Hundreds upon hundreds of cicadas flew up from the fissure that formed in the earth. They had been sleeping within the ground, waiting until the time was right to emerge and sing their summer songs. They were awoken early, screaming out in a deafening roar of anger and irritation.

Shāng Bù Huàn and Làng Wū Yáo were stuck on one side of the fissure while Mù Tiān Mìng was on the other. Not quite the separation that Yīn Xiàtiān was hoping for, but now this broke apart their team just enough to make a difference. She'd let the cicadas take out Mù and handle the other pair on her own. There were hundreds of cicadas now at her command, more than enough to handle a single musician.

Mù was trapped by herself, unable to see past the wall of angry cicadas. Some broke off, barreling towards her and surrounding her. She leapt away from them, but they followed her moments with ease. So this was the power of a cicada assassin, able to control swarms of cicadas with a silent command. Had Yīn been holding back this whole time or was she simply driven to a point of desperation, resorting to the most dangerous attacks? If she used too much qi, there was no point of return and she would die before the summer's end, much like a cicada eventually withered by the onset of fall.

"Silent reverie!" Mù commanded, flinging a massive burst of sound from her guqin. It thinned the swarm but more cicadas came to replace them, attempting to overwhelm her.

She pulled the blade from her guqin, using qi to circle it around her while sending multiple sonic strikes out in all directions. She had to keep these cicadas physically off her. If one crawled into her ear, she surely would go down. She didn't have Làng's incredibly sensitive hearing, but she couldn't imagine the experience being exactly pleasant. Especially when the cicadas were packed with qi.

She had to fight them off, to reunite with the others and stop this crazy assassin. If Yīn poured this much qi into the sonic sword, she could possibly shake apart half the peninsula.

Yīn laughed shrilly. There was no way that musician girl could hold her own against such a strong and deadly swarm for long. Mù'd tire herself out and eventually succumb to them, becoming food. Her body would be picked apart and the qi stolen from Mù and sent back to Yīn in the end. She fed off her victim's qi, just like she'd fed off Làng's when they first met. A victim with as much qi as Mù had could replenish her own stores and keep them full until the next summer.

"Yīn Xiàtiān is pouring out massive amounts of qi to control all those cicadas," Shāng observed. "She truly is throwing her life away. How reckless."

Làng could barely hear Mù's attacks over the sounds of the cicadas. He knew her well enough to know she wouldn't so easily go down in a fight like this. Yet that qi poured into the cicadas had him concerned what Yīn's true intentions were.

The assassin could leave the cicadas to handle Mù while Yīn focused the whole of her attention on Shāng and Làng and that Sorcerous Sword index. "One pest squashed." She had considered for a moment keeping the Index for herself, but the reward her master would give her plus keeping the songbird for herself would be all too sweet. "Sing for me, my dear bard!"

Làng tightened the strings on the pipa as she swung the sonic sword, quickly plucking the notes to use sound to block the sound. He hated the notion of giving her what she wanted, but his voice was far more powerful in countering the attacks than simply playing the notes. He'd found this to be true in the last battle with Yīn. Something to be used as a last resort, and this did feel like that sort of moment.

Something felt different about this attack than in the last encounter, and his sensitive ears were quickly picking up on it. The sound almost buzzed to a point where he could nearly feel it shake his bones. There was qi baked into this attack like she was using the sword as a means to emphasize her own cicada songs.

He could feel Shāng leaning up against him to keep him upright. The deep guttural notes of the sword were cracking the land around them. There was no chance for either of them to move yet.

"This buzzy bitch is nuts!" Líng Yá complained. "What do you want to do, man?"

"Seems I have no choice." He shifted the strings on the pipa carefully, letting the upbeat tune fill his soul. The notes were quickly countering the shaking attack as he began to sing the first notes. It was one of his favorites, one that had taken on new meaning since he found his own path in this world.

"With an armor called sorrow,

Sheath the heart: His/Story.

Just familiarizing with the heat—period,

Is to forfeit one's freedom."

Làng curled his back leg, supporting himself against the pressure of the sonic sword's attack as he belted out the song's words. The power of the sword was intense, and it could very well take every ounce of qi he had to counter its effects. But he only intended to be the distraction.

"What are you waiting for, man?!" Líng Yá fussed at Shāng. "Take care of that cicada freak!"

Shāng nodded. The sooner they could deal with Yīn Xiàtiān, the better. She was causing far too much trouble with this sword and the massive number of cicadas still pouring out of the ground. Mù was somewhere on the other side, still fighting, so he'd do everything he could to end this battle before both his companions collapsed from exhaustion.

