Chapter 212
Chapter 212
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 212
>Chapter Title: Harvest
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Without a head, Peng Longteng could still move. This was something Li Huowang had never expected, and he had no defenses prepared for it.
On top of that, his entire body was now skinless, his mind blurred from the agony, his movements sluggish. Even if he wanted to react, it was too late. He could only watch helplessly as the massive halberd came crashing down toward his head.
"Am I going to die?" The thought flashed through Li Huowang's mind. Strangely, he felt no fear—only a hint of relief.
At this critical moment, a figure leaped high into the air with a furious roar and slammed into Peng Longteng's left shoulder, knocking her towering armored form slightly off course.
The giant halberd sliced down like a door plank, brushing past Li Huowang's left side. He was shocked that he had survived this certain-death scenario.
With his blurred vision, he looked over and saw that the one who had collided with Peng Longteng was Gao Zhijian.
In the next instant, a red figure pounced to Li Huowang's side. The beast head beneath the red veil snapped open its jaws, clamping onto his charred neck. With all four limbs on the ground, it rapidly dragged him away from Peng Longteng.
Being dragged across the ground like this, Li Huowang gazed up at the white clouds in the sky and smiled inexplicably. It felt really good to have someone risking their life to save him.
The charred Li Huowang was pulled aside. The beast head under the red veil released its jaws, then immediately turned and charged toward the distance.
The enemy could still move, and Li Huowang refused to just wait around. He struggled to sit up and said to Gouwa, who had rushed over to his side,
"Go, help me pick up the Heavenly Book."
Gouwa swallowed nervously, reaching out with both hands to help Li Huowang up but unsure where to grab. "Senior Brother Li, what Heavenly Book? Where is it?"
"Right there." Just as Li Huowang raised his mangled finger to point at Peng Longteng's feet, a figure darted out and snatched the Heavenly Book from the ground. It was Chun Xiaoman.
Before Li Huowang could say anything, the battle shifted dramatically. With a squelch, Gao Zhijian's burly body went limp, impaled on the giant halberd.
The gap in strength was too vast. He was no match for her.
"Quick, give me the Heavenly Book!" Li Huowang's eyes nearly burst with rage as he took two shaky steps toward them before collapsing. His body was far too weak now.
He looked like a figure made entirely of charred wood, shedding pieces with every step.
Chun Xiaoman glanced at the utterly wretched Li Huowang, then at Peng Longteng, who had flung Gao Zhijian off her halberd.
She steeled her resolve, gritted her teeth, spread the Heavenly Book on the ground, raised her sword to her left arm, and hacked down viciously.
The severed left arm rapidly turned iron-gray. The hairs on it thickened, lengthened, writhed, and waved, transforming into tentacles that followed the arm as it flipped and burrowed into the soil.
Just as Peng Longteng raised her giant halberd with both hands and prepared to charge at Li Huowang, the thing erupted from the earth, slamming hard into Peng Longteng's chest plate and sending her massive body flying back.
The force was tremendous—even the halberd nearly flew from her grasp.
At that moment, the red-veiled woman, who had just arrived, planted her limbs firmly on the ground and leaped into the air. Three rotting wolf skulls suddenly protruded in outline from beneath the veil, clamping viciously onto the giant halberd in Peng Longteng's hands.
In the distance, the shamanic chants and drumbeats hit at the perfect moment.
"Thump thump thump! The giant turtle supports the earth and props up the sky, a pair of orioles keep watch over it. The turtle blinks and the earth moves, the turtle flips and the heavens turn! Thump thump thump!"
The woman twisted in midair, her body contorting into positions no ordinary person could achieve. Using that torque, she finally wrenched the giant halberd from Peng Longteng's grip.
Now headless and weaponless, Peng Longteng's fate was sealed. The tentacles from Chun Xiaoman's severed arm lashed out, wrapping tightly around her entire body.
The red-veiled woman spat the giant halberd onto the ground and advanced on Peng Longteng with her three beast heads.
The rigid armor plates were torn away, followed by Peng Longteng's flesh. Under the rending of fangs and claws, her deep white bones began to show.
Once it was all over, Li Huowang—who had been holding on through sheer willpower—plunged into unconsciousness.
His last words before blacking out were, "Quick, save Gao Zhijian."
In his hazy stupor, Li Huowang hovered on the brink of death, his consciousness utterly muddled.
"So tired... No, I can't give up. Someone's waiting for me."
"After everyone paid such a heavy price to save me, I absolutely can't die..."
"Who's that? Who's watching me? Who are you?"
He didn't know how much time passed before the utterly drained Li Huowang slowly opened his one good eye. The familiar rocking sensation told him he was lying in an ox cart.
His gaze shifted downward to see Bai Lingmiao—her eyes somewhat reddened—holding a clay jar. She dipped a cotton cloth into something like butter and gently applied it to his body.
Li Huowang struggled to part his glued-together lips, thin trickles of blood sliding from the corners of his mouth. "How's Gao Zhijian?"
His raspy voice made Bai Lingmiao tremble. She leaned toward his head, clutching the jar, tears welling up in her eyes again.
"What about Gao Zhijian?" Li Huowang asked once more. He was most worried about Gao Zhijian, who had been strung up on that giant halberd.
Bai Lingmiao gently pulled up her sleeve to wipe away her excited tears. "He's fine. I called on the immortals to save him. It didn't hit anything vital."
"That's good, that's good." Li Huowang smiled and tried to sit up, but Bai Lingmiao quickly stopped him.
"Senior Brother Li, you can't move yet. I'm applying rat oil for you. My mom said rat oil's the best for burns."
Li Huowang complied. His charred body lay on the cart as she brushed the oil over him again and again.
From Bai Lingmiao's account, Li Huowang learned everything that had happened after he passed out.
No one knew what Peng Longteng had cultivated that allowed her to move even without a head. No one else understood it.
The only certainty was that this bloodstained executioner was finally dead—a righteous act for the heavens.
Peng Longteng's bones were incredibly tough and couldn't be dismembered. Only after all her flesh was stripped away, leaving a bare skeleton, did she finally stop moving.
With the crisis averted, the others hurriedly passed through the checkpoint and entered Qingqiu territory, lest the remaining convict soldiers seek revenge.
The ox cart fell quiet for a moment before Bai Lingmiao hesitantly spoke up. "Senior Brother Li, that divine ability of yours that regrows limbs—could you teach it to Sister Xiaoman? She's lost her hand."
"She keeps saying it's nothing, but she's still so young. She has a long life ahead."
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