Chapter Forty-Nine: Step Back, All of You

Old Ye had barely lifted his head when the Elder Thief slammed him back to the ground. Only after the stones carried by the gusts whistled past their heads did the Elder Thief shout, “Quick... crawl to the side, don’t let the earth’s qi hit you.”

The two old men crawled some thirty or forty meters before stopping. Old Ye pointed at the wind-whipped cliff and said, “Are you... losing your qi? You’ve slaughtered the dragon.”

Though Old Ye couldn’t compare to the Elder Thief in matters of geomancy, he could tell this wasn’t a mere loss of earth’s qi—it was a dragon vein massacre.

Geomancers had many ways to sever a dragon vein, but they always chose gentler methods or a clean decapitation to avoid angering the spirit of the land. Otherwise, the spirit’s resentment could bring disaster upon the geomancer.

Yet the Elder Thief chose the most humiliating method to slaughter the dragon vein, practically inviting the dragon spirit’s wrath.

“That slaughtered earth is this very dragon vein!” The Elder Thief grabbed Old Ye and dashed toward the front mountain. “Think about it—why is that Taoist hermit hiding inside White Dragon Cliff, refusing to come out?”

“Either he’s sealed, or he cannot leave the fengshui energy of White Dragon Cliff.”

“I lean toward the latter.”

“The reason the dragon vein at White Dragon Cliff is sickly is because that ox-nosed fiend has drained its earth qi.”

“As long as the earth qi remains empty, he can never leave.”

“Killing the White Dragon turns the spiritual energy into resentment, forcing him out.”

“Let’s hurry to Golden Toad; we can definitely block him there.”

Old Ye’s face darkened. “Brother, you’re not playing with me, right? If that Taoist comes out killing, can those two kids stand against him?”

“Don’t worry, it’s fine!” The Elder Thief treated his reckless actions as no big deal.

Old Ye spread his legs and ran frantically toward the front mountain.

At that moment, I heard a violent tremor from the rear mountain. Before I could make sense of it, a furious roar erupted from the dragon’s throat.

An unprecedented ferocity surged wildly from the dragon’s throat, followed by sounds of claws scrambling against the earth as something dashed out.

I saw a black humanoid shadow emerging from the dragon’s mouth, and with no way to dodge, I fired three wrist arrows in quick succession toward the shadow.

The sound of arrows piercing flesh was soon replaced by the sharp tearing of leather as the figure burst out faster than before.

---

The black humanoid shadow was already upon me as it left the cave, and there was nowhere left to evade.

In a split second, I leaned back sharply and flipped down from the dragon’s mouth.

Mid-air, I twisted half a turn and grabbed a protruding rock to hang suspended. Looking up, I saw a figure in Taoist robes darting overhead like a bat, lunging toward the golden toad in the pool.

“Ye Huan, be careful!” I wanted to pursue the shadow but was too late. I could only watch as it pounced toward the center of the pool.

The shadow was clearly trying to forcibly seize the toad’s spiritual energy, ignoring the menacing black tiger aura nearby and plunging straight into the water.

Though Ye Huan could make the black tiger aura manifest, he could not command it to defend. Seeing the shadow approach, Ye Huan drew his blade and charged through the water with wild fury.

By proximity, Ye Huan was closer to the golden toad.

Yet the man and the ghost almost touched the toad simultaneously.

Ye Huan’s foot struck the toad as he swung his blade in a slicing arc, rushing at his opponent. The other did not dodge but reached out to grasp the blade’s edge.

A loud clash rang out as the sword met ghostly claws, freezing them both in that moment.

Ye Huan stood firm on the toad’s back, blade raised and feet planted in the water.

The zombie in blue robes gripped the blade tightly, as if suspended midair.

They remained locked like this for several tense seconds before Ye Huan’s feet suddenly pressed down. The golden toad, shaped by rock, snapped in two beneath him.

Disaster!

I caught sight of Ye Huan crushing the toad as I caught up from behind, sinking into despair.

The zombie sought the toad’s spiritual energy, but Ye Huan’s crushing blow shattered this fengshui source. With the toad broken, the spiritual energy abruptly vanished, replaced by bitter resentment. The so-called immortal fate was lost forever.

The zombie Taoist’s years of painstaking guarding were destroyed right under his nose. Could he remain calm?

Sure enough, the zombie roared in fury, loosening his grip on the blade and slashing at Ye Huan’s head with claw-like hands.

Ye Huan pushed off again, plunging with the shattered rocks into the water, vanishing from sight.

---

The zombie also fell into the water after losing his footing.

Seeing this, I quickly realized: “Ye Huan planned to lure the zombie into the water from the start?”

Zombies ruled the land and underground because they were born of graves and earth’s depths, having an innate affinity for soil. Some could even burrow short distances.

But dragged into the water, their strength was greatly diminished.

Knowing he couldn’t best the zombie on land, Ye Huan provoked it into following him underwater.

I saw the pool erupting in waves and dove in, swimming stealthily toward Ye Huan.

Before I could get close, the water churned wildly as Ye Huan and the zombie fought, turning the pool into a murky chaos. Though I glimpsed two figures tumbling in the water, I couldn’t tell which was which.

I dove to the bottom, drawing out my blade, Snowfall, and cautiously approached their tangled fight, suppressing my presence and glancing up at the surface.

Just as Ye Huan’s shoe sole flashed before me, a pair of cloth shoes followed, allowing me to pinpoint the zombie’s whereabouts.

I unleashed the “Ghost’s Deathbind” to break through the water, striking beside the zombie with Snowfall. The blade pierced the zombie’s lower back fiercely. The zombie howled in pain underwater, releasing bubbles of corpse qi.

I grabbed Ye Huan’s hand and we swam swiftly toward shore. Just as we surfaced, the water erupted behind us.

The zombie leapt out with a towering wave, claws reaching for the backs of our heads.

“Dare harm my grandson, die!” Old Ye arrived as well, about five meters behind us. He leaped into the air and struck with a single palm toward the zombie.

Though Old Ye flew through the air, what I actually saw was a giant tiger formed from his qi, slashing down into the water with a mighty paw.

The deafening crash behind us knocked Ye Huan and me to the shore.

When we stood, Old Ye was already shielding us, his eyes sharp and predatory as a hunting tiger fixated on the lake’s surface.

“That zombie isn’t dead. Fall back!” he warned.