Chapter Eighty: The Mad Pervert

Crackling with pain, Zhou felt a sudden chill race down his spine. Those fanged jaws, if they came down on him, could he still hope for any happiness in the rest of his life?

In sheer panic, he instinctively drew in his waist and drove his right knee upward in a savage series of blows. He no longer cared for restraint, hammering at the shattered skull again and again. He could not have said how many times he struck; he only knew that he had poured all his strength into that knee, and from time to time there came the crisp sound of bones breaking.

With one final burst, he lashed out and sent the blood-soaked corpse sprawling.

Zhou was left with aching legs, trembling knees, and unsteady footing. He stared in the direction of the corpse, panting hard, then hurriedly checked himself below the belt with both hands. Seeing that all was still intact, he finally let out a long breath of relief, drenched in cold sweat.

Damn that filthy freak. He was no good thing in life, either. So vile, so sordid, to dare bite at a man’s very lifeline! Fortunately, he had escaped by the skin of his teeth. If not, he would truly have wished himself dead.

You miserable piece of trash. If I do not beat the filth out of you today, you will never know how brutal I can be!

Flushed with rage, Zhou pointed at the blood corpse and cursed at the top of his lungs. A true man would rather die than submit, but that one bite had nearly stripped him of even the right to call himself a man.

Clutching the small peach-wood sword, Zhou went all in. Tonight would be a struggle to the death. He would hack this filthy freak to pieces.

The blood corpse swayed and rose again. The head embedded in its belly was now swollen to the size of a ball; its face puffed grotesquely, and its dead-gray eyes had been knocked partly out, dangling outside the sockets. Half its fangs were smashed away, and from its mouth dripped a stinking fluid that spread in a greenish pool across the ground.

Zhou was stunned. He had not expected that the strength bursting from him in this desperate moment would be so terrifying, that he had actually beaten the blood corpse into a pig-faced monstrosity.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yang Liu still unconscious on the ground. Panic seized him. My dear lady, what time is it already? Why are you still not awake? If you do not wake soon, the two of us may well end up going below together as a pair of miserable lovers.

Having suffered a huge loss through carelessness, the blood corpse had never imagined that Zhou would suddenly erupt with such terrifying combat power. Now even more enraged, it let out a ghastly cry, spread both massive hands, and lunged.

The thing had gone mad!

Zhou’s scalp tingled. Before he could even turn, the two huge hands were already on his shoulders like iron talons, about to tear him apart alive.

With frantic speed, Zhou drove the peach-wood sword forward again and again, wishing only to stab that head into a hornet’s nest, spraying thick purple-black fluid in all directions.

The blood corpse could not bear it either. Its body trembled, and it sent both fists crashing heavily into Zhou’s chest.

Ah!

They were too close. Zhou had no time to defend himself. Before his hand could rise, a heavy blow had already landed on his chest, and his whole body flew backward.

Thud.

Zhou’s chest exploded with pain. A mouthful of blood burst from his lips and splashed onto the peach-wood sword in his hand. The sword, which had been dull and lifeless before, now shone like a divine weapon newly descended into the world, blazing with golden light. Once more, scriptures and talismanic markings surfaced around the blade in a riot of radiance.

“This, this is...”

For the moment, Zhou forgot his injuries. His attention was wholly seized by the small peach-wood sword in his hand, and his expression changed. The sword had regained the brilliance it had shown that day, dazzling and sharp.

One incantation shatters ghosts and gods; one sword cuts down a host of demons.

The blood corpse hesitated for a moment, then reached out and set the head on its belly upright again. Its dead-gray eyes had taken on a faint green tinge as it stared at Zhou, uttering eerie cries without pause. Thick fluid slowly leaked from all seven apertures, a sight frightful beyond measure.

Zhou struggled to his feet, sword pointed at the blood corpse. Golden light surged and retreated in his hand, while a glint of coldness flashed through his eyes.

The blood corpse roared several times. Its entire body seemed to mutate once more, swelling to nearly twice its former size. Even the flesh of its body grew tougher, taking on a strange ink-black sheen.

“Think a change of color will make me fear you, you filthy freak? Come on, then! I’ll chop off that dog’s head and use it as a ball!”

With a cold snort, Zhou raised the sword and shouted in fury.

As if provoked by him, the blood corpse bared its savage face and charged.

In the blink of an eye, the two crossed paths. A streak of golden light flashed out in a crisp arc and vanished.

The whole exchange was too fast for the naked eye to catch.

Something that looked like a ball flew high into the air, then fell back down, scattering thick fluid in all directions.

Zhou turned and stood still, golden light still leaking from his peach-wood sword, his gaze icy.

In that brief instant of contact, he had struck the blood corpse down with one slash, severing its head from its body.

The blood corpse had never imagined that Zhou’s movements could be so swift. Before it could react, the world around it had already begun to spin, and its head was utterly severed from its body.

Zhou said, word by word, “I told you I’d chop off your dog’s head and kick it like a ball.”

In the blink of an eye, the blood corpse’s head and body were completely separated. The headless torso staggered in confusion, both arms flailing wildly through the air, groping at nothing.

Just as the blood corpse’s head was about to fall, Zhou thrust his sword again, then took out the talisman prepared in advance by the bespectacled one and drew one at random, slapping it out with a palm.

Qingquan possessed the secret methods of White Cloud Peak. Though his cultivation was not shallow, the talismans he wrote this time were not drawn by his own power for his own use. Instead, he sealed his spiritual power within them so others could borrow it. In plain terms, they were simplified versions, their strength not even one-third of the original. Qingquan had taken this into account and therefore did not use cinnabar in the writing, but replaced it with blood from the tip of his finger, making the power barely reach about half of the former level.

Of course, this method of talisman making could not be compared with the master craftsman Zhang Huanqing. In quality and power it fell short by more than a little; a firefly’s glow cannot rival the sun and moon.

Such simplified talismans were straightforward in structure. Even if Zhou did not understand the arts of cultivation or divine techniques, he could still use them for protection. Their power was somewhat lacking, but more than enough to deal with ordinary zombies and evil spirits.

The yellow talisman paper slapped onto the blood corpse’s head, releasing a burst of blood-red light.

The instant the light appeared, the blood corpse’s face filled with terror, and its mouth emitted a continuous clicking sound.

Thick fluid poured out in all directions. The purple-black skin on its face slowly swelled and bulged, and under the immense pressure the dead-gray eyeballs burst out of their sockets, followed by two jets of black fluid.

Zhou drove out a fierce palm strike with tremendous force, slamming the blood corpse’s head away and shouting sharply:

“Break!”

Boom!

A thunderous blast.

Blood light exploded.

The blood corpse’s head burst in midair like a smashed watermelon. Flesh and bone fragments turned into a cloud of powder, while black fluid scattered through the sky like a veil of dark rain, foul and reeking.

Zhou stood there with his mouth open, stunned by the sight. This... this was far too powerful!

The bespectacled one had practically tied together a pile of explosives and sent them skyward!