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Chapter 37A: The One in Green
[July 28, 2019]
... Shen Li coolly eyed her adversaries. Everything about the three temple men exuded murderous intent: their fang-like teeth showed through their open mouths while saliva pooled and trailed down their lips, creating wet spots on the floor.

Shen Li glanced at the temple man that grabbed the blade of her spear earlier. The gash on his hand had already healed to the point the wound was no longer visible. He was monstrous, like the scorpion-tailed fox she had beheaded near the Ruins.

Shen Li knew they would attack soon when she sensed the change in the air. Her red-ta.s.seled silver spear shook and suddenly flew and attacked the man in the middle. [yes it's a cool sentient spear]

He gave a cry of alarm, but it was no use; the attack was impossible to dodge and he was stabbed square in the face. He reached up to grab the spear.

Shen Li wasn't about to let him grab it like before. She was mentally prepared this time, so when he reached for it she immediately somersaulted forward and twisted her body around to slam into him. This caught him off guard and allowed her to easily attack. She grabbed her spear and thrust it forward intending to chop his legs out from under him.

Although she used all her strength to strike, she failed to slice through his legs. All she heard was a solid metallic "Dhoom" as her spear vibrated from the impact. The vibrations were so strong it nearly broke the skin on her hand.

It was unimaginable to Shen Li that, despite using all her strength, her spear failed to cut through. It had accompanied her through scores of battles, across oceans and lands, and never failed her before. In shock, she flipped backwards, retreating to a safe distance with the spear in front covering half her face.

To be fair, the spear was originally made for stabbing, and not so much for cutting and slicing, however, Shen Li had had used it for so long that it had become imbued with her qi and become freakishly strong, capable of more than just stabbing. In fact the shaft of the spear could even be used in place of the blade to behead a person.

But now she could see a see a small knick [character read as mouth, so not sure if it's a typo or something referenced for later. I will change it if it does turn out to be a mouth later, for now leaving it as knicked since it makes more sense.] at the edge of the blade.

The other two didn't wait for Shen Li to gather her thoughts. They flanked her on both sides before rus.h.i.+ng her like ravenous wild dogs.

She wanted buy some time to think of a strategy to defeat the men so she jumped up and perched on a beam out of their reach. She hadn't thought of a plan yet when a silhouette jumped up even higher. He had his hand out to hit her head, but she dodged it with a minor tilt of her neck. She grabbed his hand and poured qi into her grip. A loud cracking sound came from his hand as every bone broke.

He raised his head and gave a loud shout, leaving his center unguarded. Shen Li grabbed the opening and thrust her spear into his gut, but hard muscle prevented her from stabbing deeply. At this Shen Li shouted as well and rays of light glowed from her spear. It increased in intensity until with a "crack" and a "ploosh" her opponent's chest exploded, raining flesh and blood down onto the floor.

She shoved the rest of his body down, yanking her spear out as she did so. He fell like a boulder, cras.h.i.+ng into the wall before falling to the floor and leaving a crater in his wake, finally dead.

Shen Li was gasping for air, but she had managed to take one man out. Before she could catch her breath, the two men below jumped up to her perch, with one on either side. She raised her spear in time to block an attack from one, but was smacked by the other. The force behind the hit was so powerful she was knocked off the beam and into the first dead man's crater.

The two jumped down and landed with a thud on the ground, raising a tremendous amount of dust and debris into the air. They couldn't see Shen Li since her body was complete obscured so they had to walk to the side to peer in.

Red light flashed through the rubble. Before either man could react, Shen Li's spear pierced one through the eye. He stood dead with the blade protruding out from the back of his skull. Shen Li sliced his head in half when she swept her spear to one side to free it.

Dust scattered as his ruined body fell to the ground. There were no visible injuries on Shen Li's body, but there were strands of blood on her lips that trailed down the front of her. Her eyes were cold and bloodshot. She wiped the blood from her lips with one arm whispering to herself as she did so. "That really hurt."

She had only taken one blow but her entire body ached like her joints were broken. Even breathing was difficult. It was hard to believe three unknown men could force her into such a terrible position.

She stepped forward and glared at the final temple man left standing. Through the metallic taste of blood in her mouth she said, "Since you want to fight, be prepared to fight to your last breath."

He let out a roar that echoed through the hall. Everything shook, even the brick in the walls crumbled. The muscles on his body rippled as they expanded. He stepped over his dead comrade and dashed at Shen Li.

She didn't try to dodge, having already predicted his movement, instead she jumped up and aimed the tip of her spear at his head, intending to pierce him from above, however he made an unexpected move in blocking the spear with his arm, allowing it sink into his flesh. The attack didn't seem to hurt him at all though.

He smashed his unenc.u.mbered hand into Shen Li's face, but she moved out of the way just in time. She coalesced qi in her hand and forced it into the downward thrust. The wind resulting from their two opposing forces rattled the temple and shook the bricks.

Shen Li dropped to the ground with her hand supporting her body and swung her leg up into the air like a scissor. She wrapped it around his neck and twisted him to the side, slamming him into the wall. The stone masonry crumbled away from the impact revealing a hidden room behind.

A person, dressed entirely in green with a strange air around him, stood behind the wall looking down at the scene of Shen Li's battle.

The temple man crashed into the wall shook his head before standing up. The man in green gave him a kick, knocking him back down.

Shen Li looked at the face of the man in green as though she was looking at an evil spirit. "You are the one pulling the strings. You're the framing the Demon realm. Why are you doing this?"

"Frame?" The man in green said as he moved in the shadows. Shen Li couldn't see him clearly but his voice sounded familiar. "You can't really call this me framing anyone."

Shen Li frowned. She was about to go after him and demand answers when the man, who was knocked down earlier, finally got up. He roared as he shook the debris off his body. This really was indeed "fighting to one's last breath."

"A troublesome person is about to arrive so forgive me for not staying to watch to Azure Sky King longer."

Shen Li stared at the play of light and shadow on his face as he turned away. He reminded her of someone and she suddenly thought of the person leading the attack that night at Xing Yun's courtyard. What was his name?

Fu Sheng.

Fu Sheng. Fusheng Men… [苻生 (Fu Sheng),浮生门 (Fusheng Men) the names are both p.r.o.nounced the same way but they are spelled using different characters, however in pinyin I can only spell them one way. This is where Shen Li realizes they're the same person and I realize why I was so confused before about his name.] But how was that possible? He was an ordinary person so he shouldn't still be alive.





CHAPTER DISCUSSION