A crackling flint flew across the roof of the ruined sanctuary, Li Wei and Leng Yue stood back-to-back, surrounded by the vile shadows. Every inch of the place had a pungent pressure that left the duo with an overwhelming sense of dread, which was largely directed at the progenitor of the commotion.
"Not how I pictured our evening," Li Wei whispers, a crooked grin clinging to his lips despite the serious situation. His wrist flickered like a match, and a parchment talisman flew out from his sleeve, unleashing a burst of shimmering azure light that scattered the writhing Yin tendrils.
Leng Yue scoffed, letting the edge in her voice dance between nerves and jest. "Well, young scholar, either make your next trick count, or write my epitaph. I have no qualms slaying something of this nature." Even as she spoke, the clever girl brandished a porcelain mirror that radiated with a pale and spectral light, its illuminating glow beamed through the thickening gloom. The tendrils recoiled, slackening as if drunk on the mirror's glow.
"Impressive," Zhou Mu sneers from the shadows, eyebrows arching above his cold eyes. "The tender greenhorns have toys, but do you have the guile to wield them? Or have they sold you snake oil and lacquered porcelain?" His voice echoed, hungry for an opening or a hint of panic in their eyes. Around his feet, the darkness surged violently, swirling around him with malevolent harmony.
Li Wei angled his talisman-crisped palm. "A little jealous, old man?" Instead of nervousness, the youngster demonstrated bravado in the face of his adversary. "It does not matter who am against, you don't scare me."
Zhou Mu's nostrils flared up like an oven. "You think your unstoppable. But I will... Show you insignificance of your actions!" With a guttural snarl, he beckoned the Yin energy, morphing it into a grotesque, slithering beast with too many mouths and no eyes. "Let's see if those trinkets outlast my appetite."
Leng Yue chuckled lightly, before rebuking the heinous creature with a tone that was as brittle as cracked ice. "Appetite? Such big words. Try sating your hunger on something other than children."
"Oh, brave girl," Zhou Mu sneered. "Hide behind silvered glass and borrowed spells as long as you like. When I'm done—" before the disgusting spawn could utter more vile speech from its several mouths Li Wei cut him off, channeling his slight uncertainty into pure bravado. "Please, enough with the monologues. You sound like a bad play."
The next moment the scene was thrown into turmoil by frantic action from both sides. Yin tendrils suddenly lash between columns as the beast lunges. Li Wei yells, "Split—left!" the duo parted in an instant, mirror-like wit reflecting in their every moment. Leng Yue, never missing a beat, whirled to the right, and said, "Pincer that abomination!"
The monster's roar echoed through the hall, any semblance of Zhou Mu was gone. That didn't bother Li Wei in the slightest, "That could work, but there is something about this that seems strange."Li Wei saw a gap that seemed to lead directly towards Zhou Mu, but the young man knew his opponent couldn't be so careless without reason.
" Nice try…" Li Wei made a move with measured caution, his eyes narrowing into slits as he studied the swirl of shadows and the monstrous creation writhing between marble pillars.
A slim red crystal flew from his right wrist and crackled in the air above them —filling the hallway with a hazy incense, "ARGGGHH!!!" a sharp scream as a vague shadow dropped to the ground seemingly agonized by the aroma in the room .
"Slay that heinous Avatar!" For every moment he let pass by, the beast could muster a counter attack , Li Wei watched the dozen malformed jaws snapped at the flickering red fog. Zhou Mu wasn't bothered by the incense, but his avatar seemed to be suffering by just being near it.
Leng Yue darted ahead, Yin tendrils trapped by the arc of her mirror. "Don't delay any longer, If he frees that vile thing will really be in a bind." She taunted the Yin monster with a little twirl, sweeping her hand low to send a flash of spectral illumination slicing across its knotted, sinewy hide.
The surge of light forced a few mouths to reluctantly close, the beast writhing in discomfort, but Zhou Mu's laughter split the parity like a falling axe. "You two—are quite a spectacle. But you will still die here…"
Li Wei drew closer with hushed steps, hurling a white talisman in a sparking arc. "Save it for the next life, Zhou Mu! By the time were through with you, elders will be telling stories of your demise to their children."
The Talisman hurled towards Zhou Mu like a comet and illuminated everything in its path, it was quite the sight considering Li Wei was still a novice in the art of talisman forging. "What sorcery is this! How can you possess talent in martial and scholar arts?" The dark apparition spoke with a heavy tone, at the predicament of the situation
The Jade pylons set up around the hall were already suppressing the martial aura from the two opponents before him, but the duo had switched to using artifacts and talismans. What left the creature more astounded was the proficiency in using ancient techniques and tools that have not been passed on for several centuries.
Darkness rippled outward from Zhou Mu's shadow, crawling up cracked columns, shifting the space between reality and nightmare. "You mistake my patience for mercy," he snapped. "But your time is nearly up, foolish brat."
As the monster rushed forward with devastating momentum, Leng Yue leaped sideways, sliding beneath a thrashing arm, shards of marble flying as claws gouged the piller that the girl was standing next to.
"Whatever it is your planning…" Leng Yue exasperated slowly, rather furious by that close call— LI Wei heard her crisp voice, despite the chaotic atmosphere. "Li Wei, are you expecting me to contend with his heathen alone?
"Just keep him distracted!" Li Wei answered back, stamping a freshly inked glyph onto the floor. Instantly, radiant lines seared outward, forming a crescent barrier that sealed the avatar, the shadow recoiled and struggled vehemently, leaving Zhou Mu's with an ashen expression.
The avatar was a key part of his strength, if he did not free it, the consequences would be unimaginable. Zhou Mu knew that he had underestimated his foes, but he wasn't about to grant them victory just like that.
"You'll need more tricks than that," Zhou Mu spat, voice echoing with something inhuman. The darkness clawed at Li Wei's barrier, nearly swallowing the shimmering edge, when Leng Yue hurled her mirror into the center of the commotion.
A vein on Zhou Mu's forehead pulsed. Images—memories, perhaps—spilled into the remnants of subconsciousness; laughing children, market lanterns, a snow-blanketed courtyard. The beast shrugged and appeared sluggish. Zhou Mu screamed, his composure fracturing, his form shuddering with rage and raw pain.
"Enough!" Shadows peeled backward as he drew upon something deeper, older. The atmosphere thickened, the temperature dropping so quickly Li Wei's breath misted white.
"Witness real power," Zhou Mu intoned, his words laced with malice. An ancient glyph burned across his palm—twined in scarlet and obsidian—summoning a cyclone of shrieking ghosts.
"This ends now…" Li Wei had grown tired struggling with his opponent over control of the battlefield, in the face of such fierce opposition. The young man had already formulated a strategy that could give him a decisive advantage.