The appearance of this "fire dragon" brought an astonishing surge of power. The garden, soaked by the heavy rain, was almost instantly steamed dry by its heat.
The ghost, Daoist Xue's primary target, naturally bore the brunt of the attack. The fire dragon struck it head-on.
"Roooar-"
The fire dragon's voice was less a roar of its own than the howl of flames swept along by the wind.
Boom.
The entire garden shook, and then the ghost's shrill screams ceased.
The fire dragon circled the garden several times. When Daoist Xue staggered and fell to his knees, the fire dragon formed by the burning talisman dissipated as well.
Whoosh, whoosh.
Even as the fire dragon vanished, it stirred up a hot wind that sent the already unsteady Daoist Xue toppling backward. He barely managed to turn sideways and brace himself against the ground.
Chief Constable Zhong, carrying Liu Shi on his back, had not yet managed to escape the County Office. Now he stared blankly at everything in the courtyard. Qiao'er in the room over there, along with the few bailiffs who were still conscious, was equally dazed.
The rain had long since stopped. Although the golden rooster's heralding of dawn had not truly summoned the sun, a bright moon now hung high in the sky.
Daoist Xue panted rather heavily. Even he found what had just happened hard to believe, but he had no time to stand there in a daze. He immediately surveyed his surroundings.
Before Daoist Xue could do anything more, however, dizziness swept over him again. This time he truly could not withstand it. He fell onto his back and passed out.
Chief Constable Zhong finally snapped out of his stupor. Seeing Daoist Xue collapse, he could not help calling out, and the others beside him