Chapter 626: Not Half Bad

Huá Sāng had blocked the ambush, leaving a brief gap in the enemy’s assault. Lu Yibei seized the opportunity, flickering several times as she sped to the Shuishu Shou (Water Savage Beast) and landed securely on its back.

“Whoosh…”

A faint breeze followed as Huá Sāng landed behind her.

The instant they were seated, a figure wreathed in scarlet light rushed over to bar the Shuishu Shou’s path. It wielded two enormous, rust-covered iron hooks that reeked of decay.

The Shuishu Shou glanced sideways at it.

Where did this piece of trash come from? Something this weak dared block its way?

With a long howl, the Shuishu Shou reared, dazzling lightning bursting from its forehooves.

Trample!

Thunder cracked. Carrying Lu Yibei and Huá Sāng, that magnificent figure took off at a furious gallop along the highway.

Behind them, the figure it had left with a crushed and misshapen skull lay on the ground, wailing in agony.

…

Lu Yibei and Huá Sāng took the opportunity to speak briefly.

Huá Sāng gripped Lu Yibei’s shoulders with both hands and leaned close behind her. After glancing at her profile, she said evenly, “You lied to me just now…”

Hiss! Was this really the time to raise such a deadly question? Lu Yibei opened her mouth but found herself at a loss for words.

“But it’s all right. I worked out what happened on the way here. I understand.”

She knew Lu Yibei had sent her away to make the act more convincing and lure Hu Chuan, that giant snake, out of his hole. But a lie was still a lie. This needed to be made clear first.

Lu Yibei quietly sighed in relief. Out of the corner of her eye, she looked at the figures pursuing them relentlessly but already losing sight of Big Cousin’s round, pert beastly rump, then glanced at Huá Sāng.

“I just received a message from that old man Zhang Huainan. He said someone’s trying to awaken Pink Fluffy Bunny, and if we don’t stop them, there’s going to be big trouble.”

“See that strange lump of flesh over there? That damn thing is Hu Chuan. I suspect he has something to do with whoever’s trying to awaken Pink Fluffy Bunny.”

Following Lu Yibei’s gesture, Huá Sāng glanced at the pale lump of flesh shrouded in chaotic colors.

That single glance immediately left her mind swimming. She dared not look any longer and quickly withdrew her gaze.

“Things are a little tricky right now… Are you confident you can take those guys’ attacks head-on?”

Huá Sāng paused briefly, then understood. Lu Yibei wanted to use her extraordinary defensive abilities to withstand the enemy’s attacks while Lu Yibei countered.

Recalling the force behind the attack from the figure wielding the black scythe, Huá Sāng nodded slightly. “If they’re all at the level of that last one, it won’t be a problem. It’s just…”

Taking one or two attacks of that strength head-on would be fine. But if she had to withstand the storm of attacks from more than a dozen enemies in succession, she feared her Spirit Pattern would lose control.

“Don’t worry. You handle the defense, and leave the rest… to me!” Lu Yibei said. “We don’t need to kill every enemy. We just have to break through and deal with Hu Chuan!”

The certainty and confidence in her voice made doubt flicker through Huá Sāng’s eyes, but her gaze soon hardened with resolve.

“…”

That’s right. With Lu Yibei here, even if her Spirit Pattern lost control, Lu Yibei could absorb the night erosion and keep her from being harmed.

With that thought, Huá Sāng glanced at Lu Yibei’s profile. “All right. Leave it to me.”

She had also received Zhang Huainan’s message. She knew the Codename F haunting was awakening after being called by an unknown source, and she understood the gravity of the situation.

Even if Hu Chuan was merely a possible source of that call.

“Then…” Lu Yibei turned to Huá Sāng and arched an eyebrow. “Here’s to a pleasant partnership!”

I sure hope it’s pleasant… Lu Yibei added inwardly.

She drew a deep breath, lightly patted the Shuishu Shou’s neck, and called, “Big Cousin, let’s go!”

Amid a long howl faintly mingled with thunder, the Shuishu Shou traced an inverted V of deep-blue light across the broad highway and reversed direction.

Big Cousin might not be able to speak, but it was clever—cleverer, even, than many humans.

It had understood every word Lu Yibei and Huá Sāng exchanged and knew it had only one task.

Forward. Keep going forward!

…

A hundred meters vanished in the blink of an eye.

Lu Yibei and Huá Sāng swiftly reached the first enemy.

It was a man encased in heavy armor. Like a scorpion, he possessed terrifying pincers and a lethally sharp hooked tail.

Venom dripped slowly from the tip of that tail, eating pits of every size into the asphalt. Thick smoke rose as an acrid stench spread through the air.

Seeing them approach, the man raised the huge pincers on his arms like a scorpion threatening a predator.

Lu Yibei frowned slightly and tightened her grip on the Pure Lotus Sword.

“Pfft—pfft—!”

With a soft sound, dark-green venom sprayed from the tip of the hooked tail and shot toward Lu Yibei like an arrow of water.

The suffocating stench struck her in an instant.

