Chapter 37: Fire Dragon Exterminates Bugs

Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Fire Dragon Exterminates Bugs

"Boy, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll come back with us obediently. We might just keep you in one piece. Otherwise, we’ll have no choice but to break your limbs and cripple your cultivation. The master ordered us to spare your life, and that’s all that matters," one of the three masked Martial Artists sneered.

Fang Xu didn’t say a word. He slightly clenched his fists and charged straight at the leading Black-clothed Martial Artist!

"You’re courting death!"

"Cripple him!"

Seeing that Fang Xu dared to resist even after losing his weapon, the Black-clothed Martial Artist was clearly infuriated. The three of them immediately prepared to surround him, cripple him, and drag him back.

Fang Xu charged forward with his fists clenched, his speed blistering. Facing the blade chopping down at his head, he dodged to the side, bent his elbow, and stepped forward!

Single Sheep Peak!

The recoil of his step traveled up his calf into his hip bone, merged with the twisting power of his waist, and rapidly concentrated at the tip of his elbow!

Missing his strike, the targeted Black-clothed Martial Artist immediately raised his Horizontal Blade to block. But the moment the blade met the elbow, a terrifying force transmitted through the steel!

BANG!

The sturdy long blade was directly snapped by Fang Xu’s elbow. With its momentum unabated, his elbow slammed heavily into the Black-clothed Martial Artist’s chest!

CRACK!

Visibly, the Black-clothed Martial Artist’s chest caved in, and he spewed a mouthful of blood mixed with chunks of shattered internal organs!

Even when he was just a mortal with an ordinary body, a full-power strike of Single Sheep Peak was enough to instantly kill an average person. Now that he was a Martial Disciple, this strike—combining the power of the Eight Extremes Stepping Technique with 120 percent of his own strength—directly and severely injured a Martial Artist in the Sixth Realm!

The Black-clothed Martial Artist was sent flying nearly thirty feet by Fang Xu’s Single Sheep Peak. He smashed ruthlessly into the ground, his head lolling to the side. He lay completely still, his fate unknown.

The other two rushing Martial Artists froze at this sight. Their long blades were raised high, but they momentarily forgot to attack!

Seizing the opportunity, Fang Xu threw another punch, blasting one of the Martial Artists away with a straight jab. The remaining man finally snapped out of his daze, raised his blade, and slashed wildly at Fang Xu’s arm!

If this strike landed, Fang Xu’s arm would surely be severed. Just as the blade was about to hit, Fang Xu’s body twisted at a bizarre angle, allowing the edge to slice down right past his back!

The *Nine Ape Staff* encompassed both a Staff Technique and a Body Technique. Although he didn’t have a staff in hand, his Body Technique was completely unaffected.

Seeing his strike evaded, the Black-clothed Martial Artist immediately flipped his blade and launched a horizontal slash!

CLANG!

Fang Xu dodged again, evading the returning attack from the Martial Artist he had just blasted away. By stepping aside, he caused the two men’s attacks to collide and cancel each other out.

The two Black-clothed Martial Artists were enraged! Three dignified Martial Artists in the Sixth Realm had come to capture a kid who had just broken through to the Martial Disciple stage. Not only had they failed, but they had also lost a man to a counterkill! If news of this reached the Wu Family, they wouldn’t have the face to return!

The two sides briefly separated. The two Black-clothed Martial Artists immediately gathered their wits, preparing to give it their all.

But right at that moment, tendrils of a bizarre, thick fog suddenly drifted in from outside the courtyard, quickly enveloping the pair. Within the dense fog, waves of buzzing sounds echoed out. The two Black-clothed Martial Artists suddenly felt as if their necks, the backs of their hands, and their entire bodies were being punctured by sharp blades!

In an instant, extreme pain, numbness, and an unbearable itch washed over them!

"Ah!"

"Argh!"

The two men let out agonized screams.

Seeing this, Fang Xu frowned, his expression soon turning to horror! He immediately darted toward his room and swiftly slammed the door shut. However, the thick fog seeped through every crevice. The flying insects hidden within squeezed right through the gaps in the doors and windows!

Reacting quickly, Fang Xu snatched the bedding from his bed and frantically swatted at the terrifying bugs! During the chaos, he accidentally knocked over the oil lamp on his desk. The oil spilled, and the bedding instantly caught fire. The moment the vicious flying insects saw the open flames, they surprisingly scattered in all directions!

Overjoyed by this discovery, Fang Xu grabbed the burning bedding and rushed out the door, wildly waving it at the swarm of insects trying to force their way in.

