Chapter 132: Ask for Monthly Tickets!

Facing such resolute words, the Pig-head man, far from getting angry, shed his previous fierce expression and instead revealed a simple, honest smile.

“How about we make a deal?”

Li Zhuiyuan knew that his opponent was about to launch a sneak attack. There was no common ground for them to make a deal. The pig had exploited the environment within Ah-Li’s dream, utilized Li Zhuiyuan’s team, and taken advantage of the river’s characteristics. This pig-brain was truly clever. Therefore, it understood Li Zhuiyuan’s habits and should have known that a deal was impossible.

“What kind of deal?” Li Zhuiyuan voluntarily responded, needing to gauge the urgency of the upcoming attack to assess the safety of his companions.

“The Black Python is with you; it must have told you some things about us, right?”

“Yes, he told me everything about you.”

“Good, that saves me an introduction. Here’s the deal: you give me the Black Python, and I’ll seal myself away for thirty years. That way, I’ll get the completion I desire, and you’ll have overcome this challenge.”

“Thirty years?”

“In thirty years, you’ll only be middle-aged, and the river journey will be long over. If you still bear a grudge then, you can come find me to settle the score. What do you say, future Dragon King?”

“Sounds like a decent proposal.”

“Right? The martial world isn’t just about fighting and killing; it’s also about…”

Li Zhuiyuan’s body trembled as a strange sound burrowed into his ears, fiercely agitating the "emotions" of anger and frenzy within him. Among the five senses, this pig represented "mouth," which was likely its special ability. A normal person, subjected to such demonic sounds, would have long since fallen into hysterics. Li Zhuiyuan also closed his eyes, his face contorted in pain, as if struggling to suppress intensely surging negative emotions.

The pig moved. Its body suddenly became as agile as an ape. It sprinted towards Li Zhuiyuan at an incredibly high speed, swinging its arms directly at the young man. The wind from its arms whistled with a sonic boom; a direct hit would likely cause the recipient to explode on impact. Li Zhuiyuan took half a step back, positioning himself inside the door frame. He had deliberately stood on the threshold earlier to provoke this.

“Buzz!”

The Pig-head man’s body seemed to hit an invisible barrier; the force of its swinging arms felt like punching cotton, completely dissipated. It immediately raised its head, fearing the formation might have an offensive effect, and quickly retreated, moving out of its range. No subsequent attack effects appeared, confirming it was purely a defensive formation. At this moment, the pain on Li Zhuiyuan’s face vanished, and he returned to normal. The opponent had launched a sneak attack impatiently as soon as he spoke, indicating that Run Sheng, Yin Meng, and Bin Bin’s situation was better than he had expected, perhaps even allowing them to provide reinforcement. This was good news.

Pig-head man: “Don’t you have emotions?”

Li Zhuiyuan: “My emotions are very rich and subtle.”

Pig-head man: “A defensive formation won’t stop me.”

Li Zhuiyuan nodded. Wisps of white smoke rose from the Pig-head man’s body, its leather clothing began to melt, and its pig face turned red, radiating intense heat. It charged again, this time with greater force and momentum. Although it was again blocked by the invisible barrier, causing its speed to drop, it continued to push forward. If there were no white fog at that moment, an observer outside would clearly see a massive indentation forming in the visual space around the photo studio, growing deeper and deeper. As half of the Pig-head man’s body squeezed past the threshold line, the entire visual plane trembled violently, indicating that the formation’s load-bearing capacity was nearing its limit.

The distance between Li Zhuiyuan and the pig’s head was shrinking; the young man could now clearly see the pig’s eyelashes. Mischief gleamed in the pig’s eyes, and its snout opened, revealing deep oral walls.

Li Zhuiyuan raised his right hand, and the visual space in that area also began to distort; the Karma Fire had ignited. The Pig-head man seemed to sense something; the mischief in its eyes vanished, replaced by panic. The young man’s fist struck the pig’s face, transferring the Karma Fire. Howls of agony escaped the pig’s mouth, its previously glowing red face gradually turning ashen. But the pig’s snout suddenly twitched, and a powerful suction force emerged, firmly gripping the young man’s fist. Immediately after, the Pig-head man stopped pressing against the defensive formation and rapidly retreated.

