Her robe tore apart, body turning pitch-black with barbs. Her hands whipped into a Thorn Long Whip, holding off both Xiao Kun and Xiang Xian alone.
“See? It’s all because of you,” Xiang Xian quipped amid the chaos.
“Enough!” Xiao Kun snapped. “Draw your sword! Is it just for show?”
“I can’t draw it recklessly. Where’s Chaosheng? Watch out, Chaosheng!”
The pollen storm cleared; Chaosheng unaffected, peeked curiously from behind a rock at the flower demon. Xiang Xian leaped to his side, kneeling on the stone.
The flower demon chased Xiao Kun, lashing her Thorn Long Whip. Xiao Kun dodged repeatedly, spotting her weakness: the vines linking her tail to the bud. Sever that, and the threat ended. But Xiang Xian spectated, preventing distraction, foiling Xiao Kun’s attempts.
“Xiang Xian!” Xiao Kun urged again. “Get to work!”
Xiang Xian wasn’t purely slacking; he observed the demonic qi on the flower demon growing stronger, erupting fully, corrupting her into blood-red.
He glanced up, spotting A Huang on a beech branch, and beckoned.
A Huang spiraled down but didn’t land on Xiang Xian. He tossed the Pei Sword to Chaosheng. “Draw it if danger comes.”
“Okay!” Chaosheng hugged the sword.
Xiang Xian joined the fray. Amid the flower demon’s hoarse roars came a crisp snap.
A Huang circled, dropping a glowing orange feather that ignited, repelling cliff-covering demonic qi. Xiang Xian hovered midair, Demon-Suppressing Banner like a red skirt at his waist, hair glowing orange-red. Flames neared, forming a blazing ring.
Xiao Kun’s pressure eased. Lady Hua Rui turned, charging Xiang Xian. They clashed; demonic qi and blazing flame waves surged outward, toppling cliffside houses. Monsters knew their boss faltered and charged out, bathed in demonic qi, howling as they swarmed Xiang Xian!
Lady Hua Rui manifested a Thorn Long Sword and lunged at Xiang Xian!
He evaded direct confrontation, flashing through the air with an afterimage, then retracted his flames.
“Catch!” Xiang Xian shouted.
Xiao Kun sped behind Lady Hua Rui, sheathed his Earth Element Tang Dao “Wanxiang” in his right, switched the Wood Element “Senluo” blade to his right hand, neatly catching Xiang Xian’s flames.
Wood fueled fire; the blaze clung to Senluo, urged by Wood Spirit Power into a crimson light blade. Lady Hua Rui sensed the rear threat and whirled.
Xiao Kun’s left hand behind his back, he reverse-gripped the blade and surged forward. Man and saber merged into light, boom—severing the entwining vines!
With Lady Hua Rui’s wail, demonic qi erupted, roiling uncontrolled over the cliff toward Qingcheng Back Mountain.
Xiang Xian and Xiao Kun prepared the next assault, but the monster village’s little demons cried out in terror and scattered into the wilds, fleeing clean.
The remaining Lady Hua Rui, whose legs had been severed, lay on her side in the center of the platform. The flower bud, having lost its connection, began to wither at a speed visible to the naked eye. Brownish-yellow decayed petals scattered layer by layer, falling to the ground.
Lady Hua Rui: “I… my husband…”
As the demonic qi dissipated, Lady Hua Rui coughed repeatedly and struggled to prop herself up from the ground, as if trying to sit up.
Xiang Xian and Xiao Kun approached Lady Hua Rui, and Chaosheng emerged from behind the stone, staring at her in a daze.
“Where did you get that demonic qi?” Xiang Xian asked.
Such dense demonic qi clearly exceeded the amount an ordinary monster could obtain.
Lady Hua Rui raised her head and glanced at Xiang Xian. Her eyes filled with sorrow, and the black fire gradually faded along with the release of the demonic qi.
“Take her away,” Xiao Kun said. “We’ll interrogate her slowly back at base.”
Xiang Xian: “Wait… hey!”
Xiao Kun was quick-eyed and quick-handed. Xiang Xian was caught off guard, and the Demon-Suppressing Banner at his waist was snatched away. Xiao Kun immediately darted behind Chaosheng and said, “You’re pranking me again!”
Then Xiao Kun tossed his black outer robe to Xiang Xian, who hurriedly put it on and fastened his belt.
Xiao Kun shook out the Demon-Suppressing Banner and aimed it at Lady Hua Rui. But she said, “My root tendrils have been severed by you, and my cultivation has completely dispersed. Whether you take me into the banner or not no longer matters. If you leave me here, I will eventually wither and die slowly.”
“You recognize this thing?” Xiao Kun held the Demon-Suppressing Banner sideways, about to shake out the red cloth to collect her, when Chaosheng said, “Wait, Big Brothers.”
Xiao Kun: “?”
Xiang Xian turned to look at Chaosheng.
“You…” Chaosheng walked toward Lady Hua Rui and said, “Could you be Fei Hui?”
Lady Hua Rui looked up and met Chaosheng’s gaze, then revealed an expression of disbelief.
“You know her?” Xiang Xian said. “Did she come from the White Jade Palace too?”
Xiao Kun understood as well. Chaosheng had not left Kunlun Mountain for many years, so it was impossible for him to know this mountain demon. The flower demon’s magical power shared the same origin as that of the White Jade Palace. The only explanation was that Lady Hua Rui came from Kunlun Mountain!
“It’s me,” Lady Hua Rui said. “I haven’t heard that name in too many years. And who are you?”
Chaosheng spread his right hand, revealing pure Wood Spirit Power.
“You’re… Little Master!” Lady Hua Rui suddenly said excitedly. “You’ve taken human form!”
Chaosheng gazed into Lady Hua Rui’s eyes, his own filled with sadness.
Lady Hua Rui hurriedly crawled toward Chaosheng and said, “It’s you, the Green Seed borne by Lord Jumang! Little Master, I even watered you and wiped you down back then!”
Xiang Xian glanced at Xiao Kun and spread his hands, indicating: You probably can’t take her now, since she’s an acquaintance of Chaosheng’s.
“Why didn’t you go home?” Chaosheng looked at her lower body. Lady Hua Rui’s skirt revealed severed vine legs. He said, “Let me try to reattach them for you.”
