Perfect World Chapter 5 – A Test of Strength

“Ling Er, wo yi kan ta jiu hao rou ma oh” / “Ling Er, I get disgusted just by looking at him.” said Xiao Yao as he rubbed his arms and shivered with a disgusted look on his face.

Ling Er had emerged from behind Xiao Yao and was now standing by his side. She planned on fighting with him once more, side by side.

“OoOoh, qing ren tuan jie!” / “OoOoh, lovers unite!” mocked Hu Die as he pumped his fist in the air and fell on his back, laughing. Now standing back to back, Ling Er and Xiao Yao quickly exchanged glances and nodded.

“Jiao xun ta!” / “(Let’s) teach him a lesson!” they said in unison. Before they could make their move, Hu Die levitated back to his feet and spun around in circles, laughing hysterically. A whirlwind surrounded his body that rustled the nearby leaves. Lightening struck as Hu Die stopped spinning. His back was turned to Ling Er and Xiao Yao. Cautiously, they approached him, one step at a time. Xiao Yao had his sword held firmly in front of him and the sword given to him by Jiu Xian Jian arched over his head. Suddenly, Hu Die spun around to face them. His laugh pierced the sky as another clap of thunder filled the air. Xiao Yao and Ling Er stopped and retreated a step.

“Bu ke neng…” / “Impossible…” said Xiao Yao.

“Shi Zhang Lao!”

“Ling Er! Ta bu shi zhen de!” / “Ling Er! He’s not real!” warned Xiao Yao, jumping in front of Ling Er. Hu Die raised his hands in front of him and shook them as he spoke with the voice of Shi Zhang Lao.

“Hai zi men, ni mei shi ba?” / “Children, are you ok?” Laughing again, he spun around once more. The face of Shi Zhang Lao mutated into that of Yue Ru’s.

“Cou dan, Ling Er mei mei, ni men hai hao ma?” / “Rotten egg, little sister Ling Er, how are you?” Dancing from side to side but still towards Ling Er and Xiao Yao, Hu Die’s hair wrapped around his head and tied itself in the back. His face filled with volume and his body mass increased.

“Li gong zi shi fu, Ling Er gu niang, wo hao gua ze ni men oh” / “Master Li, Miss Ling Er, I miss you both very much.” Hu Die continued to prance around , slowly but surely getting closer and closer to them. The spirit to fight had left Xiao Yao and Ling Er. It was as if seeing their dear friends had entranced them. Xiao Yao’s heart sank as he tried to look over at Ling Er. His head wouldn’t budge.

Shen me dong xi…? / What the hell…? thought Xiao Yao as he realized his entire body was immobile. Struggling to move, he called out to Ling Er.

“Ling Er! Ling Er! Wei!” / “Ling Er! Ling Er! Hey!”

Ling Er seemed to break out of her trance as her eyes looked around. So that’s his trick! Ling Er looked at Xiao Yao, who was still in front of her and concentrated hard on the outline of his body. Sure enough, thin strings of energy stemming from Hu Die’s fingertips ran along the ground and had managed to wrap themselves around their bodies. Realizing what was going on, she quickly informed Xiao Yao that their opponent was a puppeteer. Focusing her energy, Ling Er snapped the strings holding Xiao Yao’s right arm. Slicing a line along the ground between them and Hu Die, Xiao Yao cut the strings that bound he and Ling Er. Hu Die laughed as Xiao Yao lunged towards him. Dragging the tip of his sword along the ground, Xiao Yao jumped from side to side until he was a few meters from Hu Die.

“YAAA!” he screamed, driving his sword upwards and seemingly cutting Hu Die in half. As soon as Xiao Yao’s sword made contact, Hu Die became two balls of energy and flew apart, landing on each side of Xiao Yao.

“Xiao Yao gege, xiao xin!” / “Xiao Yao gege, be careful!” screamed Ling Er as the balls of energy materialized into separate beings of Hu Die with small daggers in each of their hands. She sent a blast of energy at one of them as they attacked Xiao Yao.

“Ugh!” cried one of them as Ling Er’s blast hit him in the side, sending him spiraling in the opposite direction. This gave time for Xiao Yao to block the attack of the other Hu Die as he counter-attacked with a swift kick. Hu Die saw the kick and threw a dagger at Ling Er, following with a palm thrust on Xiao Yao’s leg. Ling Er dodged the throw and flung another blast of energy between her attacker and Xiao Yao as they both rolled away from each other.

“Gong zhu!” / “Princess!” cried a voice from behind her. Ling Er turned around and before her was the other Hu Die in the form of Ah Nu. He slapped her across the face, giggling as he slapped her again with the back of his hand. Ling Er screamed in anger and agony as she swung at her opponent. Still giggling, Hu Die backflipped away from Ling Er and flung both daggers at her, one after the other. She turned to dodge the first dagger and jumped to avoid being hit by the second.

