The Manifestation

Chapter 355: The Manifestation

“Hm?” Li Huowang stared in shock at the rust-eaten blade in his hand.

“Where did this knife come from? I already have enough weapons, so why is there an extra one in my hand?”

Suddenly, Li Huowang’s hand jerked, flinging the rusty knife to the ground. His expression solemn, he gripped his sword, its tip aimed directly at the unidentified object.

“Is this the Heart-Turbid’s ability? Is it trying to use this thing to harm me?”

His whole body tensed, Li Huowang watched the rusty knife on the ground with extreme vigilance, slowly backing up to close the distance with the others.

“Ear, brother? Are you alright?” Tuoba Danqing asked, seeing Li Huowang’s tense look.

“A knife suddenly appeared in my hand.”

“But shouldn’t the Heart-Turbid’s karma be about hiding things, not giving you things?”

Li Huowang thought for a moment, then carefully examined his own body before shaking his head slightly. He turned to look at Shentu Gang, who was beating the drum.

“Four golden star lords, raise the platform quickly, Fifty-five thousand, stand in one row. Black flags, black armor, black signal banners, Shining armor and bright helmets are but mediocre talents! Don’t let the disciple mount be stung. If you don’t hurry, I will slap you!”

Accompanied by the drumming, the very heavens and earth seemed to change color. Something within the thin mist in the air continuously gathered, only to rapidly dissipate again.

Seeing the other party’s face so full of confidence in victory, Li Huowang said nothing more, silently waiting for them to force the Heart-Turbid out.

This inexplicable event was not something he should be complicating right now.

The sounds of the drum, the spinning of walnuts, and the clicking of an abacus echoed continuously in Li Huowang’s ears. Then, Shentu Gang, who was beside him, suddenly called out in a low voice, “This Heart-Turbid has grown strong! It’s made one of us disappear!”

“Erniu! Don’t hold back, bleed a little!!”

With Shentu Gang’s low shout, the grim-faced Chief Recorder beside him slammed his golden abacus. Instantly, Li Huowang felt everything around him begin to grow more illusory.

Li Huowang looked down at the sword in his hand. It was one, yet simultaneously two, or perhaps even three.

All quantities nearby lost their meaning in that moment. One could be five, could just as easily be nine.

It was at this moment that Shentu Gang, using all six of his hands, furiously hammered the drumskin. The sound was no longer a song but a kind of guttural roar.

“A single colorful cloud rolls up and down, Immortals of the Southern Palace, come quickly! The Eight Immortals and Eight Yi, each to your posts, Guard the eight gates and eight passes!”

The black clouds in the sky pressed down relentlessly, nearly touching their heads. Something writhed within those clouds.

Just then, Li Huowang suddenly saw a human figure abruptly appear not far away.

Her body flickered, sometimes blurry, sometimes solid, looking extremely unnatural.

The person wore a dark blue gown. A mass of black, caked grime covered her entire face, and thick, sticky mud coated her trousers.

“Ear Jiu! Now! This person is the Heart-Turbid!”

The moment the tense Chief Recorder blurted out in shock, Li Huowang’s own sixteen fingers had already shot forward.

As the Heart-Turbid gently lifted her hair, most of those flying sixteen fingernails vanished.

Exploiting the moment while the other party dealt with his fingers, a sound of tearing fabric rang out sharply. Li Huowang ripped a large piece of skin and flesh from his own body and hurled it over.

However, the spinning, blood-stained human skin faded under the other party’s ability. Li Huowang stared intently at the Heart-Turbid’s feet, his copper coin sword lashing out like a long whip.

Seeing there was no time to dodge, a man dressed as a beggar suddenly appeared beside the Heart-Turbid, acting like a shield to block the copper coin sword.

It was Hong Da, who had disappeared! He had been thrown out!

The grating sound of metal scraping against metal rang out as sparks flew where the copper coins scraped against the beggar’s body.

Seeing that all his attacks were being blocked, Li Huowang’s anger surged.

He steeled himself. Aiming the blade at his own abdomen, he slit it open in a clean stroke.

“Can you hide things, can you? Let’s see how you hide this one!”

His expression extremely ferocious, Li Huowang thrust his hands into the wound and pulled. Two ribs were forcibly snapped off.

He then flipped the broken ends of the ribs. With a pfft sound, he stabbed them straight back into his own chest.

As Li Huowang sucked in a sharp breath, the distant Heart-Turbid let out a sharp scream, bending over in pain at the exact same time.

Enduring the searing pain, Li Huowang smiled. Her pain was now linked to his. Things would be much easier now.

Three barbed spikes were driven into the nail beds of Li Huowang’s fingers. Then, he straightened his fingers, bent over, and forcefully pushed them against the ground.

The Heart-Turbid’s body immediately convulsed from this inhuman agony. She seemed to want to retaliate, but when she saw Li Huowang slowly pulling out the blood-and-flesh-smeared spikes, she finally grew afraid. No longer thinking about fighting back, she turned and ran.

There was no way Li Huowang was letting her get away now. He quickly slapped two talismans onto his knees.

His face bulging with veins, his body shot forward like a blur with a gust of wind as he chased after the Heart-Turbid.

By continuously tormenting the other party with various kinds of torture, Li Huowang was drawing closer and closer to the Heart-Turbid.

But just as he burst into another dusty room, the Heart-Turbid inexplicably vanished.

“What happened?! Where is she?!” Li Huowang’s unwillingness was palpable. He was so close, just a little bit more!

When Li Huowang turned to look at the others who had followed him, the Chief Recorder answered, “Alas, let this old servant rest a while. Forcing the Heart-Turbid to manifest is no easy task.”

The Chief Recorder’s face was extremely pale now, his fingers trembling. Shentu Gang was not in much better shape.

It seemed that forcing the Heart-Turbid out had cost them a great deal of energy.

“You’ve already injured it. Next time, this bastard definitely won’t escape. Erniu, the people I found this time are all specifically meant to counter the Heart-Turbid.”

Compared to when they first met, Shentu Gang’s attitude towards Li Huowang had clearly improved quite a bit. Li Huowang wondered if it was because of the Second Spirit.

Hearing this, Li Huowang nodded slightly. “Alright. Once we catch the Heart-Turbid, then I can…”

“Huh? Can what? What was I about to say?” The indignant Li Huowang quickly calmed down, looking around at everything with some confusion.

This room didn’t look very big. In the corner was a pile of mud-covered sweet potatoes of various sizes.

The sunken, withered straw in one spot indicated that someone might have lived here in the past.

“Who lived here?” Touching the ribs on his chest, the sharp pain brought back the memories that had just suddenly vanished.

“Right, that’s right. It’s the Heart-Turbid! She’s hiding my memories!”

Li Huowang had just pulled out the turmeric paper to write on it.

But then he thought about her ability and, after a moment’s contemplation, pulled one of the spikes from his nail bed and began carving onto the inside of his left forearm.

After simply writing down his goal for this trip and the danger of the Heart-Turbid, Li Huowang finally let out a small sigh of relief.

“Look! There are words on this wall!” Tuoba Danqing’s shout drew everyone’s attention.