novelraw Chapter 25 : Chapter 25
Chapter 25 : Chapter 25
Chapter 25: The Evil Camel Bell and the Guardian Wife
The red-robed woman sitting there seemed to have foreseen my attack.
As my sword descended toward her head, her body split in two, standing aside, and she lightly struck with a palm.
My all-out surprise attack only cleaved her afterimage, leaving a deep gash by the blood pool. Before I could react, pain seared my face from her overwhelming palm wind.
In haste, I could only muster seventy percent of my peak strength, forming a palm seal with my left hand to meet her strike.
“Thud!”
My left hand felt like it hit a metal wall, pain spreading from wrist to shoulder.
I flew backward, landing a meter away, steadying myself with my sword to avoid a humiliating tumble.
The red-robed woman stepped back half a pace, soil rolling into the blood pool.
She was surprised: “In just a few days, you’ve broken through, opening the second fountain of the Yongquan realm. Such rapid cultivation?”
My left arm ached, weak. I secretly channeled foot airflows to heal, staring in disbelief at the figure by the pool— Qi Shanshan.
She wore the bone demon’s robe, bone chimes at her waist, hair trailing to the ground. Her gaze, unlike before, was cold with a lofty arrogance.
“You drank Golden Crow blood… no, you’re not Dr. Qi— you’re the grave’s skeleton,” I said, noting golden light flowing on her, guessing she drank the blood to strengthen her body.
No immortal transformation, but an eerie aura.
I suspected Dr. Qi was possessed or devoured.
Legends said such spirits mastered these arts.
“Bone demon?”
The red-robed Qi Shanshan muttered, then said calmly, “I sense your hostility, but we don’t need to fight to the death. Why not talk? We could both benefit.”
Her voice, slightly different from Qi Shanshan’s, was more ethereal.
“Your strength surpasses mine, yet you propose talks. You’re wary of something, so you hesitate to act.”
I thought she feared the Tao Ancestor Tai Chi Fish.
But she didn’t know I still couldn’t activate it.
I was nervous but feigned calm: “I’d like to know what you want and what you offer.”
She said, “You’re playing coy? I want your blood.”
“How much?”
I didn’t understand her “playing coy” remark, sensing a misunderstanding.
“A lot.”
“Half a bowl enough?”
I’d left half a bowl earlier.
“Not nearly enough. I want your soul too,” she said.
I realized she wasn’t negotiating but toying with me: “Then I want all your bones— will you give them?”
Her eyes narrowed, glinting coldly, feeling my lack of sincerity. This ancient clan descendant, new to cultivation, showed no respect.
She decided to teach him a lesson, lest he enslave her later.
Raising her palm, her aura peaked: “Fine, I’ll take it myself! Li clan junior, summon your guardian wife. At your low realm, facing us both shouldn’t be hard.”
I grew more confused: “Wait, you’ve misunderstood something.”
“Legend says your ancient clan’s children, in infancy, have elders search mountains, rivers, and immortal graves for a fearsome departed spirit as a guardian wife, hidden in your blood. Is the legend wrong?”
She was baffled, thinking I had no reason to hide my identity.
I suspected a trick to distract me. I raised the Yellow Dragon Sword defensively, eyes sharpening.
She said no more.
She’d capture me first.
“Swish!”
She became a red shadow, flashing forward.
“So fast.”
Even with the scripture belt boosting my speed, I was outmatched. I drew the black iron seal, striking its top with the sword’s hilt.
Channeling both hot and cold airflows into it.
My devised method— greater power, no self-harm.
“Rumble!”
Thunder flashed.
She retreated, lightning grazing her.
Her imperishable robe shielded her from injury.
Seizing the chance, I pursued, channeling airflows into the silver-threaded gloves, hands glowing silver, strength surging.
I slashed over a dozen times, each strike full force, heavy as a mountain.
She fought while retreating, her arms cracking, blood seeping.
Qi Shanshan’s mortal flesh couldn’t withstand such clashes.
