Chapter 133: Grand Final Battle

Chapter 133: The Great Decisive Battle

As expected, after leaving Xu Xiu'er's boudoir, the "communication" was restored, and he could once again sense the existence of Little Dòubī.

He calmed his emotions and let his consciousness descend into Little Dòubī's body through the connection between master and spirit servant.

Zhang Yuanqing "opened" his eyes. The scene before him stunned him for a moment—a twisted and dim view, turbulent undercurrents, countless impurities flowing and floating.

Underwater?

Why was Little Dòubī in the water?

He pondered blankly for a few seconds, then decided to take control and dominate Little Dòubī's body.

But after trying, he failed.

Because Little Dòubī was in an unusual state at the moment; he was in the midst of activating his treasure-hunting skill, his instincts controlling his body and rejecting any external influence.

A similar situation had occurred that night when they were ambushing Black and White Impermanence.

There was a treasure in the water? Zhang Yuanqing's heart stirred, but he didn't stop his manipulation. He influenced Little Dòubī bit by bit, trying to interrupt his state.

Little Dòubī had just awakened his intelligence and had weak self-control, unable to suppress his instincts, but as his master, he had the ability to do so.

Last time at Songhai Elementary School, he hadn't disturbed the spirit servant because he wanted to see what treasure he had found.

But now, with Guan Ya and the Queen in crisis, he couldn't let Little Dòubī remain "out of control" any longer.

After more than ten seconds, Zhang Yuanqing fully regained control and pulled Little Dòubī's head out of the water.

The view changed. He saw the clear river surface, the opposite bank built with bluestone, and the moss-covered shore.

Then came the Queen's despairing voice:

"I... I feel my head getting dizzier, my heartbeat is speeding up, I could drop dead any moment... Guan Ya, you're losing more and more blood. Can you still hold on? Give me the rifle, let me hold on for a while..."

Guan Ya was injured? Had things already gotten so dangerous? Zhang Yuanqing's heart tightened with anxiety.

Then he heard the Queen sigh again: "Five minutes were up long ago. It seems Yuanshi and the others aren't coming to save us. They might be in trouble themselves. I was hoping he could come for us..."

Zhang Yuanqing paddled his limbs, turned around, and looked toward the source of the sound.

About seven or eight meters away, Guan Ya stood by the street, her back against a white wall, holding a rifle. Her face was pale.

A black single garment was wrapped around her calf; she must have been injured in the leg and couldn't stand steadily, so she had to lean against the wall for support. With every shot she fired, her face grew paler.

The Queen, with her smoky-eye makeup and silver earrings, looked dispirited as she guarded Guan Ya. Whenever a baby spirit lunged at them, she would block it with her own body, acting as a meat shield, while Guan Ya fired to drive the baby spirits back.

Worth mentioning, she was only wearing a black sports bra on top, revealing a deep, white, and alluring cleavage, voluptuous and tempting. Below was a suddenly tapering waist, her lower abdomen flat and soft.

It was completely different from Guan Ya's slender waist, which was toned with a defined core and slight abdominal muscles.

The single garment tied around Guan Ya's calf to stop the bleeding was one the Queen had taken off.

The baby spirits surrounding them numbered six in total, testing and attacking like hyenas preying on their target.

So many baby spirits... Zhang Yuanqing quickly changed his plan, returned control to Little Dòubī, and gave him the command to "fight."

This scene was the perfect opportunity to train Little Dòubī's combat abilities.

"Bang!"

Guan Ya pulled the trigger, driving back the baby spirit that had grabbed the Queen's ankle, making it shriek bitterly as its figure twisted.

The Queen shivered, feeling her energy drain again. She finally couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed limply to the ground, her pretty face pale: "I... I can't hold on any longer..."

What made her even more desperate was that the baby spirit that had been washing its head by the riverside had somehow left the riverbank and was crawling toward them, as if to join the encirclement.

Also, maybe it was an illusion... The Queen felt that the dead child's eyes were always fixed on her chest.

The chubby, cute baby spirit moved extremely fast and was soon at close range. Guan Ya, on high alert, turned the gun and aimed at Little Dòubī.

Her expression was grim; she could tell that the strength and speed of this baby spirit were much greater than those of the surrounding bluish-black ones.

Just then, the chubby, cute baby suddenly showed a fierce expression, opened its little mouth to let out an "aww," and pounced on the bluish-black baby spirit ahead, pinning it down.

Guan Ya's finger on the trigger suddenly loosened, a flash of astonishment in her beautiful eyes.