He leapt out from behind Làng's barrier, dodging the errant sonic attacks and cicadas that swarmed off from the wall. He slashed at them, the qi extending well beyond the wooden blade. He was able to cut down their numbers but there were so many this would take more work than he thought bugs could ever be.

Yīn was focused purely on Làng and his song instead of whatever the other two were doing. The cicadas would chew them to pieces while she focused on what mattered to her more than the other two. "Sing for me, my dear Wū Yáo~!" She swung the sword at him with more fervor, the deep sound crashing into the ground.

That next attack drove Làng's feet further into the ground. To think she would go to such lengths just to hear him sing. His voice was such trouble most of the time, but perhaps he could use this to his advantage. She was focused solely on him, but how long could he keep this up? His voice did have a limit, at least before it manifested its supernatural power. He recalled falling ill, his mother beating him then trying to nurse him back to health. His voice was gone, his music stolen from him until he awoke well after the sickness.

"Even so, without expecting it, I felt warmth…

Recompose. Let's search for tomorrow."

That was when his mother died, unable to recognize the change that manifested after the sickness. That curse of a voice that perhaps he could use for something else. He was his own blade after all, no longer to be used by anyone especially not some cicada assassin who wanted to cage him up again.

He stabilized himself by dropping to a knee, feeling the ground around the shield crack as the sounds attacked.

Shāng turned for a moment. Làng's qi wouldn't last forever, and he wasn't sure how long his voice would either. Did a supernatural voice have limits? He wasn't certain he wanted to find out. He sheathed his sword, using qi to rise scattered leaves up into the air and turn them into razor sharp daggers. Silently he sent the daggers towards Yīn.

The cicadas moved from their buzzing wall, protecting the assassin while she had her attention turned towards Làng.

Scoffing, he found the pieces of the shattered trees and sent them on their way as well. He didn't see much in the way of an opening just yet, but he noticed something vital. Yīn was wearing down with these multiple points of battle. She had to maintain the cicada wall as well as funnel her qi through the blade to force Làng to sing for her. She was fighting on three fronts right now, and even an elite assassin would find this taxing.

"Làng! Keep it up!" Shāng shouted, dodging a line of cicadas that more closely resembled a spear. They could wear Yīn down, but that could also wear the three of them thin. Even Shāng himself had his limits. The question was, who would fall first?

Làng nodded, continuing his song despite the pressure defending against the sword was putting on him. Shāng was up to something, and Làng would trust him to do what was needed. He could feel the song wearing on him. He'd need an entire basket of dumplings to recover from how much qi he was exerting.

"My life goes by like passing clouds,

Departed the days I will be proud.

My own footprints shall become history."

Even above the buzzing, Mù could hear Làng's voice ring out and reach her. He was fighting with everything he had, singing a song with such soul she could feel it as well. She would too, of course. As if a bunch of bugs would take her down. She just had to find a way around them, to get to Yīn while she wasn't looking.

Sooner rather than later. She was feeling less energetic than usual. These cicadas were sapping her strength somehow. This was the weakness Làng said he felt in his knees, wasn't it? These cicadas. They were draining her strength, much as they had drained his. This would make things more difficult than anticipated. She dropped to a knee, drawing the sword across the strings to attack in large arcs. As they attempted to approach from behind, she turned, striking out against them. They felt like they were approaching faster but perhaps she was slowing down.

Those companions certainly were causing far too much trouble. Yīn wasn't fond of these three-way attacks at all, especially against three strong opponents like she was now. She only wanted to hear her songbird sing, and these other two were making a mess of things! They were fighting back against her, trying to hold out longer than she was. It was immensely taxing to handle all three points at once, but she still had one more option. Outstretching her hand, she summoned the Sorrowful Soul, slashing it at Shāng. It was time she forced their hand.

...

Author's musings

So fun story about the origins of Yīn's attacks. When I was a kid, I lived in the southeast. Cicadas were common in the summer. But as kids, you tell each other stupid things. Well someone decided to tell the story that cicadas were actually vampiric bugs. If you ever saw one, it would sap your strength and suck your blood! They also leave the husks of their victims on trees!

Of course my dumb kid self believed this at the time and was terrified of the dead cicada shells I would sometimes see in the gutters. or stuck to trees. I learned better later, but that dumb story has stuck to me to this day. What if cicadas could steal qi? Now that is a power fitting for an assassin.