Chapter 14: The Fire-Spitting Technique And The Iron-Arm Corpse

The old temple keeper, seeing he could no longer hide his identity, planted his feet and bellowed, “Hey, you little thief, it’s Grandpa Nightwarden right here! Kneel and be bound! I swear I won’t let you die!”

The old keeper spoke slickly, clearly the product of countless rehearsals. Li Chaosheng gripped his Ghost-Head Blade, his gaze growing steady. To be honest, after so many years as an executioner he hadn’t much else, but he’d hardened his nerve. Though he usually kept his head down for safety, when trouble came he wasn’t short of the courage to fight tooth and nail.

“Hahaha… kneel and be bound? You’re just a Deputy Eighth-Rank official! Are you not afraid your tongue will be cut out? Fifth Master, shall we capture these two together? I was thinking, if we go to the White Lotus Sect empty-handed we’d be looked down on. We can use this fellow as a token of allegiance. Heh heh… heaven is on my side!”

Pockmark Chen laughed loudly, excitement on his face, while the straw-hat man beside him spat a single word, “Agreed!”

Hearing the straw-hat man’s reply, Pockmark Chen grinned. “Fifth Master, you hold your position, I’ll be the attacker!”

Having said that, Pockmark Chen raised both hands to head height and waved them, bobbing about like a mad dancer. After two hops he shouted, “Come out, my little things!”

Whoosh whoosh…

A gust of wind rose, and the old keeper and Li Chaosheng felt countless eyes watching them from the woods. Looking closer, they saw the dark grove suddenly full of green-glowing eyes, as if a pack of hungry wolves hid there. Li Chaosheng and the old keeper’s hairs stood on end.

In this pitch-dark wilderness, suddenly having so many green eyes staring at you would spook anyone.

Those eyes slowly drifted out of the trees, and in the faint moonlight Li Chaosheng made out that the green eyes belonged to paper dolls.

A dense swarm of paper figures floated out and encircled the two men, far more than a hundred. Each had eyes drawn on and red cheeks painted. The sight was hair-raising.

And the paper figures laughed, their laughter like ghostly wailing, sending goosebumps over their bodies. Even though Li Chaosheng had seen much of the world, this eerie scene was like nothing he’d ever seen.

The old keeper slapped his forehead, “We were careless. I didn’t expect that this pockmarked fellow would have ambushed so many paper dolls in this grove. Our every move was relayed to him by those dolls!”

Hearing that, Li Chaosheng’s face changed. This paper-figure technique was truly uncanny. Having these dolls was like setting up countless surveillance points with no blind spots.

You really couldn’t belittle this world. Even just some small spell could produce such marvels.

“What do we do now?”

Li Chaosheng asked the old keeper, who scowled: “What else? Fight.”

“Fight? Hahaha… very well, let my little things play with you! Attack!”

Pockmark Chen waved his hand and countless paper figures lunged forward, some biting with teeth, some stabbing with tiny blades, each terrifyingly ferocious. Don’t underestimate them: the little paper figures had teeth as sharp as mad dogs and tiny knives as keen as blades. In moments Li Chaosheng and the old keeper were bloodied.

Their faces, arms, and hands were scratched with dozens of small cuts. They were not deep, but the pain cut to the bone.

At this point Li Chaosheng, with no other choice, swung his Ghost-Head Blade to cleave through the paper figures. Blood malice gathered on the blade and it did not disappoint. Where the blade passed, paper dolls were split in two. But there were too many of them, like ants overwhelming an elephant. The two of them had become living targets.

“Brother Zhu, just taking hits like this isn’t a solution!”

Hearing Li Chaosheng, the old keeper scowled, “Looks like we have to use some measures today. Brother Li, I’ll clear a path ahead, then you ambush Pockmark Chen. He’s of the Paper-Cutting Sect and knows some sorcery, but his actual strength is ordinary so he can’t beat you. Kill him and these paper figures will naturally fall apart!”

Li Chaosheng said softly, “Alright, find a way to clear a path first!”

“Sure! Watch my ultimate move: the Fire-Spitting Technique!”

Saying this, the old keeper reached into his pouch and pulled out a tinderbox, opened it and a burst of flame appeared. Then he brought out a gourd from his waist, took a mouthful of specially-made flammable liquor, and raised the tinderbox high.

Puff!

Whoosh!

He spat the liquor out and flame erupted instantly, like a grand fireball technique out of an anime. Huge flames swept through and cleared a cluster of paper figures at once.

This fire-spitting art was actually derived from a street performer’s trick, but an elder of the Nightwardens had improved the performer’s fire liquor into a special flammable oil wine. The wine was extraordinarily potent and became the most commonly used fire-type attack among lower-ranking Nightwardens.

“Now’s our chance!”

The old keeper shouted, and Li Chaosheng leaped forward in a single bound. Closing in, Li Chaosheng sprang up and aimed at Pockmark Chen, raising his Ghost-Head Blade and slashing down with a force that could cleave mountains in half.

Ka-thonk! Ka-thonk!

At that moment, the straw-hat man suddenly shook the ghost-faced human-skin drum in his hand, and a burly straw-hat man behind him leapt in front of Pockmark Chen, bracing his arms high above his head.

Clang!

With a great clang, Li Chaosheng’s blade struck the burly straw-hat man’s arms, producing a metallic collision. Li Chaosheng felt as if he’d chopped into iron and his hand went numb from the impact.

“What kind of monster is this?”

Li Chaosheng frowned and took two steps back to put distance between them. Looking again at the burly man’s arms, he saw they were sheathed in a layer of iron. No wonder the arm hadn’t come off with a single strike!

Following the arm upward, Li Chaosheng saw the burly man’s face and got a shock. Beneath the straw hat was a waxy yellow face, and a yellow talisman paper was pasted to his forehead. This was no living man. He was clearly a corpse.

Ka-thonk! Ka-thonk!

On the other side, the straw-hat Fifth Master shook the ghost-faced human-skin drum again. The burly corpse’s joints creaked and it raised an arm to deliver a crushing hammer blow at Li Chaosheng but he nimbly jumped away to avoid it. Had this attack come some days earlier Li Chaosheng might not have been able to dodge it, but after strengthening by that Essence-Washing Marrow-Refining Fruit, he easily evaded the attack.

Crack! The burly corpse couldn’t restrain its momentum and slammed a palm into the yellow earthen wall, shattering it. Pockmark Chen came to his senses, cupped his hands at the straw-hat man and said, “Thanks for the assist, Fifth Master. You little bastards nearly killed us, huh! I see you like fire very much! Then let’s burn the hell out of this place! Gather!”

Pockmark Chen waved his arm again. The paper figures that had been scattered suddenly halted then swarmed toward the old keeper. The old keeper understood immediately. Just one of the paper dolls that had earlier detonated already knocked him off balance, and now hundreds of paper figures were rushing in to self-destruct together. They’d probably blow a man to bits!