"Suisui, let's head back," Li Nanzhu whispered, a calculating arc curling her lips. "Let's see how our two enthusiastic fellow daoists are doing fighting for us."
The girl and the bone once again vanished silently into the thick mist, retracing their steps at high speed.
Li Nanzhu's divine sense carefully scouted the path ahead while simultaneously sensing the disturbances in the distance.
The closer they got to the previous location, the clearer the fluctuations of spiritual energy collisions and the faint sound of arguing became.
"You bald donkey! Are you ever going to stop? If you want to rob me, just do it openly. Stop making excuses!"
"Fellow daoist, do not be obstinate. Once greed arises, I fear you will fall into a demonic barrier! Witness my Vajra Demon-Subduing!"
Boom!
A burst of fierce Buddhist power exploded, followed by a muffled groan and even more intense sword hums.
Li Nanzhu slowed down and approached with greater caution. Using the mist and terrain as cover, she silently crept behind a massive rock that overlooked the battlefield.
In the clearing below, Huiming of the Mingguang Sect was still locked in a fierce battle with the Wuji Sect disciple.
Both men were wounded. Their monastic robes and daoist robes were torn, and their breathing was noticeably less steady than before. Clearly, this struggle had taken a significant toll on them.
The bone flag with the blue cloth tied to it had been tossed onto the ground at the edge of the battle zone. It seemed both had briefly seized it, only to lose their grip due to the other's interference. At this moment, neither of them truly had control over it.
Li Nanzhu observed the battle carefully.
Just as she had expected, as a disciple in the late stage of Foundation Establishment from the Mingguang Sect, Huiming had a solid Buddhist foundation and more abundant spiritual energy. With his fierce Vajra Demon-Subduing supernatural power, he was gradually gaining the upper hand.
While the Wuji Sect disciple was also in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, after such a long fight, his spiritual energy was heavily depleted, and he was showing signs of exhaustion. His defeat was only a matter of time.
"It seems... I need to help that fellow daoist from the Wuji Sect hold out a bit longer," a mischievous glint flashed in Li Nanzhu's eyes. "It's best to harvest when both sides are exhausted and wounded."
She quietly fished a few ice needles, as thin as cow hair, out of her storage bag. These were small gadgets Jiang Yifan had given her for self-defense; they weren't very powerful, but they were discreet and insidious.
Watching for the moment Huiming launched a Great Strength Vajra Palm toward the Wuji Sect disciple's chest, Li Nanzhu flicked her finger. An ice needle shot out soundlessly, accurately striking the acupoint in the back of Huiming's supporting knee!
Huiming felt a slight numbness in his right knee. The palm force he had gathered instantly faltered, and his body couldn't help but wobble!
The Wuji Sect disciple had expected to have to take the palm strike head-on. Seeing this, although he felt surprised, his instinct made him seize the opportunity immediately. With a shift of his hand seal, he struck back at the opening Huiming had exposed due to his stumble!
"Rippp!"
Huiming's sleeve was slashed open. Although he wasn't seriously injured, it gave him a cold sweat. His offensive was interrupted, forcing him to retreat half a step as he scanned the surroundings with suspicion and alarm.
"Who's there?!"
The Wuji Sect disciple was also stunned for a moment, but he quickly assumed he had gotten lucky or the opponent had made a mistake. His spirits lifted, and his offensive grew even more violent.
Hiding in the darkness, Li Nanzhu covered her mouth and giggled.
She repeated the process, occasionally interfering with Huiming at critical moments—either making his foot slip or causing his breath to falter while casting a spell—ensuring he could never quite suppress his opponent.
The battle continued for quite a while longer. Their spiritual energy consumption intensified, and they gained a few more wounds.
Finally, Huiming grew furious at these inexplicable interruptions. He let out a roar, "Forget it! I'll take the flag first!"
He took a sword strike from the Wuji Sect disciple head-on, a streak of blood appearing on his shoulder, but used the momentum to lunge toward the flag on the ground!
The Wuji Sect disciple panicked and also rushed forward recklessly to snatch it!
Both of them touched the bone almost simultaneously!
In the end, Huiming's cultivation was slightly higher. With a sudden burst of strength, he snatched the flag into his hand!
"Amitabha! It seems this flag is destined for the Buddha after all!" He laughed triumphantly, impatiently holding the flag up to his eyes.
However, in the next second, the smile froze on his face.
The object in his hand felt cold and hard. It wasn't fabric at all, but a bare bone!
And the thing tied to it was just an ordinary strip of blue cloth! That so-called spiritual energy fluctuation... seemed to be some low-grade illusion or misdirection? Because the struggle had been so intense just now, they hadn't even bothered to examine it closely!
"This... this is..." Huiming was dumbfounded, his brain failing to process the situation for a moment.
The Wuji Sect disciple was also stunned. Looking at the bone and then at Huiming's dazed expression, he understood everything in an instant.
"A fake?!"
"We've been played?!" they both shouted in simultaneous shock and fury.
In that split second when their minds wavered due to the immense sense of absurdity and the anger of being toyed with, Li Nanzhu saw her chance and shot out from her hiding place like a bolt of lightning!
She lunged straight for the Wuji Sect disciple, who was closer and slower to react due to his injuries!
Meanwhile, Suisui was like a streak of white lightning, leaping silently from a tree on the other side. Its target was the back of Huiming's bald head as he stood there in a daze!
It was the same simple yet remarkably effective move—the Headbutt!
Thump!
Crack!
Two muffled thuds rang out almost simultaneously!
The Wuji Sect disciple never expected a mantis to be stalking him, let alone the oriole behind. He felt a sharp pain in his neck, everything went black, and he slumped to the ground—Li Nanzhu had struck the back of his neck precisely with her scabbard.
As for Huiming, the back of his head experienced the same vibrating sensation his senior brother had!
Before he could make any reaction, he followed in the footsteps of his senior brother Huijue. With an expression of disbelief and shock, he tumbled forward and fell completely unconscious.
A fresh, large bump quickly swelled up on his forehead.
Suisui landed lightly, once again touching its own skull with satisfaction.
Li Nanzhu came to a halt and looked at the two men lying on the ground. She clapped her hands, feeling immensely pleased.
"Thank you both for looking after the flag for me." She walked forward with a smile and skillfully began to collect her loot—taking the secret realm jade pendants and storage bags from both of them.
After transferring the points, she found that both of their points were still there. Adding them up brought in another twenty points. This gave her a total of sixty points—a bountiful harvest!
"Alright, Suisui, help me drag them to a safer spot. We can't have them getting carried off by demonic beasts."
In high spirits, Li Nanzhu hummed a little tune as she and Suisui dragged the two unconscious companions to the same rock crevice where Huijue was located, laying them side by side.
Looking at the two Mingguang Sect brothers lying together with prominent bumps on their foreheads, plus the unlucky Wuji Sect disciple beside them, Li Nanzhu nodded with satisfaction.
"Mission accomplished!" she clapped her hands. "Now it's quiet. Calculating the time, the protection period should be almost over..."
"I need to meet up with the other senior brothers and sisters as soon as possible." Li Nanzhu sensed the Soul-Sound Bell. "I wonder how the Seventh Senior Brother is doing..."
Rate on N.U.
