Chapter 26: Eight Bearers Grand Sedan?

Outside the West Gate, the trio of Jiang Tian, Deng Yutang, and Tian Tian were locked in combat with a Mist Shadow Person.

This was a Mist Realm fiend; its specific rank should be Mist Realm · Fourth Segment.

Though its cultivation level was higher than that of the squad members, it was fighting alone after all, and Team Leader Zhang Feng was willing to give the squad a chance for tempering and bonus points.

However, ever since Lu Ran departed, the squad's combat system had fallen into chaos.

At this moment, Tian Tian had moved to the very front!

That small figure held up a large petal-shaped shield, resisting the mist balls flung by the Mist Shadow Person.

She was the only one in the team possessing a defensive technique, so her positioning was flawless.

The real problem lay in the tall and straight-backed Deng Yutang, who kept his knees bent in a half-squat, hiding behind Tian Tian.

From time to time, he would thrust his long spear out from the edge of the petal shield, viciously stabbing the Mist Shadow Person several times.

It was undeniable that the effect of their coordination was excellent, inflicting injury upon the Mist Shadow Person again and again.

But this scene... well, it was slightly hard on the eyes.

There was no helping it; at this current stage, Deng Yutang possessed no defensive technique to rely on.

And the Mist Shadow Person was frantically swinging clouds of mist around, just like damn bombs being thrown!

With Lu Ran gone, Jiangjiang Ruyi had taken up the jungler role; she drifted on the outskirts, maneuvering desperately to distract the Mist Shadow Person's attention.

"Zzzt~ Zzt~"

The electric sparks flickering at the girl's fingertips also outlined the trajectory of her movements.

Time and again, the Electric Bind Talisman struck the Mist Shadow Person with precision.

However, the Mist Shadow Person's bodily structure was extremely peculiar; its entire body was composed of gray mist, which greatly diminished the effectiveness of the Electric Bind Talisman.

"Crack!"

Once more, the Electric Bind Talisman struck the Mist Shadow Person with pinpoint accuracy.

Dense electric currents, like small snakes running amok, crawled everywhere within that body permeated by gray mist.

"Heh..."

Jiangjiang Ruyi halted her feet, panting heavily, her chest heaving continuously.

Deng Yutang, quick-eyed and fast-handed, thrust his spear forward fiercely.

The spear tip entered the mist, poking a hole through the gray mist head.

The Mist Shadow Person's head resembled a punctured balloon, constantly leaking wisps of mist outward.

"Hiss!"

As the electric current within the Mist Shadow Person dissipated, it immediately let out a furious roar.

Those pair of gray mist claws suddenly solidified, transforming into physical forms, and viciously grabbed hold of the spear tip.

"Abomination, you dare!" Deng Yutang strained to grip his weapon tightly, roaring back with equal fury.

On the battlefield,

Red Scarf believers never lacked an aura that pressed down on others!

However, speaking purely in terms of strength attributes, humans of the same realm were simply no match for the fiend race.

Not to mention that the Mist Shadow Person was a full two small segments higher than Deng Yutang!

"Hold steady!" Beneath Jiangjiang Ruyi's slender jade-like fingers, electric sparks flashed forth once more.

To be honest, without Jiangjiang Ruyi, this squad would have been crushed long ago.

Deng Yutang's long spear would have been snatched away long since, and Tian Tian's petal shield would have been torn apart who knows how many times.

Just as Goddess Jiang cast her spell, attempting to suppress the fiend once again...

"Whoosh!!"

A wild wind suddenly arose!

A figure flashed past Jiangjiang Ruyi's side, blowing her raincoat fluttering and her long hair flying.

Jiangjiang Ruyi's body stiffened, her beautiful eyes widening!

Her astonished expression gradually turned to delight: "Lu Ran..."

"Baa~"

The sound of a sheep bleating quietly rose, hidden within the wind and rain, escaping human ears and failing to elicit even the slightest reaction from the Mist Shadow Person.

As expected, it was useless.

Lu Ran sighed inwardly.

The Mist Shadow Person's face had only an outline, lacking facial features, so the concept of ears did not apply.

He truly did not know what it relied on to perceive the world, or how it managed to emit howling sounds.

Regardless, Lu Ran's Divine Art · Sound of Despair could not affect this uniquely structured Mist Shadow Person.

"Wu?" The Mist Shadow Person suddenly turned its head, "looking" behind itself.

Although Lu Ran's Divine Art had no effect, the Mist Shadow Person had genuinely perceived the approaching enemy.

"Zhi!"

A slender blade of rosy light severed a curtain of rain.

