Chapter Forty: Release

"Caw~~~!" The Lord of Crows dropped from the sky, his entire body streaked with blood. Spreading his wings, he hovered above Ji Hao’s head, his crimson eyes appearing as though steeped in fresh blood as he let out one mournful cry after another, staring at the three twitching, bleeding corpses of the Fire Crow tribe on the ground.

Ji Hao’s left hand gripped the throat of the three-eyed youth with iron force, while his right hand, clutching a dagger, carved savage lines across the young man's chest and arms. Blood welled up in streaks. The three-eyed youth writhed and cursed in agony, and the vertical eye in his brow opened and shut, emitting gusting winds that roared from his forehead. Yet no matter how he struggled, he could not escape Ji Hao’s grip.

"Three-Eyes, move again and I’ll gouge out that eye of yours too!" Ji Hao roared, and with a vicious blow, smashed the dagger’s hilt against the youth’s brow. The three-eyed youth howled in pain, blood and tears streaming from all three eyes, and at once he froze, not daring to move again.

"Boy, you’re bringing disaster upon your Fire Crow tribe!" Tuoba likewise clamped his hand around Ji Ying’s throat, shouting hoarsely, "Dilo is our squad leader… He’s also the blood brother of our Bloodfang gang’s chief! Our Bloodfang gang—"

Before Tuoba could finish, Ji Hao slashed with his dagger, and with a shriek from Dilo, three fingers from his right hand were severed at the base.

"Dilo? That’s quite a name, has a certain ring to it," Ji Hao sneered, the nine seals of true words flickering rapidly in his eyes. Unseen currents surged and gathered around him, his long hair twisting like a nest of wild serpents, an eerie pressure radiating from his body that made all who saw him shiver.

"Whatever your Bloodfang gang is, it has nothing to do with me. Whose brother this boy is, or whose son, is none of my concern." With a careless swipe, he left a fresh cut across Dilo’s sculpted, handsome face. Ji Hao’s voice was icy. "Release them, or my next cut will make a eunuch of him!"

"Bastard!" Dilo screeched, his body thrashing anew.

The Lord of Crows slashed with his right wing, a burning black feather sweeping across Dilo. In an instant, his splendid silk robe burned to ash, followed swiftly by his underclothes, which vanished in a wisp of blue smoke, leaving his snow-white, flawless body—delicate and pure as that of a peerless maiden—fully exposed.

The Lord of Crows let out a sharp, triumphant cry.

Having lived alongside the Lord of Crows for years, Ji Hao burst into laughter, utterly without mirth. "So, Lord Crow, you’re suggesting we cut off half first? That’s a fine idea! Now, should we cut across, or split it lengthwise?"

The dagger hovered menacingly between Dilo’s legs, and his face turned utterly black with dread.

"Tuoba… Tuo’ao!" Dilo’s vertical brow-eye snapped shut, leaving only one eye rolling anxiously. His body shook so violently that cold sweat poured from him like a stream. "Let… let them go!"

"We cannot!" Tuo’ao shrieked. "Dilo, listen to us! We must exchange hostages simultaneously, or… we’ll kill ten more!"

Tuoba shouted desperately, "Ten more! Release Dilo, or even if you make a eunuch of him, there are medicines to restore his body… Ten more! Ten more! Release Dilo, or watch your clansmen slaughtered one by one!"

Behind Ji Hao, the Bloodfang warriors bellowed and raised their swords and knives, preparing to strike down the warriors of the Fire Crow and Qingyi tribes they had captured.

A thunderous roar echoed from afar, like a tiger’s call shaking the mountains, startling all the beasts. On a peak miles away, thousands of towering trees exploded into a storm of woodchips from the force of the roar, and half the mountain collapsed. Then, as if by a monstrous power, the fallen peak was hurled into the sky and shattered into countless fragments.

Tuoba and Tuo’ao were horrified; their eight eyes shrank to needle points, and yellow and silver glows began to flicker rapidly beneath their bronze skin, twisted runes flaring across their cheeks.

The avalanche of dust swept outward from the shattered mountain. The terrifying roar reached them in a heartbeat, a hurricane blasting through Cold Creek Valley. The slave miners within stumbled and shrieked as the shockwave tossed them like leaves before a gale.

Arrows whistled unseen through the air, and Bloodfang warriors fell howling, one after another, pierced in throat, brow, or eye. The deadly arrows passed through flesh and bone, pinning the bodies deep into the earth, blood splattering in their wake.

A dreadful crack of the air sounded as a hulking figure soared from the collapsed mountain, tracing a vast arc before landing with crushing force in Cold Creek Valley. The ground quaked violently. Ji Xia, with nothing around his waist but a beast hide, landed before Ji Hao. The earth split open with a thunderous crack, and dozens of fist-sized gems and chunks of refined gold bounced from the fissures.

Tuoba and Tuo’ao’s pupils contracted again. Greed flickered in their eyes as they glanced at the scattered gold and gems, but anxiety swiftly overtook them as they turned to Ji Xia.

"We propose a hostage exchange," Ji Xia said warmly. "Release Ji Ying and Ji Lang, and I will return this three-eyed brat to you."

Arrows whistled unceasingly as Ji Bao and dozens of elite Fire Crow warriors vaulted down from the cliffs miles away, leaping into Cold Creek Valley like fleas. On a distant hillside, Qingying and the Qingyi warriors, hidden in the treetops, had already trained their arrows on the vital points of Tuoba and Tuo’ao.

Tuoba gripped Ji Ying’s throat tightly, his voice cold. "Can you guarantee our safe passage?"

Ji Xia patted his chest and replied gently, "I swear by the ancestral spirits of the Fire Crow tribe: if you do not harm Ji Ying or Ji Lang, I will allow you to leave safely with your three-eyed brat. But if we meet again, I shall surely take your heads as offerings for the ancestors!"

"I trust you savages to keep your word," Tuoba and Tuo’ao replied, releasing the severely wounded Ji Ying and Ji Lang and shoving them hard toward Ji Xia. They fixed Ji Xia with a cold glare. "We’ll be back. That brat gouged out one of Dilo’s eyes—Bloodfang will have its revenge!"

Ji Hao released his grip and kicked Dilo, sending him crashing into Tuoba. "I’ll be waiting for your revenge… Oh, and this Dilo fellow said you’ve been waiting outside Cold Creek Valley for over a month? Were you lying in ambush for us?"

Tuo’ao hefted the pale, limp Dilo and replied coldly, "That’s right. We’ve been here for more than a month, planning this attack. We underestimated your strength. Next time, we’ll bring more men!"

With a few grunts, Tuoba and Tuo’ao shielded Dilo and, with the handful of remaining Bloodfang warriors, vanished into the thick forest at top speed.

Ji Hao quickly plucked a feather from near the Lord of Crows’ tail. With a flick of his fingers, a magical crow appeared out of thin air and darted after Tuoba’s group into the woods.

"Well, now, that’s a fine bit of sorcery!" Ji Xia exclaimed in genuine admiration. "Even old Ji Kui never managed that trick, did he?"

Ji Hao only smiled, silent, his whole mind immersed in the senses of the magic crow.

***

I ate a sea-sized bowl of noodles!

Honestly, why use "sea bowl" as a unit of measurement?

Anyway, I’m full and ready to write! Still hoping for your recommendation votes!