บท 71: Surrounded by Bandits
Mashia looked at the people she was supposed to protect before glancing at the reason why they were in this much danger. If he was still conscious no doubt he would have beg for mercy. In the end, she stopped glaring at the young master.
Even if they didn't take him in, the lecherous look on the bandits showed that they wouldn't let them off. In the end, the reason they were able to escape is because the young master took out a powerful talisman, killing one Genesis Foundation expert and injuring the two she was holding back. Because it was not a fight.
They ran as quickly as they could, the Earth Horse thankfully could outrun their pursuers. Unfortunately, in their attempt to run away, they had been herded to a place where the horse couldn't move as freely, trapping them.
In their crisis, Ina took out a flagpole before planting it on the ground. It released some kind of illusion, stopping the bandits from getting any closer. However, the worried look on her face tells her something wrong.
"What's wrong?" she asked, gently rubbing the head of the trembling Ariana. The other children were no better, the only one even calm was Esran, and even he looked worried.
"I need to pour qi into the artifact if I want to make them unable to see us. But I don't know how long I can last," Ina confessed.
"In that case, let me do it," she was about to touch the artifact when Ina put her hand on top of hers.
"Not yet, try to recover first. Let Era and I take the first turn, after that, you can cover us," she wanted to argue but decided to concede. After all, Ina was right, it was better for her to recover first. At least she would last longer.
-x-
2 hours passed and Mashia could tell the illusion couldn't last longer. Ina had drained herself dry before Era took over. The weakest cultivator among them also couldn't hold for long, only lasting half an hour.
Still, Mashia was impressed. Illusion usually lasted depending on the opponent's strength or using some materials to produce said illusions. Illusion could also be broken by strong cultivators, especially in terms of strength.
However, the artifact was able to use the qi from 3rd Stage Genesis Formation and 8th Stage Genesis Gathering and was able to hold for 2 hours, with none of the enemies realizing their presence. She wondered how long could she use it.
'Looks like I'm about to get my answer,' she thought to herself, Era moving the flagpole to her before slumping next to Ina.
She put her hand on the flagpole and felt her qi being sucked at a tremendous rate. She had thought about trying to recover while using the artifact but it seems to be impossible. However, while she couldn't recover, doesn't mean she couldn't try to increase her qi while doing so.
"Irina, put those pills inside my mouth every ten minutes," she told the oldest siblings after Ryker, changing her focus to cover the group as the illusion remained strong.
She predicted that she could hold for maybe 9 hours. She hoped Ryker could sense something wrong before the illusion dropped down.
Unfortunately, the group failed to consider the fact that the artifacts didn't discriminate, meaning even if Ryker was nearby, he couldn't sense them.
-x-
Ryker let out his divine sense, only spotting bandit after bandit. He killed them quickly, hoping they didn't get close to his family.
"Where are they?" he muttered, his divine sense scanning the area multiple times but not finding it.
'Maybe they are still at the previous spot,' he thought, before using his movement technique to reach the place.
-x-
"They are not here too," he said out loud, wondering where had they been. The only thing he could come up with is they had been captured but he denied it. If not, Mashia would have sent him a message.
However, they still could be in danger, as a stronger cultivator could detect the usage of communication tokens, meaning they were not captured yet but the enemies were too close.
Realizing the possibility of such a thing he headed towards their rendezvous spot, letting his divine sense out as he tried to find them.
Never in his mind had he thought about the double-edged sword that is the Illusiory Flag Array. If not he would have destroyed all the bandits immediately, to make sure they were safe.
-x-
Mashia bites another pill. Unfortunately, it was her last Qi Supplying Pill, so she couldn't recover her strength anymore. Besides her, Ina and Era had woken up, and their qi started to recover but she knew it would take a day of recovery to get back to their previous state.
Before she could do anything, Ina grabbed the artifact, pushing her hand as she supplied it, Era beside her, ready to assist when the inevitable happened and she was drained.
Mashia let out a sigh, spending the time they could buy her, no matter how short, to recover, hoping that Ryker would soon notice.
-x-
Ryker let out a frustrated roar, the still-living bandits trembled as they watched their allies being torn by a raging older brother.
He looked at another one, his voice cold as he asked, "How many bandits are out there?"
-x-
Mashia could feel the last of her qi being drained, the artifact seemingly able to hold for a few more minutes. She wonder how long she could buy for the others to escape.
In her heart, she knew that she would likely not buy enough time. As she watched the illusion flickered, she watched in horror as a ball of light flew upwards, signaling everyone of their current location.
-x-
What they didn't know is that there were several countermeasures planted in the Illusiory Flag Array, one of them being that if I stopped being supplied, it would release a balk of light to signal any friends.
Besides, the artifact was imprinted on Ryker, giving him a sense of connection. When the light flew upward, he felt something before turning his head in the direction and releasing his divine sense.
His eyes widened as he ran toward the direction of the light.
-x-
Mashia looked at the approaching figures with despair. When the ball of light had flown away, it had attracted the attention of two more enemies, both of them in the Genesis Foundation realm.
They shared the same lecherous smile on their face with the underlings, looking at the women like mere pieces of meat.
"To think we not only get some new entertainment, we also get some money from doing a job well done. Hah, we must be blessed today," the leader exclaimed, slowly walking towards her.
She tried to back away, but the leader pulled her hair, making her squirm in pain. Not caring for her, the bandit tore off her clothes, leaving her body bare for every person around to see.
"I would taste you later. My men would like to have a go first. After all, they did try to stop you from leaving," he threw her toward the bandits she blocked earlier.
They gave her a perverted smile as they slowly walked towards her. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see their face any longer when she felt some liquid touching her skin. She reluctantly opened her eyes to see the two bandits' heads had been blown away.
The bandit leader himself was lying on the ground, holding his head in pain. The other bandits looked at the sky in awe and fear. She looked at where they looking and couldn't help but gasp.
Ryker looked at the group, a wing made of wind allowing him to fly as his cold gaze pierced their very soul.
"What do your scum think you are doing?"
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