Chapter 345: Chapter 298: Human Bone Staff
After the Drowned Ghost appeared, it struggled violently. Its ugly, bloated body kept swelling, its water-bloated, whitish skin stretched into semi-transparency and actually began to slowly burst open its binding long hair. However, even so, it merely provided Yanhe Tian with a brief moment to catch his breath. The hair, like a cage, still enveloped the now several times larger Drowned Ghost and Yanhe Tian, who was protected behind it.
"Good treasure, I will surely kill you and use your precious artifact to commemorate the life of my unborn son!" Yanhe Tian attempted several times to break through the hair’s strangling grasp but failed.
The scene was at a stalemate. If this dragged on, Yang Xiao wasn’t sure who would end up having the upper hand, but he wasn’t planning to wait. With a thought, the Soul-Capturing Mirror in his pocket activated, and Yang Xiao instantly disappeared from the spot.
Yanhe Tian was shocked by this scene. He immediately concentrated all his efforts to search for Yang Xiao, suspecting that he had escaped while he was trapped.
"You can’t escape, none of you can!" roared Yanhe Tian. He had already memorized the other’s face and decided that once this matter was resolved, he would use all his power to search...
"Putsh!"
A sharp pain came from Yanhe Tian’s waist. Yang Xiao had stealthily emerged from the Drowned Ghost’s stretched, semi-transparent skin and lurking behind Yanhe Tian, he plunged a knife into his lower back.
Yang Xiao struck swiftly and retreated quickly. He did not want to be injured by Yanhe Tian’s dying counter-attack, nor by the Drowned Ghost, which was also quite difficult to deal with.
Yang Xiao had used all his strength in this attack. Had Yanhe Tian not been wearing a soft armor, the stab would have taken his life. As Yanhe Tian sustained a severe injury, his strength and mental energy further depleted, and gradually, the lonely island in the sea began to fade, with buildings on it starting to collapse.
The Drowned Ghost too could no longer hold on. It was being wrapped and sliced by the sharp hair. Probably in no more than half a minute, Tong Han would be able to slaughter it.
"Spare me! I won’t pursue this matter any longer!" screamed Yanhe Tian, only now realizing that he had offended the wrong person.
"Too late." Yang Xiao took advantage of the mirage-like illusion of the Sea Market to stealthily pull out the Human Bone Staff. He hadn’t had time to test the Human Bone Staff’s wonders last time, and this time was the perfect opportunity to show it, especially since Yanhe Tian was already doomed.
Performing the ritual within the Sea Market had an advantage: Tong Han couldn’t see the specifics of what was happening inside the illusion clearly, as long as he was secretive about it.
The moment the Human Bone Staff appeared in his hand, Yang Xiao felt a chill behind him—a pure malice was rapidly approaching him. With no time for any reaction, Yang Xiao activated the Soul-Capturing Mirror and, in the next second, he was back at Tong Han’s side.
After barely steadying himself, Yang Xiao looked up and couldn’t help but inhale sharply. A Snake-head Cane that appeared out of nowhere had pierced the spot where he’d been standing, its formidable force causing the entire Sea Market to tremble.
When the strike missed, the Snake-head Cane gently sliced across the hair binding Yanhe Tian. The hair, as tough as steel, seemed to corrode, beginning to break apart one strand at a time, matching the expanding body of the Drowned Ghost and snapping completely in a few blinks of an eye.
Moments later, an old man wearing a mandarin jacket appeared behind Yanhe Tian. Holding a Snake-head Cane in his right hand, his face was covered with unsightly lesions from the dead, but most importantly, he was missing his right eye, and his remaining left eye was staring intently at Tong Han.
"Cane Murdering Elder!" Yanhe Tian, having narrowly escaped death, saw the old man as a savior, a glimmer of life emerging on his previously desolate face.
Upon hearing this, Yang Xiao immediately recognized the identity of the newcomer. It was the Staff Killing Elder, a Venerable One from the Yu Yuan Sect and also Tong Han’s former superior. The missing right eye was Tong Han’s doing.
The Staff Killing Elder glared at Tong Han for a while before shifting his gaze to Yang Xiao. His stiff, expressionless face finally cracked a slit. "If I’m not mistaken, that just now was the power of the Soul-Capturing Mirror. Yang Xiao, that magic artifact is indeed in your possession."
Yanhe Tian was startled by this revelation and his look towards Yang Xiao changed. "You’re Yang Xiao? Did the Patrol Defense Office send you to kill me?"
"And you, scourge, dare to poison us," the Staff Killing Elder’s gaze became more venomous, as if he wanted to tear Tong Han apart. "Yanhe Tian, you hold off this Yang Xiao. I will cleanse the sect first!"
Yanhe Tian, however, was frightened by Yang Xiao’s sudden and deadly attack that had nearly cost him his life. "Elder Cane Murderer, perhaps... perhaps you should deal with Yang Xiao, and I’ll take on that woman!"
"That’s impossible. I won’t let others cleanse my house for me!" It was only after the Staff Killing Elder stepped out of the Sea Market that Yang Xiao noticed the man’s unsteady gait; his right leg seemed injured, making his steps very strange.
"I’ll stop him, you quickly finish off Yanhe Tian, then come help me." After Tong Han spoke, she was the first to take action. Countless hairs burst out from behind the Staff Killing Elder’s head, tightly winding around his neck, while others wrapped around his body, both in speed and number, far stronger than when dealing with Yanhe Tian.