So the little guy wasn't coming for them?

"They... they're having internal strife..." The Queen, who had been in despair, saw this and a brilliant gleam of hope of survival lit up in her dim eyes.

In the blink of an eye, Little Dòubī had firmly pinned the bluish-black baby spirit to the ground. No matter how it struggled, it couldn't break free from its fellow's restraint.

Little Dòubī lowered his head, bit the bluish-black baby spirit's neck, and gently sucked.

A wisp of black smoke turned into a thin line, rushing into his mouth and nose.

Little Dòubī's body suddenly expanded, and his aura grew a bit stronger.

Having tasted the sweetness, he no longer needed Zhang Yuanqing's guidance. He actively let out an "aww" and pounced on the remaining five baby spirits.

The bluish-black baby spirits dared to fight to the death against a powerful enemy, but faced with a powerful kindred spirit, they seemed suppressed and immediately scattered in all directions.

Little Dòubī chased after them and soon disappeared from sight.

"What happened? Why did that little baby spirit save us?" the Queen asked, both overjoyed and bewildered.

Guan Ya looked a bit confused, a bit suspicious, and shook her head slightly to show her bewilderment. "No matter what, we're saved after all. No need for some stinky man to come rescue us."

"Yeah, at least the crisis is over." The bright and elegant lady collapsed onto the ground, leaning against the wall, panting so hard her chest heaved violently.

Just as they spoke, they both heard hurried footsteps in the distance.

Accompanied by the shout of Yuanshi Tianzun: "Guan Ya! Queen!"

The Queen's face changed slightly. She forced her exhausted body and said urgently: "Clothes, clothes..."

Although her makeup and dressing style leaned towards a mature, sexy lady, she wasn't bold enough to bare herself in just underwear in front of a man.

The Queen quickly untied the single garment, slipped into an alley beside the wall, and ignoring the sticky bloodstains, hastily put it on.

By the time she was dressed, her teammates had just arrived. Before the Queen could speak, the men looked at her haggard appearance and said in unison:

"You got drained too?"

"..." The Queen spat, "What nonsense."

Then she saw the Chī ǒu on Huo De Xing Jun's back, startled: "Who is he?"

"Chī ǒu."

"What happened to him? How did he manage to get so thin in just half an hour?" The Queen was both shocked and a little envious.

As they talked, Zhang Yuanqing crouched beside the veteran driver and carefully picked the bullet out of her leg.

"Your wound is serious. You've lost too much blood. You can't fight anymore." Zhang Yuanqing frowned deeply.

Guan Ya looked down at his worried and pained expression, a hint of a smile curling at her lips: "An experienced old driver always leaves a way out for herself."

Under Zhang Yuanqing's puzzled gaze, Guan Ya opened her inventory and pulled out a syringe.

"You still have diluted life essence?" the Queen exclaimed in surprise.

Fu Qingyang was really generous, handing out strategic-grade supplies like candy to his cousin. No, when I get back to reality, I need to work hard to suck up to him... Zhang Yuanqing marveled inwardly.

"The last one, kept for emergencies." Guan Ya inserted the needle into a wrist vein, injected a third, then gave another third to the Queen.

The Queen's face glowed, her skin restored to supple fullness, and she asked in a low voice:

"Guan Ya, are you the daughter of some elder?"

Strategic-level materials could only be requisitioned by those of butler rank; a second-level scout had no authority to use them.

Guan Ya shook her head.

The Queen's expression changed, and she probed: "A concubine?"

... Guan Ya turned her head and said, "Huode, bring Chi Ou over."

"I don't need it..." Chi Ou responded weakly, "Don't waste precious life essence on me. We earth spirits can absorb the power of the earth to nourish our bodies. Fortunately, I only have yang deficiency and essence depletion, not serious injuries. The earth is enough to restore my stamina."

Huode Xingjun quickly put Chi Ou down and laid him flat on the ground.

"Yang deficiency and essence depletion..." The Queen finally had leisure to ask about what had happened, scrutinizing the four men: "What did you all encounter?"

Zhang Yuanqing briefly told Guan Ya and the Queen what had happened, saying, "When we rushed to Widow Xu's boudoir, Chi Ou had already been discarded under the bed as dregs. If we had been a moment later, he would have died from yang depletion. So, young people, abstinence is truly good; abstinence brings you no worries."

Here Zhang Yuanqing did not take credit, because if he had said that everyone else was lustful and he alone was sober, he would likely have been besieged by the others. Besides, he himself had not been able to resist at first, which was a blemish.

