Chapter 64: Ghost Wall

Splash-splash~

More than ten men sent from the Peony Pool swam to the vicinity of the floating tower ship, only to find the earth-shattering noise had suddenly ceased; the crowd froze in place.

Linghu Qingmo floated in the water, his heart full of anxiety as he gazed at the suddenly silent tower:

"Why has the noise stopped?"

Princess Changning drifted before him, her brows knitted tight:

"I suppose the fight is over."

"Who won?"

"Unclear. If the demon bandits won, they would have already fled; if Xie Jinhuan won, the trouble would be immense."

The crowd clearly realized the gravity of the situation.

But without knowing the situation on the ship, they could not quietly leave; what if Xie Jinhuan was severely injured and could be saved?

Lin Wanyi desperately wanted to go up and take a look, but as a shamaness, she dared not act rashly even if she boarded; she could only ask:

"What should we do?"

Princess Changning wanted to rely on her martial arts to go up and peek, but before she could even touch the ship, she spotted a Meiqiu diving from the sky and landing on the tower's peak, looking down:

"Goo-goo~"

Boom—

This was like stepping on a bomb; the tower immediately roared, and a figure shot skyward, landing on the bare main beam. He first glanced at the big bird, then swept his gaze left and right, and then:

Four eyes met!

The entire river surface fell deathly silent!

Lin Wanyi, soaking in the water, saw Xie Jinhuan above, his eyes brimming with excitement and lust, making her want to roll her eyes on the spot; her heart gave a thud:

"No good, run fast!"

Boom—

The next instant, a piercing sound of wind tearing through rose from above the tower, mixed with a perfectly enunciated sound of Great Qian's elegant rhyme:

"Damn ugly monster, dare to scare me!"

More than ten people, each wielding a weapon, burst from the water and scattered in a panic, fleeing for their lives.

Splash-splash—

Lin Wanyi's heart turned to ash; she had thought Xie Jinhuan would catch and abuse her, but after running not far, she realized her attraction wasn't that great.

Glancing over, she saw the murderous Xie Jinhuan completely ignoring the pale-faced Linghu Qingmo, Liu Qingzhi, and others, and instead chasing directly toward Princess Changning.

?!

Seeing this, the crowd was stunned and immediately wanted to go over to intervene.

Princess Changning also drew her twin blades from behind her waist; she was completely dazed and shouted urgently while fleeing at full speed:

"Why is he chasing me? How did I scare him?"

Butler Hou, as the trusted lackey, stayed inches behind to protect her; his rat-like eyes darted about:

"Xie Jinhuan thinks Your Highness is ugly and got scared by you."

"Is that so?!"

Liu Qingzhi and the ten Wang Fu Wu Zu were terrified, shouting angrily from afar:

"Butler Hou, don't stand in front of the Princess; he's coming for you!"

"Ah?! Is this dead kid blind..."

Although Butler Hou was full of displeasure, he understood Xie Jinhuan had poor eyesight and mistook him for an ugly monster; he immediately broke away from Princess Changning and flew across the river surface.

And as expected!

Xie Jinhuan, who had just shivered in fright, saw that face capable of shaking heaven and earth and making ghosts weep again; his killing intent was too heavy, so he turned and chased Butler Hou, shouting as he pursued:

"Dare to scare me! Let's see where you can run today!"

"When did I ever scare you?!"

Butler Hou used his two legs as four, flying recklessly across the river surface, yet still turning back to make noise.

The other dozen or so people, seeing this, simultaneously turned and chased Xie Jinhuan, attempting to break up the fight.

But Xie Jinhuan's explosive power was already terrifying; now, acting like a madman, he left them dozens of zhang behind in the blink of an eye and caught up behind Butler Hou.

Seeing his trusted lackey about to be slaughtered, Princess Changning held her twin blades, her eyes full of anxiety, yet helpless.

But fortunately, ugly people have ugly luck; there was someone here who could intervene!

Xie Jinhuan was pursuing at full speed, making Butler Hou scream in terror, when he suddenly noticed the back view right in front of him had vanished!

