Chapter 283
Chapter 283
That night, I came to understand just how important the strength of a team truly was.
I also realized that strategy played a decisive role in whether a battle could be won — or whether defeat could be turned into victory.
The Corpse Fiend was far too difficult to deal with while the Three-Eyed Toad was backing it up.
After all, the Three-Eyed Toad had already gained sentience.
When we revised our strategy that afternoon, Liu Junyan had said that we had to separate the Three-Eyed Toad from the Corpse Fiend.
Only by keeping them completely apart and tying each of them down separately would we have any chance of victory.
Sure enough, without the Three-Eyed Toad’s support, the Corpse Fiend could unleash tremendous power in short bursts, but it lacked endurance.
And Zhao Zixun had arrived at just the right time.
It felt as though every advantage had finally fallen into our hands.
While the Ghost Soldiers on both sides were locked in chaotic combat, Zhao Zixun swung his broadsword viciously at the Corpse Fiend’s neck.
Clang!
The broadsword failed to budge the Corpse Fiend in the slightest.
When the strike failed, Zhao Zixun immediately retreated.
My heart leaped into my throat.
Fang Chuanzong was even more anxious than I was. “This is bad. The Corpse Fiend has cultivated skin of bronze and bones of iron. Ordinary weapons can’t kill it at all.”
Before I could react, everyone around me sucked in a sharp breath.
Zhao Zixun suddenly gripped the Mojin Talisman, aimed the sharp pangolin claw at his own heart, and drove it in with all his strength!
The entire pangolin claw sank into Zhao Zixun’s chest, leaving only the bronze cap at its upper end exposed.
I saw Zhao Zixun forming a hand seal, his lips moving as he chanted under his breath.
The battlefield was too noisy for me to hear him clearly, but I knew exactly what he was doing.
He was performing a Soul Sacrifice!
He intended to use the power of his own soul to activate the sigils on the Mojin Talisman and suppress the Corpse Fiend.
Sure enough, in the next instant, an eerie green sigil formed above the Corpse Fiend like a vast net cast from the heavens, then rapidly descended upon it.
The Corpse Fiend instinctively thrust both hands upward. It sank into a horse stance, its long fangs grinding together, but it still couldn’t withstand the sigil’s pressure.
I could even see the earth beneath its feet sinking inch by inch.
“That’s so cool! It’s incredible!”
Hui Yumo clutched my sleeve and exclaimed in a barely restrained whisper, “General Zhao is amazing! Sis, he’s one of us from the Pawnshop too, isn’t he? Isn’t he?”
She looked at me expectantly.
I almost couldn’t bear to tell her otherwise.
After a moment’s thought, I said, “Not yet, but the woman he loves is. Sooner or later, he’ll become one of us too.”
Hui Yumo blinked her large eyes, her curiosity intensifying. “The woman General Zhao loves?”
“Her name is Fu Wan,” I said. “Next time you visit the Pawnshop, I’ll tell you their whole story. But right now, I have work to do.”
With that, I raised the Soul-Guiding Lantern and strode quickly toward Zhao Zixun.
Before I could charge into the Ghost Soldier Formation, the Black Cat shot sparks from the tip of its tail, opening a path for me.
As I rushed into the passage, I bit open my already wounded fingertip once more and squeezed out a drop of blood. Forming a Sword Finger, I pressed it against the chamber of the Soul-Guiding Lantern while chanting under my breath.
I pointed my Sword Finger at the Corpse Fiend, and a ball of eerie green flame shot straight toward it.
Without the Mojin Talisman’s sigil Formation suppressing it, the flames could never have gotten close to the Corpse Fiend.
All it would have needed was a single swing of its Golden Mace to split the flames apart.
But things were different now. Zhao Zixun had temporarily suppressed it.
A Soul Sacrifice, however, came at the cost of burning away one’s own Souls.
Every second Zhao Zixun kept the Corpse Fiend suppressed consumed more of his Soul Body.
