Chương 22: "I Don't Have an Uncle as Ugly as You!”

Ch 22 "I Don't Have an Uncle as Ugly as You!"

Mud had transformed beyond recognition. His entire torso had turned an unnerving gray, with veins of purple demonic energy pulsing beneath the surface like living serpents. His eyes and mouth seemed more like glowing holes now rather than what they were supposed to be. The forest itself seemed to recoil from his presence, with all of its leaves rustling in warning.

"Tell me who's a mouse now!" he yelled maniacally as he charged the girl with a new speed. His demonic form seemed to be making his movements more erratic, and more powerful. Amber barely managed to deflect his first strike with a well timed sweep of her spear. She grunted as the impact sent tremors shaking their way up through the girl's arms. Red sparks of steel and black sparks of demonic Qi lit up the dark forest.

"I'm sorry I called you a mouse!" Amber shifted her weight and executed a spear thrust up at his face that sliced through air with a menacing slice. He moved his spine to the side at an unnatural angle, just enough to dodge the spear blade by a hair's breadth, his crooked and distorted face gleaming with a grotesque smile.

"Too late for apologies!" he laughed maniacally as he swiped at her chaotically, only striking air as her limited Predator technique managed to pull her through the torrent of fierce blows.

"I'm only sorry," Amber jumped and twisted as she dodged a blow, "because mice aren't as ugly as you!" The girl's leg whipped out and delivered a punishing blow with Raging Tiger. The demonic Qi cloaked man's head snapped back as her heel crashed into his face so hard he thought his neck would break.

"Hahaha amazing! It's so amazing! I feel so great! Try harder little girl!" He bellowed as his torso whipped around to deliver a deluge of punches. Amber suddenly saw the linked vision of the little tiger lining itself up behind the crazed man and coiling up. Her mind flashed on how the cub had assaulted Wild Hog from behind in the same way, only to get nearly viciously slammed into the ground.

"Stop it! Stay away from him!" Amber yelled in desperation. The demonic wretch in front of her instantly whipped around to meet the threat. But it never came. The little tiger listened to the girl's plea and crouched back into the tree leaves where the man never saw it.

"You tricky bitch, you had me going -" He didn't get to finish his sentence. As he turned around Mud was met with a fierce pair of golden orange glowing eyes and slit pupils. Violent orange Qi crashed out from the girl as she yelled and rushed her spear forth in an unrelenting barrage of thrusts. Mud hissed as he erratically dodged, being forced backwards. He made a desperate swipe but Amber knocked his blow away, sparks filling the air from her high spear sweep.

The girl roared as she kicked him hard in his stomach, knocking him against a tree that was just behind him. When did he get cornered? Mud thought frantically as the girl charged at him yelling fiercely, her body looking aflame in a cloak of menacing orange Qi. Amber slammed her spear point straight at Mud's chest!

"Y-You can't!" The man shouted. A crackling demonic sphere of energetic aura expanded outwards just enough to halt her spear in front of his chest.

"I'm finally…. powerful…. finally….!" The girl yelled again, her blood boiling under the effects of Saint Tiger Qi as she rallied her Qi and pushed harder, longing to sink her thirsty spear blade deep into the man's chest. The clash of demonic Qi and Saint Tiger Qi blew ripples through the forest, causing nearby leaves to shake and fall. Amber felt like she had tried to thrust against a rock wall! Mud howled as a flash of black and orange energy crackled and burst apart.

The impact threw Amber backwards, and she crashed against a tree trunk knocking the wind from her lungs. Somewhere inside of herself she felt that something had moved unpleasantly*. * The girl coughed a few speckles of blood on the grass in front of her as she fumbled with her legs to stand up. The demonic creature in front of her had a huge portion of red and purple flesh bulging out from the gray flesh, with ugly black veins gnarled beneath it.

An insidious cloak of demonic Qi far thicker than before was already slowly closing over it, wrapping around him like a second skin.

"You bitch! I thought I was almost dead! Hahahaha!" The former man yelled as the Qi dragged him to his feet.

