Chapter 457: Evil Spirit

Chapter 457: Malevolent Spirit

"Clang—!" The sword with a purple tassel, brimming with ominous energy, was slowly drawn from its scabbard by Li Huowang. Its tip steadied itself toward that corner.

Since arriving in Great Liang, Li Huowang had rarely encountered such things. He never expected to meet one under these circumstances.

Li Huowang frowned deeply, his voice low and grave: "Zhuge brother, it seems this calamity is more than just darkness. Could this malevolent spirit be connected to the disaster?"

Zhuge Yuan stood with hands behind his back, gazing upward as if recalling something distant. His expression remained unchanged, but the thing in the corner stirred.

As it slowly turned, Li Huowang saw a pale, ghastly face crowned with two blood-filled holes.

The mouth, wide open, revealed no teeth—instead, a pair of infant hands covered in livid marks, each hand gripping the other in a grotesque grin.

Such a terrifying sight made Li Huowang’s face twist in fury. With both feet pressing hard against the wall, he charged straight toward the creature.

In this world gone utterly mad, he had already endured too much. This kind of being no longer stirred any emotion within him.

Before he reached it, the sword came first. The copper coin blade stretched out, slicing through the air with a howl toward the creature's forehead.

Seeing this, the malevolent spirit thrust its arms—longer than its body—out to either side, aiming to stab Li Huowang on both flanks. It seemed to be using retreat as a ruse.

But as Li Huowang's right hand shook and pulled the sword, the blade spun and twisted midair. A flash of light and shadow passed swiftly. A piercing scream echoed, and both arms were cleanly severed at the joints.

With its limbs gone, the head shrank rapidly inward. When all the clothes had fallen to the ground, a black shadow darted out from beneath the silk garments, vanishing into the darkness.

Looking at the strangely segmented arms on the ground, Li Huowang refrained from chasing them to avoid a trap. He flicked the blood off his sword and turned to return to the Bai family compound.

Just as he took two steps, a paper window at the end of the pitch-black path suddenly lit up.

A sinister green glow seeped through the wooden frame, flickering like a heartbeat. Something moved inside, though it was definitely not human—the people of Niu Xin Village were all inside the Bai family compound.

At first, only one house glowed. Then two, then three. As more windows lit up, the entire village of Niu Xin took on the chilling atmosphere of the underworld.

Li Huowang’s expression darkened. One malevolent spirit wasn’t worth mentioning, but so many... that was troubling.

Even more concerning was whether this situation might be the beginning of something worse.

“Bang!” Li Huowang slammed shut the gate of the Bai family compound, pulled out a yellow paper, and quickly wrote a demon-repelling talisman with his own blood, pasting it onto the wooden latch.

Seeing the faces inside, Li Huowang said: “You don’t need to worry about what’s outside. Stay put in the courtyard! No one leaves until the disaster passes!”

After speaking, he leapt back onto the wall, sword in hand, staring intently at those windows glowing with eerie green light.

“In normal times, encountering even one malevolent spirit is rare. If they’re appearing like they’re free for the taking, is this happening only in Niu Xin Village, or across the whole land? If it’s the latter, then…” Li Huowang’s heart sank deeper and deeper.

“If what you suspect is true, then this disaster may truly live up to its name,” Zhuge Yuan said gravely, his expression matching Li Huowang’s.

His right hand half-raised, thumb jumping over the knuckles of his fingers, as if calculating something.

“Ah, what a pity. Such an interesting event, and I missed it. I actually died first,” the faceless figure in red said with regret, teasing himself.

“Hey, monk, what exactly is going on here? Are lots of people going to die?” The Buddhist monk asked anxiously.

Li Huowang ignored the voices of his hallucinations, silently watching the outside. If there was any good news now, it was that although the windows were lit, no hostile gaze was cast their way.

Perhaps intimidated by Li Huowang, the creatures didn’t seem inclined to leave their windows.

“Oh my God! That… what is that?! Master, look behind you!!”

Lü Xiucai’s frantic shout made Li Huowang turn sharply. He saw a second window on the second floor also glowing green—they had entered!

Even more urgent was that the window belonged to Bai Lingmiao’s bedroom!

Baring his teeth, Li Huowang quickly drew two talismans and pasted them on his knees.

With a sudden burst of strength, he kicked off the wall, launching his agile body forward like a spear aimed straight at the green window.

“Crash!” The wooden window shattered. As Li Huowang, sword in one hand, rolled into the room, he saw two figures—one white, one red—kneeling on the bed, devouring something.

Judging by their attire, the two were Bai Lingmiao and Er Shen.

“Lingmiao?!”

Startled, Li Huowang approached from behind, grabbed Bai Lingmiao’s shoulder, and turned her around. His heart skipped a beat.

The soft-faced Bai Lingmiao was gone. In front of him stood a horrifying visage.

Her mouth full of sharp fangs, her face covered in spikes and green scales stained with thick black blood, she bore no resemblance to a human—she looked like a beast stitched together from various animals.

Yet, with such a grotesque appearance, Bai Lingmiao still smiled, her mouth stretching nearly to her ears. “Hahahaha～～hahahaha～！！”

“Li Huowang! Hahahaha! I don’t want to laugh, but I can’t help it! The immortals are all going crazy! They’ve affected me, and I’m so hungry now!!”

She lunged back onto the bed, tearing into the corpse of some unknown creature with wild frenzy.

“Snap!” A bone splintered, blood-streaked, broken in two. She chewed nothing, swallowed it whole.

Watching Bai Lingmiao fall into beast-like savagery, Li Huowang knew this wouldn’t do. He had to calm them down.

He raised his right hand, and a domino appeared in his palm.

Then, with the Vajra seal pressed, he placed the domino against his forehead. “Cut ties, calm the mind!”

When he lifted the domino again, his face peeled away like a mask.

With one hand, he pressed that face directly onto Bai Lingmiao’s.

“Steady, enlightened!”

As Li Huowang’s face, adorned with the domino, pressed against Bai Lingmiao’s, she froze—no longer moving, no longer smiling.