Chapter Twelve: Taking Refuge in Mount Huang

  Shen Bailian opened his eyes wide, and in front of him countless bubbles mixed with emerald green waves splashed on his face, rushing into his nostrils. Even though he was not afraid of water, he was still choked to the point of non-stop coughing. After the thick foam of bubbles dissipated, the purple lightning and dark clouds were all a blur, but the turbulent lake waves proved that what had just happened was absolutely not an illusion.

  He had just seen that the electric net was hard to resist, and naturally he kicked his feet and dove back into the water. However, where could the speed of thunder be reached by a small monster like him? In the blink of an eye, he was struck by lightning on his back and was submerged in the big waves.

  What a fierce sword formation, Mother may not be able to withstand it? Shen Bailian thought of her mother, gritted her teeth, and kicked the water, splashing out of the surface.

  As soon as he poked his head out, a purple lightning bolt struck down in front of him. Shen Baiying hurriedly dodged to one side, but was still splashed with water all over his head by the waves stirred up by the thunder. He wiped his face with his hand and looked around, the lake surface was still flashing with lightning and rumbling with thunder, but the falling thunder had slowed down a bit.

  On the shore, those Taoist priests were also pale and exhausted, their state of exhaustion was no less than Shen Bailian's. It was clear that supporting the sword array had consumed a lot of energy. However, until now, those young men still did not put down the long swords in their hands, looking extremely solemnly towards Niao Lake.

  Shen Bailian followed their gaze, and her chest jumped again with a surge of joy. In the flash of lightning, a red-clad figure fluttered, with a jade-like face and crimson lips, and a tall, slender silhouette still hung steadily in mid-air - wasn't it his mother he had been searching for everywhere just now?

  Shen Bailian was secretly rejoicing, but saw his mother suddenly sway, like a peony flower cluster on the branch of a tree that had been beaten by rain, shaking and about to fall. His heart skipped a beat, thinking: Could it be that Mother has been struck by lightning and injured?

  As expected, when the purple lightning fell from the clouds, Shen Qing was still in mid-air. She couldn't dodge into the water in time and had to face it head-on. Her movements were agile, and she managed to avoid many of the lightning bolts, but her strength was limited, and she was eventually struck by a bolt of lightning that hit her vital spot.

  Those Taoists saw that she had not been killed by the swift thunder in the sword array, but was covering her chest and panting constantly, obviously seriously injured. Suddenly, they were overjoyed. The leading Taoist laughed and said: "Witch, today you must be eliminated!" As he spoke, he and several fellow disciples urged on the sword array again.

  Dark clouds began to swirl again. Shen Qing slowly opened her autumn waves, glanced at them, and with a wave of her long sleeves, she floated in the air once more. This time, six real shadows that were exactly like herself appeared, and seven red-clad figures could be seen in the air, all of whom were equally elegant and agile. They danced in circles amidst the thunder and lightning for a moment before it became impossible to tell which one was Shen Qing and which ones were her shadows.

  Those Taoists urged the sword array several times, and the purple lightning shot down from the clouds like arrows, illuminating the trees along the shore of Shen Lake and the embankment as if it were daylight. Shen Bailian felt a stinging sensation in her eyes, and she quickly closed them, observing through a slit between her eyelids.

  Only to see another wave of electric webs intertwined, striking several red-clothed figures in the air. Under the dazzling light, those figures gradually turned into a red mist and dissipated. The remaining shadows transmitted a long laugh, full of mockery.

  At this time, the faces of several Taoists on the shore embankment were even worse. The young man in front had sweat dripping from his temples and hairline, and his face was slightly greenish-yellow. He gritted his teeth and said fiercely: "Come again!" The other Taoists then input their magical powers into the sword array with him, forcing the power of thunder to strike Shen Danqing.

  Shen Qing's cold laughter ceased abruptly as a bolt of purple lightning struck her shoulder, and she retreated into the shadows, clutching at her wound.

  The Taoist rejoiced: "Alright, his true body won't dissipate, let's continue to wield the thunder!"

  Dazzling lights flashed, piercingly bright. When Shen Baiyun opened her eyes again to look up at the top, where was her mother's figure in mid-air?

  He was shocked at first, and then a chill spread from his chest, as if the blood in his body was about to freeze. The Taoist priests were overjoyed, one of them had no strength to hold on and fell from the sword into the grass by the shore, while the others sheathed their swords with a swoosh.

  But soon the thunderstorm on the lake surface gradually subsided, and the dark clouds slowly dispersed. Before long, it was a bright moon in the sky, with sparse stars twinkling.

  The young man smiled and said: "Alright, several younger martial brothers, let's return to Shouyang City now!"

  Shen Bailian sank into the water, staring at the young man with a gaze that was about to split apart, thinking: How can you just let him go back so easily! He was racking his brains trying to think of how to avenge his mother when suddenly there was another burst of red light on the lake shore in front of him.

  As he raised his head again, behind those Taoist priests, a red mist was condensing into shape, revealing Shen Qing's figure. Before they could react, Shen Qing's hands were in claw form, with purple sharp nails extended from the tips of his fingers, and he swiped at their necks. A few crisp sounds later, all the Taoist priests had their heads dangling limply to one side, like broken cloth bags, and fell to the ground, their necks having been snapped by Shen Qing.

  The young man standing at the front was a bit farther away, and he was the only one who managed to survive. He also reacted the fastest, quickly reaching into his sleeve, and by the time Shen Qing had approached him, he had already released his hand and thrown something out. The object emitted a bright blue light and shot off rapidly towards the northwest direction.

