“What did you just say?” Hei Long growled, his amber eyes slowly coloring crimson.
The servant turned even paler and gulped audibly. “L-lord Yun hasn’t been seen since the start of the attack, master Hei.” He replied, his voice cracking in panic.
“Knock it off, Xiao Long.” Qin Teng’s calm voice rose from behind. “The servant knows nothing, frightening him will not help you.”
“Qin Teng.” Hei Long spat, turning around to face him.
“Save your anger.” Qin Teng said coolly, an eyebrow raised. “Xiao Feng survived the first wave, this much I know. He was fighting right next to me initially, and he could handle himself just fine. Unfortunately a blast of wind suddenly struck him in the side, launching him through a wall and dragging him out of my sight, but with his level of cultivation a little stone wall is no more than paper, especially one built by mortals. The assailants aren’t strong enough to kill him either, those weaklings are only at the Core Shattering stage, Yun Feng could fend off four dozen before tiring.”
Right at this time one of the outer disciples dashed into the hall. “Seniors, seniors! This one carries news from the elders!”
“”Out with it.”” Qin Teng and Hei Long said simultaneously, Hei Long’s voice more of a growl.
“The attackers have been identified, there are about 10.000 of them.” The disciple said carefully, noticing the tension that hung in the air. “They’re from the Fallen Spear Sect, a minor sect that recruits quantity over quality. Their ambitions got the better of them, so they’re trying to steal our cultivation resources and take the Qi Gathering Field Formation for themselves!”
Qin Teng’s icy façade cracked when he heard this number, his face paling in worry. A sudden bang drew the other disciples’ attention as the ground beneath Hei Long’s feet cracked.
“Please be safe brother… Please be… Wait, a blast of wind powerful enough to blast Xiao Feng away just like that? Only Yue Ren has a technique like that!”
The grey skies above seemed to get even darker as Hei Long abruptly raised his head, his eyes roaming through the hall, searching for Yue Ren. When he finally saw her familiar figure, all the way at the back of the hall, he could not hold back his rage and roared “YUE REN!”
This roar caused Qin Teng to raise his head as he immediately made the same connection Hei Long had. Before Hei Long started to move he had already stretched the Eight Trigram Field Technique to its very limit, grabbing Hei Long by the shoulder and forcefully holding him back. “Hei Long, DON’T.” He hissed. “Causing discourse here is not going to help us find Xiao Feng, it’ll only aid the enemy. Yue Ren would never do something like this on purpose either.”
Yue Ren, meanwhile, had turned pale, shocked by this sudden outburst.
Qin Teng tightened his grip on Hei Long’s shaking shoulders, trying to get his brother to look him in the eyes. When Hei Long did turn, however, what Qing Teng saw caused him to freeze in shock- Hei Long’s pupils were bleeding outward, warm amber being replaced by a dark black that seemed colder than the spatial void.
A ripple of energy suddenly blasted outward, setting robes aflutter as the skies rumbled, the twisting clouds turning as black as Hei Long’s eyes. Hei Long opened his mouth, and the voice that came out of it did not belong to any mortal. Could not belong to any mortal.
RELEASE ME
The skies rumbled as the voice bounced through the hall. Qin Teng’s mind was overwhelmed at once by a feeling of powerlessness; he simply could not resist this divine commandment. As his hand unclamped unbidden, Hei Long vanished from sight. All that remained was a strand of violet lightning, a circle of sparks where his feet had been. A sudden shriek was cut short, as Yue Ren was lifted into the air by the throat.
A shocked disciple next to her reached out for Hei Long, trying to calm him down, but Hei Long shot a sidelong glance and snorted, before once again opening his mouth to speak.
KNEEL
Whether the sound came from the black clouds that covered the heavens or from him, nobody knew. The origin was irrelevant, for every single person within a hundred feet fell to his knees at once, too overwhelmed by Hei Long’s newfound domineering aura to resist. Only the First Pavilion elder in the corner remained standing, but even he felt the mental shocks crash upon his very soul.
Hei Long once again focused his eyes upon Yue Ren and loosened his grip slightly, before issuing another command.
SPEAK
“I-I-I didn’t know anyone was there!” She stuttered, tears streaming down her face. “I was fighting in my courtyard! There were countless walls between us, I had no idea! Please don’t kill me!” This last sentence was said in a panicked sob. “Please… Please…” she continued to whimper, too panicked to say anything else. By this time, Qin Teng had managed to stand up again, albeit with great effort. He once again used the Eight Trigram Field Technique and used the momentum to forcefully turn Hei Long around and look him in the eyes.
“HEI LONG!” He shouted. “Snap out of it! She didn’t do it on purpose, get it together and stop choking her!”
This outburst was followed by frightening silence, broken only by the rumbling of the brewing storm, before the rumbling ceased entirely and the darkness that had taken over Hei Long’s iris receded. He carefully took Yue Ren in his arms and lowered her, continuously mumbling apologies, shocked to the core by his own actions.
“Thunder Minx Method? Pah, that’s the lost Heavenly Thunder Mandate…” The ghastly First Pavilion elder in the corner mumbled inaudibly as he leaned against the wall and slid down, his legs too weakened by shock to bear his weight.
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