Chapter 345: Strategic Retreat

Chapter 345: Chapter 12: Strategic Retreat

The head rolled onto the ground.

The severed head spun like a top for a few rotations, then laughed. “Hee, you’ve got some guts, kid. Taste my heavenly lightning! By my decree!”

The Old Dao’s roar startled Little Fatty, making him jump.

He saw dark clouds gathering in the sky. A bolt of lightning, as thick as an arm, descended and struck Duan Fei directly. ‘There’s no way anyone could survive a hit like that.’

Cursing under his breath, Little Fatty took out his phone and drone. He suppressed his terror, ready to fight the Old Dao to the death. But then, he saw Duan Fei, still standing amidst the lightning, raise a hand and say to him, “Get the Little Daoist out of here. Now.”

“Can you handle it?!”

“With you here, I might not be able to. So, hurry up and go.”

After sending Little Fatty off, Duan Fei looked at the head of the Old Dao’s Evil Corpse on the ground and sighed again.

‘Still can’t see it.’

‘No matter how I look, I just can’t see it.’

‘The Old Dao was acting like a final boss, and Little Fatty was certainly treating him with due respect. But his attacks probably relied on some sort of ghostly entities, which was why they had no effect on me at all.’

Duan Fei could even see two paper effigies floating behind the Old Dao’s head. They were looking in his direction. One asked, “Why’s this old coot having us strike at empty air?”

“I don’t know. He burns spirit money for us, so we’ll strike whatever he wants.”

“It must be nice to be rich. If I had money, I’d do this too. See something, strike it. Don’t see anything? Strike it anyway.”

The two paper effigies waved their arms wildly, looking like they were playing a lonely game of Fruit Ninja.

Meanwhile, the Old Dao’s Evil Corpse, completely oblivious to the situation, stared in Duan Fei’s direction and cackled. “You’re a real piece of work, kid, to have lasted this long! Left and Right Protectors, get him!”

Two more paper effigies shuffled over, brandishing a pair of paper cleavers. They swung them wildly in front of Duan Fei, who could only watch with a sense of resignation.

Duan Fei walked around the paper effigies, went up to the head of the Old Dao’s Evil Corpse, and sent it flying with a swing of his Crowbar.

But the harder it was hit, the more delighted the Evil Corpse became. Even with its forehead caved in, it laughed maniacally. “Beautiful! Incredible! Kid, your Cultivation is truly unprecedented, beyond anything human! But why aren’t you finishing me off? Can’t you, or don’t you dare?”

Realizing physical attacks were useless, Duan Fei gave up on trying to deal with it for now. He decided to just toss it into a coffin and be done with it.

Based on what he’d read in the *Yingjie Chapter*, Duan Fei knew the Old Dao’s Evil Corpse couldn’t leave the Daoist Temple. So even if no one was guarding it, it wouldn’t really matter.

He simply walked away, ignoring the Evil Corpse’s calls from behind him. He left the Daoist Temple and headed outside.

Just as he arrived at the entrance of Water Town, he saw Little Fatty and the Little Daoist standing there panting, surrounded by a hundred paper effigies.

The paper effigies were nearly identical, each with a creepy smile on its face. It looked like a scene straight out of a certain kind of adult comic.

Good thing this was a 15+ game. Otherwise, this scene alone would have sparked all sorts of misunderstandings.

The moment Duan Fei appeared, the Little Daoist spotted him, his face lighting up with the joy of a survivor.

But seeing the surrounding paper effigies, he knew how dangerous the situation was. Dragging someone else into this would only make things worse. He shouted, “Get out of here! Don’t worry about us! Just go back and keep cooking. Consider us already dead.”

As annoying as the Little Daoist could be, he was surprisingly decisive in a life-or-death situation.

After shouting, the Little Daoist gave a bitter smile and said to Little Fatty, “Brother Pang, I never thought I’d end up dying with you.”

“I don’t care how I die,” Little Fatty said with his eyes squeezed shut, desperately clutching the Little Daoist’s robes. “Just don’t make me look at what’s around us. It’s too terrifying.”

“I didn’t realize you were such an interesting character, Brother Pang. Fine, then! Let’s face this together!”

After shouting, the Little Daoist brandished his Money Sword, about to fight the surrounding paper effigies to the death to cover Duan Fei’s escape. Then he saw a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.

He saw Duan Fei raise his Crowbar. The pitch-black tool seemed even sharper than a fine sword.

The paper effigies couldn’t see Duan Fei at all. Completely defenseless, they were sliced to pieces by Duan Fei, one clean swing after another.

Not one of the effigies could withstand the weapon. Within a few breaths, they were cut to ribbons. Some of the paper figures just stood there, dumbfounded, even as their companions were torn apart next to them. As a result, Duan Fei simply smashed them to pieces as well.

Before long, the ground was littered with scraps of paper. The low-quality paper mixed with the mud on the ground and quickly turned into a pile of wrinkled trash.

Withdrawing his Crowbar, Duan Fei said to the Little Daoist, “Let’s go.”

The Little Daoist’s face was a mask of disbelief, but the facts were right in front of him, leaving no room for doubt.

From his perspective, the horde of paper effigies had been demonstrating their terrifying power, and then Duan Fei had descended like a god of war. He’d ignored their attacks, charged right through them, and annihilated the vicious monsters in a few swift moves. It couldn’t have looked any cooler.

‘Even my master would have had to put in some effort against these things. To think he could deal with them so easily… his power is comparable to a Perfected Master.’

The thought that he had acted so arrogantly toward a master of that caliber made the Little Daoist’s face burn with shame. He wished a hole would open in the ground so he could crawl in and bury himself.

Little Fatty’s reaction was much more direct.

Seeing that the paper effigies were all down, he let out a wail, lunged at Duan Fei’s side, and cried miserably, “Godfather! What took you so long?!”

“I’ve noticed you have a lot of different names for me. How about you pick one and stick with it?”

“But the level of my respect for you fluctuates, too.”

“Scram. Little Daoist, let’s go.”

Hearing Duan Fei call him, the Little Daoist became a bit bashful. He stepped forward and said, “Master Duan…”

“Shut up. Don’t say another word. I have a feeling you’re about to give me your card. I don’t want your Character Card, so please, shut up.”

“…Huh?”

The Little Daoist had wanted to thank him, but Duan Fei’s words left him completely baffled. He could only follow along, trying and failing to figure out what Duan Fei was talking about.

Back at the Daoist Temple on the mountainside, the three of them walked into the kitchen to find Cuihua pacing anxiously.

He was the only Chef among the three players. Their success in this instance depended entirely on him, so he couldn’t leave.

But with his companions gone for so long, he was tormented by tension and anxiety, pacing back and forth in the kitchen, unsure of what to do.

Finally hearing familiar footsteps, he let out a sigh of relief, opened the door, and said to the returning Duan Fei and the others, “Wel…”

Patting Cuihua’s shoulder, Duan Fei said, “Alright, thanks for holding down the fort.”

“No…”

Hearing Cuihua force out one word at a time, the Little Daoist whispered, “I’ve been meaning to ask, is this Chef always so stoic? He seems to begrudge even saying two words at once.”

“That’s his personality.”

“What kind of personality?”

“The kind that’s guaranteed to be misunderstood.”

“…Huh?”