Chapter 12 — The Abyssal King Returns

Hắc Diệu stood on a high cliff overlooking Vân Khê Trấn hidden in the valley, his cold eyes under the black mask scanning every roof sparkling with oil lamps in the dark night. After nearly a month of exploration, narrowing the scope from a large area down to just a small town, he finally determined exactly where the strongest magical energy was coming from - the area around the dojo of a famous young female warrior in the area.

"Captain, shall we take action tonight?" A subordinate of Ảnh Vệ knelt on one knee next to him and asked softly.

"No rush," Hắc Diệu replied, his voice low. "Our target is not an ordinary person. Even though he has lost all his magic power, he was once the Supreme Lord of an entire world. He is definitely not as easy to deal with as the usual reports describe. We need to observe more closely and determine the exact location of both targets before striking, to avoid making mistakes that give them a chance to escape."

For three consecutive nights, the Shadow Guard team hid in the darkness around Vân Khê Trấn, observing every move of the residents in the martial arts hall, gradually determining the rules of life of Bách Uyên, Tiểu Yên and the people around them. On the fourth night, when realizing that the defense of the martial arts hall at the hour of the third watch was the most lax, Hắc Diệu decided to take action.

That night, Thục Di was sleeping soundly after a long and tiring day of practicing martial arts. Suddenly she was startled awake by a vague premonition of insecurity creeping into her mind, a sharp instinct that many years of practicing chivalry had trained for her. She quietly reached for the sword propped up next to the bed, went out to check, and at that moment, a dark shadow passed across the roof above her head as fast as a gust of wind.

"There's someone!" She screamed, immediately drew her sword, and rushed towards the house of Bách Uyên and Tiểu Yên.

Her screams alarmed the entire dojo. Chung Diệu Nga and other disciples immediately woke up, grabbed their weapons and rushed to the field. But as soon as they had time to gather, eight dark shadows simultaneously appeared from the surrounding rooftops, landing on the dojo's courtyard with a terrifying rhythmic coordination, their movements so fast and smooth that they almost made no sound.

"Nhiếp Bách Uyên, quickly hand over the child, we can let you live," Hắc Diệu spoke, his cold voice echoed throughout the yard, his eyes hidden under the mask looked straight at the house where Bách Uyên had just carried a sleepy Tiểu Yên out, his face was pale but his eyes still maintained an amazing calmness.

"You are Cố Thanh Vũ's people," Bách Uyên said, not a question but a firm affirmation. He hugged his daughter tightly, took a step back, his eyes quickly scanned the eight dark shadows surrounding her in all directions, assessing the situation with the calmness of someone who had commanded countless battles.

"That traitor finally took action," he muttered, his voice filled with both contempt and indignation.

"We are just hired servants, we don't care who is right or wrong in your affairs," Hắc Diệu replied, his voice still cold and without any emotion. "Hand over the child, everything will end peacefully."

"Don't even try!" Thục Di roared, rushing straight into the middle of the siege, sword in hand swung to block a Shadow Guard who was rushing closest to Bách Uyên and Tiểu Yên. The sound of metal colliding loudly rang out in the quiet night, destroying the inherent peace of the small town.

Chung Diệu Nga and the disciples in the dojo also immediately rushed in to help fight, but Ảnh Vệ's strength was far beyond what a small dojo in a rural town could withstand. In just a few exchanges of moves, two disciples of the dojo were seriously injured and forced to retreat.

"Thục Di, take Tiểu Yên and run first, let me block the rear!" Chung Diệu Nga shouted loudly. Although her body was old, she still had some parts of a once famous female knight, temporarily holding off two Shadow Guards.

Bách Uyên, even though there was no longer a trace of magic power left in his body, still maintained the cool head of a person who had fought all over the battlefield. He quickly observed the terrain, realizing that the only escape route that had not yet been surrounded was the back gate leading to the dense forest bordering the town.

"Thục Di, follow me!" He shouted, one hand holding Tiểu Yên tightly, the other hand holding Thục Di's hand in the middle of fighting, pulling her back towards the back gate while Chung Diệu Nga and the remaining disciples tried to hold back the Shadow Guards.

