150. Bitterness
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The Attack on Caoyang left everything in ruins.
At first, Bailong assumed no survivors were present, but then he found Chu Cui, a young partially transformed Merman who had recently been more friend than employee...
Bailong had once rescued him from older Mermen who bullied him for being stuck at the same level for almost a thousand years.
Promising to cure him, Bailong had taken him to work at four Petal-Garden, and with the recent rifts between him and Tianlong, Bailong's visits to Sky Palace dwindled, leading to a few drunken nights where he found himself somehow confiding in Chu Cui.
Chu Cui had latched on to him and eventually insisted on following him to Caoyang...
If Bailong had foreseen the present tragedy, he never would have brought Chu Cui near Caoyang, because at the moment Chu Cui was in a terrible state.
Blood stained his robes from multiple injuries, and his usually vibrant aquamarine scales dimmed as his life force waned.
He was hanging on from sheer force of will, and the instant he spotted Bailong, he gave a sad smile before finally letting go.
~"Master... I leave my memories to you..."~ His voice slipped into Bailong's mind.
Bailong simply fell to his knees and silent tears ran down his face as Chu Cui's beautiful aquamarine aura rose, swirling around him, bringing the memories of the past days...
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It began a full day after Bailong left to cultivate.
Before the sun fully rose that morning, a surprise guest visited.
"A-Bai!" Fei Yun's voice thundered, his hand beating against Caoyang's multiple layered barrier.
It was right in front of the cave which led to the lava sea, and Fei Yun stood there, an anxious look on his features.
The new Snake King, HeiYuan, noticed him and went over.
Since the snakes moved to Caoyang, Hei Yuan, brother of HeiShe, had taken over leadership, but unlike the former snake clan which stood on its own, he and his companions mostly protected Caoyang, taking Bailong as their master.
Now that the mountain was locked down, they took turns patrolling, and were now surprised to see the Fate Immortal at their doorstep.
It wasn't really a surprise...
Fei Yun, and even Tianlong had visited Caoyang multiple times. In fact in recent years, Fei Yun came here once in a while to cheer Bailong up whenever he and Tianlong fought, and more often than not, he agreed with Bailong's viewpoint.
But these were tense times...
"Fate Immortal, we greet you!" Hei Yuan linked his thumbs in a salute and his companions did the same.
They stood a few feet away, safe within the multiple layered barrier which covered the entire top of the mountain.
Fei Yun stood just outside the barrier.
"No need for formalities!" Fei Yun waved him away with a concerned expression. "I hear A-Bai turned into a black dragon...?! Where is he?! Is he okay?!"
"Er... Th- This..." The Snake King looked uneasy. Afterall, Liwei had instructed them not to let anyone in for the next five days or so. "The Master is away for Seclusion. Perhaps you can return after some days...?"
"This has something to do with the black aura, right?!" Fei Yun pretended not to notice the man's unease, and he held out a hand. A gold bamboo-slip scroll appeared, hovering over his palm.
"I recently found this in the Fate Hall library! I think it would be of some help to him! Perhaps I can help him while he cultivates!!"
The Snake King sighed and swiftly sent Liwei a telepathic message.
~"My Lady, the Fate Immortal is here! He brought over a scroll which might help Master Bailong!"~
Two things crossed Liwei's mind after she heard the message...
First of all, Fei Yun, Immortal of Fate, was usually the one mediating between Bailong and Tianlong whenever they had one of their rifts, or even the more serious rifts in recent times.
And more often than not, Fei Yun was on Bailong's side, though he could understand why Tianlong's pride was hurt each time.
Secondly, Liwei thought that surely, Caoyang had not yet commited some great crime...
Though Bailong had gone against Tianlong some time ago, he hadn't done any lasting harm to even one of the Sky soldiers.
Why then would Fei Yun, one of the three close friends, come to make trouble on Caoyang?
It was natural to assume Fei Yun was indeed here to help or cheer up Bailong.
And so, Liwei sent a simple message back.
~"Let him in, but keep an eye on him."~
That way, if anything did happen, the Snake King and his companions would surely be able to handle one High Immortal...
Fei Yun hid a satisfied smile as the Snake King performed a hand seal and the barrier faded away just long enough to let Fei Yun in.
"This way, Fate Immortal." The Snake King bowed politely, and Fei Yun followed them.
They crossed the lava sea without incident, and even when HeiShe, the previous snake king, reared his giant head, one look from his brother sent him diving back beneath the boiling hot lava.
It was when the men were some distance into the snake forest that a talisman suddenly appeared between Fei Yun's fingers.
The talisman instantly burned to ash and Fei Yun vanished, leaving the men behind in confusion.
"Wher- where did he go?!" The Snake King demanded.
"Not good! He knows his way around Caoyang!"
"He could be anywhere!"
"What have we done?!"
Liwei shot to her feet when the Snake King's desperate message reached her...
'No way... He wouldn't take things so far... right?!' Liwei instantly mobilized the full force of Caoyang, searching everywhere for Fei Yun.
But it was too late by the time they found him.
"Hmph." His worried expression had vanished completely and his eyes were cold and empty. "You're too late!" He yelled as a formation beneath him began to glow a brilliant blue.
It was one of Bailong's formations, and their eyes widened in shock and horror as hundreds of thousands of Sky Soldiers were summoned right within the heart of Caoyang.
Caoyang's shields prevented anyone from teleporting into Caoyang, but from within, one could freely teleport, so Fei Yun had reappeared right within the heart of Caoyang.
