.
Xuè Shèngrén cancelled the 'piercing eye' technique, and finally raised her head. She was just about to lift her liquor cup to her lips, when a hoarse, whispery voice spoke right into his ear,
"You-! You've seen them approaching, so why are you still here? Are you courting death?!"
The voice caused her to steel in annoyance. Her irises darted in that direction, but though she saw nothing, she frowned at the empty spot beside her.
"Old Man Xu." She whispered back at the disembodied voice. "I told you to stop doing things like whispering in my ears! Don't you feel ashamed doing such a thing?!"
Elder Xu was an Enlightened demon.
Enlightened demons were demons that had cultivated for at least a thousand years, struggled to achieve enlightenment and had finally taken human form.
Demon cultivation was the practice of 'adopting' enlightened demons, like Elder Xu, and then summoning them to serve or fight for you, whenever you needed them.
The cultivator and the demon signed either side of a talisman with their blood, and then the demon disappeared into the cultivator's spirit realm, until they were summoned out.
However, Elder Xu was powerful enough to come out whenever he wanted, and he could also make himself invisible.
This made it easy for him to come out and nag her, without her permission!
"Don't change the subject!" Elder Xu whispered furiously. "If you stay here and even one of them escapes, they will see your face, and if the Wulin knows your appearance, wouldn't evading become impossible?!"
"Tch! They have my ribbon, so I might as well have fun with them for a while."
"How careless! For just a ribbon?! What if they-?!" But she had already made two quick hand seals, and the voice disappeared.
"Tch! Such an annoying old man! Who says it's just a ribbon?!"
.
.
Meanwhile, in the snowy road outside, the approaching group had reached the 'Tea Haven'.
"*Fènghuáng-Jun! I think this is the place! The talisman is burning brighter!" An excited disciple, clad in light blue robes and matching blue boots, was gesturing toward the restaurant. He was holding a flaming talisman.
*Fènghuáng - Pheonix
Jun - like Lord/Prince (Lord Phoenix/ phoenix lord?)
The remaining seven disciples were dressed in the same light blue robes, except perhaps for variations in their belts, hairstyles, ribbons or accessories, and they excitedly gathered round to observe the burning talisman.
They had been using a fire talisman to track Xuè shèngrén for almost ten days.
The talisman couldn't really be called a 'fire' talisman, since the tracking talismans took on the base essence of whoever it was tracking. Since it was surrounded by flames, it simply meant Xuè Shèngrén's essence was fire, and he was indeed from the Eastern region.
Now they just had to find out if he was 'Zhao LanFeng'.
At present, the talisman burned brightly, giving off occasional sparks, which reflected in the disciples' excited eyes, and it was evident that it was their first major hunt against a powerful cultivator.
Most of them went on monster hunts to catch *lesser demons, and occassionally, they were hired as guides, escorts, or had even chased down minor criminals.
*lesser demons- Demons that are still animalistic, and unenlightened
But none of their previous missions were on this level, and that was because none of them were supposed to be here.
They had accompanied Fènghuáng-Jun on a regular mission, but somehow, things had turned out this way, and now their heads turned as one, to look at the somewhat shabby restaurant.
The red and gold paint on its front pillars and sign post were faded, and one of the characters in its name, 'Tea Haven' was almost completely gone.
Quite a few of them eyed the place like they would be near starving before they even considered setting foot in there.
"Such a shabby place!" One of the disciples spoke out. "Is Xuè Shèngrén holding the people inside as hostages?"
But Fènghuáng-Jun said nothing.
He had earned the title 'Fènghuáng', the Water Phoenix of the West, because he had mastered an ancient pheonix technique at such a young age, but his name was Shuǐ ChénLín.
He was the only son of the Western Dragon Clan's Head family, the current Successor of the *ShuǐLiu Sect, and the head master of the Shuǐ Clan disciples.
*ShuǐLiu - Water willow
Shuǐ ChénLín was young, lean and tall. He had dark, smoky eyes, which were narrowed, and his eyebrows were drawn in a scowl.
He had felt a presence, just before they arrived... Like someone had been watching them.
But what him apprehensive, was that he had felt the same presence whenever they were approaching Xuè Shèngrén, but then it would vanish, and Xuè Shèngrén would have disappeared.
'So he can sense us approaching, and then slip away before we arrive...' He rightly concluded.
He sighed. "We've been careless." He spoke to himself, then he ordered a little more loudly, "Quickly set up the array, and let it span a few miles!"
An array was like a barrier spell, designed to grant the casters special functions or abilities.
It's main use was to serve as a shield or barrier, either keeping enemies out or in, but depending on the array's spell, it could also surpress the skills of the opponents, grant the casters more power, or attract evil creatures and trap them within.
This particular array worked by setting up six special flags to surround a location.
It was designed to enhance their powers, while suppressing the powers of anyone that wasn't carrying their clan's totem, so any enemies would be at a disadvantage.
But most importantly, the array would keep anyone over a certain power level, trapped within it's bounds. Added to that, Lu FengHo, one of the other cultivators, performed several hand seals, and created a large shield, which covered them and the restaurant.
This time, the talisman was still burning, so Xuè Shèngrén was definitely in the vicinity. With the array and the shield, he wouldn't be able to escape.
When all six flags had been placed, a steady aura surrounded each of them, letting them know that the array had been activated.
The six disciples setting up the array flags returned, and Shuǐ ChénLín nodded in the direction of the shabby looking restaurant.
They all began to approach silently, but when they were close enough, "Lord Meng! Wait-!"
But too late. One of the cultivators suddenly ran inside, leaving the others behind him to stare at the restaurant's swinging wooden doors.
"Scram!" The cultivator ordered, once he was inside. He unsheathed the base of his sword as a threat, and unleashed his aura, letting it wash over, and intimidate the customers.
"If you don't want to die here today, run out of here now!"
At first, there was utter silence, but then there was sudden chaos, as everyone scrambled for the door, trying to hurry out, while the restaurant owner and his servers ran out back.
Xin Dao was ruled by the powerful, so regular people were fairly used to things like this.
In Xin Dao, fights could start anytime and anywhere!
Regular people with little to no cultivation experience, had to give a heathy, if they didn't want to be caught in the midst of a 'godlike' fight, and die by sheer accident.
So they all ran outside, content to watch, or hear about the fight, from afar!
But though every hastily ran off, one person calmly remained seated...
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