Stranger Danger

Chapter 313: The Black Feather Guards

Chapter 313: The Black Feather Guards

“Is he dead now?”

Ye Qing looked toward the rubble but couldn’t find a corpse. He was unable to sense Mara Buddha’s presence with his demonic thought either.

“He detonated his mind, so he’s probably dead,” Gu Suitang answered.

Fang Xiaoman pondered for a moment before saying solemnly, “We should still stay on our toes. Mara Buddha is a cunning and cautious man with an unpredictable bag of tricks. I wouldn’t be surprised if he prepared something in the wake of his death.”

“Namo Marakaruna...”

“Namo Marakaruna...”

“Namo Marakaruna...”

It was at this moment every elder, disciple, and servant in Sunset Hill suddenly lost their minds and started chanting “Namo Marakaruna”. Eyes devoid of the light of reason, they abruptly started charging toward Ye Qing, Gui Suitang and Fang Xiaoman.

The cacophony of voices sounded like a series of thunderclaps, and wisps of demonic qi could be seen flying out of their body. They eventually gathered together to form an image of the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama himself, but one that was overflowing with malice. His lips were smiling, but his eyes were weeping blood, and his head was bowed.

The world wept in sorrow when the Buddha bowed his head.

“Mara Buddha!”

“Mara Buddha!”

“Mara Buddha!”

Chaotic, discordant and demonic voices resounded throughout Sunset Hill as black clouds gathered in the sky. The world darkened as if hell itself had descended upon the world.

Despite his cultivation art, Ye Qing felt like his mind was being warped by the sudden onslaught of dark powers. His desires were spiraling out of control, and his vigor was spiraling out of control. He was actually sliding uncontrollably toward a deviation until his demonic lotus absorbed all of the chaotic, distorting mental energy ravaging his headspace.

As soon as he returned to normal, he noticed the Sunset Hill elders, disciples and servants growing exponentially stronger in mid-charge. Not only that, the four men Gu Suitang had severely crippled but not killed—Bai Xinran, Lu Fanjiang, Du Yuanwu and Wang Luori—had gotten back on their feet and were charging them as well. They looked like rabid dogs to put it mildly.

“What should we do?” Ye Qing asked while narrowing his eyes a little. It was clear that these people had been corrupted and controlled by Mara Buddha. He wasn’t surprised, to be honest. Mara Buddha had hidden himself in Sunset Hill since who-knows-when as Bai Song, and even Wang Luori had succumbed to his manipulations in the end. Of course the ordinary disciples wouldn’t be able to resist him.

“These people have been completely corrupted and twisted by Mara Buddha’s power. There’s no saving them.” Fang Xiaoman’s eyes flickered with gritty determination. “So, we kill them all.”

“... Very well.” Gu Suitang hesitated for an instant but resolved himself immediately. “Evil must be rooted out completely.”

Most of these people were innocent. If it was possible to save them, they would. Unfortunately, they had been irreversibly warped into mindless beasts who knew nothing but murder. Even if they let them go, they would only bring harm to others. In that case, they could only grant them the mercy of death.

“Suitang, let’s deal with that false Buddha first.”

Fang Xiaoman stomped the ground and caused the ground to undulate outward like a shockwave, causing the Sunset Hill disciples at the forefront to fall to the ground. It caused a chain reaction and dropped the people behind them to the ground as well.

“Joyless, tell Yuhuai and Nianjiu to get here immediately. They were to kill any Sunset Hill member they ran into!”

“At once!” Ye Qing immediately produced a badge from his Nature’s Shell and activated it. The word “Order” appeared in the sky and shone like a second sun.

Ye Qing ordered, “All Pacification Sentinels, attack Sunset Hill! You are to kill all Sunset Hill members without fail!”

“Kill them all!”

“Kill them all!”

The battle cries of the Pacification Sentinel rang throughout the whole Sunset Hill.