And now, using Bailong's own formation, Fei Yun had let in the Sky army...
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Bailong's heart nearly stopped at the sight in Chu Cui's memories...
Fei Yun, the one who been on his side all along, had betrayed him like this, playing on the very fact that no one on Caoyang would suspect him.
In fact, even if Bailong himself were present, he would have let Fei Yun in without hesitation, and the thought left an extremely bitter taste in his mouth as the memory played out before him.
After Fei Yun let the Sky Army in, Chu Cui's memories descended into chaos, but Bailong could piece them together.
The Sky soldiers began attacking at once, killing on sight, while a few of them flew as far as possible, swiftly laying down another one of Bailong's formations at the far ends... The Formation which would prevent anyone from teleporting out of the region.
This left the Southern formation as the only way out, but Sky soldiers were moving quickly, slaying anyone they could.
"Do not kill Yan Liwei!" A deep command rang out, and this time, blood rose in Bailong's chest, spewing out of his mouth.
That voice...
It was Tianlong!
'No way!' Bailong's mind blanked, briefly drowning out the memory unraveling around him.
He couldn't believe it.
No way his own friends were responsible for this mindless bloodshed!
As he watched, Yan Liwei took control, and under her guidance, the Snake King and most of the Snake Army shielded against the initial attack, buying time for Liwei and the rest to save as many residents as possible, withdrawing into the Palace.
Then she directed a few immortals to activate the Snake Array which would seal off the Snake Forest.
After that, Liwei turned and threatened Yinying with her own life...
"Laoying, I know you won't listen even if I tell you to leave, and I may not win against you when you're serious... So I sealed my own life line... If I don't unseal it, I'll die and dissipate within ten minutes.
"You-!"
"What 'You'? If you really want me to live, then do as I say!" The two stared at each other, one in challenge, one in frustration.
Sensing her resolve, Yinying sighed. "Forget it... You youngsters delight in frustrating me, one after the other. From the master who sent me away to protect you, to the wife who is likely doing this for his sake... What do you want me to do?"
Liwei bowed to him. "I can handle things here, so please return to A-Bai's side! Isn't your primary duty to protect him?
"The higher an Immortal's level, the more devasting it would be if they are interrupted during deep cultivation. I don't understand what he is doing, but I'm certain it's dangerous, and there's no telling what might happen if anything interrupts him!
"You're the only one who can reach him fast enough, so find him... Seal him within your bell technique so he sees and hears nothing!"
Yinying hesitated for a spell before vanishing to meet Bailong within the cave, and this was how he locked Bailong within the technique.
Even when the attacks escalated, shaking the mountain violently, Bailong felt and heard nothing because Yinying ensured he didn't....
Meanwhile, Liwei, Chu Cui, and the strong Mermen and other Caoying immortals successfully led the weaker residents through hidden tunnels.
But when they burst out at the Southern formation, it was to find Fei Yun standing there with a hateful gleam in his eyes.
"Hmph." He held out a hand and several familiar flags appeared, hovering over his palm. "Did you forget who I am?" He asked, and the flags burst into flames.
Of course Fei Yun had known about the Southern Formation and had already lifted and destroyed its flags, rendering the formation useless and trapping them all on Caoyang.
"Destroy them!" Fei Yun coldly roared and an army of Sky soldiers shot forward.
Liwei, Chu Cui, and the others instantly shielded the children and innocent civilians, then jumped in to fight off the sky soldiers.
~"The Shadow Formation is still active! Guide them in!!"~ Liwei's telepathic order rang in Chu Cui's head, and he sent her an imperceptable nod.
He fell back at once, another merman seamlessly taking his place, and with more telepathic guidance from Liwei, the other Caoyang warriors changed their fight pattern with the sole aim of distracting the Sky Soldiers as much as possible.
Meanwhile, with help from a few of the other servants, Chu Cui used the chaos to their advantage, cleverly hiding away the children and the weaker servants, slipping them into the supposedly destroyed Formation.
Fei Yun knew enough about Bailong's teleportation formations to destroy them, but he hadn't known Bailong had implanted a shadow formation with an even more powerful shield.
This was for emergency cases where some people reached the formation before others. Those within would be safe and hidden before the others could join them and activate the actual formation.
Liwei herself directly attacked Fei Yun, ensuring he was blind to their actions, and by the time he realized what was happening, most of the residents had disappeared from his sight!
"You-!" He held out his sword. "Such a tricky move! You're indeed his wife!"
Liwei swung out her own sword. "Proudly so!" She lunged at him again, fighting more seriously now that most of the residents were safe.
"Where are they?!" He demanded. "You're only worsening your crimes against Sky Realm!"
"Hmph." Liwei easily deflected his attack. "Forgive me, but I won't let you harm the ones he worked so hard to protect."
With a swift swing of her sword, she directed a blinding jet of multicoloured flames at him, hitting him right in the chest, and Fei Yun dropped to his kness spurting out blood.
"You-!" He wheezed, glaring up at her in pure hatred. "You're actually a Grand Immortal already!"
Liwei simply held out her sword. "Stay down and don't cross my path. I would have just killed you if you weren't A-Bai's friend!"
She turned away and took a step forward but froze when she heard,
"Hao. Now Caoyang rebels are even bold enough to threaten the Fate deity!"
She swivelled in shock to see a figure appear right beside Fei Yun, gently helping him to his feet.
Zhurong Tianlong had appeared!
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