Nine Paths of Asura-Original Wuxia

Chapter 148-Ere the Ramparts

Hehe I would love to get this story published on a bigger platform for xianxia, but unfortunately I don't know anyone in the business and this story isn't that big ;p one day perhaps.

Shreee Shreee Shreee Shreeee Shreee Shreeeee!!

The swamp became filled with the eirie cries of hundreds of giant burning leeches. De's streams of flame caused a huge plume of filthy steam which choked the squad. Lineir up above though could see a bigger picture. The leeches were just beginning!

"Guy's there's more!" He yelled down as suddenly from the boiling mud even larger nightmarish heads began to burst out. 

"What the hell is that??!!" Lineir's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he observed hideous caricatures of human heads appear. They wailed eerily and then a few second later he grimaced as the rest of the beasts appeared. Worms with human like heads appeared which let out a terrible ghastly shriek.

"Wailing Wight Worms!" Dan cried as he quickly flicked out numerous talismans which formed a square of holy light. "They're below us but my formation will keep them from attacking. We must destroy the ones on the surface and leave this place! Their shrieks are a clarion call to all Undead!" 

EEEEEEEEIIIIIIII!!!

Up above Lineir resisted the urge to cover his ears for the sound was truly repulsive. As he was already revealed he sent a Darkness Lightning slash at the worms.

Shua!

EIIIIIIIIIIIII!!! The worms shrieked as the black crescent hit them but it failed to kill them!

"Damnit, they're too big and too far above my cultivation level!" Lineir said as he grimaced in the air. 

"Save your Qi! These things are nothing to us!" Yu yelled out as his hands suddenly erupted into a blue darkness.

Gravitational Distortion!

The Law of Gravity distorted and came apart as a powerful hole which visibly distorted light appeared inbetween. He flipped into the air alongside Lineir and yelled,

"Incoming!" 

EIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!

The ball of blue distortion left Yu's hands and dropped onto the swamp. As it did, the air vibrated furiously and the rest of the squad all leapt into the sky away from the landing site of the blast!

Boooooom!!

It fell directly on the worms and absorbed their flesh, their bodies, and even their screams. There was an earthshaking boom but then a second later the boom was sucked back in by the distortion.

Siiiizzzzzz.....plop plop plop

Where the mass of worms had been was a large crater from which little patches of ragged flesh dripped down from a black mass floating in the newly created air. Yu floated down and grabbed it. It was a perfectly round orb the size of his hand. With a squeeze his hand glowed blue again and the orb shrunk down to the size of a quail egg. He pocketed it and motioned to everyone.

"Come on... we need to go!" 

As Lineir was running with the group through the swamp, he looked back and noticed something terrifying. The crater which Yu had created had been slowly refilling with swamp water and mud sliding in. However, as Lineir watched an unbelievably large shape burst out of the water nearby, rising a hundred meters into the air before slamming down on the crater.

BOOOOOOOOM!!!

"What was that??!" The party cried out as they all looked back only to see a terrifying black wave of swamp water, 50 meters tall, rushing towards them. Dan was about to release a storm of defensive talismans when Ting stepped forward and stabbed with her multicolored short sword.

Rainbow Release!

A rippling lance of light came out blending swirling Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth Laws. It penetrated the wave, skewering a hole in it before exploding.  A gap quickly formed in the wave so that it passed harmlessly around the squad. They watched as the wave crashed off into the distance, Wailing Worm Wights, Divine Immortal Leeches, and other even larger Magical Beasts getting washed away by it.

Swoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooossssshhh!!

"That was..." Lineir was awestruck. The size of whatever that monster had been dwarfed even buildings.

"A False Netherdrake. No doubt it smelled the blood from the leeches and worms and came to feed. If we are lucky, that wave will have distracted our pursuers and they will lose us now. Either way, let us leave." Yu said nonchalantly as he turned away. He seemed almost happy that the False Netherdrake had potentially wiped away their tracks. Lineir whistled,

"Truly, the Higher Realms are a place where you can find monsters and myths." 

***********************

Tap Tap Tap

The squads footsteps gently rung as they came upon solid paved ground. It was pebbled and cratered as if melted by acidic rain, but nevertheless it was definitely made by people and not nature as it formed a clear path. Quickly they hurried along it eager to leave the swamp. Alongside the ancient road, lantern-less poles were placed, their fires long since extinguished. In time the air began to lose the oppressive smell of the rotting swamp and take on a cleaner aroma. Nevertheless Death Qi was still rampant in the atmosphere and it caused the hairs on the back of one's neck to twitch and shiver at the slightest breeze. 

"We're here finally. And I think we have lost our pursuers for now. Come, vault over the wall, the gates are too obvious to enter through." Yu said as the rest of the squad formed up near a large wall some 500 meters tall. It was formed a dark purple rock which had been sculpted into a vast crumbling rampart. It stood against the sky a sad remnant of what had once been a thriving civilization. A mournful note prevailed as one glanced at it, feelings of the despair and unfulfilled wishes of those long lost. Like squirrels the squad adeptly clambered up the cracks in the wall and onto the rampart. 

Awwwooooooooooo

A lonely wind blew as the squad mounted the summit. Upon the roof, one could see for hundreds of kilometers, the wall disappearing into a dark Death Qi mist. After walking forward 50 meters or so they came to the other side of the rampart. Below they could make out towering city buildings and abandoned squares filled with bones.

"Look at all of them..." Yu muttered as Ting came up to take his arm. LIneir himself was shaken though he had seen an Undead City before. This though was far worse. Dan began saying prayers to the dead and even De's fierce face softened in his chitin armor as he glanced at the listless hordes of Undead below.

"This place...is utterly wrong. Just wrong." Ting finally said and the rest of the group murmured their agreement. Uncountable throngs of skeletons were standing in the city. They were in the parks, the squares, the windows, the homes, even the playgrounds. This was not so much a city anymore as a mass burial!

"They're just standing there. Why don't th-they move?" She stammered out as a tear left her eyes as well as many of the others. Yu wiped it away and flicked it into the air as he sighed.

"Why should they move? The curse compels them seek out life, but there is none left in the city. In this walls, unless they wander through the few gates, they wait and never move for they are not human anymore and have no such desire to do so. But do not mistake their idleness for pacifism or gentleness. Soon we will give them their only desire. They will seek our lives fiercely soon..." He said as they settled down.

"Come, we will rest on top this wall tonight. After the last candle burns out we shall venture into the city."