Chapter 110: Smashing The Head

Troubled, Wu Dajin said, “We were praying in the temple yesterday when it happened. That thing just showed up, and the people in the temple started kowtowing to it, like they were under some sort of spell. No matter how we tried to stop them, we couldn’t. It just ended with even more people falling under the influence.

“When I saw that things were getting worse, I tried to evacuate the residents, but it was too late. We have more than one thousand residents, and around four hundred were affected by that thing.

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

“I led a team to charge in and kill that thing, but after ten of my guards died, I had no other choice but to retreat.”

There were only around twenty security guards left, but if he grouped up with the evacuated residents, he could easily form a battalion of around one hundred. The main problem, though, was that the Flying Heads were just too difficult to kill. If they got close, people could lose their minds and start kowtowing or go berserk and try to stop their companions.

Worse still was that all the affected residents were their relatives. Even if they had weapons, they could not attack them. That was why they were forced to run away like dogs with their tails between their legs.

After the agents arrived, someone suggested getting fire trucks to blast the residents away with water, but Wu Dajin was vehemently against it. It was cold. If they blasted the residents with cold water, they would catch frostbite. There were quite a lot of elderly and children in the temple. They would not be able to handle getting sick.

Some of the agents refused to believe that the Flying Head was really that strong and tried charging into the temple to kill it without hurting anyone, but not only did they fail, one of the agents ended up like the residents and started kowtowing to the Flying Head. Terrified, no one dared to charge into the temple again without a proper plan to kill it.

One of the leaders of the agents came over and said, “Agent Chen, I heard that everyone will regain their sanity if we get rid of the Flying Head. Is that true?”

Wu Dajin also looked at Chen Chuan hopefully.

“That’s right, but if we get close to the temple now, the residents near the place will attack us. In other words, as long as we walk into the neighborhood, we’ll end up fighting the residents.”

The agent looked disappointed. If that was the case, Chen Chuan would only be useful at the end or during a crucial moment in the fight. The agents still had to think of a way to charge in.

Just then, everyone heard a cry that sounded like a mix between a bird and a baby.

Chen Chuan looked up and saw a black thing flying out. It only took a moment for him to realize that it was not a bird, but a human head.

Its ears were spread out like wings, and there was a fake smile plastered on its face. After flying around a building once, it flew down again.

With a dark look, Wu Dajin said, “That’s the temple, Agent Chen. That thing comes out once every hour.”

Chen Chuan fell into pensive silence.

An agent snapped irritatedly, “Look, Captain Wu, we sympathize with what happened to the residents, but we’re here on a mission. We can't just stand here and do nothing. It’s hard for us to advance without hurting a single resident.

“You have to understand that if we can’t complete the mission, the Department of Administrative Affairs will send the Constabulary, and they will come with guns. They’re total brutes, unlike us. We’re reasonable folk.”

Wu Dajin was uncertain. He knew that the agent was right. The Constabulary only listened to orders from the government, and in order to solve the problem, they would not hold back against the insane residents.

“We don’t actually have to go in,” Chen Chuan said.

The entire group turned to him.

“The Flying Head has been coming out every hour to look for food in the form of offerings. The residents have lost their minds due to its influence, but no one is organizing anything, since they don’t know that they have to set up an altar. We just need to set up a simple sacrificial altar here and make a sacrifice. Then, the Flying Head will come on its own,” he explained.

“Is that really possible, Agent Chen?!” Wu Dajin’s eyes lit up with hope.

Chen Chuan gave him a nod, then said to the agents. “When the Flying Head gets attacked, the insane residents might come out to stop us. I’ll need all of you to hold them back if that happens.”

“Don’t worry, Agent Chen. Leave this to us,” the agents replied.

Even if the Flying Head came, the residents would not move with it unless commanded. Besides, they were running on foot, so they could never match the speed of a flying object. By the time they arrived, Chen Chuan would likely have already killed the thing.

Yet if that happened, the agents would appear useless, and their evaluation points would definitely be reduced. However, after Chen Chuan gave them a purpose, regardless of whether they were useful or not later, their evaluation points would not be affected.

He was not just saving the agents’ pride. There were quite a lot of them, and they were all competent martial artists, while there were only twenty or so security guards. There was no way the security guards could have stopped them if they wanted to go. The unarmed, insane residents were also no threat to them, but they had held back out of concern for them. Based on this alone, Chen Chuan was willing to help them.

“Captain Wu, I need your help with a few things,” he said.

“Just tell me what you need. I’ll do all I can!” Wu Dajin hurriedly said.

“First, please chase away the onlookers who have nothing to do with this. They might get affected by the Flying Head.”

Someone from an agent company said, “We brought some barrier ropes with us. That should help.”