Then, a peerless giant carriage sixteen chi tall appeared not far to the side, carrying a red umbrella on its shoulder with a challenging look in its eyes:

"Stinky kid, weren't you going to make me cry? Come on~"

Having said that, it even revealed a pair of plump, Bai Xi long legs, its hips swaying lightly like a giant pendulum!

Holy crap?!!

How could Xie Jinhuan withstand this? He raised his sword like a mad dog and charged at the Ghost Bride.

Boom-boom-boom—

Butler Hou felt his life was about to fade away; just as he was sighing 'since ancient times, beauties have short lives', he noticed Xie Jinhuan suddenly turned and charged into the empty river; his eyes couldn't help but freeze:

"That's right; I knew this kid had bad eyesight and misjudged."

Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh—

Xie Jinhuan's speed was incredibly fast, but he was just making a big circle in the empty river.

Seeing this, Lin Wanyi and the others had confused looks in their eyes; after a moment of anxiety, once they confirmed the threat was gone, they dropped back into the water and floated in place to observe:

"What's wrong with him?"

Linghu Qingmo couldn't make sense of it either; after a moment's thought, he said:

"It's probably a ghost wall. He must have been bewitched during his fight with the Wu Sect's demons."

Princess Changning felt it sounded plausible and turned to look at the tower ship:

"Let's go aboard first. If we can save one, we save one!"

Seeing this, everyone quickly retreated toward the tower ship.

Linghu Qingmo and Lin Wanyi, worried about Xie Jinhuan's injuries, dared not stray too far.

The reinforcements from the city weren't too slow either; within moments, over a hundred Mo Jia Wu Zu arrived at the riverside and then galloped toward the tower ship.

Shortly after, a powerful sound of wind being torn apart came from downstream; a white wave sliced through the river surface, rushing toward them!

Linghu Qingmo glanced briefly, and his eyes instantly lit up with joy:

"It's Li Lao, Li Jing!"

Lin Wanyi felt a great weight lift off her shoulders and hurriedly said:

"Mr. Li! Xie Jinhuan took the Dao Cultivation Surge Pill; knock him out quickly!"

"Ah!?"

As the first person to test the medicine, Li Jing knew the terror of this pill well and leaped to the vicinity:

"How many people died?!"

"The demon bandits should be all dead, and those on the ship are likely in grave danger. Why did you, Li Lao, only just arrive?"

"There was a slip-up at the Pill King Pavilion; we were lured away by a diversion. Fortunately, the casualties weren't too great."

Li Jing looked at Xie Jinhuan, who was drawing circles, and although he didn't understand what madness he was up to, he quietly approached to prepare to knock him out.

But unfortunately, while he was still over ten zhang away, Xie Jinhuan suddenly snapped out of it, looked left and right, then turned his gaze toward him and let out a perfectly enunciated:

"You old geezer, dare to take my book!"

With those words, a sword came from the west, like a flying immortal!

Li Jing, having tested the medicine with his own body, had also cursed Master Mu like this; he bore no grudge whatsoever and even explained to the juniors behind him:

"He is under the influence of the medicine; he curses whoever he sees, with no personal grudges involved."

Hou, the steward who had loyally protected the princess, nodded repeatedly:

"What Li Lao says makes sense; his mind is not clear, he is just babbling nonsense."

"Is that so?"

Lin Wanyi and others were somewhat skeptical, after all, Xie Jinhuan hadn't cursed anyone else; they thought to themselves:

It seems this 'Dao Cultivation Surge Pill' doesn't completely scramble one's mind; at least it knows the level of hostility, slaughtering opponents first, then raping teammates...

It's just a pity that pills which increase power have huge side effects; one can't take a second dose in a short time. All things considered, it's still 'Zisu's product, must be junk'...

Li Jing, as the Vice Chancellor of the Danyang Academy and a solid Grade One Martial Artist, would find it hard to be accidentally injured even if Xie Jinhuan's power doubled twice.

