Chapter 1186: Here it comes

Fu Liushan, holding a chisel, pointed at him testily. "I see a red glow between your brows; if you don't leave now, you might suffer a bloody disaster tonight!"

He Lingchuan also jumped onto the stone platform. "You'll probably need to fix this faster; the black-armored man will be back soon."

Fu Liushan's heart tightened. "How do you know?"

"I left a scout on the battlefield." He Lingchuan could observe the battle in real-time, as they were still within the effective transmission range of his Eyeball Spiders. "The fighting over there is wrapping up, and the black-armored man is heading this way."

The skirmish on the mountain road didn't last long but was exceptionally fierce. Neither side could retreat. The black-armored leader and the Yaoren had a deep-seated enmity, forcing General Chongwu to fight back furiously. As observed by the Eyeball Spiders, the battle was bloody and chaotic, with both sides fighting to the death.

So far, the Yao army had suffered at least four to five hundred casualties in this unusual battle. General Chongwu himself was wounded, with a spear wound to his side and a sword cut to his leg that severed a tendon, rendering him unable to stand. This was despite his personal guards' desperate protection. Their enemy, of course, sustained even greater losses. Over a thousand earthen golems were mostly destroyed, and the black-armored leader was struck by over ten arrows and even suffered two slashes to its face. Such injuries would have been fatal to anyone else.

Yet, it acted as if nothing had happened. Who wouldn't feel apprehensive seeing that?

General Chongwu had already retreated, unwilling to directly confront that monstrous thing, while simultaneously intensifying his command. Since the chaotic battle had already been fought, there had to be a clear outcome. Bringing back the Rakshasa Armor would be an unexpected merit. He Lingchuan reasonably suspected that the General might also have designs on this evil armor. The black-armored leader, currently demonstrating the Rakshasa Armor's properties, still possessed power even when surrounded by an army.

With only seven or eight earthen golems left by its side, the black-armored leader let out a low growl and, mustering its remaining might, charged towards the ridge. Its movements were sweeping, powerful, and exceptionally ferocious. The earthen golems tightly guarded it in the center, blocking the Yao army's attacks, proving irresistible for a moment.

General Chongwu saw its intention and bellowed, "Stop it!"

However, the army couldn't fully deploy on the ridge. Two soldiers were directly sent flying by the black-armored leader. Another young officer stood by the roadside; seeing the black-armored man rampage, he immediately tried to dodge backward. He had initially put some distance between himself and the black-armored man, but unexpectedly, the opponent's charge curved, and with a crash, it knocked him directly off the path.

The young officer plummeted like a kite with a broken string. General Chongwu cried out, "Damn it!" and stepped forward, ignoring the searing pain in his leg, launching a grappling hook at him. In that critical moment, he didn't care about the officer's injuries; as long as the grappling hook could catch him and pull him back, that was all that mattered.

To his dismay, an earthen golem charged over at that very moment, directly blocking the path of the grappling hook. With a soft thud, half of the earthen golem's damaged armor on its chest shattered, and the grappling hook embedded itself deep into its torso. That single block extinguished the young officer's last chance of survival. General Chongwu heard his screams as he fell into the valley, and his heart sank. Soon, the screams were swallowed by the darkness.

For a moment, no one else dared to rush forward to their deaths.

Seizing the opening, the black-armored leader sprang, leaping off the cliff! The cliff was over thirty *zhang* high, with jagged rocks below and no trees to break the fall. An ordinary person falling would have a nine-in-ten chance of death. But for it, it was a different story. The black-armored leader's form was immediately swallowed by the darkness at the base of the cliff. The few remaining golems on the mountain shattered into dust with a *krash*, returning to dust and earth.

General Chongwu cursed under his breath, then limped to the edge of the mountain, peering down twice. With a grim face, he ordered, "Move to the open ground ahead and rest for an hour! Then send two agile men down to the base of the cliff to retrieve the Young Master Tong!"

"Damn this terrain."

Young Master Tong was gone, which meant big trouble. But since this trouble had already been stirred up, he couldn't give up. He had to bring back the Three-Tails to atone for his failure. The wounded in the army needed treatment. The troops would leave them in the mountain hollow and then continue their advance.

While having the military physician treat his injuries, General Chongwu deployed his tasks. His commands remained clear and effective. He Lingchuan was somewhat surprised by this, as it was clear General Chongwu intended to continue the pursuit in the dark. After fighting a fierce enemy of unknown origin, the Yao army's morale had dropped, and they had sustained significant losses. However, He Lingchuan's tricks had not deterred General Chongwu. Fortunately, the night was dark and the path steep, so the Yao army couldn't move quickly, and they still had to descend the cliff to retrieve the body. Therefore, He Lingchuan's biggest immediate problem wasn't General Chongwu, but the black-armored leader rapidly approaching Keling!

After it left the Eyeball Spiders' sight, He Lingchuan didn't know where it had gone. But one thing was certain: It was definitely coming here, and fast!

So, He Lingchuan directly asked Fu Liushan, "What are the weaknesses of the Rakshasa Armor?" Asking the seal master of the Rakshasa Armor this question was a perfect fit.