As we battled fiercely, unable to stop.
“Ding ding!”
Dense black mist erupted from the tomb forest, surging toward us.
Accompanied by loud camel bells.
It came fast.
In a breath, the sky darkened, chilling, visibility dropping.
Both I and the red-robed Qi Shanshan paled, sensing danger, about to disengage. But the bells roared in our ears.
In the mist, a half-real, half-illusory camel, three to four meters tall, appeared, ridden by a hunched, withered figure.
The figure waved a ghost flag, unleashing a fierce gust, hurling us like leaves.
“Thud! Thud!”
We hit the ground, spitting blood, organs injured.
Instantly.
I sprang up, sword in one hand, seal in the other, defensive, denying a follow-up strike.
The bells on the camel were eerie, stirring negative emotions and malice, countered only by the Jade Void Breathing Technique.
The red-robed Qi Shanshan, less resilient, was paler, rising slowly.
She spoke a strange language: “The snipe and clam fight, the fisherman profits.”
“Zen Sea Mist Watcher, long time no see, haha!” The figure on the camel, flickering between real and illusory, laughed, holding the flag.
First a bone demon, now a fiercer ghost?
I’d heard team members saw a camel caravan vanish into a tombstone, thought it exaggerated. I’d faintly heard bells, dismissed as illusions.
Now I realized the bells were sinister.
Many ship events might be tied to them.
Gazing at the endless tomb forest, I worried. Who was buried here, and how many weren’t fully dead?
The red-robed Qi Shanshan’s eyes were icy: “I never thought a wisp of your soul lingered in the evil camel bell, clinging to life. The ship’s events— your doing? Using the bell to sway minds, incite killing, gather malice to strengthen your soul.”
“Wrong! Malice comes from within, not the bell. Without gathering malice to solidify my soul, I’d be trapped in it,” the figure said, stopping its laughter. “That treasure around his neck— I must have it. For old times’ sake, I’ll let you go today. You’re badly hurt— don’t court death.”
She stood straight, laughing: “Fooling a child? Your sneak attack failed to kill us. You’d have to take us one by one. If I leave, I’m dead.”
“Fine, seek death— I’ll grant it.”
The camel charged like a steed.
Bells rang, the figure’s flag slashing at her.
Injured, she didn’t dare meet it, dodging with her footwork.
Strangely, the flag, aimed at her, shifted faster toward me.
He was cunning— I was his true target all along.
I’d stayed vigilant. As the flag came like a storm, I swung my sword.
A scornful hum came from the camel.
“Swish!”
Not clashing directly, the Yellow Dragon Sword coiled like a dragon around the flag, sparking an arc.
Its force was deflected.
I’d sidestepped six paces— with preparation, hitting me wasn’t easy.
“Yutuonan, what do you Xiaoyao Jing folk have besides arrogance? With this strength, if we join forces, your soul wisp will scatter here,” the red-robed Qi Shanshan said in Earth’s language, for me.
Compared to the bone demon, I wanted the camel figure’s soul obliterated to end the evil, my resolve fierce.
The figure, enraged, surged thicker mist from its flag, using it as a spear, thrusting at my heart.
Then.
A bizarre scene unfolded.
“Splash—”
The blood I’d spat earlier steamed, turning the surroundings into a pale red blood-mist world.
The ground corroded and molded.
A graceful figure in a red wedding dress, veiled with copper coins, stood in the mist before the charging camel. Her jade hand rose, sweeping down.
My heart wavered— I was swinging my sword too.
Why did it feel like we merged?
“Splash!”
The half-real camel split in two.
With a scream, the withered ghost and its flag turned to black mist, retreating like a tide into the vast tomb forest.
The bride vanished instantly!
Appearing and disappearing from nowhere.
“What… guardian wife?”
The absurd notion struck me. I searched for the red-robed Qi Shanshan, but she’d fled without a trace.
I hurried to the medical shack, fearing she’d gone there.