Two vines spun as fast as lightning, heading straight at Ping'an's back, causing Ping'an's swords to quickly swing around and cut off the incoming vines. Then another two vines spurted from the ground, plunged upward through the arena into the air, curving back at Ping'an, who did a single backflip, landing gracefully on her feet, as the two vines pierced the arena floor with a sickening thud.
The Huang sisters said in unison, in horror, "Qingyu!"
Flying towards the arena, Qingyu sent a vine to the little boy standing with the crowds. Guo Longtong, reacting instinctively, pushed the boy away, and Qingyu's vine wrapped instead around Guo Longtong's left arm. She sent him flying, hitting the demon seal magic circle. Guo Longtong's bleeding arm hit the magic wall, and blood flew onto the binding circle, causing the spell to fail with a shimmer and a fade.
"No," Huang Hongse looked at Huang Yueliang, her face pale.
Fang Yaoting jumped over and grabbed Guo Longtong mid-air. The two men flew off the stage to their friends. Huang Hongse pushed Guo Longtong next to Lee Dachin. She threw a talisman on the ground, and ten small red flags appeared around the two people, forming a protective barrier.
"Stay in this circle! No matter what happens, don't leave this circle!" Huang Hongse commanded, her voice firm.
Xianmu screamed loudly, a piercing shriek, and the ground started to shake violently.
"Earth worm?" Lim Peizhi muttered, anticipating an underground attack. Instead of the Earth worm that Lim Peizhi worried about, hundreds of ultrasonic waves could be heard from the sky, a high-pitched, terrifying sound. He turned to a soldier. "Send a signal! Be prepared! I won't let these monsters do to these people what they did to our town!"
One of Lim Peizhi's soldiers immediately sent out a firework signal, a burst of red light against the darkening sky.
"Those who cannot fight, run and hide!" Zhao Renshu shouted out, his voice cutting through the panic. "We need everyone who has the ability to fight!"
Above, where the sun had blazed moments before, the people watched in dawning horror as dark clouds swiftly consumed its light. As the ominous mass drew nearer, a chilling, weird sound began to pierce the air—a high-pitched ultrasonic wave that grew louder with every passing second, prickling their skin and setting teeth on edge.
"That's not a dark cloud," Zhao Renshu realized, his eyes widening. "It's a group of bats!"
Then, the massive group of bats flew in all directions, swarming the town.
"Everyone gets out of here and go hide!" Guo Baiyu commanded. "Close all doors and windows!"
.
The demon bats descended, monstrous shadows against the darkening sky. They were the size of two-year-old toddlers, roughly two feet tall, their bodies leathery and grotesque. Their eyes glowed with a malevolent red light, utterly unafraid of the dimming sun. With a horrifying screech, they plunged into the crowd, immediately tearing and biting at the terrified people.
"I AM ANGRY NOW!" Xianmu shrieked, her voice echoing with fury.
"Xianmu, let's leave here," Qingyu urged, trying to pull her sister away. "Let's regroup."
"Sister, you go!" Xianmu insisted, her eyes fixed on the hunters. "I will kill them!"
"You will not be able to kill them," Qingyu argued, her voice desperate. "Baoshi and Landou have tried. They failed and gave their lives!"
"I am not scared of these stupid hunters!" Xianmu scoffed.
"You should be," Qingyu countered, her voice laced with fear. "It's Syaoran!"
"Syaoran! Impossible!" Xianmu gasped, her arrogant facade cracking.
Qingyu pointed to Ping'an. "That is the reincarnation of Syaoran!"
"She is not the original Syaoran, only a reincarnation shadow," Xianmu declared, regaining her composure slightly. "I am not afraid of it!"
Xianmu put her hands together, a dark energy gathering. "From the deepest of the deepest, may the evilest spirits lend me your power!" A cloud of black mist poured into Xianmu's two hands, swirling ominously.
Zhao Renshu sent two talismans towards Xianmu, but Qingyu blocked them with her swift vines.
"Xianmu!" Qingyu shouted. Just then, a guzheng soundwave came directly at Qingyu. She flipped backward to avoid being injured by the powerful soundwave. Five small flags then separated Qingyu from Xianmu, creating a barrier between them.
"Ah! Irritating ants!" Qingyu screamed in anger, her voice shrill.
"Qingyu, you killed our senior brother!" Huang Yueliang accused, her voice filled with rage. "We will not let you go!"
"Ha...ha...ha...ha...ha!" Qingyu laughed sexily, a mocking sound. "You two have chased me for two years and never caught me. You couldn't capture me back then. How on earth do you think it will be different this time?"
