The Tale Never Ends Chapter 99 I Am Shiyan

But Hong Tianhua was also lucky himself; he was reaching into his clothing to retrieve something when Lin Feng's dart struck him and injured his hand. He immediately detected a pungent, fetid stench emitting from his wound and knew, due to his experiences of dealing with poison, that he needed to act quickly! Biting hard, he cleaved off his left arm to save himself and collapsed to the ground, grimacing with pain!

His spirit bears began to move more sluggishly, possibly due to the temporary loss of control from their conjurer. My spirit wolves launched an onslaught, overwhelming the bears with relentless attacks that, finally, I realized that they were weakened enough for me to steal them. I aimed the mouth of my Gourd at the bears and had the two spectral beasts both sucked into my vessel!

Hong Tianhua was clutching at his dripping wound. "Wicked, you boy!" He snarled bitterly at Lin Feng, "My needles are venomous, but they do not kill! Yours, however, is a murderous weapon! What is your name, boy! Spit it out!" "Lin Feng is my name!" Lin Feng spat in response, making no attempt to hide that the hatred is mutual. "You, boy!" Hong Tianhua sn.i.g.g.e.red weakly and asked me this time, "From whom did you learn your magic? Speak the truth!" I raised my Spirit Gourd to my ear and shook it; the spirit bears were liquidated by now and were added into the mix of spirits I collected from Bai Chuanwei, the three Apostles and their four spirit foxes. I tipped my Gourd over and a pill fell out – the pill produced by my Spirit Gourd with the spirits inside as ingredient – and I promptly swallowed it, feeling vitality being restored to my wearied body. "For so long we have fought each other, and you don't know who we are?" I barked incredulously, "You are some enemy, you! I am s.h.i.+yan, Murong s.h.i.+yan!"

"So you say! You are the son of Murong Hai, are you not!?" He hissed with evident hatred, "Surely he is now rotting with old age? For all his prowess and invincibility, he could never best time and age!"

Suddenly, I began to understand. None of the Apostles that we had bested and subdued so far, including Bai Chuanwei and Zheng Tong, had informed their higher-ups about my ident.i.ty. Whether it was due to fear of punishment from their superiors or the intent to h.o.a.rd the credit of defeating the son of the great Murong Hai, I did not know. But Hong Tianhua did not know how youthful and young my father looked now, otherwise, he would not have made such a melancholic confession. He must be present when my father had destroyed the Creed during its peak years and years ago.

Hong Tianhua struggled and got up, swallowing a pill of his own. He breathed heavily after consuming it; his bleeding seemed to have stopped now. "You, boy," He gestured at me, "You say your name is Murong s.h.i.+yan?" I nodded, saying nothing. Hong Tianhua was trying to buy time to heal himself, although I too, needed time to replenish my powers too. He did not notice that I was also at my limits. But Hong Tianhua was busy mumbling, "s.h.i.+yan... s.h.i.+yan... It can't be..."

But before we knew what happened, an invisible force, violent and powerful, came at us! The three of us were hit face-first and the force threw us off our feet, sending us cras.h.i.+ng into the ground. There was a stabbing pain in my chest; my ribs seemed to have been broken! I immediately regurgitated a mouthful of blood! I felt my fingers still moving, but my sword was no more. With a quick scan, I found my sword plunged into the ground, its blade broken into splinters! I looked around and checked on my companions but both Yuan Chongxi and Lin Feng were vomiting blood themselves!

A figure s.h.i.+mmered into sight out of thin air, appearing between Hong Tianhua and us! Dressed in Taoist garbs too, the man was holding a hossu of his own, chanting, "May the blessings of the Sages be upon us!" Hong Tianhua became overjoy to see him, and much to our horror, he exclaimed loudly, "Teacher!" Hong Tianhua's mentor peered down at his student's miserable plight while muttering softly, "What an embarra.s.sment! To think that with your skills and experience, you are driven to such a pitiful state by three raw rookies." The newcomer turned to regard us this time, saying, "You have caused us great grievances, young lads, despite without any prior hatred and enmity! The first, the sixth, another three in Mongolia, and another three during your recent duel; all of whom are now dead by your hand, not discounting the others who are now under arrest and the Thirteenth, I believe, is also slain by your hand! The great Thirteen Apostles are either dead or under arrest, no thanks to you! Why do you pursue us with so much hate and contempt?"

