“You can just die,” said Liu Dashao, who suddenly found his courage from somewhere. Without another word, he grabbed the young jiangshi from behind Ma Xiaoyan and covered it with the wooden bucket filled with black dog’s blood. Although this bucket of black dog’s blood was specifically prepared by Zhang Enpu for the larger creature, at this critical moment, there was no time for too many considerations. Hell, eliminate one jiangshi at a time! This creature looked extremely disgusting.
“Ahh…” The young jiangshi screamed in agony with dog’s blood pouring over its head, its body emitting green smoke and trembling non-stop.
Zhang Enpu glanced at the unfortunate little creature and cautiously glanced at the haniwa before saying to Liu Dashao and the others, “She’s going to get angry. You all quickly take this girl and leave. I’ll cover you.” Haniwa, seeing her son in such a state, was filled with rage. On the other hand, Zhang Enpu also knew that although the young jiangshi was now emitting smoke continuously and had lost its aggressiveness, he certainly didn’t believe it had suffered serious damage, otherwise it wouldn’t be worthy of the title King of Jiangshi. Once the big and small jiangshi attacked together, he might not even be able to protect himself, let alone others. At this moment, they had to escape one by one.
“What about you if we leave?”
“I’ll find a chance to retreat. You staying here is just a burden.”
“But…”
“But nothing! Hurry up, time waits for no one!” Without turning his head, Zhang Enpu shouted.
“Alright! Please take care of yourself,” Liu Dashao, seeing that Zhang was determined, simply responded, bent down, pulled Ma Xiaoyan closer, hoisted her onto his back, and prepared to make a quick escape.
Seeing the murderer of her son trying to escape, the haniwa naturally wouldn’t let it go. She waved her hand and howled, as if saying, “You all must die, no one can leave here.” Then, ignoring Zhang Enpu, she raised her two hands, which shimmered with black scales, aiming directly at Liu Dashao’s neck.
Just as the haniwa was about to strike, Zhang Enpu bit his index finger, drew it across the peach-wood sword, and shouted, “I’m your opponent! Deal with me first!” With that, he thrust the sword at the haniwa, interrupting her action and saving Liu Dashao and the others.
“What are you looking at? Don’t you want to leave? Do I have to kick you all away one by one? Go! It’s already too late!” Zhang Enpu fiercely attacked the haniwa while shouting at Liu Dashao and the others on the ground. Liu Dashao immediately lifted Ma Xiaoyan onto his back, called out to Tian Guoqiang, and ran down the mountain.
The young jiangshi writhed on the ground, and the haniwa’s heart was filled with pain. She redirected all her fury toward Zhang Enpu, increasing her strength by another notch.
In this critical moment, Zhang Enpu also unleashed his ultimate skills. After his peach-wood sword was stained with blood, it emitted a bright red light, and Zhang himself exerted his abilities to the maximum. For a moment, the battle between the man and the ghost became intense and hard to separate.
As the saying goes, climbing up the mountain is easy, but going down is hard. The haniwa’s malevolent aura, along with the unique geographical conditions of the Yin-gathering Pool, had already blocked out the sunlight, making the land extremely dark. When Liu Dashao and others reached halfway down the mountain, thick black clouds quickly gathered, blocking their path. No matter which direction they turned, the black clouds always arrived first, firmly sealing off the way.
“Dashao, what do we do now?” Tian Guoqiang frowned as he looked at the thick clouds surrounding them from all directions. Although they had narrowly escaped death, new dangers had appeared.
Liu Dashao’s body wasn’t particularly strong to begin with, and carrying Ma Xiaoyan, who weighed over eighty jin, had already exhausted him. Fortunately, it wasn’t Goudan on his back, or he would surely have collapsed. Seeing the path blocked by trees, he put his cousin down and said, “I don’t know either. It seems we can only wait for Zhang Bo to defeat that pair of old and young monsters before we can leave.”
Poor Liu Dashao still pinned his hopes on Zhang Enpu, unaware that Zhang was now in grave danger himself. Although Zhang Enpu was locked in a fierce battle with the haniwa, his age was against him, and he was no longer as strong as before. He was gradually becoming overwhelmed, and even escaping was difficult. Meanwhile, the haniwa grew fiercer and more aggressive, relentlessly attacking Zhang Enpu.
In the past, Zhang Enpu had a hundred ways to escape from the haniwa’s grasp, but this rash action this time was a hasty mistake, leaving many essential magical artifacts behind. Otherwise, with his status as a grandmaster, he wouldn’t be in such a disheveled state. “What should I do?” Zhang Enpu panicked. Carelessly, he was bitten on the back by the young jiangshi that had recovered its breath, leaving two rows of tooth marks with flesh turned outward.
