Chapter 548: Breaking the Stalemate

Exotic beast?

Looking at the blood parrot flying over with flapping wings, Li Yan narrowed his eyes and reached out to hold the fire gun at his waist.

The so-called "exotic beast" was a term used by demon hunters.

This world had Gang and Sha energies; due to bloodlines, special environments, the influence of sorcery, and other reasons, originally ordinary wild beasts would undergo changes.

Some broke through the limits of their body size, like the Tuo Master.

Some would revert to ancestors, and some even changed their form.

This type of wild beast was usually called an "exotic beast" by demon hunters and was more likely to be born with spirituality and turn into a demon.

But this blood parrot in front of him was clearly not a creature of the Shenzhou...

"Haha, haha, another one comes!"

The blood parrot flapped its wings, dancing and circling in the air, its whole body overflowing with Yin evil energy, its surging malice undisguised.

Although this thing was just a beast, its cultivation was not shallow, comparable to a Second-Floor cultivator, and it was full of evil energy, its cry as unpleasant as calling souls.

Li Yan had the Dragon-Snake Token on his body, and his aura was concealed.

This beast couldn't feel it, thinking he was just an ordinary person, flying around, wanting to continue playing that game of intimidating prey.

Seeing Li Yan was completely unafraid, blood-red color rose in the blood parrot's eyes, and it circled in the air and suddenly swooped down, its poisonous claws grabbing toward Li Yan's face.

The poison on its claws was fierce, and even a fierce tiger would find it hard to resist.

But when it got close, the blood parrot sensed something wrong.

Li Yan below was just staring at it coldly.

Where was the fear of prey?

An inexplicable chill rose, the blood parrot shrieked, reversed rapidly, and wanted to soar into the air, but it was too late.

Clatter!

The Soul-Hooking Thunder Cable whistled out.

The current Soul-Hooking Cable had reached fifteen meters.

At this distance, no matter how fast the blood parrot was, it was hard to dodge, and it was tied tightly by the invisible hook cable directly.

Its whole body stiffened, it fell vertically, and rolled in the snow pile, unable to move.

Li Yan approached with an expressionless face and put away the Soul-Hooking Cable.

The blood parrot regained consciousness, turned over and flapped its wings, wanting to escape, but a Soul-Severing Duanhun Feidao had already whistled over and stuck into its head.

This beast was instantly too scared to move.

Li Yan narrowed his eyes: "Where is the last one?"

This was the reason he didn't kill it directly.

When the blood parrot saw him, the first sentence was "another one comes," indicating there had been victims before.

And this thing, at a glance, was an evil cultivator's pet.

It was very likely the enemy.

"Wah~"

The blood parrot remained motionless, its small eyes full of cunning and vicious light, trying to pretend to be a stupid bird to muddle through.

Pfft!

The Soul-Severing Duanhun Feidao fell directly and inserted into its shoulder.

"Pain, die, spare my life..."

The blood parrot couldn't bear the pain, instantly rambled, and seeing murderous intent had already risen in Li Yan's eyes, hurriedly shrieked: "In the house, in the house!"

Li Yan frowned, grabbed its neck, walked with large strides, and under the guidance of the blood parrot, entered a dilapidated grass hut.

Before even entering the door, the smell of blood hit his nose.

He saw a man tied to a pillar, covered in blood, as if whipped by thorns full of thorns, his head hanging low, already breathless.

Li Yan frowned: "What kind of person is this?"

The blood parrot answered honestly: "Wah, don't know."

Li Yan asked coldly: "Who is your master?"

Although this blood parrot was fierce and vicious, it was very sensible, felt Li Yan's terror, and directly opened its mouth: "Granny Chang, Granny Chang..."

"Who is she?"

"Ghost Opera Troupe, Ghost Opera Troupe, Old Woman..."

"Where did you come from?"

"Caught, caught, shipped on a boat, sold..."

After some exchange, Li Yan also figured out the reason.

This blood parrot was indeed not a product of the Central Plains, but was caught on a nameless island by a sorcerer exploring outside after the opening of the sea.