The formation remained intact, but Li Zhuiyuan, with his hand sucked into the pig’s snout, was pulled out of the photo studio, leaving the formation’s protection. The disparity in absolute physical strength was very evident at this moment. If Uncle Qin were here, this pig would never dare to offer its face for a punch. Even if Run Sheng were here, the pig would have to think twice before doing so. It was simply taking advantage of the young man’s undeveloped physique and lack of true martial arts training.

The Pig-head man lifted its head with a sinister grin; Li Zhuiyuan’s right hand was still stuck to its snout, and his body was flung into the air. Just as the Pig-head man raised its arms again, intending to crush the young man it had pulled out, the young man swiftly pulled an Evil-Dispelling Talisman from his left sleeve and stuck it onto the pig’s head.

The pig-head grunted softly. It could withstand Karma Fire, let alone a mere talisman? But soon, it stopped grunting. Because the young man pulled his left hand down with a "swish," a row of Evil-Dispelling Talismans appeared, hanging from top to bottom, covering the entire pig’s head. Talismans, incredibly precious in others’ eyes, were mere consumables to Li Zhuiyuan, so abundant they were standard equipment for every team member, because there was a girl at home who constantly drew them for him.

“Bang! Bang. Bang! Bang!...” A series of explosions rang out. The Pig-head man howled in agony, and its suctioning snout released its grip. Li Zhuiyuan, freed from the restraint, flew backward. He didn’t attempt to correct his posture in mid-air for a stable landing but instead rolled several times on the ground to dissipate the momentum before crouching, which conserved more energy. Turning his head, the young man glanced at his right hand, which was bleeding profusely from the explosions, blood dripping continuously from his five fingers onto the ground. This time, Run Sheng, Yin Meng, and Zhuang Zhuang weren’t standing in front of him; it was normal to be injured when he had to face the threat directly himself.

Now, he had left the photo studio, losing the formation’s protection, and thick fog enveloped the surroundings. The pig’s figure had also vanished, likely hiding within the white fog. Li Zhuiyuan crouched there, his ears twitching slightly, his gaze shifting periodically.

Suddenly, the Pig-head man’s figure appeared from an oblique direction. Li Zhuiyuan slammed his left hand onto the ground; it was precisely the puddle of blood he had shed earlier, which he couldn’t waste. The Pig-head man charged forward quickly; its face was now gruesome, pitted and scarred from the explosions, barely resembling a pig. But just as the Pig-head man approached Li Zhuiyuan, with the young man’s hand pressed to the ground as the center, blood-colored grids rapidly spread outwards, and upon catching the pig’s feet, they climbed upwards, wildly coiling around them. The pig’s movement was halted. The young man reached behind him with his right hand, unzipped his bag, pulled out a carpenter’s ink marker, and placed it in front of him. With the tip of his right finger, he hooked the ink line, pulling it backward, making the spool spin rapidly.

In fact, Li Zhuiyuan’s right hand was still twitching and painful to the touch, let alone pulling the fine line, which caused a piercing ache. Yet, his expression remained unchanged as he did these things. The Pig-head man let out a low growl, and its legs broke free from the restraints. It was at this moment that Li Zhuiyuan released his right hand. The ink line shot out; because it had a pendant, it first traveled in a straight line before rapidly extending horizontally, eventually coiling around the Pig-head man’s body. Taking advantage of the remaining blood on his left hand, Li Zhuiyuan quickly formed a blood seal, then gripped the ink marker.

“Whoosh!” Karma Fire ignited on the ink marker, extending along the ink line, and finally burning the Pig-head man. The Pig-head man braced its arms, breaking the ink line on its body. However, this time, the Karma Fire, guided by the blood seal, was not easily extinguished. The Pig-head man could only let out unwilling howls as it re-entered the white fog. It intended to extinguish the Karma Fire on its body within the white fog. The previous sneak attack had made it aware of Li Zhuiyuan’s keen hearing, so after disappearing into the dense fog, it didn’t move impatiently. But it seemed to have overlooked one thing: the original purpose of the ink marker… leaving a trail with the line. In Li Zhuiyuan’s line of sight, a black line lay across the dense fog ahead.

