Chapter 522: Control

Zu An felt his scalp prickle. He knew from watching horror movies that child or infant-like ghosts were the most terrifying, and now so many of them were crawling towards him all at once. A more timid person would likely have fainted on the spot.

Pei Mianman's voice trembled as she asked, "Ah Zu, did the world in your dream mention how to deal with them?"

Zu An wanted to cry but had no tears. "No..."

He only knew this particular legend; he hadn't heard anything else.

Seeing the Guman Thong getting closer, Pei Mianman could no longer hold back and unleashed black flames on them. In her view, these things were undoubtedly evil, and fire should have a restraining effect on them.

But the next sight made her eyes nearly pop out. The Guman Thong were encircled by black flames, and not only did they show no signs of pain, but they also giggled. They even used their hands to caress the flames as if meeting old friends.

Pei Mianman was instantly bewildered. Her black flames were far more powerful than ordinary fire; they could melt steel and rock, let alone human bodies. Yet, they had no effect whatsoever on these "infants."

Zu An said in a deep voice, "These Guman Thong were originally forged in intense fire using secret rituals, so it's normal for them not to fear flames."

By then, some Guman Thong had reached them. Zu An swung the Tai'e Sword at them.

However, the Guman Thong's bodies were as hard as metal and stone. The sharp Tai'e Sword left not even a scratch on them.

The two of them defended themselves while dodging backward. A moment later, Zu An breathed a sigh of relief. "Although these Guman Thong are extremely bizarre," he said, "fortunately, their attack power isn't great. We should be fine if we're careful."

From the start, they had tried burning and slashing, but it was difficult to inflict any damage on them. However, they were still infants' bodies; they couldn't even stand or walk, only crawl. Their speed wasn't fast, and their attack methods were limited.

No sooner had Zu An finished speaking than a rattling sound of bones rubbing together suddenly echoed from nearby pits.

Their hearts immediately tightened because the sound was familiar; the skeleton warrior they had encountered at the main gate had made a similar sound when it walked.

They looked in the direction of the sound and saw many skeletons from the sacrificial pits they had just passed beginning to rise. Wielding rusty halberds, seemingly snatched from nowhere, they lunged at the two of them.

"What's going on?!" Zu An exclaimed. The halberds' attack range was too wide, and the dozen or so skeletons seemed to be in sync. They moved in unison like a military formation, even coordinating their attacks, leaving Zu An and Pei Mianman in a desperate struggle to dodge.

"These guys don't even have heads! How can they see us?" Zu An grumbled, frustrated. The previous skeleton warrior they encountered had no eyes, but its head was still intact, and the two red glows in its eye sockets could be understood as its eyes, so its ability to see made sense.

But these skeleton warriors had nothing above their necks, yet it didn't affect their actions in the slightest!

"Look at their backs!" Pei Mianman's sharp eyes quickly spotted the trick.

Zu An focused his gaze and saw a Guman Thong clinging to the back of each skeleton. Evidently, their bodies were now controlled by the Guman Thong, so they no longer needed their own eyes.

While the Guman Thong's individual attack power was average, when they possessed these skeletons, their attack power increased exponentially.

Although a single skeleton was no match for Zu An or Pei Mianman, the combination of over a dozen skeletons, forming something akin to a military formation, multiplied their attacking power.

With a loud clang, Zu An clashed his Tai'e Sword head-on with a skeleton's halberd. His hand went numb, and he almost lost his grip on his sword.

So he immediately changed his strategy, using the elusive movements of the Sunflower Phantom to weave through the skeletons and occasionally launch surprise attacks with the Tai'e Sword.

These skeletons' bodies were not as hard as the Guman Thong, nor as resilient as the skeleton warrior encountered outside. Gradually, various sword wounds began to appear on their bones.

Zu An even spared a glance at Pei Mianman. He saw her surrounded by swirling black flames, causing the skeletons' bones to tremble violently. Evidently, their bones couldn't withstand the black flames' attacks; without the Guman Thong's protection, they would have long been reduced to ashes.

