Three Flavors Plague Extermination

"Weave an invisible net, shattered wind and dust with a thousand blades!"

As soon as he stepped onto the fourth floor, Li Ye saw the person in uniform inside the wide-open door recite a line with great flair. His leaping figure, accompanied by sword light, transformed into afterimages, layering one spiderweb-like mark after another, slashing directly at the Five Plagues Ghost he had caught up to.

"Thousand Spiders Weaving Net!"

His movements were graceful, his swordplay agile. Li Ye even saw him unleash sword energy.

If Li Ye was a martial arts expert, this person was a wuxia master!

But Li Ye felt no awe at the moment. After unleashing the sword net, the man had sealed the Five Plagues Ghost's movements and carved countless nicks all over its body.

The instant the attack landed, the man touched down, casually pulled out his gun, and aimed it at the Five Plagues Ghost's heart, chuckling, "Bye-bye!"

At the Six Dragon Gate realm, killing a nascent lesser demon was as easy as flipping one's hand!

"Damn it!!"

Bang!

The muzzle flashed, this time piercing a hole through its heart.

The man casually blew on his gun barrel before turning to look at the source of the sound, frowning.

"Didn't I tell you to wait? Why did you run up here? Such foul language at your age. Don't worry, it's a Powerful Insect Repellent Bullet, specially made. The last shot didn't kill it, but this one will definitely tear it apart."

"Behind you!!" Li Ye roared again.

The man immediately sensed something was wrong and quickly turned back, only to see the Five Plagues Ghost's mouth suddenly shoot out a scarlet tongue, lunging straight at him.

The man reacted swiftly, dodging to the side and thrusting his sword upward, piercing the long tongue. Though his reaction was fast, the extended tongue still grazed his shoulder, leaving a scratch.

"Ah!"

A hoarse cry erupted from the Five Plagues Ghost's mouth. Its humanoid form exploded forward, lunging directly ahead.

On its body, riddled with countless nicks and with holes in both its head and heart, five phantoms bulged, as if it were about to split apart.

The man's brow furrowed, and he raised his long sword to meet it.

"It's going to transform! If you want us dead, then attack!!"

But before he could attack, the roar from behind sounded again.

This caused him to hesitate for a moment. During this pause, the Five Plagues Ghost lunged forward, its rotten, foul-smelling maw fiercely biting into his injured shoulder, instantly leaving a black circle on it.

"Urgh..."

The man let out a sound like his Essence Qi was being drained.

His body visibly withered in that instant, while the demon, which had been on the verge of splitting, seemed to consolidate somewhat from that single bite.

Bang, bang, bang!

Several salt water bullets hit his shoulder and struck the demon's head, causing its movements to stiffen.

"Shadow Leak Without Trace!"

The man twisted his feet and wrist, spinning his body like a top.

Chiiii!

His sword blade, like a spinning cutting edge, quickly broke free from the Five Plagues Ghost's restraint, allowing him to float upward and retreat. His speed was so great that he left a brief afterimage in his wake.

Splat!

He landed next to Li Ye, who was holding the salt water gun.

As the Five Plagues Ghost was freed and recoiled, Li Ye seized the opportunity, pulled out his lighter, ignited the Molotov cocktail he had been holding, and hurled it forward fiercely.

Splat!

The sound of shattering glass echoed, followed by a bright burst of flame that enveloped the Five Plagues Ghost's body, stopping it in its tracks.

Fire kills bacteria too!

"Fortunately..." Li Ye breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank, thank you, my name is Huang Qingyi, I..."

"Fortunately, you got bitten!"

Huang Qingyi froze, even stopping his attempt to get up.

Li Ye said, "That's not a Filth Worm, that's a Five Plagues Ghost. If it hadn't bitten you and drained some of your Essence Qi, those five phantoms would have split, and the demon would have transformed!"

The Five Plagues Ghost absorbs human Essence Qi, which satisfies it.

