Сhаpter 334: Тhе Firе Моth Party 66
Zhu Yаn wеpt and wеpt, and sоmеhоw, thinking оf аll thе hardships thеy had endured along thе wаy аnd the unсеrtаintу of thе futurе, shе trulу fеlt a sеnse of desоlаtion аnd confusion. Shе grew incrеasingly sоrrоwful, sitting uр аnd рulling оut а handkerсhiеf to wiре hеr teаrs as shе сried.
Thе sоund of hеr weeping fillеd the entire rооm, sеeрing through the crасks in thе window lаttiсе аnd drifting оut intо the rаin.
Lоst in her tеars, Shеn Du longed tо hold hеr in his аrms аnd cоmfоrt hеr but fоrced himself tо restrain the impulse.
Suddеnly, a plumе of purрlish-white smоkе rosе from the center of the dark room. Within the mist, a faint, indistinct figure flickered in and out of sight.
Shen Du knew someone had arrived and watched calmly without revealing his thoughts.
As the mist gradually dissipated, the figure within silently revealed itself, stepping slowly toward the bed. When it reached the bedside and stood still, it raised a knife, its cold gleam flashing, and thrust it forward.
Shen Du had been prepared, but Zhu Yan reacted even faster. Amid her tears, she caught an unusual yet familiar scent and sensed a murderous intent in the darkness. She drew a dagger hidden in her sleeve, leaped up, and lunged forward, instinctively wanting to protect Shen Du.
"Zhu Yan?!" Shen Du exclaimed softly, channeling his energy to repel the intruder. But Zhu Yan had already been knocked aside by the attacker's energy and fell to the ground.
Both Zhu Yan and Shen Du clearly saw the person—the one who should never have appeared: Wang Buzui.
Wang Buzui walked toward them, his eyes fierce and glowing with a faint, eerie green light, giving him a sinister and terrifying appearance.
Zhu Yan’s consciousness gradually blurred, as if she had inhaled a sedative. Shen Du hurriedly shielded her behind him, forming his fingers into claws as he attacked Wang Buzui.
Unexpectedly, when he struck Wang Buzui’s arm, his hand passed right through—it was an illusion. But the knife was real, forcing him to dodge to the side.
This angered Wang Buzui, who turned to face Shen Du, raised his knife, and charged directly at him, aiming for Shen Du’s vital point.
But Shen Du nimbly evaded the attack.
After a brief struggle, Shen Du still couldn’t do anything to the illusion, and the illusory Wang Buzui was similarly ineffective.
As the stalemate continued, the windows on all sides suddenly shattered from the outside, and the light of torches flooded into the room.
"Wang Buzui?" Pan Chi’s gaze fell on the newcomer, and he couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise.
Hearing the name "Wang Buzui," Jing Lin and the others all turned to look at the illusion. It was unmistakably Wang Buzui, though his form was ethereal, giving off a faint and weak impression.
It was indeed Wang Buzui, but they had seen his corpse lying in the mortuary earlier that day, and they had even participated in the autopsy.
With his mind made up, Jing Lin found it baffling: "How could he come back to life? It’s clearly an illusion."
Jing Lin was the first to draw his sword and slash at Wang Buzui, only to see the ethereal figure split apart and then reform once the sword had passed through.
Pan Chi joined Jing Lin in the attack, but the result was the same.
If they kept slashing like this, they could hack away until dawn without killing this monster.
Such strangeness filled the Inner Guards present with terror. In all their years of handling cases, they had never encountered anything so bizarre.
"Is there a way to find its weakness?" Pan Chi asked urgently.
This was also Shen Du’s thought. While illusions could attack people, and people had weaknesses, this illusion was a mix of truth and falsehood, with no apparent flaw.
The illusion wouldn’t give them time to think carefully. The ethereal figure charged at Shen Du with a long sword, but Shen Du had already dodged behind it. However, constantly evading was no solution.
Sooner or later, they would exhaust themselves and ultimately die by the sword of the illusion.
Seizing the opportunity, Jing Lin and Pan Chi observed the ethereal figure from the left and right, hoping to find its weakness.The phantom, emboldened and unafraid, not only did not hold back but instead intensified its attacks, forcing Shen Du to retreat step by step. Behind him was a wall, and before Shen Du could realize it, he was driven back by a lethal move from Wang Buzui's phantom, slamming heavily against the wall. The phantom's blade flashed with a deceptive feint, plunging straight into Shen Du's left abdomen before being violently withdrawn. Blood gushed forth uncontrollably.
