118. Rain 2
.
All this while, the 'Arena' had since descended into silence.
The gatekeeper had imprisoned almost a thousand guests on the large platform, all crammed together, displeased expressions on their faces.
The Grand Wulin Master, not used to such disrespect, looked down at his dangling Wulin token and frowned, and so did several Wulin elders, all with grave expressions.
The gatekeeper smirked.
His red barrier was constantly sealing all their cores so they were powerless.
The redbarrier was also impervious to their magic treasures, and teleportation talismans or formations had failed...
So all the Wulin masters, Sect Leaders, Elders, Sect warriors, and disciples, could do nothing but accept their fates in silence.
However, a few of the traitors were now protesting, having separated themselves from the rest.
"We're on your side!! Why lock us in here with them!"
"Yes! Didn't you promise you'd elevate us if we helped?!"
The City Master's eyes gleamed. "You lowly things... Are you even fit to carry our shoes? Be thankful we haven't killed you already!"
The traitors fell silent in defeat, but they didn't miss the pleased look on the faces of the others.
"Foolishness..." Sect Leader Huo shook his head. "Seeking honour amongst the worst of low-lives!"
"Serves you right!" The stately old woman from the Wulin spoke. "You can taste the bitterness of your own betrayal!"
'Hmph.' The gatekeeper and city master smirked down on them, but then the skies rumbled and rain suddenly began to fall.
"What is happening?!" The gatekeeper was aghast, swiftly manifesting an umbrella with his brush and holding it to shield them both. "I didn't paint in any rain for today!"
But both demons were cast into shock when the umbrella dissolved into nothingness.
"What's going on?!!" The City Master shot to his feet, watching in horror as the red barrier also began to dissolve, and the Gatekeeper swished his brush again and again, but the rain did not stop.
"S- Sea water!" He realized, remembering who Yin Xiaolong was. "It's salt water! I'm a freshwater snail, so sea water can destroy my paints! No wonder he could move around my paintings as he pleased!"
"But he's mortal!" The City Master raged, swiftly raising another shield around the platform. "How is he making it rain?! How is he doing this?!"
Down on the platform, Sect Leader Xu sent Xu Wen a look, and Xu Wen responded with a nod.
"Now!" Sect Leader Xu yelled, and there was a sudden snap.
"Wha-?!" The City Master was flung back as the near thousand guests were suddenly out of his shield, surrounding both of them.
"How is this possible?!" The gatekeeper demanded.
The Grand Wulin Master appeared somewhere to the left, looking severely pissed with his wet hair and robes sticking to him in a disheveled state.
He suddenly unleashed his full aura, and the equally wet and disheveled guests rallied behind him, appearing around the demons.
"Destroy those devils!" The Grand Wulin Master ordered, and Xu Min activated a glowing talisman which cast the entire arena into an oppressive darkness, darker than night- a dense and immense darkness even immortals would have trouble navigating, as light spells and talismans didn't work within.
But everyone was shocked to find they could see clearly, despite the oppressive black air around them.
In fact, this darkness affected only the demons and the traitors, who were still trapped on the platform!
And so, with indignation and anger within their hearts, the entirety of enraged Wulin masters, Sect Leaders, Elders, Sect warriors, and disciples, did not hesitate to direct their most powerful attacks at the two confused demons!
Yet it wasn't enough... These were decently powerful demons after all, so though blinded, it was easy for them to sense their opponents' attacks.
"Do you think this is enough to defeat us?!" The gatekeeper glared around in the darkness, feeling a bit powerless after being doused in the sea water. Still, he was shielded within a large white snail shell- a natural defense which automatically appeared to shield him from harm.
"You've not yet learned your place!" The City Master raged, raising his own shield and blindly sending a deadly wave of qi outward...
But then the qi wave suddenly dissipated.
And so did the demons' shields, forcing both of them to fully receive the multiple attacks of their enraged guests.
This lasted almost five minutes... A constant barrage of the most powerful mortal hits which shook the entire space with more than a few explosions!
By the time the darkness lifted, both demons were on their knees, looking like mangled rags and spewing out floods of blood as the final attacks died away.
"My -! My meridians are in disarray...!" The City Master cried out, hacking out more blood before falling unconscious.
"You... disgusting... mortals...!" The gatekeeper asked amidst ragged breaths, hating every second of being this weak, miserable, and imperfect. "What...
"What did you do?!"
Sect Leader Xu stepped forward. "Hmph! I have an interesting son-in-law!" He boasted, a light talisman floating around him.
Sect Leader Huo shook his head. "Did you think we were merely waiting for our deaths all along...?"
Earlier on, as Luoyin chased after Xu Weiyan, he had damned the consequences and sent several telepathic messages.
