Chapter 355: Sandflow

“Hehehe…”

The three of them laughed together.

The Alchemist said: “He calls himself ‘my lord’—looks like some minor official?”

Xu Yuan frowned: “You won’t agree?”

The lead official extended his right arm.

Three grotesque ghost heads emerged from his sleeve.

Behind each ghost head stretched a jet-black snake-like neck.

The three ghost heads twisted and writhed, extending dozens of zhang from his arm, baring their fangs at Xu Yuan in constant threat.

“Get lost!” the official barked. “I’m in a good mood today, and these two are enough—I won’t take your pitiful life!”

Gao Guanzi cried out urgently: “My lord, save me!”

“My lord, be careful! These things are strong!”

Xu Yuan coldly regarded the official: “Which yamen do you serve?”

Xu Yuan displayed his Quhui Si badge: “They are my Quhui Si personnel.”

“Hehehe.” The official sneered. “Quhui Si holds no weight with me. If you refuse to see sense, I’ll take you too!”

Xu Yuan: “Last chance—will you release them or not?”

The official gave no reply; he thrust his arm forward, and the great ghost within his sleeve flew out!

A chilling wind swept past, yellow dust and sand whirled!

The great ghost had three heads and snake-like necks, its body formed of eight arms and eight legs, with a strange symbol branded on its chest.

Dozens of pale green ghost fires floated around its body.

It lunged at Xu Yuan with monstrous ferocity.

Xu Yuan shook his head and drew one hand from behind his back.

Da Fu was in his hand.

Pu—

Da Fu flapped his wings violently and charged toward the strange insects.

With a single peck, he swallowed three or five of them whole.

The official’s face darkened.

These evil spirits were his art, bound within his body.

The few insects instantly lost all connection to him.

The official glared and ordered his two subordinates: “Kill that goose!”

“Yes!”

The two subordinates immediately charged toward Da Fu.

The Alchemist’s eyes gleamed; he spread his hands before him, fingers curled inward, smiling happily: “This auspicious creature is mine…”

Da Fu was startled by his smile—he sensed this man had ill intent.

No matter his goal, he must not succeed!

Da Fu turned and fled.

The Alchemist opened his mouth and spat out a pill with a puff.

This pill was also a Gui pill—it landed in his hand, then suddenly transformed into a tiny, broken statue no larger than a pigeon’s egg.

Though small, it was composed of foul, rotting flesh.

It emitted a nauseating stench.

With his other hand, the Alchemist extended two fingers and made a wish toward the “statue”: “That goose escapes safely three zhang beyond my body.”

The statue was evil.

It reversed every wish granted.

Da Fu had already dashed over ten zhang away—yet suddenly felt an invisible force seize him and drag him back violently!

Da Fu dug his large webbed feet into the ground, but it was useless.

He could not resist this force at all.

Then, a layer of invisible barrier formed around the Alchemist, three zhang from his body.

Whenever Da Fu rushed forward, he slammed headfirst into it.

“Hehe!” The Alchemist gloated, and spat out another pill.

The other subordinate was a Wu Xiu.

His body was as sturdy as a wild ox.

He hugged his water-bucket-thick arms, grinning broadly as he watched the spectacle.

He showed no intention of helping.

Because he didn’t need to.

Didn’t his old partner easily catch a goose?

Even if this goose was an auspicious creature.

Everyone knew: auspicious creatures only restrained evil spirits—they possessed little offensive power themselves.

The Alchemist’s second pill, another Gui pill, flew over his head and landed behind him, transforming into a long tail.

The tail’s agility surpassed that of a living snake.

And it could grow endlessly longer.

The tail chased Da Fu, coiling into a noose that swung constantly above his head.

Once it dropped, it would snare his neck.

Da Fu scrambled wildly in all directions.

He looked as frantic as a headless goose.

“Hahaha!” The Wu Xiu couldn’t help laughing.

That laugh enraged Da Fu completely!

Someone’s enjoying my humiliation!

While dodging the tail, Da Fu spat a jet of saliva straight at the Wu Xiu in fury!

Da Fu’s flat beak couldn’t form the saliva into a single blob.

The spit scattered as a spray of droplets.

“Hey!” The Wu Xiu flew into a rage.

He dodged with a flash but couldn’t avoid all of it—several drops landed on him.

A seventh-rank Wu Xiu, sprayed with saliva by a feathered beast!

The Wu Xiu roared: “Enough playing! Catch it fast—I’m plucking every feather from its ass…”

As he spoke, he felt his tongue grow thick, his throat swollen.

His words became slurred…

His voice turned coarse…

The Wu Xiu instinctively raised his hand to touch his neck—and saw his own forearm covered in dark red boils.

He burst into violent coughing, bending over in agony.

He was horrified—what’s happening? My body shouldn’t fall ill so easily.

Could it be that Qiu Ningtai poisoned me earlier?

But that hypocrite had no reason to do this…

The Alchemist was startled: “Gu Da, what’s wrong?”

“I’m not…” His mumbled reply broke off as another fit of coughing seized him—he spat out several mouthfuls of black blood!

The Alchemist hurled several medicinal pills: “Take these!”

Seizing the Alchemist’s distraction, Da Fu leapt up and flapped his wings hard.

The tiny blood-and-flesh statue in the Alchemist’s hand was knocked loose, fell to the ground, and quickly burrowed into the soil.

The Alchemist snorted, flipped his hand, and snatched it back.

The statue reformed into a Gui pill and flew back into his palm.

His tail lashed down, about to strike Da Fu—

But a sword pellet shot toward them at blinding speed.

It carved a thin, golden line through the air.

Chi!

The sword pellet severed his tail clean.

The Alchemist shuddered—his tail reverted to a Gui pill and fell to the ground, shattering into fragments.

The official sneered: “You can’t even save yourself—why bother saving your goose?”

The three-headed great ghost had transformed into a sea of emerald yin fire, whooshing around Xu Yuan in an instant.

But Xu Yuan also released a Gui pill.

The Six-Eyed Ming moth spread its wings and rose.

On its wings, one eye revealed a swirling black vortex.

The vortex spun endlessly.

The emerald ghost fire surrounding Xu Yuan was forced by some power to coalesce once more into a three-headed great ghost.

Then all eight hands and eight feet of the malevolent entity gripped the ground tightly, and its three ghostly heads roared in unison, resisting the vortex’s pull.

“A Golden Core cultivator too?” the official frowned, then sneered: “Then it’s simple—release a strange entity that counters Golden Core cultivators.”

He tore open his shirt and rubbed his chest tattoo.

A rustling, eerie sound followed.

A stream of quicksand flowed out from the tattoo.

It piled into a small mound on the ground.

The quicksand, like water, rustled across the ground, surging toward Xu Yuan, soon reaching his feet and beginning to climb up his legs, ready to engulf his entire body.

(End of Chapter)