Chapter 123: Possessed! Demon Beast!
Chapter 123: Possessed! Demon Beast!
Thwack!
Tang Jinbiao, as if possessed by a demon, twisted his body to the side. His right hand directly punched through the abdomen of a Black-Clad Assassin in front of him.
“Ah!”
The man didn’t even understand how he was dying. Shock flooded his eyes at why this young man before him struck with such viciousness. Wide-eyed and incredulous, he slowly lowered his head and slumped onto Tang Jinbiao’s shoulder.
“Hehe!”
Tang Jinbiao felt absolutely nothing. His cruel smile deepened as he slowly pulled his hand out.
Thud!
The Black-Clad Assassin’s body thumped onto the ground. After twitching a few times, all signs of life vanished.
“What?”
Han Pengfei, standing a short distance away, witnessed Tang Jinbiao dispatching three of his subordinates in the blink of an eye. Terror washed over his eyes, yet beneath that terror lurked a stronger current of fervent greed. He was utterly certain it was all caused by the treasure on Tang Jinbiao’s chest.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
He couldn’t retreat now. Grabbing three or five arrows from the ground once more, he hurled them towards Tang Jinbiao.
“Hehe!”
A savage grin plastered on his face, Tang Jinbiao, like a demon crazed with killing, darted forward with an unnatural movement, charging straight at Han Pengfei.
Strangely, the more Tang Jinbiao killed, the brighter the Talisman on his chest grew. It had transformed from an initial faint glimmer to a starlike scintillation, and now it shone like glowing iron. A palpable aura of bloody menace radiated from it.
“Die!”
Tang Jinbiao nimbly dodged the arrows. In the blink of an eye, he was upon Han Pengfei. He raised a hand stained thickly with fresh blood, poised to seize the man who sat immobilized on the ground.
“No!”
Deep despair flashed in Han Pengfei’s eyes as he let out a furious roar.
“Ahahaha!”
Tang Jinbiao seemed utterly deranged. His raised hand descended without the slightest mercy.
Crack!
“Argh!”
A muffled crunch and a sharp scream echoed. Blood mingled with brain matter flowed from the top of Han Pengfei’s skull.
“Hehe!”
Feeling the wet warmth of the blood and brain matter coating his fingers, the twisted smile on Tang Jinbiao’s face widened grotesquely. He resembled an unthinking fiend.
BOOM!
But at precisely that moment, an immense explosion detonated from the center of the clearing.
“Agh!”
Tang Jinbiao, caught off guard by the colossal blast wave, was instantly hurled backward. He crashed with tremendous force into a tree not far away.
Thud!
Tang Jinbiao collided with the tree, but at the moment of impact, the Talisman hanging before him erupted with intense light. It formed a thin, protective barrier around him, shielding him from harm.
“Ah!”
Tang Jinbiao wasn’t injured, though he felt a sharp pain as he turned his body. However, the instant his eyes saw the scene behind him, his pupils contracted violently, and horror washed over his face.
“Ahhh!”
“Monster!”
Just as Tang Jinbiao turned around, a wave of terrified screams erupted. The two groups that had been fiercely battling each other suddenly ceased fighting and fled in all directions. Their faces etched with utter terror, they screamed wildly as they ran.
Roar!
Because the originally sturdy Carriage had exploded and vanished. In its place stood a massive Lion.
The Lion was nearly ten feet tall and almost twenty feet long. Its enormous body occupied nearly half of the already narrow clearing. Most terrifyingly, its head wasn’t a lion’s head, but clearly that of a human woman. Tang Jinbiao couldn’t be sure because its face was shrouded by long hair, but he had a chilling feeling: this Lion was the “Young Lady” Captain Wang had mentioned, whom Tang Jinbiao had never seen before.
Roar!
After appearing, the Lion let out a thunderous roar, its force even making the ground tremble.
Roar!
Strangely, with each roar, the Lion shrank slightly, while its form seemed to grow denser and more solid.
Roar! Roar! Roar!
After five or six deafening roars, the Lion’s body shrank to the size of an ordinary lion, though its head remained distinctly human.
Whoosh!
Once it returned to a normal lion’s size, it immediately pounced on a corpse lying on the ground. The Lion shook its head, causing the long hair to fall away, revealing a woman’s face beneath. Her complexion was deathly pale, like that of a corpse.
Swoosh!
The woman’s eyes were vacant, her expression one of extreme weakness. Without hesitation, she opened her mouth slightly, aimed at the corpse, and shot out a beam of yellow light. The yellow light curled around the corpse on the ground, lifting it up and shrinking it continuously until it entered her mouth.
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
As the Lion swallowed the corpse, its jaw moved slightly, appearing to chew the remains.
Gulp!
After a few chews, it swallowed the corpse down.
Swoosh!
The Lion then swiftly moved again, opening its mouth towards another nearby corpse.
“What?!”
Seeing this terrifying Lion appear, Tang Jinbiao’s face drastically changed. The strange smile vanished immediately, replaced by stark pale fear as he snapped back into full awareness. The sight horrified him, especially seeing his body and hands drenched in blood.
“What on earth has Ah Bi given me?”
