Chapter 354: Appears

"Hmm?" Li Huowang looked in surprise at the rusty knife in his hand.

"Where did this knife come from? I already have two weapons that are enough; why is there suddenly an extra one in my hand?"

Suddenly, Li Huowang's hand twitched, and he flung the rusty knife to the ground. With a solemn expression, he gripped his sword hilt, pointing the tip directly at the mysterious object.

"Could this be the Heart Demon's ability? Is he trying to harm me with this thing?"

Tense all over, Li Huowang cautiously watched the rusty knife on the ground, slowly backing away to quickly rejoin the others.

"Brother Er? Are you alright?" Tuoba Danqing asked upon seeing Li Huowang's tense expression.

"A knife suddenly appeared in my hand, I don't know how."

"But shouldn't the Heart Demon's karma involve hiding things? Why is it giving you something?"

Li Huowang pondered, then carefully checked his body before shaking his head slightly. He turned to look at Shen Tu Gang, who was beating a drum.

"Four Golden Star Lords, rise quickly, fifty-five thousand stand in a row. Black flags, black armor, black banners, bright helmets and shining armor are but mediocrity! Don't let the shaman suffer. If you don't chase them out, I'll punish you!"

As the drumbeats resonated, the world subtly changed color, and something continually coalesced and swiftly dissipated within the thin mist in the air.

Seeing the opponent's confident expression, Li Huowang said nothing more, quietly waiting for them to force out the Heart Demon.

Given this nonsensical situation, he figured it was best not to complicate things for them now.

The sounds of drums, walnuts being played, and abacus beads clacking continuously rang in Li Huowang's ears. Just then, Shen Tu Gang, standing nearby, suddenly whispered, "This Heart Demon has matured! It's made one of us disappear!"

"Er Niu! Don't hold back, shed some blood!!"

Following Shen Tu Gang's low cry, the solemn-faced Ji Xiang beside him slammed his golden abacus. Instantly, Li Huowang felt everything around him become more illusory.

Li Huowang looked down at the sword in his hand; its quantity was one, yet also two, or perhaps three.

All quantities nearby, at that moment, seemed to lose their meaning; one could be five, or equally, it could be nine.

It was at this moment that Shen Tu Gang frantically beat the drum surface with his six palms, his voice no longer singing but transforming into a roar.

"A colorful cloud flips up and down, Southern Palace Immortals, come quickly! Eight Immortals, eight Barbarians, return to your places, guard the Eight Gates and Eight Passes!"

The dark clouds in the sky continuously pressed down, almost directly overhead, and something inside them constantly stirred.

Just then, Li Huowang suddenly saw a figure abruptly emerge from not far away.

Her body would blur then appear, looking very awkward.

The person wore a dark blue gown, with a head covered in black, clotted grime that obscured their entire face, and their trousers were covered in viscous mud.

"Er Jiu! Act quickly! This person is the Heart Demon!"

Just as the highly tense Ji Xiang instinctively blurted this out, Li Huowang's own sixteen fingers had already flown out ahead of time.

When the Heart Demon gently lifted its hair, more than half of the sixteen flying fingernails instantly vanished.

Seizing the moment the opponent dealt with his fingers, a ripping sound suddenly erupted, and Li Huowang violently tore off large pieces of flesh from his own body and threw them over.

However, the continuously spinning, blood-stained human skin faded under the opponent's ability. Li Huowang stared intently at the Heart Demon's feet, and his copper coin sword swung like a long whip.

Seeing that there was no time to dodge, a man dressed as a beggar suddenly appeared beside the Heart Demon, blocking the copper coin sword like a shield.

It was the vanished Hong Da! He had been thrown out!

With a metallic scraping sound, the copper coins sparked against the beggar's body.

Seeing that all his attacks had been blocked by the opponent, Li Huowang's temper flared.

He hardened his resolve, aimed his sword at his abdomen, and sliced open a gash.

"You can hide, can you? Let's see how you hide *this*!!"

With a monstrously grim expression, Li Huowang crossed his hands, thrust them into the wound, and violently pulled, forcibly breaking off two ribs.

Then, he flipped the broken ends of the ribs and, with a squelch, directly reinserted them into his own chest.

As Li Huowang gasped sharply, the Heart Demon in the distance shrieked and hunched over, mirroring Li Huowang.

Li Huowang, enduring the intense pain, smiled. The opponent's pain was linked to his own; things would be much easier now.

Three barbed spikes were inserted into Li Huowang's fingernail beds. Then he straightened his fingers, bent over, and violently thrust them into the ground.

The Heart Demon's body immediately convulsed from the inhuman agony. It seemed to want revenge, but when it saw Li Huowang slowly pulling the bloody, mangled spikes out, it finally became terrified. Forgetting all about retaliation, it quickly turned and fled.

In such a situation, how could Li Huowang let it escape? He quickly slapped two talismans onto his knees.

With veins bulging on his face, his body, leaving a blur in its wake, hurtled towards the Heart Demon.

As he continuously tortured the opponent with various cruel methods, Li Huowang drew closer and closer to the Heart Demon.

But just as he burst into a dusty room again, the Heart Demon inexplicably vanished.

"What happened! Where is he?" Li Huowang was extremely unwilling to give up; it was so close, just a little bit more!

When Li Huowang turned to ask the others who had followed, Ji Xiang replied, "Ah, let's rest for a bit.

It's not easy to force the Heart Demon to reveal itself."

Ji Xiang's face was very pale at this moment, and his fingers were trembling. Shen Tu Gang was no better off.

It seemed forcing out the Heart Demon had consumed a lot of their energy.

"You've already wounded him. If we do it again later, he definitely won't escape. The people Er Niu found this time are specifically for suppressing the Heart Demon."

Compared to when they first met, Shen Tu Gang's attitude towards Li Huowang was noticeably better now, though it was unclear if it was due to the earlier 'two gods' incident.

Hearing this, Li Huowang nodded slightly. "Alright then, once we catch the Heart Demon, I can..."

"Hmm? 'Can what'? What was I going to say?" The recently agitated Li Huowang quickly calmed down, looking around with some confusion.

The room didn't look large; in the corner, there were some mud-covered sweet potatoes of various sizes.

The matted, withered grass nearby indicated that someone must have lived here previously.

"Did someone live here?" He touched the ribs on his chest, and a sharp pain immediately brought back the memories that had suddenly vanished.

"Yes, that's right. It's the Heart Demon! She's hiding my memories!"

Li Huowang just pulled out a piece of turmeric paper, preparing to write on it.

But thinking of the opponent's ability, Li Huowang pondered for a moment. He then pulled out a spike from under his fingernail and began carving on the inside of his left forearm.

After simply carving his purpose for this journey and the dangers of the Heart Demon, Li Huowang finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Look, there are words on this wall!" Tuoba Danqing's words made everyone turn their heads to look.