Chapter 878: White Lotus

Chapter 878: White Lotus

“Om Zhen Guang Zi Ling Li Da She!” As Lü Xiucai raised his copper coin sword and slashed forcefully to the left, the red thread wrapped around the coin darted along with its shadow into the dark corner from which the voice had emerged.

With the sound of torn cloth, when Lü Xiucai pulled his sword out of the darkness, a strange six-faced, translucent flesh ball hung from the tip of the blade.

Just as that bizarre flesh ball was about to fly toward Lü Xiucai along with the sword, he quickly ducked down, opened his ulcerous jaw lined with nails, and tore off a large piece of skin from his shoulder.

As the *Great Thousand Records* unfolded rapidly, that piece of skin shot out like an arrow, completely enveloping the flesh ball and dragging it back into the darkness.

Seeing the enemy’s ferocious advance and the imminent danger all around, Lü Xiucai did not dare to be careless. He thrust his sword behind him, quickly drew a saw-toothed dagger from his waist, while drumming his brow and urgently chanting the divine invocation.

“By heaven’s will, by earth’s law, let the gods descend upon this altar to guide the spirit child. Heaven urges, earth urges, tiger lord soars on clouds, master rides forth on clouded steed, arrives at the altar to possess the spirit child. The spirit child, the left eye becomes the sun, the right eye becomes the moon, illuminating clearly. Disciple comes with sincere heart to worship.”

As Lü Xiucai acted, something in the darkness surged forth like black water, causing the few remaining oil lamps in the hall to sway violently.

But just then, as his incantation stopped, the saw-toothed sword was held horizontally across his mouth. Then, his eyes suddenly bulged wide, and a mighty tiger roar echoed from deep within his throat.

A powerful aura enveloped the entire cave. The flickering candles immediately settled into stillness, and the black shadows that had poured out instantly retracted inward.

Lü Xiucai extended one hand into a claw, struck the ground hard, and suspended his crippled body mid-air in a tiger’s leap.

As he stood inverted on one claw, his fingers flicked rapidly, and he swiftly turned his body, staring intently at a monstrous hand with three fingers emerging from the darkness behind him, attempting to strike.

Just as the tiger deity he had summoned had just subdued those evil spirits, the situation changed abruptly. The floor tiles beneath Lü Xiucai cracked open, and a massive centipede burst out of the earth, opening its blood-stained maw and wrapping itself entirely around his last arm.

At the same time, another centipede crawled out of the shadows, clamping down with its great pincers on his lower body. The centipede that had once sat atop the lotus pedestal was nowhere to be seen, leaving only a large hole in its place.

The two giant heads twisted in opposite directions, trying to tear Lü Xiucai apart.

Yet unexpectedly, the body of the tiger-possessed Lü Xiucai was as solid as stone—no amount of twisting could break him.

“Roar!” A deep tiger growl rang out again. With a splatter, his clawed hand pierced through the head of the giant centipede, emerging covered in thick, bloody brain matter.

As the centipede with the broken head let out a shriek and died, the other head also gave a sharp cry. Seeing this, Lü Xiucai immediately realized—they were both parts of the same creature. This thing was no mere beast transformed—it was a fully-fledged demon.

He cast aside the dead centipede and prepared to deal with the remaining one.

But unexpectedly, yet another centipede burst from the ground, biting down firmly on his wrist—not wrapping around it, but embedding itself there.

As Lü Xiucai struggled free, yet another centipede emerged, clamping its pincers onto his neck.

But this was not the end. Centipedes kept erupting from the soil, gnawing at his body.

When his entire crippled form was completely encased in the heads of the centipedes, a tearing sound rang out, and he was utterly torn apart.

Splatter! His internal organs and blood rained down like drops of rain, covering the entire cavern.

Just as the centipede heads, their mandibles twitching, prepared to devour his remains, a half-lung that had fallen to the ground was pushed aside, and a small figure the size of a palm emerged from within.

The little figure grew with the wind, quickly reaching adult size—a human skin doll made by Li Huowang for protection.

Lü Xiucai, as thin as a cicada's wing, sucked in the shadows of the corpses on the ground.

Though some of his flesh had been consumed and he now looked emaciated, he had no time to dwell on such matters.

If he couldn’t find a solution soon, he would truly die here. But seeing his intact limbs, a confident smile spread across his face.

He propped himself up with one hand, and with a pop, his sword fell, severing his left arm at the root.

The severed limb instantly turned purple-black; bones rapidly extended, piercing through the earth to grasp the centipede’s body underground.

With a shriek and trembling, the nine-headed creature’s blood soaked the white worms.

Seeing this, Lü Xiucai smiled—he knew his blow had hit the beast.

He pressed on without delay, raising the saw-toothed dagger to his mouth, preparing to pull out all his new teeth.

But just then, the remaining centipede heads trembled violently, emitting a low humming sound. Eyes glowed from the darkness, and Lü Xiucai found himself surrounded.

All were demons—the darkness was filled with them. This place was nothing more than a nest of evil spirits.

“Whoosh!” All the candles in the cave went out instantly. Every eye in the darkness lunged toward Lü Xiucai.

“You think I fear you? Today, I’ll give my life for justice! I’ll avenge those you’ve devoured!” Lü Xiucai said, moving his sword a few inches lower, aiming it at his own chest.

But just as they were about to clash to the death, a strange sight appeared. A soft white light illuminated the vast cave, revealing the true forms of the evil spirits, who collapsed before the radiance.

When Lü Xiucai saw the light came from his white donkey behind him, he knelt several times toward the white lotus base with excitement and reverence.

“Supreme Saint! Eternal Mother! I knew it—your compassion would never allow evil to rule!”

With that, he stood up, raised his sword, and walked toward the twitching centipede head beside him. “Beast! You dared to impersonate the White Lotus Sect and commit crimes!”

Just as he prepared to slice off the centipede’s head, unbearable pain shot through his whole body from behind.

As the white donkey’s light blazed brighter, Lü Xiucai collapsed to the ground, unable to rise.

(End of Chapter)