Chapter 146

Centipedes, also called hundred-foot worms, multi-foot worms. There's a folk saying: a hundred-foot worm, even when dead does not stiffen, which shows the centipede's tenacious vitality. In legend, the centipede is the only creature among insects that can be compared to a true dragon. It is said that its poison is so fierce that even a dragon can be felled by it.

But after all, a worm is a worm; it hasn't turned into a dragon, so in short it's just a long worm with many legs.

Of course, this is just me learning Ah Q's spirit, disdaining it on my own to make myself feel stronger. To be honest, I don't dare relax my heart at all, because this thing's poison is no joke.

"Pangzi, what should we do?" Seeing that he was about to finish eating the host's true form, I hurriedly shoved Pangzi.

Pangzi waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "It's fine, anyway they don't look up to you."

I...

I don't know if this worm king that came out is like the previous python, which would turn and flee at the sight of me, losing its appetite. But right now I really want to strangle Pangzi to death, to choke him to death. Even at this life-or-death moment, he hasn't forgotten to embarrass me.

"Quick… think of a way to entangle him, buy me some time, I need to prepare the Five Thunder Righteous Method." Seeing the centipede about to finish swallowing the black-robed kid, Pangzi's face finally showed a hint of solemnity.

Although I despise him for only now understanding tension, I know the current situation won't allow us to cause trouble. While Pangzi went to prepare the Five Thunder Righteous Method, I summoned Little Fat to come out and guard me, then I planted the command flag in the ground, pinning the Five Ghost Finger seal and began to dispatch troops.

"I beseech the five-direction Slaughter God Great General, to manifest as a Slaughter God before the altar, summoning the spirits and monsters of the four directions, …"

This is a higher-level technique within the Yin Mountain Method; one must first refine the Yin Mountain flag into a Slaughter God flag before it can be used. Its function is, by invoking the name of the Slaughter God General, to command the six-paths living souls wandering in Yangjian, as well as mountain sprites and evil ghosts.

This technique is my first time using it, and the command flag in my hand is merely a Yin Mountain flag, not yet refined into a Slaughter God flag; so besides worrying that the Yin Mountain flag might malfunction, I am also eager to see what I will summon.

I closed my eyes, began to channel my mana, and chanted the incantation. When the Slaughter God method was ready, my spiritual sense seemed to feel the fluctuation of souls appearing around me, and only then did I open my eyes full of anticipation.

But when I saw clearly the soldiers that had appeared in the courtyard, I instantly felt a surge of blood rush to my chest, turning my anticipation into a stifling urge to vomit blood. I wanted to beat my chest and flee to the earth, cursing heaven and blaming my mother.

Damn, what the hell is all this stuff lined up in the big courtyard? There are chickens, ducks, cattle, and dogs. And what kind of dog is this…?

Covered in soft fur, sticking out its cute little tongue, wagging its tail as it waddled over, rolling around on the ground, occasionally sticking out its tongue, acting cute and begging for my affection.

... Even if you summoned a dog's soul, you don't have to mess with me like this. Do I really need to bring in a lion dog? Are you here to help me flirt with ghosts or subdue ghosts?

Although I know that all six domestic animals possess living souls, and although I've heard that the Slaughter God flag might summon the souls of the six domestic animals and fierce beasts, I never expected that my first spell would actually summon this whole chaotic mess of livestock.

... Alright, then also summon some cultivated beast souls for me!

Looking at the courtyard that had turned into a zoo, I felt like crying but had no tears, feeling I would never love again; this Yin Mountain Slaughter God method is damned just a way to summon small animal souls to amuse children!

On this side, Little Fat had already taken the lion dog's spirit to play in the mud nearby; let alone fighting side by side with me, he probably even forgot his master's surname.

This scene of mutual affection between person and dog is very innocent and extremely cute, but it just doesn't fit the tense atmosphere.

"Sigh..." I sighed dejectedly, pulled out the remaining talismans from my body, preparing to use them to stall the centipede.

But this centipede is so badass; can these few talismans, countable on ten fingers, really hold it off?

I began to doubt myself; if it weren't for Pangzi behind me, I would have turned and run immediately.

