The female ghost didn’t expect the sudden turn of events and cried out in terror before being sucked over to the tattered banner. However, she clearly had some powers and actually wasn’t sucked inside. She struggled in midair, emitting shrill screams.
“This appearance is much more thrilling!” Wan Li looked at the female ghost suspended in midair and swiftly walked in front of Ruan Zhan’s body. Xiao Xia also got up and ran over.
“Spare me, spare me! I beg you, spare me!” The female ghost started pleading.
“I didn’t provoke you. You were the one who came to harm us. Seek to do no harm, whether human or ghost. Otherwise, you’ll be out of luck.” Wan Li spoke. “I can only leave you with this advice!”
“I’ll never dare do it again! Spare me! We’re acquaintances….ah!” The female ghost was sucked a little closer to the banner.
“And who the hell are you?”
“She’s Hong Hao Hao.” Xiao Xia answered.
“Hong Hao Hao? That beauty?” Wan Li looked seriously for a moment. “Isn’t this discrepancy a little too big? That’s a mink fur coat. This is a beggar’s outfit, one that’s never been washed! You could still recognize her?”
“Woman’s intuition, I’m sure…ah, oh no…” Along with Xiao Xia’s exclamation, Hong Hao Hao could be seen suddenly splitting in two. The smaller half was sucked into the banner and the larger half vanished with a tragic cry.
“She escaped!”
“Part of her escaped!” Wan Li corrected.
He walked over and stroked the tattered banner. “It seems controlling this with just his talisman isn’t good enough. It’s unfortunately neither of us have any powers. Thinking about it, Ah Zhan is quite pitiful having to work with us two fools. We can never be of help!”
“He’s in a lot of danger at the moment. We have to help him!”
“I’ll go. You stay here and watch over his body. With your amulet, and with this talisman holding down the fort, no spirits will dare approach you guys. However, someone has to keep watch.”
“Alright.” Xiao Xia agreed straightforwardly.
Wan Li nodded in relief. He liked this part of Xiao Xia. Despite being a woman, she never made a fuss and didn’t quibble in critical situations. In a situation where either she or her lover had to die, if the man was holding off the enemy telling her to run, she wouldn’t cry and insist on dying together. Instead, she would immediately leave and then seek vengeance desperately before joining her lover in death.
“You wouldn’t molest him while he’s unconscious, right?!” Wan Li fished out a sturdy stick from the thicket and stuck the talisman from the tattered banner on top of it. This was something he had found while waiting. He figured there might be a fight later, and this talisman still had some spirit power. It would be a shame to waste it.
“You’re still being flippant at this time?! Hurry up and go!”
“This is called annihilating thousands of enemies while joking around.” Wan Li gave Xiao Xia a glance and turned serious. “I’m really leaving now. Take care of yourself. If we haven’t returned by dawn, just keep walking towards the sun. You’ll find the way out of this mountain.”
“Don’t tell me stuff like that. I won’t listen! I’ll leave with the two of you!” Xiao Xia answered firmly.
***
Ruan Zhan was still locked in confrontation with Yang Mu You. The stone building had already reverted to its original appearance of a cave. The black stones no longer covered the floor. There were only a few scattered sparsely.
He was already very weary, both in spirit and body. However, his arm remained unmoving. Yang Mu You had also started dripping with sweat. Ruan Zhan knew Yang Mu You’s powers were waning rapidly and that he must be anxious about it. Therefore, the situation may change at any moment. He himself was just worried about Xiao Xia and Wan Li, especially Xiao Xia.
When he first arrived, he had observed this area. It was an abandoned cemetery behind the mountains. Although Yang Mu You hadn’t expected him and didn’t set any traps, this place was still naturally dangerous and frightening. He had gone over a basic plan with Wan Li, but there hadn’t been any opportunity to tell Xiao Xia anything. He could only hope she would successfully meet up with him.
Thud. A sound rang out and startled the four tense people. They looked as one towards the source. A pair of hands first appeared by the cave entrance, clinging to the stone walls. Then, Hong Hao Hao appeared with tragically pale face and an appearance of suffering.
Ruan Zhan could tell at a glance that Hong Hao Hao’s spirit had suffered serious damage, and a significant portion of it had been lost. She was no longer able to support this body that didn’t belong to her, and had crawled back like a paraplegic. At the same time, she couldn’t revert back to her spirit form or Yang Mu You would have less support.
This meant that Hong Hao Hao had tried to ambush his body as expected. Wan Li had no powers and couldn’t exhibit the tattered banner’s full might. He could only use the talisman that was left behind to absorb part of her spirit. The remaining part of her must have returned to her nearby skinsuit and came running back.
However, this was enough. Hong Hao Hao’s injuries weren’t light and she wouldn’t be able to cause mischief in the near future.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t able to do it!” Hong Hao Hao crawled over and clung to Yang Mu You’s leg. He was similarly like a puppet on strings. “He had a banner with him that could capture spirits. I was almost unable to return.”
“Useless thing. Can’t you succeed in anything!?” Yang Mu You was completely exasperated. He had lost this round once again. He knew Hong Hao Hao must have used her spirit to attack in order to preserve “her” good looks. “Still worrying about your looks at such a moment!”
“No, even if I used my physical form, that banner’s powers are too great….” Hong Hao Hao explained herself while trying her best to crawl up, wanting to cling onto Yang Mu You’s waist.
Yang Mu You was going to push her away in his anger, but suddenly got an idea. He immediately put on an amiable appearance and grabbed onto her hand. “It was my fault for not considering things thoroughly. I was too busy transmitting my voice to you earlier, telling you to destroy his body, but forgot he had other spirit treasures.”
