Dark Whispers Beneath the Moonlight
Footsteps, silent and deliberate, moved through the underbrush. Eyes scanned the surroundings with unwavering focus. Slicing through the thick shrubs like shadows, fifteen assassins crept forward, their breaths held, their presence like the hush before a storm.
Above them, slicing through the sky, was a spiritual beast ... a massive black serpent gliding through the air like a blade. Its path was set, its destination certain. The fifteen assassins followed below, feet soft on the forest floor, blades already drawn, ready to sever any neck in a blink.
They were dressed in robes so dark it seemed as though a terrifying night had swallowed the full moon itself.
But then...without a sound.....the spiritual beast vanished from the sky. One moment it was soaring, the next it was gone… like birds disappearing from their nests at dawn.
Their feet froze. So did their breaths. Their eyes locked onto the heavens above, brows furrowed as a single, unspoken question lingered in the air:
"Where did it go?"
For it was known...clear as crystal.....that a spiritual beast never abandons its path. Never. Its sudden disappearance was unnatural. Unnerving.
Panic began to crawl through their ranks. Without the beast, they could not reach their target. Only it knew the way.
And then..
A sharp whistle echoed through the atmosphere.
Dark clouds suddenly rolled across the sky, and fierce winds began to howl.
An eerie scent filled the air.....like blood. Metallic. Raw.
They turned their heads in alarm. One of them was missing.
Before they could react, the bushes around them began to wither. Leaves blackened. Branches decayed. The world around them rotted, as if time had sped forward and death had bloomed.
Then, the whistle grew louder.
And from the sky...it fell.
The same spiritual serpent.....lifeless, broken, its body torn and scorched.
Their eyes widened in horror. Their hearts pounded like war drums. It was as though invisible ice had wrapped around their spines. Their swords tightened in their hands. Muscles tensed. They prepared to strike.
But when they saw the figure approaching....
Their souls seemed to abandon their bodies.
Walking forward…
Yu Sui.
A crimson flute fastened at his waist. A black, burning sword in his hand.
Wherever he stepped, the earth sizzled and scorched. It was as if Death itself was walking upon the land.
A devilish smile curled on his lips.
The assassins turned to flee....
Only to find another demon waiting behind them.
Wey Xiong.
A silent killer hidden behind a cold, expressionless mask. His blade didn't thirst for blood alone.....it devoured souls.
He swung his weapon in the air, and with every arc, black smoke curled from it...thick and menacing, as if warning: this is no threat.....this is annihilation.
Above them, a twin phoenix screamed, its roar tearing open the sky like a battlefield.
Its voice....wild, feral.....sounded like the laughter of a demon.
Yu Sui walked closer.
And now...fear broke all bounds.
They didn't know who stood before them...but the sheer pressure of his presence told them everything.
This was a being even death bowed before.
One by one, the assassins fell to their knees. Surrendered.
The swords that moments ago yearned for blood....now lay still upon the earth, like sleeping serpents.
Yu Sui said nothing. He didn't need to. He already knew.
But how could he tolerate the truth? That these men.....had dared to move toward Mo Yan…
In the next breath.....
14 heads hit the ground.
Yu Sui now stood beside Wey Xiong, both facing opposite directions.
Yu moved with such swiftness that it seemed only a gust of wind had passed between them.....yet in that wind, death had danced.
Even Wey Xiong had not seen when or how Yu Sui's blade moved.
The air still burned. Still shimmered. The flames from Yu Sui's strike had not yet faded, as if the sword itself was still showing the world the path it carved.
One by one, headless bodies collapsed.
Yu Sui's expression remained calm.....
But tears welled in his eyes.
As if thinking
"What if I hadn't known in time?"
Flashback.