Chapter 521: Counter-Twist

It slipped away as hurriedly as it had arrived. Aside from a puddle of slime, it left nothing behind. A gust of lake wind blew past, chilling everyone to the bone.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Old Wu beckoned someone over and whispered a few words quickly.

The man nodded, turned, and dashed into the crowd, disappearing from sight.

"Old Wu?" Cen Boqing snapped back to reality, looking left and right. "Old Wu!"

Old Wu hurried over to follow him.

"Return to the manor!" Cen Boqing turned and headed back. "Return to the manor immediately, quickly!"

The commoners were still exclaiming and retreating; County Magistrate Tian's legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed to the ground, his mind filled with thoughts of "it's over, it's all over."

The Inspector from Lingxu City, swallowed by a monster in broad daylight?

With the incident happening on his turf, how was he to answer to his superiors? The bailiffs even went to the sandy ground to dig for a while, showing they had done their best, before returning to report: "My lord, that monster has escaped!"

A long axe broke through the water, aiming for He He Lingchuan's waist, intending to cut him in two.

Even underwater, the aura on the axe remained condensed and did not dissipate. He He Lingchuan had no leverage in the water and could not easily dodge; if he were struck squarely, he would truly be split into two—an upper half and a lower half.

Clearly, the murky water he had stirred up had failed to deceive Fan Sheng's eyes.

He did not know that before this man gave chase, Zhong Zhong Sunmou had gifted him a small vial of potion; applying it to the eyes allowed one to see underwater without being hindered by turbidity, lasting for a quarter of an hour.

Underwater light and visibility were ever-changing, and the aquatic demon tribes had plenty of ways to cope.

Even when He He Lingchuan swam two zhang away, thinking himself safe, Fan Sheng on the surface was actually following like a shadow, in hot pursuit.

He left the bottom of the boat and stepped directly onto the water.

As soon as his soles touched the surface, a faint blue light immediately radiated outward.

Thereafter, he could walk on the water as if it were flat ground. He had no fear of sinking—unless he exerted force with his toes or heels to step beneath the surface.

Both the Shark-folk and the Sea-Patrolling Yakshas possessed this ability, known as "Wave-Walking." Zhong Zhong Sunmou knew he was coming to hunt down He Xiao, so he had temporarily lent this method to Fan Sheng, which could be maintained for about two hours.

Fan Sheng originally held a short-handled hand axe, but this magic treasure could be lengthened according to the owner's will; the long shaft could be extended to eight feet, allowing it to be wielded on horseback or used to hack at people underwater.

Fan Sheng's strike was surging with killing intent; before the axe blade even touched the lake water, the surface showed indentations. By the time he swung, six neat cut marks appeared where the axe fell, covering a radius of two zhang! Wielding an axe to sever water—even the lake water was cut apart in an instant, and it was a wide-area attack, all to prevent this brat from being slippery or using blinding tricks.

In such a case, could He He Lingchuan in the water still remain unscathed?

The axe blade swept past his waist, even killing several piranhas circling him, their blood staining the water red.

The momentum was immense.

Of course, the sight of "severed water" lasted only an instant, and the lake water filled back in immediately.

Fan Sheng's thick brows furrowed tightly again.

Why "again"? Because there was still no sensation of cutting into flesh and blood.

This was the second time.

During the previous battle outside Tongfu Inn, he had swiped at He He Lingchuan's neck, but that had only been a phantom image; the enemy had teleported behind him.

This kind of combat technique... it was very much like "Substituting a Peach for a Plum"! Fan Sheng did not have time to think it over before turning around to prevent a sneak attack from behind.

Sure enough, there was a splash of water behind him, and that tailless broken boat came smashing toward his head and face.

Fan Sheng was, of course, not afraid of such a move. But his height did not reach eight feet, and he was still within the realm of a normal human; with such a large boat thrown over, it easily blocked his line of sight.

By the time Fan Sheng hacked the broken boat in two with a flying axe, the sound of something piercing the air came from behind his head, though it was not very obvious, mixed in with the whistling wind of the flying boat debris.

Fan Sheng's spiritual sense expanded as if he had eyes in the back of his head; he backhanded his other axe to sweep the hidden weapon away.

They were four or five red needles, shorter than a pinky finger, of unknown material, attacking his upper, middle, and lower paths at exceptionally tricky angles.

Just as Fan Sheng knocked them away, a spherical object flew out from the lotus wall, zipping over to smash into his face; it was about four feet in diameter, shaped like a stubborn rock.

Being hit by it would certainly not end well, especially since this round object suddenly expanded in size as it fell, extending eight legs, looking as if it wanted to hug Fan Sheng's face!

A few breaths ago, he had used hidden weapons to ambush He He Lingchuan underwater before closing in.

Now the scene was repeating, only the roles were reversed.

No matter how skilled and bold Fan Sheng was, he dared not let this thing hug his face and had no choice but to take large steps backward.

This object landed on the water surface, also walking as if on flat ground, its eight legs paddling rapidly as it lunged at him.

Only then did Fan Sheng see clearly that this thing was actually a giant spider, standing over four feet tall! Its specialized mouthparts had two pairs of outward-extending serrated fangs, which could usually be folded under its abdomen but would snap out during an attack, like the forelimbs of a mantis.

The hacking strike was as fast as lightning; even as Fan Sheng received it, he felt the force was heavy and substantial. He had just blocked two strikes when the serrations on the fangs suddenly sprayed a dozen streams of light green liquid, hissing as they aimed to splash his face.

This was truly caught off guard.

