Chapter 301: Entangled Battle

This is the danger of the Talisman Duel; when casting a spell, one must focus one's entire being, allowing no distraction. Even if heaven itself were to fall, you may not leave the altar half a step; if an outside force interferes, the Daoist himself will suffer backlash.

Initially, I kept some troops back precisely because I feared interference. Moreover, I thought Pangzi was here too; with both measures, I should be able to protect myself fully.

But I underestimated the bespectacled man's cunning; instead of attacking the advancing yin soldiers, he dared to come after me while my defenses were down. I also underestimated Pangzi's unreliability,

After this bespectacled man arrived, he actually kept his eyes closed, concentrating on using his Mystic Eye to peek at Yao Yirong in heat, only snapping out of it when I was injured.

After coming to his senses, Pangzi stared at me vomiting blood, then turned to look at the bespectacled man, and only then went 'oh' in sudden realization, realizing this bespectacled man had come to wreck the place.

This reaction……isn't it just too slow?

"Hai Sheng, I'll hold him off; you go quickly save Miss Yao Yirong, absolutely cannot let that beast defile her." After coming to his senses, Pangzi let out a loud shout, assumed a Xingyi Tiger Form stance, and charged at the bespectacled man.

I: "……Damn it, what were you doing just now? I've vomited three liters of blood."

The soul lamp was extinguished, my head grew heavier and heavier, almost wanting to faint in an instant. But hearing Pangzi's shout, thinking of Yao Yirong still in danger, I gritted my teeth, bit my tongue, and used the pain to stimulate myself awake.

Pangzi had already fought the bespectacled man to a standstill, using the Tiger Cannon Fist from Xingyi Quan. In Xingyi, the dragon and tiger forms are the fiercest. The tiger's main power, formed by the inhalation and exhalation of one breath and the courage of a tiger pouncing on food, becomes the fist. Force rises from the springing spring, energy erupts from the tailbone, reaches the brain from the back, then descends from the brain to the dantian, executed as a tiger descending the mountain in a single pounce, possessing the momentum of moving mountains and overturning seas. The close‑in cannon within the tiger form is a fierce close‑quarters punch, each strike like a cannon blast, allowing only advance, never retreat.

Although Pangzi's Xingyi Tiger Fist lacked a bit in conception, he had also received the true transmission from QingSongShu. However, though the tiger cannon is fierce, that young man is no pushover; he used the Tai Chi of a park auntie to deflect most of Pangzi's force, so even though Pangzi's fists were hard, he only ended up red‑faced and breathless.

"Holy shit, what are you spacing out for? Hurry up and go!" In the melee, Pangzi again flushed red in the face and shouted at me.

"All right……I'll leave this to you." I didn't dare dawdle; after clearing my head a moment, I immediately staggered out of the alley and ran toward Yao Yirong's home.

My legs went weak, my whole body poured out cold sweat, but Yao Yirong's home is still two blocks from the North Emperor Temple; I reckon I'd run out of breath before getting there.

"Beep beep, friend, want a ride?" A motorcycle swaggered around a corner, stopped in front of me, and honked twice.

I……Damn it, what era is this? I'm still running my ass off, won't sit in a car even when one's available, just wasting that brainless effort.

"Master, we've arrived……

I quickly climbed onto the motorcycle's rear seat and told the driver Yao Yirong's address.

"Hurry up, speed up, I have an emergency……" Thinking of the urgent situation, I couldn't help urging the motorcycle driver again.

The motorcycle driver was a middle‑aged uncle with a mouth full of gold teeth; he turned his head and grinned at me: 'No problem, watch me.'

Before my head had fully turned, he let out a 'whoosh' and opened the throttle wider.

Holy shit……is it really necessary to go over a hundred kilometers per hour?

After getting off the motorcycle, I searched the residential area for Yao Yirong's home. In the dead of night I couldn't read the house numbers, so I looked for big, beautiful houses based on the trait that Yao Yirong's family is wealthy.

I never expected that I would actually guess correctly.

A five‑story villa jutted out conspicuously in the residential area; compared to the surrounding houses, it was like a crane among chickens. The villa's perimeter was locked with painted iron railings, the house number matched Yao Yirong's address, and barring any mishap, this must be her home.

But the iron gates all around were locked tight; I couldn't get in at all—should I knock?

If I told someone their young lady had been taken by a ghost‑thing, they'd either chase me off with a broom or call the psychiatric hospital. After thinking, I decided the fastest, most direct method was to climb the wall.

But……as soon as I hooked onto the iron railing, I got stuck there, unable to move; finally I exerted force and ripped my pants apart.

The damned thing is, as I jumped into the courtyard and hadn't even steadied my feet, I saw a huge wolf‑dog lunging at me from a corner.

This wolf‑dog is about my height, baring two rows of large fangs; looking at its stance, it seems to want to swallow me whole.

