A half-foot-long scar shaped like a centipede, looking fierce and terrifying.
My awareness gradually became clear, and my face changed again.
I cast my eyes around, taking in everything in the surrounding environment.
It's an abandoned old house, similar in style to the buildings in Niutui Village, but not of Niutui Village. That area had been completely buried by a mudslide.
The campfire is burning fiercely, with a slight popping sound and sparks flying out.
A woman sits on the other side of the campfire.
She has her legs drawn up, her hands wrapped around her knees, her head resting against her arms. Her hair, loose and already dried by the warmth, emits a faint fragrance.
My hand unconsciously reaches towards my waist, but there's nothing there...
"You are so cruel."
"More cruel than Sun Zhuo."
The woman blinked, and her eyelashes trembled lightly.
"If Sun Zhuo saw me behind him, he wouldn't have killed me, he would have captured me."
"He has his nature, but it seems you don't. Or perhaps your nature is to be influenced by everyone around you, an external force, to reject it, to kill it?"
Her eyes are full of exploration and curiosity.
When she appeared, my heart had already sunk to the bottom of the valley. There's no worse situation than this now.
She is either from the Ghost Pavilion or the Tian Shou sect.
It's likely that she is from the Ghost Pavilion, looking wet and disheveled, like she just crawled out from the water bottom. The thing she is carrying with her is a water ghost!
But... all my belongings were taken down by her.
Her backpack was under her as a cushion, and the bag containing Old Gong's things was used as a footstool. She wasn't wearing shoes, just stepping on the mouth of the bag.
In the corner of the room, Yin Yang Master's two halves of his body are folded together, and the child's corpse stands beside it, topped with a circle of charms.
"Why don't you speak?" The woman straightened slightly in her seat, her hands still wrapped around her knees, and the curiosity in her eyes for me grew increasingly.
My thoughts in my mind turned extremely fast. I was analyzing, if I were to take action now, what the chances of success would be.
If she's from the Ghost Pavilion... most of her strength lies in the ghosts she raises. During the day, she's actually very weak, with little physical strength.
Although I'm severely injured, my wounds have been stitched up, and she fed me something earlier that helped restore my strength and vitality.
My hand suddenly pushing against the ground, my body suddenly releasing a burst of strength, I charge forward with all my might!
Even though my waist hurt excruciatingly, I didn't spare any strength!
As my body swept over the campfire, a sensation of scorching heat enveloped me.
The woman opened her eyes wide, let out a loud scream, it seemed like she didn't expect me to directly take action!
While I threw myself at her, my hands seized her throat without hesitation!
With my knee, I was pressing down to pin her pelvis!
Although my Yin-Yang Life force is gone, my muscle memory still remains, so how to bind and control the corpse is still instinctual!
As I spoke, it happened quickly!
In this split second, a powerful force surged through my waist. It turned out that the woman had somehow pulled her legs back, and she thrust out with her feet!
Her soles were pressed tightly against my waist, and the force was so great that it deformed my abdomen, throwing me and the entire person behind me!
There was a loud thud as I collided heavily with the wall.
The woman braced herself on the ground with her arms, then placed her foot on the backpack, and her other leg rested on her knee. Her eyes blinked rapidly, and her eyelashes trembled more intensely.
"Not only ruthless, but also very sharp. This is much stronger than Sun Zhuo."
"If he was a bit more perceptive, how could he have been made so miserable by you?"
Veins bulged on my forehead, and the wound at my waist began to ooze blood.
I stared at the woman tightly, my breath became more shallow and labored.
"You must have a high position in the Ghost Pavilion," I croaked out.
"Hmm?" At first, the woman was puzzled for a moment, then she straightened slightly in her seat.
Before she could speak, my hands suddenly squeezed out the incantation, low and deep: "The King of Thunder and the Goddess of Lightning, please hasten your divine power! Follow me to extinguish ghosts, boom boom boom boom!"
My palm pushed forward rapidly, causing the woman to be terrified. A cloud of smoke erupted from her chest, and her clothes began to char.
I still need to push harder with my palm!
Lightning law does not have the limitations of day and night, just like Daoist law, one can cast spells, wave instruments, and it will work.
Even though I have no weapons, the thunder law itself is a weapon from thin air.
A cold smile curved up at the corner of her mouth, she thought she had captured me, but even then, she didn't bind my hands and feet tightly. She was only asking for trouble!
My thoughts flew in the blink of an eye. As soon as the second palm struck out, she rolled abruptly to her left. I missed my mark completely, and the campfire boomed loudly before exploding into a shower of sparks.
My pupils contracted, and I pushed the third and fourth palms simultaneously towards her chest.
However, she didn't directly charge towards me, instead, she leaped in a single bound, almost reaching the ceiling of the room.
In the next second, as she landed, her leg landed on my left shoulder with a hard kick!
As I was about to unleash the fifth palm, a searing pain that felt like my shoulder was being snapped in two struck me, and I was thrown off balance.
She landed and stood steady, and I bit my tongue so hard that blood was about to spurt out!
The blood from my tongue cannot harm a living person, but if it gets into her eyes, it can certainly impair her vision!
She seemed to sense my intention, and with one hand, she reached out to pinch my chin.
I quickly blocked with my right hand, but her other hand grabbed my right wrist and pressed it against the wall. My jaws were also squeezed by her, and blood flowed from my mouth. Some of the blood entered my throat, while the rest dripped from my chin.
I lifted my leg, wanting to kick out! However, she was even faster and more forceful. Her calf pressed firmly against my two legs, pinning me down to the wall with all her weight. I couldn't move an inch…
"Oh, do you think I'm like those unhuman, unghostly things?"
"Indeed, men only see with their eyes and never think with their hearts. They could only be pawns for Sun Zhuo. Meanwhile, I am pointing out the flaws in Sun Zhuo to you."
"How come? Is there no woman in the Four Regulations Mountain?"
The woman's face is particularly close to me, the fragrance of her breath is almost hitting my face.
My heart thumped wildly, but I was shocked beyond belief.
"Tian Shou Tao Guan!?" The words were hoarse, filled with astonishment.
The woman's head suddenly moved forward and collided with my forehead!
The sharp sound of a collision on my forehead resounded, and my consciousness slipped into another void of darkness…
But, it seemed to haven't been long before I woke up...
I was still lying on the ground, my hands and feet were not bound, but I couldn't move them at all…
From my shoulders, from my knees, it felt as if I had lost all control over my movements…
A hand was pressing on my chin, and it was the pain that brought me back to consciousness.
The woman lowered her head slightly, her eyes no longer had the ease and playfulness before, without any curiosity, but only a hint of expectation.
If she wanted to kill me, it would have been better. But this expectant gaze made my heart flutter uncontrollably, causing me to become more and more suspicious and uneasy.
"You're starting to panic."
"But, you're still quite good. I should teach you. If you had just hit me directly on the head, you wouldn't have killed me, but it would have left me disfigured."
"That way, you'll have more chances."
The woman's fingers gently lifted my chin. "However, now you only have one more chance."
"What will you choose?"
