Chapter 384 Concedence
Inside the Reality Painting, Jiang Tao’s men regrouped at the wave of his rifle.
“Captain, are you all right?”
Jiang Tao shook his head to indicate he was fine.
“Four more avian-folks. We need to deal with them fast. We’re splitting up and we’ll each take one down,” he said.
All nine men scattered.
With only four of their number left, the Wingeds were distressed.
“Wretched humans,” hissed one of them with frustration.
Any one of the Wingeds could have easily defeated a company full of soldiers. But armed with strange and bizarre weapons, the human soldiers could effortlessly inflict damage to the Winged legionnaires, nevermind Chu Xun’s energy bolts that would intercept any attacks the Wingeds hurled forth.
Like a hedgehog, no one could touch or harass Jiang Tao and his men.
Jungle warfare had always been part of any Huaxia soldier’s bread and butter.
One of them quietly climbed up a very tall tree. Grinning to himself, he took aim at the Wingeds who perched atop the thick boughs of the jungle.
Rata-tata-tata!
Sparks bolted from the muzzle of his rifle, spraying bullets rapidly.
The sudden gunfire caught the four Wingeds on top unawares. One of them screamed and the energy-imbued bullets ripped his throat open and he crashed down as dead as a doornail.
Frightened beyond their wits, the rest of the other three Wingeds scrambled into the air, flapping their wings hysterically to escape.
“Ooh, yeah!” cheered the soldier happily at his success.
Hardly anyone would notice someone prowling among the boughs so thick and dense.
The startled Wingeds never stopped flapping their wings as furiously as possible, eager only to put as much distance between the spot just now and then.
Rata-tata-tata!
More gunfire ensued. But the Wingeds flew so quickly that none of the shots hit them.
“Damned birdbrains,” scowled one of the soldiers, sliding down the trunk of the tree, “They’re very fast all right.” He skittered away around, found another tree, and clambered to hide himself again.
Rata-tata-tata!
Another peal of gunfire pierced the otherwise peaceful silence. Bullets tore through the air but failed to hit any Wingeds.
The last three Wingeds, in distraught fits of madness, could only beat their wings mindlessly with panic.
Up on the branch of another tree, skulking amongst its thick leaves, Jiang Tao smirked when he caught sight of the Wingeds coming his way.
Rata-tata-tata!
Shrill gunfire lanced through the woods and another Winged legionnaire crashed to the ground with blood gushing out his temples. He was shot mid-flight.
That further drove the remaining two Wingeds up a corner. Desperately, they beat their wings and fled again.
Without hardly any sense of logic and direction, they flew like blind mice, zigzagging mindlessly towards all directions possible at every crack of gunfire.
Outside, everyone watched with their tongues tied. No one expected to see a one-sided rout of the Wingeds.
The Winged legionnaires outside looked positively livid.
The elderly Winged leader watched with a glare as cold as steel. His arm shot out to seize the Reality Painting hovering in mid-air.
Whoosh!
A purplish energy bolt blasted at him.
Shocked, the elderly Winged summoned his magic. His entire self shone with a bright glow and he thrust his arms, firing a bolt of his own. But both blows collided and the force of the collision nearly tossed him off his feet.
Whoosh!
Chu Xun turned into a sliver of light and charged forward with blinding speed, seizing the Reality Painting.
The elderly Winged smirked, unfazed that the Painting had been taken. The Reality Painting bore an enchantment he left that made the Painting his.
The Reality Painting shook violently in Chu Xun’s grasp like a fish wriggling wildly to free itself.
Crack!
Then it was gone. The Reality Painting burst into a thousand little white sparkles that scattered everywhere before flying like thousands of little tiny white comets to fly back to the elderly Winged.
“Running away, eh?” thought Chu Xun.
It was Chu Xun’s turn to smirk this time. With his mind, he conjured his magic and fired a purple jet of light that shot out like a long bolt of cloth. It caught the white glowing mass that was the Reality Painting like a hook and drew the painting back like a fishing rod.
The shining glow ebbed and the Reality Painting reappeared.
Chu Xun grabbed the painting, casting a triumphant and averse look at the elderly Winged. With one scan of the painting using his Divine Sense, his lips curled into a grin. He had found the elderly Winged’s True Blood in it.
