[LP CYOA] 傳

Well, if it was Minyue who lied, that would be one strange lie considering that the Saint will most likely be present at the conference and can easily deny this. What would be the point of spreading a false rumor?

 

Moar confusion, at least until the conference.

 

Thats why its worrying. Long term it would work if Saint would die, but if what she say is true that would mean she started 1-2 years ago max. On other hand she is representative of Nie allied sect, so why would Saint teach her?

 

First, the zhang clan is not a sect. It is a clan, a family. You can't help being born into one. Second, she wasn't a representative until several weeks ago at most.

Why would the Saint refuse anyone on the basis of their lineage or the reputation of their peers? He is not the one for prejudices. After all, didn't he teach us one of his techniques despite us being 'murderous, infamous an vile Zhang Jue's disciple'?

Why wouldn't he teach her if he thought she deserved it?

How is that helpful?

 

Ain't nothing wrong with chaos and confusion.

 

The Demonic Swordsman

Jian Yixiao begins humming an odd, joyful tune, his hands raised towards the moon. As Zhang Minyue approaches him with trepidation, hand shivering over sword hilt, you turn to Zhou Zixia and say, “Stay here, and don’t do anything stupid,” giving her a quick rap on the head. She yelps in surprise at your uncouth behaviour. Taking a deep breath, you crouch down, readying yourself as you draw the Yuchang Sword. The seconds pass by in a painfully slow manner. Zhang Minyue reaches the Sword Demon, standing before him in preparation for their showdown. The two Great Swords are still stabbed into the ground between them, swaying gently as the wind picks up. The Zhou family are watching with bated breath, ready to interfere on their guest’s behalf if necessary. Zhang Minyue shrinks back involuntarily as her opponent’s humming ceases and his arms lower. His full attention is on her now.

Just the moment you’ve been waiting for.

You spring into motion, crashing through the window and launching yourself into the courtyard. Your powerful lunge carries you all the way to the Sword Demon, approaching from his side. He turns, but a fraction too late. Too slow. The Yuchang Sword glints dangerously, homing in on your target: a sweet spot right between his ribs. You are not going to play around with this man – you realize just how dangerous he is.

Jian Yixiao will not be able to block this blow, unarmed as he is.

Behind the mask, his eyes widen with surprise for just a brief, almost imperceptible moment.

His foot moves rapidly, stomping the ground once.

Right before your blade touches his body, a shining blur flies up, knocking it off course. Instead of piercing his heart, it cuts across his shoulder, merely drawing blood. You spin around in the air as your strike carries you past the Sword Demon, landing in a crouch. You feel a small sting on your cheek. Without even looking, you know that you have been cut. Jian Yixiao is standing there, in that annoying mask, his hands held to the sides and palms outward. His swords are still in the ground, but many others thud into the ground around you as they fall back to earth; the blades of the dead guards. His stomp had sent them flying into the air.

The Sword Demon lets out a low chuckle, snatching a sword from mid-air as he leaps at you. “A surprising appearance!” he exclaims cheerfully, swinging away. “You may yet be a man after my own heart!”

Defending against his expert slashes with equal precision, you turn his sword away and go on the attack. “If you will stand still for just a second, I’ll show you just how right you are,” you grin, suddenly withdrawing your sword in a feint as you execute the first part of the Deceptive Fish Stab. Carried along, the Sword Demon over-extends himself.

“A stab, eh?” he predicts unconcernedly. Even as he says that, he twists his wrist, preparing to counter your move, but it is not exactly the stab that he called. You lash out with your palm, catching him by surprise with the Graceful Dragon Uncoils. The force of your strike easily blows his sword out of his hand. As you prepare to follow up with a slice aimed at his neck, he kicks out, dropping down low and sweeping the ground. Two more swords fly up into the air and at you. As you hurriedly bat them away with your blade, he catches them, whirling around in a flashing, deadly dervish. You attempt to go into the Taiji stance at the last second, but the unexpected strength and speed of his attack knocks your guard wide, leaving you open before the circle is drawn and you can muster up a counter.

“Ahahahahahahahaha!” laughs the masked swordsman as he prepares to run you through with both swords.

“S-s-style twenty four, the darkening shadow of the waning moon!”