“Ahh…” Seeing that Zhang Enpu was at his last gasp, the haniwa’s scream became even more piercing.
Halfway down the mountain.
Liu Dashao looked at Ma Xiaoyan, whose face was pale and eyes wide with fear, staring behind him and asked, “Xiaoyue, what’s wrong?” He then looked behind him and broke into a cold sweat. Standing no more than ten meters away was a child in tattered clothes, about ten years old, holding a lantern. This child was none other than the ghost child who had previously sold him a lantern at the Lingguan Temple.
Liu Dashao tightly protected Ma Xiaoyan behind him and stammered at the child, “You… you… don’t come closer.” He then took a couple of steps back while still shielding Ma Xiaoyan. Tian Guoqiang had been trying to light the firecrackers in his hand and hadn’t noticed the oddities between the two. When he heard Liu Dashao’s voice and looked up, he was also startled.
“Don’t be afraid,” the ghost child said, “I’m here to help you leave.” With that, the child walked toward Liu Dashao and the others.
“What? Help us?” The three had a brief moment of confusion. They didn’t understand what play the ghost child was acting in. Had he suddenly decided to be a good guy? As the child approached, the three felt uneasy but made way for the ghost child. For some unknown reason, they sensed the child had no ill intentions, and they didn’t believe they, as ordinary people, could stand a chance against a ghost. Whether they lived or died was up to fate.
The ghost child came to the dense black clouds that blocked the path, loosened his grip, and the lantern flew directly above the clouds. Then the child extended his right middle finger, emitting a green light that shot toward the lantern in the air. When the lantern was hit by the green light, it immediately emitted a dazzling glow, almost illuminating the entire sky. After being illuminated by the lantern’s light, everyone was amazed to discover that the surrounding black clouds had miraculously cleared a path.
After the path was cleared, the ghost child turned around and said to everyone, “Let’s go.” Then he led the way down the mountain.
Seeing that the ghost child truly meant no harm, everyone’s hearts were slightly eased, cautiously following behind him. It wasn’t that they didn’t trust the ghost child; the child’s very existence was inherently terrifying, making it impossible not to be afraid.
The descent down the mountain went smoothly, and soon Liu Dashao, carrying Ma Xiaoyan, reached the foot of the mountain, and the sky brightened at that moment.
“Ahh…” When they reached the foot of the mountain, the group could still hear the haniwa’s furious cries from the graveyard.
“You all go now,” the ghost child waved at the group, “the things in this dam are terrifying. I hope you don’t provoke it. Take care of yourselves.”
If it were another time and another person, Liu Dashao would surely argue with him, saying something like, “It’s her who came after us.” But this was a special moment with an unusual person, so he held back and gratefully said to the ghost child, “Thank you!” In fact, he misunderstood at that moment. The thing the ghost child referred to was not the haniwa transformed from Alang, but a terrifying existence far more powerful than the haniwa, hundreds or even thousands of times stronger.
The ghost child didn’t acknowledge Liu Dashao’s gratitude, showing a look of disgust on his face as he said, “Just leave quickly! My parents are waiting for me. I hope you can handle things here soon. I just want to peacefully sell my lanterns.” With that, he turned and disappeared into the night created by the haniwa. At the moment the child turned around, his face was streaming with blood, his expression extremely pained, and his hands and feet trembling non-stop, indicating that breaking the haniwa’s illusion had cost him dearly.
After the ghost child left, Liu Dashao and Tian Guoqiang, carrying Ma Xiaoyan, quickly left this place of trouble without delay. On the way, they encountered many passersby, who looked at the three of them with puzzled expressions, but the trio offered no explanations and hurried back as fast as they could.
When they got home, everyone finally let out a long sigh of relief. However, they soon became anxious again because one person hadn’t returned yet—Zhang Enpu, who had covered their escape, and they had no idea about his situation.
At this moment, Zhang Enpu’s situation was extremely critical. His head was spinning, his whole body was covered in blood, and he had already used up all his talismans. Now he was relying solely on his peachwood sword for a final struggle. Fortunately, the haniwa’s abilities also had limits; the talisman that had hit her by chance had burdened her to some extent, and she gradually began to tire, her once-impressive speed slowing down. Perhaps this was the reason why Zhang Enpu had been able to hold on for so long.
