Chapter 1358

At the critical moment, there were still a few loyalists beside him who turned back to charge at He Lingchuan, intending to buy a little more time for the Manor Master. These few people had combat skills much higher than ordinary cavalry and were usually treated with considerable courtesy by Wuma Dan in the manor, so they were fearless at this moment.

While galloping his horse, he still didn't give up his efforts: "Ten times, I'll offer ten times the high price, you let me go, the fertile fields, beautiful houses, and endless gold and silver jewelry will all be yours!"

The Black Armor leader's voice echoed eerily in his ear: "Before Zhao Guangzhi died, he made the same guarantee."

Wuma Dan knew very well who Zhao Guangzhi was. Upon hearing this, a giant stone immediately pressed into his heart, making him almost unable to breathe.

The one who killed Zhao Guangzhi was the Nine Nether Emperor!

Then the one chasing behind him was the Nine Nether Emperor! Zhao Guangzhi's troops were more numerous than his, and his cultivation was higher, yet he was still cooked to death alive by the opponent.

Now, now this fierce god had come to find him! Wuma Dan couldn't help but turn his head and shout: "There are thousands upon thousands of evil people in the world, many more ruthless and evil than me, why don't you find them instead of coming to find me!"

The Soul-Sucking Mirror in He Lingchuan's arms laughed: "He finally came to his senses and believes you are you."

"Don't be anxious." The Black Armor leader said eerily, "None of you can run away!"

The distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer.

The number of living people blocking the way between him and Wuma Dan was also getting fewer and fewer.

Fear pulsed in his chest. Wuma Dan looked at the North Courtyard gate, suddenly stuck a talisman paper on himself, muttered a few words, and then shouted: "Shift!"

There were about thirty soldiers supporting Wuma Dan's return to the North Courtyard, some far and some near. He Lingchuan and Dong Rui only had eyes for Wuma Dan and couldn't be bothered to care about them.

One of them was only ten steps away from the North Courtyard gate.

Run a few more steps, and he would be inside.

As soon as Wuma Dan finished shouting, the talisman paper on his chest emitted a blue light.

At the same time, Dong Rui's peripheral vision also caught another blue light flickering on the soldier near the courtyard gate.

"Not good, it's a Displacement Talisman!"

The next instant, the positions of Wuma Dan and the soldier were swapped; the former had arrived at the North Courtyard gate, while the latter was on the horse's back.

This kind of Displacement Talisman could swap the positions of the two parties who stuck the talisman, but it was not easy to refine and the price was especially high. Wuma Dan used it as a trump card, usually placing it on his most trusted loyalist.

He knew the Black Armor leader's attention was all on him, so he used a trick of swapping flowers for trees, letting his confidant rush close to the city gate first.

He Lingchuan's group of four had already killed their way into the enemy ranks; how could they turn around so quickly? Wuma Dan ran wildly for a few steps and entered the North Courtyard, shouting: "Close the gate, activate the formation! Hurry, hurry!"

He had over thirty people left behind in this North Courtyard; it wasn't enough to rush out and kill, but they could still hold on by closing the gate and guarding the courtyard.

However, Wuma Dan rushed into the courtyard but didn't hear the sound of the gate's mechanism closing—that gate was quite thick and heavy, and it was difficult to push it with just one or two people.

He looked back again and saw two manor guards lying behind the gate, one lying on his stomach, one lying on his back.

The one lying on his back had his eyes wide open, his mouth agape, his face full of horror, but his chest had no rise and fall.

Both of them were dead.

What had happened? Wuma Dan's scalp went numb. When he led the team to rush out of the North Courtyard just now, this place was clearly perfectly fine!

Could it be that the Black Armor Army had split into two routes, with one route specifically squatting here, taking the opportunity to seize his lair?

A sentry suddenly appeared in the corner tower on the side, pointing at Wuma Dan and shouting: "Manor Master, behind you!"

Actually, he didn't need to be reminded; Wuma Dan also felt his back crawl, as if some terrifying thing was following him like a shadow, already stuck behind him!

Without thinking, he pulled his sword backhanded and slashed from under his ribs toward the rear.

However, something cold pressed down on his arm and twisted it hard! Wuma Dan was in so much pain that he spun and squatted down, and when he looked up again, a face filled his field of vision! "No! No..."

He wanted to scream, but actually only made half a sound.

The Black Armor Knights killed Wuma Dan's confidant and turned to rush toward the North Courtyard, only to find the courtyard gate wide open, with no sign of closing at all.

Wuma Dan had clearly just darted in.

Was there another change inside?

He Lingchuan whipped his horse and flew into the North Courtyard.

At first glance, there was nothing special, but with a glance, he discovered a white, fuzzy thing hiding behind a few miscellaneous trees, but it was blocked by branches and leaves, so he couldn't see the full picture.

Disturbed by the sound of horse hooves, the object dropped something and darted into the alley behind with a swoosh, its speed extremely fast.

He Lingchuan spurred his horse to catch up and took a look; it was actually Wuma Dan lying behind the tree, eyes closed, unconscious.

"Watch him!" He instructed his subordinates and rushed into the alley to chase that white, fuzzy thing.

It had to be said that Wuma Dan's North Courtyard was built neatly and impressively; not only were the roads paved with bricks, but the walls were also bricked, and every building looked exceptionally sturdy.

He Lingchuan chased for over ten zhang and abandoned his horse to walk, because the Soul-Sucking Mirror reminded him that the thing had jumped over several walls and had already burrowed into the mansion.

The buildings of the North Courtyard were connected in one piece; passing through halls and corridors inside could avoid the sun's exposure in summer, but now it caused great trouble for He Lingchuan's pursuit.