Jian Yixiao spins around and shouts, aborting his attack and hurling himself upwards as a powerful crescent of sword qi cuts through the ground where he had just been. Somersaulting across the grounds, he returns to his original position at the start of the fight. Zhang Minyue has drawn the Chengying Sword. Held high up in the night sky, its thin blade is ethereal, its edges almost invisible except for where the moonlight strikes it just right.

“Two swords in one night. I am a lucky, lucky man indeed,” laughs the Sword Demon. “Come! Let this be a night of revelry in blood and blades!” He raises his arms upwards, his qi rushing forth. The Chixiao and Qixing Longyuan swords fly into his hands as every other sword in the courtyard begins vibrating, ringing in tune with one another.

“Style twenty four!” shouts Zhang Minyue again as she sends another wave towards Jian Yixiao. The Chixiao Sword flashes red as he brings it down, slicing through her qi with little effort. Cackling, he goes after her, slashing away wildly. The girl retreats frantically, unable to hold in the face of his powerful assault. Though now you would feel much safer being on the defensive, you have no choice but to leap into the fight: you cannot miss this opportunity. Mixing up your sword moves and unarmed styles and using everything you have at your disposal, you go toe to toe with the Sword Demon as Zhang Minyue tries to work together with you without asking any unnecessary questions. Jian Yixiao’s fighting style has become even stranger – even as you try to corner him with your swift sword dance, he is able to put himself into positions where your attacks disarm him rather than cause any lethal hits. At the same time, he would seemingly summon another sword from the ground, continuing his relentless fight without a single pause. At one time, you swear that he is juggling at least a dozen swords in the air, blocking and retaliating while humming his little tune. Even when you drop into the Taiji Sword stance, the constant rise and fall of the myriad swords is too much for you to track reliably at your level of understanding... your opponent is truly a master swordsman.

You grin, excitement starting to overtake you.

As Jian Yixiao’s hand reaches for yet another sword, you stretch out and grab it before he does. Drawing your arm back, you hurl the sword at him. He is forced to draw the Qixing Longyuan Sword to block your attack, before trying to get another sword. You repeat his moves, competing with him for the swords as the both of you begin laughing.

“Style twenty four!”

Spinning, he breaks away from your little competition to avoid Zhang Minyue’s attack. Her distraction has given you the opening you need. Jumping into the air, you unleash a blinding flurry of kicks that send all of the swords flying towards Jian Yixiao. Red and white streaks blaze through the air as he parries them inerringly with his two Great Swords. While he is busy with that, however, you land behind him. Tightening the knot by pulling at it with your teeth, you complete the trap you have set from the start of the fight.

The crimson strings spring up from where they have been hiding in the grass, wrapping themselves around every sword that he has been using. The Sword Demon leaps up before his feet are entangled by the spider silk, and lands gently atop the courtyard-spanning web that you have set up, balancing on the tip of one foot. “Oh?” he murmurs amusedly.

“Don’t give me an ‘oh’ yet, it’s not over!” you shout triumphantly, twisting your fingers around the silk in your hand and yanking hard. The web closes, flying up around Jian Yixiao with the countless swords you have ensnared in it pointing inwards at him. There is no escape. The swords sheathe themselves in his flesh, piercing his body from all angles before he can raise a finger in defense. He coughs, red trickling out from under his mask. The grass is wet with his blood, mingling with that of his victims. He is no longer humming or laughing. Instead, the only sound that you can hear, amidst the stunned silence at the fight’s sudden and brutal end, is the sound of dripping blood.

“D-did we do it?” asks Zhang Minyue nervously. “Is he dead?”

“Well, let’s ask him, shall we? Hey!” you call out loudly, “Are you dead yet?”

There is no response. The surviving Zhou guards begin closing in tentatively, now that the threat is over.

“That answers it,” you shrug, turning to her. “So now, about the-“

You pause. There is a low, quiet laughter. You turn around. The Sword Demon’s body is shuddering, as if holding back a flood of mirth. He throws his bloody masked head backwards, his maniacal laughter reaching a crescendo that echoes all throughout Zhou Manor. Zhou Dingqiu and his guards shout out in horror, scrambling over themselves in an attempt to get as far away from this nightmare as they can. You watch, transfixed, as the swords appear to sink even deeper into his body, until even the hilts cannot be seen. “What a night… what a night it has been!” exclaims Jian Yixiao. His right arm blurs, the Chixiao Sword glowing blood-red as it moves at speeds almost too fast for you to follow. The silk around him falls away, cut into innumerable little pieces in an instant. “But is that all you have? Surely there is more?” He begins walking towards you slowly, swords in hand. Zhang Minyue ducks behind you, her eyes wide with fear.

