Chapter 124 The Pursuit
It's difficult to break through a monster's defenses from the outside in, but it's much easier to break through from the inside out.
When severely injured and unable to have new limbs stitched up, the monster will replenish its energy by eating. The more severe the injury, the more it will eat. Since the simulated mouths are no longer sufficient, the abdomen has become the feeding opening to quickly fill the wound.
Since the monster has no internal organs or skeleton, and is controlled by swarms of terrifying black worms, once the black worms are killed, the monster will lose its support and turn into a pile of flesh, becoming no longer a threat.
This requires the martial arts practitioners present to slow down their feeding speed, while creating an opportunity for Lin Mingshan to throw gunpowder into the monster's abdomen, which has split open from feeding, to kill the black worms to the greatest extent possible.
Huo Shenggge explained quickly and then decisively gave instructions, which were carried out swiftly by everyone.
The difficulty lies in the fact that the monster indiscriminately captures nearby life forms while feeding. When it is retrieving people or corpses, travelers must immediately move away from the area where it is selecting its food to avoid becoming one of its prey.
This is the perfect time to use long-range weapons, such as bows and arrows, darts, and silver needles, to pierce the monster's flesh. Of course, if a rope is tied to the dart, it can be retrieved and reused.
The monster is busy eating and won't attack the martial arts practitioners. According to the monster's commands, you must recover before killing. However, the monster doesn't have a flexible understanding of things. For example, it's best to hide and eat to recover, otherwise it will keep eating and being consumed at the same time, making it unable to fight back.
Their strength lies in their fearless, mindless, and mechanical slaughter, but they also fall victim to their mechanical rigidity.
The monster is controlled by an insect. What can an insect with a brain smaller than a grain of rice think about?
Without their owner's instructions, they will only act on instinct.
Several martial arts practitioners joined forces to save a fellow martial arts practitioner who was about to become food for a monster. The unfortunate martial arts practitioner was greedy for output and did not retreat the moment the monster raised its hand to grab food, thus becoming one of the food.
It took some time to rescue the person, and then, taking advantage of the monster's feeding break, the melee fighters took over, while the ranged fighters sheathed their weapons, fearing they might accidentally injure their own side.
The Jianghu warriors split into three, each responsible for interrupting the three monsters' recovery process. Lin Mingshan, on the other hand, had to find the right moment to throw gunpowder into the monsters' bellies while they were feeding. There were only three portions of gunpowder left, and he couldn't afford to fail.
The thinnest monster healed its wounds the slowest, and its movements gradually slowed down noticeably. It sacrificed its flesh and blood for speed, and its defense was much lower than the other two. It was the fastest to be attacked and its defenses were broken.
Lin Mingshan blew his whistle, and the loud whistle signaled the martial arts practitioners to run away skillfully. Some of them were heavy and not very mobile, and were even pulled along by the faster martial arts practitioners next to them.
"boom--"
Another earth-shattering roar followed, the booming sound causing ringing in the ears, and it took a while for the hearing to return.
The ground shook noticeably, and with the help of a young eunuch, Zhou Yin managed to stand firm.
Upon hearing the whistle, Shang Yuji instinctively covered her ears and lowered her center of gravity, which had some effect but not much.
The emaciated monster's abdomen was ripped open, and its flesh emitted a burnt smell. Most of the black worms inside its belly were dead or injured, crackling and popping in the burning flesh, emitting a rustling, bone-chilling scream. The numerous black worms cried out in turn, like infants wailing, a piercing and inhuman eeriness.
In any case, this skinny monster poses no threat to the martial artists. Since this method has worked, the same approach can be used to kill the other two. Leave some martial artists behind to exterminate the black worms that escaped from the skinny monster's belly, wiping them out completely to prevent them from becoming a problem.
Like gunpowder from a divine weapon, it shattered Zhou Ao's dream of becoming emperor. One pill refreshed his mind, two pills brought him to reality, and three pills shattered his illusions.
The horse, which he had painstakingly soothed, once again galloped wildly with him. With such a divine weapon, it was already clear who would win and who would lose in his struggle against Zhou Chaoyun.
