CHAPTER 93: SHATTERED JADE, HUTOU

Li Yanchu stepped forward, and in a flash, he shot ten zhang ahead.

With a flash of the saber, his blood and qi surged, searing hot like a blazing furnace. This time, Li Yanchu crashed straight into the monster! He poured all of his Six Yang Force into the Jiaoslayer, which tore right through the flesh mountain’s defenses.

The countless faces twisted in resentment, fanaticism, and madness that covered the monster’s body locked their eyes fiercely on Li Yanchu. Broken, half-rotted arms reached out, trying to grab him.

But the blazing blood and qi, as well as the qi shield surrounding Li Yanchu’s body shook those faces and arms away, tearing them apart on contact.

Boom! Rumble!

Boom! Rumble!

In the silent and desolate Longmen Village, the two men were working in tandem to surround and slay the monstrous flesh mountain.

Li Yanchu was far stronger now than he had been before. Though he had yet to fully master all three of his first-rate martial techniques, he was already on a completely different level compared to when he faced that black-robed elder from the Feng family. If he were to face that saber-wielding martial artist from the past now, he could deal with him with ease.

Boom!

This time, after clashing with the beast, Li Yanchu was pushed back only five zhang. Meanwhile, the monster’s towering form had begun to wobble, its balance shaken.

Whether it was Li Yanchu’s saber, fists, and burning qi, or Bai Hongtu’s Flying Sword and talismans, each strike was now landing with significant force and dealing real damage to this monstrous flesh mountain.

But, it felt no pain nor tire, and that made it all the more maddening to fight!

“I... I’ll eat you... I want to eat you!” The creature suddenly spoke in a strange voice. It sounded like one voice, yet at the same time, like a hundred people speaking in unison. It was noisy, chaotic, and twisted.

The monstrous flesh mountain took a deep breath, and instantly, the terrifying black clouds in the sky were sucked straight into its gaping mouth. At that moment, its aura surged violently, and blood began to seep from the eye sockets of the countless faces covering its body. It was a sight terrifying enough to make one's scalp crawl!

“You like to eat? Then I’ll let you eat your fill!” Li Yanchu’s voice roared like thunder.

A sudden premonition rose in his heart that the repeating cycle that bound Longmen Village should have already been broken with the destruction of the ancestral hall.

After all, both his Jiaoslayer and Hongtu’s Flying Sword had already slain multiple villagers contained within the body of this flesh monster. Even his Divine Astral Hands had blasted deep craters into it, yet the cycle had not restarted.

Roar!

The terrifying flesh mountain lunged forward at a shockingly fast speed. Right after, a dense wave of sinister, malevolent qi surged toward them like a tide.

At this time, Li Yanchu held the Five-Lightning Talisman, which was thrice-enhanced by the Decree of Bestowal, with a resolute and fierce gaze.

“Five-Lightning Pure Yang, True Law of Heaven and Earth, destroy!”

Just then, lightning descended from the heavens.

Boom!

The world turned blindingly white in an instant. This was lightning in its purest, most righteous form.

Such lightning arts were meant precisely to annihilate evil and corruption, such as this abomination born of gathered murderous qi, raised from corpses and sealed living souls. At this time, half the monster’s enormous body was blown apart on the spot!

Lightning was the authority of Heaven and Earth, and it suppressed and obliterated all wicked and unholy things.

At this time, Li Yanchu’s blood and qi surged like a storm. With a single step, he vanished, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared right in front of the flesh monster!

Boom!

Divine Astral Hands!

Seizing the moment while the flesh mountain was heavily wounded by the Five-Lightning Talisman, Li Yanchu charged forward with unstoppable force like a raging tempest tearing through rotting wood. His martial blood and qi, as well as his Six Yang Force surged.

Instantly, that overwhelming brute strength tore the monstrous body of the flesh mountain apart.

“Watch out!” Bai Hongtu’s warning rang out from behind him.

After its massive body was shredded, the flesh mountain suddenly condensed into a single, grotesque human face. Its expression was filled with poisonous resentment as it lunged straight at Li Yanchu! This was corpse qi taking form!

But Li Yanchu showed no fear in his eyes. He had been holding a Spirit Officer Summoning Talisman in hand all along! Now that he knew this foul creation had been made by sealing living souls into corpses, he had already prepared for it to launch an attack in its pure yin soul form.

Swish!

A golden light radiated from his hand, bursting forth brilliantly. Within moments, a mighty Divine Dao aura descended from the void above and instantly forced the ferocious face back.

