Blowing One's Own Trumpet

"At the ball, that's it."

In the darkness of night, two boatmen leaned against the railing of the Mayflower and urinated in the wild.

One of the boatmen said with great enthusiasm.

"That woman in the red dress is fucking sexy!"

Another boatman chimed in, "Yes, yes, I wonder whose wife she is. If she could spend the night with me, I'd gladly die right now!"

"I've heard about it," the stronger brother said, hunching over and snuggling closer to his friend. "Her husband likes to fish."

The thinner brother immediately widened his eyes. "Then we'll have to find a chance to kill her husband!"

"Oh dear, it's right next to the guest rooms, at the stern of the Mayflower."

"Shall we go together?"

"Just one kick."

"Kick her husband down to feed the fish?"

"Without anyone noticing"

"Should we try to comfort Madam again?"

The two young men hit it off immediately, devised a plan on the spot that "beauty is only meant for the strong," and then pulled up their pants and headed to their cabin.

Halfway there, the two brothers saw a servant on night duty running as fast as he could, his face ashen. It was Jinbao's younger brother from Madam Wang family's household.

The servant was panting heavily, dragging the doctor up the cabin stairs. He couldn't utter a complete sentence, his eyes were swollen and his mouth was sore, as if he were possessed.

Before the two lecherous thieves could utter a word, Jinbao grabbed the doctor, shoved them aside, and fled.

The pharmacy manager, Doctor Zhou, also looked distraught, as if he had been frightened, and he couldn't stop crying. He was trembling all over like a leaf, and in the blink of an eye, Jinbao led the doctor to the captain's cabin of the Mayflower.

The two lecherous brothers didn't realize anything was wrong.

"Brother, what happened to those two?"

"The sea is rough; perhaps it's possessed by an evil spirit."

The two chatted idly as they walked toward the aisle of the cabin.

Soon after, the sound of gurgling water could be heard, followed by the sight of a swollen figure.

These two boatmen were seasoned veterans on the Shambhala route; their years of experience had clouded their judgment in anticipating crises.

Upon seeing the swollen, bulging, humanoid ball of flesh in front of them, the two brothers didn't immediately realize that something was wrong.

The figure turned around lightly, revealing himself to be another servant in the Wang family named Laifu.

"Want some water? Want some water?"

Laifu's facial skin had swelled up and cracked, especially the area from his head and neck to his shoulders. He had almost turned into a spherical creature, and his clothes were tattered and almost fused to his flesh.

His belly swelled up like a balloon filled with air, his two thighs had merged into his hips, and his shoes were gone. All that could be seen was his fleshy palms slightly lifting off the ground, and his swollen body floated up lightly, as if he had learned the magic of flying through the clouds and become a human-shaped elixir.

Laifu persisted, bringing up the matter of fetching water with the two brothers. It seemed that his brain had suffered irreversible damage, and he only remembered that the Master of Ceremonies had given him instructions on this matter.

"Water"

"I've brought you water."

Do you want some water?

When the two boatmen saw Laifu's miserable state and Laifu his face, their minds began to clear, and they began to understand the true meaning of the situation—this balloon-like man had finally exploded like a droplet or bubble floating in the wind.

There was a crisp "pop" sound.

The powdery smoke suddenly burst open, and the light, thin skin texture struck the wooden walls of the porch and the portraits in the corridor, followed by a rain of blood and sharp bone fragments.

The burly guys with sharp eyes were almost scared out of their wits, unable to even cry out, and they clung to their skinny brother, hiding in the nearby water room.

Terrified, the two brothers scurried to the tool basket in the water room, transforming into Jinbao and the doctor. They couldn't utter a single word, nor could they maintain their basic sanity, as they were held down by a powerful spiritual pressure, unable to speak at all.

Only when the stinging pain came did the burly men raise their arms and see a sharp, broken bone hanging from their clothes near their shoulders. Perhaps they had lost their senses in the midst of their extreme fear and hadn't seen the sudden bone fragment clearly. Only now, after being hit like this, did they realize the pain.

"Hello"

All he could say was "Hey".

As the situation slowly deteriorated, the arm rapidly swelled and swelled, soon to resemble Laifu!

"Hey! Hey! Hey!"

Each "hello" sound was like a spell; with each recitation, the swelling in my arm intensified, making it feel light and airy, as if it were about to carry my entire body away.

Another boatman, seeing this, was anxious and acted without hesitation. He gritted his teeth, gripped the broken bone on his friend's arm, and forcefully pulled the bone out!

