Xu Ying Sends Off the Plague God

Suddenly, Xu Ying felt an itch on his body and quickly scratched it.

The flesh-colored tentacles in the sky continued to split, extending down from the air to find new plague victims, piercing them with the tentacles and sucking their life force.

Xu Ying's Blood Essence was abundant, so the tentacles couldn't get close for a while.

The reason he felt itchy was empathy.

He saw wisps of black mist permeating the air, entering the plague victims' bodies with their breaths. This black mist was invisibly eroding their Blood Essence.

As these wisps of black mist entered his Realm of Serenity, they were illuminated by the flame given to him by the girl in the coffin and dissipated, not affecting him.

"What exactly are these bloody tentacles?" Xu Ying murmured.

"The Plague God!"

The Great Bell heard his description and said with a grave tone, "What you are seeing is the Heavenly God who controls the plague disaster!"

"Heavenly God?"

Xu Ying shivered. He had encountered many Deities, and even killed several himself. However, even the most powerful City God Xue was nowhere comparable to the Plague God filling the sky!

"Heavenly Gods reside in the Heavenly Dao World, control the Heavenly Dao, wield heavenly principles, and are neither old, nor dead, nor immortal," the Great Bell said. "The Heavenly Dao World is unfathomably distant, and Heavenly Gods rarely descend. Why would the Plague God come down? Ah, it must be that the Demoness's accomplices sacrificed the Plague God to rescue her, causing immense death, which led to the River of Oblivion changing course and the Underworld invading!"

It sneered, "The Demoness truly has ill intentions!"

Xu Ying looked up at the sky. The main bodies of those thick tentacles were still in another world. Was that world the Heavenly Dao World the Great Bell spoke of?

The tower ship continued to sail forward, approaching the half-hour appointment with the girl in the coffin. Xu Ying looked towards the shore, where corpses were piled up like mountains – the bodies of plague victims. Some people had piled firewood beneath the corpses and set them on fire.

The flames reached five or six zhang high, appearing extremely striking in the dark night.

Countless ghost fires floated beside the mountain of corpses. As the cold wind blew, the ghosts within the ghost fires immediately suffered tearing pain, their faces contorted, their bodies twisted, emitting whimpers!

Some ghosts struggled within the flames, as if burning their corpses also caused their souls to feel pain, as if they hadn't truly died.

Xu Ying also saw figures, whether human or ghost, pulling corpses out by the cartload, piling them next to the mountain of corpses.

On the banks of the River of Oblivion, chanting could be faintly heard. Xu Ying followed the sound and saw several monks sitting solemnly beside the mountain of corpses, tapping wooden fish and softly reciting rebirth mantras.

Those monks also had sores and were covered in the Plague God's tentacles.

Was this truly the work of the girl in the coffin's accomplices?

The Great Bell felt uneasy and urged, "A Ying, the plague energy here is getting heavier. With your strength, it won't be long before the plague energy corrodes your Blood Essence defenses, and the Plague God will suck you dry! We should leave here quickly!"

Xu Ying shook his head. "No! A gentleman keeps his word. I promised someone, how can I go back on my word?"

The Great Bell roared, "The person who summoned the Plague God is the Demoness's accomplice! Their purpose in summoning the Plague God was to change the course of the River of Oblivion, impact the Small Stone Mountain, and rescue the Demoness! Do you still think the Demoness is a good person?"

It became furious and shouted, "This grandpa is the good one! You hid in my temple that night, and I saw the River of Oblivion change course. You few beings were about to die in the waters of the River of Oblivion, so I stepped in to protect you. If I hadn't protected your lives, how would I have been severely injured by the Demoness, and how would the Demoness have escaped?"

Xu Ying pondered for a moment and said, "Grandpa Zhong, you have been kind to me, and I will never forget it, which is why I allowed you to steal my Blood Essence to heal. I am a country bumpkin. Although I haven't read much, we country folk value gratitude and righteousness. The girl in the coffin said her purpose for this trip was to send off a deity, and I don't think she has any ill intentions."

The Great Bell shouted, "The Demoness committed countless evils, which is why my master imprisoned and suppressed her at the Small Stone Mountain. Can't you see she's using you? She didn't even tell you her name, clearly intending to use you and discard you once she's done!"

Xu Ying laughed heartily, "Xu has no reputation and no special skills, what is there for her to use me for?"

He refined his divine sense, which entered the flame. He controlled this Pure Yang Strange Fire to fly out of the Realm of Serenity and set the towering boat ablaze.

The fire gradually grew larger, burning more intensely and brightly than the bonfires on the shore.

Xu Ying retracted the Pure Yang Strange Fire into the Realm of Serenity, leaped from the boat, landed on the shore, and took off the whip wrapped around his waist.

The Great Bell said nervously, "A Ying, be careful not to fall into the Demoness's scheme and cause a catastrophe!"