However, applying poison to fangs was naturally an innate talent of many demon beasts.

Fortunately, he had aura and primordial power protecting his body; only a few drops of the poison splashed onto his face, stinging him into a shiver.

This thing was highly corrosive; if he had taken the full brunt of it, his face would have rotted away.

Fan Sheng gritted his teeth and forced the spider back with two axe strikes. This thing knew how to advance, retreat, and defend, not just acting recklessly, but it couldn't withstand Fan Sheng's fierce offensive and still had one of its legs chopped off.

He still remembered the main target was He He Lingchuan; while attacking, he scanned with his spiritual sense but failed to find the man's figure.

From the side, four or five more red needles shot over, followed closely by a white, sticky mass that covered his head.

Only then did Fan Sheng realize that two more spiders were hiding in the lotus wall!

One was round, fat, and sturdy, with chelicerae thicker than a watermelon; whenever it shook its legs, the sharp needles would shoot toward him.

But it was likely too heavy and not agile enough, so it could only leap by stepping on the floating wood debris on the water.

The one throwing the net was another small spider, less than a third the size of its two companions, hiding in the lotus leaves and refusing to come out.

Where did these three monsters come from?

The local demon birds and beasts should have all been driven out of the Lotus Palace by the marsh.

Arranged by He Xiao? Then this was a trap, Fan Sheng thought with a start.

His swings carried a technique of ice-crystal sluggishness; the two large spiders fought him for two rounds, their joints frozen stiff, no longer as agile as before.

Primordial power still had a great advantage against wild monsters.

With a few crisp slashes, he chopped off several spider legs, and the two large monsters hissed in pain.

Who would have thought these legs would turn into finger-long small spiders in the blink of an eye, silently creeping over to hug his thighs.

Was there no end to this? Fan Sheng took a moment to crush two of them, feeling truly irritated.

Where exactly was the main target, He He Lingchuan, hiding?

Just then, the spider in the lotus leaves sprayed its web for the second time.

And it was a double-spray.

This net was extremely sticky but carried no damage itself, so primordial power was ineffective against it; however, the thing was like superglue, and it was truly cumbersome to pull apart. Fan Sheng hadn't managed to get rid of the web he was caught in last time, so as soon as he caught a glimpse of the web flying over from the corner of his eye, he immediately jumped to the side.

As a result, he dodged the small one, but another ridiculously large net descended from the sky, catching him and the two spiders in one fell swoop! Fan Sheng was shocked and turned his head desperately, only to find a golden-armored bronze figure standing behind him at some point, holding something and throwing it with all its might!

The bronze figure was one and a half zhang tall, and the water depth didn't even reach its knees. It could stand steadily on the lake bed and cast a large net toward Fan Sheng.

Yes, what it threw was an intact, complete net.

The mesh was very small, but the area was vast, almost covering this narrow stretch of water.

Fan Sheng couldn't jump away in his haste, and the fishing net came down like a shroud, covering him in one go.

The golden-armored bronze figure immediately pulled, retracted, and twisted, trapping the dignified Deputy Commander of the Concentric Guard in the net! Fan Sheng struggled backward with all his might.

His true power was immense; if on flat ground, the bronze figure might not have been able to topple him. Unfortunately, this was the Tide Lake, and no matter how formidable Fan Sheng was, he lacked experience in water combat, so he subconsciously kicked backward with his heels—

With a splash, he fell into the water, kicking up a huge spray.

The "Wave-Walking" buff was instantly trampled away by him.

Therefore, the golden-armored bronze figure's subsequent net-retraction went quite smoothly.

Fan Sheng was furious and swung his axe to cut the net.

But this net was extremely soft and tough; the axe blade felt empty and heavy when it struck, and it took several swings to snap a single thread.

This was the very net He He Lingchuan had used to catch the Emperor Flowing Nectar at Three-Heart Plain, made of Cloud Brocade woven by Zhu Zhu Xiuer herself; it not only had astonishing strength and fine mesh but also a complex weaving method that could dissipate force to the greatest extent.

Even with primordial power added to Fan Sheng's attacks, if he wanted to tear apart Zhu Zhu Xiuer's hard work purely by brute force, he would need to put in more effort, and then some more.

How could the golden-armored bronze figure give him such an opportunity? It twisted hard, wringing him tightly in the net like a towel, wrapping him in two more layers inside and out.

The movement was very skillful; one could tell it had practiced often.

Fan Sheng didn't even have the space to reach out and support the net, so how could he swing his axe?

Not to mention there were two spiders in the web, constantly poking his eyeballs, spraying him with venom, and stabbing his vital points.

With the two sides so close, Fan Sheng was so constrained by the giant net that he couldn't even lift his elbows, let alone swing his axe! But the two spiders combined had several legs, plus two pairs of venomous fangs to attack with! In such a narrow space where maneuvering was difficult, the spiders' attacks were actually more advantageous.

He was already struggling just to resist the sneak attacks from these two treacherous things; how could he have any energy left to cut the large net?

After the large net twisted a few more times, Fan Sheng was wrapped into a cocoon, layer upon layer.

Only then did a person jump onto the forearm of the golden-armored bronze figure; it was He He Lingchuan.

He had wanted to strike a cool pose, but there was still a piranha biting his hair, flapping its tail.

He He Lingchuan plucked it off, threw it onto Fan Sheng, and then flicked his blade tip to rest against the Deputy Commander's neck.

"Lord Fan, do you want to die or live now?" He was too lazy to exchange pleasantries with this fellow.

The winner is king; an eternal, unbreakable truth.

(End of chapter)