At that moment, a faint cyan glow appeared over Huá Sāng’s body. It spread outward into a dim, turbid haze of light that rolled and swept forward like spilled ink, raising a dense, ink-black curtain of water before the two women.

“Roar—!”

The Shuishu Shou roared and charged on!

The venom collided with the inky water mist in midair, producing a series of sizzling sounds like clear water falling into a pan of hot oil.

The instant the venom was intercepted, Lu Yibei launched herself from the Shuishu Shou’s back and thrust out the Broken Sword in her hand.

The scorpion-like man’s eyes trembled beneath his helmet when he saw Lu Yibei burst from behind the inky curtain, swift as a gale. Startled, he swung his massive pincers at her, snapping them shut as though seizing prey.

[The massive pincers will close around your waist.]

The premonitory thought flashed through Lu Yibei’s mind, but she continued forward without a moment’s hesitation.

There was no need to hesitate.

She could take several attacks of this level head-on. More importantly…

She wanted to see whether she truly could entrust her safety to Huá Sāng without reservation.

After stopping the venom, the inky curtain changed shape in the space of a breath. It outlined rhombus after rhombus in midair, joined them together, and abruptly solidified.

“Clang—!”

A muffled impact rang out like a heavy hammer striking a shield.

The massive pincers stopped against the armored barrier.

Lu Yibei did not hesitate. The Broken Sword slashed down, tore effortlessly through the man’s helmet, and smashed into his shoulder.

Then she turned her wrist, swept the blade sideways through the high gorget protecting his throat, and severed his neck, leaving less than a finger’s width of flesh attached.

A scorpion-shaped iron object missing most of its head crashed to the ground with a clang.

Countless Pink Fluffy Bunnies shrieked and scattered madly across the ground.

[An iron hook will pierce your shoulder blade from the right.]

[A poisoned arrow will pierce your eardrum from the left.]

The scorpion-shaped object had only just hit the ground, and the Shuishu Shou had barely galloped any farther, when two premonitory thoughts flashed through Lu Yibei’s mind before she could even fully draw back the Pure Lotus Sword.

Without looking away from the gigantic Pink Fluffy Bunny Hu Chuan had become, Lu Yibei swept her sword back and swiftly raised both hands to either side.

Fiery Crimson Flame in her left hand. North Wind and White Snow in her right.

Crimson and pale light erupted into pillars several meters thick. They coursed like dragons and roared past.

Amid screams, two figures went flying in opposite directions.

Lu Yibei had cast two spell formations with amplification factors exceeding thirtyfold without making a prediction beforehand. For an instant, she felt the exhaustion brought by the violent drain on her psychic energy.

But then something surged into her body from behind. Carrying a tingling sensation, it made a circuit through her body before transforming into psychic energy.

Her exhaustion vanished in an instant.

It felt as though she had been injected with a stimulant.

Huá Sāng? Is this like last night?

Lu Yibei frowned slightly. Before she could dwell on the cause of this strange phenomenon, another premonitory thought flashed through her mind.

[Artillery fire will come from directly ahead.]

A figure sheathed in black metal stood in front of them, its arms merged into a huge cannon. Like a humanoid artillery piece, it trained the muzzle on the galloping Shuishu Shou.

Lightning curled around the menacing cannon. Bright white motes flew from the void and swiftly converged inside its black muzzle.

“Whoosh—!”

A piercing shriek tore through the air. The Broken Sword arrived in a flash and embedded itself in the figure’s forehead, causing the fierce light within the muzzle to collapse.

Lu Yibei flew in directly behind the Pure Lotus Sword. Planting both feet on the figure’s shoulders, she gripped the hilt with both hands and pressed down with all her might.

“Squelch—!”

Countless Pink Fluffy Bunnies sprayed out with the muffled sound as the Pure Lotus Sword ripped downward through most of the figure’s body, along with the enormous cannon in its hands.

Then…

The instant the densely packed bubbles of Body Beyond the Body descended and exploded, Lu Yibei rode the resulting blast wave toward the Shuishu Shou, which had already raced ahead to wait for her.

At that moment—

[A shield-axe will fly in from behind and to the left.]

[A massive scythe will descend from above.]

[A javelin will fly in from ahead and to the right.]

…

Five or six premonitory thoughts flashed through Lu Yibei’s mind almost simultaneously. The next instant, cyan light burst from Huá Sāng. Accompanied by a deep roar that seemed almost hallucinatory, it transformed into the phantom of a colossal tortoise over ten meters tall.

The fierce rays shooting in from all sides had not yet reached Lu Yibei when they touched the tortoise phantom and were flung away amid a succession of deafening booms.

They scattered into the mountainside, sending rock and earth flying, and smashed through the highway bridge deck in explosions that raised clouds of smoke.

The tortoise phantom dispersed. Lu Yibei landed squarely on the Shuishu Shou’s back.

Iron hooves pounded down as the Shuishu Shou continued its charge.

…

This was the first time since that car accident that Lu Yibei had entrusted her life and safety entirely to someone else.

It was also the first time since setting foot in the Great Pure Palace that Huá Sāng had unleashed her Spirit Pattern without holding anything back or worrying about the consequences of losing control.

The result seemed not half bad.