He turned towards Ruan Zhan, deciding to provoke him a little. “Speaking of which, didn’t your father leave you three spirit treasures? The bloodwood sword, the tattered banner, and also the seal of annihilation, right? Why did you only bring two of them?”
Hearing Yang Mu You mentioned the three heirlooms his father had left him, especially since he had never taken the seal of annihilation out before, Ruan Zhan was startled. “Who on Earth are you?” He asked in shock, temporarily distracted.
However, Yang Mu You was precisely waiting for this moment. As Ruan Zhan wavered slightly, he immediately made his move. He suddenly pulled Hong Hao Hao up and pushed her towards Ruan Zhan. At the same time, he ordered the two stone people to pounce over as well.
The situation had changed in an instant, shattering the fragile equilibrium. Luckily, Ruan Zhan reacted extremely quickly. He stabbed the bloodwood sword at Hong Hao Hao mercilessly. He didn’t hesitate and the bloodwood sword didn’t let him down either. It truly managed to become sharp as steel and stabbed into her body. Then, it shot forth a beam of red light like never before. It struck like an arrow, firmly nailing the rear portions of the gray shadows that escaped from Yang Mu You and Hong Hao Hao’s bodies to the floor.
“Damn brat, your powers have truly increased!” Yang Mu You was unable to struggle free and involuntarily cursed.
This head-on confrontation was an act of courage on Ruan Zhan’s part. He himself had no idea that in this urgent situation, he would be able to unleash another portion of his sealed power. This also made him a little sluggish, so as Hong Hao Hao’s corpse fell backwards, the bloodwood sword actually slipped from his grasp. He immediately lunged for the hilt but felt something tighten on the back of his neck. Shuo Ri and Shuo Xing had grabbed him from behind.
He had just possessed this stone body recently and was naturally not as familiar with using it as the other two brothers. He immediately became disadvantaged.
At this moment, the cave was filled with all sorts of noise. Ruan Zhan battled the two stone people, Hong Hao Hao’s spirit sobbed in despair and Yang Mu You’s spirit let out weird cries as he struggled to free himself from the bloodwood sword’s light. Not a single ghost dared approach, let alone any humans.
“How lively!” Wan Li suddenly leaped in.
“Hurry and stop that person!” Yang Mu You cried out. “He cannot be allowed to grab the bloodwood sword, or we’re all done for!”
Hearing this, one of the brothers immediately split off from attacking Ruan Zhan and pounced towards Wan Li, greeting him with a fist. Wan Li was startled. He hadn’t expected such a sturdy “person” to be so fast. He subconsciously used the branch in his hand to block. With a crack, the log split in two. If Wan Li hadn’t dodged quickly, his head would have met the same fate.
“He’s a stone person, be careful!” Ruan Zhan called. He understood that since Wan Li had come, Xiao Xia must be safe. His courage immediately multiplied.
With Ruan Zhan’s warning, Wan Li narrowly dodged another blow. “No wonder they were able to handle so many wealthy women looking to sin. It turns out stone people are so mighty!” As he spoke, Wan Li stabbed the end of the stick with the talisman towards the stone person’s heart. That stone person immediately leapt back as thought burnt. He happened to make contact with the bloodwood sword still stuck in Hong Hao Hao’s body, and the spirit attached in his body was immediately ejected. It was actually a withered old man. Without the spirit’s support, the human-shaped stone sculpture collapsed. The shattered stones buried the bloodwood sword and Hong Hao Hao’s body.
“Looks like beauty is truly only skin deep!” Wan Li was afraid that spirit would attack Ruan Zhan and didn’t dare go look for the bloodwood sword right away. He could only use the talisman-enhanced wood to keep it at bay. “Who would have thought the pretty boy was actually a vulgar old man! Ah Zhan, why doesn’t the bloodwood sword eject your spirit even though you’re also possessing something at the moment?”
“Because I am….” Ruan Zhan gradually grew accustomed to his stone body and knocked his opponent down with a blow. “The sword’s master, idiot!”
Ruan Zhan saw that the stone person was unable to get up for the moment and immediately went to look for the bloodwood sword. He saw that Yang Mu You was forming a green circle on the floor, and was just shy of completing it. He knew he was trying to escape using Daoist arts, and wished nothing more than to immediately stop him. He knew that ghosts with a large amount of spiritual energy was very frightening. Especially this one, which may very well have been a powerful Daoist when he was alive!
He had caught him off guard using Xiao Xia’s plan today and damaged his spirit root. He was probably unable to recover for a while and won’t be able to do evil. However, it would be best to exterminate him. Otherwise, he would have to start cultivating and learn to unleash his powers which had been sealed for many years. His current abilities were far from enough to face off directly against this opponent!
Using the strength of his current body, he dug wildly through the shattered stones. Before long, he realized that the ravenous nature of these black stones had only increased after shattering. The surrounding stones, bugs and small animals had all been sucked over, inadvertently burying the bloodwood sword even deeper. Since the stones were merely fiendish objects and not spiritual ones, the bloodwood sword was also helpless. It could only send out vibrations to call its master.
He dug desperately but the stone person behind him got up, once again gripping his neck from behind. He saw the bloodwood sword’s hilt right in front of him. It was just a few inches away but he was ultimately unable to reach it. Yang Mu You had almost completed teleportation circle!
“If only there was someone else who could help!” Wan Li said randomly.
Suddenly, a woman’s voice responded from outside the window. Then, a twisted red object floated inside.
