About ten minutes prior, south of Jibei City
Nanshanzi gritted his teeth and cast three spiritual seals, sweeping away all pursuing malevolent spirits.
He took a few breaths and looked back, only to find that the Yaksha was still relentlessly pursuing him.
"This Yaksha is at least seventh tier… it can still chase after taking three palm thunder strikes…"
Nanshanzi silently calculated how to shake off the Yaksha.
Suddenly, a terrifying surge of spiritual energy erupted. Not far ahead of Nanshanzi, a massive, dark red wall rose from the ground, followed by dark red flames igniting on the earth.
"Is this… Junior Mo Chuan?" Nanshanzi's pupils constricted. He immediately recognized the aura of these spiritual energies. He quickly looked back and saw the Yaksha covered in flames, writhing in pain on the ground as it desperately tried to extinguish them.
Nanshanzi also noticed that a ghostly creature in the distance, resembling a teapot, didn't even last three seconds before being completely incinerated by the flames.
It then transformed into a dark red light spot and slowly drifted westward. A moment later, a crow with blood-red eyes pecked a few times at the spot where the ghost had perished, snatched some light spots, and also flew westward.
"Junior Mo Chuan… has become stronger again…" Nanshanzi was sighing when a roar startled him.
The Yaksha's ferocity had been ignited by these non-fatal yet intensely painful flames. With a furious roar, the Yaksha lunged directly at Nanshanzi, intending to use his flesh and blood to heal its wounds.
Nanshanzi was alarmed and quickly retreated, continuing his advance southward—towards his junior sister—with the Yaksha in pursuit behind him.
...
After a while, Nanshanzi arrived at Xie Malu Street.
The Yaksha, writhing in agony from the flames, had temporarily stopped pursuing Nanshanzi.
Xie Malu Street was the former Jibei Guild Hall, where countless ancestors had defended against the invaders' hooves on various fronts.
Nanshanzi walked forward, passing through several German-style buildings. Just as he was about to turn away, he discovered a shocking sight:
An elderly man in a military uniform, over ninety years old, had driven a large saber through his own chest and a door panel, pinning a low-level ghost behind the opened door with his own body.
The old man's blood splattered everywhere. The ghost repeatedly struggled, extending its tongue from behind the door to lick the blood.
Nanshanzi frowned and waved his sleeve, obliterating the ghost.
He then extended a hand and gently closed the old man's wide-open eyes.
Looking at the military uniform… the medals for heroism…
Nanshanzi peered inside the house, only to find bloodstains everywhere. He craned his neck to look for a moment and immediately spotted a damaged wooden horse stained with blood.
There must have been a child… but…
...
On the other side, the woman in green also noticed the dark red flames. Due to the immense surface area of the Eight-Headed Serpent, it instantly experienced many times the pleasure of ordinary ghosts.
"Ah!!" The Eight-Headed Serpent struggled, a plume of black smoke rising from its body. In an instant, a man with long black hair, clad in a purple haori, emerged from it.
However, he appeared somewhat disheveled – a small amount of dark red flames still clung to his body, and black smoke was rising from his head, indicating he had just extinguished them.
"Puhahaha—" The woman in green couldn't help herself and sat down on a concrete slab, laughing while clutching her stomach.
The Eight-Headed Serpent twitched its mouth, pinched the embers in its hair, and glared with its purple vertical pupils, saying angrily, "Human! What trickery is this!"
Although the woman in green didn't know what these flames and the wall not far behind her were, it didn't stop her from taunting the ghost before her: "My Green Lotus Flame, you like it?"
"Die!"
The Eight-Headed Serpent stopped wasting words with her. It only wanted to tear this human before it limb from limb and crush its bones to dust!
Revealing its true form, the Eight-Headed Serpent's combat power surged, and its speed was significantly faster than its previous serpentine form. Caught off guard, the woman in green sustained an injury to her arm.
"Hahahaha— This is the prelude to your death! But don't worry, I won't let you die so quickly!"
With that, the white sash around the serpent's waist stood up like a snake. With a wave of his hand, the sash rushed towards the woman in green.
The woman in green looked at the purple wound on her arm, feeling a numbing dizziness.
Watching the sash flying towards her, the woman in green, knowing full well she had to dodge, remained rooted to the spot.
"Junior Sister! Be careful!"
Nanshanzi had finally arrived in time. Seeing that Qing Lianzi was unresponsive to the sash attacking her, he quickly called out to warn her.
Qing Lianzi was still in a daze, but she managed to summon her ghost to help her.
Bei and Yuan quickly emerged from Qing Lianzi's sleeves. One ghost supported Qing Lianzi's arm, pulling her away from her spot.
*Crack!*
The Eight-Headed Serpent's sash, like several meteor hammers, slammed into the ground, kicking up a large amount of gravel and dust.
Nanshanzi cast a Golden Lock Charm on the Yaksha, binding it to a utility pole. The Yaksha, having been constantly burned by the flames in its soul, was already too weak to resist. After a few struggles, it transformed into a dark red light spot and drifted away.
Nanshanzi then went to Qing Lianzi's side, looking at the wound on her arm with a frown. "How could it be so badly injured? Is there something wrong with this poison?"
"Finally, an expert arrives… This is the poison of my Eight-Headed Serpent. No one in all of Nippon can cure it, except me, of course."
The Eight-Headed Serpent's pale face flushed with excitement. "Your entire body will be paralyzed in a day, your limbs will rot in two days, and your internal organs will dissolve in three days… Isn't it fantastic! Hahaha!"
*Boom—*
Nanshanzi's response to the Eight-Headed Serpent was a palm thunder strike.
Knowing that he was likely no match for the great demon before him, Nanshanzi's first instinct was to retreat with Qing Lianzi. But then he remembered the old man… Nanshanzi gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and used his blood to draw a talisman, summoning his ability:
"Nine Heavens Profound Nether, Expelling Demon Divine Art, Three Pure Ones Evolution, Beast Sovereign Manifestation, Hasten As Per Law, True Thunder Qilin Palm!"
*Rumble—*
A flash of lightning struck the sky, and behind Nanshanzi, a purple-black Qilin phantom appeared. The phantom opened its eyes, emanating a majestic aura.
Nanshanzi raised his hand, and a purple beast palm materialized from mid-air. Then, with Nanshanzi's wave of his hand, it slammed down directly towards the Eight-Headed Serpent's head.
*Bang—*
The Eight-Headed Serpent took the blow head-on, but with a wave of his sleeve, a flash of white light appeared, severing Nanshanzi's left arm.
"What!?"
Nanshanzi gritted his teeth, shielded his wound, and retreated.
Qing Lianzi quickly shouted, "Senior Brother! Catch!"
Nanshanzi turned his head and saw Bei flick his sleeve, pulling Nanshanzi to Qing Lianzi's side.
"Hehehehe…" Hearing the Eight-Headed Serpent's cold laugh, the two couldn't help but shiver. They looked up and saw that the Eight-Headed Serpent was using its long purple fingernails to pierce the burnt areas on its face. Then, with a forceful pull, it tore the flesh from its face.
But the expected scene of bloody horror did not appear. Instead, the Eight-Headed Serpent shed its scorched outer layer like a snake molting, revealing white skin underneath.
"This…" Nanshanzi was stunned. It turned out his earlier exchange of injuries was for nothing.
"Hahahahaha! Foolish humans! This is the insignificance and humility of your kind! You can never comprehend your own weakness and the might of your enemies!"