Chapter 76
Chapter 76
The God-Slaying Formation rose, and the River God revealed herself.
She was a deity with soft, feminine features, and the unmistakable curves of her body made it clear to everyone that she was female.
She wore a yellow-brown gown that made her seem as though she had walked out of antiquity. Its hem was the color of a riverbed scoured by flowing water, yellow streaked with white like turbid waves breaking against the shore.
Beneath the skirt, she had no feet.
She hovered in midair as though a wave had borne her ashore, her skirt swaying and flowing without cease like moving water. She looked like a river in motion, or as if she had draped the river over herself, wearing water as her skirt and earth as her body. Her hair resembled algae drifting underwater, except that it floated upward instead of hanging down, wavering and billowing in the air.
The River God held a snake in each hand and glared darkly at the five people on the bank.
These five irritating flies. These five humans who had no idea they were courting death!
She dove toward Xie Qingling, the closest of them, intending to wrap her in turbid river water and suffocate her.
But the moment she moved, the River God’s expression changed.
The God-Slaying Formation on the ground exuded wave after wave of an aura that made her deeply uncomfortable. It was like silent, withered hands reaching out of a swamp, bringing with them the peculiar chill and ill omen of ghosts and monsters and making the deity’s skin crawl.
That unpleasant aura slithered slowly up the River God’s body like a cold snake.
Almost instinctively, the River God tried to flee back into the riverbed.
But just as she turned, Xie Qingling shouted, “Fang God, stop her!”
Dams shot upward one after another, blocking the River God’s path once more. With no way to retreat, she had no choice but to stop.
Unable to arrest its momentum, the yellow-and-white hem of her gown slammed into the dam. Water burst in every direction, breaking apart into transparent droplets.
That loathsome human again!
“Kill you. I’ll kill you!” The River God’s low voice set everyone’s nerves on edge, as though the river itself were roaring and enormous waves were thundering against the shore.
The River God released the snakes in her hands and sent them swimming rapidly toward Xie Qingling.
Meanwhile, she threw herself against the Fang God’s dam with all her strength, trying to escape.
The ominous aura filled the River God with a terrible premonition. She needed to leave as quickly as possible.
At the same time, the two snakes twisted their agile bodies and shot toward Xie Qingling with incredible speed.
Xie Qingling’s gaze turned cold. She swung her blade and cut one of the snakes in two with a single stroke.
An arrow from Ling Fang struck the other snake and pinned it to the ground.
It, too, fell in a single move.
Xie Qingling froze.
That was it?
Was the River God really this weak?
The thought had barely arisen when the snake she had cut in half became two snakes and began moving again.
The snake pinned to the ground also thrashed until it tore itself apart, splitting into two snakes.
Two snakes had become four. Once more, they attacked Xie Qingling.
These snakes could not be killed!
Xie Qingling’s face darkened. She understood now that ordinary methods would not work against them. The more she cut, the more numerous they would probably become.
But the snakes were already too close. If she did not fight back, she could only let them bite her.
She retreated to gain some distance while raising Bloodsworn high and slashing at a snake springing straight toward her.
She blocked its attack, and the snake split in two again.
There were even more of them now.
One snake sank its teeth into Xie Qingling’s arm. She shuddered and immediately flung it away, fighting down the urge to cleave it in half.
The bite sent agony through her arm, followed by a wave of numbness. In an instant, the limb swelled grotesquely.
The snakes’ fangs were venomous.
What a nuisance.
Ye Anran immediately purged the venom and healed her, restoring her arm to normal.
By then, there were already six snakes on the ground.
The six split up and slithered toward the other members of the team, attacking them separately.
Xie Qingling warned them, “These snakes can’t be killed. Cut one apart, and it becomes two, multiplying without end. They’re venomous too. Be careful not to get bitten.”
At her warning, the others’ hearts clenched.
The snakes could not be killed, but neither could the team sit still and wait for death. They could not afford to be bitten, either. Suddenly, every attack came with impossible constraints.
Dai Xingyu had it easier. His role was primarily defensive. With his shield, all he had to do was block the snakes’ attacks. As long as he did not engage them directly, he would not help them multiply.
Everyone else’s abilities were offensive. If they did not attack, they would be bitten.
If they did attack, they would increase the snakes’ numbers.
Either choice was perilous.
For a time, the battle reached a stalemate.
Even though the team took great care not to kill the snakes and tried their best to avoid being bitten, only a few minutes passed before snakes covered the ground, writhing everywhere.
They multiplied as rapidly as cancer cells undergoing mitosis, seemingly without limit.
They attacked in a swarm, trapping the humans fast. They came from every direction and rained down one after another, mouths open to bite, forked tongues hissing. Cold, vertical pupils fixed upon the humans’ desperate resistance as though the team had already become their next meal.
The struggle was growing harder and harder for Xie Qingling and the others.
They could not go on like this.
Xie Qingling swung Bloodsworn with both hands, no longer knowing how many snakes she had cut down. Blood covered her face and body, leaving her sticky all over and deeply uncomfortable.
The snakes were merely tools driven by the River God to slow them down. They could never kill them all; the effort would only drain their strength.
Xie Qingling knew that if this continued, it could end only in death. Her gaze shifted toward the River God.
The River God roared as she hurled herself against the Fang God’s dam. Turbid water splashed everywhere, and faint cracks had begun to appear in the barrier.
