STOTTD | Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Damn.

What the hell is this thing!

Zhou Xin sucked in a cold breath, so startled that she took a step back.

Shen Jibai beside her did not know what he had seen. He suddenly widened his eyes, wrapped his arm around her waist, and leaped backward, landing in the middle of the courtyard.

“Boom——!”

As soon as they landed, someone broke out through the window and rushed straight at them!

Zhou Xin had not yet recovered when she saw Shen Jibai draw dragon-patterned blade, leap forward, and block the four or five paper figures charging over.

Several figures tangled into a mass. She took out a yellow talisman and threw it at the paper figures, shouting, “Break!”

One paper figure’s arm was blown off and fell onto the grass beside it.

It turned its head and stared over, its gaze never leaving her face, but its body had already walked to the edge of the grass. In an extremely strange posture, it picked up the arm on the ground and pressed it onto the broken shoulder!

It actually recovered as before!

Zhou Xin’s scalp went numb from its stare, and she unconsciously took a step back.

“Creak——”

The door of the main house was pushed open. Xuchenzi walked out with his hands behind his back and said with a sinister laugh, “Shen Shaoqing, long time no see.”

“It’s you?”
Shen Jibai raised his blade and struck, slicing one paper figure cleanly in half at the waist.

Yet the paper figure split into two could still continue fighting. Its upper half lay on the ground, crawling toward him on both hands, while its lower half stood to the side and kicked at him with a lifted leg.

Attacking from both top and bottom, it became even harder to deal with than before.

“You know him?” Zhou Xin asked.

“He treated Tannu’s hysteria.” Shen Jibai replied while fighting.

So it was him!
But why would Linghe Zhenren side with him?

Thinking of that talisman for dispelling evil that seemed to predict the future, Zhou Xin’s mind gave rise to a very terrifying thought.

No wonder Shen Jibai could not find any record of his entering or leaving Luoyang, because he had accomplices inside the city and paper figures outside the city. He did not need to do it himself at all!

It seemed that being outnumbered, Shen Jibai was actually forced back step by step by the paper figures.

Zhou Xin circulated qi, formed hand seals, and chanted an incantation. The bell bracelet rang “ding ling ding ling——”.

“Shen Jibai, fall back!” she shouted loudly.

The moment her words fell, a bolt of thunder suddenly split the sky and struck straight at the paper figures.

“Ah ah ah ah——!”

Along with a series of miserable cries, a thick smell of burning spread out.

Those paper figures were ignited by heavenly thunder, crackling as they burned. They had already become fire men, yet they still did not give up attacking. They came at Zhou Xin with claws and fangs, as if even if they only had their last breath left, they would still perish together with her!

Seeing this, Shen Jibai immediately stood in front of her. His back was straight, his figure tall and long, shoulders broad and waist narrow. The arm raised high with dragon-patterned blade was steady and forceful, bringing an inexplicable sense of reassurance.

Zhou Xin’s heart moved slightly.

She lightly raised her right hand, and another bolt of thunder descended from the sky, striking the paper figures into pieces and completely burning them into a pile of ashes.

“Hahaha——!”
Xuchenzi laughed loudly. “Lingyun Jun, Linghe Zhenren really dotes on you! He even gave you this bell bracelet. But do you know what this bell bracelet is refined from?”

“I don’t care what it’s refined from.”

Zhou Xin lowered her head to look at Shen Jibai’s waist and saw that the jade pendant had no reaction. She said in a daze, “How could this be? Could this also be a lie?”

Shen Jibai asked in confusion, “What lie?”

Xuchenzi took a step closer. “Lingyun Jun, aren’t you curious why such a mere bracelet can summon heavenly thunder?”

Zhou Xin said, “Who would be so free as to be curious about this.”

“Ah!”
Xuchenzi let out a soft sigh and shook his head. “You really are saying one thing and meaning another. Are you afraid that after learning the truth, you’ll never dare wear this bracelet again? After all, in your eyes, all living beings are equal, and humans and demons are equal too.”

This was what Zhou Xin had said that night under the osmanthus tree.
Shen Jibai pointed his blade at him and said, “So it really was you!”

Zhou Xin also said, “You switched Tannu’s protective talisman and swallowed the mist spirit.”

“Wrong, wrong.” Xuchenzi shook his head. “Stop guessing. You won’t guess it.”

He continued, “Lingyun Jun, haven’t you noticed that the bracelet on your wrist is cool and nourishing, and wearing it feels just like a spirit snake binding the bones?”

“So what if it is?”
“That means it is.”

