Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

As it ran out of the trees, it suddenly fell to the ground, breathing heavily and bleeding out. Ming Yue stared at it in shock, her eyes widened as she lowered her sword just a tad. Even Hongyu's reaction was the same, eyes wide with disbelief as she looked at who had just come. 

"Is that what I think it is?" Ming Yue muttered. 

It was a giant cat, one of white fur with spots of black and beige and it had two tails.

After a moment, there was a small meow coming from it as the beast tried to move but couldn't. However, it was able to turn its head enough to notice Ming Yue and the others. Their eyes were piercing and they immediately froze up, not knowing what to do in front of this duo.

But then it looked away, as if not caring about them. Perhaps, it was surrendering to its fate. After all, the thing that chased after it was coming. 

Slithering through the path made by the giant cat was a serpent, one of black and red scales. It hissed as soon as it saw its prey, paying no mind to Ming Yue. The giant cat seemingly glared at the snake, growling and hissing at the serpent. 

Even to the end, it wasn't going to go down without some struggle. 

The serpent stared at it, rising up as it looked down upon its prey. Their gazes met before something moved from the corner of their eyes. 

"Hongyu!"

The little girl ran out from behind Ming Yue, moving between the two giant beasts and holding her arms wide to shield the cat. 

Both beasts couldn't help but look at her in surprise and the serpent lowered itself to look at her. Its eyes were chilling, empty black pupils that were unmoving. It was enough to cause anyone to freeze. It hissed at her, a slow and sharp hiss that reverberated like the tail of a rattlesnake. 

Hongyu's body trembled under the serpent's gaze but she still stood and faced the beast defiantly, 

As the beast came closer, it stopped, feeling a presence like no other, the cold blade of death. Its eyes suddenly went towards where Ming Yue was only to find her gone. In fact, there was nothing but a thick, black mist slowly expanding across this clearing. 

The serpent hissed, looking around its surroundings for the source of this fog. 

It then looked back down, finding that the little child and its prey were gone without a sound. 

Pulling back in surprise, the beast's eyes moved from right to left, scanning the area.

What happened? Where could they have gone?

Focused on finding them, it didn't notice the flash of red light above it as Ming Yue descended down upon the serpent. 

With both arms on the Blood Moon, she stabbed down, piercing the snake's neck!

The beast recoiled in pain, hissing and shrieking while the cultivator dug even deeper. Dark red blood gushed out from the wound as she jumped off, pulling her sword and cutting down the serpent's body. 

And even more blood came out, showering the area in red whilst the serpent writhed in pain!

It was beyond painful, it was excruciating and the serpent's eyes revealed fear. 

It had to leave. It must! 

Who cared about prey when its life was on the line! 

It couldn't die here for some measly prey. 

Falling to the ground, it slithered around, turning towards the path where it came from and trying to flee. Even with all the pain it felt from the wound on its body, the serpent fled as quickly as possible. 

"Don't you even try." 

Gazing at the serpent, Ming Yue chased after it until suddenly, strange lights flickered from the sky. There were dozens of them, shooting down from the sky and piercing the Serpent, slowing it down. 

The source of it descended from the skies, showering the beast with even more of its feathers. 

"Xiao Yin!"

Ming Yue called out for the owl and whistled before running ahead. Leaping up, she flew forth, imbuing her sword with energy, causing it to hum. 

Without another word, she flew over the serpent's head and dropped down, stabbing right between the head and the body! 

Blood Moon howled and released its power, shooting off a wave of energy that sliced the serpent's head clean off. 

And just like that, the beast was dead. 

Blood continued to flow from its massive body, collecting into little pools and rivers. The metallic scent overtook the smell of everything else. 

Dropping down from its body, Ming Yue looked at it before taking it into her spatial ringXiao Yin had flown down, keeping with Ming Yue's speed. The owl's wings glowed ever so slightly before losing their luster as the feathers returned to being just feathers. Checking her surroundings, she ran off, returning to the clearing where Hongyu was fast asleep within the soft fur of this giant cat. The child rested on the beast's stomach, sleeping blissfully. 

Opposite to them was Hei Yue, dutifully keeping watch and waiting for his master's return. 

As for the massive cat, it had been licking its wounds, only stopping to gaze at her while she looked back. The Mistral Fox ran up to them, joining the other two as they approached this beast.

It was quiet as they both looked at each other, perhaps trying to gauge what the other wanted. 

Ming Yue furrowed her brows, studying that massive cat. 

"What is it? A Savage Beast? It can't be a normal beast, can it? It seems friendly, hasn't attacked us yet..." she thought. 

But after a while, she let out a tired sigh, walking up to the beast and resting on its stomach with Hongyu. 

"It doesn't matter... I'm... exhausted." 

Muttering under her breath, she soon fell into a deep sleep. 

The cat looked at her curiously before turning to the other two beasts. It meowed at them as if conversing with the owl and fox, perhaps asking more about their master. 

What followed was a conversation involving meowing, cooing, and yipping, as the three beasts talked to each other. And while all of it was happening, Ming Yue soon found herself within a dream, this time it was different compared to the ones she had before. 

It didn't start with her standing between the battlefield and her lost home. 

No, in fact, she was somewhere else. This time, the young woman stood within shallow waters, a pool with no end in sight. 

"What is this?"

She asked out loud but expected no answer. Her eyes darted from one place to another as she constantly turned around, trying to see if there was anything out there. 

"Where is this? Where am I?"

It was strange, this was something new, something she had not expected. 

The world around her was nothing but gray emptiness. Even as she ran around, she heard nothing but the sound of water splashing with each step she took. 

She just ran and ran without stopping, trying to find an end to these endless plains. 

And eventually, Ming Yue stopped as she noticed something ahead of her, a small figure. She narrowed her eyes but couldn't make out what it was, moving closer and closer. 

Once she was close enough to see clearly, her eyes widened as she recognized who was standing before her.

"Xue Yue?" she quietly called out. 

It was an exact copy of herself, the only difference being that this figure was completely gray. And as she called out, Ming Yue felt that something was wrong. 

This exact copy raised her head to face her counterpart and pulled her arm out!

Water rose up and formed Blood Moon and she charged forward, looking to strike or perhaps, kill Ming Yue.