Oscar stood above the snake, knife in hand, and Xiao Wu was slightly apart, looking a little sick. But then, she had never come to terms with hunting spirit beasts. They always looked whenever one of them killed a spirit beast.
"Must we hunt and kill spirit beasts?" Xiao Wu asked silently, her voice a bare whisper. When Tang Yin put her hand on her shoulder, her brother standing close to them.
"There are ways." Tang Yin said. "So we don't need to kill, but they are...not desirable to many, nor well known." She explained, and Xiao Wu's large eyes looked at her.
"But why don't people take those possibilities instead of killing?"
"The weak are prey to the strong; this is the law of survival." Tang San interrupted them, his voice is soft yet firm. "The alternatives exist, but only very few are willing to take their chances with them or know of them existing at all. Then again. If this snake was stronger than us, do you think it would let food slip out of the side of its mouth? That we would be spared?"
Xiao Wu did not say anything else but lowered her head all along, her complexion still somewhat pale.
Tang Yin, too, remained silent. She agreed with her brother but still, she herself knew. She would never be able to kill for power if she knew there was another way. Her gaze flickered to Tang Sans belt, twenty-four moonlight bridges for a brief second.
Zhao Wuji pulled out a short blade from his belt and handed it to Oscar.
"We should get started. Thrust under this point from under its comb to pierce its brain immediately, and this spirit ring will be yours." Zhao Wuji ordered.
Oscar excitedly took the short blade. This thousand-year spirit beast before him was his chance; his hands trembled in the excitement at the prospect of gaining his third spirit ring. Tang Yin decided at that moment to get Xiao Wu out of there; the girl was paling even more, looking like she was ill.
Nodding briefly at her brother, she grabbed Xiao Wu's hand and tried walking away, but they didn't get far.
When Oscar was about to thrust the knife, suddenly, a hoarse, strict shout abruptly echoed.
Immediately following, two people walked out of the forest, appearing before everyone.
One was an older, strict-looking woman, and one was young, appearing in her upper teens. Both women looked similar yet different; the older woman was maybe sixty-seventy years old, and her hair was white and neatly combed back. Her eyes were bright, full of life and mustering them with mild interest. In her right hand was a staff with a snake head towering over her.
Spirit rings floated around her and moved rhythmically. There was no obvious use of a spirit ability, but she was obviously having hers running and activated.
Tang Yin's eyes flashed to her staff. That had to be it. Counting the spirit rings, she gritted her teeth at six rings.
The girl was maybe sixteen or seventeen years old. Her hair was cut short, and her brown eyes focused on the bound Phoenix Tail Crest Serpent. She also held a snake-headed stick in her hand, but it was much smaller, and around her were only two hundred years of spirit rings.
Zhao Wuji growled and released his own spirit rings. Seven. The two adults focused on each other, their eyes fixated on the other. The tension in the groups was rising when suddenly a rustle came from the bushes. The rustle interrupted the tension and drew so much attention that all the attention shifted to the potential new threat.
A pair of hands rose, pale and obviously small. A quirky voice saying. "Don't stop on my account; I would have loved to see a bit of Mayhem." A bell-like, clear voice said, followed by a young girl. A girl that looked like a doll.
"It makes things so much more exciting. No?" Behind her, a few men from Spirit Hall followed.
The elderly woman flinched, and so did Zhao Wuji, while Xiao Wu paled. Her hand dug into Tang Yins, who, a second later, was completely petrified.
"I am Lucilla; you can call me Lily," she told her. "E un paciere*." Then she did a mock bow, and Tang Yin gasped. She wrestled her face into expressionless while internally, she was both panicked and shell shocked. Tang San, who had been relatively relaxed before that, moved in front of the two of them. He, too, had recognized the language.
After all, the only person he knew who occasionally said things like that.
*italian for "It's an honor" in this context "It's an honor to meet you."