Many thoughts also ran through Fu Liushan's mind. He didn't believe a single word of their story about escorting a friend over the ridge. Nine out of ten explorers who entered the Keling Ruins came for the Rakshasa Armor; he had grown tired of seeing it for the past decade and more. These two probably wanted to use him, and the power of the talisman array, to seize the Rakshasa Armor. However, those who hadn't fought the Rakshasa Armor didn't know how terrifying it was. These two fellows' plans were probably going to fail.

"Fine, let's cooperate for now." They wanted to use his power, but didn't he want to use theirs? Facing the Rakshasa Armor, even if these two were no match, they could serve as human shields. Furthermore, their flying mounts were a standout advantage.

So Fu Liushan's eyes darted a few times, then he said, "An exact weakness? There isn't one. But my ancestors left a speculation: the Rakshasa Armor might be missing a scale, located at a vital point."

"How could the Fu family know such a secret clue?" Seeing their expressions, Fu Liushan immediately explained, "This isn't baseless speculation. According to information gathered by my ancestors, the last time the final monarch of the Glimmergold Empire wore it into battle, a crucial scale was knocked off—the Rakshasa Armor's 'heart scale.' Its defensive power was greatly reduced, which led to the monarch's defeat."

"Heart scale?" He Lingchuan's brow twitched. The Soul-Capturing Mirror in his arms already cried out, "Heart scale? Oh, isn't that, isn't that...?"

He Lingchuan nodded, "I see. Which specific part is it on?"

"That's unclear. I've never actually seen the Rakshasa Armor myself," Fu Liushan said, spreading his hands. "The second weakness is even more elusive: it might be its current master."

"Its master?" Dong Rui was somewhat surprised, but He Lingchuan nodded. "That's true. The Rakshasa Armor's current master abandoned us to fight the Yao army the moment they appeared, which shows that the Rakshasa Armor hasn't completely controlled it."

"The Rakshasa Armor previously had other masters. After a few years, or perhaps twenty or thirty, it would invariably change masters, starting another bloody rampage. It wasn't until its current master, and despite the sealing efforts, that it remained quiescent for over 160 years, which is quite remarkable."

He finished mending the last piece of the platform and jumped down. "I've told you everything I know. What's your plan?"

He Lingchuan and Dong Rui exchanged glances.

"You aren't planning to just stand there foolishly and fight it, are you?" Fu Liushan shook his head repeatedly. "You won't win."

He Lingchuan looked around at the stone platforms. "How does this array activate?"

"See the circle of white stones on the ground?" Fu Liushan pointed. "I'll control the array. You need to make sure it stands within the circle, the closer to the center, the better. The array can then reseal it."

"Are you sure?" He Lingchuan frowned. "It's been sealed for so many years; will it foolishly walk into a trap again?"

"When the Rakshasa Armor first emerged, it made its host muddled and consumed by a desire to kill," Fu Liushan said. "We'll seize that chance to seal it. Otherwise, the few of us would just be committing suicide!"

Dong Rui stamped his foot on the stone ground. "It won't seal us along with it, will it?" He knew exactly what Fu Liushan was up to.

"What are you thinking? It only works on the Rakshasa Armor!"

No sooner had he spoken than the bell beside Fu Liushan suddenly jingled, a sharp, clinking sound that stood out jarringly in the night wind. His expression changed. "It's here."

The bell rang whenever an evil entity approached. The last time he encountered a ghost in the inn, it only gave a faint chime, nothing like now, where it seemed eager to wake the dead. It rang so vigorously that everyone knew something formidable was approaching.

Dong Rui immediately asked, "Can you tell which direction the Rakshasa Armor is coming from?"

Fu Liushan pointed casually, "Over there!"

He chose a stone platform, jumped onto it, and squatted down, drawing something on the surface. He urgently added, "I almost forgot to mention, this armor is very likely to absorb people's fear. The more you recoil, the stronger it becomes. So—"

He Lingchuan interrupted him, "But that thing just fought the Yao army; it must have absorbed quite a bit already, right?"

"Well, yes, exactly!" Fu Liushan chuckled. "So it will be much stronger than when it first broke its seal... Oh, right, it's said that the Rakshasa Armor enhances the host's supernatural abilities and strength. Good luck to you two; if you can't hold on, just take to the sky to buy some time."

He Lingchuan was about to reply when he saw the man plunge downward, disappearing from sight!

"Huh?" Dong Rui was startled.

He Lingchuan jumped onto the platform in two steps, only to find it empty. He pressed on the platform surface a few times. "There's probably a mechanism; he hid inside the platform." No wonder Fu Liushan had seemed so composed; he had a place to hide.

"He's really cunning. No, the array masters of the Glimmergold Empire are truly cunning, prioritizing their own protection." Dong Rui said with an envious look; he wanted to go in too. But he could only pat his Ghost Ape and the bat, then swiftly slipped into the jungle himself—conveniently in the opposite direction of the black-armored man. He had witnessed that monster's agility and speed; he couldn't easily withstand it himself.

He left He Lingchuan with a single sentence: "You two fight well! It's all up to you!"

Fu Liushan, hiding inside the stone platform, hadn't even processed it before Dong Rui's back had vanished into the dark jungle. What did this mean? A temporary disbandment? Could He Lingchuan and one monkey really hold off the Rakshasa Armor alone?