Chapter 8: The Hidden Dragon Emerges from the Abyss
Rain lashed against the collapsed temple, splattering against the scattered bricks and stones. Not far away, a towering figure, over two meters tall, stood covered in blood, swaying unsteadily.
Daoist Lan He was drenched in blood, wounds crisscrossing his body. Several corpses lay around him, their bones shattered, victims of his divine power.
However, Zhao Haisong and the “Rat and Bat Duo” merely harassed him from the periphery, avoiding direct confrontation with his divine power.
“I don’t know what you’re fighting for,” Zhao Haisong sneered disdainfully. “Just to save two useless children, you’re making an enemy of the court and throwing your own life away.”
Daoist Lan He roared, “Scum!” He threw a punch, his enlarged fist descending towards Zhao Haisong’s head like a falling boulder, rain scattering around it.
Wielding his goose-feather saber, Zhao Haisong moved like a fish in the rain, dodging the attack.
Ghost Hook Rat and Blade Wing Bat, the Rat and Bat Duo, attacked simultaneously, a hook and a blade striking Daoist Lan He’s back from both sides.
Even with his divine power protecting him, Daoist Lan He stumbled amidst the spray of blood.
Finally, a cold light flashed, and he reverted to his original form, no longer the towering figure. The wounds on his body seemed to find new openings, blood spurting out.
His Daoist robe tattered, Daoist Lan He, still enraged, spun around and punched Ghost Hook Rat.
Blade Wing Bat chuckled, and with a flash of his blade, Daoist Lan He’s arm fell to the ground.
Swish! Zhao Haisong’s goose-feather saber pierced Daoist Lan He’s side, exiting through his chest. He quickly withdrew the blade, blood gushing out.
Staggering, Daoist Lan He lunged at Zhao Haisong, trying to strangle him with his remaining hand.
Zhao Haisong slashed again, severing his other hand. He kicked Daoist Lan He to the ground, pointing his saber at his throat with a sneer of disdain, “Any last words?”
Gasping in the storm, Daoist Lan He said, “You… you barbarian lapdogs… will meet your end… your end…”
With a flash of his blade, Zhao Haisong slit his throat, watching him breathe his last with contempt.
Ghost Hook Rat swung his black iron hook and laughed, “He was a tough one.”
Zhao Haisong sneered, “He overestimated himself and brought this upon himself.” He bent down and searched Daoist Lan He’s body, quickly finding the tiger-shaped rune stone.
He turned around and saw the Rat and Bat Duo staring at the stone in his hand. Zhao Haisong smiled, “Don’t worry, I won’t keep this magical weapon for myself. But there’s only one, and it’s not easy to divide among three people. After we catch those two children, we’ll go back, have it appraised, and split the value.”
Blade Wing Bat laughed, “Brother Zhao is righteous. We trust you, of course.”
Ghost Hook Rat chuckled, “Let’s catch those two brats first. Hee hee, that girl is quite pretty.”
Turning their backs on the corpse, they continued their pursuit. Ghost Hook Rat cursed, “Damn this rotten weather! The rain was lighter just now, and now it’s pouring again.”
Their clothes were soaked through. Lightning flashed and thunder roared above, illuminating the world. The deep pit on the other side remained shrouded in darkness, even the lightning unable to penetrate it, as if shadowy figures could emerge from its depths at any moment.
After running for a while, they found two more bodies. One was a constable from the Six Gates, the other one of the four martial artists who had accompanied Daoist Lan He.
The martial artist’s body was covered in wounds, barely a single part intact. His eyes glared wide open, an iron blade embedded in the constable’s chest. This dying strike had caught the constable off guard, and despite having several companions, he hadn’t been able to avoid it.
Zhao Haisong muttered, “A bunch of useless fools.”
They continued forward, running through the rain. They found the body of another martial artist, and a little further on, the third.
Both had been hacked to pieces, but even so, their faces, stained with blood that the rain couldn’t wash away, were frozen in expressions of defiance.