Shipped back to the Shenzhou, originally wanting to sell it for a high price, but encountered an opponent, was killed and the treasure was snatched.

And this Granny Chang was originally a remnant of the Ghost Opera Troupe from back then, hiding in Jin Ling for many years before changing her identity to continue wreaking havoc.

The Ghost Opera Troupe reorganized and followed to Shu.

As for more inside information, the blood parrot didn't know.

Of course, the more important thing was Sha Feifei and the others.

The people of the Ghost Opera Troupe had already entered the distant snowy mountains and had found Sha Feifei, and both sides were fighting with sorcery.

The blood parrot was sent here to stand guard.

Must go to support quickly!

As for this blood parrot, although it was an exotic beast, it was inherently vicious, and keeping it was useless...

Seeming to sense Li Yan's murderous intent, the blood parrot immediately shrieked: "Don't kill, don't kill, I know their weakness, kill, bad luck!"

"Oh?"

Li Yan's heart moved: "Tell me."

Regarding the Ghost Opera Troupe, he had always been on guard; after all, this organization had a great reputation and was wanted by the orthodox Mystic Sects.

After hiding for many years and coming out of the mountain, they were definitely not easy to provoke.

Sha Feifei and the others had traveled north and south with him and were no longer what they used to be; being able to force them to retreat meant their strength was profound.

"Clown, clown, Gou Wa."

The blood parrot shrieked: "Puppet technique is powerful, must find the true body, otherwise can't kill, location, I know!"

"Take me!"

Li Yan didn't talk nonsense, grabbed the blood parrot and headed toward the snowy mountains.

He was fast, and with the smell supernatural ability, he quickly crossed a snowy mountain and arrived outside a pine forest.

This pine forest was tall and deep, covered with dense accumulated snow above, and the light below was very dim, vaguely seeing a figure sitting cross-legged in the snow, surrounded by a few lotus lamps.

"It's him! It's him!"

The blood parrot shrieked immediately, its small eyes actually showing some excitement.

Crack!

Before it could be happy for long, its neck was directly twisted by Li Yan, and at the same time, the Soul-Hooking Cable flipped and scattered its Yin soul.

This thing was vicious by nature, and Li Yan didn't plan to keep it at all.

Of course, this kind of exotic beast was usually full of treasures and could be used to make various magic tools, so it couldn't be discarded at will.

Li Yan stuffed it into the leather bag at his waist, then lightened his steps and slowly approached the figure.

When the distance was only twenty meters, Li Yan suddenly exerted force.

Bang!

The accumulated snow under his feet exploded, and his figure flew out.

The one sitting in the snow was exactly the clown Gou Wa, who had used the technique of Yin soul leaving the body, attached to the puppet.

This distance was only one breath for Li Yan.

Pfft!

The opponent had no reaction and was directly smashed in the head by Li Yan.

Yin wind whistled, and the surrounding soul-attracting lamps were all extinguished.

This clown Gou Wa could be considered an expert, and he acted very cautiously; every time he acted, he hid his true body far away and avoided his companions.

But precisely because of this, he suffered a great misfortune.

He forgot that there was a blood parrot in the team, and he didn't know that Granny Chang was always on guard, always wanting the blood parrot to find the location of his true body.

Calculating against each other, it finally brewed a bitter fruit.

As for Li Yan, he didn't even look at the corpse on the ground, used the North Land Divine Walking Technique, turned into a phantom, and ran wildly on the snowy mountain.

He had already heard the roaring explosion in the distance...

…………

"Be careful!"

Sha Feifei gave a reminder and pulled the trigger.

Boom!

Fire roared, smoke scattered.

In the distant snow, Wu Ba was fighting with the black-faced martial actor Xie Sanyang, trading blows, air waves rolling.

And on a nearby hillside, a fierce tiger had already rushed out, its eyes blood-red, fangs ferocious, rushing toward Wu Ba's back like a madman. As the gunshot rang out, the tiger's head exploded instantly.

