Tales of Demons and Gods : The Legend of Xiao Ning'Er

She made her way to the clearing at the top of the hill in the distance and took her time to test run a few take-offs and landings. She then proceeded to go for a longer flight, using the wind currents to glide over the treetops and gauging how much soul force this would conserve. Finally, she took out the Unity Sword and began going through the different combat techniques that her grandfather had imparted to her. It would be awhile before she would gain mastery in truly battling while in the air because of how each clash with an opponent would affect her momentum and balance in a vastly different manner than while on the ground.

She painstakingly went through the different techniques, taking note of any flaw she could observe and repeating the motion over and over with minute improvements each time. When she saw that the sun was beginning to set, she knew that it was time to head back home. Her clothes were drenched in sweat and she was happy with the progress she had made in her training. As she started walking back, she suddenly felt her intuition buzzing with a deep sense of danger. There was nothing visibly out of place but something felt very wrong.

She pretended to stop to catch her breath but used the opportunity to scan her surroundings carefully while pretending that there was nothing wrong.

There!

She saw a broken branch that shouldn't have been there.

And there!

It looked like that clump of leaves had been moved and then tidied up again.

Once she started to pick up the telltale signs, it was easier to trace them to find other warning indications. She eventually picked up the presence of thin ropes leading towards a hidden net up in the branches. It was hovering directly over where she would have walked under in a few moments.

Before she could analyse the situation further, she sensed the auras of three figures shooting at her at high speed. Since she had avoided the trap they had painstakingly set up, whoever they were, they decided not to wait anymore and take action, especially after seeing her expend a considerable amount of energy and soul force in her training today. With a sinking heart, from her experience, she could tell by their auras and speed that there were three early stage gold ranked warriors coming after her. If she were in optimum condition, she may have considered facing them but she knew that at this point, she was most likely severely outmatched. Her best option was to try to evade them and escape if possible.

Even though Shen Fei was a useless playboy who did not spend much time on his cultivation or martial training, he was still the Patriarch's son. His 1-Star Gold Rank may have been built up on the best cultivation resources available to the clan, but the two helpers sent with him were solid 2-Star Gold Rank warriors who were highly dependable servants of the Sacred Family. Both were completely ruthless and deadly in their loyalty to the Patriarch. Even though they had been shocked to see Ning'Er's flying capabilities at silver rank, they were utterly convinced that she would be easy prey for the three of them.

As she ran away from them, she perceived a projectile flying to her back and right before it hit her, she channeled soul force to her legs and suddenly jumped straight up towards a low tree branch within reach. She saw that it was a black dart launched from a mini-crossbow by one of her pursuers. As quickly as she could, she sprang from branch to branch until she could launch from near the top of the tree into the air, spreading her wings out wide.

The three men were shocked that she still had enough strength to summon her wings because they had perceived that her method of flight consumed significant soul force. Although they could not match her flying speed while they ran on the ground, they doggedly followed her in the hopes that she would run out of energy along the way.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, they saw her plummeting downwards like a stone, as she approached close to the border of the forest leading to the farmland. In shock they realised that the speed and trajectory that she was falling at would likely kill her or at least break almost every bone in her body. They continued rushing in her direction, wondering what condition they would find her in, or at least what was left of her body.

Ning'Er had already anticipated that she was about to completely run out of soul force. However, she had continued to pick up momentum, and flew forward at a seemingly uncontrollable and reckless speed, like a blazing meteor. When her wings naturally folded back into her body, unable to be sustained any longer, she felt an abrupt feeling of weightlessness before plunging downwards at a forward angle. She deliberately targeted a large tree with sturdy branches and quickly activated a Flight Talisman which reduced her body weight by 80 percent for 30 seconds. As her momentum drastically reduced, it allowed her to catch hold of branch after branch as each broke under the force of her fall.

