Terrifying blade light poured down like a rainstorm onto the fat body. Flesh and blood flew everywhere, and in the blink of an eye, the entire body had been hacked to pieces.
The commotion naturally drew the trembling gazes of the people huddled in the corner. It was the first time these apprentices had ever seen Jiang Feng like this.
Fierce in strength, looking like a madman—he was nothing like the punching bag who could be bullied by anyone at the Medicine Hall.
They could hardly imagine that the terrifying figure they had been provoking all this time was the very same person. If he had ever wanted them dead, they would never have lived to see today; weeds would already be growing two yards high over their graves.
At this critical moment, when life and death hung by a thread, the same thought arose in everyone's heart: could they rely on Jiang Feng's protection to survive this evil spirit's attack?
In an instant, hope for survival shone in everyone's eyes, and they edged toward where Jiang Feng stood.
After a flurry of sharp blade light, Fan Qingyang on the ground had been hacked beyond recognition. Only then did Jiang Feng stop.
He let out a long breath, then muttered under his breath:
This should make it impossible for him to recover, right?
Before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, Ma Liu came hurrying toward him with two or three others. Their faces were full of relief at having survived the disaster:
"Great, Jiang Feng! I had no idea you were this strong. You have to help us! This evil spirit is terrifying. It's already taken control of several people's bodies!"
As they spoke, the men tried to circle around behind Jiang Feng. It was obvious they meant to shove him to the front and have him take the hit for them.
But before they could get close, a Ghost-Head Blade blocked their way.
Jiang Feng's gaze was colder than the blade's edge. "I'm warning you. You'd better not come near me. Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless."
Seeing the blade, still smeared with scraps of flesh and blood, the men froze in place, unable to advance or retreat.
In the end, Ma Liu steeled himself and stepped forward, forcing a smile uglier than a grimace:
"Jiang Feng, things got a little unpleasant between us this morning, but at the end of the day, it was just a squabble between brothers. Now that we're facing this evil spirit, we have to stand together and help each other out, right?"
Jiang Feng gave a cold laugh, his gaze sweeping over Ma Liu's obsequious face.
"Just a little unpleasantness? Have you forgotten how you took turns mocking me on the way here?
"Just now, you even egged Fan Qingyang on to beat me half to death. Those words had barely left your mouths, and you've already forgotten them?
"Besides, I told you not to open the door from the start. Did any of you listen? And now you want my help? What makes you think you have the nerve?"
Jiang Feng's words were like a resounding slap across their faces, leaving them burning with shame.
But with danger closing in, they could no longer afford to care about saving face.
Ma Liu put on a pitiful expression and pleaded:
"Jiang Feng, people aren't grass or trees; who can go through life without making mistakes? We know we were wrong. Since you're so capable, please protect us... Once we get back to the Medicine Hall, we'll accept you as our boss and follow you wholeheartedly. What do you say?"
The apprentices beside him nodded frantically in agreement, their voices thick with tears:
"That's right, that's right! From now on, you'll be our new boss. We'll follow your lead!"
They had said every flattering thing they could think of, but Jiang Feng's blade never moved an inch.
He liked hearing flattery, but he didn't believe a single word of this nonsense meant to fool a ghost.
Besides, every one of these men had come into contact with the evil spirit. Protecting them wouldn't just mean taking a few burdens along; it would be like strapping time bombs to himself. Who knew when one of them might stab him in the back with a deadly counterattack?
As the people controlled by the evil spirit drew closer and closer, Ma Liu steeled himself. His teeth ground together, and he strode straight toward Jiang Feng's blade point.
He was betting that Jiang Feng was all bark and no bite, that he wouldn't dare actually strike.
But in the next instant, a flash of silver streaked past, and Ma Liu suddenly found himself flying.
He saw the ground growing farther and farther away, and his body drifting farther and farther away from him. Only then did he realize that he wasn't flying—his head was.
Jiang Feng hadn't just been talking. He really dared to strike!
At the sight of Ma Liu's headless body collapsing to the ground, the apprentices nearby went deathly pale. They forgot all about begging for help and turned to scramble toward the other end of the warehouse.
Just then, that strange, neither-male-nor-female voice rang out of nowhere again, echoing through the warehouse in a cackling fit:
"Ke ke ke, kid, you're one cautious fellow. They begged you like that, and you didn't feel the slightest bit of pity?"
As soon as the voice fell, strands of black thread began crawling out of Fan Qingyang's and Ma Liu's mangled bodies, one after another.
The threads writhed and twisted through the air like living things, then gathered into the vague outline of a human figure. The moment it appeared, every sound in the warehouse abruptly stopped.
The people who had been attacking everything around them like madmen halted in their tracks. Those who had been fleeing in every direction and screaming fell utterly silent. Even the corpses lying on the ground in gruesome death slowly rose, one after another.
With vacant expressions, like walking corpses, they moved step by step toward the black figure of their own accord.
Seeing this scene, how could Jiang Feng fail to understand? Everything that had happened before had been staged by the evil spirit.
Its goal was to make those people come into contact with it, so it could assimilate and control him as well.
He was immensely grateful he hadn't shown even the slightest bit of misplaced sympathy. Otherwise, the situation would have already become impossible to salvage.
"Ke ke ke, kid, I advise you to stop resisting. There's nothing wrong with becoming a part of me.
"Besides, this is the easiest way for you to die. You wouldn't want to know the cruel methods I've used on those who stubbornly resisted."
"Hmph. Evil spirits sure do talk a lot, don't they?"
Jiang Feng gave a cold laugh and drove the Exquisite Breathing Method to its limit. His blood and qi surged like angry waves, reaching their peak in an instant. The blade of the Ghost-Head Blade in his hand had quietly taken on a dazzling layer of scarlet.
"Today, I'm going to find out if an evil spirit can be killed with a blade!"
Before the words had even left his mouth, his figure vanished from the spot. He became a crimson afterimage and charged fiercely toward the black figure.
"Hm? Blood and qi manifesting externally?!
"Aren't these people supposed to be just apprentices from the Benevolent Heart Medicine Hall? How can one of them be at the seventh level of the Blood-Moving Realm? And the concentration of his blood and qi is far too powerful."
Feeling the formidable blood and qi bursting from Jiang Feng's body, the black figure was clearly startled. Even its tone changed.
It gave a slight wave of its hand, and the people around it, their expressions vacant and their bodies like walking corpses, all lunged at Jiang Feng.
Jiang Feng welcomed them all. He abruptly assumed the stance of the Iron Stake Technique and charged straight into the crowd.
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