"Your body can't handle it! Did you see how you look under there? You'll die!" Amber choked out.

"Oh, I think you are the one that can't handle me my little rabbit," he cackled. His voice didn't even sound like the same person anymore, it was layered with strange and unpleasant undertones. His movements had long become erratic, less controlled. Now his body was breaking down and held together underneath a cloak of dark energy. The demonic Qi was destroying him from within! He would probably die by himself in a short while. The realization was bittersweet. One one hand, all she had to do was survive.

On the other, it was easier said than done. She could no longer sense the tiger or share it's senses. Just as she had previously suspected, their link dried up as the last of her Saint Tiger Qi left her body. She hoped he would listen well and stay out of the fight! Amber took a breath through her Burning Sun technique. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Despite her bodies' condition and the loss of Saint Tiger Qi, her own Qi was vibrant and full. Her mind raced.

Head to head, she might get murdered during his frenzy. In a battle of who can stay alive longer, she just might make it. The girl spun on her heels and ran, the mud of the forest floor significantly dampening her speed. The forest seemed dark and confusing after losing the little tiger's vision.

"How could you kill all my men and run?" came the chilling voice from behind her. An icy wave ran up Amber's spine. Not only was she much slower without her Saint Tiger Qi, but without the little tiger's link her Predator steps felt jumbled again.

"Ya!" The girl spun and swung her spear much more wildly than she should have, but the grotesque form dodged it easily, leaving her wide open. She tried to pull her weapon back to guard but it was already too late.

"Heeeeeere's your uncle!" an unhinged smile wrecked the demonic mass' face as it swung with terrifying strength at the girl. Her desperate attempt to block resulted in the weapon being torn from Amber's grip.

"I don't have an uncle as ugly as you!" she yelled as she swung her leg around straight to his midsection. Raging Tiger! There was a stiff crack that came from somewhere inside it's body as her heel sunk into his ribs, audible through the pouring rain. But the creature did not react at all, laughing as Amber yelled out in pain. Her foot exploded with angry sensations. He was like kicking a tree! She hopped on her good foot, grabbing the other as it throbbed.

A demonic fist blew wind over her body and severed rainfall as she ducked a swing from the former man. She swung upwards with her open curled fingers with Tiger Claws as jagged thin lines of Qi dragged across the creature's body, splitting the dark skin coat of Qi before instantly forming back together. Shit! Amber thought. Her Tiger Claws weren't as powerful without Saint Tiger Qi. Mud howled and struck back with furious swings, each coming in rapid succession.

The girl dodged blow after blow by the skin of her teeth. Each dodge and sway from the girl came with a counter blow as she swiped another bit of Qi away from him with her Tiger Qi claws. Amber knew it was over for her if she got hit once or let down her offense. She would be immediately overpowered. The two roared as the they swung at each other in the rain. Despite the Saint Tiger Qi's emotionally heightening effects being gone, she felt a type of rage bubble up as she felt cornered by this beast.

"I'm…." The girl felt a cut open across her face as a near miss nearly took her head off.

"Not…." A well aimed Tiger Claws broke his dark Qi mask, revealing a face that was bleeding from all holes and twisted inhumanely before being zipped back up in black Qi.

"Prey!" She leapt over a low strike and took a heavy step up off the creature's thigh as she rocketed her furious knee directly into the face of the monstrosity. Tiger Ascends the Mountain! The creature fell back howling as it thrashed on the forest floor. The damage was getting through! Amber quickly charged and sat on him, screaming and raining down wave after wave of Tiger Claws upon him. She pushed all of her Qi into the flicker of Saint Tiger Qi, trying to convert as much as possible.

Bloody lines opened up all over him as the girl tore at him like a furious tiger in the rain. The black Qi grew slower and slower to mold back, as the girl tore him apart like a cat did to a terrified mouse. Blood splattered and ran in the rain as the demonic creature screamed inhumanely and tried to cover itself with it's arms. BAM! Lightning struck as Amber lost her vision, silenced by pain. She was only aware of her body falling back through space.