Despite this, every inch of her body was battered badly as she progressively broke through the tree on the way down. By the time she landed on the forest floor, her body was entirely covered in cuts and bruises. Although she didn't think that she had broken any bones, she had twisted her ankle badly and dislocated her right shoulder. As she limped desperately towards the edge of the forest, she knew that her gold ranked pursuers would catch up before she could reach the open fields. She decisively veered to the side and lay between the roots of a large tree, activating a Masking Talisman to completely hide her aura.

Half a minute later, she heard the three men come close.

"Where did she go? Could she have left the forest already?"

"How did she survive that fall? Even a black gold ranked warrior would have been badly injured!"

"Even if she had reached the farmland, we would have caught sight of her in the open land. She's probably hiding nearby. Find her!"

That last voice sounded a little familiar but it was muffled under the black cloth covering the man's mouth. She had known it was too much to hope for that the men assume she had made it home, but she had held on to that thought anyway. As she heard them searching through the bushes around her, she knew that she would have to make her move soon. When her senses perceived that they were headed in a direction away from her, she activated another Flight Talisman so that she could run easier on her sprained ankle and shot off at her fastest speed towards the border of the woods.

"There she is!!"

Only around seven seconds had passed since she started running before they noticed her. They took off after her just when she caught sight of the farmland through the trees. Right as she stepped out of the border, she felt a sharp sting as a dart found its target in the same shoulder that was dislocated. As she kept on running, she suddenly felt like her legs and consciousness were getting heavier and heavier. The dart had some kind of paralysing poison on it!

She was around 100 yards into the farmland when her pursuers finally caught up to her. She didn't see anyone else around who could help and turned to face the masked men with Black Death in her hand. Although she tried to put on a brave front, the drowsiness was threatening to overwhelm her at any moment and she fell down on one knee with the dagger in her hand still pointing towards her enemies in defiance.

One of the men, who was obviously the leader, laughed out loud as he saw the state she was in. "It's good that the fall didn't kill you or mangle you out of shape. I've been thinking about how to enjoy myself with you." he said as he crudely cupped his hands over his crotch and squeezed gently.

"No, no, no, don't..." she murmured as she began to lose consciousness. The two helpers flashed to her side and locked her arms down. They then half dragged, half carried her back to the forest as their leader walked after them with his eyes consumed with barely contained lust. He reached out to roughly grab and caress her still budding 15 year old breasts, unable to wait until they reached the privacy of the forest.

"NNNOOOOOOOOO!!! Please..." she managed to rouse herself to get a scream out before falling back into a drowsy stupor.

"Hahaha! There's no one around that can hear you or help you so just give up alr..." The leader started to mock her when suddenly there was a deafening roar as a terrifying aura descended over them. A silver ranked warrior would have found it hard to stand and face this suffocating aura that was dripping with killer intent and rage. The three men turned around, trembling in fear, wondering which harbinger of death had come to take action on them for their evil deeds. All they saw was a small figure wreathed in electricity moving at an unbelievable speed towards them.

In a sharp flash of light that blinded their eyes, one of the men holding Ning'Er had the arm holding her completely severed from his body. In the next instant, the other felt a momentary burst of pain in his chest as a fist exploded through his heart and then he felt no more pain as his eyes closed, never to open again. Another burst of light was seen followed by an intense cry of pain as one of Shen Fei's legs was sliced off at the knee. The figure stopped by Ning'Er to cradle her and examine her condition.

In the meantime, the first man who was attacked took the chance to grab Shen Fei with his only remaining arm and dash towards the forest, knowing that the fearsome warrior would be able catch up in a heartbeat and snuff out their miserable lives. Surprisingly, the figure stayed at the same place, holding Ning'Er in his arms and glaring at the retreating black masked men with a deadly stare.

After a moment, he gently carried the girl in his arms back to the house. It was only when he arrived at the private courtyard that he lowered her to the ground and began coughing out large mouthfuls of blood over and over. She weakly opened her eyes at the sound and looked up at her saviour.