Sci-fi Supernatural → gashuw

The crowd of imperial guards responded thunderously. More than a hundred armored soldiers drew their sabers and gave chase, while the remaining personnel set up bows and aimed at the two fleeing figures.

The one guarding the rear, Zhao Shun, suddenly turned around, spread his hands, and abruptly clapped them together in front of his chest.

"Clap!"

In the crisp and loud sound of the clap, two water dragons once again surged from the artificial lake in the distance, but their targets were not the imperial guards, but the two escapees.

The water dragons twisted and danced, colliding above the heads of the two fatuous rulers, transforming into a torrential downpour.

The rain blurred vision, causing some archers to loosen their bowstrings. Those who persisted in shooting were completely inaccurate due to the double obstruction of the night and the rain.

Zhang Yuanqing and Consort Wan took the opportunity to pass through luxurious pavilions, climb over artificial hills, leap over white jade balustrades, and played parkour in the vast palace, fleeing towards the south gate.

"咻!"

An arrow coated with kerosene, burning fiercely, shot from afar.

As it approached Zhang Yuanqing and the others, the flames suddenly expanded. Consort Wan turned her head and spat out a mouthful of water arrows, extinguishing the expanding flames.

In the distance, the level 6 Fire Fiend had just ignited flames on his body before they were hastily extinguished.

The Fire Manipulation failed.

"咻咻..." The sharp whistling sound of something cutting through the air came again. Two three-inch-long small swords, under the cover of the night, pierced Consort Wan's back, splashing a spray of water, and went straight for Zhang Yuanqing.

The wide and plump Consort Wan groaned softly, feeling a splitting headache, as if needles were piercing her skull. Although the Water Spirit Technique she practiced could ignore physical damage, she knew that well-known swordsmen of the pugilistic world could condense sword intent to simultaneously cleave the flesh and the primordial spirit.

She staggered, and despite the splitting headache, she still reached out to block the flying swords, preventing them from attacking His Majesty at all costs.

Even she could barely withstand it, let alone His Majesty!

But how could her speed surpass the flying swords? She could only watch helplessly as His Majesty faced danger.

At that critical moment, Zhang Yuanqing threw himself to the side and disappeared.

The two three-inch flying swords rapidly circled in the air, losing their target.

Seeing this, Consort Wan breathed a sigh of relief, stopped running, and turned to face the swordsman who was chasing after her on a flying sword.

She pulled a black soft whip from her sleeve, swung her arm, and lashed it towards the lightly armored swordsman with a "snap," but it was easily dodged by the opponent who possessed Clairvoyance.

Consort Wan gently flicked her wrist, and the soft whip instantly bifurcated, one becoming two, two becoming four, four becoming eight... Instantly, thirty-two soft whips materialized, baring their fangs and claws, covering the sky.

"Pa pa pa..."

Crisp striking sounds rang out continuously.

Flying with a sword was not as agile as being on land after all. The middle-aged swordsman was struck by a whip, instantly leaving his skin torn and flesh ripped. Then, with the entanglement and pull of the soft whip, he fell from the sky.

Consort Wan "thump thump" rushed forward wildly, like a chariot charging towards the middle-aged swordsman. The black light around her body rotated, like a vortex, frantically absorbing the moisture in the air.

With the distance between the two sides less than ten meters, the middle-aged swordsman immediately felt his mouth dry and his cheeks wrinkled. The flesh and blood on his arms began to wither. In just a few seconds, his body was stripped of sixty percent of its moisture.

The middle-aged swordsman's expression sank, and he fought Consort Wan with his sword. However, the swordsman's proud sword energy and close combat skills were meaningless in the face of the Water Ghost's passive ability.

In the Five Elements of mutual generation and overcoming, Metal generates Water. In terms of spiritual energy, Water is higher than Metal. Therefore, the swordsman had almost no advantage in fighting a Plague God.

Although he wouldn't be restrained, there was absolutely no chance of winning.

Fortunately, the Fire Fiend who had failed to use Fire Manipulation earlier arrived. This person had a face full of stubble, tiger eyes, a square face, and his brows and eyes seemed to be filled with irascibility.

The Fire Fiend rushed over, squeezed a fireball radiating scorching heat in his palm, and slammed it towards Consort Wan.

"Boom!"

The fireball exploded, and the expanding flames illuminated the darkness. Consort Wan was blasted away.

The Fire Fiend general ran wildly, and the refined iron long saber stirred up flowing flames, turning into a blazing flame saber, and cleaved down with force.

Consort Wan dodged to the side, passing by the blade. The flames on the refined iron long saber spewed out and splashed onto the ground.

Taking advantage of this woman being held back, the middle-aged swordsman stepped on his sword again and flew up, standing in the air, overlooking the area below. Two pale beams of light shot out from his eye sockets, sweeping across the surroundings.

The next second, two swirling and dancing flying swords seemed to lock onto something, turned a corner, and shot towards the distance.

"Puff!"

