Everything had happened too fast. I was flipped onto the floor by the burst of air accompanying the little thing’s appearance. There was a wave of enormous pain came from my broken rib and wrist!
However, I didn’t have time to worry about my broken bones. I felt a strong force pushing beneath my feet as though something was about to burst out. I immediately recalled Uncle Bao’s instructions and desperately pressed my feet down on that circle.
Luckily my legs were long enough. Although I had toppled over, my feet were still within the red circle. The ground trembled for a while before growing calm again. I let out a long breath before gathering my strength to look around and see what had happened!
I saw that little monster screech wildly and rush towards the gentle slope as expected. Before it could reach the trees, it was blocked on either side by Uncle Bao and Ah Zhan.
It leapt and turned, seeming to sense Ah Zhan was relatively weaker, and pounced towards him. However, despite being forced to react hastily, Ah Zhan still calmly drew his seals in the air without taking a single step back. Uncle Bao sent a talisman flying at it from the side, forcing it to retreat back!
However, its body didn’t touch the ground and it didn’t seem to fear the sunlight. It seemed to roll around in midair and then descend like a boulder, smashing towards Bao Da Tong who was next to the incense altar!
“Watch out!” I shouted. Although I disliked him from the bottom of my heart, we were currently united against a common enemy. Besides, I also didn’t want him to die. Therefore, I was extremely anxious when I saw he hadn’t reacted.
Bao Da Tong let out a smile. He was actually still able to smile at this moment. However, his arms remained still and he merely shrugged his shoulders. It seemed he was waiting for the little monster to get closer before making his move. However, before he could do so, that little monster whirled in the air and started attacking Ah Zhan once again.
Its goal hadn’t been Bao Da Tong. It just wanted to distract Ah Zhan before once again trying for the only exit!
However, as you know, Ah Zhan is never the slightest bit careless during battle. He also never gets flustered or hesitates. He’s like some mercenary from that tribe, always fighting to the bitter end. Therefore, the little monster didn’t succeed at all. Instead, since Ah Zhan had been prepared, it fell into an even sorrier state.
“It’s trying to flee! Although it’s not afraid of the sunlight, it still can’t stay for long. Don’t be reckless. It’s enough to keep it trapped!” Uncle Bao seemed to have realized something and shouted.
“Understood!” Bao Da Tong responded loudly. His voice was louder than the screeching of the little monster. When I looked towards him, he made a face at me. “Thanks for earlier. It’s a shame he chose not to fight me. I didn’t get to use my sword of seven colors!”
He was still so talkative at such a tense moment. I didn’t have the time to bother with him, and kept my eyes fixed on the little monster. It whirled about urgently before it swiftly started climbing up the cliff. It was planning to escape via the cliff!
“Da Tong, the formation flags!” Uncle Bao ordered quickly. However, his tone wasn’t panicked. He had clearly made preparations.
Bao Da Tong once again responded loudly. He pulled out a pale yellow little flag from the bits and pieces arrayed on the altar. He chanted something before flinging it out!
The valley wasn’t large, but Ba Da Tong was still around a hundred meters away from the left cliff. That flag was made of paper with strange spellscript inscribed in cinnabar. It was only half a foot long. This sort of material couldn’t be thrown that far, especially with Bao Da Tong’s average physique. He was even a little on the skinny side so he definitely didn’t have extraordinary arm strength. Theoretically, there was no way he could have thrown it far enough. It would have been impressive if it made it more than five meters. However, I was astonished to see that despite barely using any strength and merely muttering a few words, the flag shot out like an arrow. It flew swift and true, swishing in the wind as it nailed itself to the top of the cliff.
Beneath the sun, that small flag released a reddish yellow halo. It immediately descended upon the crown of the little monster’s head. Although nothing material appeared, the monster fell down as if it was struck!
Yet the moment it landed, it turned to one of the other cliffs. However, Bao Da Tong repeated his move as well. Thus the same situation repeated three times. In the end, the three cliffs were each covered by a yellow flag and the little monster was completely surrounded.
The three flags glowed with yellow light under the sun. At a glance, it could have been mistaken as the sun’s reflection. However, since I was half-crouched and looking up at them, I could see the yellow aura merging, forming a lid on the small valley. The only way out was now blocked firmly by the two people.
The small monster walked around irritably for a moment before suddenly stopping by the pool.
It had been running around swiftly the entire time and its back had been turned towards me for the most part. Therefore, I never saw clearly what it looked like. Now that it had stopped, I finally saw it!
It was a small monkey less than two feet tall. A very long tail trailed behind it. Its fur was grey and its face was not that of a monkey. It was that of an infant!
It was the infant that had appeared in Zhao Jiang’s backpack!
A human-faced monkey was already very weird, but this one had the eyes of a grown man, a toothless little red mouth and an ugly scar on its brows that was crudely stitched up with red thread. Perhaps it had been a rushed job since it was sewn very unevenly. It made its face appear crooked and even more malicious!
