Chapter 228: Facing Enemies from Both Sides, Entering a Deadlock

"Your guess is correct," Guihua leaned against a nearby tree, fiddling with her fingernails, "there is indeed something strange in Yunmeng Marsh; no wonder that woman Tumi could refine spirit pills as soon as she entered."

Yet for a moment, no one answered her; only the birds in the forest chirped incessantly, which was very eerie.

After a long silence, Bai Wuchang walked out from the shadows; he opened his folding fan and began to fan himself leisurely.

"I have my own plans for this matter, so I shall not trouble the Demon General," Bai Wuchang stared straight ahead, as if there were something in the depths of the forest, "but I must trouble the General to make a trip before the Demon Lord."

Upon hearing this, Guihua sighed in utter helplessness, appearing extremely dissatisfied: "Fine, fine, then let that wretched girl go for now!"

As soon as the words fell, a mass of black mist wrapped around her entire body; in just a moment, the black mist dissipated, and Guihua was nowhere to be seen.

After Guihua left, Bai Wuchang withdrew his gaze and glanced at Huiwu, who was sitting slumped to the side in a disheveled state, a cryptic smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

……

Amidst the earth-shaking tremors, the once-calm surface of the marsh became like boiling water in a kitchen, churning incessantly while carrying mud.

Before long, a massive body suddenly lunged out from the water; the series of long howls was deafening, and everyone had to cover their ears, yet they still could not block out those roars.

By the time the tremors beneath their feet stopped, that body had not fully emerged from the water, but the roaring had ceased.

Only then did everyone discover that the creature before them was a snake-bodied monster, but that monster actually had...

Eight heads!

No wonder the roaring sounds had varied in pitch just now, like a group of people shouting loudly. Moreover, the monster's heads all looked like human heads.

"This... what kind of monster is this..." Long Qi exclaimed; he didn't notice at all that his voice was a bit loud, perhaps because his hearing hadn't yet recovered from those roars, "Why is it so strange? It actually has eight heads!"

"No... it's not eight..." Xin Yi also raised his finger and pointed loudly, "It's nine!"

Long Qi did not hear clearly what Xin Yi said, but he looked in the direction he was pointing; the monster before them indeed had nine torsos, but that ninth torso had no head and hung down in the distance with an old wound, as if it had been severed by someone long ago.

"It is Xiangliu," Lingxiang frowned and said in a low voice.

"What? Xiangliu?" Long Qi's hearing seemed to have recovered a little, but he still strained his voice to speak loudly; he asked in surprise: "That ancient fierce god Xiangliu?"

That's right, this was the purpose of Lingxiang's trip. Among the medicinal ingredients in the prescription left by Tumi, one of them was the Poison Fang of Xiangliu.

There is a description of Xiangliu in the "Records of Strange Tales of Mountains and Seas," but Lingxiang had not expected that Xiangliu would be so enormous; not to mention the snake body buried in the water, even the human body it split off could occupy an entire mountain peak.

Now, with Xiangliu in front and Guihua behind, facing enemies from both sides, they were in a dilemma of whether to advance or retreat.

Xiangliu was originally an assistant minister to Gonggong; after the great god Gonggong struck Buzhou Mountain in anger, it caused havoc everywhere, turning everywhere it went into a marshland. Later, it was slain by Yu Di, who built Wandi Terrace to suppress its flesh and blood.

These were all recorded in books; Lingxiang was also astonished when she saw the tooth of Xiangliu on the prescription, but she did not expect that this Xiangliu was actually hiding in Yunmeng Marsh.

It seems that one cannot fully believe what is written in books!

And what was strange was that although the monster before them looked fierce and terrifying, Lingxiang did not feel a shred of hostility.

Shouldn't Xiangliu be incomparably poisonous and a devourer of countless people?

Huiwu, who had never seen such a spectacle, was also stunned for a moment; since Guihua was a high-ranking member of the Demon Race, she naturally knew of Xiangliu, so she hurriedly pulled Huiwu to flee.

