Everything that happened was just an instant, but in that instant, it seemed as if something destined had been overturned.

The girl had absolute confidence in her defenses; she didn't believe that with that man gone, anyone in this bookstore could pose a threat to her.

Therefore, she had made specific arrangements, from the initial setup to the groundwork. It wasn't too elaborate, but it was enough. The bookstore owner had indeed left, and even Ying Gou himself hadn't foreseen her plan, simply dismissing it as an accident.

A guy she had forcibly turned into a puppet was expendable; after all, he wasn't of much value to begin with.

She needed to replenish herself. This time, she didn't come with any illusions. After replenishing herself, she would leave and return to where she belonged. And there, no matter how angry the bookstore owner was afterward, he wouldn't dare to come looking for trouble.

It could be said that things were developing as she had hoped.

This was a simple game; at least, it was for her.

Perhaps the bookstore had grown quite large in the eyes of others and other forces, even to the point of being described as "terrifying," but to an existence like her, it was no different from a novice village.

As long as the owner was away, there were no hidden dangers.

Unfortunately, an accident still happened.

The shattering barrier signified the collapse of her defense system. She seemed to see a fleeting smile on the old Daoist's face.

It was a kind of mockery, a kind of playfulness, with a sense of satisfaction of playing the fool to catch a tiger.

It was as if each step he had taken earlier was just a prelude, and the meaning of this prelude was solely for the momentary joy he gained at this moment.

There were indeed many people with a twisted sense of humor. But for someone at this level, someone capable of breaking through her defenses, to still possess such a twisted sense of humor was something she was seeing for the first time.

In a daze, she had a feeling that the old Daoist in front of her now was not the same person who had brewed coffee and served her cookies when she first entered.

The talisman came down, mixed with two strands of black, curly hair, and even a wisp of warm vapor. Everything indicated that this was a talisman with a distinct aroma.

Back then, the old monkey had pulled a switcheroo with An attorney, taking the real talisman. After An attorney left, he had pressed the talisman against his face with a look of deep intoxication.

This showed that some habits were truly hard to change, impossible even in death.

And this truth would constantly appear in her mother's words, pointing at your flaws and scolding: "You'll never get rid of this bad habit, not even in your next life!"

Indeed, just like Ying Gou, who used to enjoy sitting on the Bone Throne, letting the wind of the Underworld Sea lull him to sleep, and Zhou Ze, who enjoyed sitting on the sofa by the window in the bookstore, reading the newspaper and basking in the sun, habits were often more terrifying and deeply rooted than you imagined.

Perhaps they could affect not just your current life, but life after life!

Even out of her own dignity and disgust for this "original flavor," the girl couldn't allow this talisman to stick to her.

She raised her hand and grabbed the old Daoist's wrist.

Pressing down, exerting force, she couldn't kill him, but she could cripple him.

She could completely twist the old Daoist into a pretzel, folded up there, while still ensuring he wouldn't die.

However, at that moment, the old Daoist's hand suddenly became incredibly heavy, as if the back of his hand was supporting a mountain. When their hands made contact, the weight on his hand completely reversed.

"Hmph…"

The girl grunted, forced to bend over.

In that moment of stumbling, the talisman in the old Daoist's hand finally landed on her shoulder.

Heaven and earth, black and yellow, the universe vast and boundless, in the rolling years, there seemed to be an unchanging law: the older, the stronger.

When becoming a demon, one had to look at the age; when becoming a zombie, one had to look at the age; when becoming a scholar, one had to look at the age; when doing work, one had to look at experience.

This seemed to have become a universal theorem, but there would eventually be exceptions where the younger generation surpassed the old.

A year ago, by the well in Hell, the First Generation, facing Ying Gou, had lamented:

*You were born before I was born, and I was born when you were old.*

*You hate that I was born late, and I hate that you were born early.*

Even Ying Gou, at that time, was willing to sit down, and although he still didn't say much, with the First Generation mostly venting his desire to talk and express himself, he still showed an attitude that the other party could be on equal footing with him.

The drought demon might be high, but not higher than Ying Gou. And the Last Generation was even praised as clever by the First Generation.

To put it another way, without some ability, one wouldn't be qualified to be a spendthrift; even if they wanted to, they couldn't.

As the talisman landed, from a deep mountain thousands of miles away, came an ear-piercing shriek. Fortunately, there was a thunderstorm at the time, so it didn't arouse much suspicion from the locals.

And back at the bookstore, there was a "crack" sound, and the girl's left arm was directly removed.

Like a piece of wood, cut off smoothly and cleanly by a cutting machine.

The old Daoist staggered back a few steps, his body swaying. Apart from his eyes still fixed on the girl, his body had begun to totter, rocking left and right.

Who am I?

Where am I?

Where am I going?

The girl was like a beast king whose dignity had been violated. Her voice became distorted: "Who exactly are you!"

Ordinary people couldn't possibly hurt her.