(Author’s note: Xiao Yao and Ling Er are each fighting one Hu Die. I’ll try not to make it too confusing so the fight sequence may be better understood. Hu Die 1, the original Hu Die, is now fighting Xiao Yao and Hu Die 2 is fighting Ling Er. The fight description may be a little verbose, and for that, I apologize.)

The daggers sailed towards Xiao Yao and Hu Die 1. Seeing the daggers in the corner of his eye, Xiao Yao blocked an attack from Hu Die 1 and swung his other sword to deflect the first dagger. Hu Die 1 swung again, forcing Xiao Yao to roll out of the way as he jumped into the air and grabbed the second dagger. They faced each other, weapons in each hand, as Hu Die 1 took the form of Tang Yu.

“Fei Xing!” / “Shooting Star!” cried Hu Die 1 as he sent Tang Yu’s special move at Xiao Yao. Seeing all of this reminded Xiao Yao of his first encounter with Tang Yu. He missed his friend and Hu Die 1 had gone too far.

“Fei Xing!” / “Shooting Star!” cried Xiao Yao as he deflected the attack. They stood at a distance attacking each other with Shooting Star. Hu Die 1 began closing in on Xiao Yao. The clang of metal was heard again and again, increasing in frequency. Hu Die 1 twirled a dagger in his hand and swung the spinning blade across Xiao Yao’s face. As Xiao Yao arched his back to avoid the blow, Hu Die 1 stopped spinning the dagger and stabbed downward. Xiao Yao swung his sword to deflect the dagger and lunged his other sword at Hu Die 1 as a counter-attack.

*CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!*

Xiao Yao crossed his swords and sliced them apart at Hu Die 1, sending a massive energy blast. Hu Die 1 jumped out of the way as Xiao Yao came sailing across the air, landing a jump kick on his face. Hu Die 1 flipped in the air and landed on his back. Landing with a thud, he pincered his legs around Xiao Yao’s, tripping him to the ground. Xiao Yao flipped the swords in his hands and struck one into the ground and the other was aimed at Hu Die 1. Hu Die 1 rolled out of the way and jumped to his feet, just in time to block Xiao Yao’s double kick as Xiao Yao twisted his body, removing the sword from the ground and swinging it towards Hu Die 1. Hue Die 1 ducked as Xiao Yao’s sword grazed the back of his head. A swift kick from Xiao Yao sent Hu Die 1 crashing to the ground again. Before he could react, Xiao Yao threw his master’s sword into his arm. Hu Die 1 yelped in pain as he grabbed his arm. Then, laughing again, his face morphed into Jiu Xian Jian’s as he stood up and removed the sword from his arm. Xiao Yao peered at his master’s face, which was now worn by the enemy. Xiao Yao thought to himself, Shi fu, de zui le… / Master, forgive me…, as he attacked Hu Die 1.

Ling Er and Hu Die 2 had been exchanging blasts of energy. Ling Er furiously sent wave after wave at Hu Die 2, who continued to mock Ling Er with each miss.

“Hehe, haha, gong zhu!” / “Hehe, haha, princess!”

Upon dodging an energy blast from Ling Er, Hu Die 2 tightened his fist and waved it in front of his face. Ling Er fell over as she realized that her feet had been tangled in energy threads. He had been playing with her all this time. Ling Er struggled to stand and promptly threw herself against the ground. Laughing, Hu Die 2 approached Ling Er. As he reached her body, Xiao Yao looked over and screamed Ling Er’s name. Hu Die 2 turned his attention to Xiao Yao and laughed as he pointed to Ling Er’s body. Suddenly, he felt a stinging sensation on his leg. Looking down, he saw Ling Er sending energy into his right leg. Feeling faint, he fell to his knees. Ling Er began forming a massive ball of energy in her hands as Hu Die 2 struggled to keep his eyes open. As a last resort, he formed his appearance once more. The face of Ah Nu slowly faded as a new identity took her place.

“Hai zi…” / “Child…”

“Lao Lao!” cried Ling Er as she continued to form her attack.

“Bu yao…” / “Don’t…” pleaded Hu Die 2.

Sobbing, Ling Er shook her head as she flung the energy ball into Hu Die 2 and looked away. The appearance of Lao Lao disappeared as his body turned to clay and seeped into the ground. Looking over at Xiao Yao, Ling Er saw him standing over Hu Die 1’s body. Both of Xiao Yao’s swords were stuck in his chest against a tree. Xiao Yao hung his head low as he turned to look at Ling Er. Tears were streaming down his face, just like hers. He made his way over to her and picked her up. Cradling her in his arms, he walked back to Hu Die’s body and removed the swords, putting them in their sheaths on his back. Xiao Yao and Ling Er stared into each other’s eyes as they agreed – that true strength comes not from being strong on your own, but from the support of those you love and cherish. With Ling Er in his arms, Xiao Yao marched towards Nan Zhao Guo palace.