Dance of the blades

Chapter 34 Thanks Should Not Be Given For Free

In the corner of the pitch black room, the shabby demon that had attacked the Ouyang Zizhen and the children screeched upon receiving another devastating blow from Lan Wangji. He was still recovering from Lan Wangji's previous assault that had rendered its head in a bloodied state.

When Ouyang Zizhen had showed a slight opening, the demon immediately went charging towards the children only to be stopped by a brutal kick from Lan Wangji. He had kicked himself out of the wooden box and managed to stomp on the demon's head while he was trying to balance himself. The blood of the demon had unfortunately spattered a little over Ouyang Zizhen as he tried to shield the children.

"W-What you do that for! Look if you wanted to take out a bit from those kids, you can look for another! You can have the rest when I'm done eating them!" the shabby looking demon proclaimed, twisting his long neck in an alarming degree to look more intimidating.

In response to the demon's statement, a low animalistic growl escaped from the Lan Wangji's gagged mouth, showing his obvious displeasure at the demon's words. Veins protruded throughout his body from rage, the disturbing sound of snapping under the bamboo muzzle could be heard as he lunged himself at the demon in surprising speed.

Blood was drawn from both sides, staining the interior of the room in a sea of red. The juniors demon slayer and the children watch the intense stare down of the injured with batted breath as the two demons limped around the room. Their sharp canine teeth shown through their growls, part of the space filled with a piece of the opponent's flesh.

Due to having not consumed any humans after his transformation, Lan Wangji had a harder time over powering the demon head on, both of them were stuck in a stalemate in terms of raw strength. Unfortunately the tip of the scale changed when the door on the other side of the room opened, revealing a massive demon twice the size of Lan Wangji . The giant demon's massive fist slammed down on Lan Wangji, immobilizing him and crushing his ribs.

This gave the injured demon time to recover from his wounds, dragging his healing body towards Lan Wangji with malice in his eyes. The two children gasped when the shabby demon's eyes met theirs, his face slitting into a wide grin at the sight of their shaking figures.

"This is not good Jin Ling we have to go help him! If he stays like this any longer he's going to get overpowered by the other two!" Ouyang Zizhen said, walking forward while reaching towards the handle of his sword. His path blocked by Jin Ling's hand extending in front of him. Ouyang Zizhen paused in surprise, turning to face his friend to show his confusion.

"Have you lost your mind Zizhen! We barely even know that demon and it definitely doesn't give a damn about us! There's no telling what it will do to us once we get rid of the other two. So I say we should just sit still and let those three do all the work for us" listening to Jin Ling's statement, Ouyang Zizhen partly understood where he was coming from. Jin Ling wasn't the one saved by the white figure thus it was reasonable he would have suspicion on the demon's character.

But it did not sit well with Ouyang Zizhen to abandon someone who had saved him like that! Even if Jin Ling's speculation had logical reasoning in it, it just didn't seem like what the demon would do.

Ouyang Zizhen was no fool he knew how demons would used trickery to fool their victims into letting their guard down before devouring them. But if the demon was aiming for their heads then won't it had already done it while it was still in the wooden box? Why instead face off against the other demons rather then join them?

"Well you if want to stand by and watch then go ahead! Besides those demons will come at us either way so killing them now would be doing us a favor" Ouyang Zizhen countered back at Jin Ling, who seem surprised by his friend's sudden outburst. Reluctantly Jin Ling retreated his hand back and allowed Ouyang Zizhen to charge into the room.

Taking in a deep breath, Ouyang Zizhen let the surrounding oxygen enter into his lungs. Leaping into the air, performing the first form of Mist breathing, Low Cloud, Distant Haze. He thrust his sword forward, slicing off the larger demon's hand and freeing its captive.

As the giant demon's hand loosen Lan Wangji stood up, giving Ouyang Zizhen a low 'hmm' sound in which Ouyang Zizhen presumed was a thanks. The shabby demon beside them in panic was frozen in place as it watched the giant demon's head fell out of its place to the ground.

The demon quickly regained its composure when Lan Wangji lunged straight towards it. His eyes widening with a feral look, sharp claws narrowly missing its intended target. He growled in a menacing matter, recovering quickly from his failed attempt and lunging again.

Ouyang Zizhen let out a small whistle, impressed by Lan Wangji successful second attempt, retraining the demon's lower body of movement. Ouyang Zizhen took a slight pause to look at Lan Wangji's face, instantly knowing what Lan Wangji wanted him to do. With swift movements, Ouyang Zizhen brought the edge of his sword to the demon's neck, finishing it with one final blow.

The massive feeling of relief burst through Ouyang Zizhen's body when the demon's body turned to ashes, leaving scattering to the wind as Jin Ling approached them with the children in tow. Their steps halted when the figure in white stood up from he was and approached the three of them.

Cautious by the turn of events, Jin Ling reached for his sword only to be stopped by Ouyang Zizhen's hand of his wrist. He gave Jin Ling a gentle smile, reassuring Jin Ling to trust in him. He finally let go when Jin Ling retracted his hand from his sword, warily observing Lan Wangji's next move.

And Jin Ling couldn't believe what he had seen next! He stared at Lan Wangi stunned in disbelief as he came towards them in a low bow. His head facing slightly towards the ground, letting a muffled sound similar to 'thank you' before retreating back to the wooden box. Seemly content with staying within its small confounds.