Wayfarer

Chapter 95: I'm the Victim

A dozen or so traitorous officials of Great Wei were obliterated by Xiao Nanfeng's fist. Even more were sent flying amidst a series of screams.

"Nanfeng? What's he doing here?!"

"You Shi, you were the one who called for this meeting. Is this your fault?!"

Everyone began to yell at You Shi, enraging him. He was about to blame them for having somehow leaked the information to Xiao Nanfeng, but they had made him the scapegoat instead!

"Without taking over Nanfeng's body, none of us are making it out. Don't run away—we have to strike him together!"

"Take him down together!"

The spirits began to shout fiercely, rallying the others to their cause. They had clawed their way, tooth and nail, to reach the vaunted heights of Immortals, and they still retained that ruthless nature. Though they knew that charging toward Xiao Nanfeng might lead to instantaneous death, none hesitated.

Xiao Nanfeng retaliated with Hegemon's Fist, each fist surging with a river of spiritual power. Each punch struck down several spirits and sent even more flying, but the spirits continued relentlessly, as though attempting to exhaust Xiao Nanfeng of all his spiritual power.

As Xiao Nanfeng released punch after punch, over two hundred spirits were vanquished. Even so, Xiao Nanfeng didn't seem to have grown visibly weaker. The spirits turned anxious.

"Everyone, lend me your spiritual power! My formation's almost complete, quick!" You Shi shouted from the back.

The octagonal forms of the Eight Trigrams appeared around You Shi, shining with blinding light.

"Lend You Shi your spiritual power! His formation can augment all our strength!" the spirits shouted.

A torrent of blue spiritual energy rushed toward You Shi, causing his body to glow with brilliant blue flame.

You Shi snarled. With a wave of his hand, the eight trigrams were torn apart. Fierce beasts rushed out.

"Another formation? Die!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

With each punch, he sent dozens of spirits into oblivion. Their number dwindled rapidly.

"Hurry up, You Shi! We can't hold on much longer!" the spirits howled.

"My body, the formation; eight dragons, the seal!" You Shi chanted.

A giant blue dragon emerged in a burst of golden light. Spiritual power formed a raging storm. Rubble from the ruined temple rose into the air as the dragon keened. It shot straight toward Xiao Nanfeng, who punched at it with a fist.

The resulting shockwave sent the spirits flying. Even the dragon was forced back.

"That dragon's only at the early stage of Lunar Deluge. It can't keep up with Nanfeng!" one spirit cried out.

"The eight dragons' seal comprises more than a single dragon. Go!" You Shi commanded.

The remaining seven flares of golden light gave way to seven more fierce dragons, each appearing in a shockwave of energy. The eight dragons howled simultaneously as they charged toward Xiao Nanfeng.

Xiao Nanfeng snorted, forming a spiritual barrier around himself.

The eight dragons smashed into the barrier, causing it to shake violently.

"Lock!" You Shi called out.

The eight dragons wrapped around Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual barrier, squeezing at it with all their might, causing it to shrink smaller and smaller as it began to crack.

"We've got him!"

"Quick, possess him!"

"Kill him!"

The spirits all around smiled in wild ecstasy as they saw their plan succeed.

Only You Shi remained astounded. "How, how could this be? His spiritual power's rampaging! Just like last time, he's reached the level of a late-stage Lunar Deluge cultivator. No—!"

Just then, as Xiao Nanfeng once again absorbed a huge burst of spiritual power from the frozen mountain in his mindscape, roaring blue flames ignited around him. Countless energy gathered around his fist as he struck at the dragons' heads.

The eight dragons had twined around each other in forming a seal around Xiao Nanfeng, and they were struck head-on by the blow. Waves of energy spread from their heads to their tails. The tremendous pressure caused all the spirits to inhale collectively, as though realizing what was about to happen.

"No!" Countless spirits tried to flee, but it was already too late. The eight dragons exploded simultaneously in an earth-shaking bang.

Shockwaves swept through the temple, instantly obliterating countless houses and even some of the floating islands in the sky.

The spirits present had all lent You Shi their spiritual power, and their defenses were as weak as they had ever been. Many of the spirits' bodies dissipated from the shockwaves alone, and those that still clung to life were all vomiting blood as they fought to rein in what little spiritual matter they still possessed.

Only You Shi had the power to defend against Xiao Nanfeng's blow, but even he was bleeding from his mouth. He was sent flying. As he struck the ground, he attempted to turn and flee.

"After having turned these spirits against me and failing, you're now attempting to flee? Don't you think it's too late? Let's see just how many more spiritual bodies you possess for me to destroy." Xiao Nanfeng suddenly appeared before him and threw a punch.