However, Sha Feifei couldn't be bothered to be happy, leaped, quickly changed position, and replaced the magazine at the same time.

Boom!

The place where he was before also exploded accordingly.

"Sneaky bastard!"

Sha Feifei cursed, hid behind a giant rock, then suddenly stood up and aimed his gun at the dense forest on the opposite hillside.

And in the cave behind him, Wang Daoxuan had already set up a ritual altar, stepped on the Big Dipper and chanted spells, performing the "Seven Arrows Secret Curse."

On the altar, the straw doll trembled constantly, emitting green smoke, and a copper arrow had already been inserted into its body.

Wang Daoxuan held the second copper arrow in his hand, kept performing hand seals and chanting, wanting to insert it into the straw doll, but his arm kept trembling.

It was as if he was in a stalemate with some kind of power.

As for Lu San, he held a bone mace at the cave entrance to guard the dharma, looked at the stalemate in the distance, and then turned to look at Wang Daoxuan, his eyes full of anxiety.

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They still underestimated the opponent's ability.

Early in the morning before dawn, they had followed Wang Daoxuan's arrangement to bury a few suppression items in the canyon and set traps.

The original plan was for Wang Daoxuan to cast spells here, attract the opponent to break the formation, and at the same time use the "Seven Arrows Secret Curse" to suppress and kill Granny Chang.

However, the clown sent out another zombie puppet, using the Earth Escape technique to directly destroy the formation.

Not only that, the opponent also had an extra sharpshooter.

If it weren't for Sha Feifei's containment, they would have already fallen into a passive position.

From morning until now, both sides had fought several rounds.

If it weren't for Wang Daoxuan's "Seven Arrows Secret Curse" being powerful, forcing Granny Chang to set up an altar to resist, they would have already fallen into a disadvantage.

But even so, the situation was extremely unfavorable.

The opponent not only had musical troupe experts using sonic illusion techniques to harass them, but also that elusive clown sneaking attacks.

One careless mistake, and everything would be lost.

Clang!

Another loud noise.

Wu Ba's board axe, although a heritage treasure in the Renxiao tribe, was not as good as the long blade in Xie Sanyang's hand.

After several battles, it was already covered in scars.

With the final blow, it shattered directly.

And Xie Sanyang, now wearing the Di Qing mask, was unforgiving, turned his wrist, used the "Python Out of the Cave" move, the blade edge carrying the sound of a tiger's roar, heading straight for Wu Ba's chest.

In martial arts fighting, there is a well-known rule.

Weapons are "one inch longer, one inch stronger; one inch shorter, one inch more dangerous," and in battles of the same level, those with weapons always have the advantage.

After all, everyone is made of flesh and blood.

No matter how strong Wu Ba's strength was, facing Xie Sanyang, he didn't have the ability to catch a blade with his bare hands and could only retreat rapidly.

But this retreat also completely put him at a disadvantage.

Xie Sanyang exerted force under his feet, the wind whistled, one slash faster than the next, like a soul-chasing ghost.

Pfft!

His speed was originally fast, and Wu Ba didn't defend in time, leaving a cut on his waist, blood splattering everywhere.

"Roar!"

Wu Ba was instantly provoked into ferocity, his pupils turning blood-red.

He didn't retreat but advanced, performed a rubbing kick, splashing snow everywhere, then his feet were like wading in mud, his body tilted, narrowly avoiding the blade edge.

This move, even if Wu Qu were here, would have to call it good.

Baji Fist "Upper hit cloud sweep point lift, middle hit poke squeeze lean, lower hit eat root bury root," as long as the distance is closed, there is a chance to break the stalemate.

After closing in, Xie Sanyang's long blade was not easy to use.

As long as he took one palm from Wu Ba, he could be killed directly.

But this Xie Sanyang had extremely rich experience and didn't fight with Wu Ba at all, but exerted force under his feet, his body drifted out diagonally, opening the distance again.

Before he could stand firm, he retreated rapidly again.

