Chapter 24 – Infiltrating the Windwing Village

Yu Yin sped through the dreary forest with Seeker in hand, darting around any obstacle in his way with extreme agility. No amount of loose vines or branches had any effect on the tempo of his movement, although it made things rather uncomfortable for a certain dishonest brat hanging from Yu Yin's right arm. As he got closer to the village, he noticed that the dead-looking trees that littered the area seemed to contain more and more vitality. Although this strange observation puzzled him, it wasn't anywhere near enough odd to distract his thoughts from the upcoming battle.

'How am I going to play this through?' Yu Yin thought. "I don't know Vakhtang's full battle strength or his level of cultivation, not that that knowledge would mean much to me with my current experience. My goal here isn't to defeat him though, it's to stall him until Seeker grabs the spirit stones. If that guy gets too violent though, I can't be blamed for putting him in his place.'

Yu Yin looked at Seeker in his arms who seemed to be trembling in fear. The adolescent man had been thrown out of his normal life and was about to dropped in the middle of what would be a large-scale conflict, tasked to sneak off with the item that both sides were fighting over. It would be ludicrous to think that Seeker wasn't scared, unless an annoying itch scratching at one's soul was telling you otherwise.

"Stop that..." Yu Yin groaned.

Seeker let out a sigh and grumbled a little before throwing away his charade. Yu Yin narrowed his eyes at his uncooperative accomplice, unsatisfied with his stubborn nature.

'I bet that he was scheming how to screw me over later, not that he would've been successful. In this situation, he has no choice but to comply. If he tries to run, then the victor of me and Vakhtang's battle will surely hunt him down. The villagers will capture him instantly without my protection too! His only option is to pull off his task flawlessly.'

As whether Seeker was even capable of accomplishing his mission, Yu Yin didn't even give it much thought. Seeker seemed capable enough at getting his way with others, so it shouldn't be too much trouble for him to grab a few treasures with his help.

Yu Yin looked up to see the Windwing Village enter his line of sight. The place was made up of small wooden huts that looked like they were made by the locals rather than professionals. The planks of wood that made them up looked shabby and rotten, most likely just like the trees they were made from. Smoke could be seen rising from their small chimneys as the locals rested around the fireplace in their homes, winding down for the fast-approaching evening.

At the centre of the village stood a large stone temple that looked like it was a mansion in comparison to the rest of the shanty homes. The temple seemed to have been carefully made and was created with good workmanship. However, Yu Yin wasn't impressed at all by the luxurious home at all. Buildings like that could be owned by commoners in the capital of the Frigid Enigma Continent, never mind the Yu Family Palace!

A crumbling stone wall was surrounding the Windwing village which contained two gaps to make way for tall archways which served as the entrance to the place. An insignia of a dove was placed at the top of the archways to show the identity of the occupants. The wall looked like it once could have held off the fiercest of beasts, but now it looked like it had lost its efficiency over time until it became completely useless. The image of the wall wasn't really helped by the newly appeared gaping hole which was glaringly obvious because of its sheer size.

'Looks like that Black Thunder Bandit Troupe has already started wreaking havoc. But damn! Look at the damage on that wall! I know that I could do that if I really wanted but it looks like Vakhtang is rather capable. I'd best be cautious if we fight.'

Yu Yin traversed the terrain between him and the village within a minute and walked through the hole in the wall. As expected, it was pandemonium inside. Bandits were running around with swords and axes. Women screaming while carrying children in their arms. An odd house on fire here and there. Oh dear. Those bandits had really made a mess here. Yu Yin wondered how they had made such a mess in such a short time. The village had seemed so peaceful as he was approaching.

One of the bandits saw Yu Yin and eyed up his luxurious robes. He licked his greedily as he raised his sword and began moving towards him.

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However, before the bandit had advanced even a meter, Yu Yin was already upon him with an Acceleration enhanced fist. Yu Yin smashed the bandit on this side of his head, knocking him out cold before he even knew what had happened. Seeker looked on blankly from under Yu Yin's arm as the bandit slumped to the ground.

"Don't be so creepy next time" Yu Yin said to the unconscious bandit annoyedly as he finally let Seeker down.

"Lead the way" Yu Yin said to him.

The boy glared at Yu Yin for treating him like baggage but quickly started walking in a certain direction.

"It's over here," Seeker said.

Yu Yin was very grateful that no discomfort was felt when Seeker spoke. To be honest, Seeker's crap had gotten old very quickly and Yu Yin couldn't be bothered with any more deceit from him. They continued on through the village, with Yu Yin knocking out any bandit stupid enough to give them too much undue attention. Yu Yin followed Seeker between the burning houses whilst they avoided most of the conflict.

"The spirit stones are kept at the guardian spirit's shrine at the centre of the village." Seeker explained as they travelled. "Once we're there I can retrieve them although you'll have to deal with the guardian beast whilst I'm busy."

"Guardian beast?" Yu Yin questioned.

