Chapter 77: The Apparition (Part One)

In the distance, the thunderous roar of explosives echoed, mingling with the startled cries of the pirates and then the shouts of battle. Several hours had passed since the news of the pirates’ raid had arrived, and at last, Ren Junlin and the reinforcements he had organized had come.

Fang Yue was not worried about that side. Of the pirates who remained, barely more than two hundred were left. He himself had slain over a hundred, and both pirate leaders had perished, shattering their morale. On Ren Junlin’s side were the Ren family retainers, the Qian family men from town, the fishermen trained by Deng Dahai, and other villagers—at least two or three hundred in all, no fewer than the pirates. With Yuan Zhixing and Qian Dagui, both formidable fighters, holding the line, and the defense of their homeland at stake, their morale would not falter.

Most importantly, they had the explosives Fang Yue had entrusted to Fang Baoliang. These black powder bombs, making their debut on the battlefield, could blast the pirates’ formations to shreds, preventing them from mounting any organized attack.

For now, Fang Yue’s concern lay with his own situation.

Lu Qi, possessed by the black mist from the earthen jar, picked up his own head and set it back on his neck. But he had placed it backwards, so his face was turned toward his back.

Fang Yue, uncertain what was happening, quickly retreated, standing guard a short distance away, knife in one hand and rattle-drum in the other, watching as Lu Qi, having fixed his head, leapt to his feet.

“Heh heh.” The backward-headed Lu Qi chuckled, his back and face both turned toward Fang Yue. He hopped twice on the ground, like a monkey, as if adapting to his body. Then his eyes fixed greedily and savagely on Fang Yue. “Eat… eat…” he hissed.

Clearly, this creature was interested in Fang Yue’s vigorous, blood-rich body.

“What the hell is this thing?” Fang Yue drew a sharp breath—this monster, its head backwards, was clearly no longer the pirate leader Lu Qi.

The rattle-drum sounded in his hand as he spent merit points to activate it.

“Lu Qi” screamed in agony and froze. Fang Yue lunged, bringing his knife down hard on the newly reattached head.

With a metallic clang, the sound of blade striking iron rang out, sending a jolt of pain up Fang Yue’s arm. But “Lu Qi” was unscathed, black mist seething from his body as he struck at Fang Yue with a palm.

Fang Yue hastily raised his knife to parry, but “Lu Qi’s” blow landed on the blade with immense force, sending Fang Yue stumbling back several steps.

Moreover, where the blade had touched the monster’s palm, it now sizzled and smoked, corroded by the black mist. If the knife could be corroded so swiftly, one could only imagine what would happen if flesh touched it.

Fang Yue drew another cold breath. This fiend possessed immense strength, an iron-hard body, and a black mist capable of corrosion—how could he possibly fight it?

Its only apparent weakness was its lack of agility.

Still, Fang Yue was not without means to restrain it. The rattle-drum could inflict pain, making it scream in torment. But after each scream, it remained as powerful and unscathed as ever; no sign of injury could be seen. Each shake of the drum cost him dozens of merit points. Though he now had over four thousand, he could not afford to squander them all. Who knew if, after dozens of shakes, his merit would be drained with the monster still alive? That would be a dire problem.

Since the pirates were already contained and no longer able to slaughter helpless villagers, Fang Yue was willing to tangle with this fiend for a while.

After three attempts with his soul-capturing arts failed to drag the spirit from Lu Qi’s body, Fang Yue put away the rattle-drum.

“Lu Qi,” after being tormented by the drum, was enraged beyond reason. Ghosts, born of the world’s grievances, are by nature stubborn and unhinged, often clinging to a living person for the most trivial reasons, tormenting them to death. Now, with Fang Yue having wounded and hurt it, its rage knew no bounds.

“Lu Qi” howled like a beast, eyes blood-red, black mist pouring from his body as he charged Fang Yue. Because his head was on backwards, his body advanced with backward steps, a most bizarre sight.

Fang Yue gripped his knife with both hands, channeling his internal energy, and struck at the charging “Lu Qi.”

Again, the metallic clash sounded. “Lu Qi” staggered two steps back, while Fang Yue himself was forced to retreat five steps.

“What power!” Fang Yue marveled silently. His full-force blow carried the strength of a thousand catties, yet was easily matched by the monster’s casual rush. Possessed by the ghost, Lu Qi’s strength was terrifying.

“Lu Qi” charged at him again, relentless as ever, his obsession and hunger for Fang Yue’s flesh evident.

Fang Yue sprang up, leaping to the roof of a nearby house.

“Lu Qi,” like a maddened bull, barreled straight into the opposite building. With a tremendous crash, dust billowed as the earthen wall collapsed, and “Lu Qi” crashed into the house.

Fang Yue was stunned by the creature’s destructive power, but also felt a measure of relief at its apparent lack of intelligence.

His own condition was far from ideal. After rushing to the scene, then fighting for hours, even a body forged of iron would be exhausted. Though he had not yet reached the end of his strength, fatigue weighed heavily on him.

“Thank goodness I killed Lu Qi himself at the start, or this would have been serious trouble.” Lu Qi had always clung to that earthen jar. It was likely that the spirit inside could possess him, or otherwise grant him its monstrous strength and toughness. If Lu Qi’s own martial skills and cunning were combined with the ghost’s power, he would have been more fearsome alone than several hundred pirates.

Fortunately, before the jar spirit could possess him, Fang Yue had used his soul-capturing technique to cloud his mind and then decapitated him. Once Lu Qi was dead and his body separated from his head, the spirit could only take over the corpse—it was no longer Lu Qi, but merely the jar ghost.

And the jar ghost, with only bestial instinct and little intellect, was far easier to handle.

“Lu Qi” now writhed free from the heap of collapsed earth and howled up at Fang Yue on the rooftop. Fang Yue ignored him, taking the opportunity to catch his breath.

Enraged, “Lu Qi” leapt up, trying to reach the roof. Fang Yue slashed down with his knife, striking him in midair and knocking him to the ground. For an ordinary person, such a fall would be crippling, but “Lu Qi,” with his iron-hard body, simply rolled over and bounced back to his feet, unscathed.

After several failed attempts, “Lu Qi” realized he could not reach the rooftop while Fang Yue blocked him from above. Changing tactics, he began to batter the house itself with reckless fury, trying to bring it down.

With thunderous crashes, “Lu Qi” became a rampaging beast in human form. In his relentless assault, clouds of dust rose as the house began to collapse under his onslaught.

Fang Yue, watching from above, shook his head. As the house teetered on the brink of collapse, he gathered his internal energy, sprang from the roof, and leaped several yards away, landing atop another building.