Remote Combat (Part Two)

Qian Bochou knelt on the ground, coughing incessantly as he greedily gulped down the turbid air of the prison cell.

Never before had he felt that breathing was such a wonderful thing.

Jiang Yun crouched beside him, his expression grave.

"Bro-brother, what happened?" Once Qian Bochou caught his breath, he hurriedly asked, "Just now, I..."

"Someone wants to kill both of us." Jiang Yun paused before saying slowly, "I have a way to deal with it, but you'll have to suffer a little, brother."

"As long as there's a way, as long as there's a way." Having recovered his breath, Qian Bochou let out a sigh of relief.

But upon hearing Jiang Yun's last sentence, he sensed that something was off and asked curiously, "What do you mean, I'll have to suffer?"

"That person is probably trying to cast a spell from afar and kill us." Squatting on the ground, Jiang Yun laid out the things from the cloth bag one by one.

Chicken blood, an ink line, glutinous rice, a century-old wooden stick, chopsticks, a kitchen knife...

"If I want to engage her in Remote Combat, I need a medium."

Qian Bochou had never heard that word before. "What's a medium?"

"You're the medium."

After saying that, Jiang Yun took out the chicken blood and smeared it onto both sides of his temples.

In an instant, inside the gloomy little room, the straw doll representing Jiang Yun toppled onto the table. Seeing this, the old woman hurriedly formed a hand seal and cast a spell. "Up! Get up!"

Yet the straw doll lying on the table did not move in the slightest.

Only the straw doll representing Qian Bochou remained on the table.

The old woman's gaze turned icy. Limping to her feet, she approached a black jar placed in the room.

She opened the lid. Inside, countless maggots writhed.

She reached out, pinched one between her fingers, returned to the table, and crushed it. The splattered juice sprayed over Qian Bochou's straw doll.

Back in the prison cell, Qian Bochou was still pondering what a medium was when he suddenly felt something wrong with his body.

"Itches—so itchy!" Qian Bochou felt as though countless insects were burrowing through his skin. He clawed desperately at himself.

He wanted nothing more than to tear his skin apart and drag the insects out from inside.

"Brother, brother, it's happening again! Save me!"

Jiang Yun saw the scene. "Insect Gu Technique?"

He hurriedly took out a pair of chopsticks. "Don't scratch yourself. Bite down on these."

Then he quickly took out a sheet of white paper, wrote a talisman on it, and chanted, "Supreme altar responds; changes never cease. Bind evil, restrain demons; let all under heaven be clear and bright."

The little Magic Power remaining in his body flowed into the talisman paper, and he tossed it into Qian Bochou's mouth.

In an instant, the talisman paper actually began burning inside Qian Bochou's mouth.

Qian Bochou's eyes widened. Just as he was about to spit it out, Jiang Yun gripped his jaw. "Don't spit it out. This is Extreme Yang Fire. It harms only demons, not people."

Qian Bochou did not dare move. Flames were clearly burning in his mouth, yet he did not dare make the slightest motion.

Very soon, he felt the things inside his body gathering inward, then moving up through his throat.

"Bleurgh."

"Bleurgh."

Qian Bochou vomited repeatedly, nearly bringing up his bile.

What he vomited out were maggots, one after another.

The maggots wriggled on the ground for a moment before turning black and dying.

"Brother, I can't take it anymore, I really can't." Qian Bochou waved his hands repeatedly. Looking at the rooster blood on Jiang Yun's forehead, he said, "Give me some chicken blood too."

"Your brother can't hold on."

Seeing this, Jiang Yun lowered his head and continued preparing things. "Hold on a little longer, or I won't be able to deal with it."

"I..."

At that moment, in the gloomy little room, the old woman wore a cold smile. "You do have a few tricks. Then let's see what you do next."

With that, she reached out, picked up Qian Bochou's little doll, and waved it around as she played with it.

Just as Jiang Yun lowered his head to prepare, Qian Bochou suddenly swung a fist at him.

Luckily, Jiang Yun dodged quickly. But then Qian Bochou sent punch after punch flying at him.

"Brother, my body's being controlled. It's not that I want to beat you up!"

As Qian Bochou spoke, he kept swinging his fists at Jiang Yun.

Still, Qian Bochou secretly felt rather pleased. Why should he be the only one suffering?

If Jiang Yun took a couple of punches, Qian Bochou would feel a little better.