Xu Ying surged his vital energy, swung his whip, and with a fierce flick, as instructed by the girl in the coffin, lashed out at the sky!

"Crack!"

He swung the long whip in his hand, and suddenly, the whip grew as it met the wind, becoming longer and thicker!

The whip, which had initially looked like an ordinary whip, now became thicker and longer, revealing countless details that were previously unseen.

What had looked like woven rope before now revealed countless scales, like countless headless and tailless dragons and pythons intertwined!

In an instant, the whip was three to four li long. Xu Ying held the whip handle and felt its throbbing, as if he were gripping the sinews of countless dragons, with the dragons leaping at the other end!

"Crack!"

This whip fiercely struck the Plague God in the sky, tearing its flesh and skin!

The sky exploded, flesh and blood flew, and large chunks of the Plague God's flesh fell down!

Xu Ying was stunned.

The Great Bell also let out a muffled clang, convulsing, its bell sound dulled.

Xu Ying's heart skipped a beat. The girl in the coffin had asked him to whip the sky. He had initially thought it was just a simple matter of whipping a few times, perhaps with the meaning of sending off a deity. After all, there were similar folk customs where people would bang gongs and drums and set boats on fire during plague outbreaks, hoping to scare away the Plague God.

He hadn't expected the whip's power to surge and actually lash out at the vast and boundless Plague God!

Accompanying the crack of the whip was a howling gale, which fanned the flames. The fire on the towering boat grew fiercer, igniting the hull!

In the howling wind, the burning towering boat floated up from the river!

He had paid attention to this boat earlier, but only now did he have the chance to see its details clearly.

The tower ship had a vermilion hull and a golden body, with ancient divine diagrams painted on its four walls.

The divine diagrams on both sides depicted phoenixes carrying wood, building nests, igniting fires, and being reborn from ashes.

The diagram at the front of the wooden ship was of a Vermilion Bird, a vast expanse of fire.

The diagram at the back of the wooden ship was of Zhurong, a hideous and ferocious-looking deity standing in the center of a sea of flames.

The tower ship ascended into the sky, riding the fierce wind, growing larger and larger, while the fires on the ship intensified!

The tower ship grew larger and larger, rising higher with the wind, its flames burning the heavens.

Suddenly, the phoenixes on the ship's walls took flight, the Vermilion Bird spread its wings, Zhurong commanded the fire, and the great flames on the ship spread, burning the sky a deep crimson!

In the sky, the Plague God's tentacles sizzled and popped, emitting oily light. Those writhing, immense tentacles twisted and trembled in the flames.

Xu Ying's eyes twitched. He was not only whipping the Plague God but also roasting him with fire.

"The maiden in the coffin told me to beat him until I have no strength left. Should I continue?"

Xu Ying's heart hardened at this thought. He yanked the long whip back and thought, "The Deity said I violated heavenly law, and the official said I broke the king's law. Whether in the Underworld or the Mortal Realm, there's no place for me to live! Today, whipping a heavenly god is just another sign that there's no place for me in the heavens! What is there for Xu to fear?"

The young man retracted his whip, his chest filled with heroic spirit. He swung his whip towards the Plague God in the sky, "If this great plague can be resolved, then what does it matter if I whip the Plague God? Plague God, I'll send you on your way!"

He forcefully reeled in his whip. The whip, which was three to four li long, rapidly shrank, becoming only three to four zhang long when it returned to his side. But as he swung it out again, the long whip became incredibly thick and immense once more, its countless dragon sinews writhing, making his arm go numb!

"Crack!"

Thunder roared in the sky. The whip was now thicker and longer than before, its dragon sinews leaping and bounding, carrying supreme power as it fiercely lashed onto the Plague God's tentacles, causing flesh and blood to fly!

Meat chunks the size of small mountains rained down from the sky like hailstones. The heavenly god's blood poured down like a waterfall, transforming into a torrential blood rain that dyed the heavens and earth red!

This country was called Judu. A plague had broken out, leaving nine out of ten households empty. Corpses littered everywhere, with no one to collect them.

Myriad Nu Masters throughout Judu country looked up at the sky, their faces filled with shock.

They saw a fiery ship sailing through the raging wind in the sky, its flames blazing. Around the fiery ship, divine and demonic phenomena such as the Vermilion Bird, Zhurong, and phoenixes emerged, further fueling the flames!

The sky itself was ignited by the strange flames from the fiery ship, crackling and burning as if from nowhere!

Suddenly, a fiery whip, ten li long, lashed out. The whip, like countless dragons and snakes interlocked, struck the sky, which seemed to crack open, with huge fragments falling down!

Even blood gushed down like a waterfall from the cracks in the sky!

The Nu Masters of Judu country were filled with uncertainty and doubt. Blood flowing from the sky was a phenomenon often spoken of in legends, recorded in ancient texts or passed down in stories, but this was the first time they had witnessed it with their own eyes!