Bang… Zhang Enpu, exhausted, was swept off his feet by the haniwa’s powerful arms and thrown to the ground. He twisted his body and used his legs to trip her over. However, he knew better than anyone that this move was completely ineffective.
“Am I going to die?” Zhang Enpu felt a deep sense of despair. Before coming here, his original intention had been to end the battle quickly and decisively, leaving no hidden dangers behind. He hadn’t expected the haniwa to be so formidable, so he had not made extensive preparations. He also hadn’t anticipated that this haniwa was not a novice, but rather more ferocious than ordinary haniwas, making her nearly impossible to handle.
The clouds in the sky grew darker, and the starlight on the ground became dimmer.
The entire valley was shrouded in a heavy silence, with graveyards, haystacks, human figures, and coffins all swaying within the same space.
Zhang Enpu’s arms slowly dropped, and then he suddenly used his sword to support his body, bending over and coughing continuously.
At this moment, Zhang Enpu gradually regained his senses. The haniwa’s previous strike had been extremely fierce, like a massive sledgehammer, ruthlessly smashing into his chest. If he hadn’t instinctively stepped back a couple of paces, using the distance to reduce the force of the attack, he might already be waiting in a coffin. In this desolate wilderness, that child Liu Dashao wasn’t very reliable either; if he died, there might not even be someone to retrieve his body.
Pain, real pain!
This was Zhang Enpu’s genuine feeling at this moment, a sensation as if thousands of hungry little sparrows were pecking at his flesh. Of course, the only difference was that those were external injuries, while his was a genuine internal injury, not like the fake goods sold by unscrupulous merchants who mixed half water with half liquor.
Whoosh! The haniwa’s claws brushed past Zhang Enpu’s cheek for the third time, grazing his nose, creating a chilling cold wind that whistled and swirled, causing his skin to hurt as if being flayed alive. Because the distance was so close, Zhang Enpu could even clearly discern the length and color of the woman’s fingernails. He quickly tilted his body and blocked the deadly strike with a well-timed move. But just as he barely dodged this killing move and hadn’t even caught his breath or stretched his limbs, the young haniwa at his feet joined the fray, its mouth full of sharp teeth clacking up and down, specifically aiming for places Zhang Enpu couldn’t easily evade. Back and forth, it tormented Zhang Enpu, causing large beads of sweat to appear on his face, which had turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
Sigh! It was indeed a tough challenge for the old man. You see, although zombies are classified into black-haired, white-haired, green-haired, and haniwa types, they all share one common characteristic in the end—the word “stiff.” Compared to other zombies, the haniwa was indeed impervious to blades and unaffected by fire or water, capable of killing people as easily as crushing a chick. However, her movements were limited to lunging, jumping, and stabbing her two claws into someone’s neck. So far, Zhang Enpu had fought this creature for over a dozen exchanges and had roughly figured out her套路(pattern), so he was barely managing—occasionally facing minor dangers, but nothing too embarrassing, since zombies couldn’t bend or kick, and he only needed to protect his upper body. But the sudden arrival of a smaller zombie made things difficult! Why was that? It turned out this small zombie was a newborn, naturally tiny like a cat. When it attacked, it instinctively targeted Zhang Enpu’s lower body. Fighting one-on-one still left a chance, but now two-on-one—mother and child working together, attacking from above and below, complementing each other—naturally overwhelmed Zhang Enpu.
But look, Zhang Enpu stepped with a pair of linked martial arts moves, jumping away from the small haniwa. His right elbow spun downward, both hands tightly gripping the sword handle, using the move “Splitting the Mountain like Huashan,” aiming at the heart of the creature from behind, ready to strike. The big one had already matured, and ordinary things couldn’t break her defenses, but this small one had been born less than a week ago. He believed that if he put all his strength into it, he could definitely give it a crystal clear, chilling strike! However, ideals and reality were always far apart. Just as Zhang Enpu was about to succeed, the peachwood sword, halfway through the strike, was grabbed by the big haniwa. The haniwa sneered, and the other hand reached for Zhang Enpu’s sword handle. Zhang Enpu was greatly alarmed. In the crisis, he let go with one hand, but the other couldn’t dodge in time and was grabbed by the haniwa. The small haniwa also turned its head around, snot and foul-smelling saliva dripping from the corner of its mouth like a small waterfall. Its eyes turned green as it stared at Zhang Enpu. The little creature was surely thinking, “Heh heh, so much meat, I wonder how many meals I can have.”
