A Night of Desperation

Chapter 312: Revenge 310, Four

"Called you damn smug!!" Cheng Shu roared, charging in once again.

Boom!

The next second.

She was sent flying backward again, this time spouting a gush of blood mid-air.

Yu Hong quickly stepped forward to catch her, gently easing her down.

Only then did he realize Cheng Shu was almost completely drained, her body appearing as if it had been sliced by countless fine blades.

Not only were her clothes completely torn, but her skin was also covered in tiny cuts, her entire body a bloody red.

".....Don’t look!!" Cheng Shu, realizing her clothes were gone and almost completely naked while leaning on Yu Hong’s hand, immediately tried to cover her private parts, feeling immensely embarrassed.

"....I can’t see anything anyway...." Yu Hong was at a loss for words.

"Sigh...." Cheng Shu let out a sigh of relief, her expression suddenly changing.

"That’s not right, run!! There’s a big guy inside!!"

"Now you mention it, isn’t it a little too late... They won’t wait for you to timidly hesitate and be shy...."

Yu Hong lifted his head, staring at a three-meter tall black-robed figure just two meters directly ahead.

The figure was slender, like a bamboo pole, with long, whip-like arms that trailed the ground, covered in hundreds and thousands of black glass shards.

It wore a black top hat like those seen at formal events, its face covered with black cloth, only barely revealing a semblance of human facial features.

"We’re in trouble now...." Cheng Shu straightened up, standing up from Yu Hong’s hold.

"This guy is a Glazed Embryo resentful mark of the Mud Doll Sect.... Divine Embryo, Golden Embryo, Glazed Embryo, and the highest Mud Embryo, this guy is already the second resentful mark these cult members are capable of summoning..."

After so many battles, she had gathered enough intelligence to know roughly what Techniques the Mud Doll Sect employed.

"I’ll cover our retreat, you get out immediately and call for backup, they can summon Glazed Embryo, there must be important Mud Doll Sect people here!"

She took a step forward and charged, lifting her sword against the Glazed Embryo’s downward slicing arm.

Just now, it was this move; although she had blocked it, the myriad of fine glass shards, like countless blades, had mercilessly slashed her.

After losing so much blood just now, if she gets hit again...

’I’m only twenty-eight years old!! I haven’t enjoyed life yet, am I going to die here!??’

Her heart roared in anger, but Cheng Shu’s hands did not stop moving, because she knew if she didn’t stop this creature, everyone present, including the over thirty people with Yu Hong, would all die.

What the Mud Doll Sect is best at is mass hypnosis, and creatures like the Glazed Embryo resentful mark inherently carry hypnotic auras, almost invincible against ordinary people.

So...

Bang!!

In that moment.

Cheng Shu’s sword clashed with the Glazed Embryo’s right arm.

And then.

There was no ’and then.’

She suddenly widened her eyes to see the struggling Glazed Embryo in front of her.

The towering Glazed Embryo, as if eroded by some potent poison.

Its entire body was becoming translucent, turning into globs of thick gelatinous substance, dripping onto the floor.

Ah!!!

A strange scream that was unclear whether male or female burst out from behind Cheng Shu.

This scared her so much that her whole body shuddered, and she quickly leaped to the side before turning to look back.

There, floating exactly where she had been standing, was a bizarre humanoid figure made entirely of transparent gelatinous material.

The figure had numerous densely packed dark red lips all over its body, and at the moment, all of them were open, letting out strange shrieks.

Following the direction of the strange figure, Cheng Shu saw Yu Hong, who was at the back, forming a handprint.

An invisible air current stirred Yu Hong’s Daoist robe, his long hair slightly moving, his expression calm. With one hand forming a Seal and the other grasping a brown talisman paper, blue light clearly shimmered along the paper’s pattern.

Bang!!

In an instant, the Glazed Embryo burst apart, turning into countless black smoke, scattering into nothingness.

And the transparent gelatinous humanoid figure also shot into the room, pursuing the controlling Magician.

"Fuck! You, how strong are you to only take action now!!? Are you messing with me!?" Cheng Shu exploded with anger, rushing up, trying to grab at Yu Hong’s collar.

"The more Mud Doll Sect thugs we take down, the greater the Contribution we earn, I thought Sister Cheng wanted to earn more points for a grand wedding," Yu Hong said, helpless.

"Damn it!" Cheng Shu was speechless.

"Every time you’re the first to rush in, when do I even have a chance to show what I can do?" Yu Hong continued.

"....Then why don’t you rush in??" Cheng Shu gritted her teeth.

"If someone else is doing it, why would I bother?" Yu Hong replied.

"....!!"

Cheng Shu’s fist emitted a faint creaking noise. She really wanted to punch someone, but it was clear that she couldn’t beat this guy.

To strike would be to get beaten up.

At that moment, a frenzied scream erupted from within the room, only to cease quickly, silenced completely.

Soon after, two armed soldiers carried out the desiccated corpse of a skinny woman in a black robe.

"Alright, this is the main suspect. Onto the next case." Yu Hong sensed the presence, confirmed it was this individual, and nodded immediately.

"I need to heal up. Let’s talk in a few days." Cheng Shu said, expressionless.

She moved closer to examine the corpse and noticed three silver lines embroidered on the edge of the robe.

"She was a higher-up in the Mud Doll Sect, presumably one of the Illusion Soldiers just below the Seven Primordial Embryos—Guo Chengfei."

