Chapter 786: Rushou

Chapter 786: Ruchou

"Fire!!" With Li Huowang's roar, blazing flames quickly ignited his entire body and that of Peng Longteng beside him.

Surrounded by this strange man, he charged toward the outer edge where four others had formed their encirclement, dragging Peng Longteng with him.

There were reinforcements outside; Li Huowang intended to join forces with the abbot Chan Du of Zhengde Temple, which would increase their chances of victory.

But clearly, the enemy did not wish for Li Huowang to do so. Four fans simultaneously opened in midair, raining down countless droplets that struck Li Huowang’s body, extinguishing the fierce fire burning on his skin.

Where fire met water, white smoke rose in waves. The slender figures draped in bone ash blankets grasped the edges of the rising mist and pulled it taut before lifting it up—within moments, the surrounding area was shrouded in a thick fog.

In the mist, Li Huowang and Peng Longteng lost all sense of direction, unable to find targets to strike at.

Chan Du vanished from sight, leaving them uncertain about which way to move closer.

With a sharp "pfft," a sharp halberd pierced through Li Huowang’s body. As Peng Longteng suddenly exerted force with both arms, he flew sideways out of the mist, trying to escape the opaque veil that obscured everything around him.

After flying through the white fog for a while, Li Huowang landed again and saw a faint red glow flash within the mist. His alertness surged instantly.

Li Huowang's expression hardened. Without hesitation, his right hand holding the sword swiftly raised itself and thrust toward the red light.

Two sharp "squelch" sounds followed as Li Huowang’s purple-sword pierced Peng Longteng's body, while her massive halberd plunged straight into his chest.

The two men, engulfed in flames, stared at each other in shock.

Peng Longteng violently shook off the halberd, sending Li Huowang flying aside. “What the hell? You weren’t supposed to come out from ahead? Why are you appearing from behind now?”

Li Huowang clutched his chest and stood up slowly, hesitantly scanning the white fog.

As if remembering something, he plunged his sword into his mouth and forcefully yanked it out, spitting broken teeth into the mist.

Soon after, those teeth flew out from behind and struck Li Huowang’s back, sparking tiny flashes of flame. “This mist is suspicious!”

Just as Li Huowang spoke, the rain above grew heavier, pouring relentlessly onto his body.

“What should we do? We’re trapped!”

Li Huowang shook his head hard. “No problem—we want to stay here as long as possible! There’s already a group attacking the enemy from behind. This battle is already lost for them!”

When he felt a stream of non-qi flowing into his body, a barely noticeable sneer curled at the corner of Li Huowang’s lips—he had been believed!

At that moment, the white mist to his left churned violently, revealing a figure carrying a broken umbrella drifting toward them with a gloomy presence.

“Who are you?! Speak your name!” Li Huowang shouted, stomping his feet and charging forward.

“Ruchou.”

“Ruchou.”

“Ruchou.”

“Ruchou.”

As four voices echoed from east, west, south, and north simultaneously, the single umbrella before him instantly split into four, stabbing downward at the burning Li Huowang with sharp angles.

“Swish!” With a sudden swing of his spine sword, a crack shot toward the four umbrellas.

As they spun rapidly, the raindrops on the umbrellas flew upward. When these droplets hit the crack, they instantly quenched it.

“What kind of creature is this?” Seeing the four broken umbrellas flying toward him along with eyes peering from their holes, Li Huowang immediately reached into his sleeve, pulled out a rib, and stabbed it into his own chest.

Yet in the next instant, the four figures approached without any effect, raising their umbrellas and striking down upon him.

Not only did they attack themselves but also their shadows lunged toward Li Huowang’s shadow. Suddenly, Peng Longteng’s towering form appeared, blocking Li Huowang’s path.

In the next moment, the four umbrellas pierced straight into Peng Longteng’s body. As the rotten umbrellas twisted and opened wide, his flaming body was torn apart into pieces, falling in all directions.

Standing still, Li Huowang watched the slender four figures reform before him. “No pain sensation? You’re not even alive?”

The four umbrella-bearers named Ruchou did not respond to Li Huowang’s question. Their long bodies trembled slightly due to movement, and from inside the broken umbrellas, Li Huowang heard the sound of a bone ash jar cracking.

Ruchou’s body began to deform grotesquely—the lower half remained thin, yet the upper part started swelling.

Just as it seemed like the enemy would attack him fiercely, the white mist nearby suddenly thinned dramatically.

Soon, a Buddha figure familiar from Zhengde Temple emerged from the mist. It was now swallowing the white fog through its many holes, absorbing it into its flesh.

“Namo Sijiduo~Iman A-li-ye~Pulu Jidi Shi Fo Luo Lang Tuo Po~” As overlapping Sanskrit chants rang out, a blood-soaked Guanyin with two faces and full of incense emerged from the gap.

One face belonged to Chan Du, the abbot, and the other to Xin Hui, the abbot suffering from albinism.

“Sapu Bodhaya~Namo Bogga~” The chanting continued, and Ruchou’s body began to swell, growing various malformed appendages that didn’t belong to him.

Li Huowang recalled how rare it was for him to fight alongside others.

"Just hold steady!" Li Huowang stood firmly, staring intently at the deformed Ruchou. Under his gaze, the monster’s body gradually transformed into mud.

As if the enemy’s body would soon turn into an incomprehensible mess under their joint assault—

Four umbrellas descended sharply, covering him completely.

When the umbrellas hit the ground, there was no trace of Ruchou anywhere.

The thinning mist dispersed, and Li Huowang returned to the battlefield filled with deadly aura.

“He ran away?” Li Huowang glared at everything around him with a sinister look.

“He won’t run. If the sect cannot defend even this first strategic point, then the whole southern region might fall too.”

As Chan Du finished speaking, the ground beneath them began trembling continuously.

“What now? Is the earth rising?” Li Huowang tensed up, watching the ground closely, wary of another trick.

At that moment, the twin eyes on Li Huowang’s skull suddenly widened to maximum size. “Dad! Behind us! Water! So much water!”

When Li Huowang turned around, rolling mud and water surged like a yellow dragon toward him, engulfing him entirely.

Soon, rushing rivers crashed in, sweeping away all the warriors locked in combat between the armies and the sect.

(End of Chapter)