The three rushed into the darkness of the forest, the sound of their footsteps echoing in the quiet space. Behind her, the sound of clashing weapons and the screams of the martial arts disciples still echoed, making Thục Di's heart ache with worry for her master, but she clearly understood that protecting Tiểu Yên's safety was the top priority at this time.

"Chung Diệu Nga will be fine, she is brave enough to protect herself and retreat in time," Bách Uyên said, as if he could read the worry in her heart, even though he himself was not completely sure about it.

Hắc Diệu stood in the middle of the field, not rushing to chase immediately, just signaled three of his subordinates to continue chasing into the forest while the remaining five finished dealing with the resisters at the martial arts hall. He looked in the direction the three people had just fled, the corner of his mouth under the mask slightly raised.

"It's certainly not simple. A person who has lost all his magic power but can still calmly find a way out amidst the siege, is worthy of being a Supreme Lord who once ruled over a world," he muttered, his eyes flashing with the excitement of a predator facing a worthy prey. "But how can this human world's forests and mountains compare with Shadow Guard's tracking ability?"

In the deep forest, the three people continued to run, the sound of pursuing footsteps behind them getting closer and closer. Tiểu Yên woke up from sleep, hugged her father's neck tightly, scared but tried not to cry out loud so as not to cause more danger. Thục Di, despite having a slight injury to her arm from the recent battle, still gritted her teeth and endured it, not showing her pain in front of father and daughter.

At the martial arts hall, Chung Diệu Nga fought more tenaciously than anyone could expect from an old woman who had been retired for many years. She used an old technique that had not been used for a long time, forcing the two Shadow Guards who were surrounding her to take a few steps back, taking advantage of that time to shout loudly to order the disciples who could still move to quickly evacuate the people in the vicinity, to avoid them being affected.

"There's no need to win, just hold off long enough for the kids to escape." She thought to herself, parrying an incoming sword slash and counterattacking with a dangerous move that made the opponent retreat in anticipation.

Realizing that the situation was unfavorable when the main target had escaped into the forest and those who remained were resisting more fiercely than expected, the five Shadow Guards remaining at the dojo received a summons signal through a special whistle, immediately withdrew their troops, and flew away from the scene to join the three men pursuing in the forest, not wanting to prolong the battle and attract the attention of the whole town.

Chung Diệu Nga stood panting in the middle of the yard, looking around at the dilapidated scene of the martial arts hall, a few injured disciples scattered around, but luckily no one lost their life. She quickly ordered everyone's wounds to be bandaged, and at the same time sent someone to report to the local government, even though she knew in her heart that the group of people who had just attacked were not the type of ordinary robbers that the local military could deal with.

"I hope the three of them are safe," she muttered, looking worriedly at the dark forest where Bách Uyên, Thục Di and Tiểu Yên had just fled, then turned to clean up to prepare to find a way to contact and support if possible in the coming days.

In the deep forest, the sound of pursuit from behind continued to follow. Bách Uyên led the two of them down a narrow path that he accidentally discovered while searching for firewood before, knowing that the rugged terrain there could slow down the pursuer's footsteps, even for just a moment.

"We can't go back to Vân Khê Town anymore, at least not in the near future," he said, his voice heavy as the three paused next to a narrow ravine to catch their breath. "Staying there will only put innocent people around us in danger."

"So where do we go now?" Thục Di asked, still clutching the bleeding wound on her arm.

Bách Uyên looked at Tiểu Yên who was trembling in her arms, then looked at Thục Di, his eyes gradually became determined as if he had made an important decision a long time ago but only at this moment did he truly accept it.

"We will find the border, where Chu Bách Thành is still waiting," he said. "The time has come when I can no longer continue to hide. If I want to fully protect my daughter, I need to go back and face the roots of all this."

They found a sheltered rock hole to stop, not daring to light a big fire for fear of light leaking out into the dark forest. Tiểu Yên snuggled deeply into her father's arms, her little fingers still shaking from time to time even though she had stopped crying a long time ago, while Thục Di sat leaning against the cliff, her hand pressing firmly on the bleeding wound, her eyes never leaving the entrance to the rock hole. Looking at the two most important girls in his life huddled in the dark, Bách Uyên knew that from tonight, the peaceful life the three of them had in Vân Khê Trấn had officially ended. There was no other way but to walk straight towards the pursuers from a distant realm, and beyond that, towards the one who had pulled the strings of all these tragedies from the shadows.