This time, Li Zhuiyuan reached into his backpack with his left hand and pulled out a delicate hand crossbow. This was a new device crafted after the second wave: Li Zhuiyuan provided the design, Ah-Li helped make the precision parts, and Run Sheng found a small factory to complete the rest. The crossbow bolts were talismans-turned-needles. Li Zhuiyuan held the crossbow in his left hand and pulled the trigger, aiming at the black line in the dense fog.

“Buzz!”

The crossbow bolt shot out, followed by an explosion from deep within the dense fog. Li Zhuiyuan endured the severe pain and quickly reloaded the crossbow with his right hand. Aiming again, the black line was moving.

“Buzz!”

Another explosion. He continued to reload, but halfway through, Li Zhuiyuan decisively threw the crossbow aside and rolled his body to the side.

“Boom!”

A pig descended from above, crashing onto the spot where Li Zhuiyuan had just been, creating a crater in the ground and cracking the road surface. There were two scorched marks on the pig’s head, but on its abdomen, there was a gash, seemingly caused by its flesh being forcibly peeled off. Looking at the black line still clearly visible in the distant fog, it meant the pig now knew how it was being detected. It had not hesitated to tear off a piece of skin stained with the ink line and hang it there as a false target, using the opportunity to launch a sneak attack.

Pig-head man asked suspiciously: “How did you find out?”

Li Zhuiyuan: “I just thought you shouldn’t be so foolish as to let me hit you three times in the same spot.”

In reality, Li Zhuiyuan had only planned to shoot one arrow; otherwise, he wouldn’t have used his left hand to hold the crossbow and his injured right hand to reload—reloading was truly painful. In Li Zhuiyuan’s opinion, the pig should have figured out what exposed it after the first arrow hit. But allowing him to shoot a second arrow meant it was preparing to process this discovery further. As for the third arrow, he genuinely didn’t dare shoot it; doing so would be underestimating this pig-brain too much.

Pig-head man: “Thank you for your recognition.”

Li Zhuiyuan: “You’re welcome.”

The Pig-head man’s eyes turned red, and it lunged at Li Zhuiyuan again. Li Zhuiyuan pulled a yellow strap from his backpack with his left hand and gave it a flick. The Pig-head man immediately stopped, even quickly retreating a few steps. Li Zhuiyuan wrapped the yellow cloth strap around his injured right hand a few times, making a simple bandage. Then, he smiled at the Pig-head man. This yellow cloth strap had been soaked in medicinal soup, which helped stop bleeding and disinfect, making it a more advanced type of bandage. But it was still just a bandage; the Pig-head man was clearly intimidated by the young man’s continuous production of items.

Upon realizing it had been tricked, the Pig-head man still didn’t get angry. Instead, its previously reddened eyes cleared, and it began circling Li Zhuiyuan, its hands continuously waving. One of its gloves had been blown off by a crossbow bolt earlier, revealing a bright red pig’s trottera when it waved, looking somewhat comical. Soon, animal cries echoed from within the white fog.

“Squeak, squeak, squeak! Squeak, squeak, squeak!”

“Moo, moo, moo”

Li Zhuiyuan’s gaze sharpened, and he activated his Underworld Roaming ability. To his left, a red ape was beating its chest. To his right, a green ox was pawing its hooves. Both the ape and the green ox had black marks on their heads, clearly indicating they were controlled. Immediately, the ape and the green ox charged towards the young man simultaneously. The young man spread his left hand, and an aura inherited from ancient Fengdu emanated outwards. Four ghosts lifted the sedan chair. The frenzied ape and green ox were suppressed halfway through their charge; the ape bent its body, and the green ox lowered its hooves, unable to advance further.

However, their threat wasn’t the greatest; the pig was using them merely to create a distraction and containment. The pig itself, enveloped in black malevolent energy, lunged at Li Zhuiyuan. The other two attacked as spiritual entities, while this pig initiated its attack in reality. Li Zhuiyuan raised his bandaged right hand; because it was a simple dressing, some blood had already seeped through. The young man smeared it on both sides of his face, leaving two blood-red streaks. Then he closed his eyes and silently recited the "Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva Sūtra" in his heart.

When the Pig-head man charged to the young man’s front, thinking it would succeed this time, the young man suddenly opened his eyes. There were no other emotions in them, only supreme majesty!

Divination ritual — inviting General Sun to descend and possess!

