Chapter 622: A Bloodless Contest

Rain fell in a steady patter.

It struck the hundreds upon hundreds of Body Beyond the Body bubbles imbued with Lu Yibei’s innate skill, producing faint hisses and wisps of pale steam.

It was like water dripping onto red-hot metal.

After hearing Lu Yibei’s declaration, Hu Chuan froze for two seconds, then laughed aloud.

“Heh-heh. That line you just used belongs to Bai Xiaohua in Love and Magic Girls, doesn’t it?”

“Oh?” Lu Yibei studied him and raised an eyebrow. “You actually recognized it? I never expected you to be a Bai Xiaohua fan. What a surprise.”

Hu Chuan shrugged. “Someone extremely obsessed with Love and Magic Girls—and quite powerful—once stayed in Shizhou City for a while. I originally intended to invite her into the Esoteric Society…”

“Oh, now I understand!” Lu Yibei suddenly interrupted. “Judging by your expression, you tried recruiting her and failed, right?”

“…”

Hu Chuan frowned slightly. He opened his mouth but said nothing, while his eyes betrayed his thoughts.

It was the look of someone whose humiliating past had been exposed, embarrassment mingling with a trace of anger.

“Indeed. That person rejected the Esoteric Society’s invitation without hesitation,” Hu Chuan admitted calmly.

He spoke at an unhurried pace, as though his escape had never been intercepted, he had never lived through a horrific car crash that almost no ordinary person could have survived, and the girl before him had never arrogantly announced, “I simply came to kill you.”

But his calm was only an appearance.

The moment he spoke his first sentence, he had silently activated the portion of the Calamitous Corruption’s power he exercised and begun trying to corrode the objects “Gu Qianqian” carried.

Chaotic colors invisible to others drifted from his body like thin smoke and circled Lu Yibei.

Yet she carried only one object: a Broken Sword.

A Broken Sword protected by some mysterious power that made it extremely difficult to corrode.

————

That was right. Lu Yibei carried nothing that Hu Chuan could “turn.”

After what happened in the residential district near Sleepless Street, followed by the inexplicable discovery of her and Huá Sāng’s plan to capture Elder Wang through Yang Yichen, she no longer trusted any “object.”

Calamity would never stumble over the same problem three times!

Anything she carried could become Hu Chuan’s spy and weapon, turning into a burden during battle.

Therefore, before leaving the McDico‑K near Yuhua Road, she had removed more than thirty items: her phone, potions, Paper Cicada Immortal, Fortune Deity Coin, Infinite Spicy Strips, talismans… and everything else.

Lu Yibei had never fought such an impoverished battle in her life!

But this was the only way to make Hu Chuan reveal himself, then follow him without being detected.

By the time she reached the small-goods wholesale market, she carried only the Pure Lotus Sword—which had already proven in actual combat that it could not be “turned”—and Big Cousin.

Oh, Big Cousin was not an object!

As for how she had fit so many things on her body…

Anyone who unzipped Lu Yibei’s jacket would be astonished by the intricate yet sensible arrangement of compartments sewn into the lining for storing every kind of little gadget.

Perhaps that was one advantage of being petite.

————

“Mm, now that makes sense! I knew a Bai Xiaohua fan couldn’t possibly be a bastard like you!” Lu Yibei continued.

Hu Chuan frowned again.

He truly could not understand devotees of anime culture.

Likewise, he could not understand why “Gu Qianqian” remained patient enough to chat idly with him.

He was willing to exchange a few more words because he had something to rely upon.

With that great lord’s gift, thousands of Esoteric Society members as hostages, the battle at the home-furnishings market locked in a stalemate, and nearby Great Pure Palace disciples constantly rushing there as reinforcements, he did not believe “Gu Qianqian” could obstruct his escape from Shizhou City.

But what was “Gu Qianqian” relying on?

Hu Chuan studied the girl suspiciously, remaining vigilant against the Broken Sword in her hand. When his gaze accidentally swept across her face and met hers, he froze.

She’s… beautiful. The thought inexplicably flashed through Hu Chuan’s mind, and his eyes lost focus.

He was suddenly captivated by “Gu Qianqian’s” beauty.

Her dark-red eyes exerted a vortexlike allure that drew him in and made him lose himself.

The last time Hu Chuan had felt such overwhelming attraction was when he first witnessed the Calamitous Corruption’s true form…

In his trance, he saw an extraordinarily bewitching flower bloom before his eyes.

————

In stage magic, there is a technique called “misdirection.” Put simply, when the audience believes the trick is taking place, the magician may not have begun the crucial move yet—or may already have completed it.

Lu Yibei’s declaration that she had “simply come to kill him,” the Pure Lotus Sword kept constantly within Hu Chuan’s view, and the Body Beyond the Body bubbles appearing behind her…

All of them were Lu Yibei’s misdirection!