Xuchenzi said, “A hundred years ago, there was a snake demon who had cultivated for more than seven hundred years and failed to ascend. It was almost struck to death by heavenly thunder and barely alive, hiding in a mountain cave to heal. Linghe Zhenren saw that it was half immortal and half demon, a rare beast in the world, so he stripped out its inner core to refine a whisk, and extracted its tendons and bones to make this bell bracelet. Look, your respected master is such an undead thing, ruthless and unscrupulous for the sake of his goal. He did not even spare the half-immortal who was about to ascend into a dragon. What difference is there between him and an evil cultivator?”

Something was wrong.
Zhou Xin reacted and said, “So you were not on the same side!”

Xuchenzi sneered, “Who would want to be with that undead thing!”

Shen Jibai raised his blade and pointed at him, shouting, “Shut up!”

“This can’t take it already?”

Xuchenzi laughed heartily. “Lingyun Jun, it seems the one beside you cares more about Linghe Zhenren than you do! But then again, you’re just a fake, what feelings could you possibly have for the master of Chaonan Yi?”

How could he know these things?

Zhou Xin was shocked to the point of staring blankly, and she even faintly felt a chill of fear.

She thought, He knows, Shen Jibai has already seen through it too, could there be others who have noticed as well?

The matter became more frightening the more she thought about it. She could not help sucking in a cold breath and, in exasperation, said, “Shut your mouth!”

With a wave of her right hand, another bolt of heavenly thunder struck down.

But Xuchenzi’s figure swayed, and just as the heavenly thunder arrived, he actually teleported to another place.

His voice echoed through the courtyard: “What exactly are you? Do you want me to tell the famous vice minister of the Dali Templelele beside you? If I am not mistaken, he should still not know, right?”

“You’re courting death.”

Zhou Xin raised her right hand, wanting to summon another bolt of heavenly thunder, but unexpectedly, bell bracelet that had been ringing “ding ling ding ling” nonstop suddenly stopped!

She tried to circulate qi again, but found that too much spiritual power had been depleted. She could no longer drive bell bracelet, and could not summon heavenly thunder anymore.

“Hahaha! Did Linghe Zhenren not tell you that this bell bracelet consumes a great deal of power and must be used cautiously?”

After Xuchenzi’s laughter, several black shadows leaped out from the room and stood in front of him.

More paper figures.

Zhou Xin hated herself for having fallen into his trap. “So you did it on purpose.”

Xuchenzi said, “Wrong. I only said a few honest words. You were the one who grew angry from shame and exhausted your spiritual power. How can you blame it on me?”

Shen Jibai turned his head back. “What happened?”

Zhou Xin gritted her teeth. “Before going to the Dali Templelele, I used bell bracelet several times. I also spent spiritual power setting up a formation. I have not recovered yet.”

After speaking, she muttered in frustration, “...It’s my fault for trying to force it, and falling into his trap.”

Shen Jibai said, “It’s not your fault.”

He shifted one step to the right and stood in front of her. His tall body was like an insurmountable mountain range, firmly shielding her behind him.

Xuchenzi said contemptuously, “Overestimating yourself. A thing that is not human, and you still dare to play the hero in front of me.”

Shen Jibai froze for a moment, his face faintly turning pale.

Xuchenzi gently waved his hand, and four paper figures attacked in perfect unison.

Shen Jibai immediately recovered. He leaped into the air, lifted a foot to kick away one paper figure, and tangled with the remaining few.

Zhou Xin took out a stack of yellow talismans and, finding the right moment, slapped them onto the paper figures, shouting, “Break!”

The moment the yellow talismans touched the paper figures, they burst open. The paper bodies shattered into pieces, thick black smoke rose, and severed limbs and broken arms scattered all over the ground, yet it did not affect them at all from continuing the attack.

Shen Jibai kept retreating, shouting, “Fire!”

Zhou Xin said, “Ordinary fire is useless. It can only be thunder fire, but I can’t summon it.”

The paper figures did not know pain, did not know fatigue. Even if they were cut into several pieces, they could still continue fighting. They were simply killing machines with no weakness.

If this continued, Shen Jibai would sooner or later run out of strength.

By then, the two of them would be like fish and meat on a chopping board, only able to let others slaughter them.

While she was distracted, a paper figure with only half its body left propped itself up with its arm and crawled toward Zhou Xin. She hurriedly threw out a yellow talisman and shouted, “Break!”

The paper figure was blown away, its head even blown off, but it still did not give up attacking. It propped itself up with a headless, legless body and continued crawling toward Zhou Xin.

The eerie sight made her scalp tingle, and goosebumps rose all over her body.

“Damn it. What kind of evil art is this? It’s like a dog chasing after people to bite them!”

Zhou Xin kept throwing out yellow talismans, blasting it to pieces until it completely turned into scraps of paper.

