Chapter Eighty-Six: Fan Yongnian (Please Save to Favorites)

In just a few moves, the two of them had put out the raging fire. When the villagers saw the flames gone, they erupted into excited cheers.

At that moment, Qin An came up to the pair and thanked them over and over.

“Many thanks to both of you for your help. The priest only restored our water supply for a single day. Without you here, our whole Qin Family Ridge would likely have been reduced to ashes today.”

Yet there was no trace of joy on Zhang Yongxu’s face. He pushed Qin An back and stepped forward, one pace at a time.

“Still refusing to come out?”

His hand had already settled on the hilt of his sword.

The instant he was about to draw it, the ruins behind the fire suddenly shuddered.

A blackened monster burst up through the wreckage and stood there. It was nearly ten feet tall, upright on two legs, with two arms grotesquely thick and spread wide to either side. Pitch-black all over, it was impossible to make out what sort of thing it truly was.

The instant it appeared, it let out a long howl to the sky.

“Hiss!”

That piercing shriek rolled through the entire village. The villagers clutched their heads and fell to the ground, writhing in pain. Their expressions twisted into hideous grimaces, and some children and old people were directly shaken until blood poured from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

Yang Ze was not faring much better. Already seated on the ground, he was circulating his inner power to resist the impact of the sound waves.

“What on earth is that thing?”

His expression was somewhat contorted. He had thought everyone here was merely trained in martial arts, so why had something like this suddenly appeared? It looked like some demon or monster, and simply by crying out once, it had forced him to use his internal power just to withstand it.

Though the scene may sound lengthy, it all happened in a flash. The moment the monster appeared, the sword behind Zhang Yongxu was already out.

A cold gleam sliced through the dark night. Zhang Yongxu’s sword struck the monster squarely in the chest.

His expression changed drastically. The blade had pierced only an inch before grinding to a halt; the creature’s skin was astonishingly hard.

In that brief lapse, the monster clenched its right fist and hurled a punch at Zhang Yongxu.

Zhang Yongxu yanked his sword free, the blade whirling in his hand as it split into a storm of sword-shadows that wrapped around his body.

The monster’s punch crashed into those shadows, and its right fist immediately recoiled.

Using that opening, Zhang Yongxu stamped the ground and leapt upward, his body spinning in the air. The sword-shadows followed his motion, whirling about him as they shot toward the monster.

The countless shadows struck the monster’s surface with the sound of metal colliding against iron. At first the creature seemed unharmed, but there were simply too many of Zhang Yongxu’s sword-shadows. With relentless blows, they finally broke through its outer defense.

Wounds began to appear across the monster’s body, and drops of black liquid squeezed out from the torn flesh.

“Ah!”

The monster cried out in agony. The black liquid spilling from its wounds actually hovered in the air, drifted outward, and flew toward the villagers sprawled on the ground.

Ye Yinling, who had been standing to one side, changed expression. Her hands formed seals, and an invisible wave burst from her body, manifesting before her as a wall that blocked all the black liquid.

“Hahaha! This old man schemed for so long, and at last I’ve lured you here. But with just the two of you, you cannot possibly ruin my plan.”

A laugh echoed through Qin Family Ridge. It was an aged voice, and the moment it sounded, the black liquid blocked by Ye Yinling’s barrier instantly broke through her spell and surged onward.

Ye Yinling’s delicate face went pale, her aura forcibly shattered. Seeing a drop of black liquid flying toward her, she thrust out a finger and destroyed it outright.

But at that moment she could only protect herself. The other villagers lying on the ground had already been struck.

Zhang Yongxu ceased his sword technique and stood firmly on the ground, his face ashen as he stared at the villagers behind him.

The villagers who had been screaming in agony were struck by the black liquid, and all at once not one of them cried out again. One by one, they fell silent.

That silence did not last long. The first villager stood up from the ground, then the second, then the third.

Those who rose had their arms hanging limply, their heads bowed low, like puppets on strings, and they charged toward Yang Ze and the others.

“Possessed by vengeful spirits. Just as I thought—it really is them. Junior Sister, hurry and join me in dealing with this monster first. If the vengeful spirits are left to run wild, these people cannot resist them!” As Zhang Yongxu spoke, the monster’s fist came crashing down toward him. He hurriedly leaped back to avoid it.

Retreating to Ye Yinling’s side, the two of them attacked together and began to fight the monster in a fierce struggle.

The moment Zhang Yongxu moved, the monster’s sonic attack was interrupted, and Yang Ze finally breathed a little easier. But before long, he saw one of the villagers who had just been lying on the ground suddenly stand up and rush straight toward him.

At first Yang Ze paid it no mind. But when the villager drew near, his expression changed violently.

As the villager came charging at him, the skin on his face rippled and shifted, transforming into a face he knew all too well.

It was Fan Yongnian.

Yang Ze’s heart sank in terror. Fan Yongnian had clearly been killed by his own hand—how could he still be alive?

Yet whether he believed it or not, there was no room to stand still and await death, because this “Fan Yongnian” was already killing his way toward him.

Turning and retreating, Yang Ze widened the distance between them. The area was not large, and with so many people crowding it now, it would be difficult for him to fight properly.

Only after withdrawing toward the back did Yang Ze discover that Fan Yongnian was actually faster than he was by quite a margin.

After retreating just over fifty meters, Yang Ze had no more room left. Facing the approaching Fan Yongnian, he drew the blade from behind him and slashed out with a tiger-killing strike.

Confronted head-on by Yang Ze’s attack, Fan Yongnian showed no intention of evading. He surged forward, and Yang Ze’s blade came down upon Fan Yongnian’s shoulder.

There was no spray of flesh and blood as Yang Ze had imagined. Instead, his sword was caught in Fan Yongnian’s shoulder bone and could not cut any farther.

With the blade trapped, Fan Yongnian pressed in close, his withered right hand reaching for Yang Ze’s chest.

Yang Ze gripped his blade tightly with his right hand, flipped his body upward, and yanked the sword free, landing behind Fan Yongnian.

But the moment he touched down, Fan Yongnian’s left hand lashed out straight toward him.

In that instant of danger, Yang Ze unleashed a sweeping tiger’s roar strike, colliding with Fan Yongnian’s right hand. A surge of force burst out, shaking Yang Ze back several steps before he could finally steady himself.