Killing Dao Fruit
Chapter 74 - 72: Creepy Lurker on the Shoulder, Jishi Energy

Chapter 74: Chapter 72: Creepy Lurker on the Shoulder, Jishi Energy

Since the beginning of the tomb raid, more than half a day had hastily passed.

In a corner of the massive underground palace.

Four Jianghu people, dressed differently and each wielding a unique weapon but all with a peach blossom blooming on their foreheads, stood back to back.

In their hands, whether it was a knife, a sword, or a dagger, they brandished them into a circle of impenetrable silver light, testament to their mastery of the "Integrated Force" skill.

The fierce wind howled around them!

Turning the "Zhen Water Worms" that fell like raindrops into a mush of flesh.

These bandits and giant bandits, used to licking the blade’s edge for survival, were obviously much stronger than the tomb guardian Wang Yunfang of the same skill level.

Although they lacked the combined military formations of the same troops, their quick wits and ability to respond were far superior to the tomb guardians.

Moreover, the bandits who had managed to survive to this point might not have the most formidable skills but were definitely the most cautious of the lot.

At this moment.

The ground beneath them shook as the tomb’s passages shifted once again.

The group originally in "Zhangsu" was instantly moved to "Liusu".

"Great, the palace is moving again, we don’t have to face ’Zhang Yuelu’ head on, stay steady!

Find a corner to hide immediately, and hold out until the next shift of the underground palace."

The overall layout of the southern seven lodgings resembled a reclining Vermilion Bird, from right to left in sequence: Jingsu, Ghost Star, Liusu, Xingxiu, Zhangsu, Yisu, and Zhenxiu.

To reach "Jingsu", it wasn’t necessary to follow this order, moving through each one by one.

Because each horizontal move of the palace could disrupt the order, revealing different passageways, corresponding to different chambers, and even different stars.

If one had exceptional luck, it might even be possible to be transported to "Jingsu" just by standing still at the right moment.

Just like these "Zhen Water Worms," which had chased them from Zhenxiu all the way to Zhangsu, and then from Zhangsu to Liusu.

When the crowd finally killed off the dwindling remainder, they were able to catch their breath at last.

"Huff... puff..."

Ignoring the stench of corpses, they all gasped for air with heaving breaths.

"Integrated Force" had not transcended the human realm, and endurance at the [Non-Human] level was not even comparable; it was already quite an achievement to have survived this far.

"Our luck is really too bad, constantly being chased by these weird things in the tomb, and we haven’t encountered a single Magician until now."

"True, if we had managed to stick close to Peach Fairy sooner when we entered the tomb, we wouldn’t have been in such a life-and-death struggle as now."

No sooner had they lamented their situation than they immediately worried about the woman of their dreams.

"I wonder how Peach Fairy is doing. Just thinking about those disgusting corpse oils dirtying her embroidered shoes makes me so pained I can barely breathe."

The others nodded fervently in agreement.

"Look! There’s someone in Liusu!"

Suddenly one of them whispered a warning to his companions in a low voice.

Out of the caution of an old Jianghu, he didn’t shout out, for who knows if what was ahead was human or ghost?

The others looked towards the direction of the voice.

They saw someone silently walking through the winding tomb passage under the faint light of lucent pearls.

Their yellow, mud-stained robe and the iron handle sticking out from the animal skin bag on their back.

A younger bandit immediately rejoiced.

"Is that... ’Pangolin’ Brother Fan?"

But was restrained by a companion who gestured silently to the ground at Fan Zhang’s feet.

He then noticed Fan Zhang was tiptoeing, lowering his head deeply, along with his somewhat emaciated body, he looked like a giant rat walking on its hind legs.

The bandits sensed something amiss and immediately fell silent, scared stiff.

They no longer dared to make any noise.

And that wasn’t even the most horrifying part; as the lucent pearl on the tomb ceiling cast its light directly on Fan Zhang’s head.

They vaguely saw a small old man in an official robe clinging to Fan Zhang’s back, his two withered claws tightly holding Fan Zhang’s neck.

And yet, Fan Zhang seemed completely unaware.

He walked straight to the end of a passageway.

Boom...

Dirt and stones rumbled and overturned around them.

It was Fan Zhang opening the tomb’s wall with the [Mountain Coffin Evil Technique]; through the vague inscriptions, it seemed the other side was the sixth lodging of the Vermilion Bird, [Ghost Star].

As he was about to leave, the Jianghu people, who dared not even breath heavily, were about to let out a sigh of relief.

Fan Zhang suddenly turned his head towards where they were hiding, his mouth twisted to an ear-to-ear grin:

"Have you... found the treasures in the tomb?"

...

Meanwhile, at the same time.

Boom!

Wang Yuan’s legs exploded with power as he dodged swiftly like a specter, while a colossal figure behind him, big as a horse-drawn carriage, crashed heavily into the walls of the tomb chamber.

The entire underground palace was increasingly resembling a living creature, with soil and stones gradually mixing with plenty of flesh.

Thus, shards of corpse oil, fresh blood, rotting flesh, and splintered bones splattered out from the crumbling walls, in addition to dust and clods of earth...

Of course.

The weirdest one had to be the "Ghost Golden Sheep" guarding the Ghost Star in front of Wang Yuan.