"Brother, watch out! Your brother's fists are hard!"

Jiang Yun dodged to one side. Clearly, the person controlling Qian Bochou could not see the situation inside the prison cell and could only make rough guesses.

At that moment, Qian Bochou, under control, walked past Jiang Yun to the wall and punched it again and again.

"Brother, save me!"

Qian Bochou shouted without pause. His body might have been controlled, but he could still feel pain.

Watching his fists slam fiercely into the stone wall, even Jiang Yun could not help remarking, "Constable Qian, your fists really are hard. If you keep this up, you'll crack this stone wall."

Qian Bochou said anxiously, "If this goes on, my hand will be ruined."

Suddenly, he spun around, his fist already covered in blood, then swung it at Jiang Yun again.

Qian Bochou hurriedly shouted, "Brother Jiang, watch out!"

Jiang Yun kept dodging, searching for an opportunity. His physical condition was not particularly strong, and he did not dare take one of Qian Bochou's punches head-on.

The wall over there was already beginning to crack.

This guy's fists really were hard!

"Brother, why don't you find a way to break this Evil Arts spell on me?"

"No rush." Jiang Yun shook his head, observing Qian Bochou. "Wait!"

Qian Bochou felt bitter inside.

In the gloomy little room, the old woman was having a wonderful time, clutching the straw doll and waving it about in play.

After playing for quite some time without getting any result, she gradually lost her patience.

"How dull. Enough—it's time to end this."

After saying that, the old woman gently gripped the straw doll with both hands and pulled hard. But the doll was remarkably tough. Holding her breath, she strained with all her might to tear it apart.

At the same time, Qian Bochou, in the prison cell, felt as though his body were being torn in two. "Brother, your brother's got a new situation!"

"It hurts, it hurts so much! It feels like someone's pulling me apart, trying to rip me into two pieces."

Before long, Qian Bochou could no longer speak. Veins bulged all over his body.

"Wait." Jiang Yun drew in a deep breath and clenched his teeth.

"It hurts, brother, it hurts."

"Wait!"

Qian Bochou felt that he was probably going to die. Closing his eyes, he began to leave his last words.

"Brother, remember to take the silver in my room back to my family."

"Let them divide it among themselves."

"Don't give Fourth Wife her share. That slut has no chastity—she seduced men and met secretly with her lover. Did she think I didn't know?"

"But I stole her away in the first place, and the one she met was her childhood sweetheart. I'm kindhearted, so I couldn't bear to expose her."

"Don't give Sixth Wife her money yet either. Look at the child she bore me once it grows up—see whether it looks like me."

"If it does, then give her the money."

"..."

Listening to Qian Bochou's last words, cold sweat also appeared on Jiang Yun's forehead. If he did not act soon, Qian Bochou really might die!

But if he acted now...

At last, a strand of black qi appeared around Qian Bochou's neck.

The opportunity had come!

Jiang Yun had long since folded a Paper Figure in his hand. He pressed it onto Qian Bochou's forehead and chanted, "Supreme altar responds; changes never cease. Drive out evil, bind demons; preserve life and protect the body."

The meager Magic Power in his body flowed into the Paper Figure.

Inside the gloomy little room.

"This fellow's body is truly strong." The old woman bared her teeth and bit toward the straw doll's neck.

She intended to bite through the straw doll's neck in one bite.

But the moment her teeth touched the straw doll, a strange force suddenly burst from within it and spread through her body.

In an instant, with the straw doll clenched between her teeth, she could not move at all.

Her pupils contracted slightly, and she inwardly cursed her bad luck. She had been controlled by the other side!

"Hiss, I thought I was really going to die in this damned place."

Qian Bochou lay on the ground and slowly sat up. He was just about to complain about why Jiang Yun had waited so long to save him.

But then he saw the Paper Figure in Jiang Yun's hand. "What's that?"

Jiang Yun did not answer Qian Bochou's question. Instead, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and stared at the Paper Figure in his hand. "You had a lot of fun just now, didn't you?"

"Now it's my turn to play."

A lot of readers have said that Xiao Jiu started a new book but didn't release dozens of chapters all at once.

There's a process for new books on Qidian. It's impossible to update too much at the start.

Releasing dozens of chapters when opening a book is even more impossible.

Other people's new books generally update around six thousand characters a day. My daily updates are usually around seven or eight thousand.

That really isn't little.

Once it goes premium, I'll give everyone a proper burst of updates.