******* Bridge *******
The Stone Bridge is a passage over the ravine, made of natural stone. It isn't smooth, and I may have to climb a bit. The biggest problem is the possible presence of some of those birds. And it seems that we're in the territory of the apes. There're at least sixty of them.
We're watching them from our hiding place when we hear a scream. It's an ape. It's seen us. I fear it's calling the rest. Another scream, from behind. Another one. Shit, they're surrounding us.
We run to the front. Towards their village. Towards the cubs. We throw some explosive rocks. We aren't trying to kill them, just threaten them. Splinters and dust fly. Some of the cubs shriek. Many adults rush to protect them. That gives us space to flee. Towards the bridge.
Together, we make our way. The apes are trying to reach us, throwing stones. Yi is wounded in the leg. She falls. She can't continue. I send her back. She's hurt. She sits down to meditate. It doesn't seem serious. And she's worried.
They're not far away. But they hesitate when the trees stop covering us. About half of them decide to follow us. I climb up the rock while Shi and Yu protect the retreat. Five of them rush at them. They meet the rock. I've sent them back.
I could call and send them back continuously, but they get dizzy if I do it too often. Their qi destabilizes, and they need time to recover.
I call Ning and Rui. Ning is making a wall of qi. Rui is holding them back with me. I manage to push one of them. It was injured. It falls from the bridge. Its screams are shivery.
Rui is bleeding, but she doesn't complain. She has the mark of claws on her arm. Ning manages to finish the half shield, which confuses them. And it leaves one inside. Without its companions and distracted for a moment, I pierce it with the spear. Rui stabs the ape with her daggers. And strikes the neck. She's been studying one of the corpses. Looking for weak spots. Looks like she's found something.
I put the corpse away and send them back. Rui is injured, and Ning won't be of much more use for now. The shield gives me a little time to get away. I don't know if it'll be enough though. They're very agile climbers.
I'm about ten meters ahead of them when they break it. They take off in pursuit. They're quickly making up for lost ground. A crack in the rock saves me from their claws. I could take on one or two. But there're more than ten. I don't know exactly how many.
I take cover there. They can't reach me. But I can't escape either. Maybe, we'll have to try to fight our way through.
A claw tries to reach me. The spear catches it. I don't do much damage. Unfortunately, it's hard to gain momentum in my position, it's a bit cramped here. And I don't know how to imbue it with qi. It'd be nice to learn. I think I had some manuals. I didn't think I'd need to.
It doesn't try again. They throw some small rocks at me. Those aren't dangerous. They hit the walls uselessly. I wonder if they'll leave. Maybe, it's best to wait.
I don't have much to do, so I get ahead of the work. It's narrow, but there's room for one more. Rong seems confused when she appears between the walls. Above me. I don't give her any explanations. I simply lower her to the height of my waist. While my hand abruptly reaches her vagina. My body pressed against hers. There's not much space.
"Don't make any noise."
When she gets wet, I penetrate her. I force her container. Then, I take advantage to recover some of the qi I've spent. It's a bit exciting to fuck her ignoring the dangers. And I can release the tension. Penetrating her. Pushing her against the wall. With her breasts pressing against me. Even if she doesn't want to. Her hands are against the wall.
I return her full of me and call Ning.
"Don't make any noise. You've behaved better. Tomorrow, I'll give you your reward. Now, just be still and let me fuck you. Make a little shield right over you first."
It only takes a few moments for her to get wet. I think she's excited from this unexpected sex, sooner than usual. With her, I just regain the spent qi. I pump into her. Into her tight vagina. She rubs against me whenever she can. Her hands caress my skin. Her mouth seeks me out, even though there isn't much room. Her body trembles against the stone wall as I fill her.
She stays on the ground for a while when I return her, catching her breath. I don't call Rui. She's still recovering. It'll take her a while. I'm going to call Liang to explain the situation. But I hear squeals. Knocks. Then, silence.
I wait a while before climbing up the wall. In an area where there's no shield. I peek carefully. Qi detection doesn't work with so much rock.
Six meters away, there's an incredible bird. It's about three meters tall. Its feathers shine like silver. Its aquiline beak is the crimson color of its victim's blood.
I climb out of the hole and slowly move away. I try not to make a sound. A small stone slides under my foot. It raises its head and looks at me. But it doesn't move. Maybe, it doesn't consider me prey. Or it has had enough with what it has hunted. Although, the bird doesn't stop watching me.
Slowly, I continue climbing up the stone. Increasing the distance with the dangerous predator. When I get about twenty meters away, it turns and continues devouring the ape.
I hurry to cross. I don't want it to change its mind. Or another one to appear. Only when I reach the other side, and the cover of trees protects me, I breathe a sigh of relief. I don't detect anything dangerous. I call Yu.