He immediately ordered Wanzai Feng and the others who had just entered the North Courtyard: "Go around to the back and surround this area of black-roofed buildings!"

The other two acknowledged and rode their horses around the periphery of the building complex, but Dong Rui said: "Wuma Dan is dead, and it's the familiar way of dying."

It seemed that the white, fuzzy thing was indeed the murderer who killed Chen Fu'ang and the other five! He Lingchuan was multitasking, chasing the white monster while also needing to spare his mind to listen to the live situation on the battlefield outside.

The scorpion-python had just been hit by Dong Rui's hidden arrow, and the arrowhead was smeared with wood-transformation poison, so its body was stiff and gradually difficult to move. At the moment, the other Black Armor Knights had already jumped off their horses and were arranging battle formations under Wanzai Liang's command to fight the two demon puppets.

Dong Rui had already reminded them earlier that the hinge-tailed yellow tiger had the weakness of being light in the head and heavy in the tail, while the porcupine-pillbug was not agile in turning and could not eject sharp thorns while rolling. The group grasped these two points, advancing and retreating with evidence, surrounding with order, and fighting more and more skillfully.

Just at this moment, a long whistle came from the west.

Hearing the whistle, the two monsters stopped fighting and turned to run toward the North Courtyard.

These two things were really fast, especially when the porcupine-pillbug rolled up; even the Black Armor Army didn't want to block its path.

They could win the fight, but it wasn't easy to intercept, so the Black Armor cavalry had to jump onto their horses and follow closely behind.

Hearing this, He Lingchuan knew that these two demon puppets should have received instructions to go and chase the white monster in the North Courtyard.

Now, the Black Armor Army was actually split into three routes.

He Lingchuan, Wanzai Feng, and Wang Fubao were on one route, chasing the white monster.

Wanzai Liang was on one route, chasing the two demon puppets.

Dong Rui was on his own route, driving the Snail-Toad to track another demon puppet master.

It was noisy outside, and there were Greenery Manor soldiers shouting: "The Manor Master is dead, the Manor Master was killed by the Black Armor men!"

Flipping over another high wall, He Lingchuan suddenly stopped his steps—

The Soul-Sucking Mirror told him that the target was lost.

"How could it be lost?" The distance between him and the white monster was clearly shrinking rapidly! "After it jumped over this wall, it disappeared." The Soul-Sucking Mirror was aggrieved, "I don't know where it went either!"

This was a patio with high walls on three sides, and the remaining side was a long corridor, and in the middle of the patio, there was an octagonal water well.

The diameter of the well mouth was only four feet.

He Lingchuan jumped to the side of the well and carefully poked his head into the well, seeing the water rippling inside, about seventy percent full.

That was it; water could isolate spiritual sense. That thing could escape his and the Soul-Sucking Mirror's spiritual sense perception, most likely by jumping to the bottom of the well.

He didn't expect that tonight's capture would actually require getting wet.

He Lingchuan sighed, took out a grappling hook and hooked it onto the well rim, threw a Turtle Pearl into his mouth, and then jumped into the well with a splash.

He entered the water headfirst, with his hands crossed over his shoulders.

The space under the well was too small, and the long sword couldn't be deployed, so he changed to a pair of short forks in his hands in case of accidents.

The bottom of the well in the night was even darker, with only a little starlight penetrating from above; after entering the water for four feet, he couldn't see his fingers.

He Lingchuan took out fluorescent spores to illuminate, seeing that the well wall was also built of square bricks, but covered with moss.

The well was about two zhang deep, and in such a small place, He Lingchuan didn't see the white monster.

The Soul-Sucking Mirror reminded him again: "There is a hole at the bottom of the water!"

He continued to swim downward and indeed saw a gap at the bottom of the well that could accommodate one person to burrow in.

This well actually connected to other underground water systems? He Lingchuan hesitated for a moment, took the mirror to shine a circle into the gap, and confirmed there was no ambush on the other side before bending down and burrowing in.

Ahead was the rock layer; he swam up for a few more zhang, and the sound of water became more turbulent.

Then, he saw the crisscrossing... cracks! "This won't work." The Soul-Sucking Mirror was furious, "There are so many forks, the ghost knows where that thing burrowed into!"

Lost the chase.

There was no point in going further. Although He Lingchuan was regretful, he had to return to the well along the original path and then climb back to the ground through the grappling hook.

The Eyeball Spider didn't go into the water and just stopped on the well ring waiting for him.

He Lingchuan climbed out of the narrow well mouth, wiped the water off his face, and couldn't help but stretch his muscles: "Wanzai Liang, what's the situation?"

Wanzai Liang was tracking the two demon puppets and reported immediately upon hearing this: "They were almost at the North Courtyard gate when they suddenly stopped and turned around in circles on the spot, like headless flies. We were about to surround and capture them when they turned around and ran west! Now we are chasing behind them, three zhang away from that porcupine that can roll."

They didn't dare to follow too closely; that porcupine shot thorns unreasonably. The visibility at night was poor, and no one was good at dodging flying thorns.

West? He Lingchuan understood: "The white monster jumped into the water, and they couldn't sense it either, so they are going back to find their master!"

At this time, Dong Rui also chimed in: "The demon puppets turning in circles is the result of the person behind the scenes struggling to control them. These things aren't very obedient."

Hearing this, He Lingchuan remembered the few Jiao beasts released by the Xushan Heavenly Palace. They were very powerful, but they didn't seem very obedient either.

While running fast outside, he asked Dong Rui: "Did you spot the person?"

"Just found him!"

The Bat Demon Puppet found the target and sent a unique sound wave to its master, which only Dong Rui could receive.

(End of chapter)