Xie Qingling noticed that bluish, vein-like tendrils had appeared across the River God’s face since she first emerged. They formed a shifting net, like blood vessels and earthworms at once. Those lines seemed alive, slowly crawling across the River God’s body.
Each time they moved, the River God’s expression grew more savage and her next blow against the dam struck harder.
Those marks had not been on her body at first.
They were the work of the God-Slaying Formation.
But it was not enough.
It was too slow.
The Fang God had only just awakened and had gone without incense offerings from the mortal realm for far too long. They probably could not hold out much longer.
At this rate, the River God would eventually break through the Fang God’s barrier and escape back into the riverbed.
Once the River God escaped back to her own territory, catching her again would be nearly impossible.
Xie Qingling hardly needed to think. Her instincts had already chosen a course of action.
“Director, my vessel is full,” Xie Qingling said. “The spell you inscribed on Bloodsworn has filled its vessel with the power of ghosts and monsters.”
Xie Qingling continued, “The God-Slaying Formation is too slow. If we inject that ghostly power directly into the River God, shouldn’t it work much better?”
Ling Fang immediately understood what she meant.
If she could land an attack on the River God and release the ghostly power from the vessel, it would drive the deity berserk on the spot and plunge her into madness.
Then they could use the deity shrine to capture her.
It was indeed a good plan.
The difficult part was that they had no way to approach the River God.
Both the waves in her skirt and the snakes covering the ground formed layer upon layer of obstacles between them and the deity.
If Xie Qingling went too close, she would almost certainly come to grief.
Still…
Ling Fang considered it, then said, “Understood.”
“Just charge forward. Leave the rest to us.”
Xie Qingling nodded, then lowered her head and rushed ahead with Bloodsworn in hand.
The River God perceived her intent and instinctively tried to send the venomous snakes to entangle Xie Qingling and keep her from drawing near.
Just a little longer. A little longer, and she would break through the Fang God’s cage and escape.
She could not let that human reach her.
But…
The snakes crawling across the ground converged, trying to coil around Xie Qingling’s legs and sink their fangs into her flesh. All at once, however, they lost track of her position. The entire swarm crashed together and knocked itself to the ground, then writhed about in confusion.
Whether they searched with their eyes or sensed for her presence, Xie Qingling seemed to have vanished completely.
Where… had she gone?
Having lost the direction of their attack, the snakes fell into momentary panic, like a host without a leader.
Beasts were beasts. They had no brains.
Sensing danger, the River God immediately summoned a great wave. The yellow-and-white hem of her gown stopped attacking the Fang God’s dam and wrapped tightly around the place where she stood, enclosing a space in which she could move. Then it slammed heavily against the ground.
Xie Qingling’s Concealed Presence broke. Forced to reveal herself, she dodged the River God’s attack.
She was close now, closer to the River God than before.
Xie Qingling kept running.
The River God tried again to engulf her with a colossal wave. The vast hem of her gown already loomed over Xie Qingling, but she seemed not to notice and continued charging forward.
The wave was about to crash down –
“Guard!” Dai Xingyu roared. A shield appeared from thin air and covered Xie Qingling completely, holding the wave at bay.
The River God froze, then flew into a rage.
Realizing the wave could do nothing to Xie Qingling, the River God commanded the swarm again, sending snakes at her from every direction.
Ling Fang loaded a new arrow. With a sharp whistle, it shot from his crossbow.
The single arrow suddenly burst apart like a firework, splitting into countless slender needles that struck down every snake in the air.
Several fell onto Xie Qingling’s shoulders, split in two, and bit down. She continued forward as though she felt no pain.
“Rejuvenation!” Ye Anran launched her silver needles and black needles together, healing Xie Qingling while also pinning down the snakes.
Close. She was so close now.
Xie Qingling’s eyes remained fixed on the River God.
The River God panicked. The force of her blows against the dam grew even stronger, and low, brooding growls issued from her throat.
Instinct warned her that nothing good could come of letting this woman, who seemed incapable of turning back, reach her.
Yu Wei charged along behind Xie Qingling with his great saber, stopping the persistent snakes and guarding her back.
The River God was within reach.
“Little Xie, use my shoulder!” Yu Wei suddenly shouted. He dropped to both knees and slid straight forward, stopping in front of Xie Qingling.
Xie Qingling leaped, planted one foot hard on Yu Wei’s shoulder, and used the momentum to vault high into the air.
A crescent moon hung high above. Xie Qingling seemed to descend astride its light as she gripped Bloodsworn and dove toward the River God.
“Insignificant human, a mere grain in the vast sea, and still you dream of slaughtering a god!” Watching Xie Qingling’s light, swift figure charge straight toward her, the River God let out a furious, humiliated roar. “Behold my waves shattering the shore, the fury of the boundless sea!”
The River God’s skirt expanded without limit. The waves grew larger and murkier, rising high above the dam. Like a monster brandishing its claws and fangs, they surged toward the backlit woman, of whom only a dark silhouette remained.
“Is that so?”
Xie Qingling sneered. “Then watch closely!”
“Watch how this tiny grain brings your river to heel!”
As her words fell, an enormous wave thundered toward Xie Qingling, blotting out the sky and moon. She neither dodged nor evaded it. Ignoring the towering wall of water, she flew straight at the River God!