Then came the sound of Wang Buzui's maniacal laughter.
"Great Pavilion Commander," the crowd exclaimed in unison.
Zhu Yan, lying on the ground, struggled to see what had just happened. She watched as the blade went in white and came out red, and a sudden panic seized her.
But having inhaled the soul-dazing incense, she couldn't concentrate. It had taken all her effort just to keep from collapsing to the ground.
Her dagger had been knocked away by Wang Buzui's phantom, and the autopsy kit had been tossed near her feet in the chaos. Zhu Yan crawled over a few steps, frantically rummaging through the kit for a blade. She accurately found the Corpse-Dissecting Knife and stabbed it into her own forearm. The sharp pain jolted her consciousness awake, and she gasped for breath as she looked toward Shen Du.
Shen Du was looking down at the wound in his left abdomen, his expression cold and unchanged. He pressed on his acupoints to stop the bleeding and shouted, "Jing Lin, form the formation!"
Jing Lin immediately ordered the Inner Guards to arrange themselves into the Four Symbols and Eight Trigrams Formation, positioning themselves at Wang Buzui's vital points to ensure he had no escape.
Seeing Shen Du unharmed, Wang Buzui exclaimed in surprise, "You're actually fine?"
A bolt of lightning struck outside the window, causing Wang Buzui's phantom to flicker several times. Shen Du sneered, "You've tried poisoning me time and again. Did you really think this commander was made of paper?"
His gaze fell on Zhu Yan. Seeing she was unharmed, his expression softened slightly before he raised his sword, focusing his energy on dealing with Wang Buzui.
Tears welled in Zhu Yan's eyes as she watched him bleeding profusely, her heart pounding with fear and disbelief. Could this really be happening?
Could the dead truly return to life?
A cold resolve solidified in her eyes. Zhu Yan steadied herself and stood up, raising the Corpse-Dissecting Knife as she charged toward the phantom. Before anyone could react, the phantom let out an eerie laugh and swayed to the side.
Shen Du's blood surged with urgency. "Zhu Yan, come back!"
Zhu Yan was determined to verify her suspicions. Seeing the Corpse-Dissecting Knife miss the phantom, she turned and lunged again. The phantom waited until she was right in front of it before swaying away, its eyes suddenly deepening with a green glow. Zhu Yan's heart raced as she sensed something was wrong.
During that sway, the phantom had scattered an unknown powder onto the wound on her arm. At first, Zhu Yan only felt a slight pain.
"Zhu Yan, you're taking too many risks!" Pan Chi rushed forward in a single stride, pulling Zhu Yan aside. Overwhelmed by concern, he couldn't help but scold her.
But Zhu Yan shook her head lightly and looked toward Shen Du. Shen Du, equally frantic, saw Pan Chi grabbing her and wished he could fly over immediately, kick Pan Chi away, and pull Zhu Yan into his arms.
He took only one step before blood gushed violently from his abdomen.
What was happening? Why couldn't the bleeding be stopped?
Zhu Yan felt as if her heart were being torn apart. Before she could voice her question, a wave of nausea washed over her. Her body felt intensely feverish inside, and then silk threads began to emerge from her skin. The phantom flickered before her eyes as she curled up and collapsed to the ground.
Shen Du no longer cared about the mysterious phantom or the supposedly dead Wang Buzui. In a single leap, he flew over to examine her injuries.
There was a cut on her forearm but no other wounds. The symptoms of cocoon formation were evident. Shen Du reached out and gently touched the skin wrapped in silk threads, his fingers trembling uncontrollably."Look at what you've done," Pan Chi shot a glare at Shen Du, his anger also surging. "Why didn't you have her avoid this earlier?"
Knowing there was danger, yet still leaving her here.
Shen Du's thin lips tightened, the pain in his eyes too evident as he stared blankly at Zhu Yan for a moment before lifting his gaze to Pan Chi. "Now is not the time for arguments—Jing Lin, come take care of her."
Hearing the call, Jing Lin broke free from the shadow's entanglement and moved toward Shen Du, the shadow following closely behind him.
"Let's deal with this first." Shen Du stood up, positioning himself between the shadow and Jing Lin. Seeing this, Pan Chi also rose and moved forward.
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