Legend of Fu Yao

Ji Yu and his comrades evaded the vines rushing towards them. Looking at this situation, their faces were as white as a sheet.

Swarms of ants rushed over rapidly and instantly engulfed any empty surface of the swamp. Some of the ants had even climbed onto Zhan Beiye and started biting him profusely. Panic surged through Meng Fuyao, and her vision went black.

On the other hand, Zhan Beiye was surprisingly calm. His eyes were glued to the ants and spared no glance towards Meng Fuyao. As those ants came closing in, Zhan Beiye immediately opened his mouth and forced out his Qi.

The force of the Qi flipped the ants over, and they rolled out of the way. However, as he exerted force, Zhan Beiye sunk into the swamp.

Meng Fuyao opened her eyes. Cold sweat drenched her forehead and dripped into her eyes. Her eyes burned with the acidity of the sweat yet she dared not lift her hands up to wipe away the sweat nor blink. Her hands alternated, pulling up Zhan Beiye from the swamp. She quickly calculated the rate Zhan Beiye was sinking – every time he produced Qi, he would sink half a finger worth of depth. But every time she exerted force to pull him out, she would pull him out by a finger’s worth of depth. Though it would be slow, eventually, she could still pull him out from the swap safely.

But heavens forbade things to go smoothly. Just as she came to this conclusion, a soft “Kacha” resounded in the silence around her.

A tiny crack appeared on her whip.

The sound of the crack resembled that of a death horn. The color on everyone’s face drained from the shock, and Meng Fuyao’s heart sank, almost puking blood.

‘What rotten luck this is!’

The whip could no longer be used. Once it broke, there would be no longer enough time to save Zhan Beiye. But Meng Fuyao would rather die than watch him slowly sink in helplessly.

Meng Fuyao went pale and bit her lower lip. She stared at the slowly enlarging crack, eyes filled with worry.

Zhan Beiye suddenly called, “Fuyao.”

Meng Fuyao remained silent.

“Bring them away, Ji Yu knows the route. After getting out of the mountain, take the chance to leave. Don’t involve yourself with Tiansha any longer.”

Meng Fuyao ignored him.

Suddenly, Zhan Beiye slowly drew the sword that hung around his waist. This movement caused him to sink further, worsening the crack on the whip.

“Zhan Beiye, what are you doing!” Meng Fuyao screamed anxiously.

Zhan Beiye only looked at her and gently placed the sword on the sludge.

An item that was laid flat would not sink easily. That long sword laid on the sludge in all its glory, with a glistening sharp blade and the pattern of the Black Dragon on its grip, it was as though the sword would turn into a soaring dragon with a few brushstrokes. The eyes of the Black Dragon were made with rubies so red that it looked like it was coated with fresh blood.

“Fuyao…” Zhan Beiye lowered his voice, “Look at my sword, the grip of this sword is engraved with the pattern of the Black Dragon. The rubies symbolize the eyes of the supreme God of Swords. In the Tiansha royal family, legend has it that the God of Swords incarnated into a dragon and descended upon the Tiansha royal family. Therefore, every disciple of the Tiansha Royal family has their own God of Sword’s eyes that no one else but them can touch. When one places his middle finger this position, no one else can replace.”

He pressed down on the red ruby with his middle finger and turned the grip. “Fuyao, your dagger is too short, too blunt to ensure your safety. I will hand this sword over to you and from this day forth, apart from me, only you can touch the most sacred eyes of the God of swords, and… my everything.”

Meng Fuyao tossed her head.

She refused to listen.

She refused to accept.

What are these words? His last words?

Who decided that she would have to listen to his last words at this time of the day? No, she refused to listen until the last moment! Regardless, the whip had not broken, and even if it did, she would definitely come up with a solution.

Meng Fuyao thought for a second.

A silent gust of wind made its way through the woods, sweeping up her silk-like hair, concealing this moment of resolution that reflected in her eyes.

She took a deep breath, turning her head slightly towards Ji Yu, and shouted, “All of you turn around and walk 10 meters away.”

Surprised, Ji Yu glanced towards Zhan Beiye. “Turn around!” Meng Fuyao yelled.

Ji Yu gritted his teeth and ordered, “Turn around!” Then, he turned around to lead the rest.

All but one soldier followed the order silently. A thin and small soldier that walked slowly at the back could not help but turn back, but Meng Fuyao had no time to care about him. She stared at the widening crack in the whip, the whip that could break any moment.

Meng Fuyao closed her eyes and begun to take off her clothes.

She put down her bag, and her dagger took off the robe that was a little heavy and everything else on her that had weight. She even took off her shoes, standing barefooted in the mud. She fished out a lighter and a bottle of oil that she had especially brought to barbeque the meat she hunted from her bag.

When Zhan Beiye turned back after fighting off a wave of ants, he was startled to find Meng Fuyao stripping off her clothes. Very quickly, what was left on her was nothing but a piece of thin undergarment. Her snow-like skin, her slim waist, and long slender neck peeked through the morning fog. Her top piece of undergarment was too short to cover her tiny waist, revealing the perfect amount of skin. With every breeze, the sheer cloth would press up on her lean legs, barely showing her beautiful curvature. Plenty was left up to one’s imagination – her skin’s elasticity, how smooth it would be and how sexy her curves were. Her sparsely-clothed self left her in a more enchanting state than if she were to be completely bare.

