Chapter 208 - 118: Shangguan Luoxue: 49 Forms??
’Why are we still stuck on this topic?’
Upon hearing this, Xu Fu, who was standing to the side, put on a woeful expression and stared resentfully at Jiang Mu.
"You’ve got some nerve, Old Jiang! You didn’t give something so valuable to your brother here, but you turn around and give it to an outsider? Just as I thought, ditching your friends for a pretty face. You’ve got your eyes on their daughter, haven’t you?
That kid is only thirteen! You animal, you’re already going after someone so young? You’re worse than a beast!"
Jiang Mu rolled his eyes, not bothering to engage with the drama queen.
At that moment, Du Yuanfei, supported by You Dashan, limped over to the Horse Demon’s corpse.
He looked at the culprit that had killed countless of his brothers, his eyes filled with hatred.
"I’ll teach you to run! I’ll kick you to death, you son of a bitch!"
He kicked the headless corpse viciously several times, cursing a stream of vile obscenities as he vented the grief and fury in his heart.
After letting it all out, he turned, bowed deeply to Jiang Mu, his eyes red and his voice choked with emotion.
"Master Jiang, words are not enough to express my gratitude! If not for you, who knows how many more people this beast would have killed."
"You’ve avenged my fallen brothers. In the future, if there’s ever anything you need me for, Master Jiang, I would go through hell and high water for you!"
Jiang Mu smiled. "You speak too gravely, Master Du. We are all Demon Slayer Envoys. This is simply part of our duty."
Looking at the Horse Demon’s corpse on the ground, Jiang Mu felt a wave of emotion himself.
This Tier Five Great Perfection Demon was truly powerful, its methods bizarre.
If it weren’t for the help of Tang Guixin and Xu Fu, and having a spatial Magical Treasure to counter it, it truly wouldn’t have been easy for him to take this thing down alone.
’Indeed, the higher the realm, the harder it is to crush opponents of a higher level. The gap between each minor realm is magnified immensely.’
’Only a brainless Tier Five zombie would be easy enough for me to toy with using my speed.’
’Zombies...’
Thinking of that word, the image of the Zombie Queen from White Deer Peak—seated on her throne of white bones, sultry to her very core yet terrifying beyond compare—surfaced in Jiang Mu’s mind.
’That explosion I set off... it blew away a huge number of her subordinates.’
’I really made a powerful enemy that day.’
’Luckily, the Queen seems to be trapped on the mountain by some kind of restriction, unable to leave. Otherwise, if a Tier Ten grand zombie had its sights set on me...’
Jiang Mu shuddered. ’It was an unthinkable prospect.’
After cleaning up the scene, the group began to regroup and rest.
However, they now faced a new problem.
All the horses were dead.
This meant they had lost their only means of transportation.
They were still a long way from Yan City. Normally, with their speed as Cultivators, this wouldn’t be much of a delay.
But now there were several seriously injured people in the group, some even unconscious, who were completely unable to travel long distances.
"What are we going to do?" Xu Fu lamented, his face a mask of worry.
Tang Guixin thought for a moment, then turned to ask the village chief.
A moment later, she returned and said to the group:
"I’ve asked. There’s a small town fifteen li to the east called Xiahe Town. We can’t buy horses there, but we should be able to get a horse-drawn carriage to transport the wounded."
"I’ll go."
Jiang Mu volunteered.
Demons were common in this area, and he worried something might happen on the road. He wouldn’t feel at ease if anyone else went.
"Daxie, Xiao Kui, you two come with me."
Jiang Mu called the Zhang Daxie brothers over, then said to Tang Guixin and Xu Fu, "Aunt Tang, Lao Xu, you two stay here with the men to protect the wounded and get some rest. We’ll be back as quickly as we can."
"Alright, be careful," Tang Guixin advised.
Jiang Mu nodded, then, taking the Zhang Daxie brothers with him, turned and vanished into the deep night, speeding toward Xiahe Town.
Halfway there, the night grew even darker, with only the sound of howling wind in the wilderness.
But Jiang Mu slowed his pace, his brow furrowed.
He wasn’t sure when it started, but he began to feel that something was wrong.
It was as if a pair of eyes were staring at the back of his head; the feeling of being watched made his skin crawl.
But every time he looked back, there was nothing behind him but the Zhang Daxie brothers and the darkness.
As they were crossing a dilapidated stone bridge, Jiang Mu suddenly stopped.
"What’s wrong, Hall Master?"
Zhang Daxie asked, confused by Jiang Mu’s unusual expression.
Jiang Mu didn’t speak, merely narrowing his eyes as he scanned his surroundings.
After a moment, Jiang Mu said:
"Daxie, I remember your Divine Ability is the Earth Escape Skill, right? Try using it around here."