At the critical moment, I drew a flower‑like character of the Dog‑Sealing Spell in my palm and thrust a palm strike toward the direction the wolf‑dog was lunging……

As the Dog‑Sealing Spell was released, the wolf‑dog happened to knock me down; its two rows of teeth flashed cold light, almost biting me, while my Dog‑Sealing Spell struck the wolf‑dog's body just right.

"Whimper……" the wolf‑dog, right up close, actually whimpered twice, then abruptly let me go and scurried back to its kennel.

This effective……I looked at my palm in astonishment. This Dog‑Sealing Spell is one of Huaguang's minor arts; Pangzi passed it to me. When he first taught me this spell, he lewdly claimed it could subdue any vicious dog, preventing dogs from barking at you, and called it an essential art for picking flowers at night and confessing love upon entering a house.

At first I didn't believe it, but after trying it once I did. Moreover, I have now entered Yao Yirong's courtyard.

But the building has several floors; how am I to know which room is Yao Yirong's? What if I get it wrong?

Wait, have I been here before?

Even though my head is a bit muddled, I feel everything around is familiar. Right, I saw this place through the troops; Yao Yirong's bedroom is on the second floor of the house.

I slapped my head hard, then followed my memory of the bedroom's location and climbed to the second floor.

Sure enough, in a room at the corner of the second floor I found Granny Hong.

At this moment, Granny Hong was alone, locked in a soul‑struggle with the spirit of Ou Yaofeng. Because the soul lamp had been extinguished, her spirit was also very weak. Moreover, Ou Yaofeng seemed to have something protecting him—something invisible and intangible, likely a talisman such as a guardian banner. Only when a Daoist priest's soul leaves the body, after setting up a guardian banner on the altar or placing a guardian talisman, does he dare to let his soul exit.

Given the huge disparity in strength, Granny Hong kept losing ground, barely able to hold on.

I hastily took out the command flag and silently chanted the spell.

Just as I had the spell ready, Granny Hong was struck by Ou Yaofeng's palm and lost her fighting ability.

After defeating Granny Hong, Ou Yaofeng gave a lewd he‑hee laugh and lunged toward Yao Yirong on the bed.

This is the moment……

Instantly, I jumped in through the window; just as Ou Yaofeng was about to land on Yao Yirong, my command flag arrived. Without the slightest hesitation, I swung the flag at him.

"Ah……" Ou Yaofeng cried out in agony, wounded by the flag's killing qi, nearly having his soul scattered.

Strike while the iron is hot; I was about to chant the spell to collect his soul. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot from my head, making me lose consciousness instantly, and the hand that was pinching the Seal Finger also went to rub my head.

And Ou Yaofeng also slipped away in that instant. However, I trust the power of the Yin Mountain Command Flag; this blow will, even if his soul returns to his body, likely turn him into a complete fool—even if he harbors harmful intent, he will lack the power to harm.

"You brat, why did you only show up now? What happened just now? Not only are the troops you sent me gone, but I feel as if I were smashed by a thousand‑pound stone; my soul is almost scattered." Granny Hong said weakly to me.

I felt embarrassed, rubbed my head, and apologized to Granny Hong: 'Sorry to trouble you, Granny Hong; something unexpected happened on the altar, I……'

Before I could finish, Granny Hong cut me off: 'All right, all right, no need to explain so much—quickly look at that little girl on the bed. If you come any later, she'll likely be eaten by that evil ghost.'

Then I remembered Yao Yirong on the bed, quickly took out the Underworld Jade to collect Granny Hong, and, suppressing my mental fatigue, went to look at Yao Yirong lying on the bed.

Ou Yaofeng had been driven off, but Yao Yirong had not returned to normal. Still on the bed, her face flushed, she muttered deliriously, her whole body twisting uneasily, even sweating fragrant sweat on her forehead.

"Hey, wake up." I slapped her cheek with my hand; who knew Yao Yirong would hug me and smear saliva on my face.

"Wake up." This time I almost shouted it, and slapped her face twice with a pa‑pa sound.

Possibly from the sting, Yao Yirong woke up. At first her gaze was unfocused on me, she couldn't tell direction; then she seemed to see a monster and let out a sharp 'ah' scream.

Seeing her awake, I initially felt relieved, but in an instant my relief turned to anger. After Yao Yirong's scream, without distinguishing right from wrong, she threw a punch at my face.

Normally, that punch would be nothing to me. But just now the soul lamp had been extinguished; I was enduring fatigue of body and spirit, crawling here with sheer willpower.

Now that I saw she was fine, my spirit had already reached the point of exhaustion; before I could even let out that breath, I saw a fist coming crashing toward my face.

With a bang, the fist struck my brow; the force of that punch was nothing like a woman's, and it made my eyes see stars.

Finally, I could no longer bear that dizzy, spinning sensation, and with a thud I collapsed to the ground.

At the moment I closed my eyes, I saw Yao Yirong's face flushed with anger and heard some noisy clamor; it was that I had shouted too loudly just then, startling the others in the room.

The next day, I woke up in the detention center, and the police officer said I had climbed over a wall in the middle of the night to break into a private residence, intending to steal and… molest a woman.

I: "……"