Dance of the blades

Chapter 43 Under The Moonlight

The dark skies hanged the lonely moon, shinning its tender rays upon the mountain's edges. The subject of the stunning blue light however broke the illusion of its romantic aura.

A colossal body towering over the tallest of tree, tone muscles baring the faintest of scars and a face twisted into the darkest of scowls. There the demon stood menacingly, head hovering just above a dark gaping hole, intertwined within the mountain rocks.

"That's where Dage is hiding in" A-long grabbed Lan Sizhui's robes and whispered into his ear, pointing at the gap within the mountain's surface the demon was fixated upon.

"Come out~ Come out~ child~" the demon chanted with a sing-song voice, his hands marred with lumps hovered above the small tunnel, reaching in bit by bit. His inhumane voice rusty from infrequent use and taunting with each word that came.

The child inside the darkness gulped, his hands laid upon his lips, sealing away the frightful screams as he stared at the protruding hand terror stricken.

"Tch so what's the plan? How are we going to fight that thing without it targeting either kids, cause we don't have your demon to babysit them this time" Jin Ling stated, noting out Lan Sizhui's back lacked the signature wooden box he carried.

"Why'd you leave it...him behind this time? I thought he was precious to you" he asked Lan Sizhui, curious as to why he would leave Lan Wangji behind when they could use his help.

"A-die is still recovering from the last battle he fought. He needs sleep to heal himself" Lan Sizhui quietly explained, recalling Ouyang Zizhen's recollection of the events that had transpired while he and Lan Jingyi were gone.

"So you're saying we're all alone this time!" Ouyang Zizhen exclaimed, his voice exceeding a whisper, almost gaining the attention of giant in front of them.

"Sssh! Are you trying to get us killed!?" Lan Jingyi whispered as loud as he could, hastily placing an arm around his friend's mouth. Lucky for them the demon seemed too preoccupied with the child in front of him to bother investigating any strange noises, possibly presuming it was a wild animal.

"Sorry" Ouyang Zizhen mumbled through Lan Jingyi's hand, causing him to abruptly retreat it. Wiping away the bits of saliva that gotten on his hand in disgust on his robes.

"So what's the plan this time? Just to have you guys know I'm not putting up with babysitting duty again" Jin Ling said with a scowl, grimacing as he remembered the events at the demon house.

"Alright then. How about this, Jin Ling and Zizhen will go take out the demon while Jingyi and I stay behind to look after the children" Lan Sizhui proposed, hoping this would satisfy everyone.

Lan Sizhui found himself letting out a sighed of relief when Jin Ling seemed to approve of the idea, raising his head high while reaching for his sword.

"Alright then this is fine by me" the boy in gold stated as he and Ouyang Zizhen hurriedly left the grove of trees they were hiding behind to advance towards the demon.

"Sizhui are you about this?" Lan Jingyi squawked, seeing his friends leave the protection of the trees. Out of all of them, Lan Sizhui was most level-headed and calm, leaving him to make some decisions was just logical if they didn't wanted to get into trouble.

"I'm sure they can handle themselves. You would know, haven't you've been with them longer than me?" Lan Sizhui reassured, if he found it slight ironic that the newest addition to the group trust them more than the older one, he does not comment.

"Well...it's not...ugh!" Lan Jingyi groaned, stumbling at his words unintentionally. He sigh, "It's because I've been with them for so long that I know something will go wrong" and admitted.

Hearing this Lan Sizhui let out a snort, "Jingyi isn't that a little hypocritical" he said to his friend who gave him a look of betrayal.

"Sizhui just who's side are you on!?" Lan Jingyi exclaimed, startling the young children whom had been dozing off beside them. The youngest child rubbed his eyes and forced back a yawn, trying to stay awake. His attention turns to the front when he hears the clanks of metal.

"Jiejie look they're fighting the bad man!" A-long said, waking up his sister to full conscious and gaining the attention of the two demon slayers beside him. Their gaze faced the spectacle of the battle before them.

"Hmm what an unfortunate turn of events. Two demon slayers" the colossal demon uttered in a deep rusty voice, its countless eyes gaze upon the young boys facing it with their swords held up high.

"You must have come to take that rare blood. Hmm aren't you two a little too scrawny for warriors facing demons" the demon stated, irritating Jin Ling with its mocking tone. Its mouth formed into a piercing smile, showing away its razor-sharp teeth.

"Big talk for someone who ran away after kidnapping a widower's kid! Couldn't get to the adults so you take kids! What's more pathetic than that!" Jin Ling angrily screamed, the grip on his sword tightened.

Both Ouyang Zizhen and Jin Ling paused when they heard laugher escaping from the demon's mouth. Pure amusement filled its veins as it retreated its arm from the small tunnel its hand had stuck into, fully turning its body to face the two junior demon slayers.

"Those adults? What would I need from them? A drop of blood from that child equals to hundreds of them! To kill them would be a waste of time!" the demon exclaimed as it licked its lips.

"So you're saying that your afraid, am I right? You knew you couldn't face all of us at once so you fleed the minute you heard their mother coming!" Jin Ling countered back, trying to provoke the demon into a rage.

"Say what you want boy but we'll see who gets the last laugh when I defeat you and your friend in battle" it finally said and lunged itself forward at the two boys!