“Commander Xue, you’ve brought the Black Feather Guards, right?” Ye Qing glanced at Xue Beikun next.

The commander replied, “Five thousand Black Feather Guards are already standing by for orders at the foot of the hill.”

“Good. Tell them to cooperate with the Pacification Sentinels and kill any and all Sunset Hill disciples they encounter!” Ye Qing ordered in a cold voice. This was a part of his plan too, of course.

“Very well,” Xue Beikun responded before flying into the air and shouting, “Right Guard of the Black Feather Guards, attention! Attack Sunset Hill and kill all Sunset Hill members you see! Show no mercy!”

“No mercy!”

“No mercy!”

Ye Qing had to use a Strange Artifact to make his voice heard throughout Sunset Hill. But Xue Beikun? That was pure power.

“Take care of Wang Luori and the others, Commander Xue. Leave the rest to me.”

Meanwhile, Fang Xiaoman and Gu Suitang were already battling against Mara Buddha. Wang Luori and the rest of the Spirit Masters were a mere second or two away from reaching them as well.

“Take care, yo—Joyless!” Xue Beikun nodded before turning around and clashing against Wang Luori, Lu Fanjiang, Du Yuanwu and Bai Xinran.

Boom!

With a single spear sweep, Xue Beikun sent the four Spirit Masters flying where they came like he was sweeping some dry leaves. But that was only because Xue Beikun was a late-stage Spirit Master. If it was him, he would have to summon the Boundless Mara Buddha and unleash its full power at the very least.

The four Spirit Masters were mindless and crippled, but even so, they were still Spirit Masters. That was why he left them to Xue Beikun and focused on the elders and disciples instead.

“Happ!”

Ye qing sucked in a deep breath before charging toward the incoming Sunset Hill disciples. When they were less than a meter away from him, he unleashed a devastating punch that surged forth like a raging river.

“Break Through”

Boom!

Ye Qing forcefully blew open a hole in the sea of people and escaped the encirclement. Anyone who was unfortunate enough to stand in his way were either sent flying or outright crushed into gory bits.

As soon as he broke out of the encirclement, a saber that resembled the falling sunset swung toward his back. The sky turned red, and a sea of saber forces descended from above.

“Sunset Saber”

Ye Qing blurred and reached into the red light. The next moment, the sunset disappeared, and Ye Qing’s fingers caught a steel saber that was aimed at his back.

He tapped his fingers on the blade and shattered it like glass. The pieces scattered everywhere and killed a dozen Sunset Hill disciples in an instant.

There was no reprieve, however. More Sunset Hill disciples stepped over their brethren’s dead bodies and attacked him.

Ye Qing smirked as a demonic lotus appeared in both his pupils. Then, he tapped the space in front of him with his right hand.

“Heavenly Demon Captures The Soul”

An invisible ripple of demonic thought washed out of him, and another dozen Sunset Hill disciples died just like that.

Boom!

It was at this moment a massive sun descended from above. The entire place was basked in the fiery light that was sunset.

At the same time, a crescent emerged from the clouds and shone beams of cold, icy moonlight on the ground. It seemed capable of freezing anything and everything.

Ye Qing was caught between the manifestation of sun and moon, ice and fire.

His attackers were a man and a woman, both elders of Sunset Hill. They were both at the middle-stage of the Spirit Purification stage. The man practiced the “Sunset Hill Fist”, whereas the woman practiced the “Bright Moon Palm”. As they were a man and a woman who cultivated martial arts that were the polar opposites of each other, they were nicknamed the “Old Sun” and the “Aged Moon”. When they were together, they were known as “Sun and Moon” or “Ice and Fire”.

“Not bad.”

Ye Qing smiled despite the dangerous situation he was in. “Fog Demon?”

An eerie cackle and a rattling of chains broke out. The Boundless Mara Buddha appeared in the sky and unleashed a palm strike, the reversed mudra intending to damn his target instead of saving them.