With only one single stroke, the infernal priest had so easily incapacitated us! This alone earmarked the difference between our strength and his! He was simply too powerful for us to handle! Defiantly, I took up my broken sword. I will not yield! I swore to myself as I struggled to get up! With my broken sword tightly in my grasp, I thrust my finger furiously at the priest. "How dare you speak as if you are indeed a benevolent Taoist priest? You're nothing but a band of knaves that steal, plunder, abduct, kill, and that is merely the top of a long list of atrocities and depravity that your students had committed! Many times have your student hunted for our blood and even tried to murder us! Now you dare justify yourself with honeyed-words!" "You speak as if you are br.i.m.m.i.n.g with justice, when you three are together ganging up on my student who is alone!" He hissed in response. "Your student manipulated us to kill your other students! He'd even mocked us by thanking us for our a.s.sistance in helping him to carry out the punishments! You yourself displayed enough violence when you appeared! Since when had we disturbed you?" The evil priest snorted. "A young man with a sharp tongue! Very well, I'll just see what three young boys can do against me!"

With the help of the pill I had just taken, my powers were almost fully restored. There was no other way, I realized. I muttered my spells and released my sword, which flew out of my grasp and hovered above my head. The Taoist priest was greatly shocked to see my broken sword flying. Seeing his chance, Lin Feng attacked, tossing some darts at the priest. But the priest was alert; his eyes glinted as he looked at the incoming attack and easily swept them away with a mere flail of the sleeves of his robes. "Paltry tricks," he snorted gently, still wearing his taciturn mask of aloofness. He vanished the next second and immediately re-appeared before Lin Feng, his hand clawing for Lin Feng's throat!"

"Oh no!" I muttered, reacting as quickly as I could. "Go!" I commanded my sword, and it shot straight at the priest's outstretched hand.

But my efforts were futile; the priest stopped in his tracks, only to divert his attention to my sword. With his bare hands, he parried my sword, striking upon my weapon so hard that it fell out of my control!

"The magic of sword telekinesis? From whom or whence did you learn this skill, boy?!" His face turned hideous as he glared at me. "An heirloom, pa.s.sed on to me!" I barked simply, trying my best to maintain my composure. The older priest looked at me with disbelief, studying my features as if my face and bearing reminded him of someone. "Teacher! That insolent pup is the son of Murong Hai!" Hong Tianhua croaked hoa.r.s.ely from behind him. This revelation filled the older priest with astonishment, although it quickly ebbed away, replaced with a wicked smile. "Murong Hai's son, eh?" he sneered. "Laugh all you want! My father had shown you leniency before, yet you dare continue your evil ways! You have forgotten about my mother's pleas, have you? She who had begged for mercy for your sake!" The older priest was stunned again, pondering about my relations.h.i.+p with Murong Hai. "Your father, you say?" He asked with apparent suspicion, "Murong Hai is your father? It can't be!" Murong Hai would be at least 200 by now! A gnarly old man waiting for his death! You are barely an adult! It can't be! Liar! You're lying! The woman who had pleaded on our behalf was no wife of Murong Hai... No... You brat..."

Liar? I almost blurted out loud. So it seemed that even this old priest knew nothing about how my father had been able to retain his youth. But he did mention a woman who was not my father's wife then. This could only mean that my parents were not yet married then.

"What is your name, boy?" The older priest stirred from his ephemeral stupor, asking me as he raised his head again to study me. "Murong s.h.i.+yan is my name," I declared loudly, shouting loudly word by word. What was formerly a puzzled and confused look on the face of the older priest immediately turned into one of glee and epiphany once he heard my name. "Murong s.h.i.+yan? Good! Hahahaha! So Murong Hai had reaped the entirety of the bounty in that fateful encounter so many years ago! Since you're named s.h.i.+yan, this could only mean that you too, were actually involved in that incident. I shall hold you accountable, come with me!"

The wicked priest closed in on me, the bony fingers of his hand sc.r.a.ping the air as he tried to catch me! But he was so quick, so fast that I could barely evade him! I threw my arms forward to block him while backpedaling backward several steps. But his arm jutted through my sprawled arms with the speed of a swooping hawk, his fingers grabbing at my neck in a vice-like grip! But instead of a whoop of triumph, I suddenly heard a thunderous "Bang", followed by the agonizing screams of the priest!