Chapter 354
Chapter 354
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 354
>Chapter Title: Heart Turbid
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Chapter 354: Heart Turbid
As the blade was about to pierce the Second God, the copper coin sword in Li Huowang's hand instantly stretched long. The coins linked into a line, whipping like a long lash to send Hong Da's massive rusty knife flying.
"Wait!" Li Huowang, his expression unusually grave, rushed over and blocked himself between the two groups. "Everyone! She's not a Heart Turbid! She's my wife!"
Ji Xiang set down his decayed wooden ruyi scepter and asked with some doubt, "Your wife? This one doesn't believe it! Have your lady wife remove her red veil. Don't let it be a Heart Turbid trying to sneak past."
Before Li Huowang could even agree, Shentu Gang lightly tapped the goatskin drum at his waist. The Second God responded in kind with a tap of her own. The drumbeats echoed as if they were communicating something.
When the drumming ceased, the Second God reached up with one hand and yanked off the red veil.
"Oh my dear mother! What is that?! Brother Er Xian, is that truly your wife?" At the sight of the Second God's horrifying face—a human visage fused with a beast's—the others clearly jumped in fright.
Li Huowang ignored them and pulled the Second God a few steps away. With a grave expression, he asked, "How did you end up here? Where's Miao'er? Did she come with you?"
The Second God shook her head first, then trembled as she leaned in close. Her two arms wrapped tightly around Li Huowang's waist, hugging him fiercely. In her feline beast eyes—three times larger than a normal person's—there gleamed an obsessive affection. "Husband... I missed you."
Her sharp fangs nibbled delicately at Li Huowang's neck. Two tongues slithered out from within, twisting around each other as they licked ceaselessly at his neck.
"Enough already!" Li Huowang gripped her shoulders with both hands and straightened her up. He stared at her intently with a grave expression. "I don't have time for this right now. It's very dangerous here—leave immediately!!"
"Husband, are you worried about me?" The Second God's blood basin of a mouth split all the way back to her ear roots.
Li Huowang, his expression still gravely stern, stepped closer. He cradled her head first, then stared into the largest eye on her face and enunciated each word: "Leave. This place. Right. Now!!"
"Alright." A long tongue licked across Li Huowang's face. The Second God turned with a bizarre smile on her face and departed the village.
"Mom?" The voice in his ear made Li Huowang's face grow even darker. "Shut up! She's not your mom!"
"Brother Er Xian, is she truly your wife?" Tuoba Danqing was so shocked that he stopped fiddling with the two patinaed walnuts in his hand.
Before Li Huowang could speak, the shaman Shentu Gang piped up, his tone extremely hostile. "What? You got a problem with that, you fucker?"
With that, Shentu Gang jutted his chin toward Li Huowang. "Big sis is a good one. Don't let her down."
"Hey now, hey now, enough already. Let's get moving. Are you here on official business or out for a picnic?" The anxious Ji Xiang grew impatient and began urging them along.
Li Huowang glanced in the direction where the Second God had vanished before recollecting his thoughts and following Ji Xiang and the others into the village.
He had no idea if that woman would actually listen to him. Better to finish up quickly and get out of here, lest Miao'er get dragged into this.
Ji Xiang's golden abacus began clacking again, its sounds mingling with Tuoba Danqing's walnut-twirling to echo endlessly through the village.
Li Huowang set aside his scattered thoughts and stayed constantly alert for any Heart Turbids that might appear.
As they walked along, a collapsed earthen courtyard appeared to their left. Beneath a pomegranate tree heavy with fruit stood several shadowy figures.
Upon closer inspection, Li Huowang realized they weren't people at all, but rather humanoid shapes formed from tangled vines and weeds, meticulously arranged beside them.
Just as Li Huowang wondered if these were made by Heart Turbids, Hong Da hurled his two small rusty knives, shredding the plant figures into fragments that danced through the air.
".Ah......" An extremely shrill scream pierced from deep within the village.
"Go! Follow it!" Shentu Gang, who hadn't done anything until now, sprang into motion. He charged toward the sound with great strides.
As he ran, he slapped fiercely at the drum on his waist and began jumping about in shamanic frenzy.
The summoning incantation from his mouth was utterly different from both Li Zhi's back then and Bai Lingmiao's earlier—its tone carried an extraordinary domineering air.
"Upper Command: Ghosts and Gods of the Lower Capital heed! Devour demons, swallow fiends—peace across the four directions!! Summon the immortals and they shall answer! Summon the gods and they shall obey!!"
In that instant, Li Huowang felt as if all the colors around him began to fade.
A layer of goosebumps rose involuntarily on Li Huowang's skin. He knew something was coming, but he had no idea what.
This Shentu Gang was clearly no ordinary shaman—his power was probably on par with Danyangzi's when he was alive. Who knew where Ji Xiang had found him.
"Er Jiu! Lend you my blade on credit!" Hong Da held out one of his rusty knives to Li Huowang. Li Huowang nodded and swiftly took it.
The scream cut off abruptly, but Ji Xiang and Shentu Gang had clearly locked onto the Heart Turbid. One beat his drum while the other clicked his abacus, their sounds reverberating throughout the village. The entire place seemed to twist and warp.
Though the Heart Turbid still hadn't shown itself, it was clear they were already clashing.
In such circumstances, Li Huowang's arsenal of killing techniques was obviously useless.
Rather than stand around fretting, Li Huowang decided to try the one thing he could do now. He bit open the tip of his finger and scrawled across the turmeric paper in sweeping strokes.
He had no idea if divination talismans would work in this situation—might as well treat a dead horse as if it were alive.
Recalling the fracture pattern on the skull fragment he'd brought, Li Huowang scanned his surroundings, searching for a matching pattern.
Amid the cacophony of noises, as Li Huowang looked about, his gaze suddenly fixed on the rusty knife in his hand.
The direction its tip pointed was precisely toward a spiderweb on a stone well in the distance.
And the spot where something had torn through that spiderweb matched the pattern from his divination exactly.
"Could it be that this rusty knife from Hong Da enhances divination?" Li Huowang drew his own weapon and cautiously approached the well, slowing his steps.
He carefully parted the vines and brambles with the rusty knife in hand and peered down into the well.
In the next instant, his pupils contracted to pinpricks. Standing in the silt at the bottom of the well was a person!
The moment that figure noticed the light from above and jerked its head up, Li Huowang hastily shifted his gaze away to avoid falling under its sway.
Heart pounding, Li Huowang whipped his head around and shouted loudly to the others, "Quick! There's something here..."
At that point, Li Huowang froze. "What was I just about to say? What's here?!"
Hearing his voice, the others turned toward him. Tuoba Danqing spoke up, asking in bewilderment, "Brother Er Xian, what are you doing standing by the well with a rusty knife?"
"Rusty knife?" Li Huowang's eyes swept over Tuoba Danqing, Ji Xiang, and Shentu Gang in turn.
"Yeah, where did this rusty knife come from? When did it get in my hand?"
(End of chapter)