"Yeah, it's called the Windwing Wyrm. It defends the village in exchange for a monthly tribute of the village's livestock. The village chief says it's the offspring of the Windwing Wyvern that rules over the nearby forests. Anyway, it's rather weak so it shouldn't be much of a problem for you to deal with."

Yu Yin clicked his tongue when Seeker said that last part and the now too familiar itch on his soul appeared. So, the Windwing Wyrm wasn't weak? Yu Yin didn't worry too much about it though. In Seeker's eyes, those leopards from before could probably be described as strong, and those things were weak as heck!

If the Windwing Wyrm was really as strong as Seeker secretly thought it was, then where was it now? Was it casually taking a nap instead of defending the village that was currently being razed down? Yu Yin imagined that in reality it was currently being held down somewhere, most probably by Vakhtang.

It didn't take long for them to arrive at the shrine. It was the stone temple that Yu Yin had seen from afar. Up close, it seemed oriental in design, not the type of building that could be found back in the Frigid Enigma Continent. Stone sculptures of dragons were carefully situated near the four corners of the building, but the most eye-catching part detail was that a good chunk of the roof was missing. It seemed that that final detail was very recently added. There had been a battle here just a few minutes ago.

It was also strangely quiet. All the fighting from the bandits seemed distant, and there were no villagers to be found. It was as if everybody was avoiding this place. If Yu Yin was correct and there had been a battle here just moments ago, the silence would make perfect sense.

Yu Yin narrowed his eyes.

"Go inside and get the spirit stones now." He commanded. "I'll stand guard."

Seeker rolled his eyes and quickly hurried inside. Yu Yin wanted to smack the kid for that, but he knew that now wasn't the time. He sat down on one of the steps approaching the entrance of the temple and focused on controlling his cloud vision while he waited. Thirty seconds hadn't even passed before he heard someone approaching him.

Yu Yin looked to find Vakhtang approaching him. Having now discarded his hood, Vakhtang was now clothed with a crimson armoured combat vest with a fierce-looking silver katana sheathed at his side. He was looking worse for wear with a nasty-looking wound at his side and cracks all over his mask.

Behind Vakhtang followed Brickface, who was carrying an enormous cage. The entity inside the cage caught Yu Yin's attention completely, making him narrow his eyes cautiously. It was an azure scaled lizard about 2 meters long with large wings with a wingspan of about 3 meters. The creature was now unconscious and was curled up on itself with its wings folded, as to fit in its comparatively small holding place.

'I guess that's where the Windwing Wyrm went' Yu Yin thought. 'Some guardian beast it was to get itself captured like that'.

At the same time Yu Yin began to double guess himself. Seeker was right to think the Windwing Wyrm was strong. Heck, Yu Yin could almost sense the beast's strength somehow, yet Vakhtang had managed to capture the beast without killing it. Perhaps he didn't get away unscathed, but the feat was a testament to Vakhtang's strength. For Yu Yin to come into conflict with someone like this, only a week after arriving at this new world… it didn't seem very healthy.

Vakhtang kept walking until he stopped about 5 meters away from Yu Yin.

"You're that person from before, aren't you?" Vakhtang said. "How should I address you?"

So Vakhtang wasn't going to attack straight of the bat. Yu Yin let out a sigh of relief. He didn't want to fight if possible. After all benefits were most well obtained if they came at minimum cost. That didn't mean that Yu Yin wouldn't fight however, as the opportunity to own a new immortal's currency was not something that Yu Yin could pass up.

Nevertheless, Yu Yin was happy that Vakhtang seemed to be open to talking.

"My name is Yu Yin, from the Yu Family of the Frigid Enigma Continent." Yu Yin replied. Although this new world was far from home, the Yu Family was famous across many worlds. Dropping the name of the Yu Family could earn him a negotiating advantage, if their name had reached this place that is.

"The Yu Family huh?" Vakhtang said, his voice filled with suspicion. "Never heard of it".

'Well crap' Yu Yin cursed in his mind. It seemed like he was further than home than he thought.

"Yu Yin of the Yu Family, it is a pleasure to meet you." Vakhtang did a little bow as he spoke. "Although pleasure as it might be, the circumstances in which we meet are a little… unique I might say. I'll just get straight to the point..."

At this moment Vakhtang's aura suddenly become sharp and soul power fluctuations could suddenly be felt oppressing Yu Yin from a around. Yu Yin clicked his tongue and began circulating his soul power. He subtly cast a 5% bloodforce powered [Acceleration] on himself to withstand the pressure.

'This guy… could be trouble' thought Yu Yin. Judging by the fluctuations that Vakhtang was emitting, he was currently in power to Yu Yin after calculating the influence of Yu Yin's bloodline magic. If Vakhtang was in top form, then Yu Yin would be screwed right now.

"What is your objective here?" Vakhtang inquired. His voice was calm and still, but threatening undertones were clearly being communicated.

"No, let me rephrase that… Yu Yin, are you my enemy?"