Twenty-Four Ghosts and Monsters

Chen Xuan's spine ran cold. In his field of vision, a bronze chariot flew out from the long-abandoned town. The four-eyed divine being driving it swung a long, rust-caked halberd and lopped off the old man surnamed Chu's head in one stroke.

"Ao!"

A lifelike bronze horse roared in midair as the chariot sped by, a single zhang above the ground, moving at incredible speed. The scene was utterly astonishing.

"It can actually fly?"

Chen Xuan stared dumbfounded. For many ordinary people, the ultimate obsession with training in Qi was—soaring through the air!

And now, that very scene of flight had abruptly appeared before Chen Xuan's eyes, but it carried great terror, with blood and fire flowing.

"Pata!"

Chu Huo Gun's head rolled to the ground, a torrent of blood and fire gushing from his neck.

"Gu..."

The four-eyed divine being raised the old man's mutilated body with one hand and drank deeply of the hot blood, its ashen, withered, rigid face filled with bliss.

"Old Man Chu still has a trick up his sleeve."

Chen Xuan quickly fled from the open ground into a wooded area thick with trees, observing from a distance the four-eyed divine being at the town entrance—whether it was a demon or a ghost.

In truth, he didn't believe Chu Huo Gun would die so easily. Because he hadn't detected any sign of the [Small Underworld] descending... the Mystic Cat Goddess hadn't arrived yet!

Besides, Chu Huo Gun's body was bound by chains; if Chen Xuan had tried to save him earlier, he'd have only exposed himself prematurely.

"Is that the legendary Immortal Qi?"

Chen Xuan murmured. On the distant snow-covered ground, Chu Huo Gun's gruesome head was rolling stealthily like a watermelon, quickly moving away from Peach Town.

Beneath his neck, no blood flowed; instead, a wisp of crimson Immortal Qi lingered.

Fire Virtue [Red Qi]!

"Gugu!"

The four-eyed divine being feasted on the hot blood. Its peripheral vision caught the movement, and Chu Huo Gun immediately stopped rolling, putting on a fawning, sneaky expression. The bronze divine being froze, then raised its rusted bronze halberd and hurled it fiercely.

"Dog thing, don't you know to respect your elders!"

Chu Huo Gun couldn't keep up the act anymore and cursed loudly. Then his head suddenly shot up from the ground, trailing a tail of flame in a parabolic arc through the air, landing precisely at Chen Xuan's feet.

"Bang!"

It happened too fast. Chen Xuan had been watching intently when he was startled to find the head flying straight at him, clamping down on his pant leg with a bite and mumbling indistinctly:

"Xiao Wang, run!"

"Old Man Chu, don't drag me into this!"

Chen Xuan broke out in a cold sweat. This old man had no sense of dignity! He took off running and asked, "What the hell are these things?"

Chu Huo Gun, sharp-toothed and tight-lipped, refused to let go of the pant leg and mumbled, "A bunch of revived ancient demons, one of the Twenty-Four Ghosts and Monsters!"

A demon—a kind of mountain and marsh ghost.

Ghosts born from old artifacts and ritual vessels, gaining sentience, fond of drinking human blood at night.

Legend says there are twenty-four kinds of ghosts in the human world, wreaking havoc. The "ghosts" in "Immortals and Ghosts Run Rampant" refer to these twenty-four.

Chen Xuan hadn't expected to encounter an ancient demon. Feeling he'd learned something new, he thought, "This four-eyed demon, clad in bronze armor, wielding a bronze halberd, driving a bronze chariot—could it be a funerary figurine from an underground tomb that transformed?"

"Ao!"

The four-eyed divine being stared into the forest with confusion, then waved its hand. A bronze horse broke free, golden candlelight flickering in its eyes, and gave chase to Chen Xuan.

Chen Xuan's hair stood on end. He darted through the mountain forest, using the trees along the way to slow its speed.

"Xiao Wang, what miraculous pill did you eat last night?"

