Faithful Heart (Flesh of my Flesh...Blood of my Blood 2)

Chapter 52 - Sunset - End of Act II

Author's note: This is a short chapter. More coming soon.

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Seeing a wild nian was rare; they were solitary creatures with the body of a dog and the flat face of a lion, with large incisors, that roamed in the high places of isolated mountain tops. They hardly ever attacked immortals, preferring to hunt at night for small prey that they would roast with fire and were easily scared away with loud noises. This nian, however, appeared rabid as it breathed fire upon the dancers on stage and burn up the wood while shaking its head. Feng Jiu hit the ground with Xinyi in her arms, rolled up in a ball, as she summoned a protective spell while a gust of fire rolled forward. Seeing Cheng Yu covering Ah Li and calling her protective barrier, Feng Jiu looked around her, looking for celestial soldiers but saw none.

"Cheng Yu, take Xinyi with you." Feng Jiu making her decision as she summoned her sword.

"But-" Cheng Yu tried to argue, but Feng Jiu jumped light on her feet away from her to fight the nian. Taking Xinyi in her arms, Cheng Yu turned and ran, hoping to come back in time with help.

She was to hold her sword with one hand and have her other hand free to performed hand seals, summoning spells or enchantments. Donghua had drilled her on this, spending time teaching her to be proficient at using her sword with both hands if she were injured her dominant arm. Feng Jiu performed a few hand seals, and fire sparked from her fingertips as she drew the nians attention from the crowd.

"Over here." Feng Jiu yelled and saw the animal turned its beady eyes on her without flinching, and taking a deep breath; it let out a tremendous belch of fire. Summoning a small amount of magic that she channelled through her sword, Feng Jiu cut through the fire quickly and, with a flick of her fingers, knocked the nian back several meters away from her.

"Get out now," She yelled at the crowd of cowering noble lords who ran away the minute they saw an opening. Feng Jiu sighed as she shook her head, not one of them thought to help her even though she saw noble lords in the crowd. Turning the nian, Feng Jiu, saw it get up again on its legs and growled at her low in its throat.

"Damn." Feng Jiu whispered she was not carrying her golden bracelets that contained her armour. This morning, she had gotten up with one dominant thought in mind, and that was food. Sinking magic into her sword, she felt the enchanted iron resisting her and grew nervous; she would have to finish this fight and soon, her sword was about to break.

The nian circled her slowly, and Feng Jiu looked at its feet. The minute it lunged, she would cut through its jaws, but she would her hand in the process. Summoning a water spell, she coated her hands in a moisture barrier and steeled herself against the pain. In a split second, the nian jumped, fire jetting out of its jaws, and instead of evading, Feng Jiu jumped into its burning jaws splitting the animal into two and burning her right hand in the process.

Touching the ground on the opposite side where the body of the dead nian lay, Feng Jiu let go of her sword as a sharp pain stabbed her hand and blood dripped on the ground. Falling to one knee, Feng Jiu cradled her hand with her hand and summoned cold water to soothe her injured skin. Breathing heavily, she looked around her to see the stage had cleared; the fight with nian had lasted less than a minute, yet everyone had managed to run away. Her sharp fox ears picked up on the skittering sound of multiple feet and the sound of mocking laughter. Looking up, Feng Jiu saw in horror as a large black widow spider crawled up from the base of the floating rock where she was standing on. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she quickly stood up to run away when the spider turned around and shooted spider web over her making her trip on her feet. Feng Jiu yelped as the web cut through her skin and screamed as it burned her open wounds with acid.

"Look at what I caught." A mocking female voice said as the spider turned into a young woman with dark brown hair and red eyes. Feng Jiu summoned her tails, magic spilling out of her and the spider woman smiled, revealing sharp teeth. "The red nine tail fox."

"Who are you?" Feng Jiu demanded as she opened up her mental pathway with Donghua and begun to broadcast the conversation to him.

"You smell like him a lot. What do you do? Roll around in his sweat?" The spider woman asked.

"What are you talking about?"Feng Jiu asked stalling for time.

"Stupid girl, I am Deliang, one of the spider sisters. Hasn't that monster you spread your legs for told you about me?" Deliang asked as she swept her hair aside.

Feng Jiu canines lengthened and short red fur sprouted on her face. "My Lord Husband is not a monster."

"How can you say that? Have you not seen what he looks like underneath his human skin?" Deliang said and noticing Feng Jiu trying to break free, she lifted one hand with sharp nails and spreading her fingers, she closed it in a fist, making the sharp spider web close around Feng Jiu's arms.

A scream ripped from Feng Jiu's throat as the webs cut through her gown to her skin, the acid making the wounds burn. Summoning her fox magic, Feng Jiu fought against her bindings, twisting and turning but only succeeding in making the webs cut deeper.

"Only a stupid girl like you would let a monster like him put his dick in you," Deliang said as she conducted electricity into the webs, making Feng Jiu screamed and kicked the ground. "You are a fox, and I am a spider, but him," She said as Feng Jiu stopped convulsing, and she cut off the power. "He is a horror born from a rock in the Holy Blue Sea."

Feng Jiu breathed heavily, her dress was soaked in her blood, and she spat blood from her mouth. "You are a cruel witch." She said defiantly.

"You are a stupid girl," Deliang said again in contempt and walked closer to Feng Jiu, sweeping her skirts to the side, she dug her nails into the cut sin Feng Jiu's arms making her gasp in pain. "You have no idea what you carry in you."

Feng Jiu tried to kick Deliang with what little strength she had left, but she evaded easily and brought her blood-covered fingers to her mouth. "I do not know which of the two of you is stupider, that horror you call a husband or you." Deliang taunted with a snap of her fingers; she disappeared with Feng Jiu leaving behind a puddle of blood.

End of Act II

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Next up... Act III the continuation of Act II

I leave you homework for the next chapter, go watch all the DongFeng parts of ep 25 of Ten Miles of Peach Blossom. It will be important in Act III.