Chapter 30: Facing Sanquan

Burial Immortal Town was once home to over ten thousand residents, with thousands of houses, making it quite sizable. Due to its close proximity to the Dead Spirit Mist Domain, it was frequently attacked by strange entities and gradually became an uninhabited, desolate settlement.

Most of the houses were dilapidated, their doors rotting and tiles missing. The mud walls would collapse with a mere push.

Only during the coffin retrieval season would the various Jiuli tribes repair dozens of houses at the town entrance for supplies and rest.

However, they absolutely dared not set foot inside the town.

This was because of a rumor they had heard: it was a cursed settlement. The residents of the town hadn't moved away; they had all transformed into dead spirits and would emerge every full moon night.

It was high noon, and the scorching sun beat down.

Li Ling, the "Underworld Lantern Guide," Li Songlin, the "Cangli Armor Commander," and Cangli, the patriarch's eldest grandson, led the coffin-bearing team up the sloped path of Dragon-Slaying Pass, gradually making their way towards Burial Immortal Town several miles away.

Cangli, aged eighteen or nineteen, was handsome and distinguished. He rode a Zouwu beast, an exotic creature resembling a giant tiger, and carried a ten-foot-long silver spear. His gaze was fixed on the distant, quiet, and peaceful Burial Immortal Town.

"Why is it so quiet? Where are our people? Fourth Uncle, something isn't right." He had keen senses and detected something unusual.

Li Songlin, standing on the back of a green ox, raised a hand, signaling everyone to stop.

After a brief discussion.

Cangli, riding the Zouwu beast, galloped out like an arrow to investigate Burial Immortal Town.

"He's too damn alert! It's all your fault; why did you kill everyone? Why didn't you leave a few alive to maintain appearances?"

Shi Jiuzhai put on his Buddha-head mask, cursed his three disciples behind him, then roared "Attack!" like thunder. He had already leaped out of Burial Immortal Town like a cannonball to confront Cangli, who was approaching on his beast.

The next moment, the sounds of battle shook Burial Immortal Town.

All the Wolf King Army soldiers, clad in monk robes, wielding various weapons, surged out from the street entrances and alleyways. Many skilled fighters had opened up their Essence Springs and moved with extreme speed, charging into the coffin-bearing team and immediately began to cut down all around them.

The esteemed guest in the Buddha-head mask stood gracefully atop the town's archway, playing a two-foot-long bone flute.

The flute's mournful sound was plaintive, like a lament, a yearning, a cry, a plea.

Amplified by their power, the sound waves spread across a radius of over ten miles.

Among the mountains, dense, hideous shrieks, like those of night owls, rang out, and man-eating twilight bats, two to three meters long, flew out from the forest.

They were completely black and hairless, with grotesque, humanoid heads.

Their fleshy wings were broad, and their claws were as sharp as daggers.

With the battle raging fiercely, Li Weiyi and Gao Huan seized the opportunity to rush out of Burial Immortal Town and fled through the reeds on the Sui River bank.

They should have returned to the Blood Sea, to the bronze battleship. However, that direction was the battlefield for both sides, so they could only wait until the fighting ceased before returning.

"I'm never picking up random clothes to wear again; it almost got us killed," Gao Huan said with lingering fear.

Speaking of clothes, the two were about to strip off their monk robes.

Suddenly, they heard a thunderous pounding of hooves behind them, startling countless water birds who flew to the opposite bank of the Sui River.

A booming shout came from the distance behind them: "Stop them! Don't let them escape to fetch reinforcements!"

In a hurry, Li Weiyi glanced back.

He saw two mutated monstrosities, nearly three meters tall and clad in brown monk robes, chasing five Cangli tribesmen on strong horses. They were only a few dozen yards from him and Gao Huan and would reach them in an instant.

Evidently, they were mistaken for allies once again.

Li Weiyi detested the Wolf King Army's cruelty but had never considered interfering in this slaughter. He simply lacked the power to get involved; an existence like Shi Jiuzhai wouldn't even need to lift a hand to kill him.

His rationality told him to ignore everything.

Fleeing with Gao Huan at the fastest possible speed was the correct course of action.

Zhao Zhizhuo and the other four Cangli tribesmen, each riding a strong horse, saw the two figures in monk robes ahead, and their hearts sank with despair.

It was their Armor Commander who, despite being wounded, had fought to create an opening, allowing them to escape. Their mission was to seek help from the Beast Li tribe, one of the Nine Li tribes closest to their location. The lives of five thousand Cangli tribesmen rested on their shoulders.

To their surprise, the two figures in monk robes ahead stopped, glanced at them, and then fled even faster.

Instantly, a spark of hope reignited in Zhao Zhizhuo's eyes.

Whoosh!

The sound of rushing wind came from behind.

An arrow flew past, and one of the five Cangli tribesmen was shot down.

It was the mutated monstrosity with ape-like arms. He ran at high speed, wielding a two-hundred-jin spine bow with arrows nearly two meters long. He shot three men in quick succession, each with a single arrow.

The other mutated monstrosity was long and slender, like a chopstick.