"No! If I had the time to construct a stronger formation, I would surely have been able to seal and destroy you! How did you even crash this meeting? I won't take this lying down!" You Shi howled.

Xiao Nanfeng's fist struck his ethereal body and tore it to shreds. It vanished in a cloud of black smoke.

By then, the explosion had subsided. Xiao Nanfeng turned back to the battlefield. All the dead spirits had already vanished, but there were still hundreds of spirits left. Xiao Nanfeng certainly didn't want them to become food for Madam Rouge.

He ran into their midst, killing official after official. Despite Xiao Nanfeng's strength, the officials had been Immortals in life, and a few had secret techniques that allowed them to escape and flee from Xiao Nanfeng's grasp.

As he took down the final remaining spirit, Xiao Nanfeng surveyed the dust and smoke that rose around him. Only then did his rage slowly abate.

Another third of the frozen mountain in his mindscape had been consumed, leaving a final third left. However, the miraculous power of the black lotus had recycled a great amount of spiritual power from the fight, dramatically decreasing his expenditure.

In a dark corner of the capital of Great Wei stood a skeleton wreathed in black smoke, none other than Madam Rouge herself.

She stared at Xiao Nanfeng from afar in long silence. She had barely made it into Xiao Nanfeng's mindscape, and he should have been quailing in terror as a result! But what had happened? Why is he so strong that I don't even dare to reveal myself to him?!

Puffs of black smoke emerged from Madam Rouge's skull, as though she were inordinately vexed.

Given Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual power, Madam Rouge refused to appear before him. Instead, she was forced to consume the fleeing spirits in hopes of augmenting her strength.

With a poof, she vanished from sight.

A weakened official had just escaped from Xiao Nanfeng's one-sided slaughter with a secret art, and was now fleeing through a dark forest.

"This damned Nanfeng, a mere mortal—how dare he treat me so? Once I make it out of this realm, I'll make sure he suffers for what he's done!" the official cursed.

Suddenly, he felt an aura of death surrounding him.

"Who is it?!" He turned back in shock, only to find a skeleton by his back. He was about to shriek when the skeleton flashed forward and pierced through his chest, tearing him apart and killing him on the spot. He dissipated in a cloud of black smoke that the skeleton absorbed.

The skeleton twisted her head and looked in another direction, as though able to sense another target. Silently, she flashed toward another fleeing official.

After Xiao Nanfeng's slaughter and carnage, he chose not to remain in hiding any longer. He launched himself toward a floating island, where he stood and surveyed the capital beneath him.

Occasional screams came from the city at large, but the few times that Xiao Nanfeng was close enough to respond, Madam Rouge had killed her target and left. He attempted to catch an official to use as bait for Madam Rouge, but they were too fast for Xiao Nanfeng to catch with their secret techniques—until Madam Rouge caught them by surprise.

Two days later, Xiao Nanfeng's mental state had vastly improved. The fact that Madam Rouge continued to hide from him made him feel as though she was far less of a threat than before. He stood in the most eye-catching part of the capital and waited for her to appear before him, but she never did.

Suddenly, the mists above him began to fade.

Xiao Nanfeng guessed that the Red Emperor had released the seal after sensing that all her subjects had perished.

He exhaled, stopped waiting for Madam Rouge, and headed back up the dragon's head mountain.

There, he found the Red Emperor still drinking alcohol. Blue Lantern sat waiting in the vicinity, while Yu'er was seated cross-legged in meditation.

"Were you unable to catch that cursed effigy?" The Red Emperor took another sip of wine as she looked toward Xiao Nanfeng.

Xiao Nanfeng smiled wryly. "I'm ashamed to admit not, Your Majesty."

"It's only to be expected. That cursed effigy is sly and cunning, with a surprising ability to move from place to place. Even with my control over the realm, I'm unable to pinpoint its location, so how could you have succeeded? That said, I can sense that it feels no small amount of grievance toward you. Just how did you rouse its attention?"

Blue Lantern also looked curiously at Xiao Nanfeng.

"I never did so actively, Your Majesty. I was always reacting passively in defense. I'm the victim here; it latched onto me because of its pettiness!" Xiao Nanfeng cried out.

"How could that be?" Blue Lantern seemed disbelieving.

Xiao Nanfeng briefly recounted his clashes with Madam Rouge.

Blue Lantern and the Red Emperor fell silent upon hearing his tale. The first time you met, you beheaded it. The second time, you caused it to be caught. After that, you kept on burning incense for it despite the fact that it was no monk, Buddha, or religious icon. Are you trying to humiliate it? Are you really the victim here?

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