The sun fell, and the moon vanished back into the clouds. The two Spirit Purifiers were batted away like flies.

“Deal with them, Fog Demon,” Ye Qing instructed before stepping into the crowd. Wherever his fists traveled, people fell, and lives were snuffed out. No one could stand in his way.

Tens of breaths later, Lin Yuhuai and Chu Nianjiu finally showed up with a troop of Pacification Sentinels. Following right behind them was a bunch of soldiers clad in black armor with cloud patterns on it and wielding Chu sabers. They were also flying a banner with the same symbol. It was simple yet beyond intimidating.

Every soldier had at least some blood on their sabers. It was clear they had just fought a great battle. However, they maintained an orderly formation and a dignified appearance.

The Black Feather Guards marched swiftly yet soundlessly toward the Sunset Hill members. The cloud patterns on their armor made them look like black feathers cruising soundlessly along the wind and clouds.

In fact, the Black Feather Guards were famed for their speed and unusual armor. Few armies were as suited as them to be a strike force.

“RAISE SPEARS!” A captain wearing a grave expression barked as soon as the troops had reached the peak. The soldiers immediately produced a short spear from their backs and raised it. Their reaction speed was impressive, but what was even more impressive was how they moved with perfect oneness. It was almost as if they were a single entity.

“THROW!”

The captain waved, and the soldiers tossed their spears at the Sunset Hill disciples.

Rumble!

The rain of forceful spears descended like the judgment of heavens. There were thousands of Sunset Hill disciples at the peak of the hill, and this one volley had taken out at least half of them.

The short spears were forged from a kind of dense metal. A steel spear of the same shape and size was at least ten times lighter than these spears. Combined with the soldiers’ own strength, there was no chance the Sunset Hill disciples’ protective qi and body could block the spear throw.

In fact, these short spears were specifically made to make quick work of most jianghu warriors. A single volley from a squad of twenty five soldiers could force back even an Astral Refiner.

Any other group would have routed already, but these Sunset Hill disciples had completely lost their minds. Instead of running away, they continued to charge toward the Black Feather Guards like crazy.

“CROSSBOWS!” The captain ordered unhurriedly, and the soldiers grabbed the hand crossbows hanging on their waist and took aim at the incoming horde.

“LOOSE!”

If the spear volley was a downpair, then the crossbow bolts were a locust swarm. Dozens of Sunset Hill disciples were turned into beehives in an instant.

That said, the crossbow was much less effective against a jianghu warrior. By the time they loosed a volley, the surviving disciples were already close enough to unleash their own counterattacks.

“SHIELDS!” The captain ordered again, and the vanguard stepped aside to allow the shieldbearers to take the front.

The shields they used were a little taller than the average human, and it was thick, sturdy, and pitch black. The shieldbearers split up into two tight rows. One row was crouching on one knee and planting their shields on the ground, whereas the second row was holding their shields above the shields, forming a sturdy shield wall.

Boom boom boom!

The Sunset Hill disciples slammed into the shield wall, but the shields didn’t budge even a little. The next moment, numerous blades slipped through the gaps between the shields and pierced the warriors directly in front of them.

The Sunset Hill disciples were mindless, but they hadn’t lost their martial instinct. Some of them jumped into the sky in an attempt to slip in between their ranks and disrupt their formation.

However, the second row of shieldbearers immediately raised their shields above their heads and stopped the disciples from descending. Then, they thrust their sabers through the gaps and skewered them all.

“FORWARD!”

The captain ordered, and the shieldbearers began pushing forward while the rest of the soldiers followed closely behind.

“HU!”

“HU!”

“HU!”

Metal clanged against metal, and the soldiers roared as one. Like a black tide of steel, the Black Feather Guards charged into the enemy group and systematically divided, surrounded, and slaughtered everyone.

Soon, the Sunset Hill disciples were overwhelmed by the black tide that was the Black Feather Guards.