Rather than all four being harmed, it was better to let Chi Ou alone highlight everyone else's brightness and righteousness.

Huode Xingjun and Li Chunfeng nodded in agreement: "Lust is a bone-scraping knife."

Chi Ou's face flushed red, and he wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Guan Ya looked somewhat pale, but when this topic came up, she perked up, said with a smile:

"Little fatty, you're quite lucky in love. Was Xu Xiu'er sweet? Is there any difference from real-world women? Share your experience with us."

... Chi Ou pleaded, "Stop, please stop..."

Stop it, I have my dignity!

The Queen cast a sidelong glance at the other four and laughed: "Did any of you four have relations with Xu Xiu'er?"

"No, no!"

The four men said in unison: "Only Chi Ou couldn't hold back."

Chi Ou turned his head away, looking as if he had nothing to live for.

"What did you two encounter, and why are you so disheveled?" Li Chunfeng successfully changed the subject.

The Queen then recounted her personal experience of being besieged by vengeful spirits.

After speaking, she frowned and said doubtfully, "Later, that strange infant spirit drove the other vengeful spirits away."

Huode Xingjun was puzzled: "Did Widow Xu's infant spirits have an internal conflict? Or did that special little infant spirit deliberately save you?"

The Queen shook her head slightly. "I'm not sure."

She glared at Zhang Yuanqing and snorted, "You night wanderer, useless when needed. If that little infant spirit hadn't suddenly gone berserk and driven away its companions, I and Guan Ya would have been in grave danger."

Guan Ya glanced at Zhang Yuanqing, paused for a moment, then changed the subject:

"Is that little infant spirit your spirit servant?"

Huh? The Queen whirled around, the silver rings under her earlobes swaying, staring at Zhang Yuanqing in shock.

Zhang Yuanqing raised his hand and snapped his fingers. After a few seconds, he looked at the alley behind the others. The Queen turned to look, but there was clearly nothing there.

"Whoosh!"

Zhang Yuanqing exhaled a breath of Taiyin power toward his companions' eyes.

Immediately, a sharp, cold, sour pain spread across their eyeballs. Then, they saw a round, cute little baby appear in the alley, with sparse fetal hair and jet-black eyes like buttons.

Its little belly was bulging, and with grunts and puffs, it paddled its limbs, crawling toward Zhang Yuanqing.

How could this be... The Queen was about to look more closely, but the cold, sour pain in her eyes dissipated, and the little infant spirit also disappeared.

It hadn't disappeared; she just couldn't see it anymore.

So it was Yuanshi Tianzun's spirit servant; the infant spirit had been there all along. That is, he had placed his spirit servant beside me and Guan Ya from the beginning, just in case, to save us if necessary... The slight resentment in the Queen's heart melted away at that moment.

Then she thought of something, and her face reddened with embarrassment.

Had he seen everything through the spirit servant just now?

The Queen felt a bit awkward. She realized... well, besides embarrassment, there was also a hint of implicit confidence. It seemed she was quite satisfied with her chest, wasn't she... Besides, being seen in just her underwear by Yuanshi evoked such a reaction, which at least meant she didn't dislike him, and might even have some fondness for him... Guan Ya cast an unobtrusive glance at the Queen, instantly analyzing her feelings.

Zhang Yuanqing was unaware of the two women's rich inner dramas, and said:

"Queen, I ask a favor of you."

"What?" She instinctively became wary, nearly covering her ample, proud chest.

"Go into the water and check for me; I suspect there's something at the bottom." Zhang Yuanqing pointed at the river surface.

The Queen was taken aback, then breathed a slight sign of relief, and readily agreed: "Wait a moment."

She needed to wash the bloodstains from her clothes anyway.

She came to the bank, leaped into the river with a splash, sending water droplets flying.

Zhang Yuanqing came to the bank and waited. When the riverbed churned with mud, the Queen emerged from the water, not a single drop clinging to her body.

"There's nothing in the river. I even blew away the silt at the bottom to check." She flicked the silver ring on her ear.

Nothing? That's impossible; Xiaodoubi's treasure-hunting skill couldn't be wrong... Zhang Yuanqing pondered for a few seconds, then quickly had a guess.

Xiaodoubi and the Queen hadn't met the trigger conditions, so the former had been lying on the bank, looking down, sensing that there was treasure in the water, but unable to find it.

The latter had searched long and fruitlessly.

