All the monks and Taoists here, just like Big Fish, get tangled up in a fight, and soon enough they are all battered and bleeding, including the ones lying on the ground grabbing onto someone else’s leg and biting fiercely.
Li Zhiyuan: "Hoist the hook!"
The four opened their return home nets, while Tan Wenbin was busy collecting the net and took out the seal paste box. He pressed his finger on it, and while reciting the incantation, he re-applied the seal.
Run Sheng propped up the Seven-star Hook, flipped it, and with a toss all seven segments extended, aiming directly for the head in the middle of the pond.
Once the last segment was hooked, Run Sheng flipped his hands, locking the tip of the Seven-star Hook and then, using all his strength, began to pull back.
On the surface of the water, violent waves splashed out, along with a strong smell of fresh blood.
This was the thief who first fell into the water; by now he was disemboweled.
A piercing scream emanated from the Corpse, carrying a bewitching quality.
Run Sheng made a quick decision, bit the red pill in his mouth, and then his whole body shook as if electrified, the intense nausea invoking his greater potential.
"Splash splash splash..."
The Corpse was pulled continuously closer to this side.
Yin Meng’s face showed pain, but she persisted.
Liu Yumei once said she was a clumsy girl with innate dullness, a disadvantage, but sometimes, it is also an advantage.
While Run Sheng was pulling the Corpse, Yin Meng drew out the Demon Exorcism Whip and lashed at it.
Each strike of the whip made the Corpse’s screams sharper, intensifying everyone’s suffering further, but this was the endurance game; whoever lasted, won.
At the start of the yelling, Tan Wenbin initially stood on tiptoe, his lips curved up revealing a sinister smile;
Without hesitation, he crushed the powder pouch against his own face while biting into the red pill in his mouth, then:
After vomiting a lot, his lips once again curved into a sinister smile, as the disgusting taste continued sinking into his stomach, he began to vomit again.
In a dynamic phase of being influenced, breaking the influence, and again being influenced.
Yet even so, his hands did not stop moving; his mouth was now busy with laughing and vomiting, unable to recite incantations.
But solely from muscle memory, he managed to reapply fresh red mud on the return home net.
Then, while alternating between vomiting and laughter, spasming as if having cramps, he reached the edge of the pond, using the last of his strength and clarity to throw the net in his hands.
The return home net trapped the Corpse, and Tan Wenbin finally couldn’t hold on any longer, the last thing he managed was to fall backward, using his own body weight to pin the other end of the net down.
Li Zhiyuan glanced at Tan Wenbin, who was lying on the ground foaming at the mouth and his face covered in powder, and did nothing.
He could have acted to alleviate Tan Wenbin’s suffering, yet he sensed the Corpse Demon had one last struggle left; he needed to wait for that moment to act, to neatly complete this "salvage".
Now, the Corpse Demon reached the shore.
Li Zhiyuan: "Lift the corpse!"
Run Sheng crouched down, rotated his body back, placed the pole of the Seven-star Hook on his shoulder, then threw it forward with force.
The Corpse Demon, like a Big Fish, was pulled out of the water onto the shore and into mid-air.
But just then, the Corpse Demon’s eyes turned green, it opened its mouth, and a black snake emerged from its mouth.
The black snake had a piece missing from its forehead, dripping with blood, yet still it emitted a dangerous aura.
Suddenly, the snake’s head swelled as if to strike, but just as it was about to open its mouth, Li Zhiyuan stepped in front of Run Sheng.
In the snake’s eyes, fear showed as it did not have the memories of the Spirit Thought but could share the perception.
The young man before it was terrifying.
Consequently, the Corpse Demon’s recently turned green eyes also flickered.
Li Zhiyuan pressed his left hand for a seal, drew a curse on his right arm, then slid it down to the back of his right hand, and pointed his right thumb directly at the swollen snake’s head.
The snake’s mouth opened, but the green mist inside couldn’t overflow; instead, it retreated back, forcing the black snake also to be abruptly pulled back into the Corpse Demon’s mouth.
The green mist exploded inside the Corpse Demon’s body, streams of it leaking from its eyes, ears, mouth, and nostrils, while green ghostly fire rose, lighting up its body transparently.
Like a shadow play, numerous small snakes could be seen inside the Corpse Demon’s body frantically struggling.
Run Sheng exerted force again.
The Corpse Demon slammed hard onto the shore.
Yin Meng did a side roll, her Demon Exorcism Whip reached out again, wrapping around the Corpse Demon’s neck.
The Corpse Demon roared trying to stand, but was pulled down as soon as it got up.
Run Sheng dropped the Seven-star Hook, picked up the Yellow River Shovel, and as the Corpse Demon fell, he fiercely brought the shovel down on its neck.
The sharp Yellow River Shovel pierced its neck, but couldn’t sever its head.
The Corpse Demon struggled to rise again, while Yin Meng continued tightening the Demon Exorcism Whip and slid towards it on the ground, her legs one over the other, clamping the Corpse Demon’s abdomen forcing it down just as it was about to rise.
It was a dangerous move, mainly to coordinate with Run Sheng’s next strike; had he not dealt with it, Yin Meng, in close contact with the Corpse, would be in great danger.
Run Sheng gritted his teeth, the Yellow River Shovel came down again.
Finally, the Corpse Demon’s head was chopped off, its body decapitated.
Yet, the falling head rolled towards Yin Meng.
Lying on the ground, Yin Meng could even see clearly the snake bodies wriggling inside the head’s eye sockets and mouth.