Soon, the long centipede had already crawled toward me; I, with no way to retreat, could only grit my teeth and face it head-on.

"Brother Zheng, keep an eye on Pangzi; I'll deal with this worm." Gritting my teeth and moving forward, from afar I prepared to issue the talisman.

As the battle was about to erupt, a sudden chorus of chicken cries rang out in the courtyard.

"Cock-a-doodle-doo..." I turned my head and saw that it was actually a cat's spirit desperately chasing a chicken, almost plucking its feathers; this crowing came from the rooster being chased.

However, this loud crowing made the mighty centipede flinch sharply.

There's hope, definitely! My eyes lit up, I lowered the hand that was about to issue the talisman, and quietly analyzed the centipede's reaction.

Each time the rooster crowed, the centipede instinctively shrank; this centipede, several times larger, was actually made to retreat repeatedly by this tiny rooster.

After thinking it over, I suddenly realized the centipede wasn't frightened by the rooster before it; the fear was merely instinctive, for although the centipede can be poisonous to dragons, its natural nemesis is the rooster. The rooster has always been the centipede's bane.

However, although the centipede fears roosters, after hearing the crowing many times with no formidable opponent appearing, it soon became immune to the crowing, proudly lifted its head, exhaled a foul breath, and slowly crawled toward me.

I gave a wry smile; this time I really pinched the Seal Finger and rushed forward. This time I fully embraced the spirit of Grandfather Mao, adopting a rear-lying detour tactic, engaging in guerrilla warfare—able to fire cold shots from his back, I would never run ahead of him; if I could hide in the shadows, I would never come out to duel him. Because this thing's toxicity is no joke; even a drop of blood, if it touches you, will make you grin as you descend to the nine springs—dead beyond death.

However, flanking tactics also depend on the weapon in hand; if you wield a big cleaver while the opponent has a machine gun, no amount of sneaking will save you from being killed. This disparity in strength is simply not something tactics can measure.

For example, me now—although I'm using guerrilla tactics, I dash close, slap on a talisman, then immediately jump back. But the talisman's effect is too weak; it might work on ordinary wandering souls or wild ghosts, but when it hits the centipede, at most it just produces a tiny spark.

Soon, the talismans in my hand were exhausted, leaving me empty-handed, while this centipede, mighty and arrogant, crawled toward me. Moreover, this time its crawling speed was faster than before……by many, many times.

Looking at that wicked worm, its uneven body lurching slowly toward me, my heart jolted, and I instinctively prepared to turn and run.

"By the decree of the Nine Heavens Thunder Ancestor..." a thunderous roar like thunder erupted from Pangzi's body; I blinked, instantly snapped back to attention—Pangzi's thunder method was almost ready.

So I hastily swept the command flag, promptly sending the animal spirits within the courtyard back where they came from. The souls of the six domestic animals are also spirits; slaughtering them would also be a sin? I certainly didn't want Pangzi to incur guilt.

And just as I was sending away the animal spirits, the sky suddenly filled with dancing purple serpents, roaring without cease, shaking my ears until I felt dazed, unable to tell direction.

Going by feeling, I instinctively leapt with my whole body, just like in a movie where a bomb blows up a building and the hero jumps out the window, grazing the flames; I brushed past the thunder serpent.

However, I was still a step slow; in the haze, blue light flickered, as if a bowl-sized thunder serpent fell from the sky; even though I had jumped up in time, I was inevitably struck by a current, and as I hit the ground, the current surged through my body, shocking me into trembling all over, convulsing for a long time before I could recover.

When the current gradually dissipated from my body, I turned and saw that where the centipede had been, there now appeared a pitch-black hole; at the center of the hole was the wound—the body of the hundred‑foot centipede. However, the centipede's body had turned from crimson to jet black, with blue snakes occasionally flashing across it, accompanied by a puffing sparkle sound, giving off a burnt smell.

At the moment the thunder serpent appeared, Chen Zheng embraced Dong Yumin and promptly ran to the corridor of the manor, escaping the serpent's influence. Only I and Pangzi remained—one had overtaxed his inner palace, his face pallid; the other was struck by the residual wave, in a sorry state.