“Count yourself unlucky for meeting me,” Chu Xun thought gleefully. He injected a spurt of Hong Meng Immortal Qi into the painting and incinerated the magical enchantment left by the elderly Winged using his True Blood.
The elderly Winged turned aghast as soon as he felt his mental connection with the Reality Painting broke.
“What have you done?!” he bellowed.
Crack!
Chu Xun flung out the scroll of the painting and it unfurled with a snap, glowing brightly with a strange burst of white light, and Jiang Tao and his men reappeared, so did the last remaining Wingeds.
The two Wingeds jerked their heads left and right and realized that they had exited the dimension of the Reality Painting and broke into smiles, thinking they had been saved.
Rata-tata-tata!
Flames burst from the muzzles of the machine gun that spewed incessant rounds of lead at the two Wingeds, blasting them into bits.
“ARRGGGHH!”
Legionnaires of the Winged Legion stirred hotly, eager to charge to avenge their kin if not for their elderly Winged who quickly stopped them.
The onlooking crowd of bystanders took in a deep breath and held it. “Gods in Heaven, that’s savage!”
“Humans are weak!? Who could have possibly said that?! Look at them! They’re as brutal as a pack of wolves! Savage monsters who would pounce at the first chance to rip any enemies to shreds!”
Jiang Tao stepped up to Chu Xun and snapped to a salute. Loudly, he reported, “Mission completed successfully, sir!”
“Good job,” remarked Chu Xun, immensely satisfied with the nine soldiers’ performance, especially how they had managed to intimidate their enemies well.
“Thank you, sir!” returned Jiang Tao loudly with exuberance.
Chu Xun turned to the elderly Winged, “You’ve lost. Now surrender your bet.”
Everyone’s eyes went wide. They’ve nearly forgotten about the bet.
The elderly Winged’s face went as sour as his breath. As much as he was miffed about losing, he was even more worried about the Reality Painting, the Winged race’s most treasured heirloom.
“We will gladly surrender what you’ve won, but I only request that you return the Painting. You hold in your hand the most prized relic of the Winged race.”
“First surrender our prize and admit openly to the world that humans are rightful rulers of Earth.”
“Never! We of the Winged race will never bow to these human wretches!”
“You won that contest through deception! That’s not fair at all!”
The puny strength of you humans is knowledge to everyone. The great and mighty Winged race will never bow to the likes of your kind!”
Legionnaires behind the elderly Winged hooted with anger.
“‘Great and mighty’, you say?” scoffed Chu Xun sardonically. He pointed at the Wingeds Jiang Tao and his men apprehended and said, “Kill them.”
“At once, sir!” Jiang Tao responded.
Rata-tata-tata!
Bullets slammed into the ground, kicking up minuscule geysers of dirt and stone fragments, killing the Wingeds immediately as the human soldiers gunned them down like dogs.
“Now. My prize,” said Chu Xun very coldly with a murderous stare at the Wingeds.
“LOWLY HUMAN SCUM! I’LL KILL YOU!” screamed a Winged legionnaire, hurling himself at Chu Xun.
Jiang Tao and his men quickly took aim.
But Chu Xun’s arm shot up before they could pull their triggers.
“‘Humans are weak’, eh? Let this be a lasting reminder that we humans are the true rulers of Earth.”
As soon as he finished, Chu Xun thrust an arm furiously to the front and grabbed at nothing.
Crack!
The morbid sound of bones cracking shattered the otherwise silence and the Winged swooping down on Chu Xun crashed down into a lifeless heap on the ground as if an invisible hand had snapped his neck.
Stunned, everyone lurched with shock, “What on earth was that?!”
“Surrender what is owed or all of you will die here. I’ll leave nothing alive,” growled Chu Xun redoubtably.
Incensed, the elderly Winged smirked, “I showed respect to you as fellow champions of our races. That doesn’t mean that I would sit still while you hurl insults at my kind. ‘Leave nothing alive’, you say? Overconfident, don’t you think?”
“I’d love to try,” said Chu Xun menacingly, taking a step forward to demonstrate his seriousness.
The elderly Winged’s eyes wavered darkly with uncertainty. With the Reality Painting in Chu Xun’s possession still, the stakes were just too high for him to risk anything.