The instant they closed in, Li Jing used his sword scabbard to block the green blade, while his left hand, swift as a thunderbolt, pointed a finger at Xie Jinhuan's chest.

Dong~

Xie Jinhuan, with eyes wild with fervor, immediately collapsed into the water...

——

Inside the city, at the Pill King Pavilion.

After the return signal was sent, many experts from Danyang gradually turned back.

Discovering that the demonic qi surging from upstream had subsided, the Pill King breathed a slight sigh of relief, but since the casualty report hadn't returned yet, he still paced back and forth, waiting anxiously.

Xu Hunli, the Director of the Armory, opened the surface of the Bagua Platform, drilled inside the Bagua Platform, and inspected the extremely complex mechanisms and array patterns, muttering on and on:

"Someone jammed the universal joint, causing the array to struggle to operate normally. Array instruments are ultimately lifeless objects; no matter how precious, one cannot blindly trust them. In the future, when encountering sudden anomalies, remember to verify from multiple angles first."

Zhu Wenyuan also realized there was a traitor within the Wang Fu, but there were no shortage of retainers and servants who could access the Eight Directions Bright Array, so tracking them down wouldn't be easy; at this moment, he stood nearby holding a folding fan, observing:

"The Eight Directions Bright Array has never had problems before; the blood fiend qi from Mount Zihui two days ago was first warned by this array. No one expected that at such a critical moment, someone would use a diversion to lure the tiger away. We are merely flesh and blood; our six senses are far inferior to the Eight Directions Bright Array. To verify from multiple angles, we'd have to run to the Danyun Pass first, which might delay military affairs..."

Xu Hunli, having dealt with the jammed probe, stroked his beard:

"This is simple. I will add a layer of prohibition to this array so that when it changes its array patterns, it must first verify the user's qi mechanism to confirm their identity; if the operation is abnormal, it can also alert itself automatically. The Eight Directions Bright Tower in Jingcheng has this layer of prohibition."

This was obviously a good method.

But the drawback was that Xu Hunli had been invited to 'upgrade' the Eight Directions Bright Tower in Jingcheng and had collected thirty thousand taels in labor fees.

"The Eight Directions Bright Array has a simpler structure than the Mother Array; if we invite Mr. Xu to add a prohibition..."

"Eh."

Xu Hunli raised his hand and said earnestly:

"The core structures of the Mother and Child Arrays are the same, and the knowledge used is the same, so the price is naturally the same. However, seeing as Mr. Zhu has long cared for the Academy, I can bear the pain and give a ten percent discount."

Hearing this, Zhu Wenyuan's face turned green; he really wanted to curse:

"You old geezer, are you stuck in a money eye? Just fiddling with your hands and collecting tens of thousands of taels of silver, and you call it 'bearing the pain'?"

But the Pill King was ultimately a high-ranking official governing a border region; although he felt Xu Hunli's asking price was too ruthless, as one of the most prestigious artificers in Great Qian, his reliability was unquestionable. After a moment's consideration, he interjected:

"Since there is a loophole, it must be patched. If there are truly demons causing havoc in the towns and the Wang Fu misjudges, the losses could far exceed tens of thousands of taels of silver."

Having successfully swindled the project funds, Xu Hunli was naturally overjoyed:

"Your Highness truly loves the people like his own children. I, Xu, will return to prepare immediately; the array will be formed within seven days..."

Just as the few were conversing, Dianjun Tie Fengzhang leaped in through a window.

Seeing 'Big Fool Zhang' return, the Pill King's face instantly filled with anger:

"Did you die outside? As a Dianjun, you only ran back now after such a major incident?"

As a loyal confidant, Tie Fengzhang bore not a shred of complaint at being scolded and immediately clasped his hands:

"Your Highness, calm your anger! This subordinate first went to Huaijiang Bay and only returned after seeing the demon bandits were wiped out."

The Dan King let out a quiet sigh of relief and asked urgently:

"What are the casualties? Did you rescue Xie Jinhuan?"

"Um…"

Tie Fengzhang's expression was odd.