Boom!

Gunshots roared, and a large pit appeared on the ground instantly.

It was Sha Feifei who sensed something was wrong and tried to fire to rescue.

His premonition was correct.

After Wu Ba was injured, he was already a bit crazy; if he continued to attack, he would inevitably fall into Xie Sanyang's trap.

This shot not only forced Xie Sanyang back but also allowed Wu Ba to regain consciousness and pounce forward suddenly.

Boom!

A large pit also appeared on the ground where Wu Ba was.

It was the opponent's gunman who lost containment and also popped up to fire.

Both sides were hundreds of meters apart, and their accuracy was not very good.

Wu Ba dodged the gunshot, didn't stop, performed a roll, exerted force under his feet, and quickly arrived behind the giant rock where Sha Feifei was hiding.

And Xie Sanyang, seeing the muzzle Sha Feifei raised, also frowned slightly and retreated rapidly, hiding in the dense forest.

This was the reason for the stalemate.

Both sides had fire guns, both had close-combat experts, and both sides had people performing rituals, so there was no room for half a mistake.

Sha Feifei breathed a sigh of relief, hurriedly took out a small leather bag from his waist, and threw it to Wu Ba: "Eat quickly!"

Wu Ba didn't hesitate, opened the leather bag, took out a small porcelain bottle, crushed it, and swallowed the pill inside.

The wound on his waist actually stopped bleeding and closed rapidly.

This pill was made from spiritual herbs they obtained in Xiangyang City, refined by the descendants of Li Shizhen, and had miraculous effects in treating external injuries.

Although they repelled a wave of attacks, Sha Feifei didn't feel relaxed at all in his heart.

"Ah—!"

Just then, a scream came from underground in the distance.

In the messy canyon, snow and mud splattered, and a short figure suddenly rushed out, black smoke rising from his whole body, and charged into the dense forest.

Seeing this, Sha Feifei was a bit confused.

It was the clown of the Ghost Opera Troupe, who had used the Earth Escape method, always hiding underground, preparing to sneak attack Wang Daoxuan.

Lu San guarding the dharma was to contain this person.

What happened to this guy?

And in the dense forest opposite, the short figure rushed in, stumbling, screaming in terror: "Quick, save me, someone destroyed my true body!"

Xie Sanyang's expression turned grim when he heard this.

He didn't talk nonsense, directly took out a leather bag from his waist, his fingers dancing like the wind, and inserted golden needles into the clown's head one by one.

This was the weakness of the clown's puppet technique.

His Yin soul left his body to control the puppet; once the true body was broken, he was no different from a wandering ghost without an owner.

He had to use golden needles to seal the acupoints so that Gou Wa's Yin soul wouldn't be blown away by the Gang wind between heaven and earth.

But even so, it was only delaying time.

He hadn't reached the realm of Yang soul leaving the body; even if he could attach himself to this zombie puppet, he would be like an evil spirit that couldn't see the light in the future and would eventually have his soul scattered.

"Who is it! Who is it!"

Gou Wa's eyes were full of despair, howling hoarsely.

"What nonsense are you talking about!"

Xie Sanyang glanced coldly: "It's death either way; if I were you, I'd just take action and kill one if I can!"

This was purely his bewitching words, but Gou Wa's spirit was unstable at this time and he was already a bit crazy, suddenly looking toward the distance.

"Die!"

He let out a sharp whistle, his body pounced, used the Earth Escape technique, and drilled into the snow.

Swish!

A line of snow rushed directly toward Sha Feifei and the other two.

"Be careful!"

Sha Feifei hurriedly raised his Divine Fire Gun.

But just then, a fierce wind whistled in the distance, and a figure flashed by, falling from the sky to the ground.

The person who came was Li Yan.

He stood in front of the two, the invisible Soul-Hooking Cable whistled out, drilled directly into the ground, and tied the clown tightly.

Subsequently, he drew the long blade at his waist and stabbed it down fiercely.

Beneath the snow, there was immediately no movement...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 549 =====