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" The burly men were covered in cold sweat, but seeing the swelling in their arms gradually subside, they felt a renewed hope for survival and slowly calmed down.

At this moment, the skinny boatman was finally able to speak a few words, pulling himself out of the abyss of fear and able to breathe a sigh of relief.

"What the hell is this? Has Laifu turned into a monster?"

Upon hearing this question, the burly men actually started to get angry.

Anger is a very strong emotional energy that can temporarily suppress shame and fear.

"How the hell should I know! You're asking me? Are you even asking me? Why don't you ask your mother?"

The roar caused the burly men's blood pressure to spike, and blood gushed from the round wounds on their injured arms.

"I'm not angry with you," the skinny guy said, feeling wronged, but he immediately realized something was wrong.

Even though the bone had been removed, the brother's wounds showed no signs of healing. Blood kept flowing out of the small hole, as if there was a faucet on his arm that was constantly gushing blood!

"Stop moving! Stop moving! You're still bleeding!"

After the bone nail was removed, the strong man's body visibly deflated, like a leaky water bag. He cursed and became even weaker. No matter how his companions tried to help him, even by tying his arm with clothes, they couldn't stop the small hole from flowing out. Blood continued to gush from the wound, like a high-pressure water gun, the blood spurting out little by little from his strong body in rhythm with his heartbeat.

In the end, the skinny boatman was covered in blood and could no longer be seen as a human being, while the strong boatman had almost turned into a paper doll, becoming a skeleton made of skin and bones.

"I'm so hungry and thirsty!"

The strong boatman's dried-up eyes could see nothing, but he was still alive.

"You smell so good! You smell so good!"

The skinny boatman gasped in shock.

He dared not try to rescue them again, and tried to step over his companion's body to escape to the cabin and back to the deck.

There must be some evil spirit controlling the hearts of the boatmen!

There's a monster on this ship! A terrifying monster!

He stepped over his weak and powerless companion and squeezed into the corridor. He had only taken two steps when he felt pressure on his ankle. He stumbled and almost bumped into the door frame of the washroom. He turned around and took a closer look.

The grotesque, skin and bones-like creature screamed—

"--Where are you going? Where are you going?"

"It smells so good! Can I take a bite?"

"Brothers, we share joys and sorrows."

"Let me take a bite."

The skinny boatman hardened his heart, struggled violently, and his ankle pulled up half of his broken arm, tearing his companion's arm off. He ran forward and fled, but halfway there he felt a hot, swollen, tingling sensation in his ankle, and cold sweat suddenly broke out on his face!

Before he could think any further, the curse of inflating and bleeding seemed to have already come upon him. Would he swell up like a balloon and die, or become a withered zombie and live a painful existence?

Seeing that his right foot joint was no longer obeying his commands, his legs suddenly became light and nimble, as if he had lost his weight. The skinny boatman felt unlucky again.

"--What's going on? What's going on?! Why are you targeting me?! Damn it! I haven't lived enough yet!"

Thinking of this, he became consumed by malice, his eyes turned red, and he lost his last shred of reason. He wanted to go to the most crowded reception room, even if it meant turning into a balloon, he wanted to take everyone else with him before his body shattered and exploded.

He limped towards the cabin passageway, and by the time he reached the deck, his buttocks were so swollen he couldn't squeeze through the doorway; he was stuck against the doorframe, still conscious.

"Help! Help me! Please! Please, please help me!"

After taking Doctor Zhou to the captain's cabin, Jinbao, still mindful of the bond between master and servant, wanted to return to the museum to see his master's house one last time. After all, if Madam Wang died, who would pay his monthly wages?

Upon hearing the boatmen's cries for help, Jinbao rushed back immediately, bringing two sailors with him.

It was already late at night. The first mate and the captain were taking turns at the helm. There weren't many sailors on deck, and they all had their own tasks to do. When they heard Jinbao talk about the "curse" that had happened to Laifu, everyone was skeptical, so they called the two sailors to go and check on the situation.

But upon closer inspection, the boatmen blocking the porch became the next source of death—

His skin transformed into a gourd-shaped balloon, and in just a few dozen seconds, the bone fragments that shot out everywhere became death nails, piercing into the bodies of Jinbao and the two sailors, and immediately began to blow air into their flesh.

These breaths of "celestial energy" are a deadly curse, and also the soul power of the Yellow Dragon Immortal.

"--My [Boast] technique possesses unparalleled spiritual power; have you immortals already sensed it?"

