Shifting Tides

"Hmph, you charlatan." Jiang Wu snorted, thoroughly displeased.

Ma Xiu's heart skipped a beat, as though he had sensed something. He suddenly whipped his head around to look behind him.

When he saw what was there, his pupils contracted.

The Evil Spirit, which should have already been dead, had actually risen to its feet again. Its icy eyes were fixed on them with venomous hatred.

"How could this be? Wasn't this thing already—"

Only then did the other two realize what was happening. They turned around and immediately cried out in alarm.

Ma Xiu ignored them, staring grimly at the Evil Spirit's abdomen.

At some point, a large bulge had appeared there for no apparent reason, and it was rapidly swelling larger, making it look like a woman eight months pregnant.

"This is..." Ma Xiu was startled, yet he could not recall what it was for the moment.

"Hmph! What's there to make such a fuss over? Since it isn't dead, just kill it again!" Seeing Ling Yun standing nearby with a gloating expression, Jiang Wu snorted and drew his sword, charging straight at it.

Only then did Ma Xiu finally realize what was wrong.

A flicker of terror flashed through his eyes as he roared at Jiang Wu, "No! Get back!"

But faced with the Evil Spirit so close at hand, Jiang Wu hesitated.

I'm only one strike away from...

At that thought, not only did he fail to retreat, he instead charged forward faster with his sword in hand.

"Damn it!" Though Ma Xiu was furious and alarmed, he had no time to rebuke him. A black shadow beneath his feet rapidly stretched outward.

At the same time, the resurrected Evil Spirit suddenly let out a shriek. A trace of pain actually flashed across its completely rotten face, then its sharp claws plunged into its own abdomen and tore hard!

The next instant, accompanied by a piercing infant's wail, a blood-smeared baby rolled out from within!

The infant grew with the wind, becoming the size of a three-year-old child in the blink of an eye.

Its skin was pitch-black, covered in scale-like armor. Its eyes were dark, and when it opened its mouth, rows of interlocking teeth like saw blades were revealed.

It sounded like a long sequence of events, but in truth, only a few seconds had passed.

Jiang Wu stared at the bizarre infant right before him, but it was already too late to flee. Like an ordinary person facing an apex predator, his mind went completely blank, and his limbs refused to obey him.

"Watch out!"

A furious roar seemed to ring out beside his ear.

Before he could react, the bizarre infant abruptly vanished from before his eyes.

The next instant, Jiang Wu felt a chill in his arm as a great deal of warm liquid splashed all around him.

He blankly looked at his bare right shoulder. It took Jiang Wu several seconds to realize that his arm had been forcibly torn off!

Agonizing pain crashed over him like a tidal wave.

"Aah!!!"

Overwhelmed by extreme terror, he finally could not help screaming aloud.

A black shadow emerged from the ground and directly wrapped around him, retreating rapidly to the rear.

Only after leaving the creature's attack range did the black shadow slowly disperse, revealing Jiang Wu within, barely clinging to life.

Seeing this, Ma Xiu immediately pulled out a crimson pill and stuffed it into Jiang Wu's mouth without hesitation. Only when he saw a trace of color gradually return to Jiang Wu's deathly pale face did he let out a breath of relief.

Seeing Jiang Wu's miserable state, Rou Yan was terrified as well. After all, she had originally intended to rush over with him...

"Uncle Ma... what exactly is that monster? You... you should be able to beat it, right?"

Seeing the hope mixed within Rou Yan's terrified gaze, Ma Xiu could only smile bitterly inwardly and slowly explain.

"This kind of Evil Spirit is called a Ghost Infant. It is an exceedingly rare parasitic Evil Spirit. It normally hides within the mother body and only appears when the mother body is threatened."

"As for its strength..."

Ma Xiu fell silent for a moment before saying bitterly, "Because it was delivered prematurely, it has not yet reached Fiend-Grade. But it is still at least at the peak of Mortal-Grade. At minimum, it would take one Seven-Star Demon Suppression Envoy or several Eight-Star Demon Subduers working together to have any chance of killing it!"

At those words, Rou Yan's face filled with despair.

Of the three of them, only Ma Xiu was an Eight-Star Demon Subduer. Rou Yan and Jiang Wu had merely just reached Nine-Star rank, and Jiang Wu was now half-crippled, hardly effective combat power at all.

Under such circumstances, it was almost impossible for them to face the Ghost Infant's attacks head-on.

There was actually one more thing Ma Xiu had not said: the Ghost Infant's most terrifying trait was its extreme speed. Now that it had set its sights on them, even running away was likely nothing more than a vain hope!

"Enough. Now that things have come to this, fear is useless. Only by facing it head-on might we still have a sliver of hope!"

"I'll do my best to use my spirit to restrain its movements. Rou Yan, take that chance to attack its weak point!"

Ma Xiu was indeed a seasoned Demon Suppression Envoy who had weathered countless dangers. Even in such a desperate situation, he had not lost his fighting spirit, and he immediately devised a seemingly viable plan.

Rou Yan's face was deathly pale. Though she was terrified beyond measure, she still forced herself to remain calm and nodded.

Seeing her hands trembling violently, Ma Xiu could not help letting out a long sigh.

Suddenly seeming to remember something, he turned to Ling Yun and said coldly, "Warrior over there, I don't care what your purpose is, but this monster's terror is beyond anything you can imagine."

"If you don't want to die, cooperate with our attack as best you can later!"

After saying that, he did not wait for Ling Yun's response and began making preparations on his own.

Ling Yun rubbed his nose, not knowing what to say.

These Demon Suppression Envoys were truly more arrogant and more irritating than the last!

While the two made their preparations, the bizarre infant paid them no attention at all. It crouched in the shadows, clutching the severed arm and gnawing away at it with its head lowered.

The crunching sounds of chewing echoed through the darkness, sinister and horrifying.

Several minutes later, the bizarre infant tossed aside the arm it had gnawed down to white bone. Looking at the two who stood ready and waiting, disdain flashed through its pitch-black pupils. It then dropped onto all fours and charged out like a beast at terrifying speed!

"Now!" Ma Xiu roared.

With the Ghost Infant at the center, countless black shadows burst forth, crisscrossing and joining from all directions to instantly form an airtight black cage.

At some unknown point, Ma Xiu had quietly spread his spirit throughout the surrounding area, all for this very moment.

No matter how fast the Ghost Infant was, it could not evade attacks coming from every direction. Its entire body was immediately bound tightly in midair.

"Waaah!"

Every struggle of the Ghost Infant shattered large swathes of black shadows.

But the next instant, even more black shadows swarmed toward it. Though it roared madly, it was unable to break free for the moment.

"Attack its Shenque Point! That's its weak point!" Ma Xiu's face twisted savagely as several streams of dark-red blood poured from his nose and mouth. As large patches of black shadow were destroyed, his face grew increasingly pale.

Rou Yan gritted her silver teeth. Though terror filled her heart, she knew that the most critical moment had arrived.

She immediately gripped her longsword tightly and sprinted toward the Ghost Infant.

She had no spirit, so she could only choose the most primitive method of close-range attack.

When she drew near and saw the terrifying Ghost Infant struggling before her, she tremblingly thrust at the only exposed part of its abdomen.