Wherever the two flying swords passed, water splashed, and a figure fell out, pressing his head and staggering.

It was Zhang Yuanqing.

Damn it... Zhang Yuanqing's face twitched in pain. Although the Yin-Yang Robe granted him the Water Ghost ability to avoid physical attacks, the Shocking Force contained in the flying swords still stung his spiritual body.

When swordsmen reached level 6, their passive skill Shocking Force would undergo a substantial leap, allowing it to be integrated into weapons like sword energy, dealing considerable damage to the target's soul.

Fortunately, although he was in the Extraordinary stage, Night Watchers and Illusionists were known for their strong spiritual bodies, so he was able to withstand it. If it were an Extraordinary of another profession, their primordial spirit would have been greatly damaged and they would have fallen unconscious.

The middle-aged swordsman gave a light "Eh" sound, "I didn't expect that His Majesty, who indulges in pleasure, would have such cultivation."

With sword energy guiding them, the two flying swords changed direction and shot again.

In that instant, Zhang Yuanqing reviewed all the Extraordinary-level items in his inventory and gang warehouse, and sadly discovered that after sending out the Red Dancing Shoes, there was not a single item at the Extraordinary level that could support him in avoiding a level 6 attack.

The level difference was too great.

Just like how a level 6 swordsman's Clairvoyance could easily see through Night Roaming, it was also because of the difference in power level. Under the same level, Clairvoyance would not be able to see invisible Night Roamers.

Swordsmen had unyielding will, so illusions, enchantments, and charms would not work. As for strong control, it was a fantasy to control a level 6 swordsman with Extraordinary-level items... Zhang Yuanqing's brain turned quickly, and he immediately grabbed two Earth Monster profession items.

One was a mud puppet, and the other was a yellow mud shield.

At the same time, he raised his head and let out a high-pitched howl towards the night sky.

In the pitch-black night sky, a bright and clear moonlight suddenly descended, shining on him.

Moon Howl!

He used the long-idle Night Roamer exclusive "Burst" skill, gaining double the attributes.

"Bang! Bang!"

The spherical barrier formed by the mud puppet shattered, the yellow mud shield shattered, and Zhang Yuanqing displayed extraordinary agility and reaction speed, avoiding the two flying swords that were as fast as lightning.

With the blessing of Moon Howl, Zhang Yuanqing's strength soared, but he still had no intention of fighting. Just as he was about to use Night Roaming to escape, his forehead suddenly became hot, his breathing became scorching, his limbs became weak, and he coughed violently.

Damn it, damn it, it's germs... Zhang Yuanqing looked around, not seeing the Plague God spreading germs. Instead, the middle-aged swordsman was guiding his flying swords to attack again.

"Your Majesty..." Consort Wan exclaimed, enduring a slash from the Fire Fiend, disengaging from the battle, and desperately flinging her soft whip.

With two crisp snaps, the flying swords were whipped away.

Consort Wan ran over with a "thump thump," waving her arms and swinging her soft whip, trying to entangle the dehydrated swordsman.

But the same trick didn't work on the swordsman. The middle-aged swordsman immediately controlled his sword to rise higher, easily dodging the entanglement of the soft whip.

While the blessing of Moon Howl was still in effect, Zhang Yuanqing used Night Roaming again, concealing his figure, and then turned around and returned to the Summer Palace the way he came.

The Fire Fiend general looked at the swordsman high above, turned his head, and said loudly:

"Water Monkey, bring down the rain!"

Rainwater could outline the invisible Night Roamer.

Hearing this, a resolute look flashed in Consort Wan's eyes. She charged towards the Fire Fiend general in a suicidal manner. The latter immediately made the refined iron long saber burn with raging flames and slashed at Consort Wan.

Consort Wan tilted her head to avoid the blade, letting it cut into her body, raising dense steam.

She backhanded the Fire Fiend general's arm, black light rolled around her body, frantically grabbing all the moisture in the surrounding area.

The rain did not fall, because that would give the fatuous ruler's death squad a continuous Water Spirit blessing.

The Plague God called Water Monkey and the swordsman in the high altitude chased after him towards the palace gate.

The Fire Fiend general retracted his gaze with relief, gave a "Heh" sound, and molten lava-like liquid flowed from his pores. His facial features and flesh all turned into molten lava, like a variant crawling out of a volcano.

The Fire Fiend's passive skill - Lava Body.

Lava Body allowed the Fire Fiend to temporarily become non-human, bringing stronger fire control and flame resistance, mainly used for fighting in fire seas and lava.

Lava Body basically had no moisture, which could perfectly avoid the Plague God's moisture deprivation ability.

The Fire Fiend, transformed into a lava monster, backhanded Consort Wan, and said with a "Heh" sound, "Form the formation!"

At this time, a hundred armored soldiers had arrived, and a squad of imperial guards wearing heavy armor stepped out of the formation, knelt on one knee, and pressed their palms on the ground.

"Rumble"

The ground paved with bluestone tiles cracked, and rammed earth walls rose from the ground, sealing Consort Wan and the Fire Fiend general inside.

