Chapter 149
Chapter 149
Li Xiumei was dead.
She had died once again.
Though she wasn’t exactly a good person, nor a particularly good ghost, she had at least helped us.
With her gone, Du Yuwei and I were next.
Reality was exactly as Du Ruhai had described: this world belonged to the wealthy.
Two Vengeful Ghosts should have been more than enough to kill him, but he had money, and with money came people willing to protect him and risk their lives for him.
If he were just an ordinary man without a cent to his name, these Eighteen Venerables would never have come to his aid.
Money truly was omnipotent. With enough of it, even ghosts couldn’t touch you.
“Do you see now? This is the power of money. With enough wealth, I could invite the Buddha himself to come here.”
Du Ruhai looked at me and laughed. “Chen Mo, oh Chen Mo… honestly, I actually admire you. You’re much braver than your father. You keep coming here to throw your life away, never learning your lesson.”
“When you’re reincarnated in your next life, try to be a rich man like me, understand?”
“Oh, wait. You won’t have a next life.”
With that, he waved his hand at the Eighteen Venerables again. “Kill him. I don’t want to see him turn into a ghost. This boy has too much persistence.”
These eighteen monsters began closing in on me, step by step. Their murderous aura filled me with a sense of utter despair.
After Li Xiumei was struck out of my body, I had collapsed to the ground, too weak to stand. My eye had returned to its normal state.
There is nothing more pathetic in life than being willing to sacrifice everything to take someone down with you, only to realize you aren’t even capable of achieving that final mutual destruction.
I couldn’t kill Du Ruhai, and I couldn’t save Anning.
Rather than letting her live a life of humiliation, it was better for us to die together.
“Come out. I’m not going to make it.”
“Find an opportunity to kill Anning. I’ll go on ahead.”
In my despair, I issued one final command to Du Yuwei.
She instantly manifested and rushed out from my body.
A Ritual Staff was raised high, and as it began to swing down, I closed my eyes and prepared for the end.
“One Stroke Opens Heaven!”
A majestic, thunderous shout suddenly erupted from behind me.
Before I could even open my eyes, several screams rang out almost simultaneously, followed by the clattering sound of Ritual Staffs hitting the floor.
I scrambled to open my eyes and was met with a shock. A burst Yellow Talisman fluttered down before me. The third eyes of the Eighteen Venerables had all vanished; blood streamed from their remaining eyes as they stared in terror at someone behind me.
“Hidden in the ancient gloom, all things are fierce and grim. By the mandate of Shun, I drive the demons and slay the wicked. Swallowing mountains and devouring seas, a hundred battles won in glory. Qiankun Suppresses Taiqing!”
I turned my head to see a tall figure stepping out from the darkness. His right hand was formed into a hand seal, and his lips moved rapidly as he recited a familiar incantation.
It was Old Zhao Seven!
“Awaken! Qiongqi!”
The moment the words left his mouth, half of his face was covered by a Beast Mark. His eyes turned a demonic, glowing red as he strode toward me.
The Arhat who had been using the Ritual Staff immediately snatched his weapon from the ground and swung it toward Old Zhao Seven.
“Evil wretches like you think you’re worthy of fighting me?”
Old Zhao Seven let out a furious roar. He lunged forward and threw a punch.
Before the Ritual Staff could even descend, the Arhat wielding it was sent flying as if he had been hit by a cannon blast. The Ritual Staff spun through the air and landed right in front of Du Ruhai, making him jump in fright.
A spray of fresh blood erupted from the Arhat’s mouth. As I looked closer, I saw that his chest had been completely caved in by Old Zhao Seven’s strike.
Despite such a heavy injury, he scrambled back to his feet like an unkillable cockroach, his gaze fixed on Old Zhao Seven with sheer terror.
“Eighteen Arhats? You dare use that title? You are a disgrace to Buddhism.”
“Do you know how your predecessors died?”
Old Zhao Seven stood there, his presence as imposing as a great mountain, completely intimidating the remaining seventeen men.
“I killed him.”
“Thirty years ago, I swore an oath. I will kill every member of your organization I see. You’re all animals, and the world is better off with you dead!”
His arrogant words incensed the group.
“Old Zhao Seven!”
Du Ruhai’s expression shifted as he began to curse. “Are you never going to stop? What did I ever do to you!”
“You’re an animal too.” Old Zhao Seven pointed at him. “Someone came here today to kill you at all costs. I’m just going to help them along and send you to see the King of Hell.”
“Bullshit!” Du Ruhai roared in fury. “Kill me? The person who can kill me hasn’t even been born yet! Who do you think you are? I’m standing right here, waiting for you to try!”
“Eighteen Venerables, kill this old man first! You must put him down!”
The eighteen bald men could tell that Old Zhao Seven was a difficult opponent. If they didn’t kill him first, they would never be able to get to me.
But Old Zhao Seven was no pushover. Like Song Xiaotian, he was an incredibly aggressive man.
Before the eighteen men could surround him, Old Zhao Seven charged. With his bare fists, he struck so fast that the eighteen men didn’t even have a chance to use their spells.
However, these eighteen were remarkably resilient. They kept standing back up after being knocked down, almost as if they were lining up to take a beating.
Seeing that so many of them couldn’t take Old Zhao Seven down, they realized that if this continued, he would eventually beat them to death.
Several of the bald men retreated to the back and began forming hand seals while chanting incantations.
Sensing something was wrong, I quickly shouted to Old Zhao Seven, “Seventh Master! They’re going to summon the Evil Buddha!”
Old Zhao Seven grabbed one of the bald men by the throat and retreated, chanting at the same time:
“Nine Heavens Response to Origin Mansion, Supreme Jade Purity King, Commander of the Five Thunders, heart that moves the three realms, father of all life, teacher of all spirits, I summon the Nine Heavens Thunder Ancestor!”
As soon as he finished, the hair on my head and all over my body stood on end.
It suddenly occurred to me that this felt like the precursor to a lightning strike.
Was Old Zhao Seven… actually powerful enough to summon lightning?
I had heard that Daoism possessed a Thunder Method, but I hadn’t expected it to actually involve summoning real lightning!
However, I was clearly being ignorant. While metaphysics was indeed unpredictable and mysterious, it hadn’t reached the level of controlling the raw forces of nature.
The bald man Old Zhao Seven was holding by the throat suddenly flew forward and crashed to the ground. His body went rigid, as if he had been electrocuted.
“Thunder Talisman!”
Old Zhao Seven pulled out a purple Talisman and threw it. The Talisman exploded above the bald men who were chanting. In an instant, they also went rigid and collapsed to the ground, just like the first man.
I even saw the head of the Evil Buddha manifesting in the air about three meters up, but because Old Zhao Seven’s Thunder Talisman had interrupted their casting, the head abruptly vanished.
I was stunned by Old Zhao Seven’s prowess. I had thought he was a master, but these methods were practically on par with an immortal.
He truly lived up to his reputation as the man who had once driven The Organization out of the country.
If he weren’t so old-if he were still in his prime and had the mind to gather his old comrades-a mere Du Ruhai would be nothing to him. Even driving The Organization out of the country again would likely be no difficult task.
But just then, the Beast Mark on his face faded, and his complexion turned pale.
He was old, after all. Between his age and the heavy use of spells, he seemed unable to hold on much longer.
I scrambled up from the ground and ran over to support him.
At that moment, the head of the Evil Buddha manifested once again three meters in the air.
Both Old Zhao Seven and I paled as we frantically looked around to see who was casting the spell.
It wasn’t the Eighteen Venerables. It was Du Ruhai!