chsdbacks Chapter 70: Bloodbath
Chapter 70: Bloodbath
A great battle broke out on the Ghost River.
Thousands of martial artists circulated their qi and blood together, causing the entire river surface to glow red, dispelling the mist, and giving everyone's face a rosy hue.
However, the battlefield situation remains difficult.
The demons were not weak at all. The Turtle Prime Minister's hundred-meter-long tortoise shell stood in front, blocking many attacks. In the sky, the Fiery Bird relied on its aerial advantage to continuously spew fireballs to attack the warriors below.
At the bottom of the river, water monsters and snakes, skilled at lurking, would occasionally launch surprise attacks, their deadly venom instilling fear in many martial artists.
Zhang Ping saw that Xu Qing, who had previously sought his protection, had been forced to leave the battlefield for treatment because her face was blackened from the water snake attack.
"It seems that unless Lieyun Mountain and the Black Abyss Army intervene, this war won't end anytime soon." He observed the battlefield, discerning the tense situation.
Noticing the various demons with different abilities, he hatched a plan to take advantage of the chaos.
"This is a good opportunity to find some demon materials with decent abilities."
Quietly blending into the healing team on the hillside, Zhang Ping pretended to be someone who had returned to rest and regroup before charging back into the battlefield. He held a long sword in his hand and kept his strength at the early stage of the Flesh Refining realm.
Whoosh!
As soon as he stepped onto the river, Zhang Ping casually swung his sword downwards, severing the head of a water snake that was trying to sneak up on him.
This water snake had black scales, was as thick as a large barrel, and had two gleaming silver fangs. He didn't know what kind of venom it contained, so he used his knife to flick its head off onto the bank, preparing to deal with it later.
His gaze then turned to the other demons.
The fighting around him was fierce, and Zhang Ping tried to avoid it as much as possible. He noticed that people would ask him for help from time to time, so he simply wiped some blood on his face to pretend he was injured.
Sure enough, far fewer people were asking for help.
"Wow!" A giant humanoid prawn noticed Zhang Ping and raised its large pincers to grab him!
Zhang Ping raised an eyebrow and controlled his strength to slash at the shrimp's shell, leaving only a white mark.
His eyes brightened slightly; the intensity was acceptable.
"Human, break it off!" The giant pincers snapped in.
Zhang Ping tiptoed back in the water and began testing the strength of various parts of the giant crayfish's body, especially its two large claws, even deliberately letting it pinch him once.
The pliers were found to contain a slight amount of toxin, but not a high level.
"Waaaaah—"
The giant prawn couldn't do anything to Zhang Ping and roared in anger. A martial artist who had been practicing dirty techniques nearby saw the situation and suddenly turned around.
Upon noticing this, Zhang Ping's expression darkened, and he swiftly swung his knife, instantly severing the crayfish's head.
But the other party had already rushed up to him, grabbed the shrimp's body with his large hand, and laughed, "I want this crayfish. Junior, judging from how difficult you looked just now, you still need more training."
After saying that, he turned to leave, completely disregarding Zhang Ping.
The name Ghost Blade? He knew it, but it posed no threat to a martial artist specializing in filth cultivation. Moreover, the Ghost Heavenly River was fraught with danger, and even a genius could perish if one was not careful.
However, the moment he turned around, a blade of light slashed straight at him from behind, with a clear target!
"How dare you, junior?!" Pi Xiu's smug expression instantly changed, and he dodged to the side, carrying the giant prawn. The blade was too fast, still tearing half of his clothes, leaving a bloody gash.
"You want to die? Then don't blame me!" Ignoring the demons around him, Pi Xiu raised his hand and unleashed a blood-red fist shadow.
Zhang Ping sneered, fighting and retreating while secretly leading the enemy towards the demon horde.
Seeing through Zhang Ping's plan, Pi Xiu revealed a mocking smile: "Junior, you think you can use demons to kill me? You're delusional."
He then intensified his attack, deliberately forcing Zhang Ping into the midst of the demons.
Want to use demons to kill him? Perfect, let's go with the flow and let this rising star, Ghost Blade, die at the hands of demons!
The two moved swiftly towards the center of the river. The Turtle Prime Minister stood majestically, surrounded by filthy demons. Pi Xiu smiled sinisterly, just about to withdraw...
But Zhang Ping stopped and turned to look at him.
"goodbye."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Ping sank into the water and disappeared without a trace.