The instant Tang Jinbiao regained his senses, he realized it was all the doing of the mysterious Talisman around his neck. Tang Bi had given this thing to him. He didn’t understand why it was like this; he had originally accepted it as just an ordinary gift. Now, it had unexpectedly saved his life at the critical moment. He had no time to ponder the secrets behind it now.
Because the Lion was staring straight at him.
At some point, the Lion had devoured the dozens of corpses that littered the ground. Its head had now transformed back into that of a lion. Its eyes blazed with a mix of savage excitement and unyielding hatred, locking onto Tang Jinbiao.
Thump!
When the lion locked its gaze upon Tang Jinbiao, his scalp tingled violently as a sense of impending death instantly flooded his mind.
“Heehee, human!”
The lion slowly padded toward Tang Jinbiao and actually spoke.
Yet hearing its voice startled Tang Jinbiao even more, for it was the voice of a woman—gentle and pleasant, lacking any magical allure but radiating warmth. Had this voice belonged to anyone else, Tang Jinbiao might have felt comforted; now, however, it set his scalp prickling all the more.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
At that moment, Captain Wang and Chu Yunfei, who had been locked in combat nearby, rushed over.
“What?!”
Captain Wang’s face twisted in shock upon seeing the speaking lion—its voice identical to that of his “Young Lady” whom he so devotedly served.
“A Possessed Demon Beast! We must inform Sister Seven!”
Chu Yunfei’s expression also darkened, though he clearly understood far more than Captain Wang.
Pat! Pat! Pat!
Spotting the lion, Chu Yunfei wasted no time. He slapped his Storage Pouch and instantly retrieved a sheet of Talisman Paper. After infusing it with spiritual energy and murmuring an incantation, he flicked it toward the sky. The paper transformed into a streak of yellow light that vanished eastward.
Suddenly, what had been a chaotic scene was reduced only to Tang Jinbiao, Captain Wang, and Chu Yunfei. The others had all scrambled into the woods for cover—who knew how far they’d fled?
“What?!”
After sending the Message Talisman, Chu Yunfei’s eyes swept across the field and widened at the sight—Tang Jinbiao still lived. And beside him sprawled Han Pengfei’s corpse.
“What?! That’s… a Spiritual Treasure!”
Almost immediately, Chu Yunfei noticed an object glowing resplendently on Tang Jinbiao’s chest. Understanding dawned on him, greed flickering in his eyes.
“You’re still alive?!”
Captain Wang, too, stared at Tang Jinbiao in disbelief. The shimmering object on his chest meant little to Captain Wang, though he already knew Tang Jinbiao was a Body Refiner and felt little surprise.
“Captain Wang, and you young man over there—this Possessed Demon Beast hasn’t completed its evolution. It isn’t even a true beast yet, barely at the strength of a Qi Condensation Peak cultivator. Let us three join forces and destroy it! I’ll take its heart; you two split the rest.”
Chu Yunfei’s voice was decisive. He recognized instantly that Tang Jinbiao surviving, coupled with Han Pengfei’s death, marked him as no ordinary man.
“Young Lady, Young Lady—is that you?!”
But Captain Wang seemed unable to accept the reality. He shouted desperately at the lion, hoping to somehow awaken his precious Young Lady within it.
“Don’t daydream, Captain! Your Young Lady died long ago. You never knew—she sold her soul. Without that, she’d never have become this… this thing! It’s nothing but a Possessed Beast! Enough words! Hold it off while I strike! If we let it regain its strength, we all die!”
Impatience sharpened Chu Yunfei’s voice at Captain Wang’s stubborn hope.
“Heehee, human!”
The Lion’s voice spilled out once more—sweet, melodic—as it shifted its gaze to Captain Wang.
Its intelligence wasn’t very high. It instinctively felt Tang Jinbiao would taste better, yet the glowing object on Tang Jinbiao’s chest filled it with unease.
Roar!!
Twisting its body with a fierce snarl, the Lion charged straight for Captain Wang.
“No… NO!”
As the Lion lunged, Captain Wang seemed paralyzed by denial and grief, his roar ragged with anguish.
“You fool! Move!”
Spotting Captain Wang frozen in place, Chu Yunfei bellowed from above, face paling. He flung a barrage of Fireballs toward the Lion while simultaneously conjuring a giant, spectral hand from spiritual energy to wrench Captain Wang away.
Slurrrp!!
“AAGH!!”
Too slow. As the ghostly hand seized Captain Wang’s body, the Lion clamped its jaws around his arm. With a sickening rip, the limb tore clean off.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Fireballs seemed nothing but show, thumping harmlessly against the Lion’s hide without effect—a testament to Chu Yunfei’s nearly depleted spiritual energy.
Chomp! Chomp!
After gnawing several times on the severed limb, the Lion finally gulped it down. A strangely human expression of satisfaction crossed its feline features before refocusing on Captain Wang, this time with pure predatory thrill.
“AAARGH!”
Rolling aside, Captain Wang’s face was ghostly white as he stared in disbelief at the Lion that had once been his Young Lady, howling his agony.
His scream tore from both shattered body and shattered devotion.
“Return my Young Lady! GIVE HER BACK!”
Rage contorting his face, Captain Wang surged to his feet. Ignoring the torrential blood spurting from his wound, he charged the Lion in a final, suicidal fury…