She felt weightless for a moment before landing hard on her back, the uncaring forest floor offering nothing but a rough landing despite the mud. What… just happened? She urged her stunned body to move as she struggled to look at the creature Mud had become. The creature slowly rose up in a terrifying visage between lightning strikes. It now had several pitch black tendrils winding out from it's body as the black Qi formed a new seal over all of it's bloody marks.

It moved in a horrifying way that could no longer be called human. The guttural moans from its eerie voice also did nothing to resemble human speech. An unnerving moan wailed from the monstrosity as it moved over the girl's recovering body, pinning her down. Amber yelled in desperate frustration as she felt the black tendrils slithering over her and wrapping around her wrists. She pulled at the black bonds with all of her strength, which wasn't much in her stunned state.

As she grabbed one, it completely dissolved and tore apart as her palm mark burned. Amber didn't have time to think about what happened as she now had a hand free. She mustered all her Qi that she had left and clawed at it's face, drawing screams from his guttaral voice. The beast shuddered and grabbed her free hand by the wrists and wrestled her down. It's glowing mouth hole widened and screamed in the terrified girl's face as hot waves of demonic stench enveloped her.

Then, the monster stopped moving and dropped on top of her, motionless. It was finally out of energy! Or the bald man's body couldn't handle any more.

"Get off of me!" Amber grunted as she shoved the body off of herself and to the side. Demonic Qi dissolved off of it in thick wisps as the demonic husk of the man underneath was revealed. All that was left was a lump of broken and bleeding flesh. All kinds of ugly colors were revealed by bursts of lightning.

"I wonder if your parents named you mud because they knew where you'd die," she spat a bloody saliva mixture on him." Meow," t he little tiger landed gracefully besides the girl as it came down from the forest canopy.

"Little tiger! It looks like we're alive again!" the girl ecstatically raised the cat up and twirled around. She was smiling cheek to cheek right now, dancing in the rain while holding the little cub. No matter what she had just gone through, she realized there was no exhilarating feeling in life quite like murdering your would-be murderers. She laughed and laughed like a mad woman in the rain.

"You did great! Thank you! So many who wanted us dead are now dead!" She smiled and hugged the feline.

"Men and demons, they all better steer clear of us!" The tiger meowed deeply as it looked her, it's tail swaying casually.

"We seriously need to get out of this storm! Little Tiger, can you lead the way back to the cave?" The Tiger looked at her for a moment before leaping out of her arms and sauntering off into the darkness.

"Little one! Wait a second!" The girl called, "First help me find all the bodies. They owe us something for all of that!" With the feline's help they located every body and pulled off every item they could find, including retrieving her spear and knives. She didn't even spare the gold teeth fillings or earrings, which she cut off with her dagger rather than handling the disgusting men's flesh. They worked quickly and diligently through the storm.

By the time they made it back to the cave the two were thoroughly soaked and cold, however thanks to the downpour most of the blood that had caked her flesh and clothes had been washed away. The rest was barely noticeable through her dark fabrics. She traded her sopping wet outer fabrics for her dry cloak, and sat by the fire alongside her wet clothes. Amber breathed a sigh of relief by the fire's warmth as the cub curled up next to her, purring happily.

She looked at all the items she had taken from the men, laid out on the cave floor. The thing that had interested her most were the black vials of liquid that all the men had consumed just before transforming.

"I wasn't sure if they were demons or not," she said out loud as the tiger walked around the sitting girl, "but they were all so dumb. Are demons supposed to be dumb?" She pondered for a moment as she looked deeply at the liquid.

"He said the Jadehands gave this to them…." The little tiger tilted it's head as the girl swished the black liquid inside it's vial.

"What the hell is this stuff?" she wondered.

"And was it really worth it for the Jadehands to use so many men and bottles just because the young master lost a bit of face?" If that were the only reason, then she truly couldn't believe the size of his ego. She laughed on the cave floor as she faced the cub, "Tell me little one, when you were in my shadow, could you see me expose his ass in public?"" Meow," he purred.

"I'm so glad!" Amber laughed. She was full of happiness to be alive, and to have the little tiger back by her side. So far, all of her efforts had not been in vain.