After hearing this question, the old Daoist's eyes began to blink repeatedly, as if he himself was pondering the question, like someone groggy as they were about to wake from a dream.

"Heh!"

The girl took a step forward. She didn't care about losing an arm; what she cared about was who was hiding behind this person's skin, pretending to be a ghost!

"Red Land!"

The surrounding environment seemed to be reversing, as if time was flowing backward at this moment.

The scenery began to change. The bookstore reverted to its appearance before the renovation. Illusion and reality became chaotic and disordered at this moment. The most important thing was still the old Daoist in front of her. The surrounding changes were just affected by the aftermath.

When the drought demon appeared, the land turned red for thousands of miles. People always thought it was because the drought caused crop failure, so many places still retained the custom of "beating the drought demon" once a drought occurred, making a scarecrow or, more elaborately, weaving a larger figure out of bamboo and wooden strips. Everyone would go up to beat it or simply burn it, hoping the drought would pass quickly, just like setting off firecrackers during the New Year.

But in reality, the drought demon's true ability lay in her ability to see through the past. Ying Gou deeply understood this point.

During the battle between the Yellow Emperor and Chi You, the drought demon, as a princess, later joined the battle. Her ability often allowed her side's army to see through the Jiuli's arrangements and plans in advance.

Even the battle where they ambushed and killed Chi You, completely securing the victory, couldn't have been done without her contribution.

At this moment, the old Daoist was undergoing great changes.

The old Daoist was still standing there, but in front of him, another version of him appeared.

This version was becoming younger, from seventy years old to sixty years old, from sixty years old to thirty years old, from thirty years old to ten years old, from ten years old to an infant in swaddling clothes, from an infant in swaddling clothes to a fertilized ovum, and then it began to turn gray.

The drought demon was a very vengeful person. What she was doing now was finding the guy who had just hurt her and dragging him out.

In this world, among the surviving people, apart from Ying Gou, no one could make her willingly be hurt.

The grayness began to slowly dissipate, gradually revealing the back of a man.

The man was wearing a white robe, with long hair.

At this moment, he slowly turned around, as if he was tired and weary, and yawned.

Found him!

A cloud of black mist rose from the girl's body and directly invaded the past.

This was the real battle of gods, a clash happening in a mode that surpassed the understanding of ordinary people.

Faced with the blackness that was rapidly encroaching from all around, the white-robed man's gaze was calm.

As if at this moment, he didn't care who he was facing,

You could even see a hint of… eagerness in his eyes.

He said in a deep voice: "Mount Tai!"

"Boom!"

The silent roar was like a terrifying shockwave, rapidly rippling out with the bookstore as the center.

Not even a trace of wind was stirred up, but tonight, the entire South Street experienced a collective power outage.

After the clash, the old Daoist collapsed to the ground.

Blood flowed from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and his appearance was extremely miserable.

The drought demon's hair was disheveled, and she looked extremely deranged. Thoughts of anger began to sweep through her mind, because in the previous exchange, she hadn't gained the slightest advantage!

When a woman gets angry, the consequences are severe; when a princess gets angry, the consequences are severe.

The combination of the two caused the drought demon to forget her restrictions for a moment and attack again, striking down with a palm at the old Daoist, who was slumped on the ground and clearly had lost all ability to resist.

The figure of the white-robed man that had appeared earlier had dissipated.

This time, see who can come out to protect you!

However, at this moment, in the grayness in front of the old Daoist, a masked face appeared.

In the eyes beneath the mask, there was an extremely strong struggle and resistance.

It seemed as if his appearance was a kind of helplessness and coercion, but when facing the drought demon's palm, feeling the threat to himself, he suddenly focused his gaze and put his hands together in prayer:

"Amitabha!"

A Buddhist seal, a golden Buddhist seal, directly pierced through the drought demon's body, and the upright Buddhist Dharma was rapidly eroding her origin.

A huge hole appeared in the drought demon's chest, and the edges of the wound were as if stained with gold powder.

……………

Hell,

Mount Tai,

The top of the mountain,

A small temple;

Di Ting, who had been trapped here for many days, was emaciated, pale, his eyes dull, almost nothing but skin and bones.

The Bodhisattva sitting on the prayer mat in front of him suddenly grunted.

In the position of his chest, a terrifying black claw mark appeared, and baleful aura was rising from it.

At this moment, the dying Di Ting was awakened, and the Bodhisattva, who had always been crazy, covered his chest with one hand and supported the prayer mat with the other.

In his eyes, clarity seemed to have returned.

This clarity had been beaten out.

"Bo… Bodhisattva…"

Di Ting's voice was extremely weak.

"Hehehe… hehehe…"

Laughter came from under the mask, carrying a strong sense of self-deprecation.

"I've actually become his…

battery."

————

I locked it yesterday and will make up for the big chapter, don't panic, there will be a third update today before zero, just treat it as making up for the big chapter.