Sixteen

"Big brother you ok? Big brother!! Shit!!" When he came out of shock he saw Du Shui supporting him and looking vigilantly into the fog. The blade was still stuck in his stomach, he could feel the hilt on his back.

He touched his wound and felt some sticky thing on his hand. Du Shui felt the movement and said in a small voice "Don't touch! That's poison. Helps coagulate the blood and numbs the area. Eat this." He forced something in Zhang Wuji's mouth and continued "Big brother, we are in deep shit. The one that attacked you is Tang Zhi from the Iron Rhino, it's a small country you may have not heard of it but that's not important. He's someone that could single handedly fight a qi condensation realm cultivator. How did you get under his radar?!"

"And he is not alone. I kicked him quiet a far distance and stunned him with poison but.. we are surrounded. Do you have any ideas? Cause otherwise, we are fucked!!" His voice was grave, and there was also a hint of helplessness.

Zhang Wuji was curious as to why Du Shui was here but right now was not the time to for the question. He didn't think for even a second and answered "Break through the left, after which we split. You go call for help."

"Big brother that's.. lower right is better, no?"

"No. There's more behind them. Left is the best." He felt the heat from the detector formation and said. Actually, there was another breakthrough point that was better but left was closer to his pattern.

Du Shui trusted him and nodded. Just as he was about to remove the sword in Zhang Wuji's stomach, he stopped him. "Big brother, it would hinder our escape. Don't worry our poison valley's poison is renowned. You wouldn't lose much blood."

"I'll explain later. Tang Zhi will soon recover. Let's run." The sword would definitely hinder their movements, moreover every stride would further aggravate his injury. But Zhang Wuji noticed that the detector formation was working intact. The sword should be made of a conducting material and was currently completing his pattern circuits. Once it is removed, they would run blind.

They subtly exchanged a glance and sprinted to the left at the same time. The enemies converged toward them. Du Shui easily repelled them. Except for Tang Zhi others from such a low level country were equivalent to ants to him.

They soon broke through.

"Big brother, you go ahead. I can hold these small fry here. Elder brother and the gang are in area 12. ... Come fast." Du Shui grit his teeth and said. He was torn. If he escaped alone, he would definitely be able to live. But.. he couldn't. Zhang Wuji would definitely die. If he stayed there was a very slim chance that both would survive. Though slim, a chance was better than a certainty of one dying.

Zhang Wuji looked at him shocked. He really didn't expect that. He was a little ashamed of being on guard all this time. "No. You go ahead. I have a plan." Zhang Wuji shook his head and got all useless thoughts out of his head and continued sprinting.

"Big brother-"

"I'm the big brother for a reason."

"But that reason is not strength. You wouldn't last a single move against me. Forget me, anyone in Poison Valley's team. I don't even understand what you are doing in this marsh. I mean-" Du Shui said exasperatedly.

"What do you think I've been doing all these days!! Go! I'll show you how awesome I am!" How can he be so direct?!

"Bi-" Du Shui was not convinced.

"Go!!"

"Ok. You don't have to get angry. It's not like I lied." He mumbled the last part under his breath. He hesitated a bit and handed a green pill to Zhang Wuji "Big Brother, keep it. If you have no other choice, none at all, eat it."

"Mm." Zhang Wuji nodded and tried putting it in his token. Surprisingly, it didn't go in. He put it in his robes and continued running to the pattern.

After Zhang Wuji took the pill, he turned around, repelled the enemies and ran towards area 12 to get help.

Without Du Shui, the situation was perilous to Zhang Wuji. He was already slow compared to others. Now with the added burden, the enemies would catch up in no time. There was fifteen following him. Combined with Tang Zhi there were 16 enemies. He didn't understand why such a force was chasing after him.

When he learned about Tang Zhi, he thought it could be because of the tension between Frost Swallow and Iron Rhino. But he didn't think anyone recognized him without the robes.

The pattern on his back was getting hotter. He took a deep breath and resolutely took out his gun, aimed and..

The heat spots on his back started zigzagging. He couldn't get a steady aim. He turned around. Through the thick fog he could vaguely see two figures following him in zigzag patterns. He soon realized, they weren't exactly zigzagging. They were merely avoiding the gun, as if they knew what it did.

Seeing this Zhang Wuji had an idea who the enemy was. But he still couldn't understand how they were able to see him and the gun through the fog. He stopped looking back and just randomly fired. The bullets were dirt cheap, literally. He redoubled his efforts in covering the distance.

