2760: All Stay

All Stay

"Is this person even one of ours?" Qiao Mu shot him a curt glare before shifting her gaze to the black-clad individuals who exchanged wary looks.1

"Here's your final opportunity. Depart immediately!"

The leader of the dark-clad group involuntarily snorted with a mixture of anger and derision. His stare at Qiao Mu was charged with a venomous intensity.

Duan Yue's eyes narrowed, the impish grin on his face turning chilling.

/How dare these reckless fools cast such insolent gazes toward Qiaoqiao./

"Since you're so reluctant to leave, then you can remain right here," Qiao Mu stated icily. With a swift gesture, a multitude of talismans sailed forth in graceful arcs.

Upon triggering the eight-trigram binding talisman, an array of radiant streaks landed upon the black-garbed figures.

Simultaneously, Qiao Mu dispatched over a hundred five-spirit talismans, configuring an intricate network of five-spirit assault formations.

In the blink of an eye, it was as if blossoms were being dispersed by ethereal beings.

Earth and wood beneath the feet of the black-clothed group churned and surged, while flames and lightning coiled above their heads.

The impending cataclysm felt nigh, as a water surge reminiscent of a colossal dragon engulfed the entire assemblage, its torrents intermingling with the fierce lightning bolts.

Thunderclaps and aqueous currents intertwined, subjecting the black-garbed individuals to an electrifying torment that seared their flesh and bones.

Dai'er and her comrades were left in sheer astonishment. They stood frozen in their tracks, transfixed on the spectacle before them.

The black-clothed assailants, who had previously been writhing and shrieking, were now being pounded to the ground by the electrifying strikes of the thunder spirit talismans.

Though sturdier in build, the leader of the black-clad faction found himself enduring a similar ordeal. While he might have escaped fatality, his condition was far from enviable.

Submerged in the noxious blend of filth-laden water and putrid soil, he endured the sensation of imminent doom as the thunderbolts above relentlessly struck him, a merciless assault upon his body.

Exhaustion enveloped him like a shroud, his very instincts urging him to surrender to the temptation of closing his eyes.

/Why not let these arbitrary thunderbolts crush him into oblivion?/ His prospects for survival seemed so bleak, his internal grumbling intertwining with the fervent desire to unleash a torrent of curses.

/Damn these pampered young masters and misses. How could they be so fragile, akin to a gentle breeze?/

/Was this a nefarious curse at work?/

Amidst his torment, he found himself reminiscing about the earlier command, that seemingly innocuous "scram" from the composed visage of the young lady. At this juncture, it appeared akin to a heavenly chorus.

Regrettably, he couldn't firmly grasp onto that "Scram." In this moment, he could merely resign himself to this place, his journey to the Yellow Springs impending.

With the final bolt of lightning, the entire forest fell into a hushed stillness.

No more agonized cries pierced the air, nor did wails or screeches resonate; even the harmonious calls of birds and insects were silenced.

The stoic young woman examined the several dozen talismans cradled between her fingers, her brow furrowing. "She's gone."

Uttering these words, she stowed away the remaining five-spirit talismans, her countenance untouched by emotion. "Let's depart."

Dai'er and her companions shivered as a chill seemed to grip their hearts.

They regarded the young lady before them with an almost fearful fascination.

She might appear youthful, yet her tactics were ruthlessly efficient.

And she wielded an inexhaustible arsenal of talismans. Truly, this was a life-threatening sorcery!

The typically outspoken mercenary, Dongzi, who had previously dared to criticize their leader, now sported a pallid complexion, gripped by terror.

As he recollected the words of the veteran mercenary, he rejoiced a myriad times over his decision not to incite any trouble.

Otherwise, he might well have been the one sprawled amid the lifeless grass and muddied earth at this very moment.

/In fact, they might not even find a trace of his remains./

The small-scale mercenary couldn't suppress a shiver as he beheld the aftermath left by the quilt lightning, reducing everything to clusters of charred black ash.

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