Chapter 37

Kid, if you're sensible, just obediently come back with us; otherwise, we can still guarantee your safety.

If not, we'll only be able to break your limbs and cripple your cultivation; after all, our master ordered that as long as we leave your life, it's fine.

One of the three masked martial artists sneered and spoke.

Fang Xu said nothing, slightly clenched his fists, and charged at the leading black-clad martial artist!

Courting death!

Cripple him!

Seeing Fang Xu dare to resist despite losing his weapon, the black-clad martial artist was obviously furious!

The three immediately prepared to surround him, intending to cripple Fang Xu and then take him back.

Fang Xu thrust forward with his fists, moving extremely fast!

Facing the blade coming down from above, he sidestepped, then bent his elbow and stepped!

Single Goat Top!

The rebound force from the step traveled up through the shin to the hip, then added the waist's power, quickly concentrating at the elbow tip!

The attacked black-clad martial artist missed with his blade, then immediately raised it horizontally to block!

But the instant the blade met the elbow tip, a terrifying force surged through!

Boom!

The hard longsword was directly snapped by Fang Xu's elbow thrust, the force undiminished as his elbow tip drove straight into the black-clad martial artist's chest!

Crack!

Visibly, the black-clad martial artist's chest instantly caved in, and his mouth spewed blood mixed with chunks of viscera!

At the stage of a mortal flesh body, a full-power Single Goat Top could instantly kill an ordinary person.

Now that he has become a Martial Apprentice, this strike, which gathers the power of the Eight Extremes Step and twelvefold of his own strength, actually inflicted heavy injury on a sixth-level Martial Apprentice Realm martial artist!

The black-clad martial artist was sent flying by Fang Xu's Single Goat Top, smashing hard into the ground nearly three zhang away; his head lolled and he lay motionless, unknown whether dead or alive!

The two other martial artists who had rushed forward stared at this scene, momentarily stunned, raising their longswords high and even forgetting to attack!

Fang Xu seized the opportunity, clenched his fists again, and a straight punch sent one martial artist flying; the other only then reacted, raising his blade to slash at Fang Xu's arm!

If that blade landed, Fang Xu's arm would surely be lost!

Just as the blade was about to strike, Fang Xu twisted his body at a strange angle, letting the blade's edge slide tightly down his back!

The Nine Monkeys Staff contains both staff techniques and body movements.

Although he had no staff in hand, his body techniques were unaffected.

After his strike was dodged, the black-clad martial artist immediately raised his blade for a horizontal slash!

Clang!

Fang Xu sidestepped again, avoiding the other martial artist who had been blown away, while also causing the two attacks to meet and cancel each other out.

The two black-clad martial artists were enraged!

They, three esteemed sixth-level Martial Apprentice Realm martial artists, came to capture a mere novice who had just broken into the Martial Apprentice Realm, yet not only did they fail, but one of them was even killed by him in return!

If this gets back to the Wu Family, they'll have no face to return!

After a brief separation, the two black-clad martial artists immediately gathered their focus, preparing to exert twelvefold concentration to respond properly.

But just then, strange thick mist suddenly drifted in from outside the courtyard, quickly enveloping the two.

Within the mist, a buzzing sound rose, and the two black-clad martial artists felt as if their necks, the backs of their hands, and their entire bodies were being pierced by sharp blades!

For a moment, pain, numbness, and unbearable itching!

Ah!

Ah!

They let out miserable cries!

Fang Xu saw this, his brows slightly furrowed, and then his face turned horrified!

He immediately darted into the room and quickly shut the door!

Yet the mist seeped through every crack, and the flying insects hidden within it slipped through the gaps in the doors and windows into the room!

Seeing this, Fang Xu hastily grabbed the bedding and frantically swatted at the terrifying flying insects!

During that time, he accidentally knocked over the oil lamp on the desk, the bedding soaked in the flame instantly caught fire, and those vicious flying insects, upon seeing the open flame, actually scattered and fled!

Seeing this, Fang Xu's face lit up with joy; he immediately grabbed the blazing blanket and rushed out of the room door, wildly swinging it at the insects trying to rush in.

