Chapter 478 - Counter

Sparks flew and landed on Li Huowang, creating a mighty conflagration that dealt extreme pain to Li Huowang—pain that almost made him faint. The extremely high temperature distorted the air around him, and his figure was instantly scorched.

When Li Huowang saw that the Nine-Colored Deer before him was emitting a plume of black smoke, he grinned menacingly with his lipless mouth and charged at it.

Engulfed in flames, Li Huowang collided heavily against the amalgamation of flesh, blood, and innards. The gory hill burst open and was engulfed by the raging flames.

Li Huowang breathed a sigh of relief as he stared at the raging flames before him. It seemed that he had made the right choice by not choosing to transform his skin into a life-saving talisman.

The writhing flesh eventually stopped moving, but Li Huowang sensed something amiss. He rushed into the fire with his purple-tassel sword in hand and slashed at the charred mass. However, the spiritual sin was missing.

It escaped!

Li Huowang’s face turned ugly. This spiritual sin was far more cunning than he had imagined.

Where do you think you can run?

Li Huowang surveyed the surroundings. Then, he squatted and pressed his hand on the dry weeds and dead wood on the ground. Flames rushed out of him from all directions, and they climbed up the peach trees like living creatures. Each flaming peach tree was like a plague, and the nearby region quickly transformed into a sea of fire.

Li Huowang stood in the middle of the flames, looking for any abnormalities. However, he did not see anything unusual. The spiritual sin hadn't been forced out by the fire. It seemed like dealing with it was going to be more difficult than Li Huowang thought.

What am I supposed to do now? If it manages to escape, it’s going to be really troublesome to find it again.

After pondering for a moment, Li Huowang decided to divine the spiritual sin's location.

Just as Li Huowang was about to cut himself using his sword, a fireball abruptly manifested over the back of his hand and dove into his wound.

Damn it! The spiritual sin has possessed the flames!

Li Huowang had realized it too late. The flames that had engulfed him and the peach trees were extinguished instantly, and his fleshly body began to collapse like the Nine-Colored Deer from earlier. His flesh, blood, bones, skin, and hair separated and formed a pile of gore.

To make matters worse, Li Huowang was conscious throughout the ordeal. He felt his flesh being torn apart, and the pain was so extreme that he wished to die.

However, Li Huowang couldn’t even die, as the spiritual sin was about to take full control of him! Li Huowang could feel its pure malice, which had pervaded everything within him as it tried to take over his consciousness.

It turned out that spiritual sins weren't living creatures but were embodiments of sin themselves! They were perfectly capable of triumphing over just about anyone, as even the most virtuous person could not be devoid of sin.

Li Huowang gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. Half of his face slid off and fell to the ground.

I am virtuous, and I don't have even a single sin!

Just then, Li Huowang's melted fleshly body had converged, transforming into his original figure. Even the skin that he had sacrificed to Ba-Hui had returned, and it allowed him to understand that he was in a mere illusion.

He couldn’t be fooled!

Li Huowang took advantage of that opportunity to run to the edge of the peach forest.

Li Huowang's figure collapsed to the ground like tofu when he saw the carriage up ahead. Just as his face was about to separate from his head, he looked up at the carriage and roared, “Li Sui! There’s something in my body! Help me drive it out!”

His words had just echoed into the air when his fleshly body separated, transforming into a wriggling mass of flesh that rushed toward the depths of the peach forest.

Step, step, step!

Frantic footsteps sounded, and a pair of eyes turned to see a skinless dog running toward them on all fours.

“Dad, I’m coming!” Li Sui exclaimed, and her body disintegrated in mid-air. Her flesh and tentacles converged at one point, becoming a massive clump of flesh that landed heavily on Li Huowang. The two clumps of flesh intertwined and created a massive pile of gore covered in tentacles. Then, it rolled violently around the burning peach forest.

Li Huowang and Li Sui’s faces would appear intermittently amidst the rolling ball of meat, and their conditions appeared rather unstable. The spiritual sin had decided to become a bit greedy and take control over Li Sui’s body as well, but it was having a hard time, as the Black Taisui itself was born to devour.

Moreover, Li Huowang was working hard to regain some control over his body as well.

The spiritual sin finally gave in, as it was fighting two enemies by itself. Li Huowang's body converged at one point, transforming into a bloated humanoid figure. However, his abdomen burst open, and something rushed out of his stomach.

Li Huowang looked up but saw nothing except for strange footprints in the ashes, which vanished quickly as it turned to a corner. Li Huowang was convinced that the footprints had to have belonged to the spiritual sin. After all, spiritual sins could never be seen by someone with the ten emotions and eight sufferings.

“Dad, are you okay?” Li Sui asked. Then, she rushed out of Li Huowang’s abdomen, allowing Li Huowang's bloated figure to return to normal.

Li Huowang's organs were in a mess, and there were some organs that had shifted, but the good thing was that he had full control over his body once more.

Li Huowang glared resentfully at the footprints. He quickly bandaged his wound. He had overcome all sorts of hardships, and he couldn't fall to something so minor. Li Huowang did not even groan as he withstood the burning sensation all over his skin.

Once Li Huowang was done bandaging his wound, he wasted no time and rushed toward where the footprints had vanished.

“Li Sui, wait outside for me, and rush in once I call you! Stay with Miaomiao for now!”

Li Huowang slowed down and became fully aware of his surroundings. He listened to every single noise around him. He couldn't see, so he had to use his ears to track down the enemy!

The spiritual sin was far more cunning than he had imagined, but he had to outsmart it.

Rustle, rustle.

Li Huowang heard faint rustling noises behind him, but he did not react. He moved forward slowly until he saw a hollowed-out tree with what looked like a tunnel in it. He bent down and entered the tunnel, seemingly searching inside for the spiritual sin.

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Just then, a series of footprints moved rapidly toward Li Huowang's feet. Then, the footprints disappeared as soon as they reached Li Huowang's wounded feet. The moment the spiritual sin burrowed its way into Li Huowang's body through his feet, it realized something amiss.

Li Huowang's upper half was missing; it turned out that the spiritual sin had burrowed into Li Huowang's lower body.

“

Hehe...

Gotcha. I'm sure you didn't expect me to use my lower body as bait, did you?”