Fortunately, the Hundred-Refined Body provided Shitou with immense physical resilience; White Jade's strike failed to break his defense.
On the other side, Hong Ling was not as lucky. The flesh tendrils nearly ignored the barrier of her wall of fire, piercing through her shoulder. Had she not dodged in time, her skull would have been skewered.
In her desperation, Hong Ling didn't try to force a confrontation. Instead, she spoke with cold, sharp clarity.
"Jian Huaishuang! Don't let him control you! If the Lord knew his first believer had fallen to become a fiend's puppet, what would he think?!"
These words were like a thunderclap, like ice water dousing his soul, slamming deep into Jian Huaishuang’s chaotic sea of consciousness.
White Jade’s expression shifted drastically.
He could clearly feel that Jian Huaishuang, whom he had already suppressed, was suddenly boiling with resistance because of that single sentence, like a drop of water falling into a vat of hot oil.
The muscles on White Jade's face twisted, his body trembling violently, and the rampaging flesh tendrils came to a sudden halt.
"The Lord... will be disappointed..."
"Argh—!!!"
White Jade let out an agonizing roar, the jade light in his eyes flickering wildly, dimming and brightening.
Jian Huaishuang was engaged in a fierce struggle against White Jade within his sea of consciousness.
That blurry yet majestic white-clothed figure, the existence that had given him new life and salvation—how could he... how could he tarnish that recognition with such a pathetic state?
Jian Huaishuang’s pale face contorted violently, as if two faces were tearing at each other beneath his skin.
The jade light in his right eye blazed, and the right side of his mouth curled into an arrogant arc, letting out a screeching laugh layered with countless voices.
"Hehe... First believer? Fool! You are but a useful blade in his hand! When you are no longer of use, your end will only be more miserable than mine!"
But the moment he finished, his left eye suddenly regained clarity. Jian Huaishuang’s own voice rang out, filled with pain and fury: "Shut up!"
White Jade’s voice was venomous yet tempting: "You already possess an evil spirit’s body; why should you bow your head to another?"
"I am saving you! Let go of your resistance and give this body to me! When I recover my strength, you will be the prime minister of my new empire..."
"Never!" The veins on the left side of Jian Huaishuang’s face bulged, sweat pouring down. "I, Jian Huaishuang... in this life... serve only the Lord!"
His expression rapidly cycled between arrogance, malice, pain, and determination. At one moment, he raised his hand to deliver a fatal blow to the Blackwater Guards; the next, he forcibly pressed his arm down. His body shook uncontrollably, and the surrounding flesh tendrils danced chaotically, as if they had lost a unified command.
Having had most of their blood essence drained, the temporarily freed Blackwater Guards scrambled away. One young guard whispered to Xing Yue, "Boss... what... what is going on?"
Xing Yue endured the intense pain and replied, "Those bewitched by demons are mostly insane."
"You shut up too!"
Jian Huaishuang barked coldly. A flesh tendril swept down, slamming Xing Yue directly into unconsciousness.
The remaining Blackwater Guards trembled, huddled together and supporting each other, not daring to make another sound.
It was too brutal...
They could only hope their leader was still alive...
"Ugh... aaaargh! White Jade, you... get back!"
With a roar of ultimate agony, the jade light in Jian Huaishuang’s eyes shattered like glass under a heavy hammer, cracking and fading away. After several breaths, the wildly dancing flesh tendrils began to wither and retract into his body.
Jian Huaishuang stumbled to one knee, bracing himself with his greatsword to keep from collapsing.
He panted heavily, sweat dripping from his chin like a small stream, creating dark stains in the dust.
Jian Huaishuang looked up at Shitou and Hong Ling as they rushed over. His face showed exhaustion from being overextended, but his eyes had regained their clarity and resolve. He said hoarsely, "I’m... fine."
Shitou hesitated to step forward. Jian Huaishuang forced himself to stand, his gaze sweeping over the terrified Blackwater Guards on the ground before he turned to him. "Take these people back... leave them for the Lord to decide their fate."
Hong Ling looked at the pale and unstable Jian Huaishuang. She knew that any words of comfort would be hollow right now, so she merely let out a barely audible sigh.
She and Shitou were old partners after all, and they acted in perfect unison. They quickly confiscated all the magical artifacts and talismans from the Blackwater Guards and used captured ropes to bind them one by one, linking them together in a line.
The surviving Blackwater Guards looked miserable. Having witnessed Jian Huaishuang’s inhuman power and the terrifying entity hidden within him, they didn't even dare to think about resisting, submissively allowing themselves to be handled.
The villagers of Li Family Hollow were even more silent. If even the Blackwater Guards, who represented official authority, were defeated so easily, what chance did commoners like them have?
Their previous hesitation vanished completely, replaced by total submission to the idea of moving to the new city.
Xing Yue regained consciousness amidst a jarring jolting and full-body agony.
He found himself draped horizontally across the back of a scrawny donkey—likely a villager's livestock. He swayed up and down with the donkey’s gait, and every jolt yanked at the wounds in his chest and head, making his vision turn black from the pain.
Behind the donkey followed several Blackwater Guards, all bound securely and not daring to act out.
He forced an internal scan and discovered his internal organs were shattered, and his head had been split open.
Xing Yue struggled to retrieve a healing pill he carried and swallowed it, enduring the dizziness to observe his surroundings.
As far as he could see, the trees were becoming increasingly eerie, the light dimming. The air was thick with a scent that mixed rotting wood with a strange incense.
'It's over...' Xing Yue’s heart sank. 'I've been brought back to the evil spirit’s lair.'
However, after entering the legendary Dead Man’s Forest, the scene before him was vastly different from the demon den he had envisioned.
The first thing that caught his eye was a massive ancient well, its opening built from weathered blue stone.
A giant snake, entirely snowy white with glistening scales, was coiled around the well’s rim.
That white snake was using its flexible tail to lift a wooden bucket, expertly lowering it into the well to draw water before handing it to the residents waiting in line. The residents looked normal, even grateful, clearly accustomed to this.
'Bewitched to this extent! They even let a monster draw their water?' Just as this thought occurred to Xing Yue, he met the pink vertical pupils of the white snake as she turned toward him.
The white snake's gaze... wasn't malevolent. Instead, it held a very human-like alertness and scrutiny, glaring at him... as if she were guarding against a potential water thief?!
Xing Yue was momentarily stifled with irritation, nearly aggravating his internal injuries.
Seriously? I am a dignified Blackwater Guard, do you think I'd stoop that low?
However, at that moment, he keenly sensed that the water the white snake lifted from the well was actually radiating a pure and faint spirit energy!
"A spirit spring?!" Xing Yue was shocked, and he immediately re-evaluated the white snake.
This time, he clearly perceived that the demonic qi on the white snake was extremely thin; instead, she was surrounded by a pure spiritual aura.
"A spirit beast! It’s actually a rare spirit beast!"
Rate on N.U.
