第30章 此人的忧郁程度,在我之上.

The ghost bride's hand slowly raised.

Her fingers were very pale, but the next second, those hands suddenly turned into claws.

Ten fingernails grew at a speed visible to the naked eye, long and sharp.

Tang San's scalp tingled.

Without overthinking, he summoned the Clear Sky Hammer and held it horizontally before his chest.

The red figure laughed heh-heh, lunging at him.

The wind of the claws arrived first, and Tang San raised his hammer to block.

Those claws scraped against the hammer's surface, unexpectedly emitting an extremely harsh metallic sound.

Sparks flew in all directions.

Tang San's entire body was forced to lean backward under the pressure, the grass and soil beneath his feet turning up.

He clenched his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, his hammer not retreating an inch.

Yet that red figure drifted far too fast, one claw following another.

Tang San blocked left and parried right, the wind of his hammer overturning all the surrounding grass, yet he somehow could not strike her body at all.

Every single collision felt like smashing against steel, both cold and hard.

"Tang San, aren't you the best at catching flaws?"

The red figure pressed against his ear, laughing again. "My flaw is right behind you, you see."

Tang San's heart chilled, and just as he prepared to turn around, a fishy wind struck his back.

Bang!

The large serpent's tail swept horizontally across, striking him squarely in the lower back.

Tang San's entire body flew out like a kite with a broken string for seven or eight paces, crashing against a tree root before rolling another half-circle, only then using his hammer to prop up his body.

"Third Brother!" Big Sis Xiao Wu screamed in alarm.

Tang San did not immediately climb up; he knelt on one knee upon the ground, his hand slowly groping toward his lower back.

No blood, no wounds, not even his clothes were torn? The blow just now had been so heavy he thought his lumbar vertebrae were going to snap.

Yet at this moment, there was not the slightest injury there, and it did not even hurt anymore.

Tang San was puzzled, and then Tang San was enlightened!

So that was how it was, this entire thing was ultimately an illusion! Oh, Luo Yan, Luo Yan, you are ultimately a move behind after all.

Leaning on the Clear Sky Hammer, he slowly stood up, and the morning light shone from behind him, tracing the silhouette of his entire body until it glowed.

He no longer dodged, nor did he look at the large serpent. Raising his head, he watched the red figure drifting toward him head-on, unexpectedly smiling even deeper.

He stood straight as a ramrod, his hands hanging naturally at his sides, even putting away the Clear Sky Hammer.

The red figure drifted straight toward Tang San, her red skirt fluttering with a rustling sound. Xiao Wu shouted from behind, "Third Brother! What are you doing? Hurry up and dodge!"

Tang San did not dodge; he even closed his eyes.

Luo Yan, your attack is fa—

Slap!

An extremely loud and crisp sound of a slap landed solidly across his left cheek.

Tang San's entire body was tilted to the side by the blow, his vision turning pitch-black with a buzz, his foot tripping, and he almost tumbled into the grass.

There were countless birds crying in his head, his cheek burning hot and swelling up. Holding his face, he failed to recover his wits for a long time.

The ghost bride still stood before him, her hand suspended in mid-air, somewhat stunned as well. The large serpent stopped spitting its forked tongue, and Xiao Wu stood with her mouth wide open in sheer disbelief.

Third Brother... had become a fool?!

In the shadows, Luo Yan was dumbfounded as well.

He sat cross-legged in the fog, still pinching a pebble in his hand.

Seeing this scene, he immediately pushed his mask up onto his forehead. "Bro, buddy? You didn't even bother to dodge? What's the meaning of this? Are you provoking me?"

Tang San slowly turned his head back, a red handprint on his face swelling at a speed visible to the naked eye.

His gaze was vacant, his bewildered expression hitting maximum standards.

"You..." he muttered. "Aren't you supposed to be fake?"

"When did I ever say it was fake?"

Luo Yan's voice drifted out from the fog, carrying an unconcealable bewilderment. "My cultivation is limited, and I can't actually hurt you guys, so naturally I exercised some restraint, but you didn't have to just stand there without dodging! Are you out of your mind?!"

Xiao Wu finally snapped back to her senses, rushing over, torn between anger and laughter. "Third Brother, you big dummy! Who just offers up their face like that!"

Tang San covered his face, the red print extending from his cheekbone all the way to his earlobe, burning hot and swollen.

He knelt on one knee in the grass, his mind repeating a single sentence back and forth: How the hell could this be real?

Xiao Wu had already run to his side, squatting down to look at him.

She first wanted to laugh, but then felt her own Third Brother was truly too miserable, leaving her with no choice but to bite her lower lip, her shoulders shaking. "Third Brother... are, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Tang San spoke, his voice somewhat wooden.

He slowly raised his head, the five fingerprints on his left cheek shockingly clear.

"You call that fine!"

Xiao Wu finally failed to hold it in. "You've been slapped until your face looks like a monkey's ass!"

"I..." Tang San opened his mouth, as if wanting to argue, but when the corners of his lips pulled, the pain made him hiss.

