These revenants had been fed a steady supply of living human organs over the recent period, and had been painstakingly nurtured by their “master.” Their malicious power was now far beyond that of ordinary revenants — their speed of attack was astonishing, and in an instant they were bearing down upon Lin Xiao and the others.
Lin Xiao raised his sword and brought it down, severing the arms of the revenant at the front, then reversed the blade and drove it hard into the throat of another.
Qin Yao drew out the Soul-Devouring Bell, releasing the Fire Dragon to bite into the horde of corpses. But to her dismay, these revenants were coated in a strange, intensely cold and dark layer of lake water that seemed to serve as a protective shell. When the Fire Dragon reached the revenant in front of Qin Yao and burned into it, there was indeed a crackling and sizzling, and the revenant let out a series of agonized wails — but the flames could not spread freely through the horde as she had hoped. Instead, they crawled slowly through that one revenant, charring its flesh and splitting its skin open, before sluggishly moving on to the next.
A’Han, seeing that his junior sister’s Soul-Devouring Bell could not sweep through the horde all at once, quickly pulled out paper talismans from his robe. Chanting the Stilling Mind Incantation under his breath, he slapped one talisman after another with his palm against the revenants surging toward him.
The three of them each had their own abilities, but the revenants were numerous. Even with their well-coordinated teamwork, breaking through the dense wall of corpses proved impossible in the short term.
Lin Xiao and Qin Yao guarded against the possibility that Chun Qiao might seize the opportunity to flee, keeping one eye on her movements while fighting off the revenants at the same time.
Chun Qiao watched the battle with a dark expression for a long while. Seeing that the revenants were unable to overcome the three of them even after a sustained assault, she took advantage of the moment when Lin Xiao and the others had no attention to spare — and suddenly curled a finger into a loop, gave a sharp whistle, and quietly began easing her own feet toward the edge of the grove.
At that signal, the revenants abruptly ceased their attack. One by one they turned and bounded toward the lakeside, and then, with a series of heavy splashes, returned to the water as they had come, sinking back to the lake bottom.
Lin Xiao saw Chun Qiao starting to run. He frowned sharply, gripped his sword, and in a series of rapid leaps, gave chase.
But though Chun Qiao’s external martial skills were no more than passable, her footwork was among the rarest of the age. Combined with the cover of the night, she vanished into the trees at remarkable speed.
Lin Xiao refused to let her go. He chased her all the way out of the South Garden Marsh without being able to find any trace of her. He was looking around with his sword raised when, not far off, a burst of brilliant flowers blazed across the night sky with a sharp hiss.
He recalled that the last time Qin Yao had used fireworks to signal an alert, and that the three of them — master and disciples — preferred using this method to communicate with one another. He guessed inwardly: could it be that Qing Xuzi had returned from Wuniu Mountain?
He turned back to the lakeside. True enough, Qin Yao was staring anxiously at the sky. When she saw him return, she said, “Master is calling for us — and it seems to be something extremely urgent. We have to go to him at once.”
Lin Xiao turned to look at Pei Shao and the others, who were still standing there in a daze where they had been left. He hesitated. “What about them? If Chun Qiao comes back, she won’t let them off easily.”
Qin Yao thought for a moment, then walked to stand before Pei Shao. She pressed a Binding Talisman against his expressionless face and said, “These people seem to have lost their souls — but how long ago is unclear, and whether they can be saved is unknown. For now, all we can do is temporarily immobilize them here and wait for me to bring Master back and ask him what should be done.”
She ran back and forth, pressing Binding Talismans to the foreheads of all the young men in turn. A’Han quickly followed suit. Once every last one of them had been fixed in place, the two of them set up a Six Harmonies Formation around the perimeter.
At that moment, the sky in the distance flared again — clearly Qing Xuzi urging them once more. Qin Yao said to A’Han and Lin Xiao, “I’m going to find Master. Young Lord, Shixiong — wait here for us. That woman and the Jade Corpse may well return before long. Please be very careful.”
With that, she turned to leave.
Lin Xiao saw that she intended to go regardless of her own safety and without a second thought stepped in front of her. “I’m going with you.”
A’Han also said, “Exactly — it’s unknown what’s happened on Master’s end. Having the Young Lord go with you would be best. I’ll stay here and watch over these people. Those revenants shouldn’t come back this quickly.”
Qin Yao was deeply torn. She thought for a moment, then her eyes brightened with a sudden idea. She asked A’Han, “Shixiong, do you have any signal fireworks? We can alert Master — if everything on his end is all right, when he sees our fireworks, he’ll come to find us himself.”
A’Han dug around inside his robe for a while, then shook his head. “Didn’t bring any.”
Qin Yao frowned, just about to speak, when the sky blazed again — Qing Xuzi’s third call for urgency.
Qin Yao dared hesitate no longer. She looked at Lin Xiao, saw that his mind was made up, and had no choice but to say to A’Han, “We’ll return as soon as we can. Shixiong, keep watch here. If things go wrong, just run — we do our best and leave the rest to fate. In a critical moment, you take care of yourself first. Don’t try to hold your ground or go head-to-head with the Jade Corpse.”
A’Han gave a vigorous nod. “Don’t worry, A’Yao. Master drilled it into me ages ago — if you can fight, fight; if you can’t, run.”
“Exactly! If you can’t fight, run.” Qin Yao’s heart eased. She smiled at A’Han in something close to praise.
“Let’s go — with Daoist Qing Xuzi calling this urgently, it must be serious. Don’t delay any longer.” Lin Xiao took Qin Yao’s hand and started forward.
Qin Yao glanced back at A’Han, then suddenly turned and came back. She reached up and unclasped the Soul-Devouring Bell from around her neck, hung it around A’Han’s, and said, “Master always said you have a pure Yang constitution that most evil spirits cannot get near — but having the Soul-Devouring Bell to protect you is still safer.”
A’Han blinked, then nodded obediently. “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of it for you, junior sister.”
Qin Yao stared at him, torn between amusement and exasperation. “I mean — if the Jade Corpse comes, you need to use the Soul-Devouring Bell against her.”
A’Han gave an “oh” of understanding and said, “All right, I’ll do as junior sister says.”
Only then did Qin Yao nod in satisfaction.
Lin Xiao had not expected Qin Yao to give her own precious treasure to A’Han. He was quiet for a moment, then gripped the Chixiao Sword more firmly, took Qin Yao’s hand, and said, “Now can you set your mind at ease? Let’s go.”
Qin Yao gave a soft affirmation, turned, and followed Lin Xiao as they hurried away.