Normally, demons are dealt with by warriors, who have abundant Blood Essence and are strong and robust. Being bitten and having their Essence Qi absorbed actually stabilized the Five Plagues Ghost temporarily.

However, judging by this person's appearance, he wasn't contaminated, and his Blood Essence had anti-contamination properties.

Li Ye shouted, "Stop gawking! That bit of Essence Qi you lost won't last, and the intensity of my flames is only suppressive. Now's the time to finish it off the right way!"

Huang Qingyi's expression turned somewhat strange. He stared blankly for a moment, "The right way?"

"Sunlight, strong UV rays, lasers, any high-heat energy weapon, high-temperature sterilization! Anything that kills bacteria works! Other methods are useless. You're asking me this, you..."

Li Ye suddenly frowned, looking at Huang Qingyi for two seconds, and asked uncertainly, "You know what a Filth Worm is, but you don't know what a Five Plagues Ghost is?"

"Huh?"

Huang Qingyi's idiotic exclamation sent Li Ye's already plummeting spirits to rock bottom.

He watched as the man's face actually flushed with embarrassment. "It's just that my subordinates provided the intel and methods in time; I'm only responsible for killing."

"The Qing Dynasty is doomed!"

Li Ye laughed in exasperation.

He glanced at the flames on the Five Plagues Ghost, which were gradually shrinking, and prepared another Molotov Cocktail, saying, "In short, this is a special demon. If you don't kill it with the proper methods, it will cause a major disaster, at the very least, the entire residential area will fall gravely ill. You'd best not provoke it."

Damn it, I've already provoked it!

Li Ye gritted his teeth. "How long will it take for those reinforcements to bring the necessary items?"

"If other units provide support, it'll take at least half an hour. I'm the only one on standby in our bureau, so I arrived quickly. Others are on assignment, so it'll take even longer for them to get here."

Despite looking like an ordinary person, Huang Qingyi answered truthfully.

He felt like he was facing a professor in college, experiencing the foolishness of being intellectually outmatched.

Upon hearing this, Li Ye turned and walked away without a second thought.

"Then let it drain you for another half hour. I'm going back to get my parents to escape."

Huang Qingyi grabbed Li Ye's sleeve. "I can't hold on!"

"What's that got to do with me? I'm your student!" Li Ye tugged, but found he couldn't break free.

Huang Qingyi's tone was pleading. "That bite took nearly half my life. If I don't get to drain it for half an hour, I'll die. I don't understand demons well, but I understood you when you said it would 'transform disaster.' If that happens, we'll all be doomed!"

Li Ye turned back resentfully, glaring at him. "Where's that suave confidence you had when you were shooting just now?"

He couldn't leave after all.

Huang Qingyi was right. The Five Plagues Ghost had already begun to transform disaster the moment it manifested as a phantom, only temporarily sealing itself by draining Essence Qi.

This wouldn't last long – ten minutes if they were lucky, a few minutes if they weren't.

Li Ye couldn't afford to gamble on whether his family could escape safely.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to suppress the discomfort of his illness, and scanned his backpack. He then looked at the remaining Molotov Cocktails in his hand, and the Salt Bullet Gun he'd dropped on the ground earlier.

And...

His gaze shifted to the house. As a junk collector's hoard, it was filled with all sorts of trash, some of it completely moldy and emitting a foul stench. The kitchen, with its open door and no curtains, was also piled high with miscellaneous items.

He might find what he needed there.

Essentially, the Five Plagues Ghost was a minor demon, and its method of restraint wouldn't be too difficult, perhaps even simpler than that for the Filth Worm.

When he studied the Filth Worm, he had also specifically looked up the weaknesses of the Five Plagues Ghost.

Ancient texts and academic papers both recorded its weaknesses.

It liked acid and feared acid; it feared the sun.

The simplest modern method was sterilization with high heat. In ancient times, it involved using wine, white vinegar, and salt, heated and scorched, which could eliminate its five plagues.

This was known as the 'Three Flavors Plague Extermination'!