A ghostly figure shuttled through at extreme speed, crossing paths with the Mist Shadow Person.

In an instant,

the Mist Shadow Person was actually sliced in half at the waist by the rosy light blade!

Yet it still did not die; only the waist region that had been slashed continuously leaked gray mist outward.

"Ha! Brother Lu has returned!" Deng Yutang's tiger-like eyes brightened as he shouted excitedly, "I knew you would be fine!"

Tian Tian pursed her small lips, secretly delighted, so excited that her tiny hands were trembling.

When Lu Ran was abducted by the Lady Lady Yanzhi Figure and vanished into the vast night, Tian Tian felt as if struck by lightning.

After so many years, she had finally found a few teammates who respected her, found a warm little collective.

Yet, this story she had longed for had only just begun.

Everything was snatched away by that gaudy Lady Lady Yanzhi Figure.

Tian Tian's heart was weeping, yet as always, even her sorrow made no sound.

Similar to her was Jiangjiang Ruyi, equally distraught and lost.

She watched helplessly as Lu Ran, held in the arms of the Lady Lady Yanzhi Figure, disappeared into the rainy night.

This scene was like a slow-motion replay.

It looped again and again in her mind, leaving her beside herself with grief.

Everyone living in this world knew how perilous the night of the fifteenth day of the lunar month was.

Time and again, death reports released worldwide after every fifteenth day informed humanity of this cold, cruel reality.

Yet, when a living person vanished right beside her, Jiangjiang Ruyi still was not mentally prepared.

Especially since that person was Lu Ran.

Lu Ran, who had shared her desk for two years, laughing and playing pranks.

That Lu Ran who trained day and night on the old rooftop, vowing to become Master Yu Fu's disciple and slaughter every evil demon in the world.

The bits and pieces of memory made that vanishing figure incredibly clear in her mind.

Jiangjiang Ruyi dared not think further, nor did she wish to dwell on his fate.

Only Deng Yutang kept boosting morale, cheering the team on, speaking comforting words like "He will definitely return," "Don't worry," and "Brother Lu must be fine."

Ironically enough,

the one who ultimately brought this team back to "life" was instead a member of the demon race—the Mist Shadow Person.

The sudden crisis temporarily awakened their distraught shells.

Jiangjiang Ruyi forcibly suppressed her churning emotions and steeled her spirit to fight, yet unexpectedly, amidst the bitter struggle,

that figure, whose life or death was unknown, appeared once more, returning right here!

It resembled nothing so much as an unrealistic dream.

"Whoosh!"

The tattered black raincoat fluttered chaotically in the heavy rain.

The pitch-black, ghostly figure flashed past the side of the Mist Shadow Person once again.

"Roar!"

The Mist Shadow Person was furious, its misty body trembling violently.

It had long since released the spearhead in its hand; mist spheres constantly gathered in its pair of mist claws, flung wildly at Lu Ran.

"Die!" How could Deng Yutang miss such an opportunity?

Wielding his long spear, he thrust repeatedly.

In an instant, the Mist Shadow Person's upper arm, shoulder, and side of its head were pierced into a honeycomb shape, causing massive amounts of mist to leak out.

"Roar!" The Mist Shadow Person turned to fight Deng Yutang again, but just as its sharp claws extended, they were blocked solidly by Tian Tian's petal shield.

The Mist Shadow Person grabbed the petal shield fiercely, intending to hurl both person and shield away together!

At the same time, a familiar scene played out once more.

The Lightning Binding Talisman arrived just in time, causing the Mist Shadow Person's body to shiver from the electric shock.

Deng Yutang immediately stabbed the Mist Shadow Person's clawed hand, relieving Tian Tian from her predicament.

And such a scene had already played out countless times.

The battlefield changed in the blink of an eye; while Deng Yutang was still striving to relieve the situation, the pitch-black phantom appeared once again!

"Hiss!"

The immortal mist spreading beneath his feet outlined Lu Ran's trajectory.

Drawing vast amounts of divine power from the Divine Power Bead hanging around his neck, he instantly appeared behind the Mist Shadow Person, unleashing killing moves one after another.

Decapitation strike!

The cold gleam of the Xia Guang Dao swept across the Mist Shadow Person's neck.

Diagonal slash!

The blade turned, its tip cutting from the Mist Shadow Person's right shoulder down to its left waist.

Horizontal slash!

His wrist flipped, the blade edge facing right, shoulder driving the arm, arm driving the hand.

Using his blade as a brush, Lu Ran forcibly painted a "Z" shape upon the canvas of spreading gray mist.

In that instant, mist gushed forth massively.

