I Can Strengthen Infinitely-Chapter 65 - 60: Ambushed
"Thank you, Young Master Qin, for helping our village this time. This old man toasts to you."
Village Chief Peng picked up the wine cup and smiled warmly at Qin Yuesheng.
"Village Chief Peng, there’s no need for such politeness. I’m just following orders." Qin Yuesheng picked up his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp, instantly receiving cheers from the crowd.
Because Qin Yuesheng helped them resolve the issue of the Spider Demon harming people, the villagers of Pengqiao Village specially set up a banquet table to entertain him, almost taking out the best ingredients in the village, which shows their respect for Qin Yuesheng.
But Qin Yuesheng knew in his heart that actually, that kind of big spider could only be considered a monster at best, far from reaching the level of a demon. If there truly were a Spider Demon harming people, Pengqiao Village wouldn’t have been able to hold out until the authorities sent someone over.
After rounds of pushing cups and changing drinks, once the meal was over and everyone was full, Qin Yuesheng proactively took his leave and went to the room the villagers had prepared for him to sleep.
Having experienced a fight in the morning that was not particularly dangerous but extremely exhausting, even Qin Yuesheng, whose strength was close to Outer Forging Perfection, felt a bit fatigued. He immediately lay down on the bed and fell asleep instantly, but being vigilant while away from home, he didn’t choose to sleep deeply but kept in a semi-awake, hazy state.
Midnight.
The night was deep and quiet.
Qin Yuesheng was lying in bed when suddenly a shadow flashed outside the window by the bedside.
"I feel so wronged... I feel so wronged..."
A soft, whisper-like voice sounded in the room, making Qin Yuesheng instantly open his eyes.
"Who?"
"I feel so wronged... I feel so wronged..."
The voice was still echoing in the room, and Qin Yuesheng drew his Evil-Subduing Saber from the bedside, starting to search for the source of this voice.
Finally, astonishingly discovering that this voice actually came from under his bed.
Qin Yuesheng immediately jumped off the bed, bent over, and drew out a fire stick to shine into the darkness under the bed.
Suddenly, an old, white face was exposed in the flickering firelight. Its skin was like dried tree bark enduring many years, full of wrinkles and cracks, simultaneously littered with dense wormholes across his forehead and cheeks.
"I feel so wronged..." The old man reached out and tried to grab Qin Yuesheng.
"What does it have to do with me?" Qin Yuesheng outrightly swung his saber, instantly chopping off the entire hand of this person.
However, just in a blink, the old man’s figure suddenly disappeared from Qin Yuesheng’s view, leaving nothing under the bed.
"Hmm?" Slightly frowning, Qin Yuesheng looked around the room.
Thinking it over, he then sat back on the bed cross-legged, beginning the operation of Nourishing Element Skill.
The idea is to remain unchanged facing changing situations. Last night was peaceful, yet suddenly such odd occurrences took place tonight, making Qin Yuesheng firmly believe that thing must be coming for him, so he decided to remain in place and wait for the opponent to appear again.
Now, let’s see who can hold their composure.
Without lighting the candle, the room was exceptionally dark, relying solely on the bright white light cast from outside the window for visibility.
Suddenly, a figure appeared outside the window, standing there motionlessly, its shadow projecting clearly onto the window paper.
Qin Yuesheng reached inside his boot, and a thin-bladed flying knife was held in his hand.
Since enhancing his Flying Knife Skill level, he had asked Cao Zhengchun to find a blacksmith to customize a few portable iron knives for him, exclusively to match the Flying Knife Skill.
Originally, Qin Yuesheng improved his Flying Knife Skill to attack enemies at a distance, but now it’s proving its worth.
Whoosh!
With a swift flick of Qin Yuesheng’s wrist, the entire flying knife rapidly sliced through the air, piercing through the window paper and accurately hitting the figure’s head.
But strangely, nothing happened, the person remained standing still, as if nothing had occurred.
Feeling puzzled, Qin Yuesheng thought even a Martial Artist at the Outer Forging stage getting hit by his flying knife would make a noise, but this person was silent.
Thus, Qin Yuesheng hurriedly jumped off the bed, walked over to the window, and flung it open, instantly seeing a face with iron-blue complexion, eyes turning white, with fangs protruding, a skinny old man appearing before him.
The opponent wore foul-smelling, tattered cloth, with long arms, and thin, sharp fingers, resembling a beast. On the left side of his cheek, however, was a flying knife sticking out.
No blood.
"Zombie?!" Qin Yuesheng immediately swung his saber.
Yet the opponent was quicker in action, promptly reaching out to grasp Qin Yuesheng with both palms, trying to capture him.
Seeing this fellow enveloping him in a embrace stance, Qin Yuesheng directly stepped with Spiritual Swallow Body Skill, gracefully dodging away, then sharply struck the zombie’s elbow with his saber.
Qin Yuesheng initially thought his slash could sever an arm, but who would have imagined the Evil-Subduing Saber emitted a clang upon impact with the zombie’s arm, merely leaving a saber mark.
Grasping the blade, the zombie attempted to snatch Qin Yuesheng’s weapon, but it’s not that easy, given Qin Yuesheng’s strength attributes weren’t just added for show.
Reverse-moving the Evil-Subduing Saber, Qin Yuesheng instantly executed his newly learned blade skill today—Mountain-Crushing Tyrant Saber.
