Chapter 425

Thump...

On the ground, the head of the shadow cast by the firelight actually split open a curved slit, just like a humanoid creature, grinning and laughing.

The young man in white realized the laughter was coming from the shadow on the ground. His stiff body trembled uncontrollably, his pupils filled with fear and panic.

"Hehehehe..."

Following the second occurrence of that eerie laughter, another humanoid shadow holding a long blade appeared behind the shadow on the ground, quietly placing the long blade against the former's neck.

The young man in white seemed to be scared silly. Instead of drawing the sword at his waist, he reached his hand toward his bosom.

Whoosh...

The black shadow on the ground clearly did not want to waste time and slashed its blade fiercely. Although it and the blade were both shadowy, the moment it swung, it stirred the surrounding airflow, emitting a violent sound of a blade edge.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

However, at the critical moment, the young man in white actually pulled out a piece of yellow candle from his bosom. The wick of the yellow candle had clearly been treated, and the moment it was suddenly pulled out, it ignited spontaneously.

"Ah..."

As the yellow candle lit up, the shadow on the ground immediately let out a scream, and its shape began to become distorted.

Beep...

The moment the yellow candle lit up, a crisp and loud bone whistle sound suddenly echoed all around. It turned out that the young man in white had not only taken out the yellow candle from his bosom just now, but also a bone whistle.

"Finally caught you, you evil beast!"

The young man in white suddenly raised his head; it was none other than Xiang Liang, the Deputy Chief of the Hong Sect's Punishment Department.

There was no longer any trace of drunkenness on Xiang Liang's face. The fear and panic in his pupils instantly transformed into sharpness and ferocity. While still blowing the bone whistle, he secretly thought to himself, then quickly drew his horizontal blade from his waist and stabbed directly at the distorted black shadow on the ground.

Clang...

However, after the horizontal blade coated with fire-condensing oil was inserted into the shadow, it did not give the Head-Cutting Ghost a fatal blow as Xiang Liang had expected. It only scraped out a spark at the point of impact, merely intensifying the distortion of the shadow.

However, the Head-Cutting Ghost clearly felt the pain, and its ferocity seemed to be ignited. It raised its blade again and slashed fiercely at the head of Xiang Liang's shadow, continuing the action that had not been completed just now.

Whoosh...

However, the previously infallible Shadow-Cutting Head-Severing failed this time!

Under the coverage of the yellow candle's firelight, it was reduced to an ordinary shadow. The blade shadow swept past without causing the slightest impact on Xiang Liang.

"Ssh..."

The Head-Cutting Ghost seemed to have sensed something. The distorted shadow actually began to shrink rapidly into a black dot the size of a fist, then quickly detached from Xiang Liang's shadow and escaped to the nearest house shadow in the blink of an eye.

"Everyone, light the yellow candles and surround this evil beast!"

Sizzle...

However, just as the Head-Cutting Ghost escaped to that shadow area, a burly man in golden armor holding a large blade galloped over from not far from the alley. It was Zhu Xing, a captain of the Cloud Dragon Army Scout Battalion.

As soon as Zhu Xing arrived, he immediately took out a yellow candle and lit it, first securing the shadow area of the house, and then did not forget to notify the people behind to light their yellow candles.

As the shadow area of the house was illuminated, the Head-Cutting Ghost had nowhere to hide and continued to flee toward the remaining shadow areas.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle...

However, Zhu Xing was only the first. The moment Xiang Liang blew the bone whistle, hundreds of Cloud Dragon Army soldiers from all directions had already swarmed in. They almost each had a yellow candle, and the entire dark alley was soon illuminated.

And as the shadow areas became fewer and fewer, the Head-Cutting Ghost's activity space also became smaller and smaller, until finally, it had nowhere to hide and was forced into the last shadow area in the corner of the wall.

Swoosh...

A silver arrow broke through the air and hit the Head-Cutting Ghost in the shadow area accurately. But just like when Xiang Liang stabbed it with the horizontal blade, it only scraped out a spark and did not cause any fatal damage.

