The fog rolled over them, grasping like a living thing. Yan Shirong continued to scream. He had covered his face with his hands as he rolled on the ground, his qi raging out from him in uncontrolled contortions of his spirit. All around him, the fog had taken on an appearance like grasping hands, though they remained poorly defined.
He Yu’s guandao fell into his hands, its weight serving at the very least a comfort. To either side, Tan Xiaoling and Li Heng had summoned their weapons as well. How one could fight something as ephemeral as fog he couldn’t have said, but seeing that his companions were ready to do so gave him comfort.
Rushing to Yan Shirong’s side, Chen Fei activated another formation. This time she manifested the seal directly on Yan Shirong, placing characters at key acupressure points along his meridians. The fog recoiled, and he stopped screaming.
“We need to run,” he gasped, pushing himself up on his elbow with what seemed to be more effort than it should have taken.
“Mine.”
The single word reverberated through the forest, accompanied by a profound overwhelming sense of want. It sent a chill down He Yu’s spine. It was the same word, the same voice, that had spoken just after they’d slain King Hao.
Unlike before, it sounded as though it had come from somewhere close by. All around, but concentrated to the west. The others had heard it too, judging by the way they all looked at one another.
Yan Shirong had regained his feet by now. He gripped He Yu by the shoulders and spun him around. He Yu stared into eyes filled with terror.
“We need to run.”
A cacophony of shrieks and roars and howls rose from the forest around them as all hell broke loose. A rush of frenzied animals burst from the forest around them and attacked. Tan Xiaoling was the first to act, her sandstorm whipping up around her as she cut through a deer with red crystal horns. The moving carpet of rodents and insects at her feet was simply obliterated by the storm of sand and metal.
Another group of those same monkeys from the first night erupted from the undergrowth, howling like a barbarian warband. Chen Fei and Li Heng were closest, and they both responded with their techniques. Chen Fei’s barriers protected her from stray attacks while she lashed out with metal-hard kicks and punches. Li Heng flowed between defense and attack like a shimmering silver river, blinking from place to place with his movement technique.
As what He Yu could only describe as an undulating mass of legs and chitin and segmented eyes skittered from the undergrowth towards him, he blasted it away with the Bracing Wind, buying Yan Shirong and himself a much-needed moment.
“What is going on? What did you see?” he demanded.
Yan Shirong still wasn’t quite himself, but at least he wasn’t panicking anymore. “I saw her. I don’t know, she was here, but not. She’s both close and far. It’s—” he cut himself off and shook his head. “We are in her domain. If we stay, we’ll become exactly what Chen Fei warned us about. Whatever broke her hold over us, she’s angry.”
He Yu grimaced. He didn’t need to know who “she” was. Recalling the times he’d had brushes with anything connected to the Sunset Empress—the vision of a red setting sun, King Hao’s plea to be taken, and the all-consuming sense of want. If this was what this Sunset Empress was capable of while sealed by the formation of an Eighth Realm elder, he couldn’t image what she could do should she ever break free.
“East,” he shouted. “Back the way we came!” At this point, he didn’t care if this could be construed as giving orders. Somebody needed to take charge. To ensure they all made it back to the sect.
If there were any objections, nobody voiced them. The group moved as one, fighting as they retreated back the way they’d come. After a few moments, there came a lull in the attack, and as one the group fled. Li Heng and Yan Shirong had the easiest time of it, their movement techniques well-suited to short bursts of speed through the dense trees. Li Heng flashed from one patch of clear ground to another, while Yan Shirong pulled himself through the branches with his tendrils shadow.
The Sky Dragon’s Flight was all but useless in the forest. There wasn’t enough room to maneuver, and if He Yu used it he risked crashing into one of the many obstacles that clustered close around him. He could at least rely on the speed and dexterity afforded by the Empyrean Ninefold Body Tempering. While he’d rather not have to run, at least his Third Realm body was more than up to the task.
Much like He Yu, Chen Fei and Tan Xiaoling had to rely on their raw physical speed and stamina. As far as He Yu could tell, neither of them had a dedicated movement technique—at least not one that was of any use presently. Tan Xiaoling fared better in this respect, given her Golden Tiger Cultivation Law. She had always been strong, and that strength apparently came with speed and stamina beyond that typical of even a Body Refining cultivator.
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Chen Fei was having the most difficult time. While she was faster than any mortal could ever hope to be, she was slow by the standards of immortals. Not only did she not have a proper movement technique, but she also cultivated aspects of earth, metal, and mountain. Her cultivation gave her levels of endurance beyond even what Tan Xiaoling was capable of and allowed her to hit with the force of a collapsing mountain, but it left her lacking in areas of mobility.