The Pig-head man, startled, opened its mouth and quickly retreated. It might not know about the Guan Jiang Shou, but it could sense that the aura emanating from the young man was undoubtedly an extremely powerful entity making a terrifying, almost perfect, descent! After retreating further, the Pig-head man was even more surprised to find that the ape and green ox, previously under its control, were now showing signs of slipping from its grasp. Li Zhuiyuan was attempting to control the ape and the ox using the methods from Wei Zhengdao’s black leather book. But from the Pig-head man’s perspective, this was the divine power of the "Guan Jiang Shou" ghost king, forcing the two yin beasts to forcibly change allegiance. The Pig-head man immediately waved its trotters, and the ape and green ox dissipated.

The young man felt no great disappointment, as the opponent would certainly not allow him to "steal things" right under its nose. Li Zhuiyuan began to pace, performing the "Three-Step Praise" walk. Lin Shuyou would perform this walk in front of him every now and then, so for Li Zhuiyuan, it would have been strange not to remember or learn it. However, Li Zhuiyuan merely circled in place, then re-established himself in his previous position. He simply glared at the Pig-head man with a majestic gaze, but did not initiate an attack. Because Li Zhuiyuan couldn’t invite a deity to descend. He had known for a long time that he struggled with inviting deities. Now, just like when he scared Lin Shuyou on the playground, he was merely putting on a show. Yet, this "show" was so convincing that the aura of General Sun’s descent was almost perfect. Even White Crane Boy couldn’t distinguish it that night, believing a senior colleague had truly arrived. This pig was indeed fooled.

To make himself appear more convincing, Li Zhuiyuan deliberately adjusted his aura, rapidly climbing to a peak from when he first "commenced the ritual," and then fading from its prime to its decline. He thoughtfully provided the pig with a "stopwatch," allowing it to estimate when his divination ritual would conclude. This way, even if it suspected why he wasn’t attacking, it would still choose to play it safe and wait for his time to run out. The Pig-head man stood there motionless, ready to hide in the white fog at any moment. Time, thus, passed minute by minute.

The fog permeated, obscuring most of the view. On the second floor of the photo studio, a group of white centipedes were silently digging at the defensive formation with their antennae. They were extremely cautious, careful not to alert the formation’s creator. Moreover, this work had clearly started long ago; one could say that as soon as the dense fog arose, these centipedes began their work under its cover. Finally, a small gap appeared. A white centipede squeezed through, landed on the second-floor windowsill, and then slipped through the window crack.

The centipede saw Deng Chen sitting in front of the blue backdrop, his entire body bound by special netting. Deng Chen must have also seen the white centipede on the ground; he began to struggle in terror, and wisps of black aura, the Black Python’s aura representing the eye, burst from his body. This was precisely the Black Python’s aura, representing the eye!

Outside, the Pig-head man, still in confrontation with Li Zhuiyuan’s "General Sun" state, curved its damaged pig mouth slightly. It thought to itself: *Black Python, he didn’t kill you or attack you, but it’s clear he doesn’t trust you. Heh heh, you lot, really, don’t even look at what you truly are. Even if you do good deeds and accumulate virtue, do you truly believe these self-proclaimed righteous types will accept and tolerate you? It’s better for the five of us, with me as the leader, to merge back into one. Only then will we have a chance to stop hiding like rats in a sewer and truly live like… humans.*

The Pig-head man blinked, giving a command. On the second floor, the white centipede rapidly climbed the Homecoming Net, moving upward, until it reached Deng Chen’s face. It opened its mouth and bit into Deng Chen’s glabella!

“Ha!” The Pig-head man spread its arms, its entire body relaxing. It had now gained control of the other four Yin beasts and could recreate its complete five senses. It had won. The Pig-head man pointed a trottera at Li Zhuiyuan and laughed:

“Heh heh, you don’t need to keep up the act. I admit I was fooled at first, but I quickly realized you couldn’t invite a deity to possess you.”

He was discovered. Although there was still half the time left until Li Zhuiyuan’s self-appointed "end time for the divination," since he had been discovered early, there was indeed no point in continuing the act. Li Zhuiyuan dropped his disguise; his aura returned to normal, looking slightly depleted. He reached into his pocket, grabbed a handful of candy, and popped it into his mouth.

