Chapter 718: The Great Terror Between Life and Death (2/2, Autumn Subscription)

The battlefield where those three were fighting had long since turned into a world of ice and snow.

The surrounding houses and ground were all coated with a layer of white frost.

Just the aftershocks of the battle sent wave after wave of chilling air surging forth, so fierce that no one dared approach even a hairsbreadth.

Even a Human-Grade Intermediate Martial Artist like Dou Hongyi felt deep wariness toward the surging cold currents.

The anomalies that had drawn near the battlefield were frozen in place wave after wave, completely unable to join the fight.

That terrifying might was something no ordinary person could ever touch.

Hearing Dou Hongyi's words, Mang Liuzi felt a twinge of frustration in his heart and brought the news back to Yang Hongxia.

"How long do we have to drag this out! If the anomalies completely break through the protective ring and come charging in, we people without the strength to truss a chicken are going to suffer massive casualties…"

The safety of others, Yang Hongxia didn't really care about, but her own safety absolutely had to be kept in mind.

Just as Yang Hongxia was thinking, a burly bald man suddenly popped out from the crowd.

"You're Yang Hongxia?"

Yang Hongxia was stunned for a moment, then recognized the newcomer—why, it was… 'An Dong'er'!

"I'm not An Dong'er. I'm the former Captain of Mo Cun… strictly speaking, I'm one of Qing Si's people. You can call me Captain Wu."

After a pause, Captain Wu swept a glance around and asked in a low voice, "Where's Dou Hongyi? Captain Ye sent me to pass him a message. Also, you can stay by my side; I can keep you safe."

Yang Hongxia looked at Captain Wu's mediocre strength and truly couldn't figure out how he could possibly protect her—he wasn't even as reliable as Mang Liuzi.

But thinking that this was someone Captain Ye had arranged at the cost of his own life to save her, she naturally didn't dare slight him.

"I'll lead the way!"

They set off again to find Dou Hongyi. They had just pushed through the crowd and barely walked any distance ahead when a sudden uproar broke out from the front.

Immediately after, a massive sheet of flame lit up the night and blasted toward them.

The crowd up ahead screamed and scattered in panic, bodies ablaze, the whole scene in total chaos.

"Get down!!"

Captain Wu roared. Before the young lady could react, her head was slammed into the ground by Captain Wu, teeth clacking painfully against the dirt like a dog gnawing earth.

If it weren't for the searing heat whistling overhead—proof that Captain Wu had acted in genuine urgency to save her, his intentions good if lacking in finesse, an iron-hearted straight man who didn't know how to treat a girl properly—Yang Hongxia would probably have started cursing him out.

Once the flames passed, the people around exploded into an uproar and scattered in all directions.

Dou Hongyi was still far away, which meant they were still far from the guards of the protective ring.

They had no idea how this anomaly had sneaked in…

Yang Hongxia had just thought this when she looked up, saw the anomaly's appearance, and immediately stopped thinking.

The anomaly had an enormous belly, floating in midair as if drifting.

The bloated belly had wounds stitched shut, with foul-smelling pus oozing from the seams.

Both eyes and mouth on its head were gathering intense flames, as if ready to spit fire at any moment.

Some martial artists around the 【Thick-Flow Anomaly】, who fancied themselves fairly capable, leapt up one after another to fight it.

The result was that with one open-mouthed blast, they were all set ablaze and tumbled down.

"Young lady, fall back!"

Mang Liuzi seemed to feel pressure from Captain Wu and suddenly became proactive.

With a great shout, he charged forward.

Unlike the others, even wounded Mang Liuzi was still decently capable at the Xiantian Realm.

He shot toward the 【Thick-Flow Anomaly】 in midair like a cannonball, and before the anomaly could react, man and monster had already crossed paths.

Swoooosh!

Thick fluid gushed out, drawing agonized screams from the people below.

Some were even directly corroded by the thick fluid until flesh and blood were gone, their heads reduced to skulls, collapsing dead on the ground.

And though the 【Thick-Flow Anomaly】 let out wailing shrieks, that was all it amounted to.

It seemed the large sword wound on its belly wasn't a particularly serious injury to it.

Instead, as if enraged, its bulging belly suddenly contracted like a sucked-in gut, its head swelled and puffed up, and then it opened its mouth at Mang Liuzi and blasted out a great fire.

Roooar—

Rolling fire clouds churned as they surged to engulf Mang Liuzi.

Mang Liuzi's face changed drastically. He retreated at top speed, but the flames still grazed him. After pushing himself back some distance, he immediately rolled on the ground trying to smother the fire, only to find… the flames couldn't be put out!

His face changed drastically, and Mang Liuzi instantly showed a look of panic.

He had wanted to show off in front of Yang Hongxia and earn a little merit, but never expected it would cost him his life!

In despair and terror, Mang Liuzi shouted at the top of his lungs: "Help! Young lady, help! Lord Dou Hongyi, help! Someone go kill that anomaly quick! I can feel this Undying Fire has a special connection to it—kill the anomaly and I can live! Please, someone go kill it!!"

Mang Liuzi wasn't shooting in the dark; he was a seasoned veteran who had clawed his way up through life, and he truly sensed that the Undying Fire was different from the flames the 【Thick-Flow Anomaly】 had spewed before.

For instance, right now the 【Thick-Flow Anomaly】's body had returned to normal, but on its head, the mouth and eyes no longer flickered with firelight, as if the flame ability had been exhausted—or perhaps… was being sustained on the Undying Fire.

Even so, no one stepped up to slay this 【Thick-Flow Anomaly】.

Because the other powerful martial artists had long been forcibly conscripted by Dou Hongyi and the others into their ranks, deployed to the outer perimeter of the protective ring to fight the anomalies.

The martial artists left behind were either useless rabble or slip-throughs like Mang Liuzi.

Feeling the raging flames burning his body, even his skin scorched black, Mang Liuzi wept in terror, feeling that death had never been so close as in this moment!

Anomalies could never be underestimated!

No matter how strong one was, facing an anomaly with the slightest contempt could capsize the boat in a ditch.

Because anomalies' abilities were so varied and bizarre, sometimes they simply couldn't be ranked by ordinary strength, and many anomalies people couldn't even fully identify.

Facing an unknown anomaly, failing to concentrate fully on guarding and fighting meant a single slip could be fatal!

Even a lion plays its game with full force!

Mang Liuzi, eager to show off, had neglected his guard — that was how he took the hit.

Feeling his life about to reach its end, he dropped to both knees in despair and agony.

At that moment, if someone were willing…

"Let me do it!"

What…

A sudden roar snapped Mang Liuzi back to his senses.

When he looked up at the air again, he saw a bald, burly man whose eyes flickered with threads of golden light, holding a long-jump pose, right fist clenched, aimed straight at 【Nongliugui】's face — and slammed a vicious punch into it.

The instant the fist struck 【Nongliugui】, a faint golden gleam flickered, and amid the wavering light, it seemed as though the Phoenix Cry rang out.

Boom!!

With a thunderous crash, 【Nongliugui】, whose face had taken the bald man's punch, split apart on the spot into pieces, scattering into a rain of flesh and blood.

And the flames that had been burning madly on Mang Liuzi's body, at the very same instant, Synchronize extinguished!

The Undying Fire stopped burning — Mang Liuzi… had survived by sheer luck!

At that moment, the way Mang Liuzi looked at Captain Wu was as though he were gazing at a god.

"Captain Wu… God of War! From today on, you are my faith!"

Yesterday's make-up updates are finished.

Starting the evening updates — at least 2 more chapters to go.

(End of this chapter)