Almost three meters tall, it was referred to as a sheep only because it bore a sheep’s appearance.

Its entire body was twisted from the blood, flesh, and bones of human corpses.

Each leg was a pale adult human, and the massive torso was made from the materials of at least five or six people.

Its body was covered with curly "wool" that was indistinguishable from hair or something else, which only made one feel uncomfortable all over.

Moreover, instead of a sheep’s face, there was a huge human face, and even the large curved horns on top of its head were essentially leg bones, stark white.

The "Ghost Golden Sheep" pawed at the ground with its hooves, exhaling a foul-smelling white gas from its nostrils that lingered in the tomb chamber for a long time.

As he watched the white gas become thicker, Wang Yuan furrowed his brows deeply.

The astrological texts said:

"The four stars of the ghost are called Yu Ghost, seen as the head and eyes of the Vermilion Bird. The white color in the center of the ghosts, fluffy like powder, is called Jishi, it seems like clouds but not clouds, like stars but not stars, it’s merely gas."

This "white gas" was indeed the "Jishi Energy" of the central Ghost Star!

Although Wang Yuan did not know what the real "Jishi Energy" looked like.

But under the cover of this white gas emitted by the corpses, "Mr. One-Eyed" did not dare to open the Yin Road; otherwise, he might get lost in the Underworld with a little carelessness.

Moreover, this ability was not like the Nightmare Suppressing Power possessed by "Weird" which could be immunized with the Ghost King Altar Sealing Seal.

It was a pure contest of strength, where no tricks could be used.

Therefore, after his "Five Ghosts Moving Mountain" technique was disabled, leaving him without the option to attack or defend, Wang Yuan found himself in the most awkward predicament since entering the Underground Palace.

Meeh—!

As the "Jishi Energy" burst out, the "Ghost Golden Sheep" let out a shrill bleat and charged again.

The ferocious strength made Wang Yuan suspect that he was facing a third-realm Dao General, whose strength was perhaps even stronger than that of his White Tiger avatar.

Wang Yuan turned into an afterimage, retreating from the overly spacious tomb chamber and back into the winding tomb passage, similar to a sheep’s intestines.

His mind worked swiftly.

"Dealing with such a strong opponent, who also has the ability to restrain, is even more difficult than dealing with Jishan, and there’s no room for trickery.

Luckily, I didn’t rush to consume the Deceit Heart just now, otherwise I would have wasted it against this opponent."

After resolving Jishan previously, it did not take long for him to move from the sixth star, Yisu, to the second star, Ghost Star.

Then he ran smack into this opponent.

Chased with no escape to heaven and no doors to earth.

And that Deceit Heart was naturally still properly tucked away in his bosom.

After all, he hadn’t had time to bring scallions, ginger, cooking wine, garlic, cumin, or chili powder on this tomb raid, so he planned to enjoy the feast after leaving the tomb successfully.

After stepping into the second realm as a Daoist Soldier, it was difficult for him to break through consecutively as before; he had to progress step by step, steadfastly.

With this Deceit Heart, even though it wouldn’t allow him to instantly advance to minor completion from the second realm’s entry level.

But with the nourishment from the White Mountain Lord’s provisions, it was very likely that he would awaken his own Innate Divine Ability ahead of time.

Then, without needing the Transformation into Tiger Technique as the medium, he could instinctively use the Soul Capturing and Spiritual Communication.

Even though the divine ability might be repetitive, the Ghosts under his control would be doubled.

If he had consumed it earlier, he would have merely wasted it like a Great Nourishing Pill.

Wang Yuan’s physical strength was still holding up, but if he allowed this "Jishi Energy," which seemed to affect the Underworld, to continue spreading.

Who knows what might crawl out of it later.

However, after probing the reality of the "Ghost Golden Sheep," he had already made a decision.

As they chased and fled, drawing near to a very narrow part of the tomb passage.

Taking advantage of the "Ghost Golden Sheep"’s deceleration due to its large size, Wang Yuan resolutely revealed one of his trump cards.

"If you want to clash, then let’s clash head-on!"

He threw his waist’s "Talisman: Fire Dragon Coiled Sword" with a flick of his hand.

Instantly.

Fueled by an "Integrated Force" expert, a crimson light detonated in the sky, turning into a scorching sword light over three meters long.

Circling around, as graceful as a dragon, with a piercing, sharp shriek, it charged fiercely at the "Ghost Golden Sheep."

Bang!

The "Ghost Golden Sheep," caught off guard, had no way to dodge, and the human head on its neck burst immediately.

With bones and brain pulp splattering, an even thicker mist spread out in the tomb passage.

Wang Yuan landed on his feet, with a foul-smelling breeze flipping the hem of his robe, which seemed to carry an odd scent that did not belong to a corpse.

With his mind suddenly going blank, the world before his eyes seemed to change entirely.

The scene of Beimang Mountain reappeared before him.

It appeared to be an evening, with dimming daylight and gloomy twilight.

"Where is this?"

Yi yi ya ya...

A joyful sound of suona music suddenly rang in Wang Yuan’s ears, as he was on high alert.

Looking up, he saw a wedding procession carrying a bridal sedan chair coming head-on.