However, Zhan Beiye’s expression changed.

He struggled in the mud, turning his head to face Meng Fuyao. The corner of his eyes reddened as he howled, “No!”

Meng Fuyao smiled. In this very moment, she was agitated and thankful that the whip was still not broken. She walked a few steps back and gently tied and whip to a tree.

A few ants climbed onto Zhan Beiye, yet he remained completely unaware. His eyes were fixated on Meng Fuyao, not on her snow-like skin, her slender waist or long legs, but her eyes, begging her to not do this.

“No! No, no, no, no…” he hollered in anguish. In his voice, one could hear the sorrow and the despair as his voice reverberated through the silent woods.

Meng Fuyao avoided his desperate gaze and mumbled, “For our mother…”

She grabbed the lighter and the oil, standing up with many resolutions.

Suddenly, her body froze and what followed was a pair of hands that gently took the items from her hand.

Meng Fuyao glanced over and realized that those hands belonged to the skinny soldier from just now. He too was stripped down, wearing only a pair of undergarments, baring his skinny torso and legs. He looked as though he was lighter in weight than she was.

He looked away from Meng Fuyao and smiled shyly, saying “Lady Meng, this is too dangerous. Please, let me.”

He paused for a moment and added, “Please take good care of the Prince and the rest of them.”

Meng Fuyao stared at him, the corners of her eyes slowly turning red.

But the soldier was already gone. Meng Fuyao watched him as he got further. His thin shoulder blades resembled that of a dagger, and as Meng Fuyao watched his back, it was as though as a dagger was stabbing into her heart.

Zhan Beiye stared at him, the pain that reflected in his eyes was evidently more than Meng Fuyao. “Hua Zi, you still have your elder mother waiting for you back at home in the South.”

With the same bashful smile, the soldier replied, “So please, help me take care of my mother in my stead.”

Zhan Beiye opened his mouth, wanting to say something. With a bashful yet determined smile on the soldier’s face, Zhan Beiye swallowed back his words. The soldier walked towards the swamp, took a deep breath and laid on the sludge and rolled around.

When the surface area in contact was large, coupled with a light weight, one would not sink immediately while rolling about – this was a common sense amongst those that had survived in the Southern woods.

The young man that had shed all his burdens rolled, rolled towards Zhan Beiye, rolled towards the eager flesh-eating ants.

Those ants were already getting impatient from not being able to defeat Zhan Beiye. Now that there was a fresh prey walking directly into their trap, the ants swarmed towards him with no hesitation.

The young man smiled, applying the bottle of oil onto himself speedily. The ants climbed onto him eagerly, and in an instant, the young man was entirely covered with the black and red gigantic ants. It was as though he wore an ant suit.

The young man’s features were no longer visible from the many ants that crawled onto him. Those ants burrowed themselves into his insides through his eyes, nose, and mouth, yearning to devour and tear every single one of his intestines apart. Though his features could no longer be seen, one could tell that his facial muscles were warping underneath the ants in response to the agonizing and unbearable pain.

He wrestled with all his might, trying to use the lighter in his hands to set himself on fire. However, he underestimated the power of such ants. Almost instantaneously, the intense pain robbed him of the ability to self-combust.

He struggled, and between breaths, he turned to look in the direction of the shore. There, Ji Yu and the rest of the soldiers kneeled.

As the young man pleaded for help, Ji Yu went pale. Tears silently streamed down this handsome man’s face. “Shoot!” Despite the tears, Ji Yu’s voice remained emotionless and cold.

The soldiers gritted their teeth and simultaneously, accurately aimed lighted lighters at the struggling young man.

Vibrant red sparks exploded the moment the lighters landed on the young man, bringing light into the dark and gloomy swamp. The soundless fire started burning, and the young man immediately became ‘the man on fire.’ Ants were burnt to death immediately where the fire had started, though the majority of the scrambled out into safety. The ants escaping held a close resemblance to dark clouds rolling out. Suddenly, the young man started laughing loudly.

His laughter was hoarse, with every laugh dripping with blood. The sharp maniac laughter was filled with murderous aura, pain, and resolution, destroying the eerie atmosphere the morning fog had brought with it, destroying the dreariness that accompanied the poisonous predators that resided in this woods.

As the young man laid in the swamp, the blazing fire continued, using him as a fuel. The young man summoned his energy and once again started rolling towards the ants that were trying to crawl onto Zhan Beiye. Sparks of fire landed on Zhan Beiye’s hair and brows, and with a fizzle, it would burn off his hair or create another ring of fire. He daren’t even blink his eyes.

One was rendered immobile as he was stuck in the swamp while the other was frozen as she had her acupoint sealed. Yet, neither Zhan Beiye nor Meng Fuyao looked away from this tragic sight. They refused to let themselves run away, facing straight at this young man, rolling into the flesh-eating ants, using the cruelest and painful method to protect the people he desired to protect.

This was an inescapable responsibility, an inescapable burden of theirs. Only when the day came where they repaid such sacrifice with the enemies’ blood, only then, could they truly face the people who died for this cause.