"Ree..."

But unlike last time, the sharp screeching from the shadow area clearly contained intense pain. The black dot scurried left and right in the shadow area like a headless fly, but it did not dare to jump out of this shadow area.

"This black dot should not be its true form yet, but it's certain that it can only operate in the shadow area. We can always find its true form!"

Lin Kai, in a dark red robe, leaped over from the roof in the distance in a few bounds. Standing above the wall, looking at the black dot hissing in the shadows, his expression was very gloomy.

The arrow he had just shot was not only made of pure silver, but the outer layer was also coated with quite a bit of fire-condensing oil. After being hit, this black dot only emitted a slight spark, clearly different from ordinary ghosts and monsters.

Whoosh... whoosh...

Two more figures followed closely and stood beside him one after another. They were Director Yu Wen Tao and Yuan Cheng, who had rushed over from other locations.

"This is the fifth night in a row. Finally caught it. This evil beast is really cautious!"

Yuan Cheng looked down at the shadow below, pulled out a small silver dagger from his body, scraped off a piece of fire-condensing oil, and threw it at the shadow area.

"Ree..."

Similar to the situation when Lin Kai shot it with a bow and arrow just now, after the black dot in the shadow was stabbed by the dagger, sparks burst out. Although it let out a shrill scream, it clearly did not suffer any fatal damage and continued to scurry around in the shadow area like a mouse.

"Can only operate in the shadow area?"

As soon as Director Yu Wen Tao saw this situation, he immediately knew what was going on.

"Everyone gather around and trap it in the middle!"

At Lin Kai's order, more than a hundred Cloud Dragon Army soldiers immediately raised their yellow candles and surrounded the shadow in the corner of the wall.

Once the light source arrived, the shadow area in the corner of the wall naturally disappeared. The black dot transformed by the Head-Cutting Ghost had no place to hide and was completely trapped by the yellow candles. As the soldiers got closer and the yellow candles became more compact, its activity space became increasingly narrow.

"That's enough. Put the yellow candles on the ground and you all disperse first!"

Until its activity space was compressed into a circular area with a diameter of only five meters, Lin Kai waved his hand to stop the soldiers and let them disperse first.

The soldiers placed the yellow candles on the ground and dispersed one after another. The black dot was still trapped in the middle. Although it tried to rush out in all directions, it retreated in the end when approaching the yellow candle light source.

"Although yellow candles can defend against ghost and monster means, they cannot destroy ghosts. So we have only limited its ability, making it unable to escape. Is that the meaning?"

Hearing Yuan Cheng's question, Lin Kai nodded slightly and said in a deep voice: "This black dot is clearly not its true form; it should be its means. Trapping it now is useless. We must find its true form to completely destroy it."

After Lin Kai finished speaking, he thought of something and hurriedly took out a fiery red jade from his bosom. Seeing that the jade was emitting extremely strong fluorescence, his brows condensed slightly and he said: "The stone has a reaction, proving that the true form of this Head-Cutting Ghost is nearby."

This piece of jade was found by Tong Xingsheng on Chu Dongning's corpse last month. Over the past ten days, Lin Kai personally led the Prison Department to track the traces of ghosts and monsters in the Nancheng, and it could already be determined that the function of this jade was to sense nearby ghosts and monsters.

The closer it was, the stronger the reaction of the jade. Now that the light was so intense, it clearly meant that the true form of this Head-Cutting Ghost was very, very close to them.

If it's not the black dot on the ground, what else could the true form be?

Just as everyone in the arena was lost in thought, Xiang Liang, who had retreated to the very edge, looked at the black dot trapped in the corner of the wall by the yellow candles, but suddenly thought of something. He stood out with hesitation and bowed to the three of Lin Kai:

"Three lords, since the black dot is only a means of this Head-Cutting Ghost, this subordinate boldly suggests that we only keep the yellow candles that trap it and extinguish all other light sources around first, to see if we can make its means ineffective."

