Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

Chapter 197 - Escaping A Beast Horde

"Shit!" Ming Yue cursed herself.

She quickly stored the wing into her spatial ring and ran.

Hei Yue's body began to slow and weaken. He could not continue sustaining this much fog for so long. His pace began to slow as the fog emerging from his body began to thin and dissipate. He was panting heavily and his body felt heavy.

Ming Yue dashed towards him, grabbing the fox and making her escape.

Without Hei Yue releasing more of the black fog, her existence was revealed to all those around her.

With the fog thinning out, every beast there spotted her before looking back at the scene of the battle, finding parts of the tiger and Thunder Roc gone. Realizing that she had taken it from under their noses, they were angered and many began chasing after her.

Ming Yue was barely out of the encirclement when they started pursuing her.

Fortunately, they weren't extremely powerful, being weaker compared to those that stayed behind.

When choosing between a small human or a Thunder Roc, it was an easy choice to make. Killing Ming Yue was simpler than fighting against the Thunder Roc and they had an actual chance to win. If they were to compete for the full corpse, it would take a miracle for them to win. The reward wasn't as great but having a decent chance was more than enough.

There were over a hundred beasts coming for her.

It was to some extent, an actual beast horde. At this size, it would pose a problem for small cities and they were all chasing after her.

There was an assortment of creatures there from goats that had cloud-like wool to vultures with blade like feathers. Each one carrying their own type of lightning: sharp, ferocious, quick, explosive, and many more. On land or on air, they chased her down with determination.

Ming Yue passed by her previous hiding space, glancing at the boulders where the group hid. It seems that Lao Gan and Xiao Yin had made their escape already. That was good to know.

Looking around, she noticed marks on the ground, made by Xiao Yin no doubt, and followed them. They were small but distinct, a curved cut across the rocky surface, something that only Xiao Yin could make.

As for the scene she left, the Thunder Roc was full of rage, wanting to chase Ming Yue down. But the beast found itself surrounded by the rest of the creatures that chose to stay. Without its wing, the Thunder Roc was as good as dead. Not to mention, it was losing too much blood.

The eyes of every creature there sharpened before both sides lunged at each other. It was a quick but destructive fight and it ended with the collapse of the Thunder Roc. Despite its struggle, the beast died but killed many, some ended up crushed by its talons, burnt to a crisp, smashed to the ground.

Now, the victorious turned on each other, whoever would win this bloodbath would gain the corpses of two rank 5 beasts. Absorbing both would without a doubt transform one's strength, giving them immense power and control over lightning.

As that clash commenced, Ming Yue continued to run from those that chased after her. She followed the trail left by Xiao Yin that led into a obscure cave underneath one of the mountains. However she could not enter just yet. Doing so would reveal the cave to the wrathful creatures behind her.

It wasn't an issue to entering but doing so without exposing everyone else.

She looked at Hei Yue in her arms, thinking that he could produce some more fog but thought against it. His eyes were half closed and his body limp, his energy was already spent. Instead, she looked around her surroundings, trying to see if there was a method she could use.

There was little to see, everything around her was just stone, rocks and boulders. Being called the Black Peak Mountains, the rocky area was maze like with tall walls and winding paths. She could take advantage of the confusing terrain to try and lose them.

What could she use to get rid of her pursuers?

Ahead of her was a thin ravine that had bits of moss and dust.

An idea came to mind, she wasn't sure if it would work but it was better than nothing. At least very least, it would place their attention away from her. This idea used the technique, Wrath of the Winds, to achieve her goal.

Running past the cave, she headed for the ravine. It was narrow enough that only five or six bodies could come through and plenty of space for her.

Ming Yue entered the ravine with Hei Yue in her arms. Holding the little fox in one arm, she held out the other arm and gathered her Quintessence Energy onto her open palm. The beasts chasing after her forced their way into the ravine, trying to get in as quickly as possible.

"This should be enough", she thought to herself.

She paused at a certain distance and watched her pursuers squeeze through the ravine. She waited until most of them were inside it and then climbed up the walls. Midway to the top was a small cliff where Ming Yue laid Hei Yue on the floor before jumping back down.

Putting both of her hands forward, a small tornado had already formed and took shape. She made it thin and turn extremely fast, feeding it more energy. She had maybe ten or so seconds before they would reach her and that was enough.

As it grew, she sent the tornado down, giving it more and more energy until it had reached a height of five meters and filled the width of the ravine. It charged at the beasts and those at the front took the brunt of the strike. The poor creatures could only suffer a painful death.

Those that watched it happen tried to retreat but the narrow ravine made it difficult to turn back. Not to mention, those at the back could not see what was going on. They had become victims to a trap, torn to shreds by the tornado.

Blood splattered all over the walls as bodies were pulled into the tornado, suffering more than a thousand cuts. Then they were spat out and left on the ground, gasping for life or dead. Slowly but surely, the tornado shredded through whatever was in its way. Given life threatening injuries, many died and the lucky few escaped before the tornado reached them.

Ming Yue watched it all unfold and escaped the ravine, making sure that she was not noticed. Making her way to the cave, she entered it and made a quiet whistle, checking if Lao Gan and Xiao Yin were still there. At the end of the cave, she heard another whistle and moved into the depths.

Going deeper, there was a small glow at the end of the cave, which she realized was another trinket of Lao Gan as she walked closer. It was a wooden stick embedded with a white gem, a simple thing but quite useful.

Sheltered by the light, Lao Gan had taken off his wooden backpack, resting on one of the cavern walls. Xiao Yin settled on top of the backpack and flew towards Ming Yue once she appeared.

"That...was dangerous, far too dangerous. I think my heart almost stopped when I saw you rush in. Did you fight your way out?" Lao Gan looked at Ming Yue like she was crazy.

Her clothes had a few tears and they were red with blood from what she had done at the ravine. In Lao Gan's mind, he was shocked as he could not believe she survived.

"No, I did not." she replied, laying Hei Yue's tired body by the light trinket.

"But your clothes? It's so bloody."

Ming Yue looked down, not realizing the state of her clothes.

"Don't worry about it. None of it is my blood", she told him flatly.

"Oh um, so what did you get?"

Lao Gan changed the topic, not wanting to linger on the bloody mess that was Ming Yue.

Ming Yue gave him a doubtful look.

"Why? Do you want to buy it?" she asked.

"Of course!" he nodded excitedly.