Yang Xiao didn’t bother with small talk, and once again used the Soul-Capturing Mirror, this time directly pulling Yanhe Tian into the Mirror World, where both of them simultaneously disappeared.
Staggering a step, Yanhe Tian, who had fought his way up from blood and blades, had far more combat experience than Yang Xiao. He steadied himself and immediately utilized the ability of the Dead Man’s Skin, conjuring the mirage of a magical city and hiding within it.
He wasn’t planning to fight Yang Xiao, just delay him for a moment or two. Once the Staff Killing Elder had dealt with that woman, they could join forces to take on Yang Xiao.
"Damn thing, I’ll kill you for sure later and brew wine from your bones!" Hidden on a deserted island, dozens of "Yanhe Tians" cursed fiercely all at once.
Soon after, Yanhe Tian was dumbfounded. He saw Yang Xiao effortlessly swing something resembling a horsetail whisk at him, and the next second, a horrifying scene unfolded. An odd, unseen force surged into the magical city, instantly flattening a third of the buildings on the island and the several "Yanhe Tians" standing around them.
Stunned for a moment, an unprecedented fear swept over Yanhe Tian. He looked at the horsetail whisk as if it were a ghost.
No, worse than a ghost—he had never before seen a magic artifact with such astonishing destructive power, which left him without the slightest will to resist. At that moment, he couldn’t care less about the Staff Killing Elder’s orders and turned to run, suspecting that even the Staff Killing Elder couldn’t have withstood that attack just now.
Seeing Yanhe Tian turn to flee, Yang Xiao put away the horsetail whisk, his chest heaving violently. That strike had drained a great deal of his mental power. Indeed, wielding the Ghost Duster was still a bit too much for him. Yang Xiao had taken a gamble—if Yanhe Tian had really been among those dozen "people," he would have been dead for sure.
Yang Xiao drew out the Human Bone Staff, a true treasure indeed. The reason he had been able to dodge that sneak attack was because he had sensed malice, which was one of the Human Bone Staff’s abilities: it could provide a small-range warning centered on the user, sensing any ill will towards oneself. That was also why he had been able to dodge so well in the Xia Shi Town Parking Lot, yet still got caught by Huang Sanbing.
Regrettably, he couldn’t sense Yanhe Tian’s malice anymore. Yang Xiao thought it must be because Yanhe Tian was scared witless by him and was now focused solely on escaping.
"It’s flawed, though." Feeling the special, pliable texture of the Human Bone Staff in his hand, Yang Xiao muttered contemplatively.
He followed the path of Yanhe Tian’s escape. The area was small, and it was unrealistic to stay completely hidden—especially from him, the master of the mirror.
But this Yanhe Tian was no simpleton. As Yang Xiao kicked open a door, countless waters from the sea poured in, rapidly accumulating on the floor to knee level.
Tucking the Soul-Capturing Mirror into his pocket, he took out the Ghost Lantern again. As expected, once the lantern was lit, all the seawater within the range bathed in its green light vanished instantly—all part of Yanhe Tian’s visual tricks.
Looking around, there was no sign of Yanhe Tian. Yang Xiao knew he must be hiding within the water. The man was smart, choosing not to show his face or even use decoys to confuse him, because those would be useless against someone in possession of the Ghost Lantern.
After ensuring the surroundings were safe, Yang Xiao put away the Ghost Lantern and took out the Soul-Capturing Mirror once more. His figure vanished in an instant; this place was a good hideout for Yanhe Tian, but it was also an excellent battleground for Yang Xiao. With the accumulated water on the ground smoothing out like a mirror surface, it allowed him to move freely within the range of the Mirror World.
After several transitions, Yang Xiao located Yanhe Tian’s hiding place. The sneaky dog was hiding not far from Yang Xiao, under a blood-stained table that had not yet been overturned.
Yanhe Tian was also on edge from Yang Xiao’s sudden disappearance and was constantly changing his position, peering out from the gap where the tablecloth hung down to the floor.
Quietly appearing beside the table, Yang Xiao flipped the table with force in his left hand, and swung the Human Bone Staff towards Yanhe Tian below with the other. Caught off guard, Yanhe Tian had no time to defend himself, and could only summon the Drowned Ghost to take the hit. However, the seemingly powerless swing in the air easily penetrated the Drowned Ghost’s corpulent, disgusting body, striking directly on Yanhe Tian’s forehead.
Yanhe Tian was sent flying by the blow but was not severely injured; after a moment on the ground, he sat up. At the same time, the Drowned Ghost, along with the water at his feet, all vanished.
Looking around, Yanhe Tian finally noticed Yang Xiao not far away, his eyes filled with confusion and fear, "Who are you? This... Where is this?"
He had lost his memory...
Yang Xiao decided to increase the dose, launching another strike with the staff. When Yanhe Tian lifted his head again, Yang Xiao knew he had secured the victory.
Yanhe Tian leaned against the wall, tilting his head and snickering stupidly, with snot and tears streaming down, sucking on his thumb ceaselessly, and occasionally letting out "hehehe" strange laughter, resembling an infant incapable of living independently. The Dead Man’s Skin on his chest had also fallen off, landing on the ground.
