Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

Her eyes darted around, waving her sleeves wildly as a purplish mist billowed out of them. She spun wildly, ignoring the bodies.      

"Who could've come at this moment? To be able to kill two Sky Realm Experts?! Is it another assassin?!" she thought.      

The women then turned towards the leader of the scouts, who covered his mouth and nose trying his best to stay alive. Even then, he was struggling, coughing, and slowly falling to the ground.      

"You!"     

Lunging forward, she reached for his neck, and her sleeves were pulled back revealing her vile arms. There were strange bumps and grooves as well as burn marks and skin that seemed to have melted a bit.     

No doubt a result of her own poison.      

"Were you just bait?! Who really sent you?!" she screamed out.     

Despite her veiled face, nothing could mask the anger and rage in her voice. Stretching her arm out, she opened her hand to grab his neck. Suddenly, a flash of light came down as a sword cut them off before she could even reach him.      

And a fierce wind came about, churning the poisonous mist before bursting out, dispelling it.  The last of the Bloody Stars yelped in pain before jumping back, gritting her teeth as she looked ahead.      

"Wha- my poison! How can you get rid of my Death Plum Haze?! Who are you?" she asked.      

Standing between her and the leader was Ming Yue, who pointed her sword down at the ground. Her eyes glowed under the moonlight, a ghostly blue shade.      

Swordplay was not the only thing she had improved on. With the Sky Realm, she now had more power to reach a higher potential with her techniques, one of them being her trump card.      

"Pale Moon."      

Unlike before, the ghostly aura was honed in, focused within her own meridians. But of course, the strain was still just as bad. Blue lightning crackled from her body, sparking out just a tad. It was almost imperceptible.      

Looking at her the woman narrowed her eyes before noticing Blood Moon.      

"That blade... a young warrior who wields such a long sword... That tinge of red on the surface... Yo- you're the one who ended the war! But you're supposed to be dead. How?"     

Ming Yue gave no answer, instead, she vanished from where she stood. She was simply too quick and the woman's body shuddered as she looked down. Blood Moon was pierced right through her chest from the back. It went right through her heart, eviscerating it.      

The blade howled as it was pulled out of her body.      

"You should be... dead..."      

The woman could only turn around and glance at Ming Yue before falling to the ground. The young cultivator looked down at the body before swinging her sword once more, cutting the head off. She was not going to take any chances, especially with an evil cultivator.      

As she pulled Blood Moon back and wiped the blood off, she glanced over at the leader of the scouts.      

"Stop faking it, I know that you're still conscious. Get up or your men will not get a second chance."      

Ming Yue stared at his body, which laid there motionless. But a few moments later, he suddenly squirmed before pushing himself up. Sitting upright, his whole body was a mess with very cuts all over his clothes. His eyes showed a tired look but also a curious feeling.     

Looking at each other, he looked at her in surprise.      

"Ming Yue, the Fairy of the Moon, known for the sword she wields and the blue robes. Although relatively unknown before, she made a name for herself during the conflicts within the Demon Continent. Ultimately ending the war, she sacrificed herself to kill the True Idol of Chaos. Though it seems like, she didn't truly die."      

Putting Blood Moon away, she walked up to him and knelt down.      

"And I'd like to keep this news a secret, at least for now. If I heard correctly, you are all part of the Azure Wind Intelligence Guild, right?" she asked.      

His eyes suddenly widened in shock as the realization settled in.      

"You... how long have you been here?! We searched the entire area and made sure of it!"     

She didn't answer him, instead looking at his eyes before flicking her finger. A sharp wind came, cutting his hood apart and revealing his face. Strangely enough, while she had expected a rough face full of scars, it was actually untouched and well maintained.      

It was the clean-shaven face of a somewhat older man. He was certainly handsome and his face could make women swoon over him.     

But she cared little for that.      

"You know my face, and now I know yours. Now then before your men wake up, you should decide, Are you going to keep my existence a secret or not?" Ming Yue asked him.     

"I... Will you really let me and my men go if I agree to this?"     

"You're part of an intelligence guild, what do you think I will do?"      

He took a moment to think before nodding.      

"You are a righteous person who can be merciless if needed. I will heed your words, in fact, I owe you. If not for you, my men and I would have perished.  But why? If you were to announce your return, you'd be hailed a hero. Why would you not want that? No... wait..."      

Slowly but surely, he began to piece things together, looking at her when the realization came.      

"You're going after the Fourteen Evils. You're the one that reduced this place to nothing and that mystery is the perfect bait. That's why you want to keep it a secret, to lure the other Evils out. But, you won't be able to get all of them like this. There will be a point where they'll know that it's a trap."     

"I know but I'll make the most of this advantage. They've been a threat to my home even before they became what they are now. And now I see that they are running rampant when I return, If I don't do something who will?" she answered.      

The man was quiet after hearing her response. Now that he learned of this, he wasn't quite sure what to do. In the end, he let out a sigh before looking at her.      

"I will keep this information a secret. It will not be recorded or kept in any form. Not even my men will know of this, I will make sure of it", he answered.      

Her face turned a bit softer as she smiled.      

"Thank you."     

She turned around collecting the bodies of those she killed. It was a quick process as she placed them all into her spatial ring. Watching her do so, the leader of the scouts recovered enough to stand and then walked up to Ming Yue, handing her something.      

"This is a communication jade, it goes two ways and can only be used between the two people using it. All you have to do is insert some of your energy into the jade to activate it and you can send a message", he explained.      

She looked at the piece in her hands, a small mace* made of white jade.     

"I see, I will definitely use this, senior."     

He chuckled taking out a mask from his spatial ring and wearing it.      

"Rather than senior, I am known as Ying Yi, I would feel better if my benefactor calls me that."     

"Then, Ying Yi, thank you. I shall take my leave and dispose of them."     

But then he stopped her.      

"Please, I can handle it. In fact, I know a better way to deal with this", he said to her.      

"Really?" she questioned.     

"Of course! I am one of the team leaders within the Intelligence Guild, I do have power over what rumors can and cannot be spread."      

He spoke with such confidence that she gave way, taking the corpses out.