His legs were more than twice the length of his upper body, covered in thick fur. His feet had transformed into hooves, and he ran faster than Zhao Zhizhuo's strong horse, which had drunk the blood of a Zouwu beast.

Catching up to the fourth Cangli tribesman, he leaped onto the strong horse, bit into the man's neck, frantically sucking blood, and cackled strangely.

In an instant, of the five who had broken through, only Zhao Zhizhuo remained alive.

The long-legged mutated monstrosity tossed aside the Cangli tribesman whose neck was covered in blood, then pursued Zhao Zhizhuo. His gaze darted to Li Weiyi and Gao Huan in the distance, his face filled with murderous intent as he coldly roared: "How dare you flee in battle? You have incredible audacity! Even if you escape to the ends of the earth, I will surely capture you and make you wish for death but be unable to find it!"

Li Weiyi, who had originally not wanted to interfere in the slaughter, hearing these words, felt as if the final straw had fallen, tilting the scales in his heart. The thought that had been lingering in his mind now overwhelmed his rationality.

Zhao Zhizhuo had opened two Essence Springs, and his strength was not weak, but he was old.

Wielding a long saber, he fought the pursuing long-legged mutated monstrosity for dozens of moves, but gradually began to lose ground.

Thwack!

A nearly two-meter-long iron arrow flew toward him, like a spear.

Zhao Zhizhuo discerned the sound's origin and position, avoiding a vital spot, but was still shot in the shoulder, falling from his strong horse.

It's over!

The five thousand Cangli tribesmen would all perish here.

Blood gushed from Zhao Zhizhuo's shoulder where the iron arrow had struck, his bone damaged. He could no longer lift his arm, and half his body was numb with pain. Yet, he struggled to his feet, preparing for a final, desperate struggle.

"Can't escape now, can you? Haha!"

The long-legged mutated monstrosity was also a practitioner of two Essence Springs, but with his mutation's enhancement, his combat strength far surpassed Zhao Zhizhuo's.

His nearly two-meter-long right leg swept through the air, making the air vibrate. Vegetation within several yards trembled ceaselessly. With this kick, let alone a human, even a tree as thick as a bowl would snap.

Swoosh!

Li Weiyi appeared like an afterimage, leaping out from behind Zhao Zhizhuo.

The Yellow Dragon Sword trailed a streak of yellow light.

With a squelch.

A severed leg, half a meter long, flew out amidst a spray of blood.

Before the long-legged mutated monstrosity could even scream, Li Weiyi had already soared up, delivered a knee strike to its chest, and slammed a palm onto its head. Instantly, blood flowed from the monstrosity's seven orifices, and it died in the muddy puddle.

Zhao Zhizhuo was incredulous. He had thought that the heavens had forsaken the Cangli tribe, but never expected the enemy to turn on itself.

"Hurry and get reinforcements; I'll hold him off."

Li Weiyi kept his eyes fixed on the mutated monstrosity with the bow, who was pursuing them from a distance, and urged him.

Zhao Zhizhuo realized this wasn't an internal conflict among the enemy. Instead, this young man was risking his life to save him, and at the same time, trying to save the five thousand Cangli tribesmen.

Why?

"That ape-like monstrosity is a practitioner of three Essence Springs. Little brother, you must be careful!"

Zhao Zhizhuo understood the urgency of the situation. After this warning, he supported his gravely injured body and climbed onto his horse. But just as he mounted, Li Weiyi dove down, pushing him off.

Whoosh!

An iron arrow whizzed past the horse's back, nearly piercing him.

The ape-like monstrosity nocked an arrow, crouched and moved, rapidly closing the distance.

His physique was tall and robust, with long, muscular arms, like a giant ape in human form. His gaze was fixed on the dense reeds where the two had fallen.

Closer and closer it came.

The sharp sound of cutting wind echoed.

A metal shard flew out from the reeds.

Whoosh!

The ape-like monstrosity shot an arrow towards the area where the metal shard had flown from, while deftly dodging to the right.

Before the ape-like monstrosity could nock another arrow, Li Weiyi burst out of the reeds, executing Yellow Dragon Ascends to Heaven, taking five steps on thin air, and swooped down towards him.

"You traitor, you're looking for death!"

The ape-like monstrosity's massive, fan-like hand slammed forward with a palm strike.

Li Weiyi formed the Heaven-Overturning Palm Seal, and channeled the hot and cold currents within his body into his silver-thread gloves. The silver light in his palm surged, transforming into a three-foot-square seal, and he clashed head-on with the monstrosity.

Before the clash, Li Weiyi had already prepared himself for injury.

After all, his opponent was a practitioner of three Essence Springs, a realm above his own. Moreover, its body was as colossal as a demon's, and its physical strength was naturally incomparable to his.

Thud!

The ape-like monstrosity staggered back six or seven steps, its palm aching as if it would break.

Li Weiyi was surprised, thinking the old man from the Cangli tribe must have been mistaken. This ape-like monster in front of him could absolutely not have opened three Essence Springs; it had likely only opened one.

If it's this weak, what is there to fear?