"Young Master Xie probably didn't need rescuing—he saw no high-level experts coming to the city's aid and no one guarding the Peony Pool, so he charged in alone and slaughtered every last bandit on the ship."

"What?!"

The Dan King stared in shock.

Zhu Wenyuan and Xu Hunli were also stunned.

Zhu Wenyuan said in disbelief: "That blood-demon aura just now wasn't a sky-reaching demon, but it was at least Rank 3 or higher—Xie Jinhuan killed them all by himself?"

Tie Fengzhang's eyes held no small amount of admiration: "When I arrived nearby, I found the giant treasure ship shattered into pieces—I assumed Li Jing had done it. But when I asked the Wu Zu, I learned it was Xie Jinhuan."

"According to his beloved, Physician Lin Da, Xie Jinhuan swallowed a 'Rapid Advancement Pill' to save all the civilians aboard, and she couldn't stop him even as she wept. Before leaving, he only said: 'If I don't come back, tell my father I didn't shame him.'"

Upon hearing this, the Dan King clenched his fists tightly, nearly moved to tears:

"A loyal father, a valiant son—truly a family of heroes!"

Zhu Wenyuan also sighed deeply: "The Rapid Advancement Pill's harms far outweigh its benefits—once swallowed, it blurs friend from foe and forces solitary, death-defying combat. If Xie Jinhuan fails to slay the enemy, he has no chance to retreat—he's embraced death, prepared to sacrifice himself for righteousness! Even if he wins, it will be a pyrrhic victory."

The Dan King's heart tightened; he stepped forward two paces:

"How is Jinhuan's condition?"

"One red wound on his chest, internal injuries to his organs, his meridians and muscles crushed by excessive strain—every inch of his body is damaged. But over five hundred civilians on the ship, half still live and are being rescued; not a single Wu Zu, officer, or civilian suffered harm."

"Had Xie Jinhuan not charged forward with such lone courage to block them, before the main Wu Zu force arrived, the bandits would have already slaughtered the ship using blood sacrifice and escaped."

Crack—

The Dan King slammed his right fist into his palm, paced back and forth twice, his eyes blazing with excitement:

"Quick! Find me the best Physician, the finest pills! If this loyal subject suffers even a single lingering injury, I'll peel your skin off!"

"Yes!"

As the Wang Fu's Chief of Military Affairs, Tie Fengzhang bore responsibility for such a massive disturbance in Danzhou.

Xie Jinhuan left behind the rogue bandits and minimized losses to the greatest extent—he now wanted to kowtow to Xie Jinhuan on the spot and immediately dashed out to carry out orders.

Xu Hunli, listening to the account beside him, stroked his beard, eyes filled with awe:

"Such a loyal son and worthy general—hard to find even with a lantern. If Xie Jinhuan had been wearing the 'Ice Scale Armor' I personally forged, would his injuries have been this severe?"

The Ice Scale Armor was a soft armor woven from Ice Soul Silk, a Rank 3 artifact, worth six thousand taels on the market—not overly expensive.

But Xu Hunli was the patriarch of Daqian's armorer craft; his personally forged Ice Scale Armor typically rose one or two ranks higher, custom-made for each wearer, with labor costs alone exceeding six thousand taels.

Yet the Dan King, consumed by excitement, didn't think twice about spending—he waved his hand:

"Reward him. A fine horse deserves fine saddle—how can a thousand-li steed wear a cloth robe?"

"As the saying goes, a precious sword should be given to a hero—armor without a weapon is useless…"

"Reward him!"

"As the saying goes—"

"Old Xu!"

Zhu Wenyuan also believed Xie Jinhuan deserved great reward, but this "Imperial Academy's Golden Mediator" would surely talk the feverish Dan King into madness if not stopped—he stepped forward and pushed Xu Hunli's shoulder:

"The demons aren't fully eradicated yet—the Eightfold Illumination Array must be deployed quickly. Old Xu, return to the Academy first to arrange things—I'll send silver to the Academy tomorrow."

Xu Hunli still wanted to say more, but was forcibly pushed out…

(End of Chapter)