"What's hidden at the bottom? Is it an item related to the hidden quest, or has another branch opened? Given the information shown by this instance, there can't be another branch.

"If it's a hidden quest, the treasure in the river is highly likely the artifact left by Yin-Yang Sanren, the one that Demon Lord regretted missing."

With this thought, Zhang Yuanqing itched to act, and said, "I'll go down myself."

"It'll be the same for you. If there's nothing, there's nothing." The Queen pursed her lips.

Splash... Zhang Yuanqing jumped into the murky river water, paddling his limbs toward the bottom. At the same time, he summoned Xiaodoubi, hoping to use its treasure-hunting skill.

Xiaodoubi materialized at the river bottom, darting left and right, wandering like a headless fly.

After surfacing for air twice, Zhang Yuanqing had to give up in frustration.

There really was nothing at the bottom.

Impossible; assuming it's related to a hidden quest, I've already collected the jade pendants; theoretically, the plot should be triggered... It seems my thinking was wrong; the jade pendants aren't the key?

He quickly racked his brain while taking off his clothes to wring them dry.

Amid the dripping water, a flash of insight struck him, and he understood what the problem was.

"There's still one step of the hidden quest unfinished. I haven't fully deciphered the plot of the Yin-Yang Town instance. From the perspective of the quest itself, it hasn't achieved completion."

So the next goal is to complete the final step, decipher the instance plot, and then come back to check.

He returned to where everyone was resting and said, "Everyone, we should think about what the next stage is."

The Queen rubbed the silver ring on her ear and said:

"There are only six people in the town. We've dealt with three; logically, the plot should be finished."

Guan Ya shook her head:

"That's wrong. There are six people in the town, but Old Woman Wang and the Cat Corpse count as one scenario; that means Yin Yang Town only has five scenarios.

"We've already cleared the Cursed Cat and Widow Xu Xiu'er. If the evil side hasn't been slow, they've also cleared two. That final scenario, I'm afraid, will have to be contested by both sides."

Zhang Yuanqing said in a deep voice, "The last character is the sorcerer, the one Squire Zhao hired."

...

The Zhao residence.

A dense fog enveloped the entire courtyard, the mist as light as gauze, drifting slowly.

Suddenly, the gray fog began to tremble, like a flood bursting through a sluice, flowing in a certain direction.

The mist grew thinner, the clarity higher.

Li Xianzong's figure gradually emerged. He had a butterfly knife clenched between his teeth, a gory head in his left hand, and a carved wooden box cradled in his right palm.

The lid of the box was open, and the thick fog, like fish returning to their nests, swiftly streamed into the box.

In a moment, the thick fog had completely dissipated. In the inner hall lay five companions, four unconscious, one with his heart and liver scooped out.

In the battle just now, they had lost another comrade.

If not for Li Xianzong's quick reaction in using this artifact in time to trap his companions and Squire Zhao in the fog and then defeat them one by one, the team would have suffered severe losses.

The five still alive were Li Xianzong, the young man missing his left ear, the gaunt middle-aged man, a man in a suit and leather shoes, and a taciturn crew-cut man.

Their corresponding classes were Beguiling Demon, Witch Doctor, Witch Doctor, Beguiling Demon, and Illusionist.

"This damn dungeon—the final battle hasn't even started and we've already lost two men."

Li Xianzong threw Squire Zhao's head toward the pile of gold, then walked over to his companions, kicking each one awake.

"You bunch of useless failures, never helping, always messing things up," Li Xianzong cursed angrily.

The teammates grimaced but dared not talk back.

"Did you kill the monster?" the gaunt middle-aged man asked, looking around.

"Do you want me to pick up the head and make you soup?" Li Xianzong said with acrid sarcasm.

"Heh, then I'll be sure to invite you to have a taste," the gaunt middle-aged man said with a grin. "What I want to know is, what's our next level? I hope no more people die. Otherwise, by the time the final battle comes, with more than half of us dead or injured, how can we fight?"

"Do you think the lawful side doesn't lose people?" the young man missing his left ear said coolly.

Li Xianzong was about to speak when a system chime echoed in his ear:

[Ding, you have successfully killed Squire Zhao. Please proceed to the town center square immediately, kill the evil sorcerer, and begin the final battle.]

...

By the river, Zhang Yuanqing and his team heard the same chime echoing in their ears:

[Ding, you have successfully resisted the temptation of beauty. Please proceed to the town center square immediately, kill the evil sorcerer, and begin the final battle.]