Seeing her unharmed, Zu An was completely reassured and focused entirely on attacking the skeletons. He consistently aimed for their leg bones, and after repeatedly striking the same spot, the skeletons' leg bones finally gave way and snapped, causing them to lose balance and topple to the ground.

Zu An seized the opportunity to hack them into pieces, preventing the Guman Thong from controlling them again.

The biggest headache, however, was how to deal with the Guman Thong themselves. Otherwise, they would simply go on to possess more skeleton warriors, and Zu An would die of exhaustion if not killed outright.

Zu An had an idea. He took out some ropes from the Glazed Pearl to bind the fallen Guman Thong. Thanks to the immense space within the Glazed Pearl, he had stored many daily necessities, as well as items for ambushes like lime powder, ropes, and hidden weapons, when he was in Brightmoon City.

He wished he had the Soul-Snaring Rope of the Embroidered Uniform Guard; that would likely be able to bind these Guman Thong. The ropes he had, while durable, were not magical artifacts, and might not hold the Guman Thong for long.

But given the circumstances, he had no other options; for now, binding them was the only solution.

In this way, he defeated several skeleton warriors and managed to bind seven Guman Thong.

He couldn't help but feel a little proud. He quickly called out to Pei Mianman, "Big Mianman, knock those Guman Thong down, and I'll catch them!"

To his surprise, there was no response after several calls. His heart skipped a beat, and he quickly turned around to look. He saw that Pei Mianman was fine; the skeleton warriors around her were lying motionless on the ground, clearly dealt with.

Zu An approached curiously. "Big Mianman, how did you do it? And where are the Guman Thong that were on their backs?"

As he was wondering, a burst of raging black flames suddenly shot towards him.

Zu An never expected her to attack him. Although he dodged quickly, he couldn't completely avoid it, and a flicker of black flame landed on his clothes.

He knew how powerful these black flames were; if they spread, even bone fragments would be incinerated.

He hastily tore off the affected piece of clothing and repeatedly patted himself, knowing that once the black flames latched on, they were difficult to shake off.

To his surprise, however, the black flames burned for a moment and then automatically extinguished themselves, without spreading.

He then realized that she had given him a pendant earlier, which protected him from black flame damage.

He had almost forgotten about that!

Zu An breathed a long sigh of relief, secretly glad he hadn't had time to return the pendant to her earlier.

He quickly looked up at Pei Mianman. "Mianman, what's wrong with you?"

Unfortunately, Pei Mianman's eyes were dark, and she didn't answer, simply continuing to attack him.

"Big Mianman?" Zu An called out repeatedly. Several times, he was pushed into dangerous situations by her, as Pei Mianman knew more than just black flames.

Just then, Mi Li's cold voice echoed in his ear: "She's been controlled by a Guman Thong. If you hold back any longer, she'll likely kill you."

"Empress Sister!" Zu An was both surprised and delighted. For some reason, hearing her voice always brought him a sense of calm.

At the same time, he quickly looked behind Pei Mianman. Only then did he clearly see a Guman Thong clinging to her neck. When it saw him looking, it even grinned at him.

Zu An's hair stood on end. In that instant, he finally understood where the Guman Thong from the fallen skeletons had gone.

"These things can control people?" Zu An was instantly shocked.

Mi Li replied, "Of course. Didn't you say that Thai general used Guman Thong to win every battle? It stands to reason that they can control people's minds."

"Then why wasn't I controlled?" Zu An wondered, recalling his multiple close encounters with the Guman Thong just now, and a chill of fear ran down his spine.

Mi Li scoffed, "Your soul is bound to mine. How could it possibly be controlled by a mere Guman Thong?"

Zu An quickly asked, "Then how can I save someone who's been controlled?"

"There's no way," Mi Li said coldly. "You can only kill her."

My condition hasn't been great lately, so there's only one chapter today. I'll adjust as quickly as possible and catch up on the missed chapters from the past few days.