When someone announced, “I’m going to kill you,” while displaying overwhelming killing intent, habitual thinking made people guard against whatever visible object might harm them. They overlooked small details and rarely questioned the speaker’s real objective.

Lu Yibei did not believe she could easily defeat Hu Chuan alone.

He not only exercised part of Pink Fluffy Bunny’s power, but also carried “objects” made from Zhang Shuo and perhaps even more high-tier psychics.

Even after they had been turned into “objects,” Hu Chuan might not have been able to unleash their full strength, but the boost they gave his combat power remained considerable.

Lu Yibei had personally experienced it on Sleepless Street.

Fighting Hu Chuan head-on immediately after abandoning every object she carried was completely unworkable!

However…

In this world filled with hauntings, battle had never been limited to bloody hand-to-hand combat or spectacular clashes between spell formations.

Unpredictable Gu poisons, silent curses, bizarre special abilities, and the higher-level corruption of power all existed. There were plenty of subtler ways to kill without shedding blood.

While Hu Chuan tried to “turn” the objects Lu Yibei carried, she was trying to “turn” his body.

Lu Yibei ultimately won this bloodless contest by a narrow margin.

Still, she was somewhat surprised that applying the Inverse-Form Evil Blossom Gu to Hu Chuan had gone so smoothly.

The opportunity had arisen only because Hu Chuan recognized her line from Love and Magic Girls and struck up a conversation with her.

Without that opening, she could never have drawn him into an enchanted state so quickly or used the subtle connection established between them through enchantment to complete the Inverse-Form Evil Blossom Gu.

Bastard…

You didn’t expect this, did you? After one day apart, I’ve learned a new skill!

Jealous? It only cost me several hundred lives…

Lu Yibei’s gaze turned cold. She raised the Pure Lotus Sword in both hands and aimed its blade at Hu Chuan’s neck.

She would send him on his way exactly as he had killed the headless senior sister!

————

Only when Hu Chuan saw Lu Yibei raise the Broken Sword to strike did he wrench himself from the intoxicated state caused by her enchantment.

He instinctively tried to defend himself, only to discover that time had slowed to an impossible crawl.

He struggled to raise his hands, but they moved frame by frame like a film played in slow motion.

Worst of all, he alone had slowed.

The wind, the falling rain, and the sword descending from “Gu Qianqian’s” hands moved at their normal speeds.

In an instant, the blade reached his throat. Sharp sword energy flickered along its edge, bringing a needlelike sting to his skin.

Hu Chuan slowly closed his eyes as though accepting the end.

At that moment, he abandoned his body…

————

【He blocks your blade.】

When the premonitory thought flashed through Lu Yibei’s mind, she froze in surprise.

Before her, Hu Chuan, struck by the Inverse-Form Evil Blossom Gu, moved both hands so slowly that he could not possibly defend himself.

During Lu Yibei’s momentary hesitation, Hu Chuan’s chest suddenly split open.

A pale, viscous liquid emerged from his bones and flesh. Amid the crackle of breaking bones, it formed a thick arm in an instant. Gripping a weapon, the arm traced a silver arc toward the descending Pure Lotus Sword.

Clang—!

The piercing crash of metal on metal exploded through the air, stabbing at the eardrums.

Agony tore through the web between Lu Yibei’s thumb and forefinger. Enormous force traveled through the sword and up her arm, hurling her backward like a kite with a snapped string.

Whoosh!

The wind rose with a sudden roar.

The instant Lu Yibei began falling, the Shuishu Shou (Water Savage Beast) swept in from the side, caught her, and landed steadily. It turned sideways and planted its four muscular limbs, raising a wall of water taller than a person from the flooded road before coming to a stop.

After steadying herself on its back, Lu Yibei looked toward Hu Chuan and saw something bizarre.

Chaotic colors identical to Pink Fluffy Bunny’s boiled around him. His flesh twisted and writhed in a manner incomprehensible to ordinary people and profoundly uncomfortable to witness.

Pale, viscous liquid continuously poured from the opening in his chest and rapidly spread across his entire body.

Then, amid a series of cracking bones, his body turned inside out through the split in his chest like a coat being reversed.

The process made Lu Yibei’s entire body crawl. With every crack, phantom pain ran through all her joints.

When she recovered, only a gigantic, constantly writhing mass remained before her: bone wrapped around flesh, possessing no fixed shape, and shrouded in a luminous mist of chaotic colors.

More than a dozen objects radiating powerful psychic energy fluctuations orbited it like satellites. A fragment of the Pure Lotus Sword was among them!

The next instant, a dark-gold alms bowl suddenly shot toward Lu Yibei. With a booming Buddhist chant, it transformed into a burly warrior monk whose entire body gleamed like metal…