.

She became a blur as she jumped and slammed onto the shoulders of the beast, breaking both of the bones in a single second. The ears and eyes all twirled and a roar of pain erupted, but that was only the beginning.

\ She grabbed the top of that flesh stalk, ignoring the squishy and slimy texture that felt gross in her hands, and pulled.

Screeches erupted all around her. The yaoguai attempted to get her off and away from the flesh stalk, to no avail. All the struggles and effort made her yank even harder, until finally, something gave way.

And with that, the demon had everything ripped out of it. The organs, the stalk, everything. All of the insides came out in a shower of blood and bile, all of it done by the Wushi.

She stepped back away from the carnage she had delivered upon the demon, before taking a deep breath. She looked at the corpse that had begun to rot away, becoming nothing more than dust and broken bones.

To that, she simply clapped her hands together and bowed. She could only hope that she had simply provided someone a chance at reincarnation, the chance to live a better life outside this underworld.

And with that, she turned around to the girl who still stayed there, her mouth wide open and completely in shock. She noticed the Wushi looking at her and kept on stammering.

To that, the Wushi sighed and started walking closer to her. The girl started backing away, before faltering and failing to move any further. At that point, the two were nearly face to face.

The Wushi smiled. She crouched down, which made the young girl flinch. Then, without further ado, she offered her a hand.

“It’s alright. You’re safe now.”

The young girl stared at the Wushi, before looking down at her hand, then back at her. Then, she rushed forward and hugged the Wushi.

The woman blinked as the girl held her in a tight embrace. Then, she closed her eyes as she could hear the child sobbing quite vigorously.

She sat there for a while, before opening her eyes. Now that she was closer, she could tell that the girl was quite a bit taller than she expected. However, the child was still shorter than her by a few heads. The child would be a lot cuter were it not for all the tears and snot that was starting to get all over her clothes.

However, she wasn’t mad. Clothes were always replaceable, people were not. And right now, this child needed her help with the way she was breaking down and shattering in the face of such monstrosities.

That laid in the problem.

She didn’t necessarily know what to do in this situation. She wasn’t exactly one that knew how to deal with children, that was something her master typically did. No, she wasn’t aware of what she could do to calm this young girl down, as this was something way out of her capabilities.

So, she did the only thing her master did when she was a child.

She rubbed the head of the girl and started to sing a little song. A little gentle tune that invoked calm and serenity.

She could only hope this would be enough.