Chapter 32: Familiar Yet Strange (Requesting Follows or2)

The Dragon-Dropping Old Mother was a life-or-death move: at the cost of losing one's weapon, it pierced through two enemies at extreme range, and only after the Celestial Mace carried its momentum did its force dwindle to near exhaustion, bouncing upward before crashing back to the ground with several sharp cracks.

Ding ding dang dang…

After delivering his full-power strike, Xie Jinhuan assumed the two fragile shamans were dead and moved to check on Lin Wanyi's condition.

But to his surprise, the fleeing ghost shaman seemed to carry a life-saving artifact; after crashing into the hillside shrubbery, he instantly flipped back up, enveloped in thick layers of black mist, appearing from afar like a dark cloud drifting back and forth across the mountains and fields, moving at an unimaginable speed—he had already escaped nearly half a li.

?

This commotion…

Seeing that mass of black mist, Xie Jinhuan's pupils sharply contracted—he remembered the unknown demonic creature he'd encountered three years ago; though its movement had been far more massive, the signs were nearly identical!

Discovering traces of the demonic creature from years past, Xie Jinhuan's heart sank; seeing he could no longer catch up, he whistled sharply:

"Shhh~"

Meiqiu, circling overhead, immediately chased after the drifting black mist.

Xie Jinhuan leapt forward to Lin Wanyi's side and examined her condition:

"How do you untie this net?"

Lin Wanyi leaned against a tree trunk, tightly bound in a rope net; struggling only tightened the cords, leaving visible marks across her chest, waist, and thighs, resembling a full-body fishnet stocking, her expression deeply awkward:

"It's a Immobilizing Rope forged by the Armory Bureau—it melts upon contact with fire. You must burn it."

"Fire?"

Xie Jinhuan patted his lower back and realized he hadn't brought a fire-starter, then began feeling around Lin Wanyi's slender waist.

The ghost bride, who had been idle during the fight, now reappeared, standing before him with a red umbrella in hand, giving instructions:

"Stop groping under false pretenses—thunder and fire share the same origin. Use the Thunder-Binding Sword."

Xie Jinhuan had merely been searching for a fire-starter; hearing this, he picked up the Zhenglun Sword, gathered his Qi, and poured it into the blade—its ink-green surface immediately surged with pale-blue lightning.

Zizzzz~

Lin Wanyi had already been puzzled by the sword's power; now seeing the Zhenglun Sword blazing with lightning, she couldn't help asking:

"This sword seems to be a powerful exorcism artifact, of extremely high rank—where did you get it from, from from from~~~"

Before she could finish, Lin Wanyi shuddered violently, her voice trembling.

Xie Jinhuan couldn't sustain it for long; as soon as he channeled energy, he leaned closer, realized his mistake, and hastily pulled the sword away—the lightning vanished instantly.

Lin Wanyi wasn't insulated; even a brief touch had electrocuted her, her eyes wide with terror:

"What are you doing?!"

"Uh… thunder and fire share the same origin—I'm just helping you untie the ropes."

"Is this how you untie them? By the time you finish, will I even be alive?"

Xie Jinhuan finally realized the problem—thunder was electricity; Lin Wanyi was bound hand and foot, and now he was applying lightning to her—wasn't that just binding and electrocuting her at once?

Starting with something this extreme, with Lin Wanyi's frail frame, she'd probably roll her eyes after two shocks and wet her pants after three…

After brief thought, Xie Jinhuan set down the Zhenglun Sword and instead inserted his hand between the rope strands, gathered his Qi, and activated the "Palmar Thunder" technique.

Tap tap~

Tap tap~

The method actually worked—but the results were hard to describe.

After all, casting a spell bare-handed was like fighting unarmed: no matter how strong you were, you couldn't maximize the power.

Using an artifact was like wielding a proper weapon—the higher its rank, the less Qi was wasted, the more concentrated the energy, and though your own cultivation remained unchanged, the power surged dramatically.

The Zhenglun Sword, being a celestial artifact, was especially unique—it could create something from nothing, drawing an equal amount of the Five Elements' energy from heaven and earth while casting thunder magic, achieving the astonishing "doubling" effect.

If this sword were in Seeing Mo Mo's hands, she could use thunder magic to kill enemies far above her rank, with no logic or mercy.

But Xie Jinhuan's self-created, low-grade "Palmar Thunder" was merely a crude, back-alley technique, with Qi utilization efficiency of at most thirty percent.

Add to that the eighty percent loss from the "Pouring Wax Backward" technique he'd used earlier, and his total Qi utilization efficiency reached a staggering "six percent"—a level even dogs would shake their heads at!

Now without the Zhenglun Sword's enhancement, the lightning from Xie Jinhuan's palm was merely weak, intermittent sparks.

But fortunately, though slow, the ropes did gradually melt.

Lin Wanyi hadn't been shocked, and she quietly exhaled in relief, then asked again:

"Where did you get this sword? Its power is so astonishing—I feel like it's the one from Mount Zihui…"

Xie Jinhuan himself could feel its terrifying power; now he spoke cryptically:

"Heaven's secrets cannot be revealed. I'm from the Hidden Immortal Sect. Don't ask anything else."

