Chapter 41

Bows, short arrows, talisman nets… it's Tang Xun!

At the moment the goddess statue was wrapped in the talisman net, a burst of golden light erupted from its body, forcibly snapping the net open!

That painting was also quickly taken up, tightly held in the goddess statue's hand.

The girls in the painting hadn't had time to be withdrawn; in an instant they became fierce, turned and rushed toward the back.

Although the talisman net failed to wound the goddess statue, it did break the Mana seal around the small shrine, and I found my body could move.

I turned my head backward and saw Tang Xun leading a group of black-clad people fighting.

The entire desolate mountain forest was shrouded in thick black qi, filled with resentment and evil killing energy; countless snakes, rats, and insects crawled out of the darkness, rustling, making one's scalp tingle.

Amidst this murky haze, the dilapidated small shrine was brightly lit, its whole body wrapped in a faint Golden Light.

As if some divine spirit were protecting it in the dark.

The reason Tang Xun's arrow couldn't pierce the goddess statue is thanks to this Golden Light's protection.

Who exactly is protecting the small shrine? Protecting the goddess statue?

What should I do next?

My only weapon is Feng Wu, but without true qi or internal energy to empower it, it currently can't exert much effect.

I do have a few yellow talismans in my pocket, but facing all this filth, it's just a drop in the bucket.

In this situation, what else can I do to help turn the tide?

Just when I was at a loss, Tang Xun suddenly shouted at me: 'Xiao Jiu, watch out for the statue!'

My heart jolted; I looked up and saw a huge shadow pressing down on me.

The goddess statue inside the small shrine actually moved!

I don't know when it silently shifted out; now it stands behind me, its whole body pressing down on me.

I only felt my vision go dark, while Tang Xun's anxious shout echoed in my ears: 'Xiao Jiu…'

The sound came from outside, constantly echoing in the dark space, drilling straight into my eardrums.

I now seem to be inside a closed space; reaching out to touch, everything feels like rough sand, cool and hard.

This is… the interior of the goddess statue?

I was actually swallowed by the goddess statue?

I slammed against the interior of the statue, trying to find an exit, wanting to answer Tang Xun's call.

But as time passed, my strength waned, my consciousness grew hazy, and I felt increasingly off.

That feeling is like… like I'm currently in the statue's stomach, being continuously digested by it!

Tang Xun's voice initially grew closer, as if she wanted to attack into the shrine, but soon I began to hear the surrounding sounds less clearly, my ears filled only with a rumbling roar.

This situation lasted for about two or three minutes, until a sharp pain suddenly came from my right shoulder blade, and my brow ached so much I gritted my teeth.

It's Feng Wu warning me!

She is my bound magical artifact, tightly linked to my life; when I'm in danger, she also senses it.

I raised my hand and firmly pinched my brow, barely stabilizing my mind, when suddenly I recalled the lightning-attracting talisman Liu Junyan taught me.

I'm not sure if this lightning-attracting talisman can resist the golden light aura surrounding the goddess statue; moreover, I'm now inside the statue, and if the talisman really works and lightning strikes down, I'll die too, right?

Sticking my head out means death, pulling it back also means death; better to fight it out!

Thinking this, I steadied my mind, bit my finger, drew the lightning-attracting talisman in blood on my palm, chanted the incantation, and slammed the palm bearing the talisman hard against the statue's inner wall.

I waited quietly.

This lightning-attracting talisman, since Liu Junyan taught it to me, I've practiced it hundreds of times, it's second nature.

Since my grandmother taught me to draw talismans, although they're just low-level wards against evil, my drawing skill is still solid.

During this time, pulling the bow has given my wrist strength; it's very steady.

Just now, that lightning-attracting talisman was done in one fluid motion, drawn perfectly.

But after I slapped it, I silently counted in my heart: one, two, three…

I counted up to eight, but nothing moved.

I secretly felt disappointed; I had worried the statue's internal golden light Mana would block the lightning back, but now it seems I'm just too weak to drive this overbearing lightning-attracting talisman.

I was just about to pull my hand back and think of another way, when a thunderclap suddenly exploded overhead and came down hard.

For a moment the earth shook and mountains trembled; lightning pierced the goddess statue and came at me like a spiderweb.

Yet I did not pull my hand back.

Liu Junyan told me this lightning-attracting talisman is extremely overbearing, powerful, but correspondingly its backlash is even stronger.

This bolt of lightning, when it strikes, will topple the shrine, pierce the goddess statue, and will likely kill me too!

But I'm not afraid.

At least this will help Tang Xun and them find a breakthrough and charge in!

"How could this be?!"

"How could this happen?"

"Impossible, impossible, I have Golden Scale protecting me, Merit upon me; what can a mere lightning-attracting talisman do to me?"

"No! No!"

The despairing woman's howls gathered from all directions; I looked up and saw the inner wall of the goddess statue covered densely with silver-white lightning, like countless daggers stabbing inward.

I instantly closed my eyes, buried my head in my knees, curled up my body, awaiting judgment.

Boom—!

The thunder was huge, heaven and earth shaking; a sweet-salty taste rose to my throat, but the expected pain did not come.

What's going on?

I dubiously opened my eyes again, and astonishingly discovered that my whole body was actually surrounded by a Golden Light protecting me.

Outside the Golden Light, the goddess statue shattered, that painting lay on the ground, streams of black qi gushed out, all around were the sounds of ghosts wailing and wolves howling.

The already dilapidated small temple, now with broken walls and ruined fences, has become a wasteland.

Moonlight filtered through the gradually thinning black qi, falling on Tang Xun not far away.

Tang Xun's chest rose and fell continuously, her hawk-like eyes fixed on me, as if fearing I would vanish in ashes at any moment.

Her arms hung at her sides, her right hand still gripping that crossbow, blood dripping down from it drop by drop, yet she seemed oblivious, all her thoughts focused on me.

When everything returned to calm, the Golden Light protecting me faded, and I spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Tang Xun rushed over, pulling me into her embrace, resting my head on her bent right leg, then shoved a pill into my mouth.

The pill was icy cool, carrying a rich ginseng flavor, it melted upon contact, spreading through my limbs and soon suppressed the surging blood qi in my throat.

I opened my mouth, about to say thank you, but I saw the Golden Light that had just dissipated slowly coalescing in midair into a golden… scale armor?

Yes, it's scale armor.

It resembles the tail scale that Liu Junyan gave me for protection earlier.

But the one Liu Junyan gave me was silvery-white, whereas this one is golden, about twice the size.

I unconsciously reached out my right hand, and the golden scale steadily fell into my palm…