After Huiwu came to his senses, he turned his eyes and saw Zhao Wuyang sitting still not far away; a feeling of resentment immediately arose from his heart—

It was precisely these so-called wealthy scions who, relying on their background, gained all sorts of covetous attention; what right did they have?

Upon seeing Zhao Wuyang, he thought of his own experiences at Taishang Sect and thought of what Shao Fengcheng had done to him; the thought from that moment just now was like a poisonous vine, tightly strangling Huiwu, growing wildly, unable to break free.

Huiwu could finally no longer restrain himself; he shook off Guihua who was pulling him and flew out, his face ferocious, his eyes splitting. He saw his feet turn into demon claws, wrapped in fierce wind and Demon Miasma, charging toward Zhao Wuyang without any hesitation.

"Oh no!" Lingxiang cried out in alarm.

The appearance of Xiangliu had destroyed the Dharma Array she had set up; just now, while dodging the tremors, she had moved even further away from Zhao Wuyang, and now if she wanted to rescue him, it was simply too late!

Furthermore...

Furthermore, there was an inscrutable Xiangliu in front, eyeing them covetously; if they acted rashly, there was no telling what might happen.

Huiwu's sharp claws were nearly upon him, and Xin Yi could not care about anything else; he drew his blade and prepared to rush out.

It was at this moment that Zhao Wuyang suddenly opened his eyes, his eyes filled with fluorescent light, his body brimming with Spirit Qi.

"Demon Eradication Clear Radiance!" Lingxiang was greatly shocked; could it be that after experiencing Seeking Qi, Zhao Wuyang was able to utilize the Demon Eradication Power to this extent?

This was top-tier Demon Eradication Clear Radiance power; even Senior Brother Shangqing had only achieved it after cultivating for decades.

Furthermore, had Senior Brother Qianyuan really taught the Demon Extraction Technique to Zhao Wuyang so trustingly? This was surely too rash, wasn't it?

Just as Lingxiang was astonished, Zhao Wuyang shouted in a low voice, and his body instantly released an invisible energy, shaking Huiwu, who was closing in, a dozen feet away.

Before Huiwu could steady himself, he saw Zhao Wuyang slap the ground and soar into the air, twisting his fingers to form a seal and flipping in mid-air, like an arrow released from a bowstring, flying straight toward Huiwu. When he reached him, he turned his fingers into a sword, pressing straight toward Huiwu's face.

Judging by the moves, they were somewhat similar to Lingxiang's Lianxin Sword Art, but the Spirit Qi between Zhao Wuyang's fingers was even purer.

That was the Demon Eradication Power!

A sword shape was just beginning to form on Zhao Wuyang's fingers, and he was but an inch away from Huiwu; it was at this moment that a figure flashed by, instantly taking Huiwu away.

It was Guihua!

Guihua's original intention was to take advantage of Zhao Wuyang's lack of preparation and kill him in one strike. Yet, she did not expect that just as she was about to get close, Zhao Wuyang actually glanced at her, and the killing intent in those eyes made her shudder in an instant, leaving her no choice but to turn and rescue Huiwu instead.

But even so, the demon horn on Huiwu's head had been sliced off by Zhao Wuyang!

This kid is definitely not simple!

Guihua was filled with suspicion, but she did not want to risk her life; if it weren't for the fact that the summoning demon array was in Huiwu's hands, she wouldn't have bothered with him at all.

As soon as she rescued Huiwu, Guihua pulled a Compass from his embrace, her fingers tracing rapidly over the Compass, her mouth chanting strange incantations.

The Compass began to glow with demon light, and everyone was shocked to see this—

Could it be that she was going to summon demon creatures again?

If that were truly the case, then they would really be facing enemies from both sides!

Long Qi had already drawn Longyuan, and Xin Yi was also standing by in full battle array, but Lingxiang only furrowed her brows slightly.

She just felt it was strange; the Compass in Huiwu's hand earlier was made of rosewood, while the one Guihua was holding now was black.

Just as she was thinking, the demon light on the Compass flashed brilliantly, but in an instant, it returned to calm.

And at this time, Guihua and Huiwu were nowhere to be seen.