Old Man Chu suddenly asked in surprise, sensing a scorching surge of blood and Qi rushing toward him as Chen Xuan ran.

This fierce vitality was definitely over two thousand jin, already no weaker than an ordinary Feather Transformation Qi Refiner, and even surpassing his two fairly talented juniors!

This shocked Chu Huo Gun, and at the same time, he was deeply puzzled—how could this young man's physique have undergone such earth-shattering changes in just two days?

"Feather Transformation!"

Chen Xuan replied curtly, telling Chu Huo Gun to shut up and not interrupt his breathing rhythm while running.

"What? You only started Feather Transformation last night!"

Old Man Chu yelped, nearly falling off the pant leg, his eyes wide: "You mean, when we met in that broken temple the other day, you hadn't even started Feather Transformation!"

Not yet Feather Transformation, and his mortal body's strength was already close to a thousand jin?

This discovery was too startling. Old Man Chu's heart shook—the foundation before Feather Transformation was too solid, not at all like a frail human body.

Moreover, he immediately realized that Chen Xuan's talent was excellent, far beyond what he'd imagined. Once he fully walked the Feather Transformation Path, his strength might surge to four or five thousand jin!

With heavenly treasures and earthly rarities to boost him, he could even rival the most gifted batch in Red Crow City!

"Martial artists are just like this. If you keep yapping, I'm leaving you behind."

Chen Xuan scolded, finding Chu Huo Gun's chatter too annoying.

He turned to look at the bronze horse demon still chasing relentlessly behind him, and another wave of inexplicable anger flared up.

"Playing tricks and pretending to be supernatural—I've been spoiling you!"

Even a clay figurine has a spark of temper, let alone a martial artist!

Besides, Chen Xuan had already realized that while this Bronze Horse Head looked terrifying, it wasn't actually invincible. He'd even hunted and killed a black bear—why should he fear a horse?

"Bam!"

Chen Xuan stopped holding back. He halted, gathered all his strength into his fists, snapped a bowl-thick sapling in two, then stomped the middle of it to break it clean. Dragging the nearly two-meter-long wooden club, he charged straight back.

"Clang!"

The Bronze Horse was in the middle of its chase when it saw the figure ahead abruptly reverse course. The next moment, Chen Xuan swung the tree trunk in a sweeping arc. The sound of Bronze Bell and Great Chime crashing together rang through the forest as splinters flew everywhere.

"Oww."

The Bronze Horse's head spun in dizziness. It shook its skull, but Chen Xuan had already dropped the broken wood, grabbed one of the horse's legs with both hands, and erupted with overwhelming force from his arms.

"Crash!"

The Bronze Horse was flipped entirely onto its back. Fear finally flickered in its eyes as it roared and struggled to rise, trying to flee the forest.

Chen Xuan vaulted directly onto its belly, clenched his fists, and rained down a storm of iron-hard blows on the Bronze Horse's head—dozens of them in rapid succession.

"Like chasing me, huh!"

Each punch carried over two thousand jin of brutal force, hammering like sledgehammers. The Bronze Horse saw stars, its cheeks caved in, steel teeth snapped, and its entire lower jaw was knocked askew.

"Owww owww!"

The Bronze Horse howled in agony, completely stunned by Chen Xuan's fists. What kind of monster had it provoked? This was too savage!

"Dog Thing! Dog Thing!"

On the other side, Chu Huo Gun was also unleashing his fury. He bit wildly into the Bronze Horse's hindquarters, spraying streams of Red Qi from between his teeth. The flames scorched the vulnerable flesh of the horse's rump red-hot, nearly melting it into molten iron.

Feeling the heat at his back, Chen Xuan turned his head and was instantly dumbfounded, stunned into silence.

This Old Man Chu—was he insane?

"Waaah!"

The Bronze Horse was in unbearable pain and felt extreme humiliation. Tears streamed from its eyes.

A fierce will to survive drove it to begin whimpering in surrender.

"You're willing to submit?"

Chen Xuan sensed this pleading emotion. His mind stirred, and he gripped the horse's mane tightly.

