Black Dragon Pyre
Despite their increased speed and strength, you can just about handle the couple by attempting to play it safe. Employing Qilin and Yunzi as distractions, you work together with Ameretat to reseal their qi, plucking out the needles whenever you see an opportunity and slotting them back in the positions that she calls out. It is at times such as this that you thank Master Yao for drilling the names of the pressure points into your head.
“Three needles more left to go,” you call out to Qilin and Yunzi, dancing around Zuo Qingfeng and You Lanhai to the best of their ability – at this level of combat, if they get tagged even once it would mean serious injury. Ameretat joins in to support them, fighting in a strange and exotic manner – she remains mostly rooted to the ground, relying on interesting, agile contortions of her body to reach and hit the enemy.
“D-don’t talk to us right now!” screams Qilin, ducking under a powerful lunge that carves a furrow through the rock.
“I don’t care if there’s three or two or one, just get them in quickly!” shouts Yunzi as she leads Zuo Qingfeng towards you. At the last minute, she rolls out of the way just as Ameretat withdraws and tells you what to do. You dart to Zuo’s side, plucking out yet another needle at the same time, and push it in where it is supposed to go. Zuo’s movements slow imperceptibly by another step. Two more needles to go.
All of a sudden, your two opponents stop in their tracks. Their qi levels drop – so low that they are almost imperceptible. Is it working already?
The girl, their daughter, shouts out a warning.
Zuo Qingfeng and You Lanhai move towards you, in a way that is neither fast nor slow, but akin to the ethereal dance of a dream… a variation of the Butterfly Dream that they are renowned for. They appear to be acting more out of instinct than conscious will, and are harder to read than usual. Their palms gradually close in on you from the left and the right; no matter what steps you take, you find yourself unable to pull away or find an opening to retaliate in time.
You are not able to dissect and counter this move. Not on such short notice.
Taiji will not defend you.
Wuxiang Qiankun cannot save you.
You brace yourself for the impact, calling out for Ameretat to finish off the final needles while you take the hit.
The blow does not land.
Qilin intercepts Zuo Qingfeng on your left. Yunzi blocks You Lanhai on your right.
Every cell door in the prison shatters, torn to pieces by the force of the technique blasting outwards. Qilin and Yunzi are hurled far off into the darkness, taking the brunt of the move, while you are driven to your knees. Thanks to the drug, their internal strength has been improved drastically – you are not sure if you would have still been able to stand attempting to take that move by yourself.
At the same time, dark blood spills from the couple’s mouths and noses, the thick liquid almost black in the dim torchlight. Using such a powerful move is not without its drawbacks, it seems. Ameretat swiftly puts the last needles into position, causing the two to crumple up and sink to the floor. “They’re alive,” she says, but you do not have the time to listen – you are already scrambling towards where Qilin and Yunzi had fallen.
You reach their collapsed forms, darting past the shrieking prisoners struggling against their weakening chains. Your heart skipping a beat, you turn them over. There is a pulse. There is warmth. You cannot help but heave a sigh of relief.
“…internal injuries…” murmurs Qilin, still dazed from the blow. Yunzi is silent, but her eyes are open and she shakes her head. The two of them don’t seem to be in any condition to move.
Then, the first sounds of snapping metal are heard.
The prisoners are free.
A babbling madwoman leaps at your back, but with a single, powerful sweep, you execute the Divine Dragon Sweeps Its Tail, using your palm stance to smash her into the walls. Keeping Qilin and Yunzi near your feet, you take a defensive posture. You must have broken several bones in her body, yet the prisoner manages to crawl to her feet, staring at you with some sort of deep hatred that you are sure – well, almost sure – that you did nothing to deserve. With a bone-chilling howl, she comes at you again, and this time you put her down for good.
Ameretat comes up to you, dragging two limp bodies with her; the husband and wife are out of it and definitely will be so for the forseeable future. She pants from the effort, dropping them to the ground unceremoniously. She stares at your bloodied arms, and at the dismembered corpse lying some feet away, before smiling at you. “How… thrilling. But we have no time for this sort of play, Lord Jing. What should we do now? I cannot carry all of them by myself, being the weak woman that I am.”
The two children, having been freed from their chains, are clutching tightly onto each other while looking at the mayhem around them in fear – having been freed, the first thing that the prisoners did was to set upon the closest thing they could see.
In most of the cases, their target was each other.
“It will not be hard to sneak past them in this situation. We just have to be careful and move slowly to avoid attracting their attention,” you say. The children will need to be escorted, but if you move together with Ameretat that should not be a problem.
You bend down to try and pick up both Qilin and Yunzi, and they yelp in pain – in such a position, with their weight added to yours, the only way you can fight will be with your feet, and you would not be able to perform too much stunts lest you aggravate their injuries.
The door at the top of the prison is thrown open, and the smell of smoke wafts in.
Something is burning outside.
You can see the figure of a man silhouetted against the light of the sun. “There is no end to our troubles today,” he growls, “and here I find some rats in the dungeon making a mess of things. I really do not have time for this right now!” You recognize him – it is Hei Youlong, the younger and more martial-minded of the two brothers. He raises his fingers to his lips and whistles. The high-pitched tone rings throughout the prison, causing the prisoners to fall silent.
“Kill them,” he orders, and he slams the door shut before you can engage in any witty repartee.
The prisoners rush you all at once.
“It’s all right,” mutters Qilin as blood bubbles through her lips. “Leave me. I can manage to hide by myself... I still have a trick or two up my sleeve.”
“No, that’s stupid,” says Yunzi weakly as she tries to stand. “I… I can still fight. You should get out first.”
***
A. In this situation, with all of the prisoners focused on you, it is impossible for you to get out with both Yunzi and Qilin. Ameretat will not be able to bring out both Zuo and his wife while escorting the children at the same time either. You will have to choose.
(Pick two)
I. Chi Qilin
II. Yunzi
III. Zuo Qingfeng
IV. You Lanhai
B. You will try to draw every prisoner’s attention to you. While you are fighting them, Ameretat and the others can crawl or squirm or do whatever they need to get to the door safely. The sheer weight of the enemy’s numbers will make it hard for you to break through by yourself afterwards, however.
C. You attempt to imitate the high-pitched whistle that Hei Youlong used. It might work. It might not. It might work in ways that you didn’t expect. It’s a gamble, but you’re all about gambles, aren't you?