The Pig-head man continued: “I apologize for making you play along for so long. The truth is, I never even used my real strength to fight you seriously.”

Li Zhuiyuan, munching on the candy with a "crunch, crunch" sound, wagged his index finger: “I admit you weren’t at full strength, but don’t dismiss my efforts so easily. You were fighting seriously; you just didn’t want to pay the price of severe injury.”

When this pig previously tried to break the formation, it was serious, seemingly deeply utilizing the ape’s abilities. But the problem likely was that it had only acquired their spirits, not their power, most likely because when their spirits were acquired, they were either dying or severely injured and had little power left. Although he didn’t know the exact acquisition process, Li Zhuiyuan surmised that he should thank his three companions for this. It was they who had exhausted the power of the corresponding three Yin beasts. This meant that while the pig could use the abilities of other Yin beasts, ultimately, it was still expending its own power. This pig itself didn’t have such deep reserves to squander freely.

The most correct course of action for this pig should have been to maintain its initial state, fighting with all its might, even if it meant paying a huge price. Especially after pulling him out of the photo studio’s defensive formation, it clearly lost the strong momentum it had when initially breaking the formation, beginning to think about resolving him at the smallest possible cost. When it realized that killing him would require a huge price, it recoiled. Even though it had long discovered his divination ritual was fake, it deliberately played along to waste time.

The Pig-head man began to caress its face, and with two "plop" sounds, its pig ears on both sides fell to the ground. Immediately after, with two "crunch" sounds, its two pig eyeballs were gouged out and casually tossed onto the ground.

“Rip…” The piece of flesh where its two nostrils were located was forcibly torn off. Li Sanjiang loved pig’s head meat as a snack with drinks, and in his opinion, the most delicious part of pig’s head meat was the snout. Now, this prized piece of meat was also thrown onto the ground by the Pig-head man. Finally, it opened its mouth and stuck out its tongue.

“Snap!” Its tongue was torn off.

But even without a tongue, with only a mouth remaining, it could still speak, likely by utilizing vibrations from other muscles. “After I pulled you out of the photo studio’s formation, I no longer had to kill you. Although, I must admit, you are indeed formidable, and your talent is truly terrifying. If you could grow to the same age as the Dragon King who suppressed and defeated us back then, you would undoubtedly be more terrifying than him. The five of us would truly have no chance of making a comeback.”

Li Zhuiyuan: “Thanks for the compliment.”

“But isn’t it ridiculous? Heavenly Dao didn’t truly acknowledge us, but it doesn’t seem to favor you much either. It didn’t even give you a chance to fully mature.”

Li Zhuiyuan: “Heavenly Dao has its own plans.”

“Heh heh, that truly sounds like a joke.”

The Pig-head man’s head began to shrink, no longer as massive as before, contracting to the size of an adult’s head. Only, four of its facial features were still missing.

“What, have you accepted your fate?”

Li Zhuiyuan: “What else?”

“Buzz!”

A new nose grew on the Pig-head man’s face. It was initially blue, but after growing out, it returned to the appearance of a normal nose. Its aura began to rapidly surge at this moment.

“You can praise me. If you make me happy with your praise, I might consider giving you the chance to go back and light the lamp to end your river journey, letting you keep your life.”

Li Zhuiyuan: “How do you want me to praise you?”

“Buzz!”

A pair of white ears regrew, then their color returned to normal, and its aura significantly increased again.

“You know how to praise me. Perhaps, in your heart, you’ve praised me many times from just now until this moment.”

Li Zhuiyuan: “You are very clever.”

“Buzz!”

It opened its mouth, and a vivid red tongue regrew. It was initially very long but quickly retracted and adjusted back to normal. Its aura further surged.

“Continue, I like to hear it.”

Li Zhuiyuan: “You are the smartest pig I have ever seen.”

The Pig-head man’s single hand swept over the area below its forehead and above its nose. The previously bare, flat skin began to gradually indent, slowly forming the shape of two eye sockets.

“I don’t like that comment. Look at me now, do I still look like a pig?”

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head and said, “No matter how clever, you are still ultimately a pig.”

