Chapter 716: Come On

Chapter 716: Come at me

With a casual flick of her wrist, the two tattered door god puppets were tossed to the ground by the big-headed doll. The doll's eyes, curious and wide, stared at Li Huowang.

"You're Li Huowang, aren't you? I'll ask you once more—do you truly refuse to submit to our Great Li Kingdom?"

At this point, Li Huowang didn’t even bother to respond. From within his body, more than ten tentacles shot out and slammed against the ground, propelling him forward as he leapt toward the big-headed doll with sword in hand.

Just as Li Huowang’s long sword was about to cleave the doll’s head, the roof beast beneath it suddenly came alive, opening its bloodthirsty mouth and lunging toward his abdomen.

But Li Sui’s tentacles emerged from Li Huowang’s belly, holding the beast firmly in place, sparing him the need to concern himself with what lay below.

At that moment, the Purple Ear Sword in his hand was less than three inches away from the doll’s skull.

A sharp "pop" echoed through the air—the doll’s head suddenly flew off like it had wings, revealing a middle-aged woman underneath.

Faced with the man who had tried to kill her, the woman looked at him in bewilderment. Just as their gazes met, Li Huowang felt a chill run down his spine.

He didn’t know who this woman was, but instinctively, he sensed she was extremely dangerous.

In that split second, the feeling clicked in his mind. “No good! It’s a Heart Turmoil!”

It was a trap.

“Close your eyes!” Li Huowang roared, and the old woman obediently shut her eyes.

Under Li Huowang’s gaze, the woman’s eyelids quickly fused together, preventing her from reopening them again.

“Hahaha!” The rolling head of the big-headed doll laughed. “Li Huowang, do you think this is over?! We’ve laid a trap for you—we’ve prepared for every contingency! Today, you shall not leave alive!”

“Bang!” A hoof nailed with a horseshoe stomped heavily down, crushing the big-headed doll into pulp.

“Hahaha! Come on! All of you come! Let me see what you’re made of!” Peng Longteng brandished his long halberd and shouted loudly in all directions.

While Peng Longteng taunted, Li Huowang did not dare let his guard down. He immediately turned and fled toward the city gate that had been breached.

Since he knew they had set a trap for him, now was not the time to stay—he had to leave.

Li Huowang’s figure darted between rooftops, swiftly escaping the immediate area.

But soon, he saw a black-robed lama sitting cross-legged on the roof ridge, blocking his path, with a black cloth hanging from his sleeve.

“A lama?” The thought barely formed in Li Huowang’s mind when he saw a revolving wheel appear in the lama’s hands, spinning rapidly while he muttered incomprehensible incantations.

".̷͎̱̫̗̗̹̥̟̬̲̲͉͇͉̦̼̞͆̾͑̓͛̀̒͆͆͑ͯ͋ͭͬͤ̏ͬͮͤ͘͠͏̸͏̵̬̰̹̬̘͍͖̤̮̮̣͇̥͉̹̝̰͕̼̫̣͔͙̫̋ͬ̇̅ͤ̀̚ͅ҉̷̸̷̨͍̺̟̳͔̞̙̳̳͕͖̬̮̳̥͇͚̝̘̞̯̦͂̿͆ͯ̋̒̇ͨ́͋̄̃͌̉̈ͮ̿̾ͬ̋̌̂͑ͤ̓ͭ̀͒̌̑̒̎͊͆ͬͬ͟͠҉̶̴̩̥͎͖̻̜̰̪̙̝̺͕͓̹̱͚̪ͦͣ͐́͆̀̀ͪ̍ͫ͂̇ͬ̑̉̓̍̋ͦ͗̌̌̊͊̊́̚͞"

As the wheel hummed, Li Huowang felt something pulling at his body, his vision involuntarily drawn to the spinning wheel.

“A lama from the Middle Yin Temple! What’s going on with the Death Official?! Are they betting on both sides?” Li Huowang raised his sword, sending a rift flying toward the lama.

“Whoosh~!” Tiles shattered, fierce winds howled from below, white shadows whirled up, circling around Li Huowang’s body, leaving several deep wounds that bared bone.

When another white shadow drifted past him, Li Huowang drew his copper coin sword and flung it wildly, striking the shadows.

What surprised him most was that the shadows were easily pierced by the sword—they were incredibly fragile.

The copper coins and red thread trembled rapidly, scattering the shadows into paper shreds that danced in the air.

When he saw two scholars with three arms and fans, one in front and one behind, blocking his way, Li Huowang finally realized who had ambushed him earlier.

Clearly, those who had laid wait for him weren’t just these few. Soon, various followers of the sect surrounded him from all sides—he was completely encircled.

Li Huowang didn’t know how his movements had been leaked, but clearly, they had prepared well.

Soon, someone stepped forward—a familiar face and a white headscarf. Li Huowang immediately recognized the man: a follower of the sect from Great Qi, Tai Shan Shi.

“I wondered why I hadn’t heard from you. So you ended up here.” Li Huowang spoke casually while observing the surroundings.

Surrounded on all sides, there was no chance of escape. Now, he could only fight head-on.

"Do you really think that just because you have a few people, you can stop me?" Li Huowang asked slowly.

"Stop bluffing. Last time you escaped from the earth dragon thanks to Cang Qian’s steps. Now you’re alone—you won’t escape."

Tai Shan Shi said coldly, then tilted his chin slightly. Everyone around him charged at Li Huowang.

Bang! Peng Longteng, riding a warhorse, descended from the sky, smashing directly onto the heads of the two men, turning them into muck in an instant. In the next moment, she laughed wildly, yanked the reins, and charged toward the others.

"Fire!" With one hand open, flames quickly enveloped Li Huowang’s entire body, offering his skin to Ba Hui.

Yet this degree of flame seemed insufficient to Ba Hui. His flesh and blood exploded like fish scales, and the fire burning on his skin crept into the cracks.

Noticing something was wrong, Li Huowang immediately spat out Li Sui.

Blood burned by the scorching flames sizzled, and for a moment, Li Huowang endured pain several times greater than before, feeling the burning from inside out.

But with sacrifice came reward. The black smoke rising from his body surged several times higher.

"Ba Hui! You ruthless bastard!" Li Huowang cursed upward, flames burrowing into his flesh, charging toward Tai Shan Shi in the distance.

At this moment, it was hard to tell whether Li Huowang was fuel or fire itself. Wherever he went, things that could burn or couldn’t burn were ignited, the searing flames distorting the very air around him.

"Ride!" Peng Longteng leaped high above Li Huowang, passing straight through the flames.

Her heavy armor, her massive halberd, and her warhorse were all wrapped in the same flames as Li Huowang’s.

Since becoming Li Huowang’s hallucination, Peng Longteng had never been happier.

"Come at me!!"

Peng Longteng’s halberd whipped backward, hooking onto Li Huowang’s body. Then, with a sudden burst of strength from her arms, she hurled the sword-wielding Li Huowang like a fiery projectile toward the distant enemies.

(End of Chapter)