All three of them were at a loss for what to do. Li Bai rolled up his sleeves. “I’ll just drink it all!”
“Quit that,” Li Jinglong said. He spun his sword in his grip as he slowly made his way toward the great kun in the pool.
A knife flew from Hongjun’s fingers, plunging into the pool of wine and sinking into the great kun’s flesh, but the colossal fish did not react. The knife crackled, releasing bolt after bolt of lightning that sent tremors coursing through Yuan Kun’s body. Still the divine kun remained unaware, deep in slumber.
Li Jinglong was a few feet from the edge of the pool when a cloud of black smoke exploded above his head. Countless venomous insects swarmed toward him.
“Stop them!” he shouted.
Hongjun released his pentacolor sacred light, but it was too late. The swarm dove into the pool. The surface churned, then erupted with a deafening boom to reveal the figure of a burly man rising from the wine.
“I told him you wouldn’t agree to that deal,” the man said, his mouth curving into a wicked smile. “He insisted I wait for you. However—now that you’re here, none of you will ever leave.”
Li Jinglong raised the Sword of Wisdom, filling it with the power of the heart lamp until it shone brilliantly in his hand. “Who are you?”
“Qu Nie,” the man said. “It must have been difficult, chasing us all the way to Luoyang.” He studied Li Jinglong with a faint smile, then turned slowly toward Hongjun. “You aren’t of much use to us, Li Jinglong—capturing Kong Hongjun, on the other hand, would be considered a great achievement.”
“Hey, what about me?” Li Bai piped up. “Aren’t I worth anything?”
It took only a glance for Qu Nie to see that Li Bai was an ordinary mortal who posed no threat. Sneering, he waved his hand, and a stream of wine surged out of the pool.
“Look out!” Hongjun cried as the wine knocked Li Bai to the ground.
Li Bai waved off Hongjun’s concern. The enemy wanted the two of them, not Li Bai. If they rushed to protect him, Qu Nie would simply aim for him instead. It would only make things more difficult if Li Bai were captured and they had to worry about his safety.
“Where’s that brother of yours? We’ll deal with both of you at once,” Li Jinglong said, a hint of steel in his voice.
Hovering above the pool, Qu Nie replied, “Li Jinglong, you rely too much on your petty tricks. Believe me, if we wished to, any one of the four cardinal vices could easily defeat you.”
“Then what are you waiting for?!” Li Jinglong roared as he charged toward Qu Nie, Hongjun right on his heels.
Qu Nie sneered. He raised his palms, and the wine swelled into a towering wave that roared toward Hongjun and Li Jinglong.
“Give me a boost!” Li Jinglong shouted.
Hongjun threw up a barrier with his sacred light to block the wine and skidded over to Li Jinglong, who vaulted off his back in a flying leap. His body twisted in midair as he pounced toward Qu Nie, an arrow fisted in one hand. Qu Nie reeled back, but Li Jinglong’s move was only a feint—with a flick of his free hand, an arrow glowing with the power of the heart lamp hurtled toward Qu Nie from behind.
With an enraged roar, Qu Nie disintegrated into a swarm of venomous insects. They had already discussed how to defeat these gu apes: Just as planned, Hongjun expanded his sacred light and wrapped it around the insects buzzing through the air.
Before Hongjun could trap them, the insects dispersed and reformed several lengths away as the human Qu Nie. The pool of wine roiled and reared, its contents thundering toward them in a colossal wave. Landing in a crouch on the divine kun’s back, Li Jinglong broke into a run and leapt to shore while Hongjun threw up a wall of sacred light to block the wave. The wine crashed and disintegrated against the bright barrier.
“Wait for an opening,” Li Jinglong said, watching the swarm. “I’ll force the insects into a corner, then you’ll strike. We won’t let them escape.”
Hongjun hummed in acknowledgment. Thousands of glistening arrows made of wine materialized above the pool and shot toward them. Hongjun raised his barrier again, but these arrows pivoted in midair. They swerved around his barrier and splashed down from all sides, drenching them in wine.
This wine was stronger than what Hongjun usually drank, and it poured down relentlessly until the space around them was filled with it, the liquid hemming them in from every direction. Even the pentacolor sacred light couldn’t beat it back. Hongjun wrapped himself and Li Jinglong in light as wine rose around them, until they were imprisoned in a shrinking bubble of air within his barrier.
Seeing that they were about to suffer the same fate as last time—when they’d almost drowned in the fox yao’s sea of blood—Li Jinglong ordered, “Retreat! Let’s get out of here!”
Hongjun retracted his sacred light, and Li Jinglong dragged Hongjun behind him as he dashed out of the surging column of wine. The ground and walls were drenched in it as the swarm of venomous insects twisted through the air and reconverged into the form of a black ape. The ape lumbered toward them, the ground shaking with the weight of its steps.
Alcohol permeated the air in the form of a mist that Hongjun gradually breathed in, making his head spin. Li Jinglong pushed Hongjun out of the way of one of the gu ape’s strikes, yet in the next instant, another jet of wine came surging toward him. Li Jinglong choked under the onslaught, swallowing several huge mouthfuls as he struggled for breath.
Hongjun rose shakily. The gu ape was a blurred silhouette in his wavering vision, and Li Jinglong’s voice, calling his name, seemed far away. Hongjun gripped his knives between his fingers and charged. The ape effortlessly dodged his attack.
“Hongjun!” Li Jinglong was beginning to feel the effects of the wine, but Hongjun was a lightweight to start with—he was already stumbling over himself. Without Hongjun’s barrier of sacred light, Li Jinglong was powerless against the torrent of wine blasting him again and again.
“You…” Li Jinglong said weakly.
The gu ape cackled hysterically. “Li Jinglong! You useless, miserable—”
Another spout of wine propelled Li Jinglong into the air and sent him crashing into the far wall of the cave, coughing out the wine that had flooded his nose and mouth. As the gu ape prowled toward him, he lurched upright to face his enemy.
At the same time, someone else had gotten to his feet behind the ape.
“Ow…” Li Bai shook his head. “That hurt.”
The gu ape whirled to face Li Bai, who sniffed the air. “Oh, now that’s a strong wine.”
“Ha!” The gu ape set its knuckles to the ground and charged Li Bai, who drew his saber in a flash, stumbling aside to dodge the attack. He parried the next swipe of the ape’s hands before lurching into a counterstrike, slicing toward the enemy with his blade.
Li Jinglong watched, speechless.
The gu ape, not expecting a mere mortal to react so swiftly, threw a series of punches, which Li Bai somehow dodged nimbly while tripping over his own feet. The ape lumbered after him, attacking again and again, yet it didn’t manage to touch so much as a single hair on its adversary’s head, while Li Bai landed several solid strikes.
“Impertinence!” Enraged, the gu ape pointed, and a wave of wine roared toward Li Bai, sweeping him to the far end of the cave.
But after gulping a few mouthfuls, Li Bai was even more fired up. He skidded across the ground toward the gu ape, bellowing, “A fine wine!”
Momentarily bewildered, the gu ape raised his arms in a two-handed smash, ready to crush Li Bai’s head into paste. Li Bai dropped and slid between the creature’s legs, slashing his saber upward to carve straight through the gu ape’s buttocks and up its spine. Buzzing insects poured from the gaping wound as the ape roared in pain. Mad with fury, the gu ape swung its long arms wildly as it lunged in pursuit of Li Bai.