They could not see the Plague God in the sky, only the fiery ship and the fiery whip, hence the phenomena of the sky being ignited, broken, and bleeding.

However, Judu country was a great nation, and there were not a few reclusive masters within the country who could see the anomalies in the sky. The more they could see, the more horrified they became.

That long whip, lash after lash, fiercely struck the Plague God, causing lightning to dart everywhere in the sky and making the Plague God convulse incessantly!

The Pure Yang Strange Fire filling the sky roasted the Plague God, making him ooze oil and twist. Combined with the lashing of the whip, the Plague God's tentacles continuously retracted, squeezing into the Heavenly Dao World.

In the sky, the Plague God's boundless body was actually shrinking.

This arrogant heavenly god was being driven back into the Heavenly Dao World by the fiery ship and the fiery whip!

The maiden in the coffin stood quietly on a mountaintop not far from the River of Oblivion, her skirt gently swaying in the wind, ethereal like a fairy flying against the breeze.

The maiden was gentle and serene, only occasionally glancing at the sky, her heart not at peace.

Finally, the fiery ship soared, the sky ignited with great flames, and then the long whip rose from the ground, coiling like a dragon, lashing towards the Plague God in the sky!

A faint smile appeared on the maiden's lips.

However, after this one whip, there was no further movement. The second whip was long overdue.

The light in the maiden's eyes dimmed, and she whispered, "This cannot be blamed on him. Anyone witnessing such a terrifying scene would find it difficult to continue..."

Just as she thought this, the second whip suddenly shot up into the sky, the divine whip, carrying the blazing Pure Yang Strange Fire, fiercely struck the Plague God again, causing his tentacles to split open, flesh and blood flying everywhere!

The divine whip stirred up a gale, blowing the tower ship and intensifying the flames that reached the heavens, causing the Plague God's countless tentacles to sizzle and pop!

The maiden smiled and softly said, "To dare to defy the world, to become a Qi Refiner in an era when Qi Refining has declined and disappeared, truly makes one as audacious as I am!"

Her eyes sparkled as she gazed at the sky, whispering, "Summoning the Plague God came at a great cost. If it were me, I would never allow anyone to send the Plague God back to the Heavenly Dao World. I would definitely take action and eliminate the one who sent the Plague God! I want to see who you are!"

Her gaze flickered. These people had allowed the Plague God to kill, diverted the River of Oblivion, surrounded the small stone mountain, rescued her from the bottom of the well, and then vanished without a trace.

She knew there must be a plot here!

"We Qi Refiners cultivate against the heavens. If we dare to defy even the heavens, how can we be manipulated by such petty individuals?"

She looked up at the sky, and suddenly her eyes lit up. Beneath the sea of fire, a figure was flying rapidly, heading straight towards the direction where the fiery whip was raised!

That was precisely where Xu Ying was wielding his whip!

"Found you!"

Behind the maiden, the black coffin soared into the sky, chains flying, heading straight for that figure!

"Stay where you are!"

Beneath the sea of fire, a radiant glow, brighter than the sun, erupted!

Xu Ying was still swinging his long whip. The whip grew longer and stronger with each swing, causing blood to rain down from the sky. As for the tower ship, it transformed into blazing flames, igniting various parts of the Plague God's body!

The Plague God's tentacles were continuously retracting into the Heavenly Dao World. Just as they were about to completely return, the sky split open, and an incredibly thick tentacle descended from above, crushing down towards the rising whip, towards the place where Xu Ying stood!

That tentacle, like a thick finger, seemed to be the Plague God in a fit of true rage, intending to crush anyone who dared to whip and burn him, right then and there!

Xu Ying's long whip, originally ignited by flames, was about to burn down to the handle. His heart pounded with fear. Using his Heavenly Eye, he saw the tentacle descend from the sky. Without a second thought, he immediately dropped the flaming whip and bolted, shouting, "Old Zhong, hurry!"

The Great Bell was injured and couldn't move as quickly. Xu Ying immediately turned back, grabbed its nose, and they sped away!

Above them, space continuously shattered. The Plague God's tentacles pressed down, causing thunder and fire to surge and flow through the broken space around them.

"Boom!"

An incredibly terrifying wave of energy swept through, stirring up a hurricane that uprooted everything on the ground. Trees, houses, and rocks alike were all sent flying into the air!

Within the hurricane, a Great Bronze Bell tumbled and rolled, crashing into things. Sometimes it hit trees, sometimes it hit rocks, flying off to who knows where.

Inside the bronze bell, a young boy hid, bracing himself against the inner wall with his limbs to keep from falling.

Sky connects five ridges, silver hoe descends; Earth shakes three rivers, iron arms sway. May I ask, Plague Lord, where do you intend to go? Paper boats with candles lit, burning towards the sky! (Excerpt from Chairman Mao's "Seeing Off the Plague God," wishing peace and prosperity for the nation, and for the Plague God to depart and never return~)