"Hiss—"

The Mist Shadow Person roared in anger, stretched to its limits, tearing backward.

Yet that pair of solid, sharp mist claws grasped at empty air.

The little painter behind it, spraying mist from beneath its feet, had already flown backward away.

The tattered tail of that black raincoat drifted forward continuously, emitting a rustling sound.

It seemed to mock the Mist Shadow Person's impotent rage.

"Hiss!"

Once again, Deng Yutang's spear pierced through the back of the Mist Shadow Person's head.

Even the bright spear tip protruded from the front of the Mist Shadow Person's forehead!

Finally, the Mist Shadow Person, frantically leaking air, fell completely silent.

For the Mist Shadow People, a pierced head did not mean a fatal wound.

It was because the mist within its body had dissipated to a certain degree, reaching a critical point.

This strangely constructed creature finally lost its life.

"Pop!!!"

Amid the pouring rain, the Mist Shadow Person's body exploded with a boom.

A massive explosion!

The scene was quite spectacular.

"Heh." Lu Ran flicked his blade into a flourish, resting two fingers on the slender, icy blade and slowly wiping them toward the tip.

All the gray mist clinging to it was wiped away by him.

Don't ask,

if you must ask, he was just pulling out a plastic bag.

However, before Lu Ran could finish pulling it out, he thought of something else and hurriedly ran toward the mist.

Immediately, he exerted all his strength to activate the Divine Power Bead hanging around his neck.

The crystal-clear jewel quietly lit up; the originally scattering mist finally found its organization and ceased gradually dissipating.

Wisp after wisp of mist, like strange threads, wound and flowed through the midair, converging at Lu Ran's neck and continuously surging into the Divine Power Bead.

Such a scene,

was miraculous yet bizarre!

Tsk, that feels good~

Lu Ran placed one hand on his neck, feeling wisps of mist brush past his fingers and surge into the bead.

Wasn't the Divine Power consumed during the fight just now replenished?

Suddenly, a hand landed on his back.

"Hmm?" Lu Ran turned his head to look; borrowing the gymnasium's lights, he saw the girl's soaked face.

Rainy days made excellent cover, drenching everyone fighting in the rain.

Yet her eye rims were red, clearly having nothing to do with the heavy rain.

"You... you're alright." Jiangjiang Ruyi's voice was very small, very light.

All the words filling her heart ultimately transformed into just a few characters.

"Mm." Lu Ran nodded with a smile, also noticing the girl's abnormality.

Jiangjiang Meiren's eyes were full of complexity.

There were too many emotions in her gaze, making it impossible for Lu Ran to distinguish whether she was worried or delighted.

Lu Ran spoke with a smile, as if truly fine, comforting his teammate in his own style: "I told the Lady Lady Yanzhi Person that marriage is no child's play; how can one be so casual about it?

We're not after her betrothal gift money, but at least she should give me some proper status, right?

We've watched period dramas too; it must be an eight-carrier sedan chair, a formally wedded wife!"

Lu Ran subconsciously raised both hands, because the girl before him suddenly stepped forward and tightly embraced him.

This?

Lu Ran stood stunned on the spot; usually so talkative, he was now at a loss for words.

Jiangjiang Ruyi hugged Lu Ran tightly for a moment, as if confirming he had truly returned.

Slowly, she released her embrace, stepped back, lowered her head, and whispered:

"It's good that you're back."

Lu Ran kept his mouth slightly open; after a long while, he finally managed to say: "Actually, not going with her is fine too.

That Lady Lady Yanzhi Person felt ice-cold when hugged; you are much warmer.

By the way, does your family have an eight-carrier sedan cha—Whoa!"

Deng Yutang appeared behind Lu Ran, suddenly lifted him up, and threw him into the sky: "Yoo-hoo~~~

Haha! I knew it, I knew you would definitely come back! Hahahaha!"

His loud laughter, brimming with intense joy, was incredibly infectious.

Consequently, Lu Ran laughed too: "Haha!"

Regardless of what psychological activities his teammates had undergone, Lu Ran was the true experiencer.

He had indeed walked a round trip from the gates of hell.

Being able to survive was truly fortunate.

The pouring rain continued to fall,

landing on Lu Ran yet feeling like sweet dew, allowing him, having survived disaster, to experience the precious sensation only the living can possess.

Jiangjiang Ruyi looked up at Lu Ran, who was tossed in the air, laughing loudly.

Finally,

a smile appeared on her face as well.

Thanks to bosses Southside Wandering Soul, Huang Di, DaCapa, and Ye Luo Wei Feng for their donations; thanks for the support, bosses, you're generous! (`) Heart fingers.

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(End of Chapter)