Chapter 21: To Remain
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The people on the ground gazed up at the colossal Kunpeng, its immense form blotting out the heavens and the sun. Their pupils contracted sharply, widened by overwhelming shock and fear.
It was an ancient star beast—the Kunpeng!
Its massive body wheeled through the sky, and every beat of its wings was powerful enough to stir the winds and clouds.
Standing atop the Kunpeng was a woman dressed in black combat attire. A black mask concealed the lower half of her face, leaving only a pair of eyes gleaming with icy severity.
The commander raised his head, his gaze meeting Zhuang Yun, who stood tall upon the Nether Fiend.
He had never imagined that this seemingly young woman could command such a formidable star beast.
No—that could not be right. Recalling their brief exchange, he remembered that both her voice and her figure had seemed those of a girl no older than seventeen or eighteen.
She could not possibly be one of the seasoned operatives from the military districts who possessed the credentials to subdue star beasts. Moreover, the strength of her combat skills surpassed anything he had witnessed in his thirty years of military service.
Zhuang Yun felt the spiritual energy surging violently around her. Fragments of bloody, violent scenes seemed to drift into her mind from some distant age, flickering in and out of focus. She could not make them out clearly, yet her blood surged with excitement.
The commander watched as the coldness in Zhuang Yun’s eyes gradually turned crimson. The murderous aura radiating from her was so intense that even a man who had killed countless people felt cold sweat break out across his body.
The Sky Hound beneath him had already slipped beyond his control. Its tail tucked between its legs, it retreated again and again.
“Trying to run?” Zhuang Yun gave a cold snort.
She reached out through the air and seized the Timely Rain Bow. It tore through the sky and landed firmly in her hand.
She nocked an arrow, drew the bowstring, and fired.
With a deafening cry, the Nether Fiend spread its wings. Zhuang Yun’s arrow instantly hardened into steel, splitting into two, then several, and finally hundreds, pouring down like a meteor shower.
The mechs on the ground fled in every direction, yet not one escaped. Every one of them was pierced by Zhuang Yun’s arrows and nailed firmly to the earth.
The fleeing commander rode the Sky Hound as they tried desperately to escape, but Zhuang Yun’s arrows pursued them relentlessly, the distance shrinking with every moment.
One arrow pierced straight through.
The commander tumbled from the Sky Hound, and fresh blood instantly stained the green grass crimson.
Across the endless mountain ridges, a streak of gold quietly emerged.
In the sky due east, a rumble approached from afar. More than a thousand mechs flew toward them in orderly formation, swift and unstoppable.
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Several bandits who had hidden underground and narrowly escaped disaster had only just poked their heads from the cave entrance when they noticed the disturbance in the sky. Their faces turned deathly pale.
“It’s over. That’s the Federation Army!”
After firing that arrow, Zhuang Yun suddenly felt the strength being ruthlessly drained from her body. A mouthful of blood burst from her lips. She staggered several times, then finally collapsed unconscious.
Seeing this, the Nether Fiend slowly descended and transformed into human form. Carrying the unconscious Zhuang Yun, he set her down against the trunk of a tree and shook his head helplessly.
“Your descendant is terribly weak. She collapsed after firing only one arrow.”
“Forget it. We’ll never meet again!”
But when he turned to leave, Zhuang Yun unconsciously reached out and seized the hem of his robes with a death grip.
“Hey, let go! Let go!”
The Nether Fiend tugged furiously, but could not pull free. He narrowed his eyes and stared at Zhuang Yun.
Unable to restrain himself, he reached out to smooth the deep furrows between her brows. Then he removed Zhuang Yun’s mask, and her long black hair cascaded down like a waterfall.
He studied her face closely and murmured, “Now that I look at you, you do resemble him in several ways.”
The Nether Fiend wiped the blood from the corner of Zhuang Yun’s mouth, then could not resist licking his finger. His spirits lifted instantly.
“Very well. I’ll wait until you wake up. You’ll have to repay me properly!”
With that, he thoughtfully unfastened the buttons at Zhuang Yun’s wrists. Her close-fitting combat uniform immediately loosened into a flowing Taoist robe.
“Hmm. Several thousand years have passed, and they still make clothes in this style.”
Before long, the Federation Army arrived. They swiftly dealt with the remaining forces and soon found Jiang Chongming and the others.
They had fled the cavern amid the chaos when the ground first began to shake, hiding behind another mountain. From there, they had witnessed the legendary Kunpeng—and its spirit tamer—with their own eyes.
A general in the uniform of a senior Federation Army officer stepped out of a mech. His gaze was sharp as a hawk’s. After sweeping his eyes across the area, he walked straight toward Jiang Chongming.
“Master Jiang, allow me to introduce myself. I am Li Feng, an executive officer of the Federation Army’s First Military District.”
Li Feng’s voice was steady and commanding.
“Your father received a distress signal from your bodyguard. Upon receiving his orders, we came to rescue you.”
“Fortunately, our forces have also been searching for this group of traitors and their stronghold for quite some time. In a moment, you will accompany me to the First Military District for questioning. I trust you will cooperate.”
His tone was courteous, yet his authority brooked no refusal.
“Understood! Thank you, Colonel!”
Jiang Mingxu nodded awkwardly. Once again, he had disappointed his father.
Lin Yiwen stepped forward and hurriedly asked Colonel Li Feng whether they had found a female Taoist priest.
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Lake added tearfully, “Her name is Zhuang Yun. She wears her hair in a bun and dresses in a Taoist robe. She’s very easy to recognize!”
Colonel Li Feng, however, looked impatient.
“A female Taoist priest? We’ve already searched the entire stronghold area, and no such woman was found.”
It was already noon, and he clearly had no intention of wasting time on something so meaningless.
“The person you mentioned may have been buried beneath the mountain, but our life-detection equipment found no sign of life underground,” Li Feng explained.
If the mountain had collapsed so violently, anyone beneath it would certainly have died. A corpse could provide no useful information. Digging through such a massive mountain merely to recover an irrelevant body was not worth the expenditure of resources.
“My condolences,” Li Feng said flatly.
His words cut into everyone’s hearts like cold blades.
Upon hearing the news, the group’s hearts clenched, and grief welled up within them. They found the brutal reality impossible to accept.
“That can’t be!”
Lin Yiwen remembered the divination lot Zhuang Yun had drawn before their departure. It had been the most auspicious sign, promising great fortune. That very day, Zhuang Yun had even specifically asked him to add another bowl of meat.
There was no way Zhuang Yun could have died here.
Lin Yiwen had never believed in Zhuang Yun’s fortune-telling tricks before, but at that moment, he believed with absolute certainty that her divination had been accurate. She had to be safe!
Lin Yiwen pleaded with Li Feng, “Please, Colonel, authorize an expansion of the search area.”
Lake’s tears streamed down his face. “Colonel! I’ll cover the supplies consumed by the army during the search!”
Jiang Mingxu added, “Please help us, Colonel!”
Li Feng could not bring himself to refuse Jiang Mingxu. After a moment, he nodded.
“Very well. Since Master Jiang has asked, the search will continue until seven o’clock tonight at the latest. After that, you must return to the military district immediately.”
Time passed minute by minute. The sun began its slow descent toward the west, and at last, the final ray of sunset sank below the horizon. The sky was completely swallowed by deep blue darkness.
“Everyone, it’s time to leave!”
Li Feng issued the order, gathered the troops, and prepared to return.
Lin Yiwen was unwilling to accept it. He could not bear the thought of failing to find even Zhuang Yun’s remains. If she were still alive, encountering a star beast at night would mean certain death.
“Colonel, I’m staying behind!”