Pangzi sat dumbly on the ground, his face ashen, panting heavily. Obviously, overtaxing his cultivation made Pangzi feel terrible; the Five Thunder Righteous Method is a technique that requires long preparation before it can be cast. Whether it's drafting the memorial or performing the Yu steps, there is a cumbersome procedure. Summoning thunder is said to be the most cumbersome of all techniques, and for this cast to succeed, Pangzi essentially expended a great deal of his vital essence; right now he doesn't even have the strength to stand.

My situation isn't optimistic either; although the thunder serpent wasn't aimed at me, I still inevitably caught a stray ripple, and now my hair and eyebrows are scorched by electricity. I estimate that after this I'll have to shave off my eyebrows and hair.

"Fortunately you sent those living spirits away in time, otherwise I would have cut off many of their life paths and created a massacre." Pangzi laughed weakly.

I also unconsciously wiped away a bead of cold sweat; luckily I reacted in time, otherwise this would truly be a sin. Although these animal spirits leave me speechless, I also don't want to harm them, nor do I want to inadvertently create a massacre—after all, every bite and sip has its destiny, cause brings effect; if one creates a massacre, even the Daoist himself will suffer retribution.

By the way, Little Fat? At this moment my heart tightened as I recalled that Little Fat was still playing with that dog spirit.

Will that thunder method just now also have gotten him…

I anxiously searched everywhere in the courtyard for Little Fat, but aside from that hole and the centipede's corpse, there was no sign of him.

"Little Fat, Little Fat, where are you? Don't scare me, come out quickly!" I shouted anxiously, so upset that tears streamed down.

"Clang clang..." Suddenly I heard that familiar sound. In the next instant, a flash before my eyes, a black shadow shot rapidly toward Pangzi.

"Holy shit, you dead fatty, what are you doing! Stop." Pangzi frantically waved his hands at the black shadow lunging at him.

It was Little Fat, his cheeks puffed, veins bulging on his forehead, glaring angrily at Pangzi; upon reaching him, he immediately clenched his fists and gave Pangzi a fierce beating.

Little Fat's appearance was also a mess; the bellyband tied around his stomach had been blasted away by lightning, his whole body turned sooty, as if he'd crawled out of a coal pit.

"You dead fatty, it's not like you ran away; what's it got to do with me?" Pangzi seemed to understand Little Fat's anger, waving his hands while cursing fiercely, and in the midst of his swearing he also gave an explanation for himself.

"Clang… clang" Little Fat is single‑minded; when he beats someone he never explains.

"I already said, it's not my fault…… Holy crap, how does your hand have electricity?"

"Clang…… clang"

Little Fat clenched his fists ferociously, pounding Pangzi with all his might; no matter how Pangzi begged for mercy, he refused to stop. This time, Little Fat finally gained the upper hand completely, and within a few minutes he had beaten Pangzi until his head was covered in bumps.

I found the scene hilarious, yet I also wondered to myself. How could this overbearing lightning technique have no effect on Little Fat? Could it be because Little Fat isn't at the formation's center, so the lightning serpent isn't targeting him?

No, that's not it!

I shook my head and quickly dismissed the thought. Looking at Little Fat's chubby little fists, still wrapped in a bit of lightning. If it were an ordinary wandering soul, being even slightly affected by the lightning technique would scatter its body and soul; there's no way it could be like Little Fat, who, after being struck, still has so much strength.

There must be something unusual about this.

"Pap pap……" Just as I stood with arms crossed, watching the two fat guys clown around and laughing hysterically, a sudden round of pap pap applause came from within the courtyard.

Everyone stopped, seeking the source of the applause; Chen Zheng furrowed his brow and rose, slowly walking out from the hallway.

"Good, very good…… you two juniors, really very good!"

At some point, a strange figure in a black robe appeared on the roof. His appearance was the same as the black-robed kid from earlier: a single black robe covering his whole body, making his features completely indiscernible. Even the pattern on the robe matched that of the black robe worn by the disfigured kid before. Except this one was definitely an old man; his voice was hoarse and very aged.

"You finally came!"

Chen Zheng slowly stepped forward, his face as cold as ice, killing intent radiating; standing beside him, I and Pangzi couldn't help but shudder all over from that trace of killing intent.