"Oh…"

Lin Wanyi nodded skeptically; perhaps sensing the awkwardness, she fell silent for a moment, then tried to make small talk:

"You acted too soon—you should've waited until the puppet charged in before revealing yourself."

Xie Jinhuan focused on heating the ropes, then retorted:

"Are you teaching me how to fight? If I hadn't shown up sooner, and that puppet reached you, how would you handle it with your 'Turtle Shell Bind' evasion?"

Lin Wanyi blinked, confused:

"What's a 'Turtle Shell Bind'?"

"It means bound like a turtle."

"Uh…"

Lin Wanyi's expression stiffened—she thought Xie Jinhuan was genuinely kind, but utterly clueless at soothing a girl, so she fell silent.

Tap tap tap~

Tiny electric sparks flickered continuously beneath the pine tree as the rope net gradually unraveled.

Though the commotion was minor, the Qi expenditure now exceeded even that of the earlier battle.

Fortunately, Xie Jinhuan's Qi sea was bottomless—he could still sustain it.

Lin Wanyi had originally only been obediently waiting, but as Xie Jinhuan's hand slowly moved upward, she gradually sensed something was off, and by the time the back of his hand reached her chest, her expression stiffened even more.

Xie Jinhuan, who was seizing the time to undo the bindings, also paused his movements and looked at the marks left on Lin Wanyi's collar:

"What's going on with you?"

Lin Wanyi's face visibly flushed red, the color gradually spreading to the roots of her ears, her eyes flustered, wanting to speak yet hesitating.

As for the reason, naturally it was because she was wearing a 'soft armor' on her body.

When Xie Jinhuan performed Palm Thunder, he naturally had to gather Qi, and his true Qi stimulated the specially-made chest armor…

Lin Wanyi's body went rigid, her gaze evasive.

Xie Jinhuan hadn't figured it out at first, but after only a moment, through the thin skirt, his gaze suddenly turned strange as he looked at the blushing face before him:

"You're wearing soft armor?"

"You!"

As the saying goes, 'see through it but don't speak of it.' Lin Wanyi had originally wanted to muddle through, but discovering Xie Jinhuan had pointed it out directly, she was utterly mortified, wanting to deny it outright, but with such an obvious fact before her, how could she possibly argue?

Bound hand and foot at this moment, Lin Wanyi couldn't even cover her chest, so she could only brace herself and respond:

"You tricked me into buying it, thirty taels of silver, I couldn't waste it, so… so…"

Even her words carried a hint of a sobbing tone.

Xie Jinhuan had never come into contact with this kind of dharma artifact before, so he subconsciously tried to withdraw his technique, and as a result, without the stimulation of true Qi, the chest garment indeed closed up on its own.

He circulated Qi again, and it bloomed like a lotus once more…

"Xie Jinhuan!"

After being tormented twice, Lin Wanyi's whole body went limp; in her mortified fury, she wanted to beat this rotten man, but simply couldn't.

Xie Jinhuan hurriedly stopped and continued burning the ropes:

"Alright, alright, alright, I was just testing it, I didn't actually touch you, necessity is the mother of invention, after all."

Lin Wanyi was so embarrassed she wished she could cover her face and throw herself into the lake, but there was nothing to be done at the moment, so she could only grit her teeth and put on a composed appearance, muttering to herself:

Necessity is the mother of invention, there's no helping it…

He had just painstakingly saved me, playing around through clothes is nothing…

Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey…

Fortunately, this torment did not last too long.

Xie Jinhuan, worried the Wu Sect demon might double back, did not linger too long on her peach-like figure, and after breaking through some of the ropes in a few quick motions, he tore the net off.

Lin Wanyi was already so embarrassed she could barely breathe; after breaking free of her bonds, she wished she could immediately tear out this wretched undergarment and throw it away, but clearly she couldn't do such a thing in front of Xie Jinhuan, so she changed to clutching her chest to forcibly calm her emotions.

After confirming Lin Wanyi was not seriously harmed, Xie Jinhuan had wanted to go after that Ghost Wu, but instead saw his useless personal maidservant actually flying back again.

?

Xie Jinhuan's whole body jolted at the sight:

"You lost him?"

"Coo coo—"

Meiqiu circled in the air, looking a bit aggrieved.

Lin Wanyi had only just managed to calm her heart that was pounding like a startled fawn, and seeing Xie Jinhuan venting his frustration at Meiqiu for failing to catch the demon, she hurriedly said:

"Don't worry, he can't escape. The Wu Sect's specialty is leaving marks; he just came into contact with the poisonous mist, so the poison is clinging to him. Even if he can detoxify it, the scent can linger for quite a while—I can track him."

"Really?"

Xie Jinhuan's eyes immediately lit up, and he grabbed Lin Wanyi and ran outside.

Lin Wanyi was caught off guard and stumbled as she was pulled, her collar flapping twice, and could only run along behind:

"Slow down a bit, how am I supposed to track like this? I'm not a dog's nose…"

Xie Jinhuan stopped his steps again and released her wrist:

"Quick, quick, don't really let the guy get away—I want this one alive."

Lin Wanyi didn't dawdle either; standing in place, she overlapped her hands up and down, and between her palms a ghostly green flame could be seen, surging irregularly.

Lin Wanyi observed for a moment, then quickly headed out of the mountain hollow…

—

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(End of chapter)