Ambush from All Sides (Part Two)
The world had narrowed to the pounding of feet on hard-packed earth and the ragged sound of their own breathing. Yu Xiaogang and Tang San fled down the dark road toward Notting City, driven by pure adrenaline and fear. The shadows cast by the moonlight seemed to writhe with hidden threats.
After several minutes of frantic sprinting, Tang San, his mind reeling from the night's events, could no longer contain his questions. "Teacher!" he gasped between breaths. "Who exactly is my father? Why would the Spirit Hall send so many Title Douluos after him?"
Yu Xiaogang's face, already pale from exertion, tightened. He had never wanted to burden Tang San with this truth so young, but circumstances had forced his hand. As they ran, he spoke in a low, hurried voice, recounting the tale of the Spirit Hall's enmity with the Clear Sky Sect, the death of the previous Pope, and Tang Hao's subsequent descent into despair and wandering.
When Tang San learned that the Spirit Hall was the architect of his family's ruin and the source of his father's suffering, a cold, hard knot of hatred tightened in his chest. His fists clenched so tightly that his sharp nails, honed by the Xuan Tian Bao Lu, drew blood from his palms.
"Spirit Hall," he muttered, the words a venomous oath. "One day, I will make you pay!"
The moment the vow left his lips, a voice, calm and chilling, slithered from the darkness beside the road. "It's a pity you have no future."
They skidded to a halt, martial souls flaring to life in instinctive defense. A figure emerged from the shadows, his form undergoing a grotesque transformation as he stepped into a sliver of moonlight. Wings of shadow and bone sprouted from his back, a gleaming, venom-dripping scorpion tail arched over his shoulder, and a prince-shaped black stripe burned on his forehead. It was Chu Tianxiu, possessed by the form of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
Yu Xiaogang stared at the monstrous visage. Despite his lifetime of studying martial souls, he had never seen a beast spirit possession that resulted in such a chilling, otherworldly appearance. "Where's Lao Han?" he roared, a mix of grief and fury in his voice. "What did you do to him?"
Chu Tianxiu casually clenched his fist. "I've already sent him on his way. Now it's your turn, master and disciple."
The confirmation of his old friend's death sent a wave of darkness through Yu Xiaogang. "Why?" he cried out, his voice cracking. "Why did you kill him? Even if your Spirit Hall wanted to deal with my disciple and Haotian Douluo, you didn't have to involve an innocent! Are all the people in your Spirit Hall so cold-blooded and ruthless?"
To his shock, Chu Tianxiu threw his head back and laughed, the sound harsh and mocking in the silent night. He only stopped after a long moment, wiping a nonexistent tear from his eye.
Just as he was about to deliver a retort, Tang San, who had been using the distraction to stealthily circle behind him using Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, launched his attack. With a flick of his wrists, a cloud of Tang Sect hidden weapons—Needle of One Leaf, Lotus Seed Pod, Godly Zhuge Crossbow bolts—fanned out, each tip glistening with the deadly blue of Midnight Devil Evergreen. It was a barrage designed to kill.
"Fancy nonsense," Chu Tianxiu uttered, his voice dripping with disdain.
He didn't dodge. Instead, he simply threw a single, straightforward punch with his right fist. There was no named technique, just pure, concentrated power. The air compressed before his fist with a deafening BOOM that was more felt than heard. A visible shockwave erupted, meeting the cloud of projectiles head-on. The finely crafted hidden weapons didn't just deflect; they shattered into metallic dust, the poison evaporating harmlessly in the concussive force.
Before the dust had even settled, Chu Tianxiu vanished. He reappeared directly behind Tang San in a flicker of distorted space. His right fist, still clenched, shot out in a brutal, close-range blow.
Tang San, reacting with the instincts drilled into him over a past life, spun and crossed his arms, channeling the Xuan Yu Hand technique to disperse the force. But the gap in raw power was a chasm. He was a two-ring Great Soul Master facing a foe whose physical strength could contend with ten-thousand-year soul beasts.
The collision was brutally one-sided. The sound of snapping bone was unmistakable. Tang San's body was launched through the air like a cannonball, slamming into the trunk of a large tree with a sickening crunch. He slid to the ground, his arms hanging at unnatural, useless angles.
Chu Tianxiu took a step forward, his scorpion tail rising for a final, piercing strike.
"First Soul Skill: Farting Like Thunder - Earth-Shattering Luo Sanpang!"
The ridiculous incantation was screamed with desperate fury. A corpulent, pig-like apparition appeared around Yu Xiaogang. The creature's body swelled violently, its rear end aimed directly at Chu Tianxiu, and unleashed a concussive blast of air and foul odor.
A flicker of utter revulsion crossed Chu Tianxiu's features. With a single, powerful beat of his wings, he shot vertically into the air, easily evading the unsavory attack. While his current physique could likely withstand it, the sheer indignity of being hit by such a technique was unthinkable.
Seizing the opportunity, Yu Xiaogang scrambled to the unconscious Tang San, hefting him over his shoulder with a grunt of effort, and continued his desperate flight.
