Lao Ba rose and withdrew from the battlefield, directly taking off her monk's robe and beginning to wring it out!
Fortunately, she wasn't standing in the beam of the car's headlights, so I couldn't see her too clearly, only her outline. Lao Ba was very tall, at least 1.7 meters, with a well-proportioned figure that was curvaceous. Standing beside the Pajero, she looked like a car model. It was quite worthwhile to cultivate for hundreds of years to achieve such a perfect body. In fact, she was quite good-looking too. If her eyes could turn to a normal human color, she could have been a movie star.
About ten minutes later, the three demons appeared. I guessed that Lao Ba was the fastest, so she arrived in a hurry, grabbing a monk's robe from Han Yin Temple and putting it on. These three great demons, however, were much more presentable, all wearing normal women's clothing – yes, all three were female.
I recognized the bear demon's physique at a glance. Although she was a bear, after transforming into human form, she was like a little loli, with slightly bowlegs. She was no longer wearing her bear skin attire; she had on a white t-shirt, jeans, and Vans canvas shoes. Her clothes and pants were covered in green streaks, clearly from being scratched by corn leaves.
The other two were similar. One was tall and thin with an extremely low head-to-body ratio and a triangular face; she was likely the snake demon. The other was also very tall but "sturdy," with long arms and legs, like a female basketball player; she was probably the third, the tiger demon.
The three of them, perhaps fearing scratches on their faces, each wore two layers of N95 masks, so their faces were obscured.
"Lao Ba, are you alright?" the tiger demon asked.
"I'm fine, but I lost."
"I'll go first," the tiger demon leaped forward, standing opposite Mu Jige. She first patted her sleeves, knelt on one knee, and performed a Manchu salute to Mu Jige, then stood up. "Gege, your servant has offended you!"
Bare-handed against bare fists, the tiger demon was very strong and her attacks were swift. I had expected Mu Jige to use a fighting style like "Tai Chi," overcoming strength with softness. Unexpectedly, she used the same combat method, going head-to-head with the tiger demon. The two fought from the bank into the shallow water, and from the shallow water onto the dam. After a great battle of thirty rounds, it seemed to me they were evenly matched.
Suddenly, the tiger demon leaped back and returned to the side of the eldest and fourth. She cupped her fists to Mu Jige and said, "Gege, your servant has lost."
Mu Jige nodded, her hands behind her back, and replied, "Thank you for your forbearance, Gushan Ezhen."
Although Mu Jige's pronunciation was not very standard (presumably in Manchu), I managed to make it out through ear-splitting. She was saying "Gushan Ezhen."
I had seen this term in the "Manwen Lao Dang" no less than ten times and had looked it up on my phone at the time. It was an official position in the Later Jin Dynasty, responsible for the military strength of a banner, which was later changed to Doxon (Du Tong) in the Qing Dynasty. Given the scale of the Later Jin army, it was equivalent to a group commander, a significant position indeed!
The Eight Banners, as the name suggests, were eight banners, and the military forces of these eight banners constituted the entire armed strength of the Later Jin army. Unexpectedly, the military leader of one of these banners was a demon. No wonder the Ming army found them so difficult to fight. However, four hundred years ago, the tiger demon should not have transformed into human form yet. I wondered how she commanded her troops.
The tiger demon Ezhen retreated, and the fourth, the bear demon, stepped forward. She did not refer to herself as "servant" or address Mu Jige as "Gege," suggesting she was not from the Eight Banners but a "common" demon. A druid, perhaps?
The fourth's t-shirt was a bit loose. She tied a knot at the hem, rolled up the legs of her jeans, and then tied her shoelaces before assuming a fighting stance. "Hah! Ha! Come on!"
Mu Jige was about to make a move when the fourth lowered her fists and turned to walk back. Mu Jige almost couldn't stop herself, her palm's edge grazing the back of the fourth's head as she forcibly changed her attack's direction, striking the air with a whistling sound.
"...Huh?" Mu Jige asked, puzzled.
The fourth waved her hand without looking back, "I can't win, I can't win. I won't fight, I won't fight."
The eldest, the snake demon, with a dark expression, watched the little loli bear walk past. She then turned back to look at Mu Jige.
"You're not fighting either?" Mu Jige asked with a smile.
The eldest snake demon did not reply. She moved her soft, long body, her hands constantly shifting palm strikes as she attacked Mu Jige. However, after only a few rounds, Mu Jige voluntarily retreated and whispered, "Eldest, your hand-to-hand combat is not strong enough. Use your weapon."
The snake demon nodded and drew a soft, black-and-white striped long object from her belt – it was a banded krait!