Chapter 17 "Grab her!"
Young Master Nie was dizzy and had a ringing in his ears. He was clutching his chest and gasping for breath in pain, so he couldn't hear her.
The sword light pierced his heart, leaving a dark, fist-sized wound. Bao'e was shocked and exclaimed, "I thought you were heartless! Did you not know about this matter and had to cut a hole the size of a bowl to see it clearly?"
Nie Guiyu was sweating profusely and panting heavily. After finally regaining his composure, he suddenly looked at her.
His eyes shifted and he saw the sword pouch lying beside her.
It was an old leather item, with a blood-red rope tied to the top of the bag, from which hung a Bagua (Eight Trigrams) plate.
Upon seeing the sword pouch and the Bagua compass, he was so enraged that he ignored his injuries and fiercely demanded, "Where did you get these treasures from!"
"What treasure?" Zhu Bao'e got out of bed and was about to go forward when she suddenly saw Nie Guiyu's face turn pale and his eyebrows furrowed in pain, his face contorted.
In an instant, the surrounding scenery began to stretch, twist, and deform, just like water being stirred up.
She was unsteady on her feet when someone leaped into the distorted space and appeared out of thin air in the room.
It was that swordsman.
“Good monster,” he laughed, “I have been guarding you for many days, but it is not like waiting for a rabbit to run into a tree stump. I have finally captured you.”
Young Master Nie staggered to his feet, gritting his teeth in anger. He ignored the swordsman and the cold glint of the sword, staring intently at Bao'e with eyes bulging with fury.
"No wonder you seemed so sincere; you were plotting to kill me with others." He gasped for breath. "So be it! I was too gullible to trust such a despicable and pretentious person like you!"
Bao'e then realized that he was the Ghost King.
She jumped up and down in anger, cursing, "You filthy wretch! Who tried to kill you? Why don't you confront them instead of humiliating me here? You don't know my temperament. If I wanted to kill you, I would have just used my rake. Why resort to such despicable means!"
The swordsman said, "That's right. I lent this sword pouch to Miss Zhu without telling her what it was for. You ignorant little devil, how could you lose face and blame her?"
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Zhu Bao'e nodded repeatedly, then said to the swordsman, "Brother, you are a kind-hearted person, why don't we fight side by side and kill this troublesome scoundrel together, so that we can rescue my master!"
The swordsman nodded.
Nie Guiyu was so angry that his heart ached and his teeth itched with hatred. He gritted his teeth and said, "No need to say anything more. A bastard like you who loves to talk nonsense will only behave if you are steamed, boiled and eaten."
Just then, the swordsman, sword in hand, leaped up, his movements incredibly nimble, like a tiger or leopard.
"Stop talking!" Bao'e also picked up a thick stick, went straight ahead, and hit him with all her might.
Young Master Nie conjured a long rope and used it to block the sword. Fearing that the swordsman would be caught in the rope, the swordsman quickly withdrew and retreated.
Nie Guiyu took another blow to the back.
They beat him until his face turned white and his teeth clenched, and the stick broke in two.
Bao'e wasn't afraid. Holding the broken stick, she laughed and said, "It's good that it's broken! The rough, sharp thorns will just poke your blind eyes."
Nie Guiyu said, "As the saying goes, 'two fists can't beat four hands.' How many people can your lonely half-wooden stick blind?"
"Hmph! I only saw you. Could it be that you have also learned some magic with two heads and four arms?"
Bao'e said, "As the saying goes, 'If the mountain doesn't move, I will.'"
He said, "You're saying you think of me as a pair of lovebirds? But it's often said that lovebirds have 'one wing and one eye,' and they can only fly together in pairs."
She replied, "Even if you can't fly wing to wing, you can walk and hop on one leg."
Young Master Nie gave a slight sneer and changed the subject: "I don't have a body with two heads and four arms, but I have countless subordinates."
Before he finished speaking, dozens of bandits emerged from the ground and rushed towards the two of them.
This scene terrified Bao'e, who dropped her broken staff and exclaimed to the swordsman in alarm, "Brother, it's often said that it's better for one to die than two, at least leaving someone to repair the grave and erect the tombstone. If you want to fight him, then so be it, I'll go first!"
She turned and ran. The swordsman glanced at her and said with amusement, "Miss Zhu, it's just that you have to say a few words before you run away."
He leaned forward and drew his sword to slash.
A long sword came slashing down, but Nie Guiyu used a long rope to parry.
The swordsman suddenly stretched out his left hand, revealing a short blade hidden in it, which he aimed at Nie Guiyu's abdomen.
Young Master Nie did not dodge, but took the blow head-on, and at the same time twisted the long rope to disarm the sword.
He glanced at Zhu Bao'e, who was about to escape, and reluctantly ordered, "Grab her!"
The bandits swarmed forward, causing Bao'e to panic and hide, trying to transform into a whirlwind to escape.
Unexpectedly, a long, silvery-white rope suddenly appeared and bound her around the waist.
She struggled and murmured, "That's enough, that's enough. These are the vengeful spirits from the underworld coming to claim my life, trying to drag my soul to the bottom of the earth. Fortunately, I've filled my stomach and will die a full-fledged ghost, so all my suffering over the years won't have been in vain."
Just as she was at her wits' end, she suddenly heard a voice behind her ear: "Wumiao, Wumiao!"
She stared blankly at the sky and exclaimed, "Heavens! Heavens! This soul-snatching ghost sounds like a mischievous monkey. It's calling my name now, and it's going to pour me the Meng Po soup in a moment. It's fine if it sounds like a monkey, but I hope there's no monkey hair in the soup."
"You fool, stop yelling!" The Great Sage transformed into a bee and stung her several times, finally calming her down and bringing her back to her senses.
Bao'e said happily, "Brother, what brings you here?"
The traveler explained to her in a soft voice, "Old Sun went to the underworld and asked King Yama for two soul-collecting ghosts to investigate this monster's background. When I returned, I happened to see the swordsman enter this painting, so I changed my form, attached myself to him, and entered together."
Bao'e hurriedly asked, "Where is the soul-snatching ghost?"
Bao'e obeyed and allowed the bandits to tie her up and take her away.
The pilgrim then revealed his true form, pulling a golden cudgel from his ear, which grew to the thickness of a bowl. He said, "Demon, send my master out now, and I'll spare you. Otherwise, I'll smash this cave and tear apart your long-dead skin!"
Nie Guiyu had already used a long rope to snatch the swordsman's sword, and now he used his sword to block the swordsman's blade. Hearing this, he sneered: "You hairy-faced monster, how dare you shout and make a fuss here. Hurry up and leave, or I'll have to eat you too."
Wukong shouted, "You scoundrel! My master and I have never harmed you. You should just stay here and live a peaceful life. How dare you make a scene, deceive those two, and take lives?"
Young Master Nie said coldly, "You monkey, you have no manners at all! Your master ate the vegetarian meal I offered to save your life, and your dear junior sister conspired with this beast to kill me. If you don't believe me, go and ask him yourself. Didn't that monk eat my vegetarian meal? Didn't that scoundrel stab a hole the size of a bowl in my heart?"
"Stop talking!" the Great Sage said. "Your rich and luxurious clothes cannot hide the filth in your heart. You have harmed countless lives and even dared to plot to eat my master and harm my junior sister. Since you are a demon who harms people, shut up and take this blow!"
A note from the author:
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