From his vantage point in the air, Chu Tianxiu watched them coldly. "Come out, all of you," he commanded.
The response was immediate. From the darkness directly ahead of the fleeing pair, a black chain of condensed soul power, cold as death itself, shot forth like a striking serpent. It pierced clean through Yu Xiaogang's shoulder blade with a wet thud, the force spinning him around and sending both him and Tang San tumbling to the ground.
Three figures emerged from the gloom: Protector Wu, Ding Jiu'an, and Jing Hongchen. Protector Wu held the other end of the chain that now pinned Yu Xiaogang.
Then, from all sides, the woods came alive. Dozens of Soul Masters clad in identical black robes materialized from behind trees and within shadows, their movements silent and synchronized, completely sealing every possible escape route.
Yu Xiaogang struggled to his knees, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the dirt. His eyes darted around, taking in the spirit rings swirling around the newcomers. His heart sank into an abyss. The lowest among them was a Soul King. When his gaze landed on the three leaders, his pupils constricted in sheer disbelief.
"One Soul Douluo... two... two Title Douluos!" he stammered, the reality of the situation crushing what little hope remained.
Chu Tianxiu landed gracefully before him, his transformed features making him look like a demon from a nightmare. Yu Xiaogang looked up at him, a hysterical edge to his voice. "To deal with the two of them... your Spirit Hall actually sent eight Title Douluos in one go! Must you be so ruthless?!"
Chu Tianxiu looked down at the broken man. "If you don't cut the weeds at the root, they'll grow back in the spring. If you don't deal with them today, are you waiting for them to become stronger so they can take revenge later? Yu Xiaogang, you're so hypocritical."
Yu Xiaogang lowered his head, the fight draining out of him. He knew it was over. It was a pity for Xiao San, a twin-spirited genius, to perish here with him.
Chu Tianxiu didn't grant him the dignity of last words. He turned his back. "Send them on their way."
Upon the command, two more black chains materialized in Protector Wu's hands, their sharpened tips aiming directly for the vital points of Yu Xiaogang and the unconscious Tang San.
SHING!
A blur of motion. A figure, completely obscured by dark, non-reflective robes, flashed between the chains and their targets. The chains struck the figure and shattered against some unseen barrier, dissipating into black mist.
Chu Tianxiu, who had been calm until now, felt a jolt of surprise. "Attack together!" he shouted, his voice sharp.
Ding Jiu'an and Jing Hongchen moved in perfect sync with Protector Wu, unleashing a coordinated assault of blades and energy projectiles at the mysterious interloper.
The robed figure didn't retreat. Eight spirit rings—black, black, black, black, black, black, black, red—flashed beneath its feet. A single, sweeping motion of its arm, and a wave of immense force erupted, not to attack, but to defend. It met the combined assault of two Title Douluos and a Soul Douluo and repelled them, forcing all three back a step with the sheer, overwhelming pressure of its soul power.
Chu Tianxiu's eyes widened in shock at the sight of the red, hundred-thousand-year ring, but he didn't hesitate. He lunged forward, his Dark Demon Evil God Tiger form unleashing a flurry of savage, close-quarters attacks. He fought with a life-or-death ferocity, aiming to kill.
Yet, strangely, the powerful figure who had just repelled two Title Douluos now seemed to hold back, its movements defensive, parrying and blocking rather than counter-attacking. It only pushed Chu Tianxiu back when Protector Wu and the others tried to attack Yu Xiaogang again. Seizing an opening, it darted to Yu Xiaogang's side, scooped up both him and Tang San as if they weighed nothing, and with a burst of speed that defied belief, broke through the encirclement of the Soul Hall members as if they weren't even there.
The Soul Hall members moved to pursue, but Chu Tianxiu raised a hand, stopping them. Protector Wu and the others knelt before him. "Your subordinates are incompetent; please punish us, Master."
Chu Tianxiu ignored them. He knelt on one knee, pounding the ground with his fists, creating small craters with each impact. "Why?" he muttered to himself, over and over, a mix of fury and a deeper, more personal betrayal in his voice. "Why did you do this?"
After he had vented for a moment, the three protectors cautiously approached. "Master, what should we do about the other place?" Protector Wu asked, referring to the ongoing battle between Tang Hao and the Douluo Hall forces.
"Go!" Chu Tianxiu roared, lifting his head. His eyes burned with the ferocity of a cornered beast. "All of you, go there! I won't go back until I kill a few Title Douluos today!"
Hearing this, everyone followed Chu Tianxiu as he shot toward the source of the distant, earth-shaking explosions.
Meanwhile, the powerful figure, carrying Yu Xiaogang and Tang San, moved with preternatural speed, arriving at the outer walls of Notting City in moments. It unceremoniously tossed them into a shadowed corner of the city wall and turned to leave.
"Thank you..." Yu Xiaogang weakly called out, his voice barely a whisper. "Thank you for saving my life."
The figure paused, emitted a soft, cold snort that held a world of unspoken meaning, and then vanished into the night as if it had never been.