The first was to Xu Min and Xu Wen, simply saying, ~"The new talismans!"~
'He's indeed an Immortal!' They both thought, but had simply nodded with a small, "Umh!"
The second was to Sect Leader Xu... ~"Wait for the rain!"~
Sect Leader Xu wasn't as surprised to find Luoyin was an immortal... It perfectly explained everything, right from the eye-eater incident till now!
The final telepathic message was to several Wulin Elders and Sect Leaders at once, including the Grand Wulin master himself, who nearly fell out of his seat in shock when he heard:
~"Listen to Sect Leader Xu if you want to live!"~
The telepathy certainly proved to all who heard it, that the 'Zhang family trash' was somehow an Immortal! And if all was to be believed, he was none other than the feared Immortal, Yin Xiaolong- the Black Dragon!
But at the moment, they had more to think about, as they were trapped and at the mercy of two demons!
Thankfully, it didn't take Xu Min and Xu Wen long to realize the best talismans to use from the new set. Everyone from Yueyan had a seal behind their hands, so Xu Wen could use that as a rule in a formation before activating the talismans, but...
"But wouldn't that save only Yueyan?!" Xu Min whispered. "Would we abandon the rest...? The Sect warriors and disciples are free, but how do we get the dignitaries out of those shields?!"
The high seat boxes were almost thirty, each with around fifteen dignitaries from each sect and then a central box for the wulin.
Each box was surrounded by the gatekeeper's shields.
Near impossible for two small disciples to handle!
But Xu Wen surprised Xu Min with a smile. "Those demons' targets were probably Shixiong and Weiyan Jie. Now that both are gone, these demons probably won't leave the disciples and Sect warriors free, and nor would they go through any more effort than they need to!"
And as he guessed, that was the point when the gatekeeper had suddenly yelled, "Hao! Then no further need for appearances!"
Then with a swish of his brush, the entire arena, including the High Seats vanished, and the platform suddenly grew larger.
And in the next second, they were all trapped within a single shield on the platform...
... which only made things easier for them!
Xu Wen began with one of Luoyin's teleportation formations.
It was steadily growing dark and he and the rest snuck around laying down the formation flags, while Xu Min used the initial protests and outrage from the guests to quietly approach Sect Leader Xu.
From then, Sect Leader Xu spread the message to the other Wulin members by writing on his Wulin token with his own blood, "Wait for my signal!"
And as they waited, the flags were planted, Xu Wen shifted his attention to creating rules for the formation.
He had never dealt with such a large number of people within a formation, so rather than including so many, he created rules to exclude the traitors who were fewer!
And so, when the rain came, Sect Leader Xu gave the signal, and all but the traitors were teleported out.
After that, Xu Min, Xu Wen and Tao Yun had each activated Luoyin's darkness talismans at intervals, ensuring it remained dark for almost five minutes, but under the guise of darkness, they had also sent in the smoke talismans which could poison lesser immortals.
The poison had done its work, disrupting the demons' qi, and this rendered them immobile and cut off their shields, exposing them to the furious attacks from some of the most powerful mortals...
The mortals cheered at their victory, and the Grand Wulin master waved a hand, sending the water out from his hair and robes. "Sect Leader Xu, you indeed found yourself a rare treasure." He began with a shake of his grey head.
"We can't instantly accept this son-in-law of yours, because as mortals, we can't hope to understand the whims and intents of the Immortals, and given recent events, we don't know who to trust.
"However, if Zhang Luoyin wishes to remain amongst the mortals in Baishan, then..." He spoke louder. "The Wulin will hear him out!"
The declaration was met with more than a few grunts and nods of approval, and there was thunderous cheering from the disciples and Sect warriors.
By now, the City Master's shield around the platform had faded away, so the Wulin Elders created separate shields to trap the traitors, and then a more powerful one to trap the two demons, all on the same platform, now smaller since the gatekeeper had lost his power.
The City Master had fallen unconscious, but the gatekeeper glared at them all, his perfect white robes torn and dirtied beyond recognition, his pale greyish face stained with blood and dirt, and disbelief and anger in his eyes.
For one who loved perfection, this was the worst state to be in...
"You rotten mortals...!" He rasped weakly. "How dare you reduce me to this state...?!"
"Oh?" Xu Min raised an eyebrow. "You can hit us, but we can't hit you back?"
"Hmph." Sect Leader Xu scoffed. "Even a worm wriggles when stepped on. Did you expect us to do nothing? Blame yourselves for underestimating we 'rotten mortals'!"
"Well said." Sect Leader Huo nodded. "We mortals are indeed weaker, but don't our short lives mean we would never simply lay down and die?"
"Hao!" A voice thundered, and numerous eyes moved as one to find a hideous figure suddenly appear in their midst, just at the edge of the platform.
"I'd like to see what you all can do without your tricks!"
Another demon had arrived...
.