This is… strange. You grit your teeth, wondering what to do next. Could he actually be a real demon? You don’t have a ready explanation for what you have just seen at the moment; it could be some form of esoteric technique, but it could also readily be a supernatural phenomenon, and you are not too well equipped to handle the latter.

“I do have more, but the night is growing late and all good kids need to go to bed! Perhaps we can leave this for another time, Master Demon?” you shout.

“I am an impatient, impatient man at times,” he laughs in return, “and you are only saying that because you think you do not have the advantage at the moment.”

“I-I should have stayed with Master Nie,” whimpers Zhang Minyue behind you. “Why did I come here?”

You nudge her sharply, hissing “Shape up!” This is no time to be mired in woe… not with such a threat standing in front of you. Staring at the approaching Sword Demon, you begin to think.

Perhaps he is walking slowly not out of any sense of drama, but because he is too wounded to move his feet swiftly.

Perhaps you are wrong.

But if you are correct, you might still have a chance to turn this around.

***

A. You quickly devise a plan together with Zhang Minyue to catch the Sword Demon offguard. If he is truly a demon… well, you remember how you once dealt with one. You just need to get that mask off, do the deed, and you should be able to claim victory. Hopefully. Even if it doesn’t work, it should be surprising enough that you can make a comeback.

B. You can still use Wuxiang Qiankun on him. Though you can sense a strong, dark undercurrent of qi running through his body, it is not impossible to mimic him. You may be able to dispatch the Sword Demon one on one at the moment should you use your trump card. After all, your claws are just as lethal as your sword, if it comes down to it.

C. You exhort the Zhou family to join the fight. The Sword Demon may actually be weakened now, and with everyone piling in, it should be too much for even him to handle. The fight is not over yet. It would also put more bodies between you and him, making it a safer plan compared to your other options.

D. It's time to do the smart thing. You yell at everyone to scatter and run. There's no point standing around here waiting to fight someone who is still alive after being run through with so many blades - you'll save whoever you can and then flee the premises as fast as you are able to.

 

A, this will be hilarious either way: either we kill him or humiliate him. Or we die.

 

Well, there's at least one bad end in there and probably one slightly less-bad end. I'll wait for arguments.

 

B>A

A seems more likely to get us killed.

 

What do you know? She is the Saint's disciple!

It is strange, though, that she said she should have stayed with Master Nie. Didn't Zixia tell us that she just returned from her apprenticeship?

If we live through this, we'll need to have a talk.

 

I have hunch that D is the way to go.
D
I mean the guy just was impaled by several swords and have no scratch to show. We dont know what he is and what work. Coping his qi could work, but its a bit fishy.

 

To be clearer, she means staying at the inn where all the orthodox people are bunking instead of visiting her childhood friend.

 

I imagine bruteforcing the problem is what is more likely to get us killed, seeing how no amount of force that we've already applied brought this man down.

If tens of blades didn't finish him off, what would another stab matter?

Personally, I am leaning towards A, too, just for the hilarity of it. It may yet work as a surprise, as it is definitely a technique he does not have a counter for.

Besides, we have this gem of a quote to go on:

 

I guess we could cut and run, yeah, but I'm not really for that. We have a chance to get the guy here and now, and I'd rather we take it, he is too dangerous to leave alive/unharmed. The thing about our chaotic qi is that it is harmful to humans as well as demons, although to a lesser extent, so that's why I'm going A. Plus I want to become the best Ahura Mazda ever: we exorcise evil from this world with the power of hugs and kisses.

 

Looks like B was indeed the answer, Minyue would've not lasted long against this guy.

I think we just got a answer as to why he wants ALL THE SWORDS. He actually can use them in a fight, and its scary. How can you disarm someone who is always armed? No matter what you do, he always has +1 SWORDS!