The force of that slap hadn't been heavy, but its merit lay in how crisp and proper it was, just like a public execution.

In the fog, Luo Yan pulled his mask back down, but the exposed eye had already curved into a slit.

"San'er, it's not that I'm talking about you, but with that 'I see through everything' look you had just now, I thought you were about to unleash an ultimate move."

As he spoke, he slowly walked out from behind the slope, still twirling the pebble in his hand. "Instead, you raised your chin and closed your eyes. Even my creation was stunned—did you know she couldn't even pull her hand back in time?"

"Cut the crap!"

Xiao Wu turned her head to glare at him. "You were clearly doing it on purpose! And you say she couldn't stop! You probably even calculated where she was going to hit!"

"Heaven and earth bear witness."

Luo Yan raised both hands. "I really didn't plan on hitting his face back then; my original plan was to pat his shoulder. Who knew Third Brother would stand so straight, and so... fearlessly? That slap went looking for him on its own."

The ghost bride drifted to Luo Yan's side with a wronged expression, lowering her head and twisting her fingers.

Her wedding robe, dark red in color, fluttered gently in the morning breeze, the hem of her skirt hovering above the ground. The red figure who moments ago possessed claws like knives and almost slapped Tang San's face away now looked rather like a little girl who had done something wrong.

Every now and then she raised her eyes to look at Tang San, only to quickly lower them again, her cuffs twisted into a hemp rope by her own hands.

"I didn't do it on purpose..."

She said softly, her voice thin and gentle. "It was him... he leaned in himself..."

Xiao Wu's eyes widened. "You can talk too?! Weren't you quite fierce just now! What are you acting all pitiful for now?"

The ghost bride shrank her neck, hiding behind Luo Yan.

Luo Yan gave a dry laugh, raising a hand to make a gesture indicating he would handle it. "Alright, alright, calm down. This creation of mine has a bit of a temper."

"It's her first time coming out, so she's bound to be excited. San'er, truly don't blame her. With that closed-eye look of yours, who wouldn't be confused looking at it? She even thought you were going to kiss her."

"Luo Yan!" Tang San and Xiao Wu roared simultaneously.

Luo Yan squatted down with a whoosh, pulling the ghost bride down to shield himself in front. "Don't hit, don't hit! Big Sis Xiao Wu! She's still young! Only a year old!"

"A year old?"

Tang San covered his face, laughing out of extreme anger. "With a single claw strike just now, she even scraped spark out of my Clear Sky Hammer! You're telling me she's a year old?!"

"She hasn't been born for very long, see~" Luo Yan said with a cheeky smile, waving his hand casually as the mist slowly dispersed.

The morning light fell once more, illuminating the back mountain with warmth.

The large dark-gray serpent no longer arched its body either.

Sliding against the grass, it slowly crawled to Luo Yan's side.

Then, it nudged Luo Yan's hand with its head.

The movement was very light. Luo Yan smiled, reaching out to stroke its head.

The serpent scales resembled paper, yet carried a trace of extremely faint warmth. It rubbed against his palm like a large creature that had suddenly become very well-behaved.

Both Tang San and Xiao Wu stared in a daze.

"It... is also made by you?" Xiao Wu asked, her voice lowered as if afraid of startling the serpent.

"Yeah, made today." Luo Yan nodded, petting it a couple more times. "It doesn't bite people, at least not right now."

Tang San squatted down, staring at the serpent for a moment. The serpent "looked" back at him, its grayish pupils resembling two thin mists—neither fierce nor evasive.

"What on earth is your second spirit skill?" Tang San asked.

Luo Yan didn't answer immediately. He moved his hand away from the serpent's head, whereupon the serpent slowly coiled up. "Floating Life Like a Dream. Simply put, it's collecting emotions, and then using those emotions to create things."

"Emotions?" Xiao Wu blinked.

"Right. When people laugh, when they're afraid, when they cry, when they jump up and down in anger—these emotions get absorbed by me."

Luo Yan said, spreading his hands, his palms seemingly holding a trace of unscattered gray. "The more I absorb, the more real the things I can create become. Serpents, brides, paper dolls—they all come about this way."

Tang San was silent for a moment. "So, the more you make people afraid, the more lifelike your serpent becomes?"

"Pretty much."

Luo Yan smiled. "Though it's not just fear; laughter works too, the louder the better, which is why I always like to stir up trouble."

Xiao Wu was at a loss for words. "Your spirit skill is so rule-breaking."

Luo Yan shrugged his shoulders, turning to signal as the ghost bride and large serpent "dove into" the purple soul ring.

"Actually, it's fine. Throughout my life, I may seem unconstrained and easygoing, but in truth, I am cautious at every step."

"Lacking numbers that break the charts like you guys do, I only have this utterly ordinary ability..."

Sigh!

Luo Yan placed his hands behind his back, raising his head at a 45-degree angle, his gaze filled with melancholy.

Tang San and Xiao Wu: ...