Her eyes grew complex as she turned to look at Yu Hong.

"Now you’re going to become famous."

"What? Was this person really that powerful?" Yu Hong asked in surprise.

"In the past few days, it was this person who caused over fifty casualties across different places, and nearly succeeded in assassinating the deputy mayor in Bing State." Cheng Shu explained. "In terms of strength, she was strong enough to annihilate smaller factions that are not part of any Taoist Sect."

"It looks like the Mud Doll Sect is getting desperate, daring to send out such a good operative to her death." Yu Hong understood.

"To her death? Only an elite genius like you would say something like that." Cheng Shu said, without a voice.

"Speaking of which, what do you wild mages outside the Taoist Sects think of us?" Yu Hong was somewhat interested in the world of mages outside of the Taoist Sects.

Since he had the chance, he decided to ask in detail.

"The Taoist Sect is the strongest force of magicians in the world, without equal. Next is the Buddhist Sect, what else could we think about it? Our techniques primarily focus on utility, but we have done no research on cultivation and nourishment; it’s all about who can demonstrate the most power. However, soon the body deteriorates, the spirit wanes, and the power of the techniques drops dramatically. Typically, after the age of thirty, there’s a steep decline."

While applying techniques to stop her bleeding, Cheng Shu explained.

"So that’s why you joined the official forces in such a hurry, and you’ve been fighting so hard, just to save up some resources for the future?" Yu Hong asked.

"That’s right. Because of various flaws, magicians outside of the Taoist and Buddhist Sects mostly pass down their lineages within the family, with many generations missing and new creations being frequent. The quality varies, so many join the official forces. After all, that’s also a way out." Cheng Shu sighed.

"That sounds quite tragic..." Yu Hong sighed similarly. "You’d be better off finding an ordinary job and living as a normal person, perhaps you’d have a better life."

"No choice, magicians outside of the major forces mostly inherit abilities naturally. We’re born with the ability to see resentful marks, techniques, and all sorts of odd and terrifying things. Without learning techniques, people like us usually wouldn’t live past twenty." At this point, Cheng Shu’s attitude towards Yu Hong had clearly changed.

In her eyes initially, Yu Hong was just an ordinary disciple on the fringe of the Taoist Sects, and she took responsibility to help a teammate.

After all, ordinary disciples had limited potential and were not of much help.

But now, upon realizing Yu Hong’s unique strength and skills, her attitude had clearly shifted.

Because even if Yu Hong was simply a fringe sect disciple, as an elite, he could still have quite a network of connections, able to help loose cultivators like her obtain various Secret Medicines for body maintenance.

Even some sects with multiple techniques could periodically help rejuvenate the body, healing the injuries they had previously sustained.

This was worth making a connection with.

"That is indeed very difficult." Yu Hong’s thoughts flickered internally, but his expression remained unchanged, even as he passed a jar of ointment to Cheng Shu for external application.

"Yu Hong, with your abilities, you should have some reputation in Taizhou, right? How come I’ve never heard other magicians mention you here?" Cheng Shu asked curiously.

The wounds on her body actually began to seal up at that moment.

Clearly, the techniques here, though not suitable for physical combat, still had some strange and unique abilities.

"I prefer to keep a low profile; I don’t usually like to show off or fight." Yu Hong briefly explained without going into details.

However, he started to take a keener interest in the community of wild mages.

Recently, while collecting information, he had confirmed that the Black Disaster was gradually beginning to unfold in this world.

But its progression had been slow due to the complete suppression by the Taoist Sects.

However, slow progress was still progress!

Yu Hong keenly noticed that the air had begun to contain extremely minute concentrations of Red Value!

Even though it was only in the single digits, he understood what this implied.

If the Taoist Sects had no contingency plans, they might soon be unable to contain the Black Disaster.

’If the Black Ships advance through the waves of the Black Disaster, seeking each isolated land of vitality capable of standing firm and resisting,

then from the moment I discovered it, this world has been undergoing a slow but inevitable decline.’

’This retaliatory action is a perfect opportunity for me to make a name for myself in Taizhou. Showcasing rapid growth of strength in real combat aligns perfectly with the trajectory of a genius... and then, naturally, through grand competitions, winning and obtaining higher-ranked Daoist Magic Techniques and thereby gaining access to the upper echelons of the Taoist Sect’s power.’

’This path is very orthodox; every year, the prizes that are given as rewards, including Daoist Skills, techniques, and treasures, are all of the highest caliber. But the only flaw is the slow pace.’

After unexpectedly encountering Cheng Shu, Yu Hong began to concoct another idea.

’Although wild mages are weak, they have undoubtedly accumulated some unique and wonderful ideas. If I could integrate all wild mages and fuse all their Daoist Skills, perhaps... I could reap immense benefits.’

He initially came here for the Daoist Skills, and now that he had acquired them, his initial thoughts had shifted somewhat.

This world was peaceful and beautiful, and he hoped to settle here long-term, averse to seeing it destroyed.

Thus, in order to avoid a tragedy like that of the Eternal Life Association in the previous world, Yu Hong knew all too well that his own power was extremely limited. So, if he could widely disseminate the Guanwu Jade Spirit Skill with its power, and by doing so strengthen his own Spirit Light,

while, at the same time, establishing an entirely new power base belonging to him.

Perhaps... he could set off on a completely different path from the last time.