"If you don't keep running away," Huang Hongse challenged, ready to fight.
"Come then!" Qingyu laughed, her eyes gleaming with lust for battle. She smiled lustily.
The demon bats swirled through the town like a living nightmare, a chaotic storm of death and destruction. They flew everywhere, killing and tearing people in a brutal, horrifying frenzy. Just as despair threatened to consume the terrified citizens, Lim Peizhi's army surged into the town. Without hesitation, the soldiers immediately engaged, their weapons clashing against the monstrous swarm as they valiantly fought back against the relentless aerial assault.
Zhao Renshu bit on one of his fingers and quickly drew a symbol on a blank talisman. He put the talisman on the ground, then put his hands together, and chanted. A magic circle appeared around Zhao Renshu, radiating power. Zhao Renshu sighed, focusing his energy. "Old spirits of the deceased, I command you to show yourselves before me, lend me your strength, I will offer you blood of the living dark flying creatures!"
Appearing in front of Zhao Renshu was a big black bear, its eyes glowing with ancient power. The black bear turned around and looked at Zhao Renshu. Zhao Renshu closed his eyes and nodded, a silent agreement. The big black bear roared loudly, a thunderous sound that shook the sky, and began to attack the demon bats, tearing them apart with immense force.
As Ping'an looked around, she saw people running everywhere, screaming in terror. Some people were injured by bat attacks, and some were injured by hitting each other or hitting house walls in their panicked flight. She heard Boss Xiong calling Xiong Lifeng's name, his voice filled with desperation. She looked and saw two bats pulling Xiong Lifeng away, lifting her into the air.
Ping'an immediately jumped off the stage, chasing the two demon bats that lifted Xiong Lifeng into the air through an alley. The two demon bats were flying higher and higher, carrying Xiong Lifeng away. Ping'an aimed one of her swords directly at the bat on the left. Her sword pierced through the bat, killing it instantly. Because of Xiong Lifeng's weight, the other bat flew lower, struggling to maintain its altitude.
Ping'an jumped from wall to wall on the houses, climbed to the roof of a house, and then she continued to chase the remaining bat and Xiong Lifeng. She wrapped her whip around the left shoulder of the flying bat and then struck the right foot of the flying bat with a precise sword strike. The defeated bat, its wings torn, let go of Xiong Lifeng. Xiong Lifeng fell from the sky, screaming. Ping'an jumped up and grabbed Xiong Lifeng in mid-air. When the two women fell, Ping'an turned Xiong Lifeng on top of her, cushioning her fall, and the two fell down into the house below, crashing through the roof.
Qingyu sent four vines directly to the Huang sisters. Huang Yueliang countered it with her guzheng sound wave attack, deflecting the lethal vines. Just as a vine from Qingyu was about to hit a child in the crowd, Wu Xiangmei, reacting swiftly, cut it off with her butterfly sword.
Wu Meirong immediately jumped up and began to fight with Qingyu, engaging her directly. The four beauties (Huang sisters and Wu sisters) circled Qingyu, creating a formidable defensive perimeter.
Qingyu tried to escape from the top, but Huang Yueliang prevented it with her guzheng sound wave, forcing her back down. Qingyu fought fiercely against the combined might of The Red Moon Hunters and the Butterfly Twins Hunters.
Xianmu was very angry that four hunters were attacking Qingyu, and her sister was outnumbered. She directed four demon bats to help Qingyu, sending them towards the fight.
Huang Hongse, with a decisive strike, cut off one bat's head. Huang Yueliang killed the other bat with her guzheng sound wave, exploding it in mid-air. Qingyu jumped up and grabbed onto the other two bats' feet, and they flew her away, pulling her out of the fierce engagement.
"Yueliang, she is trying to escape!" Huang Hongse shouted, noticing Qingyu's retreat.
"Not this time!" Wu Meirong declared. She directly sent six poison needles at Qingyu. Two of the six poison needles hit Qingyu on her back, injecting their deadly venom.
Wu Xiangmei pushed her sister away, her eyes wide with alarm. "Be careful!"
A spear shot directly into the middle of Wu Xiangmei's abdomen. The spear pierced through her abdomen with a sickening thud. It then hit another villager who was trying to escape, impaling him through the abdomen as well. The energy force of the spear was so strong that it sent the villager thirty feet away from where he was standing and nailed him to the wall of the house with a gruesome thud.
"Sister!" Wu Meirong screamed, horrified. She hurried to help her fallen sister, her face pale with shock.