The sword cut further with his movements and he involuntarily bent a little and slowed down. A javelin swooshed past his head confirming his doubts about the enemy's identity.

He felt someone close in on him and he pointed the gun. He heard a grunt and could feel the attacker slow down on his back. He couldn't rejoice. Others closed in too.

He felt a hammer on his upper back and flew a few meters forward. The sword stabbed into the earth and he was nailed to the ground.

"Hoho, remember us bitch? Didn't expect us to get back at you this soon, did ya?" He heard a gruff voice to his right. He was too weak to turn his head but assumed it to be the bigger morning star brother.

'Just a little more.' He kept saying to himself but the sword cut through all his hopes. Less than a meter away was his pattern. He tried his best to crawl, but to no avail. He tried removing the sword. The brothers and others just stood around laughing but didn't stop him.

His hand couldn't reach the hilt. The sword had been pushed out a bit due to the recoil from his fall. He tried to hold the blade of the sword. He endured the blade cutting into his hand and tried to pull it out. He used all his strength. He could feel the blade cutting into his bones.

He understood. He was going to die today. Tears uncontrollably started flowing down his cheeks. He screamed and his desperation seemed to have given him strength.

The sword moved, but the blade cut too deep and his hand was stuck. He tried freeing his hand but every time he tried to move the hand a tingling sensation made him lose all strength.

With his other hand he forcibly removed the useless hand and went back to pulling the blade out his back. The small movement in the sword gave him hope and he tried harder.

"He's too pitiful. Why don't we just kill him?" A big burly man wielding a hammer said.

"Xiao Li! He made three holes in my body! It is only right for him to suffer. Hmph!!" The morning star wielder grunted.

"This is quite interesting. This will definitely make our hunts easier." The javelin thrower greedily checked out Zhang Wuji's gun.

"Wen Bao, I can't believe you assembled all of us for this kid. Also Wen Zhai, the first one could be considered a surprise attack. The other two holes, you can only blame your stupidity." A lanky young man said with dissatisfaction.

"Asshole! Do you wanna go!" Wen Zhai the morning star wielder got into a stance, almost ready to bash the lanky youth's skull in.

"Hmph! You idiots overestimated the usefulness of the weapon and made us all waste our time. When we get-"

"A'Man, it was my decision to get the weapon. Are you doubting me?" At this time a hypnotizing deep voice was heard from within the fog.

"Brother Tang Zhi I didn't mean that I just-"

"It is you that expected too much from the weapon. Wen Zhai received three hits in close range and still survived. The projectiles could also be easily dodged. I was just curious. Tell me, is my curiosity wasting your time?" A tall sturdy looking male walked out the fog. He was wearing silver robes and a silver crown on his head. His attire and his features made him dazzlingly handsome.

The lanky man searched long for a reply but ended up simply apologizing.

Tang Zhi didn't pursue the topic and came to Zhang Wuji who was still struggling with the sword. He played with the hilt a bit before pulling the sword out in one fluid motion.

Seeing that Zhang Wuji didn't even react to his action and started crawling, he was surprised and said "Quite tenacious aren't we? But why pointlessly struggle? Do you think you can escape crawling?"

Zhang Wuji continued crawling "Are you waiting fror reinforcements? Your friend did seem capable."

"Tell you what, make these cylinder weapons and other trinkets for me and I'll forgive you people for daring to hit me. I'm also quite curious about how you dodged my first attack."

Zhang Wuji still didn't reply. Tang Zhi frowned and lifted his leg intending to stomp on Zhang Wuji and stop him.

It didn't come to that. Zhang Wuji stopped by himself. Tang Zhi looked at him to see him staring right at him with a mixture of craze and determination. Those eyes filled him with a sense of foreboding.

Then it happened. Zhang Wuji slapped hard at the pattern right beneath his arm. Tang Zhi jumped forward in a futile attempt to stop him.

Puchi!

Puchi!

.

.

Spikes rose from the ground stabbing each and every life force in a ten meter radius. The sixteen didn't even realize what was happening before they were stabbed through by two meter tall pillars. The spikes were half a meter wide at the base and sharp at the end. Not one intact body remained.

Tang Zhi had two spikes aiming at him. He used his sword to get away from them. But there were more waiting for him where he landed. He was stabbed by three spikes from different sides but before they could go deeper, a white light shone on his body and he disappeared. His token fell where he was standing.