The Battle of Bianliang

Bianliang had been ravaged beyond measure by an endless tide of Taotie, the death toll catastrophic—yet not a single corpse lay in the streets.

Xiao Hen raced across the rooftops, leaping from eave to eave, moving fast.

He knew the bodies of the people had all been devoured clean by the Taotie. Everywhere he looked, there was only rubble. The capital, Bianliang, had fallen completely.

Ooo!

A Taotie spotted Xiao Hen. With a guttural roar, its vocal organ at the back of its skull pulsed out a sound wave beyond human hearing. The wave rippled outward, and every nearby Taotie that caught it answered in kind, turning and charging toward him, encircling him for the kill.

"Looking for death!"

Xiao Hen spread his right hand, and a long rifle materialized in his grip. Without aiming, relying purely on instinct, he fired. Bang. The eye beneath the left armpit of a Taotie lunging from the opposite rooftop burst open, spraying green fluid. The beast crumpled and lay still—dead.

"Now that I know their weak point, these Taotie are no harder than zombies."

Rifle in hand, Xiao Hen vaulted from roof to roof, clearing building after building. As he neared the palace grounds, another wave of Taotie cut him off.

Ooo!

Ooo ooo...

This wave was terrifying in number. Xiao Hen looked up and made a rough count—several hundred Taotie had surrounded him.

"Several hundred. I've got enough ammo. No problem." He checked his reserves, then pulled out a machine gun with his left hand, swapping the rifle in his right for an even faster-firing model. Twin machine guns in hand, a cold smirk curled his lips. "Let's begin, Taotie. Time to feast on the banquet I've prepared for you!"

Rat-a-tat-tat...

Rat-a-tat-tat...

The guns roared at blistering speed—tens of thousands of rounds per minute. Under Xiao Hen's control, few bullets went to waste; most punched into the Taotie. One after another, they sprayed green blood, howled, and collapsed.

Ooo!

One Taotie finally broke through the hail of bullets. With a sudden lunge, it hurled itself at Xiao Hen, claws ready to tear him apart—only to find the machine gun in his right hand gone, replaced by a longsword.

Xiao Hen flicked his wrist. The blade became a flash of moonlight, there and gone. The charging Taotie split cleanly at the neck, its body crashing to the ground.

"Pathetic." His left hand never stopped firing. Amid the chattering gunfire, the several hundred Taotie were all wiped out.

Kicking aside a Taotie corpse blocking his path, Xiao Hen pressed on toward the palace. His eyes gleamed. "I wonder how strong the Taotie Guards are. And the King of Taotie himself..."

Before the palace hall, a ring of Taotie Guards surrounded the King of Taotie. Countless Taotie were feeding their king, while the Guards raised their protective wings overhead, shielding their sovereign as it ate.

One Taotie, its body wrapped in Black Powder, bit down on a mouthful of pork and charged into the circle, ready to feed its king.

Dozens of meters away, atop a tower, Lin Mei and William watched the scene below with tense faces.

"The Taotie are feeding. They won't attack now. Kill the Beast King—this is our last chance!"

Advisor Wang bellowed, raising his weapon to fend off approaching Taotie. Lin Mei and William gritted their teeth, made up their minds, and scrambled up the tower toward the roof.

"This window. Hurry—we have to hit it, ignite the Black Powder. This is our final chance." Lin Mei pressed her lips tight, her expression grim as she stared at the scene outside.

"Leave it to me." William stepped to the window, drew an arrow, and tied a torch to its shaft—the flame meant to ignite the Black Powder on the Taotie beside the Beast King.

"It has to hit. It has to!" Lin Mei prayed silently.

William focused, his mind calm. A glint flashed in his eyes. He released his right hand. The arrow left the bowstring like a streak of black light, shooting straight toward the Beast King—almost at the Black Powder. Almost.

But the Taotie Guards were keenly sensitive. Their protective formation was airtight, and they blocked the arrow mid-flight.

"Damn it!" William clenched his jaw in frustration. Lin Mei sighed inwardly, fists tight, glaring at the Beast King with bitter resentment.

The Beast King jerked its head up, fixing its savage gaze on the tower. The signaling organ atop its skull quivered. Every Taotie that received the message immediately converged on the tower, launching a frenzied assault to kill Lin Mei and William.

"No good!" Lin Mei's heart sank. She turned to William. "We keep going up. There's still a chance!"

"Right!" William nodded. "I will kill it. I will!"

"Go!"

They climbed higher, finally reaching the top floor.

At the top-floor window, both of them wore grim expressions. They knew this was the last chance. If they failed now, they would likely die in the jaws of the Taotie—and the entire Central Plains, even the whole world, would be devoured into extinction.

"Ready?" Lin Mei asked, her voice low.

"Ready." William nocked an arrow. A small flame flickered at its tip—a tiny spark that carried the hope of all humanity. In this moment, it meant everything.

"Now!" Lin Mei aimed and hurled the object in her hand—a magnet.

William clenched his teeth, his gaze locked below. He seized the opening and released his right hand. The arrow flew, guided by the magnet, streaking downward.

In the original story, at this critical juncture, the magnet played a vital role—freezing the Taotie Guards in place. The arrow slipped through the gap, piercing the protective ring. Even if the Taotie Beast King bit the arrow apart at the last second, it couldn't change the outcome.

But now, things were playing out a little differently from the film. Perhaps it had to do with Xiao Hen taking the green crystal from the Taotie's origin point. The King of Taotie seemed affected by some unknown influence, its perception of danger far more terrifying.

Before William's arrow even arrived, it had already ordered every Taotie Guard to tighten their defenses to an impenetrable degree.

The shot failed. The arrow struck with force, piercing the skull of one Taotie Guard. After a brief moment of stiffness, the Guard shook off the magnet's paralyzing effect and lunged forward.

Boom!

The explosive tied to the arrow detonated with a thunderous blast, shredding the Guard into chunks of meat.

Ooo!

The Taotie Beast King let out a furious roar, abandoning its meal and ordering all Taotie to besiege the tower where Lin Mei and William were holed up.

"It's over, completely over!" Lin Mei shook her head in despair, shooting William an angry glance.

William's face was equally bleak, but all he could say was, "I did my best."

"What do we do now?"

"There's no escape..."

On a distant rooftop, a figure suddenly appeared, glanced over in their direction, and muttered in confusion, "Huh? This doesn't match the original plot—William actually failed..."

"Is it because of me?"

"Perfect, King of Taotie, let me have a go at you!"

Xiao Hen locked eyes on the Taotie Beast King surrounded by Taotie Guards, pulled out the only sniper rifle from his Storage Space, and aimed it from afar at the tightly guarded beast. The crosshairs zeroed in on the Taotie Beast King through the gaps.

"Goodbye, Taotie Beast King!"

Xiao Hen squeezed the trigger. A golden bullet, traveling many times the speed of sound, blasted out of the chamber, tore through the air, and hurtled toward the Taotie Beast King with boundless force.

You know the drill... look at my eyes!