“Although I never intended to give you another chance to light the lamp and end your river journey early, since you are so ungrateful, and still clinging to your ridiculous confidence and pride at this point, then let me tell you the truth first. I will kill you and strip the human skin from your body. I will use your skin to make a flag, to declare my stance to the Heavenly Dao.”

Li Zhuiyuan: “Is that fun?”

After the Pig-head man’s eye sockets appeared, eyelids, eye creases, and eyelashes also grew. Now, it could be seen as speaking with its eyes closed.

“Oh, it’s fun, future Dragon King. You pride yourself on being a clever person, don’t you? You stepped outside the threshold, treating us creatures as mere trash to be casually fished out. How high-spirited you were then. We, who are considered lowly, could only hide behind the white fog, trembling, praying you wouldn’t pick us. Hahahahaha… But you didn’t expect this, did you? Even if we were all once defeated by successive Dragon Kings of the Qin and Liu families, how could creatures who made a Dragon King personally intervene be as simple as you think? You say I’m a pig, but it was precisely *this* pig that saw through your patterns. You and your people have all become my puppets this time, working for me. Smarter than you!”

Li Zhuiyuan: “You’re actually not clever enough. You’re too cautious and too careful.”

Pig-head man: “Shouldn’t clever people be more cautious and careful? That’s human nature, and aren’t you the same?”

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head: “I’m not. If I were, I wouldn’t have voluntarily come out of the photo studio and chosen to gamble with you.”

The Pig-head man gently stretched its arms, took a deep breath, and prepared to open its eyes, ready to embrace its complete form. Hearing Li Zhuiyuan’s words, the Pig-head man smiled faintly: “Heh, gamble on what?”

“I’m gambling that you won’t be willing to pay a huge price to kill me. I’m gambling that you’re single-mindedly focused on your ultimate goal, gambling on your caution, gambling on your prudence. And I’m gambling that no matter how clever you are, you’re still just a pig.” Li Zhuiyuan looked up, surveyed the white fog around him, and said: “Aren’t you curious? I can set up a defensive formation strong enough to block you, so why, after coming out, have I not tried to break through the white miasma you laid down? Is breaking the miasma harder than setting up a formation?”

A look of shock and suspicion suddenly appeared on the Pig-head man’s face. Its eyes, which had been about to open, now hesitated to do so. A strong sense of crisis was rising within it, but it couldn’t pinpoint where this feeling originated. But its still-closed eyelids were twitching incessantly, seemingly eager to open and behold this world!

“You used the abilities of the Red Ape and Green Ox, so why didn’t the White Centipede come out, only released a fog? I’ve been waiting, waiting for those little centipedes you sent to hurry up and drill a hole in my formation. Honestly, your movements were just too slow. So slow that I almost couldn’t resist opening the formation myself and letting your little centipede in.”

Second floor, under the blue backdrop. A hand grabbed a corner of the Homecoming Net and gently pulled. The Homecoming Net completely loosened and fell to the ground. On a chair, two people were sitting, one on top of the other. Previously, they were completely wrapped from top to bottom by the netting, so they couldn’t be seen from outside. The person sitting underneath continuously emitted the aura of the Black Python. The person sitting on top was "Deng Chen."

But at this moment, "Deng Chen’s" "face" showed large cracks, then peeled off piece by piece, falling to the ground like torn photographs. After the original "Deng Chen’s face" fell off, the new face was Lin Shuyou. The small white centipede was currently biting Lin Shuyou’s glabella. The Homecoming Net, consecrated with black dog blood, inherently weakened evil spirits’ perception. And the photos Deng Chen took with his "eyeball" also possessed a realistic and detailed effect that could deceive anyone.

At this moment, Deng Chen, sitting below, had a look of disbelief on his face. He hadn’t initially believed that the young man would truly accept him and trust what he told him, but facts proved that the young man indeed believed him. Now, he couldn’t believe the young man’s plan had actually succeeded? That pig was the cleverest among the five of them. But facts also proved, it was ultimately just a pig.

Li Zhuiyuan: “A-You, commence the ritual, invite the Child!”

On the second floor, Lin Shuyou closed his eyes, his left hand open, his right hand clenched into a fist, and a long chant emerged from his throat:

“Guan Jiang Shou, evil spirits are only killed, not redeemed.”

The Pig-head man’s eyes snapped open. They were vertical pupils!