When he stepped out of the room again and entered the courtyard, the two warriors in the courtyard were already covered head to toe in swarms of flying insects!

Although bites from these insects aren't instantly lethal, seeing the two men layered inside and out with the insects, Fang Xu knew they would hardly survive.

No longer paying attention to the two, Fang Xu swung the blanket while moving toward the kitchen.

After arduously reaching the kitchen, he immediately grabbed a wine jar from the cabinet!

He knocked off the seal on the wine jar, Fang Xu pulled out a tinder from his bosom, took a swig of strong liquor, and blew hard on the tinder!

In an instant, a fire dragon shot forward!

Swaths of flying insects, unable to dodge, were burned and fell to the ground!

Seeing that this tactic worked, Fang Xu immediately tied the remaining jars of strong liquor to his person and charged out like that!

The uncanny mist and the strange flying insects made him inevitably think of Wang Erhu and his companions who had met a gruesome death in the Ti Lan Mountains earlier.

Such a strange scene must be someone manipulating from behind the scenes; the first thought that popped into Fang Xu's mind was that it was witchcraft!

After taking a sip of liquor, he blew out another fire dragon, burning to death the insects that rushed up; relying on his feeling in the thick fog, Fang Xu ran straight toward Wang Erhu's nearby cottage.

Having only just shared intimacy with Lady Wang last night, he could not simply stand by and watch her die in this situation.

After all, he was not a heartless person who would abandon others.

Phew!

Whoosh!

Fire dragons were spewed out one after another, and Fang Xu trudged forward with difficulty.

He suddenly sensed movement behind him, immediately turned, and spewed out a fire dragon!

The flames briefly drove away the thick fog, and Fang Xu suddenly saw that a group of people had appeared behind him out of nowhere!

"Miss Yun?"

The one who came was Yun Wan; at this moment she led a group of palace soldiers, desperately using the clothes on their bodies to drive away the swarms of flying insects, and many of the soldiers had their bodies and faces bitten by these strange flying insects, turning red and swollen, grimacing in pain.

Yun Wan's delicate hands and arms also bore many raised red swellings, and the intense pain made her brows furrow tightly.

"Are you Fang Xu?"

Seeing Fang Xu, Yun Wan was somewhat surprised; then, looking at the wine jug and fire striker he held, she asked doubtfully, "Are these things afraid of fire?"

Fang Xu nodded, then immediately tipped his head back and took a swig of wine, and then he blew hard on the fire striker into the air!

The fire dragon roared, directly burning to death a large swath of the flying insects!

"Miss Yun, here." Seeing Yun Wan's group bitten miserably, Fang Xu immediately took two wine jugs from himself and handed them to Yun Wan.

After taking the wine jugs, Yun Wan turned and handed them to two palace soldiers, saying:

"Do you all have fire strikers?"

"Follow Fang Xu's example."

The two palace soldiers, seeing this, hurriedly shook off the mud seal on the wine jugs and began to imitate Fang Xu's actions.

The three formed a triangular formation, protecting Yun Wan and the other palace soldiers in the middle, and slowly headed toward the center of the town.

When passing by the Wang family's small cottage, Fang Xu, along the way, took out Madam Wang who had been covered in a blanket.

The group continued forward, and upon encountering some commoners along the road, they all gathered together.

"Miss Yun, we need to go to the town's liquor shop."

Looking at the little strong liquor left in the wine jug in his hand, Fang Xu spoke.

As the number of gathered people increased, the strong liquor he had prepared was all handed out, so he had to go to the town's liquor shop to get some more.

Yun Wan looked around at the darkness where one could not see five fingers ahead and the seemingly endless swarm of flying insects, and she nodded slightly, saying: "Then let's first go to the liquor shop; also, inform the commoners to bring out all the strong liquor from their homes!"

Having received Yun Wan's order, those commoners also brought out strong liquor and fire strikers, imitating Fang Xu's method, spewing fire dragons to drive away the flying insects.

Thus, a magnificent spectacle appeared!

On the main street of Maple Forest Town shrouded in night fog, a vast crowd gathered together; on the periphery, fire dragons were spewed out intermittently, rising and falling, as if they were holding some kind of grand celebration!

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(End of chapter)