Zhao Haisong cursed, “These desperate fools. Fighting so hard for two useless brats.”
He couldn’t understand their thinking, finding it utterly ridiculous.
Ghost Hook Rat chuckled, “Three down, only one left to protect those kids. Looks like we won’t have to lift a finger… Uh.” His voice suddenly stopped.
They had been talking as they moved, covering more ground. They found another body, this time one of their own constables from the Six Gates.
The constable lay on the ground, his face frozen in shock.
Zhao Haisong crouched down and examined the body. There were no other injuries except for a hole in his forehead, the skin around it charred black, as if burned by fire.
Zhao Haisong said, “What kind of technique is this?”
Blade Wing Bat said, “Looks like a demonic sect technique.”
Zhao Haisong stood up and continued running with the Rat and Bat Duo. Soon, they found another body, another one of their own.
This constable clutched his throat, but there was no blood between his fingers. His face was contorted in terror.
Zhao Haisong pried his hands open and saw another charred black hole, not very large.
The previous corpse had bled from the hole in his forehead, but this one only had the ugly black charring, no blood at all.
Ghost Hook Rat said, “What a strange finger technique!”
Zhao Haisong frowned, stood up, and continued running. Soon, they found two more bodies.
These two lay together.
Ignoring the dead constables, Zhao Haisong stepped over them and pressed forward.
A bolt of lightning illuminated the cliff ahead, revealing a tall figure standing with his back to them, facing the cliff face, unmoving.
From the back, it appeared to be a young man, shirtless, his discarded shirt tied around his waist.
Four bodies lay around him. The last of Zhao Haisong’s men were all dead.
Further down the cliff, huddled together, were the girl and boy they were pursuing, supporting a middle-aged man between them.
The man was also covered in blood, a blade protruding from his chest. He wouldn’t last much longer.
Their gazes were fixed on the young man.
The Rat and Bat Duo looked at the young man’s back, their eyes filled with caution.
Zhao Haisong quickly searched his memory, trying to match the young man’s figure to anyone he knew.
But no one in his memory matched the young man’s back.
He then remembered the young man he had chased out of the temple earlier, the one who seemed to have no martial arts skills.
Could it be him? His eyes narrowed.
The young man slowly turned around. He had a high forehead and a slightly hooked nose, his features sharp and angular, completely different from the young man who had left the temple.
Zhao Haisong realized he was mistaken and discarded the idea.
Gripping his goose-feather saber, he took a step forward and shouted, “Who are you? Do you know this is official Six Gates business? Do you want to make an enemy of the court?”
The young man stood in the rain with his hands clasped behind his back and said coldly, “Barbarian lapdogs deserve to be killed by anyone.”
A bolt of lightning struck, illuminating the young man’s figure.
He was like fireworks suddenly blooming in the night, dazzling and brilliant.
“Arrogant!” Zhao Haisong shouted. His goose-feather saber sliced through the rain, water spraying from both sides of the blade as he thrust it towards the young man’s throat.
The young man suddenly vanished before his eyes, reappearing beside Zhao Haisong in a flash, a finger aimed at his armpit.
Alarmed, Zhao Haisong used all his power to shift his position.
The young man followed him like a shadow, dodging Zhao Haisong’s saber, his fingertip flickering with a strange flame, striking at him from various angles with incredible speed.
Ghost Hook Rat and Blade Wing Bat watched the fight. Initially, the two seemed evenly matched, but gradually, Zhao Haisong found himself in increasing danger.
The young man’s finger technique became more and more bizarre and profound, his speed increasing.
Blade Wing Bat’s eyes flickered, “Is he using Constable Zhao to test his moves?”
Ghost Hook Rat frowned, “It seems so.”
They both remembered the strangely killed corpses they had encountered along the way.
The first victim had a finger strike to the forehead, the wound bleeding. The second had a finger strike to the throat, the wound cauterized, clearly indicating the energy had penetrated the body, sealing the throat with the flame from his finger.