“That’s great,” Wu Dajin said and ordered a security guard to bring a team over to help that agent.

Then, he turned to Chen Chuan. “What else do you need, Agent Chen?”

Chen Chuan told him what he needed, and Wu Dajin immediately asked the residents who escaped and his security guards to search for the stuff. In half an hour, they managed to gather all the things Chen Chuan wanted.

The group proceeded to remove some bricks to form a temporary altar based on Chen Chuan’s orders and knocked out a goat, which they placed on the altar.

They also needed someone to kowtow in worship for the ritual to be complete.

“Don’t worry. Even if you lose your mind, you’ll recover once we kill the Flying Head,” Chen Chuan said to the two trembling security guards chosen for the task.

Still, the two continued cowering, and Wu Dajin went over to smack them with his belt. “Why are you still daydreaming here?! You’re being an embarrassment, you hear?! Get over there!”

Wu Dajin’s berating made them square their shoulders and walk to the altar. Once they knelt down, Wu Dajin slit the goat’s throat just as Chen Chuan ordered. Fresh blood gushed out and pooled together in the earthenware basin placed underneath it. The smell of blood was thick in the air.

The two security guards were stunned, so Wu Dajin shouted, “Stop daydreaming and kowtow!”

The two snapped out of their shock and quickly started kowtowing to the altar.

The people around them spread out and waited nervously, but even after some time, nothing changed.

Just as they wondered whether all that they did was useless, Chen Chuan saw his second self blur out. He looked up and said, “Over there.”

Everyone looked up and flinched in shock.

At some point in time, the Flying Head had already arrived above them.

Chen Chuan examined it and realized that their plan had gone awry. This Flying Head was different from the one he saw earlier.

This was against his expectations. Were there two of them?

But he quickly turned his mind elsewhere. Setting aside whether this Flying Head had any connection with the one in the neighborhood, it was clear that the residents were not affected by this one, so they had to focus on the original one.

He reached into his pocket and flicked his wrist. A few stones shot out. One of them hit the Flying Head. It shrieked in pain and flew away.

Wu Dajin could not understand why he did that. “Agent Chen?”

“That’s not the one we want. There are two of them, but we can only take one out at a time. Send a few people to chase it away, but don’t get too close. You don’t want to get affected,” Chen Chuan said.

“Leave that to us, Agent Chen,” one of the agents volunteered.

Then, he led a team toward the Flying Head with the tools they had prepared.

Soon after they chased the Flying Head away, they heard an ear-grating screech. A black dot flew out from the temple and headed toward them.

“Stand back, all of you!” Chen Chuan shouted.

The group saw it too and quickly moved back until Chen Chuan was the only one in the area.

The Flying Head headed straight to the altar and circled it a few times before diving down. Its sallow, wrinkly skin was stuck to its skull, while its face held an expression of pleasure and hunger as it eagerly plunged into the goat’s blood.

Aside from the two security guards who were still kowtowing, other security guards close by started spasming, and the agents immediately pinned them down. The onlookers behind the barrier rope started vomiting. Soon, only a handful remained standing.

Chen Chuan cast a quick glance at his second self and saw clear signs of blurring. He sucked in a deep breath, planted the Frost King Saber’s sheath into the ground, and pulled the blade by the hilt as he walked forward.

His first few steps were rather slow, so the Flying Head did not notice him. It continued gnawing at the goat and drinking the blood while making loud chewing and slurping sounds. But as Chen Chuan drew closer, it detected him. Wary, it whipped its head toward him.

Chen Chuan had been paying attention. He was still too far, but he did not hesitate. He shot forward by eight meters, and a flash of light slashed across the Flying Head.

A shrill cry pierced the air. Even if the Flying Head managed to dodge, a bit of its bone, flesh, and half of its ear were cut off. None of it affected its flight. It pulled itself into the air with whatever was left of its body and was about to get out of the saber’s range. The hearts of the people watching leapt to their throats.

Chen Chuan remained calm. He drew the Halberd Pistol from his belt and fired seven shots that blasted bloody holes through its body.

The Flying Head swayed a few times before it plunged down and fell to the ground with a thud. His second self blurred out even more, as if he was being dealt intense damage.

Chen Chuan was unaffected by it. He lowered his gun and walked over calmly, then brought his leg up. With a loud crunch, he smashed the head into pulp. Then, he turned around with a cool expression and looked at the crowd staring at him dumbly.

“Captain Wu,” he called out. “Right here!” Wu Dajin snapped out of his dream-like state and ran over to stare at him in excitement and nervousness.

“Please set up another altar. I’d like to see if I can lure the other Flying Head over. Since we already saw it, I might as well get rid of it too.”