“Wahhhh…” It made a sound, but not one of a monkey this time. It was the crying of an infant. The clear sound spread throughout the entire valley. At the same time, its crafty eyes looked around, revealing an angry and desperate gaze.
My hairs rose. I was stunned by this eerie sight!
“Look out! It’s about to attack! Keep it trapped!” Uncle Bao called out. His solemn voice made Ah Zhan and Bao Da Tong turn grim.
I also looked around for a weapon. Although I knew the weird infant didn’t attack me because of the red circle under my feet, I didn’t know what it might do when forced into a corner.
Thus, the weird infant and the three hunters stood facing each other. I looked around for anything I could use. Around me were the abandoned things from our camp which we had left in a hurry last night. Most of the things were clothing and food and there weren’t really any weapons. The only fruit knife was three meters away. My feet couldn’t leave the circle so there was no way for me to get it.
The only thing available was a small mirror. One of the girls probably brought it to help with putting on her makeup. Without anything else on hand, I instinctively felt like trying to get it. It wasn’t far from me, but it still took some effort for me to reach it. During the tense standoff, I was sprawled on the ground, desperately trying to reach something that seemed useless.
I stretched out all the muscles in my body, trying to keep my feet in the red circle. I used a branch next to me to nudge the mirror towards me. It slowly drew closer. When I finally got my hand on it, I suddenly felt the sky darken. Looking up, I saw a thick cloud had drifted over and covered the sun.
In that moment, the weird infant let out an innocent laugh and started moving. It no longer hid in the shade. It leapt into the air and remained there, looking down at its opponents from above. Although its voice was childish, its posture was extremely vicious.
It spat out a red clump. Before I could figure out what it was, it had formed into a red mist that covered the other three people.
“Careful, corpse poison!” Uncle Bao said. Yet before he had spoken, the other two had already moved. Ah Zhan drew something on his face, sealing his seven orifices. Bao Da Tong stuck a talisman to his nose and mouth.
The fiendish red mist continued to sink. There were black threads within the red, making it appear to have been forged from blood. It suddenly halted after sinking for a bit. It thickened like a gel, seeming rather viscous.
Uncle Bao seemed to be fine, but Ah Zhan’s body was tensed as though struggling against an invisible force. Bao Da Tong was worse off, bent over as if being crushed by something. His face was redder than the blood mist as he braced himself on the large stone altar!
Uncle Bao sneered coldly. “Petty tricks!” With a bit of strength, he escaped the grasp of the blood mist and burnt a talisman. “Divine Celestial Ling Bao, pacify the body. Souls of the disciple, profound mystery of the five Yin organs. Azure dragon and white tiger, locked in perpetual combat. Vermillion bird and black tortoise, serve and protect my true form. Pressing, like the rule of law….”
After speaking, he pointed with his finger. The burning talisman flames flew outwards. It was about to reach the weird infant when it suddenly opened its mouth and blew out a breath. The flames actually extinguished!
Uncle Bao made a sound of surprise, clearly not having expected this degree of power from the weird infant. He shot out another two talismans in succession but they were also blown out by the weird infant. While he was casting his third spell, Ah Zhan suddenly struggled free of his restriction. He got one of his arms loose and struggled to draw seals in the air, pointing at that weird infant as well.
His movements were slow. He seals only arrived as the weird infant was about to blow out the talisman fire again. However, because of this, the weird infant was struck solidly on the face despite having blown out the fire. It was as if it suffered a resounding slap.
As its head was twisted from the blow, Uncle Bao swiftly seized the opportunity. He took several steps in place as if dancing and waved his arms, before crying loudly “Break!” The blood mist rapidly shrank into a clump before flying back towards the weird infant.
The weird infant spun in midair to avoid its own corpse poison. On the other side, Ah Zhan spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and fell to a seated position. That guy truly has an extremely tenacious nature. Therefore, he would always strain himself when facing off against an enemy.
“Get up, its second move is coming!” Bao Da Tong snapped out of it and cried out.
This time, a strong gust of wind formed. It spun into a black ball of spiraling air that bobbed up and down. It concealed the weird infant, making us lose track of it!
The ball of wind remained in the air for a moment before suddenly shooting towards Ah Zhan! It was extremely fast and arrived in the blink of an eye.
Ah Zhan didn’t possess much power back then and was suffering from his external and internal injuries. He had relied on his steely courage to block off the exit and had just helped Uncle Bao break the weird infant’s blood mist. How could he have the strength to resist at this moment? He had yet to react as the ball of air reached him. It was Uncle Bao who struck at it from the side with the peachwood sword. With a crack, the sword snapped.
The ball of air bounced off, light as silk, and rushed towards Bao Da Tong instead!
“Come forth, sword of seven colors, and destroy all demons!” Bao Da Tong shouted, his tone containing the excitement of finally being able to use his magic weapon. He grabbed the cloth bag he was carrying and pointed it upwards.
“No!” Uncle Bao cried urgently, seeing that he was unable to go save his son in time.
The black ball of air arrived before the sword of seven colors could appear!
