Chapter 168: Impossible to Ignore

    ~~~

    Their footsteps echo loudly throughout the corridors.

    A vicious battle rages outside, but the sounds cannot reach them down here. The temple is too strong and sturdy to ever tremble, and the walls too thick to allow any noise to pass through. The battle outside could be happening in some distant kingdom, and it wouldn''t make a difference to them.

    For Feng Hao, that is doubly true. The call gets stronger the deeper they go, effortlessly overpowering everything else in his perception. It calls him not with words, but it calls him all the same. The attraction is so potent it almost feels like his body is being physically pulled into the temple.

    Were it not for the heavy guilt he feels at having to hide while others fight, Feng Hao would have already forgotten all about the disciples outside and their battle against the unnatural creatures.

    Are you sure this is the way?

    Feng Hao looks at Sister Mei, though it is a struggle to do so. It is almost like his body does not want to look away from the path.

    It is, he says with utter certainty. You must be feeling it as well, Sister Mei. You have to.

    The older girl frowns, her lips forming a thin line as she looks away.

    I am sure I have no idea what the Young Master is talking about.

    Her reply is maddening. Feng Hao is confident it was Sister Mei who used the Eternal Flame to save him and Elder Brother from the Core Disciples. That means she must have Feng blood somewhere in her family. More importantly, it means she is someone he can talk to about the Eternal Flame and what is happening right now!

    If only she werent so intent on denying it!

    On some level, Feng Hao understands the need for her to pretend. It is not a good time to be someone of Feng blood in the Eternal Flame Clan, much less someone who can call on the Eternal Flame with such strength. Feng Hao is not so thoughtless as to ignore that.

    On a more profound, far more urgent level, Feng Hao needs someone to talk to about this! His instructors taught him of the Eternal Flame, but that was all theory and philosophy that paled when compared to the reality of feeling the Flame in his body. His brother had been in a position to guide him through this, but Feng Zhi had firmly denied him that knowledge.

    Feng Hao feels the Eternal Flame more keenly than ever before. It tells him to listen to the call, to follow it all the way to its source. It is like a language he had always known but was only now hearing for the first time.

    He wants, needs, to talk to someone having the same experience!

    Yet the one person available to him denies him.

    Sister Mei, he says, his voice gaining a pleading tone that almost always works on his mother. Please!

    For a moment, she falters.

    However, it is only for a moment.

    For the sake of the argument, she begins, if I were to feel what the Young Master is feeling, I wouldnt be feeling it nearly as strongly. Certainly not enough to make me venture into the unknown.

    Oh, Feng Hao says. He looks down in disappointment. However, the feeling does not last long. Not with the call still in his ears. But we are in the right direction! I swear! This I cant explain it, but it feels important!

    I certainly hope that is the case, says Sister Fan, the third and last member of their group. She walks at a moderate pace beside them. As someone who can not feel anything at all, this enterprise seems dubious at best.

    You did not have to follow us, Sister Mei says in the same tone his mother often uses to address servants.

    I most certainly do. You do not know your way around the temple, nor can you read its words. Most of the traps have been disabled due to Sister Fan glances at him. ... previous incidents. But thats only true for the upper floors. The deeper we go, the more dangerous this could become. We do not know what could be down here.

    Resolve glows in her eyes.

    Though protecting the wounded was a job given to me by Brother Qing, this takes priority.

    Sister Mei elegantly raises an eyebrow, clearly far less impressed by her resolve than Feng Hao is.

    And does this not have anything to do with you clearly wanting to explore the temple?

    Fan Bingbing frowns. I will not deny this temple represents a great mystery to me, but having to abandon my duties was a bitter choice.

    Please, Lu Mei shakes her head. We both know you are protecting exactly who you are meant to protect right now.

    What? Feng Hao blinks. But what about the wounded?

    Fan Bingbings gaze sharpens. Sister Lu! Do not-

    They were never expected to survive, Sister Mei tells Feng Hao bluntly. Not truly. Do not misunderstand. My Jin is too good to leave them in such a poor condition that theyd die. Should the siege hold, they will live to see another day. However, should the monsters breach the temple, they are in no condition to evacuate.

    She gestures at Fan Bingbing dismissively.

    This woman is only meant to help us escape should it come down to it. The others are not important enough.

    Fan Bingbings reply is silence.

    For the first time, the call cannot overpower Feng Haos guilt.

    ~~~

    -other Huang! Brother Huang!

    It takes him a while to hear the voice calling out to him. That was how lost he had become in the battle. The one who calls is one of the disciples who helped rescue them from the Core Disciples. Ten, he believes his name is.

    Fall back! The disciple shouts, struggling to keep up with him. Were it not for the monsters slowing down Huang Shing as he kills them, it would be impossible for him to catch him. Brother Qing has given the order! The long-range attackers are ready! We all need to fall back!

    Already? He asks, not sure if too much or too little time has passed. If I fall back, how is everyone going to retreat safely?

    His answer comes not from Ten but from the gigantic Qi snake that suddenly rampages into the battlefield. It is a construct made of pure Qi.

    Qing Jins Qi.

    Huang Shings astonishment grows as he sees Qing Jin riding the Qi construct, breaking the enemy lines (if the chaos around them could be called such) and giving the disciples the space they need to retreat.

    Hes amazing, isnt he? Ten asks. If Huang Shing looks awed, then Ten looks downright worshipful. Completely different from the rest of us.

    And Huang Shing has to agree to that.

    Though his cultivation has surpassed Qing Jins, he does not feel at all superior to him. There is something about Qing Jin. Something ethereal yet impossible to ignore that somehow makes him more. It is as if he has grasped something the rest lack.

    Maybe under other circumstances, itd make him jealous.

    Right now, it makes him feel they will win.

    ~~~

    Liu Jin feels like he is dying.

    He shouldnt be feeling that way. He has numbed his body to pain so much that he should hardly be feeling anything at all. Though useful, pain has neither a time nor place here. Liu Jin needs to keep moving. Only once he has cleared everyones retreat back to the temple does he pause.

    For a moment. For a second.

    It is enough. It has to be.

    The long-range attackers fire at the horde. As that happens, Ni Cai calls him to examine their fighters. They need to get them ready for when they inevitably have to jump into the fray once more, and Liu Jin is the only one who can detect the flesh buds. The others are still not ready for that.

    The earth rumbles.

    Liu Jin turns back to the battle as panicked yells rise from the disciples.

    Step.

    Step.

    Step.

    Gigantic corpse-like beasts numbering in the dozens. The creatures they have fought so far cannot compare to these ones. One after another, they walk over the wall and make the earth tremble.

    It occurs to Liu Jin that the one controlling the monsters could have dispatched them at any moment.

    He hadnt.

    Because hed been playing them. Dangling false hope in front of them just to dash it.

    Cries of dismay rise from the other disciples as they realize the same thing. Some even stop firing as they fall to their knees in despair.

    What are you doing? Liu Jin roars as he marches toward them. Keep firing!

    Senior Brother, but-

    Keep firing. If you dont, you die. We all die.

    The disciple flinches, then blinks in surprise as Liu Jin passes right by him and keeps walking.

    Towards the monsters.

    We do not have the luxury of retreat! We do not have the luxury of surrender!

    He dashes into the fray.

    Brother Qing!

    He does not listen. He does not stop. Some may think he is being reckless, but he has considered this possibility from the beginning. It is the only way in which they might survive.

    As he nears the horde, one of the monsters leaps for his throat. Liu Jin holds out his arm.

    He makes contact.

    ~~~