By the time he stepped back into the courtyard, the two Martial Artists were entirely covered in a dense, writhing mass of bugs. While a bite from these insects wasn’t instantly fatal, seeing the men coated in layers upon layers of the swarm, Fang Xu knew their chances of survival were slim to none.

Ignoring the two doomed men, Fang Xu swung the flaming blanket as he edged toward the kitchen. After a grueling struggle, he finally reached his destination and immediately hauled a jug of liquor out of the cupboard.

Slapping away the mud seal, Fang Xu pulled a fire starter from his robes and blew on it to ignite the ember. He took a massive swig of the strong liquor and violently spat it out over the flame!

WHOOSH!

A trail of fire roared forward like a dragon! Swaths of insects, unable to dodge in time, were scorched and rained down onto the floor.

Seeing the effectiveness of his makeshift flamethrower, Fang Xu immediately tied the remaining jugs of liquor together, slung them over his shoulder, and charged back outside.

The sheer strangeness of the eerie fog and the bugs reminded him of Wang Erhu and his group, who had met a tragic end in Tilan Mountain. Such a bizarre phenomenon had to be controlled by someone behind the scenes. As for who could possess such methods, the very first thought that popped into Fang Xu’s mind was that it had to be a Shaman!

Gulping down another mouthful of liquor, he spewed out a second stream of fire, incinerating the incoming bugs. Relying on his intuition in the thick fog, Fang Xu sprinted straight toward Wang Erhu’s nearby courtyard. He had just shared a bed with the widow of the Wang Family last night. With the current crisis unfolding, he naturally couldn’t sit back and watch her die. After all, he wasn’t the type of cold-blooded man to just have his way with a woman and abandon her.

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

Spewing blast after blast of fire, Fang Xu trudged forward with great difficulty. Suddenly sensing movement behind him, he whipped his head around and released another fiery torrent! The flames momentarily dispersed the dense fog, and Fang Xu was shocked to see a group of people standing behind him.

"Miss Yun?"

The newcomer was none other than Yun Wan. She was leading a group of Government Soldiers, desperately using their outer robes to swat away the dense swarm of insects. Many of the Government Soldiers had been bitten on their faces and bodies, leaving angry, swollen welts that made them grimace in pain. Yun Wan’s slender hands and arms were also dotted with several raised, swollen welts. The intense pain caused her to knit her brows tightly.

"Are you Fang Xu?" Yun Wan was somewhat surprised to see him. Then, eyeing the liquor jug and fire starter in his hands, she asked in shock, "Are these things afraid of fire?"

Fang Xu nodded. He immediately tilted his head back, took a swig of liquor, and blew violently over the fire starter into the air!

The roaring stream of fire instantly incinerated a massive cluster of bugs.

"Miss Yun, here." Seeing the miserable state of Yun Wan and her group, Fang Xu quickly untied two liquor jugs from his body and handed them to her.

Taking the jugs, Yun Wan turned and handed them to two Government Soldiers. "You all have fire starters, right? Do exactly as Fang Xu did."

The two Government Soldiers hurriedly smashed the mud seals off the jugs and awkwardly mimicked Fang Xu’s technique. The three men formed a triangular formation, protecting Yun Wan and the rest of the Government Soldiers in the center as they slowly made their way toward the middle of the town.

When they passed by the courtyard, Fang Xu went in and brought out the widow of the Wang Family, who had been hiding tightly under her covers. The group continued onward. Whenever they encountered any of the common people along the way, they gathered them into the protective formation.

"Miss Yun, we need to make a trip to the liquor store in town," Fang Xu said, glancing at the meager amount of strong liquor remaining in his jug. As their numbers grew, he had handed out all the alcohol he had prepared. They absolutely had to visit the liquor store in town to resupply.

Yun Wan surveyed the pitch-black surroundings and the seemingly endless swarm of insects before giving a slight nod. "Then we’ll head to the liquor store first. Additionally, inform the common people to bring out all the strong liquor they have in their homes!"

Upon receiving Yun Wan’s orders, the common people began emerging with their own liquor and fire starters. Imitating Fang Xu, they spat trails of fire to drive away the swarms.

As a result, an incredibly spectacular scene unfolded!

In the dead of night, upon the fog-shrouded streets of Fenglin Town, a massive crowd gathered together. Along the outer perimeter, streams of fire erupted one after another in an endless rhythm, making it look as though they were holding a grand, magnificent festival!