“It’s a Taotie,” Gong Xuandi said, reluctantly. “If I’m not mistaken, it’s the same Taotie the North and South allied to suppress ten thousand years ago. The Sea God Emperor ten generations my senior also joined them to seal it away. By his estimates, the seal should have lasted a million years before needing to be renewed.
“Okay,” Feng Ming said. “It’s been sealed once, so it should be doable. How do we kill it?”
Gong Xuandi looked at him strangely. “We don’t. We can’t.”
Boom. Boom.
“Pardon?” Feng Ming said. If they’d done it before, why couldn’t they do it now?
“A Taotie is the power of devouring incarnate,” Gong Xuandi said. “Though this one is just an infant, the laws it represents surpasses anything a mortal realm could ever muster. A god could kill it, perhaps, but by doing so, it would destroy the plane. That’s why they sealed it off. The idea was to perpetually keep it away from sustenance. Whenever the seal faded, the Sea God Realm would send another seal to replace the old one.
“Great,” Feng Ming said. “How do we place an order?” A million years early shouldn’t be a big deal, should it?
Boom. Boom.
“I can send a message to the Sea God’s Herald,” Gong Xuandi said reluctantly. “And I suggest you do the same with your Alabaster Group. Meanwhile, we need to get it away from your wall. We need to punish it, to cost it what it lacks most: time. When it realizes it’s wasting its time, it will go away and find another target.”
“All right,” Feng Ming said. “Colonel, get all men to assume defensive positions. I want everyone to divert energy to healing the wall. I don’t want any shields active, and I don’t want any weapons used on the creature.”
The colonel nodded and moved to carry out his orders. He came back a few moments later. “Sir, how will we repel it without any weapons?” the colonel asked.
Feng Ming grinned. He hefted his spear, which he’d been carrying on his shoulder, and assumed a battle position. “We are the weapons.” Then, he darted toward the creature. Gong Xuandi, who was carrying a large golden trident, grunted and followed him. They flew at the creature as a pair. Feng Ming’s Magma God’s Spear glowed red as the Gong Xuandi’s trident glowed blue. They stabbed into the creature of darkness, quickly pulling away from the gaping holes they left in the creature’s body. Dark devouring force rushed up to grab the weapons, but ultimately, they were too slow.
Slash. Stab. Kick.
“Don’t use any energy attacks,” Gong Xuandi warned as he hacked away at the monster. “Energy attacks are too easy to absorb. It’s better to use physical attacks to cut and disperse the creature. Regeneration costs the Taotie energy.”
“What if we just keep hacking away at it?” Feng Ming asked as he lopped off one of its many dark horns. The sharp protrusion wriggled on the floor; it dissociated before rejoining the main body and regrowing near its head. “We could constantly attack it and deplete its energy reserves.”
“Regeneration costs it less energy than it absorbs from the air,” Gong Xuandi scoffed as he kicked the creature in the chest, forcing it away from the wall. “We’re limiting its energy intake by wasting its time, not by expending it.”
Heavens, Feng Ming thought. I hope it’s not intelligent. The two of them were barely keeping it at bay, and if it continued doing what it was doing, it could tie up two of the North’s most powerful fighters indefinitely. They could only hope that self-interest drove it away.
Their battle continued, and the Taotie continued bravely advancing, only to be rebuffed every time. Occasionally, the creature launched powerful, energy-consuming attacks on the two men, who rebuffed them with little effort. Only after seven hours did it finally stop.
They looked at the creature. The creature looked back. Time stood still for a few minutes as the creature deliberated its next course of action. Then, finally, it turned. Its slow, lumbering body turned back toward the mountains where it had come. Every step it took withered trees and drained ponds. Its footprints left behind shattered desolation and lifeless dust.
“I sent a message to the Sea God’s Herald through my core-transmission jade,” Gong Xuandi said.
Feng Ming nodded and did the same to Lu Tianhao in the Quicksilver Kingdom. Then, looking toward the west, he frowned.
“I’m concerned,” Feng Ming said, looking toward the demonic mountain.
“About what?” Gong Xuandi asked.
“That it will simply wander through demonic lands and devour everything in its path. Then, once it’s strong enough, it will come back to our wall.”
“A very real concern,” Gong Xuandi admitted. “What do you command?”
Right, Feng Ming thought. He’s basically my indentured servant at this point. He won’t do anything unless I tell him to.
“Let’s chase him,” Feng Ming said. “Let’s harass him when he approaches anything too rich in energy. Then we’ll herd him toward the South. Once he gets there, it’ll be their problem to deal with.”
Gong Xuandi raised an eyebrow. “You want to put the fate of the plane in the hands of devils and evil spirits?”
Feng Ming shrugged. “They want this plane just as much as we do. They’re not about to let it fall. Maybe we’ll force their transcendents to act against it too. Or do you have any better ideas?”
Gong Xuandi shook his head. “Colonel, we’ll be gone for a while. Call Songjing and tell them to send over one of the new marshals to defend Westvale Fortress.”
“Sir,” the colonel said. “I’d appreciate it if you were the one to send the message.”
Right, Feng Ming realized. Song Guo, Feng Ming’s wife, would kill him if she found out he was going on another adventure. Especially just before their anniversary. “Gong Xuandi, you relay the message.” The disgraced Sea God Emperor grimaced, but as Feng Ming expected, he flew off toward Songjing.
Someone has to be the messenger, Feng Ming thought. He could hardly think of
