Chapter 88: Guillotine of White Bones (First Chapter)

The iron prong’s spider legs, like the long, sharp beak of a red-crowned crane, pierced through the carriage and rapidly expanded before Xu Yuan’s eyes!

In Qin’s heart arose the thought: “This youngster’s skill is nothing special.”

Xu Yuan lay sprawled in the carriage, his eyes showing not a trace of fear.

The spider leg had driven in half a foot, stopping mere inches from Xu Yuan’s eyes—yet it was utterly stuck.

The carriage wasn’t pierced; Xu Yuan had let the leg in.

This carriage of his stepmother’s was fiercely defensive, and also functioned as a bamboo cage.

Xu Yuan had a sudden idea: let the leg in, then trap it—effectively gripping the enemy tight!

Qin sensed it too, and strained to pull the leg free—but it was jammed fast in the carriage, utterly immovable!

Qin’s face burned; this so-called “youngster’s work” had led him into repeated misjudgments.

In that moment of hesitation, Qin saw a thick black tube shoot out from inside the carriage!

The tube was long, pressing directly against Qin’s armor.

The muzzle was as large as an infant’s fist!

“No—!” Qin realized he’d been tricked, raised the spider leg to flee…

BOOM!

The gun fired into Qin’s armor, launching a massive bullet that punched a deep crater into the armor.

Right below his left rib.

The armor cracked like a spiderweb—but held.

The spider leg, trapped by the carriage, snapped off from his body.

“Ugh!” His inner organs trembled; Qin spat blood, staggering back and roaring: “Chen Liangxuan’s people said this kid was a Dan cultivator!”

Before asking Master Gao to act, Chen Liangxuan had sent word north.

The North Capital’s role was high-level coordination.

Qin himself was already in Jiaozhi and had received Chen Liangxuan’s message—he’d rushed here without pause, intending to meet Chen and complete that “great task.”

So they’d actually arrived at Shanhe County before the Quhui Corps’ reinforcements.

Unexpectedly, “meeting” turned into “takeover.”

Qin had secretly contacted Chen Liangxuan’s subordinates, but none knew Xu Yuan had defeated Fu Dong Tianwang.

The only one who knew the truth, Master Ji, had returned to his hometown…

Everyone assumed Ma Tianshou was responsible.

So the intelligence given to Qin was outdated.

Xu Yuan spat belly fire onto the ground; the war chariot clanged as it flipped, wheels blazing, charging again toward Qin.

Qin snorted in anger, flipping his hand to produce a drum.

He struck hard at Xu Yuan’s carriage.

DONG!

Xu Yuan’s mind rang; his soul trembled, slightly dislodged from his body.

His belly fire went out; the chariot slid to a stop.

DONG DONG DONG!

Qin hammered the drum repeatedly; Xu Yuan could not reseat his soul.

Qin struck the drum while driving the spider leg swiftly toward the chariot—limping slightly, missing one leg.

Behind him, a long metal scorpion tail rose.

The tail’s tip spun wildly, humming, aiming to drill into the chariot.

Fu Jingyu, anxious, urged Lu Zhengyan: “Lu Lao! Save Xu Yuan!”

Lu Zhengyan was a Wu Xiu; in hand, a great guandao, swinging it with fierce wind. He forced back two enemies preparing to ambush Fu Jingyu, then slung the blade onto his saddle, drew a horn bow from the other side, and fired an arrow in one swift motion.

Lu Lao, a former martial examination graduate, was skilled in both archery and horsemanship.

PAM!

The arrow flew like a meteor, precisely jamming into a critical mechanism of Qin’s scorpion tail.

The iron components of the tail still spun, but with a creak, the arrow shaft shattered—yet behind it was a one-chi-long iron shank embedded inside.

The iron shank jammed the tail, freezing it—this artifact could no longer function.

Lu Zhengyan’s hands flew, firing three more arrows in rapid succession.

This time, all three targets were clear: all aimed at Qin’s left rib, the crater Xu Yuan had blasted open.

One hit, and Qin would die.

Qin had no choice but to turn, using the intact parts of his armor to absorb all three arrows.

He was knocked back three times in succession.

Enraged, Qin spun the drum and slammed it hard at Lu Zhengyan:

DONG!

Lu Zhengyan staggered, nearly falling from his horse.

His warhorse, an old companion, immediately lowered its head and veered away, carrying its rider clear of Qin’s second strike.

DONG!

The second drumbeat struck empty air.

Lu Zhengyan shook his head; Wu Xiu souls were sturdy—he recovered quickly.

He urged his horse into a gallop, refusing to linger, denying Qin any opening.

Qin turned back to Xu Yuan—but Xu Yuan now threw a Yin Pill.

It burst with a snap; the half-human, half-scorpion ghost let out a roar—but Xu Yuan gave it no chance to strike, commanding it to dissolve into black sand, swirling into a vortex around the chariot.

DONG!

Qin slammed the drum hard; the sonic wave exploded the black sand into fragments!

It could not reform; the black sand scattered across the earth.

Xu Yuan’s heart ached; in fury, he kicked the carriage shaft—whizzing out like a dart.

The shaft was, in truth, a great spear; the chariot had a mechanism to launch it.

The spear CRACKED into Qin, powerful and heavy, piercing clean through his armor.

But the spear moved slowly; Qin had time to dodge—it only pierced his thigh.

Qin screamed, slammed the drum hard, shaking Xu Yuan into stunned stillness, then yanked the spear free.

But he saw a rope tied to the spear’s rear!

Qin raised his spider leg to slash—the rope didn’t break.

What kind of rope? Qin’s mind barely formed the thought when Xu Yuan yanked—pulling the spear back.

Qin gripped tight—and suddenly realized: this was a Jiang Xiu artifact!

Qin hastily let go.

The spear snapped back—almost instantly, three sharp iron branches SPRANG out from its front section!

Had Qin still held on, his hand would have been ruined.

Qin cursed: “Cunning bastard!”

Fortunately, I’m a Jiang Xiu too—I’ve dealt with this before.

Xu Yuan sighed in regret but retracted the spear.

On Fu Jingyu and Yan Lao’s side, the Doghead Guillotine had finally dragged the dozens of old ghosts beneath its blade!

“CHOP!”

Together, they brought the blade down; from the bodies of the ghosts surged vast amounts of white bone.

The guillotine shattered the bone—more bone surged forth.

But these bones weren’t endless; once the bones from the “ten-thousand-dead pit” were exhausted, the ghosts would be cleaved in two, their souls scattered.

Qin suddenly shouted: “Will you not act yet?!”

No reply.

But Qin said no more; he struck the drum and charged straight at Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan copied Lu Zhengyan, constantly shifting the chariot’s direction to evade the drum’s sound.

The drum’s sonic waves spread outward—but its soul-shaking power was focused into a single beam.

Suddenly!

“ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM…”

A strange noise rose, distant then near, growing louder and noisier—even the howling yin winds couldn’t drown it.

All looked up: the dim sky was filled with a dense swarm of insects, like a flowing cloud of black, rushing overhead.

Then they plunged down, smashing in with a patter of impacts.

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(End of Chapter)