Chapter 235: Black Tai Sui

"Woof woof!"

Mantou's barks interrupted Li Huowang's thoughts. He turned his head and saw Mantou disappear into the darkness to one side.

"Daoist priest, hurry and chase! This dog just sniffed out what you're looking for!" The Monk delusion prompted him, sounding very concerned.

"Black Tai Sui?" Li Huowang glanced at him, then limped quickly after Mantou. Seeing this, the others followed suit.

As Mantou became more excited during the chase in the dark, circling a few times, Li Huowang also grew excited. He, too, could smell the Black Tai Sui!

"No doubt about it, the Black Tai Sui is nearby!" At this thought, Li Huowang's heart pounded.

As he limped faster and faster, Li Huowang suddenly felt a tingle on his scalp. He instinctively ducked his head as a strong gust of wind, carrying something, brushed past his scalp.

"Thump!" Gao Zhijian's massive mace struck the object fiercely, saving Li Huowang.

Just as Li Huowang straightened up, he realized that whatever had just ambushed him had already vanished into the darkness.

At this moment, the others quickly gathered around Li Huowang, pulling out various weapons and pointing them warily outwards.

Li Huowang, tense and gripping his sword hilt, asked Gao Zhijian beside him, "Did you see what that was?"

"A flesh... a flesh... a flesh hook!" the simple-minded giant explained to Li Huowang.

"A flesh hook? Something else is coming? Can't things just be quiet for a bit?" Li Huowang frowned, scanning the surrounding darkness.

"Did you see it?" Li Huowang turned and asked the Monk beside Peng Longteng.

"No, I was distracted just now."

"Pat-pat-pat~" A sound came from Li Huowang's left. As everyone's weapons swiveled to point in that direction, they saw Mantou, with his yellowish-brown fur, trotting out with small steps.

With his ears flattened against his head, he stood in place, circled once, then sprang high off his front paws towards Li Huowang. "Woof!"

"Daoist priest, the dog is asking you why you're not following."

Li Huowang frowned and snapped at the Monk beside him, "Just shut up. How could you possibly understand what a dog says?"

His outburst startled everyone else, who stared at Li Huowang, still recovering from the scare.

"Senior Brother Li, please don't have an episode now. If you do, we'll be truly helpless," Gouwa said with a timid expression.

Frowning deeply, Li Huowang glanced at him, then looked at Mantou. "Why did that thing only attack me and not Mantou?"

This question was destined to remain unanswered. Mantou wagged his tail and shook his head, constantly shifting in place. Judging by his impatient demeanor, what he was looking for had to be close by.

Glancing back in the direction they had come from, Li Huowang decided to continue following Mantou. Having come this far, turning back would completely waste all their previous arduous efforts.

"Let's go, everyone keep up! Don't fall behind." To avoid ambush, they formed a tight group, proceeding cautiously step by step, slowly advancing behind Mantou.

Of course, mindful of previous incidents, Li Huowang didn't forget to keep an eye on what was above them.

Seeing his owner move, Mantou bounced, his black nose to the ground, sniffing along the path.

For the next hour, neither the flesh hook that had attacked Li Huowang nor the bizarre lion dance reappeared. The silence was unusually unsettling.

However, this situation felt exceptionally agonizing. In the dim, oppressive environment, everyone's nerves were on edge. Cold sweat slowly trickled down their faces.

"Hush, stop! We found it!" Li Huowang watched, extremely excited, as chaotic, twisted tentacles writhed in the distant darkness.

Although still blurry, Li Huowang was certain it was a Black Tai Sui!

The Black Tai Sui evidently noticed the suddenly appearing light source, tentatively extending a tentacle to touch the green glow.

"Finally found it." At this moment, Li Huowang's breathing became much shallower, as if afraid of scaring it away.

"Senior Brother Li, how do we get this thing back?" Sun Baolu leaned in and asked in a low voice.

Li Huowang looked thoughtfully at the object in the darkness; this one appeared larger than the one from Qingfeng Temple.

"Zhijian, get out the chains you used to bind me. We need to plan an ambush for it."

"When we act, be gentle. Whatever you do, don't kill it."

The chains were slowly unwound around the Black Tai Sui, and everyone moved with hushed steps.

After Li Huowang nodded, Gao Zhijian, gripping his mace, charged forward heavily and brought his weapon down hard on the Black Tai Sui.

With a dull "Thump," a dozen or so twisted, translucent tentacles erupted and lashed out at him.

The moment the Black Tai Sui attacked Gao Zhijian, the others leaped up with their chains, ready to entangle it.

Meanwhile, Li Huowang, who had been ready on the side, also charged out, raising his longsword and forcefully slashing at the base of the Black Tai Sui's tentacles.

Frankly, for Li Huowang and his group, the Black Tai Sui wasn't particularly formidable, at least not more so than the previous lion dance.

However, against the lion dance, any method could be used, but not so with the Black Tai Sui. It had to be captured alive, which made things much more difficult.

Too much force wouldn't work; too little wouldn't work either.

Li Huowang and the others tried to entangle it with chains, while the Black Tai Sui tried to escape the chains and also attacked the others with its tentacles.

For a time, both sides were tangled together, and the situation was chaotic.

Li Huowang had miscalculated. The Black Tai Sui's tentacles didn't disappear when he cut them; instead, more tentacles emerged from within.

Just at this critical moment, new movement suddenly came from their left side; something was approaching.

"Thump! Swish!" The sound was so strange that Li Huowang couldn't even imagine what could be making it.

"Whatever it is, I can't delay any longer! I have to use the Benevolent Mother's Fasting Heart!"

Li Huowang took a deep breath, quickly pulled out his dagger, and began peeling the skin around his chest.

With a forceful tear, he ripped off a large piece of flesh from his front, exposing the stark white bones of his ribs to the air.

Ignoring the pain that nearly made him faint, Li Huowang tossed the bloody skin. Under the effects of the Great Thousand Records, it rapidly expanded and quickly wrapped the Tai Sui tightly, rendering its writhing and twisting tentacles useless.

"Go!" Li Huowang ignored his pain and quickly motioned for the others to take the Black Tai Sui and leave.

As they moved further away from their previous location, the sound slowly faded.

"Senior Brother Li, you're injured again." Bai Lingmiao watched with concern as Li Huowang's clothes gradually became stained red. She pulled out a wound medicine from her waist and sprinkled it evenly on Li Huowang's chest.

The medicine stung his wound so much that Li Huowang felt like dying from the pain. But when he turned his head and saw the Black Tai Sui being dragged by Gao Zhijian, he once again found the motivation to live.

A faint smile played on Li Huowang's lips, and accompanied by the intense pain, he gradually chuckled aloud.

This trip was not in vain; he could finally completely block out the delusions from that other side.

"Wang Wei, didn't you say that side was reality? Fine, once I consume the Black Tai Sui, if you're capable of pulling me back there, then I'll believe you!"

Li Huowang sneered, muttering to himself at the distant darkness.