As they ran, she consistently lagged behind, and they had to drop back to ensure they didn’t leave her. However, the one benefit she seemed to have over them all was that she was the least hampered by the many obstacles the forest offered. Thickets, nurse logs, even some smaller still-standing trees—she simply barreled through all of it.
The five of them quickly got away from the site of the initial attack, and the pace slowed. They had been starting to get a bit strung out, with Li Heng and Yan Shirong pulling ahead while Chen Fei fell behind. He Yu called for them to group up again, and ease up on the breakneck pace, lest they get separated, despite the sounds of unrelenting pursuit.
“Why are they following?” He Yu asked as they set off again, casting a look back the way they’d come. Despite their efforts, he could see shapes of animals, and what appeared to be even a few spirits moving towards them through the path they’d broken through the undergrowth.
“Something has to be driving them,” Chen Fei said. “Even the most persistent beast should have given up by now.”
He Yu glanced at Yan Shirong, and a moment of understanding passed between them. That something driving them could only be the Sunset Empress. Without another word, the group resumed their flight east.
A massive boar crashed out of a thicket a short way ahead of them. It was only thanks to their reflexes as Third Realm cultivators that they were all able to scatter in time to avoid its charge. It slammed into a tree and staggered. An instant later, Tan Xiaoling and Li Heng were both upon it, weapons in hand.
Before He Yu could shout for them to leave it and run, yet more beasts erupted from all around. A pack of the dogs from before, several dozen spiders far larger than something with that many legs or eyes had any right to be, and even several spirits—mostly wood and life aspected. The ensuing melee was soon joined by the still-following horde of beasts from before. Unlike the previous attacks, these foes seemed intent only on fighting the cultivators.
The spirits and beasts all ranged from the First to the Third Realm. While those advanced to the Third Realm were by far the rarest, there were more than enough of them to be a real threat. Add to that the seemingly endless number of less advanced foes, and it was clear to see that this was a battle of attrition the cultivators were bound to lose.
He Yu slammed his guandao down on a spider, sending bits of the creature spattering across the ground and against the trees. The blast of wind that accompanied his attack disintegrated some nearby First Realm beasts, but that didn’t stop half a dozen birds scratching and pecking at him when his back was turned. The Bracing Wind dealt with that assault, but he’d still taken several small, individually insignificant wounds first. Qi flowed through his meridians and began healing them. He was all too aware that eventually, his reserves would fail.
In the brief moment of respite he’d bought with the Bracing Wind, he popped a qi restoring pill into his mouth and bit down. As medicinal energies flowed through him, both aiding in healing his wounds and restoring some portion of the qi he’d spent, he turned to the rest of his group.
Tan Xiaoling seemed to be faring the best. Her sandstorm provided an effective defense against the sorts of attacks He Yu had just suffered. She set herself against the strongest foes she could find, fighting either individually or to aid the others. While observing her, He Yu did notice one glaring weakness—she couldn’t get too close to her companions without dropping the sandstorm, and often found herself isolated as a result. Of course that was fine for now. She was more than strong enough to take on the beasts that were coming their way, but as her qi dwindled, the sandstorm would become more and more of a liability.
Yan Shirong acquitted himself well, too. His mobility, and the ability of his techniques to easily deal with multiple foes at once meant that he could stay a bit back from where the fighting was the thickest, and prevent anything from catching him unawares. Li Heng and Chen Fei, on the other hand, had already both taken several minor wounds, each of them faring far worse than He Yu.
Both of them were the most suited to single combat, with Chen Fei having a slight edge against multiple foes given her ability to create barriers wherever she needed them. Li Heng, on the other hand, had to rely solely on his jian and his mobility for defense. He Yu watched as the noble flashed away from an attacker, only to appear within easy reach of a spirit that looked like a mass of living vines. A mass of creeper tendrils reached out and tangled up Li Heng’s limbs almost the instant he’d appeared.
He Yu was on the spirit in an instant, freeing his friend with an activation of the Shearing Wind that crackled with heavenly sparks. The noble turned and gave a brief nod, his features showing clear relief as he popped a restorative pill of his own into his mouth. At least whatever had given rise to his harsh words earlier was forgotten for the time being, even if He Yu was certain it was something they’d have to deal with eventually.
“We can’t stay here,” He Yu said. “We’ll get overwhelmed.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Li Heng said. He Yu could hear the fatigue in his voice. They’d been at this for nearly half the day, judging by the fading light of the late afternoon.
As they moved to support the others an ear-shattering roar arose from the edge of the melee. He Yu’s spiritual awareness screamed danger at him, even as dozens of First Realm beasts simply disintegrated. Powerful fire and earth qi momentarily eclipsed all other aspects as a massive ape, easily three times the size of a full-grown man erupted from the dense undergrowth.
Activating the Cloud Emperor’s Peerless Judgment confirmed He Yu’s fears. It was fully in the Fourth Realm.