His other hand directly threw a Fire Bomb Talisman, the talisman paper swiftly burned away after leaving his hand. Only a cluster of gathered flames formed a spherical shape, blazing through the air in a straight trajectory, and directly hit the incoming Demon Ghost on its forehead.
It seemed as if the Demon Ghost had actively charged forward and caught the fire bomb with its head.
With a muffled boom, the Demon Ghost let out a wail. Although the horns on its head still flickered with a faint golden essence glow, seemingly not much affected, probably because the fire bomb’s damage was insufficient, and the main damage type was attribute damage with the physical impact being merely supplementary, unable to cause a shatter effect.
However, it hit right on its face, setting its entire face ablaze instantly, and besides its extremely hard horns, the eyes of the Demon Ghost were also its weak point.
While it howled in agony, flailing its claws and randomly slapping the flames on its face, it came to Gu Mo’s turn. He retracted his blade, swiftly turned to face the Demon Ghost, and with a clear, radiant arc slicing through the air, cleanly and decisively severed its head and both arms in one go.
Gu Mo flicked the nonexistent blood off the gleaming blade, quickly gathered the glowing item drops from the ground, and then turned to head in another direction of the battlefield.
His strength wasn’t that great actually; even with the full power boost of 12 points, it was still quite difficult to decisively slice through a Demon Ghost’s neck and arms with a single blow. After all, bones are hard things, harder than cutting bones on a chopping board, let alone in such a situation.
The main hero was still the Purification Talisman Enchantment, which brought about the effect of cleansing foulness and dispelling the Power of Prophecy in the Mortal World, giving his blade a special attack power against Demon Ghosts. The hard surface, like tanned leather, was like cutting through solidified butter with a red-hot wire under the blade.
The long duration of the enchantment and the large damage boost from attribute resistance made the Purification Talisman indeed the deity of cost-effectiveness!
So, using the Yin Yang Technique to aid and empower, then drawing the blade to slash was the right path indeed.
Thinking this, Gu Mo advanced, conveniently slashing down two small Hungry Ghosts. Unlike before, although he felt his growth was minimal, compared to his past embarrassment at Thirteen Sakura Village, these small Hungry Ghosts were no longer threats at all.
When the last Great Hungry Ghost was surrounded and slain by a group of Iron Cannon Foot Soldiers, its head parted from its body, the battlefield was finally cleared.
Fujikichiro was panting too; he had been shouting valiantly all the way, and was quite vigorous when cutting down monsters as well. However, after catching his breath and surveying the blood-strewn scene, counting the number of Demon Ghost bodies, his expression turned somewhat uncertain—
There were so many Demon Ghosts just here halfway up the mountain. How many more would be encountered upon reaching Lord Dao San’s residence, and how many were inside?
This number of Demon Ghosts appearing suddenly on the mountain was quite abnormal.
Most Demon Ghosts were results of Wild Souls breeding, and death, blood, hatred, and resentment, all these malevolent human thoughts, were their nurturing bed. Fujikichiro, who traveled extensively, knew very well that if a place suddenly harbored numerous Demon Ghosts, it was either a terribly bloody battlefield with countless casualties or a populous and prosperous area.
It sounded contradictory, but it was actually true. Battlefields, without a doubt, see countless deaths, with life essences dispersing in blood-soaked lands, breeding or attracting numerous Demon Ghosts. Populous and prosperous places might hide dirt and filth behind their prosperity, with countless people’s blood and tears hidden beneath the bright and shiny surface.
When enough hatred and resentment accumulate, they naturally explode, breeding Wild Souls en masse, attracting Demon Ghosts, and even causing humans to fall into Demon Ghosts.
Pangyo of the past was just like this, flourishing with blossoms and thriving flames, but after utmost prosperity, it turned into the Demon Capital overnight. Inferno in the palace, the Night Parade of Hundred Demons, demons dancing wildly, with a great fire starting from the southeast, spreading northwest to burn to the Vermilion Bird Gate. By morning, Kyoto was reduced to ashes.
But now, Fujikichiro looked around the desolate rocky mountain, and it didn’t match any of those conditions no matter how he looked at it.
Wait, though, there might be another reason...
Hesitating, Monkey buried the doubt in his heart. He thought of something, but couldn’t confirm it yet, planning to wait and see; otherwise, if he guessed wrong and accidentally exposed Lord Dao San’s plans, it wouldn’t be good.
"Clean up, tidy the battlefield, check the barracks to see if there’s any discovery, then we’ll proceed."
Gu Mo glanced around, nodded, and ordered.
"Also, if any corpse is relatively intact, I suggest you finish it off... just don’t rush over immediately, stand afar and fire a shot straight at its head, don’t be stingy."
The matchlock gun’s firing speed was very slow, and most Iron Cannon Foot Soldiers would be doing well to fire two rounds a minute even when they had time to aim. Judging from the last battle, it would be difficult to have the enemy standing still for target practice, slow and deliberate as they were lining up for a firing squad.