Riding the Wind with a Sword

Chapter 5: Riding the Wind with a Sword

The scream carried a long way. So close to it, Li Wei's ears throbbed with pain.

The coals were scorching hot. Within seconds, Li Wei had suffered extensive burns. He struggled free and began gasping for air, his nose and mouth caked in thick wood ash.

His rough cloth clothes had fused with his skin. The burns looked severe, though the places the female ghost had touched remained ice-cold.

In the pile of coals behind him, the female ghost writhed and screamed, her cries seeming to pierce his eardrums. She had clearly been badly hurt, but Li Wei knew the flames wouldn't kill her.

She had climbed out of the fire, too.

One glance at her made Li Wei shudder. The flames had burned away all her long black hair. Now she looked horrifying, her limbs splayed on the ground like a gecko as she glared at him.

Even worse, her once-pale skin was now streaked with bulging veins and an eerie, blood-red hue. She was no longer an insubstantial apparition. Now she was solid.

Li Wei hurriedly summoned the Yellow Paper. The information on it sent a chill down his spine.

"Lantern Ghost (Mutated, Tier Three), rated C+. A corporeal entity formed from the release of resentment after suffering fire damage. Though unable to use spirit-type attacks, its physical strength and resistance to physical damage are doubled."

How did things always end up going wrong?

Li Wei cursed his rotten luck. He was truly at the end of his rope now. His burns were so bad that even moving an arm seemed impossible. The tearing pain was more than an ordinary person could bear.

The only silver lining was that the shadows around him still hadn't come closer. But Li Wei knew they hadn't left.

It was like a lion hunting an antelope while a pack of hyenas waited nearby for scraps. The female ghost was the lion, the dozen or so shadows were the hyenas, and Li Wei was the unfortunate antelope.

The antelope was the weak one, and sooner or later the pack of predators would tear it to pieces. But Li Wei wouldn't let that happen.

He had come this far, and he was done holding back. Ignoring his burns and gritting his teeth against the pain, he threw himself at the female ghost, trying to shove her back into the fire.

Perhaps he had managed to tap into his potential. His charge struck with such force that he actually knocked her back into the flames.

But it felt as if every bone in his body had come loose. The dizziness from the impact sent Li Wei crashing to the ground. He glanced at the female ghost screaming in the fire and smiled.

So be it.

He had done everything he could. What he couldn't understand was why the Yellow Paper had assigned him such an absurdly difficult mission, one he couldn't possibly complete in his current condition.

Or was there something more to this mission?

Either way, with his severe burns, he couldn't complete it under the circumstances. Even if he hadn't been hurt, it would still have been impossible.

He should abandon the mission. Whatever happened, staying alive mattered most.

Just as Li Wei was about to summon the Yellow Paper and abort the mission, a scream interrupted his chaotic thoughts. It was filled with terror—and came from the Lantern Ghost, trapped in the sea of fire.

At some point, a long sword had pierced her and pinned her firmly in the flames. No matter how she struggled, she couldn't break free. Soon, her screams abruptly stopped, and silence fell. Only the crackling of the coals remained.

The flames gradually consumed the female ghost's body until she turned to scattered ashes. As she died, a lantern glowing with a blue light fell into the burned-out coals. Like a block of ice, it remained untouched by the flames around it.

Li Wei's eyes lit up at the sight of the lantern.

The sword that had slain the female ghost seemed to come alive. It rose into the air by itself, transformed into a streak of light, and landed in a clearing more than ten meters away.

Then a middle-aged Daoist in a blue robe, sporting a thin goatee, came down gently onto the sword's hilt, as light and carefree as a falling leaf.

His looks, however, left much to be desired.

His cheekbones jutted out, and he was certainly no handsome man. A large, red, bulbous nose ruined any trace of immortal elegance he might have had. If he hadn't been hovering in the air on a sword, no one would have believed that such a scruffy Daoist possessed such powers.

Li Wei was stunned.

He looked first at the ruined temple, now burned to the ground, then at the Daoist in blue. Who could have guessed that after being on the brink of disaster just moments ago, everything would change so drastically?

Under the open sky, with the moon rising over the willow tips, owls hooted now and then in the forest. A figure in blue moved through the woods along the mountain path like a specter.

Grimacing in pain, Li Wei lay across the Daoist's back. It was strange: Li Wei weighed at least seventy kilograms, yet the Daoist walked through the wilderness as if he were carrying a leaf, without the slightest hindrance.

"Hey, young man, what was that thing you went to such trouble to dig out of the fire? Can I have a look?" The Daoist in blue took a swig from his wine gourd, then burped. His relaxed expression did nothing to soften the wine breath that made Li Wei wrinkle his nose.

In Li Wei's arms was the quest item he had picked up after killing the female ghost: the Wraith Lantern. He had blistered both hands retrieving it, but at least the effort hadn't been wasted.

Li Wei didn't explain much in response to the Daoist's question. He hadn't expected to run into this disheveled Daoist at all; it had been entirely outside his plans. Still, an unexpected turn of events might also be an opportunity.

"Thank you for saving me, Daoist. If I hadn't run into you, I'd have ended up as a snack for those monsters!" Li Wei looked so weak he seemed liable to drop dead at any moment.

Judging by his injuries, Li Wei did look utterly wretched. His clothes were in tatters, and several parts of his body were badly burned. But after the old Daoist had massaged his back with his palm, a cool, tingling sensation had spread through him, easing the worst of the pain.

His life was clearly out of danger. Li Wei was grateful to those who helped him, and he had also guessed the old Daoist's identity.

After using the Yellow Paper to identify him, Li Wei was even more certain.

The old Daoist chuckled at Li Wei's words. "Slaying demons with my sword is what I do best. You're not half bad yourself, kid. You held your own against that female ghost for so long with nothing but a mortal's body. It's been ages since I met such a gutsy young fellow."

This was undoubtedly the Wine Sword Immortal, the one who would teach Li Xiaoyao the Sword Control Technique. Li Wei had never expected to meet him. Now, sitting on the back of this legendary figure, Li Wei's mind began racing.

His plan to burn down the Mountain God Temple had worked, though the process had been hair-raising. Luckily, he had encountered a game character who was absurdly powerful.

He had completed half of the mission to kill the female ghost. All he had to do now was return to the village before the deadline. With the Wine Sword Immortal's speed, that would be practically effortless.

What Li Wei didn't know was that his success on this mission had come down to pure luck.

If the female ghost and those shadows had caught him before the Wine Sword Immortal arrived... If he hadn't risked getting hurt to shove the female ghost into the fire, he would have died before the Wine Sword Immortal ever showed up.

Whenever he thought of the Wine Sword Immortal, the corners of Li Wei's mouth curled up. With such a powerful backer, he'd be a fool not to make good use of him.