Although Zhang Daxie didn’t understand why, it was an order from his Hall Master, so he naturally complied.
He grunted in acknowledgment, his body dropped low, and he slipped into the soil beneath his feet like a loach.
The ground bulged slightly, like an earth dragon swimming underground, as he quickly moved in a hundred-meter radius around the bridgehead.
Soil churned and grass roots snapped, making a soft rustling sound.
Because the Earth Escape Skill only worked in soft soil, he had to detour around hard rocks or tree roots, so the bulge on the surface was intermittent.
About a quarter of an hour passed.
Zhang Daxie burst out of the ground, covered in sweat.
This Divine Ability consumed a great deal of Star Power; he couldn’t sustain it any longer.
"Hall Master, it’s just rocks and dirt down there. Nothing unusual," Zhang Daxie said, wiping the mud from his face and panting heavily.
Jiang Mu’s gaze was fixed on the trail Zhang Daxie had just left on the ground.
Suddenly, his gaze locked onto one particular spot.
It was a small patch of what looked like very soft earth.
Logically, Zhang Daxie should have passed through it without any obstruction. But the raised trail of earth broke off there, looping around in a semicircle to avoid that small area.
"What did you run into there?" Jiang Mu asked, pointing to the spot.
Zhang Daxie scratched his head and recalled, "I think there was a hard rock blocking the way, so I went around it."
"’A hard rock?’"
Jiang Mu walked over, drew the saber from his waist, and slashed down at the empty patch of ground!
BOOM!
The soil exploded, and dust flew everywhere.
As the dust settled, a figure had appeared out of thin air on the previously empty ground.
It was a woman.
She wore a magnificent, long, golden-red dress with an extremely high slit.
She was remarkably tall, and even just standing there casually, she exuded an overwhelming aura of mature, bone-deep charm.
Especially the fullness of her chest and hips...
Even with her clothes covering them, one could imagine they were quite substantial.
The moment he saw this woman, Jiang Mu felt his scalp tingle as a chill shot straight up his spine.
"The Zombie Queen?!"
’That signature outfit, that imposing figure...’
’Wasn’t this broad chained up on White Deer Peak? How could she possibly have escaped?!’
’Did she break free of the restriction?’
’If so, the three of us are probably going to meet our end here today!’
No! After the initial shock, Jiang Mu quickly calmed himself down.
He carefully sensed her aura and found that while it was still cold and terrifying, it was far from having the suffocating pressure he felt when he saw her on White Deer Peak.
Compared to the despair of facing what felt like a natural disaster, the one before him... was at most around Tier Five in strength.
"’A Clone?’"
A guess formed in Jiang Mu’s mind.
’In other words, the Zombie Queen must have used some special technique, or paid some kind of price, to send a Clone after me?’
’If her main body were here in person, even if I played all my trump cards, I’d probably be killed in an instant.’
’But if it’s just a Tier Five Clone...’
’...then I might just have a fighting chance!’
Just as Jiang Mu was thinking, a seductive curve appeared on the woman’s face, which was adorned with exquisite smoky eye makeup.
Her dark red lips parted slightly.
"Quite clever, little one."
Her voice was magnetic and enchanting, like a whisper in his ear, like silk brushing against skin, carrying a soul-snatching magic.
Jiang Mu’s heart tightened, and he instinctively wanted to call the Zhang Daxie brothers to prepare for battle.
However, when he turned his head, he found that Zhang Daxie and Zhang Xiaokui had already collapsed silently to the ground.
They were shrouded in wisps of grayish-black Corpse Qi, clearly having fallen prey to her.
’What a powerful Divine Ability!’
Jiang Mu was shocked.
He hadn’t even noticed when the woman had made her move.
However, after confirming that this Clone only had a Tier Five Cultivation Level, he actually relaxed a bit.
As long as he wasn’t completely outclassed, he had a chance!
HUMMM!
The Primordial Celestial Blood River True Qi within him surged violently.
Empowered by the Earth Spirit Star Position!
Jiang Mu gripped his Blood Saber, staring coldly at the woman, and asked in a low voice, "You’ve been following me like a lingering ghost. What is your purpose?"
"What do you think?"
The woman chuckled. "After you killed so many of my subordinates, what do you think I want to do?"
She took a step with her long, slender legs, walking toward Jiang Mu one step at a time.
The exquisite soles of her high-heel-like shoes made a crisp CLACK CLACK sound on the hard stone bridge.
As she moved, the slit of her dress fluttered in the wind.
Only then did Jiang Mu discover with surprise that, unlike the bare, jade-white skin he had seen on White Deer Peak...
This time, her legs were clad in a pair of black silk stockings.