"This is insane!" Pi Xiu's eyes widened. This was the middle of the Ghost River, teeming with underwater demons. Escaping from underwater was absolutely impossible.
Seeing the demons rushing towards him, he turned and stepped into the water to leave.
Without warning, a long knife emerged from underwater and plunged fiercely between his legs!
"What—"
The long knife pierced his flesh, and an intense pain shot through him.
Pixiu reacted quickly, dodging to the side, but another demonic claw slammed down. His expression changed, and he raised his hand to block.
At that moment, a long knife emerged from underwater again. This time, he couldn't dodge in time and it pierced straight through his abdomen.
A large part was cut off!
The stench of blood attracted even more demons. Pi Xiu, writhing in agony and filled with despair, roared in bewilderment, "You scoundrel! Ghost Blade Zhang Ping, you slaughtered your own teammates! You deserve to die!"
The roar was quite loud, and some people on the battlefield looked over, only to see him yelling strangely. Xu Rulin, who had retreated after being injured while attacking the Turtle Prime Minister, had been watching the battlefield closely. When he saw the Dirty Martial Artist being tricked and killed by Zhang Ping, he frowned.
He had seen what had just happened clearly and was not going to interfere further.
Blood gushed forth, and Pi Xiu vanished into the demon's jaws.
On the other side of the battlefield, Zhang Ping emerged from underwater, holding the claw of a large crayfish in his hand.
"Heh, old man, ignorant."
Zhang Ping casually tossed the large pincers onto the snake's head on the shore and continued searching for a suitable demon on the battlefield.
The battle raged from midday until sunset.
Although the sky was obscured by dark clouds, the disappearance of light always revealed the passage of time.
Blood flowed across the river, and fragments of warriors' flesh and blood remained between the demons' teeth; on the bank, piles of demon materials covered the hillside, and the wounded warriors behind them were arranged to sort and transport them.
Zhang Ping's clothes were soaked through, turning from black to dark red, and the air was thick with the stench of blood.
Turning his head to scan the area, he noticed that roughly half the people were gone. To his right sat a middle-aged martial artist with a large beard, his left hand clutching a severed arm—his right hand.
A woman's purse lay at his feet, stained crimson with blood.
Seeing Zhang Ping looking at him, he asked with a confused expression, "Young man, did you come alone?"
Unexpectedly, he suddenly spoke up, and Zhang Ping was taken aback for a moment before shaking his head: "No, there are two other companions here."
The bearded warrior's eyes dimmed.
"It's good that I still have my companions..."
Seeing his dejected state, Zhang Ping paused, then turned and walked among the survivors until he found Wang Dashan.
Wang Dashan was lucky; he was targeted by a filthy demon, was seriously injured, and escaped back. After that, he didn't go to the battlefield but was assigned to sort out demon materials.
However, another martial artist from the martial arts school has disappeared, presumably killed by demons.
Zhang Ping sighed. Those who survived, with the exception of a few lone travelers, almost all wore expressions of pain.
Looking behind him, he saw the captain of the Demon Extermination Division and the people from Lieyun Mountain gathered together, seemingly discussing something without any attempt to hide it.
He took a few steps closer and listened for a while, learning that reinforcements would arrive the next morning.
"There are reinforcements?" Zhang Ping raised an eyebrow, then realized it made sense.
Although many demons guarding the Ghost River have been killed, the two great demons, the Turtle Prime Minister and the Fiery Bird, remain undefeated. The Black Abyss Army is not moving; what is Lieyun Mountain wary of?
It would be difficult for a group of captains from the Demon Extermination Division to solve the problem in a short time.
However, the situation in Songping County to the south could no longer be delayed.
"And who will be the reinforcements?"
The sky had completely darkened. Zhang Ping stood calmly by the campfire.
The dim firelight illuminated half of his face.
Hundreds of meters away, the weary warriors on guard were on high alert, wary of the demons in the Ghost River.
Dark shadows rolled across the river, accompanied by the sound of waves; they were very numerous. However, they were visibly fewer than during the day.
Zhang Ping withdrew his gaze. The recruitment of martial artists for Lanjiang was complete; the powerful families like Nangong wouldn't exert their full strength. To change the course of the battle...
We can only bring in martial artists from other prefectures.
If that's the case, tomorrow might be the final battle. I wonder if the Black Abyss Army and Lieyun Mountain will intervene...
If they still don't intervene and let the civilian martial artists fight it out, then...