The Scent of the Orchid in the Forest of Secrets (密林兰香)

Chapter Twelve

Warmth spread through Shu Haolin's chest. "Mn."

She sat down cross-legged in the small bubble that Yu Jielan cast over her, which blocked out the sounds of the fighting outside. Closing her eyes, she carefully circulated spiritual energy through her meridians, absorbing as much spiritual energy as she could from the heavenly rain that fell from the sky. While the heavenly rain had been able to fight off the demonic cultivators the last time, this time, they came prepared with a special cloak that seemed to shield them from the degrading effects of the heavenly rain on their demonic cultivation. Thus, the fighting continued. Yu Jielan looked completely unaffected, but the disciples that she had brought with her were already showing signs of fatigue, their movements growing heavy and slow. Soon, their numbers started to dwindle, and Yu Jielan was forced to back up closer and closer to Shu Haolin's little bubble. Thus, when she opened her eyes, she found that the demonic cultivators had almost completely encircled them.

Shu Haolin jumped to her feet and wanted to launch herself into battle, but Yu Jielan blocked her from leaving the bubble.

"Leave it to me." She said determinedly, as her sword flashed in fleeting strokes.

But even with Yu Jielan's promise, the situation seemed to get worse and worse, until Shu Haolin was planning to break the bubble with force, but just when she consolidated her spiritual energy into her palm to shatter the bubble, a voice rumbled from the skies.

"Stop."

When the fighting didn't stop, demonic energy suddenly rolled out into a fog, covering the moonlight and plunging them into darkness. The fighting slowed to a stop, and a hushed murmur spread, tearing through the crowd like ripples on a calm pond.

"It's the spell of the true leader of the Baiyu Alliance, known to be able to cover the sun with one hand and plunge all living beings into darkness. How has it turned up here?"

"Unless... it's the true leader of the Baiyu Alliance, who has been missing for more than ten years?"

"It's the true leader of the Baiyu Alliance..."

"He's returned from the dead... how did it happen?"

Shu Haolin felt as if a shockwave had rippled through her body, and she stared into the dark and foggy sky. She couldn't see her hands in front of her face, and, feeling worried, she took a few steps forward in the direction she remembered seeing Yu Jielan last. When she didn't bump into anyone, she called out, "dashijie? Dashijie? Where are you?"

A cool hand gripped her arm. "I am here." Her voice seemed tense, distracted.

"Leave," was the simple command of the true leader. The demonic cultivators looked at each other, uncertain. While they were hesitating, a shriek sounded out, and one of the demonic cultivators fell. Shu Haolin heard the sound of someone thrashing about for a while, and then it ceased.

"He's dead... he's dead!"

"The leader of the Baiyu Alliance killed him."

"But how? Where is he? How did he kill him?"

Fear jumped through the hearts of the crowd.

"Leave," the leader of the Baiyu Alliance repeated. This time, there was only a brief pause before Shu Haolin heard the sound of the demonic cultivators leaving, first only a couple, and then in waves. As they did so, the dark fog slowly cleared, and the moonlight started spilling back onto the grass. By the time the fog had disappeared entirely, all the demonic cultivators had left. Shu Haolin glanced around to see if she could catch a glimpse of the leader of the Baiyu Alliance, but he streaked away in a long line of light into the distance.