He was helpless against Zhou Chaoyun's gunpowder. What was even more demoralizing was that he realized the man who had forced Zhou Yun to retreat was none other than Jiang Xiqu, the man Zhou Ao was haunted by in his dreams, the Jiang Xiqu who had led him into the palace as if it were his own backyard!
He actually knows how to use a knife and whip, even though in the dream he only knows witchcraft. Most importantly, Jiang Xiqu is clearly a member of Zhou Chaoyun's camp.
Jiang Xi could easily infiltrate the palace with him, and since he was on Zhou Chaoyun's side, he could easily put Zhou Chaoyun on the throne!
Zhou Ao's Dao heart shattered upon seeing Jiang Xiqu, filled with resentment at being betrayed and despair at knowing his side was no match for gunpowder and Jiang Xiqu.
Out of the corner of his eye, Zhou Yun saw that the thin monster had almost died at the center of the explosion. He was furious but helpless. The eunuch in front of him was chasing him too fiercely, and he simply didn't have the time to give the monster any more orders.
The insect's strength lies in its absolute loyalty and obedience, but this very strength has become its biggest weakness. Without Zhou Yun's instructions, the insect will not flexibly change its strategy, but will sit still and bury its head in its food, becoming an easy target for others to kill.
These monsters were so rare that even Zhou Yun spent nearly thirty years raising only three.
If it weren't for the difficulty in breeding monsters, Zhou Yun would have already assembled his own monster army.
Right now, one of the monsters he had painstakingly nurtured with the utmost resources had actually died at the hands of that group of foolish martial arts practitioners.
Zhou Yun was about to vomit, but the person in front of him wielded a knife in his right hand and a whip in his left, using both weapons as if they were extensions of his own body, complementing each other without interfering with each other.
He slashed at Zhou Yun's neck with his long sword, not forgetting to flick his whip to deflect the hidden weapon that came from the side. He pressed forward step by step, his moves were tight and unpredictable, leaving no chance to catch his breath.
At the critical moment, Zhou Yun bent back to dodge the long sword that was just a hair's breadth from his nose. Unexpectedly, the long whip followed closely behind, crossing the long sword. He couldn't dodge in time and was hit on the arm. His back was also hit, and the place where he was hit by the long whip was burning with pain.
He pushed off with his feet, creating distance between himself and the eunuch. The rain blurred his vision, and Zhou Yun, panting heavily, said, "I see that you are very capable. Why bother to rely on my brother or Zhou Chaoyun? Even if you help them get the throne, they will not value you. Why don't you come with me? You will be richly rewarded after the deed is done."
"..." Jiang Xi glanced at him quietly, then chased after him again, giving him no time to catch his breath.
Ah Ji said that there would be a huge reward and a large sum of money after the matter was accomplished. That was the biggest lie in the entire martial arts world. People who say such things are the best at double-crossing each other. He is too dense to understand and will only be deceived by them!
Most importantly, King Zhou Yun of Qi must die—
Kill him, Xi, I hate him so much right now.
"!" Zhou Yun was stunned. His long sword was like a crescent moon, and he was locked in by the aura, so he had no way to escape this strike!
Zhou Yun grabbed the nearest man and pulled him in front of him to block the attack. The Moon Chasing Blade sliced through the soldier used as a shield without any resistance, but in the short time it took to deal with the soldier, Zhou Yun rolled and scrambled to avoid the long blade.
It was at such close range that Zhou Yunfang saw the assassin's face clearly. He hadn't had time to be distracted before, but now that he noticed, he couldn't hide his surprise. In a flash, the woman he had hated for nearly twenty years seemed to appear in front of him.
Zhou Yun gritted his teeth: "Wu Yue! You stubborn bastard!"
No... she's already dead, otherwise he would have obtained the antidote for the Faith-Speaking Gu long ago. That woman sacrificed her life to break the antidote for the Faith-Speaking Gu.
He quickly recalled that the person chasing him was Wu Yue's child, the boy who had been infected with the Heart-to-Heart Gu by Wu Yue!