Did this guy just take a bunch of swords and survive? I'm starting to think this guy might not actually be human, or at least fully human.
I think that our decision should be influenced by what the Sword Demon really is. Is he human using some trippy neigong or is this guy a demon? If he is a demon, we won't be able to defeat him by simply cutting him with maniac claws until the chunky salsa rule does its work, might have to go A and avoid B because I don't want to mimmick the qi of a demon. The fact Jing senses a strong, dark undercurrent of qi only makes me even warier. It could also mean he's a human with Juyin neigong being hidden and that he can instantly nulify the WQS by raising his qi beyond ours.

D seems stupid to me because we might have just weakened this guy, majorly. I don't think we will have another oportunity like this. Its kinda like when we killed Ahura, if he hadn't done it, he would've become Super-Ahura and there would be a another Heihu valley battle, this time without the Frathouse. I don't fancy Jing's odds against this guy, he might win but there will be serious damage, and we don't need Jing being crippled and weakened if the conference of swords turns into a bloodbath. Not to mention this guy got some wicked qingong so he is either too weak to use his neigong but still strong enough to stomp Jing (can't run but can fight) or he's not weakened (can run and fight). I don't think we will get another oportunity, at least before the Sword Saint shows up.

I don't see any use for calling more people into this fight, they will just get on the way, only one who might be good enough to amount to anything is Master Zhou himself.

Split between A and C.

 

The thing I find strange about all this is - why does this guy always wear a mask? It is not like he wants to remain unknown - his name is pretty famous, and his sword can be recognized without a mistake, not to mention his demeanor gives him away immediately.

I have a feeling that even if he isn't a demon, without his mask on he is going to feel naked and retreat.

 

Yeah, my gut says B

 

Let's play "find the bad end."

A. Gets us killed because obviously, kissing the human blender wasn't a good idea.
B. Gets us killed because obviously, one of the seldom-referenced caveats to WQS is that using it on dark beings has antithetical effects on your own qi.
C. Gets us killed because obviously, putting more swords within range of the Sword Demon isn't going to end well.
D. Gets us killed because obviously, Zhang Jue will murder us himself after such a shameful display.

 

Ahem. How can a human manage this?

That is... highly unnatural. He looks like he is absorbing the swords.

I am not sure what our WQS is even supposed to mimic in his case.

 

Voting B. If she is the Sword Saint's apprentice, then we can trust her with this knowledge.

Besides, here is how I see it working:
-> A. Gets us killed because kissing the sword demon is a dangerous proposition and our teamwork with a girl we just met is gonna be shit.
-> B. If we can use his moves back at him, with Minyue's help and our unarmed skills we could trounce him.
-> C. Small fries are gonna die, assuming they'd even listen. This is useless.
-> D. This is a viable course of action, although some people will get killed.

Oh yeah treave, I have two questions. One, if we subdue the Sword Demon, can we perma-leech him for a neigong boost? I don't think people will complain about us removing this man's neigong. Also, on a side note, I've been wondering about this one: if we can copy Yunzi's moves while using qi synchronization to move as one mind, can she also copy our moves?

 

A - B will probably get us killed. Zhang knew there was something up with this guy. I think that's why he did want us using WQS.

Besides, this is pretty much the brown wedding of fight moves. Too hilarious to pass up.

 

This is not about revealing our move, it is about staying alive.

The WQS does not work well with the legendary swords.
The choice mentions unarmed techniques as your last line of offense. The Sword Demon is not relying on those, so WQS does not really add anything to this method.
The choice states we will try this in a one-on-one fight, so no meaningful help from Minuye is forthcoming.
We don't even know what we want to copy from him. It's not his moves that are dangerous, it is his inhuman vitality. What use is landing a successfull strike if it has no effect? In Songfeng, Rong Zhiyu managed to hit us, but failed to kill, and that became his undoing.

But my heart won't take another 'WQS is the answer to everything' debate, at least not without some hard facts with relevant quotes attached.

 

These two are pretty good. Where does treave say WQS does that though. (Not doubting you. Sounds familiar.)

I'd say D could also be a bad end. Well, bad in that he'll probably go after Miss Zhang. Plus, we showed our back to Bai once and look where it got us...

 

I think Wuxiang Qiankun is better than the alternatives here, unless you want to vote D. Also, we will still be working with the girl in B; it's just that A will leave us completely dependent on teamwork while we try to kiss a guy who can quite possibly shoot out those same swords from his body.

 

B>C.