"Heavens," Zhao Hong said. "He found me. Quick, hold the talisman before—"
Ao Jiao vanished in a flash of light as the talisman teleported her to safety.
"—it activates," finished Zhao Hong in a resigned tone. "Damn it, Wei Zian, why didn't you grasp it?!"
"You'd be dead, then!" Wei Zian protested. He wasn't going to let a person who had helped him so much tonight die from a sneak attack if he could prevent it. Besides, whoever had cast it would surely fall to Zhao Hong's cultivation techniques, just like the rest of the creatures and enemy cultivators they had encountered thus far. How formidable could this adversary truly be?
A sudden gust of wind blew the dust away, and a gaunt humanoid figure stepped into view. Wei Zian actually gasped in shock as he took in the appearance of the being before them. It was a skeleton wreathed in sickly green light. Its bones were black with a strange metallic sheen, as if they were not bones at all but rather a facsimile of a skeleton crafted from some kind of black metal. Encased in gold-decorated armor, with a scepter held tightly in one of its skeletal hands and a crown full of purple spirit crystals, the creature looked like some ancient emperor risen from the grave.
It was a jiangshi lord. A thrice-damned jiangshi lord! Oh, they were surely going to die...
The jiangshi lord swept its empty eye sockets over them. As Wei Zian's eyes met the black pits that once held the undead being's eyes, an uncomfortable feeling washed over him, like the jiangshi lord was peering into his very soul. After less than a breath, the undead creature lazily shifted its attention to Zhao Hong, apparently dismissing Wei Zian as something of no consequence.
"So..." the jiangshi lord spoke, its voice resonant with power, "You're the one who has been slaying my servants."
"Wei Zian, flee while I deal with this creature," Zhao Hong said, gripping his staff tightly.
Without waiting for a response, Zhao Hong launched a barrage of Spirit Missiles toward the jiangshi lord, who retaliated with a trio of purple beams as it erected a Spirit Shield around itself with a single wave of its bony hand. Two beams were aimed at Zhao Hong, but unfortunately, the jiangshi lord saw fit to direct one toward Wei Zian's retreating form. While it failed to hit Wei Zian directly, the beam's impact with the nearby ground created a substantial explosion that drove stone shrapnel into his legs. The pain was excruciating, and Wei Zian collapsed instantly, unable to take another step.
Over the next few minutes, Wei Zian painfully dragged himself behind a nearby stone bench, hoping it would shield him from at least some of the destructive energy being unleashed in the battle. Zhao Hong was keeping the jiangshi lord occupied enough that it didn't send any more attacks after Wei Zian, which was fortunate because Wei Zian was no longer in any condition to evade them. He watched with growing unease as Zhao Hong and the undead being exchanged various destructive techniques that Wei Zian couldn't even identify, realizing with rising dread that his prediction of their grisly fate was well-founded, no matter how skilled Zhao Hong was, he was not remotely in the same realm as the jiangshi lord. The creature was toying with the young master and would soon tire of the game—
He winced as a spear-like red bolt punched straight through Zhao Hong's Spirit Shield and impaled the disciple through his side. Wei Zian suspected the strike hit a non-vital area only because the jiangshi lord wished to gloat a bit more, and his suspicions were all but confirmed when the creature didn't finish Zhao Hong with anything destructive, choosing instead to hurl him into the air with a single casual gesture. Zhao Hong collided with the wall near where Wei Zian was taking cover and groaned in pain.
Apparently in no hurry, the jiangshi lord approached slowly. It seemed unconcerned that Zhao Hong was rising shakily to his feet, a formation talisman clutched tightly in his left hand. Wei Zian could see that his right hand was pressed firmly against the bleeding wound on his side.
"You fought admirably, child," the jiangshi lord said. "Impressive for one who is supposedly a mere sect disciple."
"Not... impressive enough," Zhao Hong gasped, the talisman dropping from his hand as he clutched the wound on his side with both hands, clearly in great agony. "I suppose... I'll have to... try harder... next time."
The jiangshi lord chuckled. It was an eerie sound, wholly unsuited to such a creature. "Next time? Foolish child, there will be no next time. Surely you know I cannot permit you to live?"
"Bah," Zhao Hong spat, straightening himself with a grimace. "Enough talk, just finish this."
"You seem remarkably unconcerned for one about to meet his end," the jiangshi lord observed conversationally.
"Whatever," said Zhao Hong, rolling his eyes. "It's not like my death will be permanent."
Wei Zian looked at Zhao Hong incredulously, not comprehending what he meant. The jiangshi lord seemed to understand, however.
"Aaah, I see," the undead being said. "You must be new to soul arts if you believe this makes you invulnerable. I could simply trap your soul in a soul jade, but I have a far more interesting idea."
The jiangshi lord casually gestured toward Wei Zian, and he suddenly felt his entire body freeze as if trapped by some otherworldly force. Another wave and Wei Zian was hurled with tremendous speed toward the shocked Zhao Hong, where he painfully crashed into the other disciple. They both ended up on the ground in a tangle of limbs, and Wei Zian was relieved that at least the strange force paralyzing him had dissipated.
"It matters not if your soul can reincarnate elsewhere if someone mutilates it beyond recognition before it arrives," the jiangshi lord said. "After all, the soul may be immortal, but no one claimed it cannot be altered or combined with another."
Distantly, Wei Zian could hear the jiangshi lord chanting in some ancient language that definitely wasn't the standard cultivation incantations used in orthodox techniques, but any curiosity about this was washed away by a wave of pain and indescribable wrongness that suddenly engulfed him. He opened his mouth to scream, but his world abruptly erupted into blinding light before suddenly fading to complete darkness.