The little clay figure riding on the bone and flesh Divine Dragon floated in front of the collection hall, chatting leisurely with the guests inside. This Xia Bang sorcerer seemed quite wary of the spiritual energy emanating from Joe Rank and his two strangers, and dared not approach the Wang family rashly, using "immortal" as a greeting.

"Having received offerings from the Liu clan brothers, his family members have offered blood and even sold their own flesh and blood, requesting that I, the humble Daoist priest, perform the ritual."

Yellow Dragon Immortal is a very reasonable evil god; he will do whatever is asked for. He is determined to kill Wang family, but he doesn't want to offend these few obstacles.

"Who would have thought that this little Mayflower would be hiding such powerful and talented people, with three immortal masters by Wang family's side?"

Madam Wang's face turned pale. When she saw the heads of Liu Zhen's two brothers, which had become the eyes of this monstrous dragon of flesh and blood, she immediately understood what had happened. But she dared not speak. She was just an ordinary person. No matter how powerful an ordinary person was, an immortal could easily kill them with a little magic, incantation, or chanting.

The Master of Ceremonies had already fainted from shock, seemingly from extreme fright. He rolled onto a pile of books, foaming at the mouth and with his eyes rolled back.

Wen Bucai, on the other hand, had a hunched back and was always ready to unleash his spiritual power to fight the enemy.

In contrast, Victor "Lady" retrieved an erhu (a two-stringed bowed instrument) from the side of the collection, proving herself to be a truly multi-talented elderly artist, and immediately began to play music—

--This illogical and pretentious behavior aroused Yellow Dragon Immortal's suspicion.

It wasn't that Teacher Victor had gone mad at the last minute; as the intense and uplifting melody played, Jack Martin, who had been hiding in the shadows, revealed himself and returned to his normal form.

"I know, I know."

Victor gripped the bow, pouting with a displeased expression.

"I'm boosting morale."

Jack: "Don't explain, I understand."

These two foreigners had no intention of reasoning with Yellow Dragon Immortal; on the contrary, Wen Bucai was very interested in this giant reptile.

"Hey, what are you?"

Yellow Dragon Immortal was already drenched in sweat. He didn't want to fight three immortals with the strength of the "Transformation God Stage" at the same time. In the Great Xia, a Qi cultivator who possessed a Soul Might, an external avatar, was a True Person of the "Nascent Soul Stage". His previous boast of being "invincible under heaven" was also in the hope that these three immortals would back down.

Wen Bucai continued, "What grudge do you have against this Mrs. Wang?"

The clay statue of Yellow Dragon Immortal said, "This humble Daoist is doing this for money."

"Nonsense!" Wang family roared, "Mr. Vincent! This is the Yellow Dragon Immortal that my husband obtained from the Judas Priest. He is the guardian spirit of our family! I never expected that these Liu Brothers would use him to kill me! This is not a guardian spirit! This is a demon that will kill my whole family! You must help me!"

"Don't talk nonsense." Yellow Dragon Immortal scratched his head, puzzled, between the Blood Dragon's lips and teeth. "Don't slander me in front of fellow Daoists and damage my reputation."

"And"

Yellow Dragon Immortal abruptly changed his tone, his voice suddenly becoming sinister, terrifying, and full of malevolence.

"Your life is in the hands of a few fellow Daoists, you dog! The fact that I'm even sitting in your ancestral temple is already giving the Liu family face!"

The next second, the Yellow Dragon Immortal turned to Wen Bucai in a friendly manner.

"Fellow Daoist, could you do me a favor? Our Xia Bang has been a land of etiquette since ancient times, with thousands of years of cultural heritage."

"That dog-like person can't be considered human anymore, after all, there is a difference between immortals and mortals. This Wang family is ultimately just a mortal. Her family has a guilty conscience and can't get over their inner demons. I call this a calamity. It's just a pity for that Commander Liu. He was originally a family of devout believers, but unfortunately, they were blinded by money and worldly things. We monks only talk about having a clear mind."

"I am indeed the guardian of the Liu family. If my family asks me to do something, I must do it. If you are willing to make many friends and give the Wang family to me, I will surely repay you handsomely in the future."

"Immortals, as you all know, this clay avatar of mine is merely a puppet; my flesh and true essence are not here. Even if we were to fight, it wouldn't harm my very being or my life. There's no need to get angry with me over a bitch, is there? You should walk your path more broadly."

"What do you all think? Isn't that the truth?"