The next second, surging flames filled the narrow space formed by the rammed earth walls, and scarlet flame streams spewed out from the cracks in the earth walls, like high-pressure flamethrowers.

Zhang Yuanqing, who was far away, suddenly stopped and looked at the rammed earth walls.

Flames and yellow earth happened to restrain the Plague God's passive ability. Consort Wan couldn't escape. She would be steamed dry by the flames.

"Your, Your Majesty, that question you asked me..." Consort Wan's voice, barely audible amid the pain, came from the cracks in the rammed earth walls: "It was Zheng Xiang who did it, it was Zheng Xiang who did it... This, this servant, is going to see the Empress Dowager..."

The voice stopped abruptly.

At the end, she said "this servant" instead of "your concubine."

Zhang Yuanqing withdrew his gaze and continued to run wildly towards the Summer Palace, his face indifferent and without a trace of expression, and flames seemed to be burning in his deep eyes.

He ran wildly all the way, brushing past the surrounding imperial guards, climbed over the white jade carved railings, passed over luxurious pavilions, and soon returned to the ruined Summer Palace and plunged into the lake.

Wearing a Yin-Yang cloak, he was like an underwater torpedo, stirring up dense bubbles, rushed into the bottom of the lake, sensed the undercurrents at the bottom of the lake, and then found an underground dark river passage with a diameter of less than half a meter in the accumulated silt.

Zhang Yuanqing turned his body into flowing water and drilled into the passage.

South of the capital city, a one-zhang-wide stream flowed quietly. The riverbank was lined with white-walled and black-tiled houses, interspersed with delicate brick and wood buildings. Stone arch bridges covered with moss stood quietly in the moonlight.

On the calm river, there was a sudden "splash" of water, and a figure emerged from the water.

He was wearing a bright yellow casual dress, his long hair was wet and disheveled, his face was as pale as paper, and he swam laboriously towards the shore.

At a distance of one or two meters, he swam for a long time before climbing onto the platform where women were washing clothes. He seemed to have exhausted all his strength, lying on his back and breathing heavily, coughing from time to time.

Trembling, he grabbed a porcelain bottle from the void, pulled out the wooden stopper, swallowed the pills inside, and his pale face finally regained some color.

Zhang Yuanqing was in very poor condition now. The backlash after Moon Howl ended and the erosion of germs were both devouring his life.

Although the pills he took could cure diseases, they were of Extraordinary quality. This could only relieve the germs of a level 6 Plague God and could not cure them.

"Gang Leader?"

A happy cry came from the shore, and two black figures, one tall and one short, approached quickly.

It was Jiang Jingwei and Queen, who had also escaped from the palace with the help of the underground dark river.

They had sneaked along the underground dark river for a long time, and after emerging from the water, they found that they had left the palace and arrived here, and then had been hiding in the alley waiting for Zhang Yuanqing.

Zhang Yuanqing turned his head and looked at the two people on the shore, grinned and said, "Come and carry me, I have no strength."

Queen volunteered and ran down the stone steps. She first carefully checked Zhang Yuanqing's body, and seeing that there were no fatal external injuries, she breathed a sigh of relief. While princess-carrying him, she said:

"Gang Leader, what's wrong with you?"

"I was infected with the Plague God's germs," Zhang Yuanqing said with a wry smile.

"Take medicine, take medicine." Jiang Jingwei said anxiously.

"Extraordinary-quality pills are useless even if I take them." Queen carried Zhang Yuanqing and walked quickly on the stone-paved riverside path, sometimes drilling into the alley, sometimes passing through the street.

A quarter of an hour later, they chose a house with a patio and sneaked in.

Queen used the hypnotic props given by Zhang Yuanqing to hypnotize the head of the household, so that the middle-aged couple sincerely believed that the three were their nephews and nieces who came to the capital to join them.

The nephews and nieces had traveled a long distance, and were tired and hungry, and had to eat a hot meal before going to sleep.

The head of the household arranged them in the guest room, and urged his wife to go to the kitchen to cook.

Soon, the woman brought three bowls of rice, a plate of vegetarian dishes, and a plate of bacon into the house.

"Auntie, you go to sleep first, we will clean up by ourselves after we finish eating." Queen took the bowls and chopsticks with a sweet smile.

"This disease looks serious, nephew. Let your uncle take you to the Immortal Medicine Shop to see a doctor tomorrow. The National Master's medicine can cure all diseases." When the woman said this, she was full of the pride of the people in the capital and the praise for the Immortal Medicine Shop.

"Immortal Medicine Shop?" Jiang Jingwei's mouth was faster than her brain: "Is that the pharmacy opened by the big boss?"

The woman was confused when she heard the words: "What is a big boss?"

Queen said sadly: "Er Ya is sick again, you don't have to pay attention to her, she has been foolish since she was a child and often talks nonsense."

The woman, who was deeply hypnotized, sighed:

"She is also a poor child."

(End of this chapter)

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