“Would you kindly return the Reality Painting,” asked the elderly Winged with all his rage and frustration suppressed, “If we admit defeat now?”
“NO! Master Mo! We cannot bow to such lowly scum! Give the word, Master Mo, and let us attack!”
“We’re the great Winged race, one of the greatest of the Lost Races! We cannot admit defeat to them least of all! These wretched humans were the slaves of our forefathers!”
“Assemble the presbyters and let us all attack, sir! We can easily sack this city they call their capital and slaughter them all! They’re just insects!”
Indignant cries and howls roared from all quarters of the Winged Legion. None of them could bear admitting defeat to humans.
The crowd of onlookers braced quietly with cold sweat drenching their backs. “Did they just say they want to sack the capital and massacre us?! Good Heavens Almighty! How barbaric!”
“SILENCE!” the elderly Winged snapped to his men, “You know nothing! We cannot risk losing the Reality Painting!”
The fierce reprimand was enough to make the legionnaires fall silent, but it is hardly enough to quench their burning resentment as they glared at Chu Xun with malice.
The elderly Winged returned his attention to Chu Xun. “I’m afraid you’ve not replied to me.”
“Survival of the fittest. The strong survive and the weak perish and you’ve just emerged from this bet as the weakling here. What makes you think that you’re qualified to make demands?”
“You’re not getting back the Reality Painting. That’s for sure,” thought Chu Xun quietly.
The Winged’s face darkened at that response, his face contorting with spasms of defeat. He turned to the people still broadcasting live and said aloud, “I accept that humans are rulers of Earth, and we are guests here.”
The last syllable left his lips and all hell broke loose. Humans had triumphed and the Winged race had just admitted defeat to the creatures they had despised so much.
Glorious cheers and jubilant whoops came from the warriors standing amongst the bystanders.
So did the people who were watching the live broadcast.
All of Huaxia celebrated with joy, screaming at the top of their lungs.
Pride had been restored and everyone was as happy as paradise could make them.
Most, if not all of them did not know about Chu Xun’s identity or the uproar could be greater still.
“Worthless trash, all them Wingeds! How could they! Bowing to the humans?! They put us all of the Lost Races to shame!”
“Damn you, you Wingeds. Bunch of filth. To think that they were once one of the greatest among the Lost Races! What a disgrace! From now on, we of the race of Macroprimates shall not associate ourselves with them!”
All of the alien races reeled with anger and contempt.
Apparently, so did the Winged Legion. Each of them seethed with uncontrollable rage and rancor, eager to sink their blades into and cut down every present.
“All right,” the elderly Winged hissed through gritted teeth, practically shaking with shame and disgust, “Now. Can I have the Reality Painting back?”
Belonging to a race that had only the deepest loathing for humans, the fact that he had to admit defeat to humans was as good as a humiliating slap across his face.
“I don’t remember promising to return to you this Painting. I am under the impression that this is also part of the bet.”
“You’re a champion of humankind, the paragon of pride and example of your kind! Yet your conduct is hardly becoming of your stature! Since when did I promise our race’s most treasured heirloom as a part of our bet!?” glowered the elderly Winged.
“Who do you think you are?” growled Chu Xun coldly, “Do you think you’re qualified to lecture me!? As for this Painting, I’ve just decided that it should be part of the wager!”
“You decided it?! I did not agree upon such arrangements!” snarled the elderly Winged, clenching his fists tightly and his nostrils flaring so furiously that his beard shook with every breath.
Chu Xun stowed away the Reality Painting into his Storage Ring.
“There’s your Relic. Now come to take it if you can.”
A thick and strong aura reeking of death radiated off the elderly Winged and the atmosphere turned as taut as a nocked arrow. “You dare threaten us of the Winged race?”
The edges of Chu Xun’s lips curled into a derisive grin, although his eyes burned with cold fury.
“I heard that you Wingeds demanded the forces of the Fire Dragon Palace to vacate Maple Canyon. So don’t speak as if you’ve not had your share of bullying as well. And what if I’m bullying you today? Do you think you can resist me!?”
The eyes of the elderly Winged constricted with sudden comprehension. Slowly, as if with suppressed apprehension, the elderly Winged, who had not yet taken his eyes off Chu Xun, asked very slowly and gravely, “Who are you?”
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