If this continued for too long, he would be utterly annihilated!
I couldn’t let that happen.
Fu Wan had waited devotedly for Zhao Zixun for more than a hundred years. They hadn’t even had a proper reunion yet.
She was still waiting for him!
The first Netherfire shot out, but shattered upon hitting the Corpse Fiend’s body.
The Corpse Fiend howled madly, struggling incessantly.
With each struggle, Zhao Zixun let out pained grunts.
I summoned a second Netherfire, then a third.
One after another.
Every time one shattered, the Corpse Fiend’s body trembled in response.
I don’t know how many flames I loosed, but finally, one ghostly green Netherfire pierced into the Corpse Fiend’s body.
In the next moment, that Netherfire spread like wildfire from within the Corpse Fiend.
It worked!
Zhao Zixun yanked the Mojin Talisman from his chest, slumped over his warhorse, and let it carry him toward the foot of the mountain.
I retreated with the Black Cat, calling out for the Red Banner Child as well.
The Red Banner Child retracted the Red Banner and darted over swiftly.
Before we could get far, the Corpse Fiend had already gone berserk.
It roared madly, its body lurching and staggering before rolling ceaselessly on the ground.
This battlefield of Ghost Soldiers was filled with a nefarious yin aura.
Wherever the Netherfire touched, it immediately ignited.
For a moment, the area was filled with black smoke and ghostly green flames.
The ghostly green flames merged into one, burning for a long while.
Until the Corpse Fiend was reduced to charcoal, lying motionless on the ground.
Once the Corpse Fiend died, the Ghost Soldiers on our side seemed greatly encouraged and fought even more ferociously.
In the end, the remaining small squad of enemy Ghost Soldiers actually abandoned the Corpse Fiend and quickly retreated into the barrier of the Ancient Battlefield.
Hui Yumo first checked my body to make sure I was unharmed, then asked Zhao Zixun if he needed help.
At first, Fang Chuanzong looked at Zhao Zixun with gleaming eyes.
It was a desire to recruit Zhao Zixun on the spot!
But soon, he withdrew his gaze and said repeatedly, “No! This isn’t right!”
Hui Yumo was puzzled. “Elder Fang, what are you talking about? What isn’t right?”
Fang Chuanzong suddenly asked me, “Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu, where is Seventh Master Liu?”
Before I could open my mouth to answer, he went on to himself, “With the Corpse Fiend howling like that, there’s no way a more formidable entity didn’t appear from within the Ancient Battlefield’s barrier. Yet they actually abandoned the Corpse Fiend like this. It doesn’t make sense.”
He raised a hand to massage the bridge of his nose, his thoughts racing. “The Three-Eyed Toad escaped! Right! Where did the Three-Eyed Toad go? A greater power must be holding them back; that’s why things went so smoothly on our side.”
“Smoothly?” Hui Yumo said sarcastically. “If sister hadn’t retrieved the Mojin Talisman in time, if General Zhao hadn’t arrived in time, I’m afraid few of us here would still be standing.”
I shot Hui Yumo a sideways glance and silently gave her a thumbs-up.
She really was Hui Moqiong’s little sister, with a sharp tongue that wouldn’t yield an inch.
Elder Fang said awkwardly, “I meant it went relatively smoothly.”
Then he turned to me and asked, “Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu, Seventh Master Liu must have other plans, right? Where is he now? Do we need to support him?”
As soon as he finished speaking, someone suddenly exclaimed, “Look to the southwest, behind the Ancient Battlefield! What is that?!”
Everyone’s gaze was drawn over.
Behind the Ancient Battlefield, a golden light burst forth, nearly illuminating half the southwestern sky.
Someone couldn’t help but guess, “That golden light… is it Buddha’s light?”
No one answered that question.
“It’s in the direction of Xiaoyingkou.”
Zhao Zixun left those words, spurred his horse, and with his great blade in hand, galloped toward the southwest…