Hearing Xiang Liang's suggestion, Lin Kai's expression was slightly stunned, but after thinking for a moment, he reacted quickly, his expression slightly invigorated.

"Right, this black dot is essentially a mass of shadow, and it is a shadow created by its main body. And the key to creating shadows is the light source!"

Director Yu Wen Tao was the first to react, looking at Xiang Liang with admiration on his face.

"Bai Shan Ning, take people to block the alley and don't let anyone get close; Zhao Bao, you take people to extinguish the light sources in all the houses on both sides; Zhu Xing, take people to disperse and take positions next to all the torches and coal stoves around. When I give the order later, you all extinguish the fires at the same time."

"Subordinate obeys!"

And on Lin Kai's side, he had already begun to give orders.

The three nodded and responded, immediately beginning to arrange things in an orderly manner according to his orders.

First, the alley was blocked, and many people who came to watch the excitement were blocked outside; then the light sources in the houses on both sides were extinguished, falling into darkness; finally, next to more than twenty torches and coal stoves around, there was a Cloud Dragon Army soldier either holding animal skin or carrying a bucket of water, all ready, waiting for Lin Kai's order.

"Extinguish!"

Lin Kai did not waste time. Seeing that everyone was ready, he drew the sword at his waist and gave the order directly.

Bang... ssh...

The more than twenty light sources around were extinguished at the same time. Only the firelight of the yellow candles in the corner of the wall remained bright, but that little firelight naturally could not play much of a role. The entire alley instantly fell into darkness.

"Hum..."

Swoosh...

The moment darkness descended, a faint humming sound rang out. Lin Kai raised the powerful bow in his hand almost reflexively and shot a silver arrow directly at the top of a coal stove in the distance.

Sizzle...

Above that coal stove, there was clearly nothing, but the galloping arrow clearly hit something, stopping directly above it. Moreover, the fire-condensing oil on the surface of the arrow soon ignited, and black smoke billowed instantly.

"Ree..."

At the same time, that painful and shrill screeching sound rang out again. Above the extinguished coal stove, that Head-Cutting Ghost finally revealed its true appearance.

It was actually a black "humanoid" flying insect the size of a fist.

Using the word humanoid to describe it is because that black flying insect, apart from a pair of transparent wings, had a head, torso, and limbs, exactly the same as a human.

But if you look closely, you will find that its face has no facial features, only a huge mouthpart that occupies half of its face; its limbs, rather than being hands and feet, are four black sharp blades growing on its body; and its torso is wrapped in a layer of pitch-black shell, looking very much like an insect.

Hum...

That magic insect was actually not dead yet.

It suddenly turned its head and flew toward the yellow candles.

"It should not be able to stay too far away from the black dot. Only by retracting the black dot can it move freely. Protect the yellow candles and shoot it with bows!"

Director Yu Wen Tao pointed out the magic insect's intention in one word. Seeing that the powerful bow in Lin Kai's hand had not stopped at all, he and Yuan Cheng also immediately took down their own silver powerful bows.

The three stood around the yellow candles, constantly shooting arrows at the magic insect.

That magic insect could fly after all, and the three had no chance for close combat. Since its range of movement was limited, shooting it with bows and arrows was undoubtedly the safest choice.

That magic insect's speed was truly astonishingly fast. You must know that Lin Kai's first arrow had already caused it considerable damage, but facing the continuous shots from the powerful bows of Director Yu Wen Tao and the others, it was still able to avoid more than 90%.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh...

The three shot continuously, stubbornly not letting the magic insect get close to the yellow candles, and the magic insect's dodging movements were becoming more and more strenuous. The outcome was already obvious.

"You say, what is the draw weight of the silver-winged bows in the hands of the three lords?"

"You can tell just by looking! The top-tier silver-winged bows currently in the Camp Supply Department can only reach a draw weight of 30 mane. With the strength and financial resources of the three lords, they are definitely equipped with 30-mane ones."

"No wonder the sound of the arrows bursting was so loud; many people in the Nancheng heard it."