“Yangming’s essence, divine might hidden in man. Capture the yin demons, hide their forms, one spiritual talisman, leave no trace of their dwelling, dare to defy, and heavenly soldiers shall advance!” You see how strong the haniwa was; once she grasped something, it was like a blacksmith’s small pliers, not letting go. Zhang Enpu panicked, with his little arms and legs, how could he struggle free? Helplessly, he lowered his shoulders and began chanting the ‘Dingjia Shenzhou’ spell of the Zhengyi sect with his mouth. Dingjia Shenzhou is an intermediate-level Taoist spell that can inject the practitioner’s magical power into the magical artifact connected to their body, enhancing its destructive power by one level. However, due to the loss during transmission, the efficiency isn’t 100 percent; being able to achieve 20 or 30 percent is already a blessing from heaven, earth, and the seventh uncle-in-law. In fact, this is similar to the commonly known “kai guang” (awakening) principle, except one is mainly offensive and the other defensive, differing in their roles.
Zhang Enpu placed his tongue against the lower part of his mouth, focused his energy on his dantian, not preparing to let out a fart, but instead powerfully uttering the last word of the incantation. In an instant, the peachwood sword held by the haniwa trembled, and a complex pattern of inscriptions appeared on the blade. The inscriptions glowed like sparks, quickly spreading into an all-consuming fire, casting a faint white halo over the entire peachwood sword. The part held by the haniwa buzzed like a flashbulb, emitting a mixture of black flames and green vapor, burning the haniwa’s entire palm. The haniwa let out a strange cry, adding more force to her grip, refusing to let go. Zhang Enpu also added more force, determined to hold on for now and make further plans. Unexpectedly, the small haniwa came to join the fray again, growling and lunging at Zhang Enpu’s thigh. Zhang Enpu’s hand, which was controlling the peachwood sword, was held by the haniwa, while the other hand was making sword gestures, causing him to become flustered and distracted. As his focus wavered, the peachwood sword began to lose its luster. As Zhang Enpu’s movements to dodge the small haniwa’s attacks became more exaggerated, the light on the sword blade gradually dimmed. Finally, with a puff, the green smoke dissipated, and the entire sword returned to its original state.
Zhang Enpu secretly lamented the loss, realizing that if this move didn’t work, he would have to resort to martial arts. As a celestial master of the Dragon and Tiger Mountains, he naturally had some knowledge of Taoist martial arts. Although Taoism emphasizes cultivation, it is not as one-sided as Buddhism, which focuses on a single discipline, but rather draws from various sources, covering many areas such as military strategy, medicine, martial arts, and chess. Since ancient times, one shouldn’t underestimate these aspects. Throughout history, there have been many Taoist priests who attained the Dao through martial arts, such as Zhang Sanfeng and his seven senior disciples, whose Tai Chi was so skillful that ordinary groups of more than ten strong men couldn’t get close. Zhang Enpu practiced the Dragon and Tiger Form and Intention from the Dragon and Tiger Mountains, a martial art that emphasizes wide, powerful, and swift movements. However, his arm was currently caught, and he was in a hurry to break free. His foot was also held by the small haniwa, repeatedly failing to escape. He then let out a loud shout, using his other hand to grab the haniwa’s hand that was holding his fist, aiming to grasp her thumb with his fingers.
This move was indeed ruthless because once someone’s thumb was grasped and forcefully twisted, even an iron man would be thrown to the ground. However, he miscalculated again. After all, it was a haniwa, whose bones and muscles couldn’t be compared to those of ordinary people. At this moment, Zhang Enpu turned red in the face, exerting his full strength of twelve points, but couldn’t twist the haniwa’s little thumb open. Coincidentally, the small haniwa climbed up his thigh onto his body and bit his arm again fiercely. Zhang Enpu desperately shook that arm, trying to shake off this little rascal, but the small haniwa was as tenacious as a kite fluttering in the sky, its mouth still clamped onto Zhang Enpu’s flesh, rooted like it had sprouted, showing no sign of letting go.
This time, Zhang Enpu really cried. What was going on here! Seeing the small haniwa bite into a frenzy, the big haniwa also got excited, opening her mouth and heading straight for Zhang Enpu’s neck, determined to suck all his blood dry. The haniwa had been staying in the coffin all day without brushing her teeth or rinsing her mouth, so the smell from her mouth was unbearable for an ordinary person, even more repulsive than eating garlic. Zhang Enpu almost fainted from the stench. However, he still managed to endure it, kicking his foot against the haniwa’s chest, using the momentum to throw himself into a pile of rubble not far away.
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