chapter 18
“Dead… dead?” Iron Head asked, his voice trembling.
“He should still have a breath left,” I pried open his eyelids and took a look. “But he’s almost gone.”
“So he’s almost about to kick the bucket?” Iron Head asked in terror.
I grunted in response and got up to glance around.
This Yin Wind had no fixed direction, constantly shifting, its wailing sound mournful and piercing, as if ghosts were weeping!
“Then… what should we do with this guy? Is there any way to save him?” Iron Head stared at the Taoist and asked.
I looked at him. “If you stuff Copper Coins into his mouth, maybe he can hold on a bit longer.”
“No way!” Iron Head exclaimed, hurriedly clutching the Copper Coins tightly.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Then just hold the Copper Coins and try punching him a few times-once over his heart, and a few inches below his navel.”
Iron Head’s eyes lit up at that, delighted. “That’ll work!”
He stepped forward, grabbed the Taoist, and landed a few solid punches.
That’s the difference with a trained fighter-though the Taoist still had a bit of breath left, after those punches, his eyes rolled back white.
“Oh no, look at this… Did I just beat him to death?” Iron Head exclaimed in shock.
“What kind of boxing did you train in? Was it Iron Sand Palm?” I asked in surprise, telling him to go easier.
“Not Iron Sand Palm, just always been strong since I was a kid,” Iron Head replied, scratching his head sheepishly. He adjusted his strength and gave the Taoist a few more controlled punches.
Suddenly, the Taoist opened his mouth and spat out a stream of black Ghost Qi.
Iron Head was caught off guard, shrieked, and tossed the Taoist to the ground, then bolted far away.
“Don’t make such a fuss,” I said, walking over to an apricot tree and frowning as I touched its cracked bark.
“Yes,” Iron Head replied, blushing as he came over. “It’s just that this bull-nosed Taoist suddenly spat out smoke-it startled me!”
“That Taoist was possessed by Ghost Qi. You just punched it out of him,” I explained casually.
“Ah?” Iron Head shuddered. Seeing me staring at the apricot tree, he came over to look, puzzled. “Why is this tree so cracked?”
I told him it was from the Ghost Qi surging through.
Iron Head had been touching the bark, but at my words, he jerked his hand back as if shocked.
“Let’s check elsewhere,” I said, turning to follow the direction the Yin Wind was blowing.
Iron Head glanced at the Taoist lying on the ground, then hurried to catch up.
“Another Vajra!”
After a short walk, Iron Head pointed ahead and whispered. As soon as he spoke, he cried out, “Ah-he fell… wait, why didn’t he fall?”
Ahead stood a shirtless young man, swaying in the wind, looking as if he’d topple any moment, yet somehow never did-like a tumbler toy.
It looked extremely eerie.
When we got closer, we saw that the young man was just like Taoist Priest Sun’s Youngest Disciple-blood streaming from his eyes, barely hanging on.
“Told you to leave, but you wouldn’t listen,” Iron Head clicked his tongue, grabbed the young man, and landed a few more punches.
Only after the young man spat out a mouthful of black Ghost Qi did he stop.
“Do you think the rest are all like this?” Iron Head asked, shaking his wrist.
“Probably,” I squatted down and carefully checked the young man’s ears and nostrils.
Unlike Taoist Priest Sun’s Youngest Disciple, this young man had blood seeping not only from his eyes, but also from his ears and nose.
Just then, a sudden commotion erupted, followed by flashing lights-a group of people carrying lanterns rushed over from the direction of the Inner Courtyard.
“What are you doing over there?”
A harsh beam of light shone directly onto our faces as a group of people rushed up to us, someone shouting out.
I squinted and saw that it was Liu Hao and Taoist Priest Sun leading a group over, with Taoist Priest Sun’s Youngest Disciple also being carried over by two people.
“What do you mean, what are we doing? Can’t you see we’re saving someone?” Iron Head said gruffly.
Taoist Priest Sun stared at us for a moment, then quickly walked over to check on the young man lying on the ground, reaching out to feel his pulse at the neck.
“We’ve already resuscitated him!” Iron Head puffed out his chest, a little smug.
Taoist Priest Sun frowned deeply, suddenly looked up and glared at him, asking, “How did you resuscitate him?”
“Trying to steal my technique? No way!” Iron Head snorted.
Taoist Priest Sun sneered, “Resuscitate? I think you were harming him!”
“You… What the hell are you talking about? Who’s harming anyone?” Iron Head almost thought he’d misheard, instantly flying into a rage.
“Weren’t you just harming someone?” Taoist Priest Sun’s face was dark. “No wonder my disciple ended up like this-it turns out you were scheming against him too!”
“I… Damn you!” Iron Head’s face turned bright red with anger. “It was clearly you, you Taoist Priest, who came up with this rotten idea and harmed these people, and now you dare to throw mud at us? You think everyone else is an idiot?”
Taoist Priest Sun shouted, “Boss Liu, these people have been causing trouble from the start. This time, we were using the Eighteen Vajras for House Pacification, and everything was set up perfectly, but they secretly sabotaged it. Now it’s all ruined!”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
This Taoist Priest Sun really was something-he probably even believed his own nonsense.
“Hey, Taoist Priest, didn’t I tell you before that your Eighteen Vajras wouldn’t work, that they’d harm others and yourself?” I chuckled and asked.
“What Taoist Priest?” Taoist Priest Sun was furious. “It was clearly you who were up to no good behind the scenes, and now you dare to turn the tables! My Daoist skills are profound, and the Eighteen Vajras I set up are more than enough for House Pacification. How could there be any problem?”
“Pacify your mother!” Iron Head cursed. “All you can do is harm people, what other skills do you have!”
Taoist Priest Sun’s face turned livid with anger. He shouted, “Boss Liu, hurry up and arrest these two bastards!”
I saw Liu Hao’s face twitch after being shouted at by Taoist Priest Sun, then he waved his hand and ordered, “Restrain these two first, we’ll talk later!”
A group of people immediately lunged at us.
Iron Head cursed and charged forward, fighting with the group.
Although the other side had numbers, Iron Head was tough and strong, and in no time had knocked down a bunch of them.
I watched coldly from the side, seeing Taoist Priest Sun’s face darken as he stared at Iron Head for a while, then moved to Iron Head’s right side. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he raised his left hand, hidden in his sleeve.
“Taoist Priest, what are you up to?” I walked over to him in a few steps, smiling faintly.
“Looking to die!” Taoist Priest Sun’s expression turned sinister, and he swung his sleeve toward me.
I suddenly closed in on him, and just as he raised his hand, I slapped him-smack.
Taoist Priest Sun took the slap squarely on the face, and immediately staggered as if drunk.
A bright red handprint appeared on his plump, pale face.
“You want to die…” Taoist Priest Sun was dazed for a moment, then finally came to his senses, gritting his teeth and shouting angrily as he tried to raise his hand again.
But before he could lift it, he took another solid slap to the face.
He swayed for a moment, then fell face-first to the ground with a thud.