If nothing unexpected happens, the group of Southern Border Wuming Gu practitioners who are obstructing him are most likely acquainted with Wu Yue.
Nearly twenty years have passed, yet Wu Yue has managed to hunt him down to this point.
However, he also found a way to deal with it.
As long as they haven't seen the relics, he can still turn Jiang Xiqu and the secret Gu practitioners in the Southern Frontier against him. Furthermore, the fact that the three elders of the Jianghu are still alive shows that they haven't regained their memories and don't know about the past.
Jiang Xiqu kept his eyes fixed on Zhou Yun's vital points, then charged forward again, using the horse's back for leverage, leaping into the air, stepping on the long arrows that whizzed past him, and dodging the poisoned needles flying from the shadows, closing the distance between himself and Zhou Yun. No matter how Zhou Yun tried to retreat, Jiang Xiqu relentlessly pursued him.
Remembering Aji's instructions, he tried his best to avoid injury. When he saw Zhou Yun make a move, he lashed out with his whip to disrupt his subsequent actions.
He seems to be speaking?
Jiangxi heard the shouts of soldiers, the clanging of horses, the clashing of weapons amidst the pattering rain, the thud of footsteps in puddles… and the phrase that kept echoing in his mind—
Kill him, Xi Qu.
Kill him
【kill! 】
Zhou Yun never expected that no matter how he fabricated the story that he and Wu Yue were old friends in order to win over Jiang Xiqu, or how he framed the emperor for Wu Yue's death, Jiang Xiqu was not affected in the slightest. The knife and whip in his hand kept going and relentlessly pursued his lifeline.
He originally thought the monster he raised was cold-blooded and ruthless enough, but he didn't expect Jiang Xiqu to be even more heartless and ungrateful, showing no mercy whatsoever.
Zhou Yun cursed inwardly: Is this guy deaf?! Then what he just said was completely pointless?
No matter what he said, as time went on, Zhou Yun's injuries worsened. The sound of a whip whistling through the air rang out, and the afterimage knocked away the rain along the way. Zhou Yun's eyes were fierce, and he did not dodge the whip.
If he drags this out any longer with Jiang Xi, he will definitely die. This guy's military skills are all aimed at his vital points; he just wants to take his life!
For the sake of the royal family's reputation, even if Zhou Yun failed to seize the throne, he would only end up being imprisoned in Hebei Province. But this man is different; he doesn't care at all about his status as the Prince of Qi.
Forced to withstand the next lash, the bone flute blared urgently, urging the Gu worms on Zhou Yun's body to bite Jiang Xi.
Jiang Xi, expressionless, calmly severed the Gu worm's weak points: the junction of its head and carapace, the intersegmental membrane, and its eye...
He ignored some of them, letting them fall on him successfully.
Before Zhou Yun could even rejoice at the sight of the Gu worms crawling onto his body, he saw that Jiang Xiqu's body was also covered in Gu worms, which devoured his own. Jiang Xiqu's Gu worms were far more powerful than his!
Indeed, as that woman's child, Jiang Xiqu naturally possesses talent in witchcraft, and it seems quite high at that.
Another loud bang rang out on the field, followed by cheers from the martial arts practitioners. Zhou Yun quickly realized that yet another monster had died on that strange artifact.
There was one more, but in the end, it couldn't defeat that group of wandering swordsmen.
Coupled with his severe injuries, he wouldn't last much longer, and his death seemed inevitable.
...If the Belief Gu is triggered, the user will die from the burning heart.
Dying by Jiang Xiqu's blade is death, dying from the effects of the Xinyan Gu poison is also death.
Since he's going to die anyway, what is there for him to be afraid of?
Zhou Yun chuckled softly: "To be forced to this point... you'll all be buried with me!"
The three elders of the martial arts world died with him; what a grand finale...
Of course, he also had other thoughts. If the three elders of the martial arts world were confused and mistook the martial arts practitioners on the field for enemies, he could take advantage of the chaos to escape.
But why didn't they react at all?!
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