“I now invoke the divine might of Huo Luo General, the great Spirit Officer and Supreme Enforcer of Heavenly Punishment. Command the Five Lightning to issue their decrees, and reduce all demons, evildoers, and malevolent spirits to dust. I humbly beseech your descent, and grant me the power of lightning to shield and protect. Spirit Officer Summoning Talisman, activate!”

Li Yanchu’s primordial spirit surged, soaring to nearly three zhang tall. Just then, his primordial spirit was clad in divine armor and wielded a golden mace in hand.

“You want to challenge my primordial spirit in a spiritual battle!? Wicked fiend, you’re courting death!”

Boom!

The golden mace in Li Yanchu’s hand turned into a blinding beam of golden light and smashed down on the face formed of murderous qi. The once venomous and wrathful face immediately became somewhat transparent under the blow, and for the first time, there was a flicker of fear in its eyes!

“His primordial spirit left his body!? He actually invoked a deity to possess his body?!”

Bai Hongtu was utterly stunned. He hadn’t expected that Li Yanchu would be this fierce!

The monster formed from murderous qi had already taken heavy damage, not just to its physical form from the Five-Lightning Talisman, but to its very soul and essence.

And now, it was facing Li Yanchu’s Spirit Officer Summoning Talisman, which had summoned the divine power of Spirit Officer Wang, the chief among the five hundred spirit officers of the Celestial Court!

Divine Dao was awe-inspiring and heavy. Those with treacherous or impure hearts could not summon it, and if they attempted to do so, they would only harm themselves.

But Li Yanchu had always walked the righteous path; he banished ghosts and slaying demons, and his heart was unwavering, bold, and steadfast. Thus, the Divine Dao power he summoned came forth with overwhelming might.

At this time, the twisted, venomous face turned into a streak of light as it tried to escape. However, Li Yanchu tossed the golden mace in his hand into the air, where it transformed into a beam of blazing gold.

Boom!

And just like that, this twisted abomination, which was strong in both body and soul, was utterly annihilated by Li Yanchu, and its soul scattered to the winds.

As the creature was destroyed, the surrounding scenery began to shift, not like ripples in water, but as if a hole had been burned through. It was as though some unseen flame had scorched through the twisted, chaotic realm they had been trapped in.

Even the blood moon hanging in the sky began to catch fire around its edges, And then, holes began to tear open within it.

When the smoke finally cleared, the scene before Li Yanchu and Bai Hongtu had changed completely. There was no sign of Longmen Village anywhere, instead they were standing in the middle of a mass graveyard!

The place was barren and desolate. Scattered all around were nameless, unmarked graves of various sizes stretching out in silent misery.

When they looked up, the sky was now beginning to dim, but it was clearly not yet night.

“Did we make it out?” Bai Hongtu took a deep breath.

“It seems so. Which means... the moment we stepped into the area where Longmen Village used to be, we were already trapped. That village had ceased to exist long ago.”

Thinking back on the eerie, twisted place they had just escaped from, Li Yanchu couldn’t help but feel a sense of somber awe.

They searched the area, but aside from the scattered, nameless graves, there was nothing unusual. However, they did come across an exposed skeleton. Its flesh was completely gnawed away, leaving only bare bones.

Beside the remains lay a sharp, gleaming long spear, which was clearly a deadly weapon once used on the battlefield.

“Hm?” A flicker of surprise appeared in Li Yanchu’s eyes.

Just then, he suddenly noticed a fragment of jade on the skeleton. Bending down to pick it up, he realized with a start that this jade shard was identical to the old, weathered piece of jade Madam Feng had once given him.

Bai Hongtu said in astonishment, “Another one of these jade fragments? Every time this thing shows up, there’s always bloodshed or disaster not far behind.”

Li Yanchu examined it carefully, then tucked it away.

Soon after, the two of them turned and left the area once known as Longmen Village, and before long, they found Blackie and the white horse waiting not far off. Deep in thought, Li Yanchu cast one last glance in the direction of Longmen Village.

This time, they galloped toward Wei City, never once looking back at Longmen Village. And in the distance, they could already see the gates of Wei City looming ahead.

The curse of Longmen Village... had truly been broken.

After Li Yanchu and Bai Hongtu departed, an unremarkable little mound suddenly began to tremble back in that field of forgotten graves where Longmen Village once stood. A young girl, with neat features and a seemingly innocent face, climbed out of the grave.

She looked pure and harmless, and she was none other than Hutou, the daughter of Lady Zhou.