  In the blink of an eye, the Taoist priest also died at Shen Danqing's hands. Although Shen Danqing had won, he was still injured and clutched his chest, coughing several times before collapsing softly beside the corpses.

  Shen Bailian scrambled up the lake shore, using the moonlight to cross over several clumps of wild grass, and rushed towards where his mother had fallen. Unprepared, his foot was suddenly blocked by something soft, and he let out a cry as he tumbled out, only to find that he had carelessly stepped on the corpse of the young Daoist priest.

  "What a ghost, I'm not dead yet!" Shen Danqing angrily said, struggling to sit up from the ground, staring at Shen Baiying who wanted to scold again, but couldn't catch his breath, and could only cover his chest and pant repeatedly.

  Shen Bailian hastily took a step forward and supported her mother's body in the crook of her arm, anxiously asking: "Mother, does your wound hurt?"

  Shen Qing took another deep breath and slowly said: "The pain is... painful, but I can't stay here any longer. Help me up!"

  Shen Bailian passed her arm under her mother's armpit, shouldering more than half of Shen Danqing's weight on her arm and stood up, asking: "Mother, shall we go home now? I'll pick some herbs..."

  Before he could finish speaking, Shen Danqing interrupted him: "No!"

  Shen Bailian was taken aback, looking at her mother inquiringly. Shen Danqing had inadvertently moved her injured part again and coughed a few times, with a thread of blood already seeping from the corner of her mouth. Her face expressionless, she wiped away the blood and said: "That evil Daoist of the demon clan must have sent out a message before he died, so it's likely that someone will be coming after us soon... The old wound I suffered many years ago has been triggered again today, and I no longer have the strength to suppress the demonic energy."

  Shen Bailian suddenly realized that the green light released by the Taoist was a message, but he didn't know what kind of formidable figure was in the northwest direction. He had no experience fighting against humans and could only follow his mother's arrangements.

  Shen Qing coughed up another mouthful of blood and continued, "The human Daoists have strange techniques, maybe they have a way to hold their breath underwater... If we go back to Ju Chao country, those humans will follow the demonic aura into the water, won't the demons in the city be in trouble? You just saw it too, those humans don't care about good or evil as long as they see demons, they'll kill us all! Cough cough..." She was getting angrier and started to pant and cough, spitting out a lot of blood onto her clothes. Fortunately, her shirt was already red, so it didn't show much.

  Shen Bailian understood and nodded: "Yes, we can't return to Ju Chao country for the time being. Then, mother, where are we going?"

  Shen Qing thought for a moment, then said: "There are many mountain peaks to the south of here. We'd better avoid them and enter the valley instead. There are many wild beasts there, and the air is chaotic. Even if someone comes after us, it won't be easy for them to find us... Time is not on our side, let's go!"

  Shen Bailian supported her mother as they made their way through the forest by the lake, heading south. Afraid of running into any humans, Shen Bailian only took the secluded paths, and the wild beasts that caught a whiff of the demonic aura on Shen Qing's body didn't dare to come near, so it was actually quite safe. Shen Qing had injuries on her body, and an old illness from years ago had also been triggered, so the two demons would often have to stop and rest. Shen Bailian took advantage of these opportunities to grab some medicinal herbs, chew them up, and apply them to her mother's wounds. With the added benefit of the demonic tribe's naturally robust physique, by the time they reached the foot of Huangshan Mountain, Shen Qing's external injuries had mostly healed, even if her old illness was still not fully recovered.

  Another day passed, and they arrived at a small forest at the foot of the mountain. A shallow stream wound its way through the forest, nourishing a lush carpet of grasses nearby. Shen Bailian supported her mother as she sat down on a large rock by the stream, then went off to forage for some food.

  This forest may not be very large, but it is full of life. As he strolled through the knee-high wild grass, Shen Bailian had already discovered several rabbit burrows. Although he was not good at hunting, as a demon, his eyesight was naturally better than that of ordinary hunters. With just one glance, he saw that not far away, the green grass was swaying, and a grey furry ball flashed by in an instant.

  Shen Bailian's heart skipped a beat with joy, thinking: Tonight I'll get to eat roasted rabbit meat! She tied her long shirt around her waist and chased after him.

  The wild rabbit ran very fast in the grass, turning and twisting with Shen Baiying, but Shen Baiying's legs were very quick, and she caught up again in an instant. The wild rabbit was also very clever, running in the grass for a while, suddenly rushing forward, hiding under the roots of an old tree that several people could surround, and didn't come out.

  Shen Bailian was at a loss, pulling up her sleeves and thinking to herself: If I pour water into the hole, let's see if you can still get out! But this place is already some distance away from that stream. If I go to fetch water, the wild rabbit will take advantage of the opportunity to slip away, and it would be a waste of effort.

  At this time, a cool breeze came, blowing his sleeves fluttering. The wind carried a faint scent of cooking smoke, and Shen Bailian's nose twitched slightly as he emerged from behind the tree. At first glance, he was taken aback to find that he had chased after the wild rabbit all the way to the edge of the forest, which was situated on a gentle slope. Below the slope lay a vast expanse of fields and paddies, with paths and ditches crisscrossing between them. There were also dozens of wooden houses, their thatched roofs overlapping like scales, and narrow dirt roads winding through the village. It was a moderately sized settlement.

  The author has something to say: Thank you for Angle's long review, thank you for Lulu and 380938's comments.

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