A faint gasp came from ahead. She looked up and saw that the paper head that had been blown off had somehow flown onto Shen Jibai’s shoulder, biting fiercely into his right shoulder.

At the same time, the remaining paper figures attacked together, stabbing straight toward Shen Jibai’s crown chakra.

“Shen Jibai!”

Zhou Xin hurriedly threw out several yellow talismans, blasting back those three paper figures, then slapped her palm at the paper head. With a loud “boom——!”, the paper head shattered into scraps and slowly drifted down from the air.

A bloody streak was blasted open on Shen Jibai’s right cheek, and blood flowed down to his jaw and dripped onto the grass.

The paper figures suddenly began trembling rustlingly, laughing “ge ge ge” as they became unusually excited.

“Not good.” Zhou Xin immediately blocked in front of him. “They crave blood!”

The moment her words fell, a paper figure with only its upper half left suddenly leaped up. Its severed arm was like a sharp blade, stabbing straight toward her!

Shen Jibai widened his eyes slightly and shouted, “Careful!”

Her wrist hurt, and a powerful force yanked her so that she staggered backward several steps.

Shen Jibai raised dragon-patterned blade with both hands and blocked this strike.

But the other two paper figures moved even faster. In the blink of an eye, they were already in front of him. The sound of tearing cloth came, and the smell of blood in the air became even thicker!

“Shen Jibai!”

Zhou Xin felt around her body, only to discover that her sleeves were empty. All the talismans she had brought had already been used up.

She bit the injured finger open again, and quickly drew a talisman in her palm.

In the blink of an eye, Shen Jibai kicked away one paper figure, held dragon-patterned blade horizontally at his waist, spun around, and the blade swept across the waists of the paper figures that had gathered over, forcibly cutting them in two.

The paper figure that had been knocked away licked the blood on its hand, laughing “ge ge ge” nonstop.

His robe had been cut open by countless slashes, and the wounds underneath the cuts were faintly visible, flesh and blood flipping outward. Although he was still gritting his teeth and holding on, he had clearly reached his limit.

After repelling the paper figures, Shen Jibai staggered back one step, seeming a little unsteady. The tip of dragon-patterned blade was stuck straight into the ground. He braced himself on the hilt and stood in front of Zhou Xin, his hawk-like sharp eyes tightly watching the paper figures scattered all over after being beaten apart, fully guarded.

A paper figure with only its lower half left ran over. Shen Jibai turned sideways, raised the blade with both hands, and swung forcefully, cutting off a leg.

A severed limb silently emerged from the side, the severed surface like a sharp sword, stabbing straight toward the back of his head!

Damn it.
She discovered it too late, even if she acted now, it was already too late.

Zhou Xin almost did not hesitate. She raised her hand and blocked behind Shen Jibai’s head, taking this strike with her flesh and blood body.

Blood flowed down her palm, drop by drop landing on the latter’s pale neck, like several cold plum blossoms falling into a glacier and snowy land, brilliant and demonic, shocking to the eye.

Probably sensing the warmth at his neck, he slowly turned his head back. Shock made his pupils shrink sharply, and even his voice turned a little hoarse: “You...”

It was as if several steel nails had been driven into her hand. The bone-piercing pain drilled into her heart, making Zhou Xin feel a little dazed. In a blur, she saw something silently shatter within those black-and-white clear eyes.

The severed limb was still forcefully stabbing deeper. The dragon-patterned blade flashed past and cut it in two.

Shen Jibai grabbed her arm hard, pulled out the severed limb and threw it to the side, and with his other hand he fiercely pressed a point at the acupoint on her wrist, stopping the bleeding.

An unbearable pain came from her palm, it hurt terribly.
Blood gushed out endlessly, and in an instant, it dyed half her arm red.

“This is interesting, then I’ll play with you all for a bit.”
Xuchenzi curved one side of his lips, seeming to have become interested. He raised his two fingers vertically before his chest and shouted in a low voice, “Rise!”

In an instant, the stars and moon vanished, and the sky turned completely dark. It was so dark that you could not see your hand in front of you.

A chilling wind suddenly surged around them, blowing robes into flight, scraps of paper all over the sky, leaves rustling, and even the doors of the rooms began to tremble with clattering sounds.

Zhou Xin held her breath, sensing that things were bad.

This person could summon paper figures with just a wave of his finger. If he cast a spell this time, he was afraid he would attract even more troublesome things!

She suddenly turned around and forcefully hugged the waist of the person beside her. Shen Jibai was dragged back a step by her sudden movement and slowly lowered his head.

Only a loud “boom——!” was heard, and the doors and windows of several rooms in the courtyard all flew open. Countless black shadows gathered over.

Xuchenzi formed a sword finger and waved it, his voice carrying ruthless cruelty. “Go, leave not a single one alive!”