Then he turned and demanded that Old Man Chu stop attacking the Bronze Horse's hindquarters—it was too degrading for a horse.

"You think I wanted to do that? I was fighting for my life!"

Old Man Chu grumbled in dissatisfaction. "Who knew you'd be this tough to fight..."

A Qi Refiner who came from a martial arts background—that was something else entirely. His combat power was terrifying to the extreme.

As he looked at Chen Xuan now, a chill ran through his heart. Those fierce, domineering fists landing on a person would paint an unimaginably bloody picture. Even a Qi Refiner like himself would be beaten into a pulp.

At the same time, he sternly warned Chen Xuan not to speak of this matter. An old man lived by his face in this world.

"I saw nothing."

Chen Xuan nodded quickly, then asked Old Man Chu in confusion what exactly had happened in Peach Town.

Also, where was his granddaughter with those Peach Blossom Eyes, and his sickly-looking grandson?

"This matter—I'm baffled too."

Old Man Chu explained that their group had stayed overnight in Peach Town. At first, nothing seemed strange.

Later, he'd stolen his granddaughter's gourd of wine in the middle of the night, drank too much, and passed out.

When he woke up, he was already hung on a wooden stake outside the town by the Four-Eyed Divine Being.

His granddaughter and grandson were weak in strength. Seeing the situation was bad, they fled to find reinforcements.

"Wine and women cause trouble. Starting today, I'm swearing off women!"

Old Man Chu admonished himself solemnly, as if making a great resolution.

Chen Xuan's mouth twitched as he listened. He asked, "What are you going to do next? In this state, how long can you live?"

He gestured vaguely at Old Man Chu's head.

Only a head left, and still lively and kicking—Chen Xuan was very curious.

"Red Qi keeps my three thoughts from fading. I won't die for now... Only Immortal Qi can kill a Qi Refiner."

Old Man Chu explained that killing a Qi Refiner by mundane means was extremely difficult and required a lot of extra effort.

Chen Xuan suddenly understood. He recalled the battle at the Willow Town tavern that day—the middle-aged man whose throat was slit had come back to life, and only died completely after Chen Xuan kicked his entire head and neck clean off.

"Xiao Wang, you have to avenge me." Old Man Chu suddenly stared straight at Chen Xuan.

"Huh? Me?" Chen Xuan's eyes went wide. This old man had some nerve! He didn't treat Chen Xuan like an outsider at all.

"I won't have you work for nothing. There are benefits."

Old Man Chu immediately said, "That massive creature with golden eyes that emerged from the Southern Wilderness last night—it startled countless demons and monsters awake... I suspect that within Peach Town, a [Terrestrial Treasure Tree] is about to appear."

He told Chen Xuan that this small town was still far from the Southern Wilderness mountains, so for ghosts and monsters to appear here now, it surely meant some heavenly treasure was surfacing.

Chen Xuan's spirits lifted at once.

If one treads the Feather Transformation Path, devouring heavenly treasures yields even better results.

Old Man Chu continued, "That Dog Thing must have suspected I was after its treasure, so it tried to kill me. Fine then—let's go to its lair together and snatch the treasure away. Hmph, if it suspects I want to steal, then we'll truly steal!"

Chen Xuan agreed wholeheartedly and said at once, "We martial artists cannot abide vile things harming people!"

Chen Xuan was a man of action. He immediately dragged the reluctant Bronze Horse Head over and began plotting with Chu Huo Gun.

"We need a solid plan."

Mountain Demons—they look terrifying and have some special abilities.

But once you get past that initial fear, they're really not much. Qi Refiners are naturally unafraid of ghosts and monsters.

Soon, Chen Xuan held Old Man Chu's head in one hand and gripped the horse's mane with the other, riding a crooked-mouthed, lopsided-faced bronze horse as it slowly rose from the dense forest.

"Whoa!"

The horse trod through the void, proud and spirited, like a poorly equipped general flying toward Peach Town under the twilight sky.