Later, there were two more victims, and now, four bodies lay around the young man, all close together, clearly killed in rapid succession.
Now, as he fought Constable Zhao, his flaming finger strikes became more precise, his footwork more profound. The fight had shifted from a close-quarters combat to a one-sided suppression.
He seemed to be using his opponent to familiarize himself with his own martial arts, rapidly improving in the process.
The Rat and Bat Duo flickered, approaching the young man from the sides. The moment they moved, the young man’s speed increased dramatically. He flashed behind Zhao Haisong.
Zhao Haisong was shocked, unable to block in time. He was forced to counter with a backhand strike.
Sizzle! His left palm was pierced, smoke rising from the wound as a burning energy surged up his meridians.
The Rat and Bat Duo attacked simultaneously, their hook and blade sending waves of rain crashing towards the young man.
Zhao Haisong seized the opportunity to retreat, trying to regain his composure, but a mouthful of blood spurted out.
Although only his palm had been pierced, all the meridians from his hand to his internal organs felt like they were being burned by flames, an unbearable, searing pain. He sealed his acupoints, horrified.
If that finger had struck his back, he would have died instantly.
What kind of bizarre and terrifying technique was this?
Who was this young man?
Shi Hao hadn’t expected that after spending so many days in the Primordial Grotto Heaven, only a moment seemed to have passed in the outside world.
The Primordial Grotto Heaven was truly mysterious and wondrous, beyond comprehension.
Now, he faced the Rat and Bat Duo alone, his movements ghostly, his finger strikes sharp and precise.
The Rat and Bat Duo’s iron hook and blade worked in perfect harmony, creating streaks of light around him. They occasionally clashed, changing their tactics mid-move, launching surprise attacks from unexpected angles.
Raindrops hitting the swirling blade left white trails, spinning and spreading like wings.
Blade Wing Bat’s blade was as fast as lightning, flashing around Shi Hao.
Ghost Hook Rat’s iron hook, however, was black, hidden in the darkness, lurking in the corners of Shi Hao’s vision, darting out like a venomous snake, hooking and jabbing from treacherous and unpredictable angles.
Shi Hao used the Soul Chasing Locking Steps taught by the Enchanting Fire Witch. This technique was truly bizarre and profound. Although called “steps,” it was actually about sensing and manipulating energy flows.
Any opponent, as long as they were channeling energy, would have an “energy flow.” The Soul Chasing Locking Steps could acutely sense this flow, allowing him to pinpoint the enemy’s location and even their current posture.
Although the Rat and Bat Duo worked seamlessly together, one direct and one cunning, their dazzling blade light and hidden hook attacks were all clearly perceived by Shi Hao thanks to the Soul Chasing Locking Steps’ energy sensing ability.
When the Enchanting Fire Witch taught him this technique, he hadn’t realized how powerful it was. Now, facing his enemies, he truly understood its profoundness, its sheer incredibility.
The more they fought, the more the Rat and Bat Duo felt a chill in their hearts.
They couldn’t understand how the young man was doing it, what kind of footwork he was using.
No matter how hard they tried, using all their skills and tricks, the young man always managed to evade them with unpredictable speed and seemingly precognitive awareness.
More importantly, they could sense that his strength was rapidly increasing.
It was as if he was still familiarizing himself with this ghostly, phantom-like footwork. Initially, he had been like a fish in a shallow pond, barely able to maneuver in the limited space.
But gradually, the small pond became a vast ocean to him, his figure seemingly omnipresent.
It hadn’t been long, but it felt like they had gone from a two-on-one attack to being “surrounded” by this single young man.
Lightning flashed and thunder roared above, and the young man’s movements were like the sparks of lightning, surrounding them from all sides.
Their every move was like bait, failing to catch him but instead feeding his rapid growth.
In a short time, the young man had transformed from an elusive carp into an invincible dragon.
This feeling made their scalps tingle with fear.
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