Blades of light swept out like silken ribbons, their fierce strikes and imposing momentum leaving the zombie completely defenseless. Within a few strokes, Qin Yuesheng had forcefully disarmed the creature, reducing its threat for the moment.
Just as Qin Yuesheng was about to take advantage of the situation and slash at his opponent’s waist, a sudden force tugged fiercely at his arm, like being anchored by a thousand-pound weight. Momentarily, he couldn’t swing his saber.
Turning his head, Qin Yuesheng saw the shriveled elder who had previously appeared from under the bed now standing behind him. The elder’s hands emitted two gray misty ropes that tightly bound Qin Yuesheng’s arms, the source of the weight he felt.
Qin Yuesheng suddenly recalled the contents of the book Seven-Star Treasure Mirror - Volume One presented to him by Bai Hao, which mentioned the strengths of corpse ghosts in combat and physique, while the danger of malevolent spirits lay in their possessing various inexplicable and unpredictable methods.
This shriveled elder must undoubtedly be a malevolent spirit, and those gray mist ropes seem to be its supernatural means.
Even with its arms severed by Qin Yuesheng, the zombie fiercely lunged at him, mouth agape, aiming to bite his throat.
Seeing its sharp fangs, a bite would surely have dire consequences. Even as an outer forging martial artist, Qin Yuesheng wouldn’t dare test his neck against a zombie.
In an instant, Qin Yuesheng executed a backward aerial flip, dodging the zombie’s bite, then quickly descended with his knees to crash into the zombie’s skull.
Thud!
The zombie was immediately slammed into the ground, forcibly driven into the earth by Qin Yuesheng.
With a deft spin of the saber’s hilt, followed by a downward slash of the blade, Qin Yuesheng cut through one of the gray mists, making it vanish instantly under the Evil-Subduing Saber. Relieved of the weight on that arm, he swiftly delivered a fast slash across the shriveled elder’s chest.
Hiss, hiss, hiss!
The elder’s body began to dim and nearly disintegrate.
As Qin Yuesheng prepared to strike again, the old ghost vanished on the spot in a blink, just as it had before.
Stepping on the zombie’s occiput, Qin Yuesheng didn’t intend to let it rise again. He promptly severed its neck and legs with a slash, rendering it entirely immobile.
"Corpse ghost, malevolent spirit, coming all at once, who suddenly set their sights on me?"
Qin Yuesheng walked to the window and peered outside, but the dark night revealed nothing. After some thought, he leapt out the window onto the rooftop, roaming quickly around Pengqiao Village.
...
A dark room.
The shriveled elder appeared suddenly, battered and worn.
"Didn’t kill him? Lost one too?" a hoarse voice inquired.
"Junior Brother Zhao, it seems this youngster isn’t an ordinary official. What ordinary official has such means against spirits?" 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚
"Could he be from the Seven-Star Bureau? Lately, for unknown reasons, many old entities have been arriving in Cyan Yang City, drawing Seven-Star Bureau folks here too."
"Junior Brother, Steward Wang has been preparing in secret for a long time to create such a Beauty Spider. If we can’t kill that youngster and reclaim the Beauty Spider’s body, we’ll definitely have a hard time explaining to Steward Wang. Why not deploy your newly created helper?"
"It’s fine, but it’s not fully refined yet and might backfire on its master. You’ll have to handle the controls."
...
Running circles around Pengqiao Village repeatedly yielded nothing for Qin Yuesheng. All the villagers were deeply asleep, and the entire Pengqiao Village was eerily quiet.
Just as Qin Yuesheng was about to give up and return, an unsettling feeling washed over him, as though something was suddenly watching him.
This foreboding sensation felt like someone was pressing a needle against his forehead, intensely disquieting.
Whoosh!
The wind whispered as Qin Yuesheng instinctively stepped into the Spiritual Swallow Body Skill to evade, catching sight of an iron sword just grazing past his face.
An expressionless, vacant face appeared in Qin Yuesheng’s view—a young boy.
His sword was swift, its danger lying in the stealth of his strikes. If not for Qin Yuesheng’s heightened spirit leading to extraordinary insight, this foe might have been much harder to handle.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The young boy’s rapid sword assaulted Qin Yuesheng relentlessly, targeting the vulnerable spots on his face. Even as an outer forging martial artist, his eyes remained susceptible.
Qin Yuesheng parried with his saber, the clashing sounds continuous, a dazzling display of blades and swords.
After over a dozen rounds, the young boy’s longsword couldn’t withstand the pressure, breaking in half under the Evil-Subduing Saber. Seizing the opportunity, Qin Yuesheng landed a direct slash across the opponent’s chest, piercing him through.
Yet, the boy showed no change, continuing his assault with his palm aimed at Qin Yuesheng.
"Another non-human?" Qin Yuesheng finally noticed the person’s neck, visibly marked with corpse spots, clearly long deceased, yet mysteriously not decomposed.
Frustrated by a series of bizarre encounters, Qin Yuesheng employed the Tiger-Crane Folding Plum technique, violently twisting off the boy’s head, while dismembering his limbs with the Evil-Subduing Saber, brutally subduing him.
Thunk!
Suddenly, the sound of someone spitting blood erupted nearby. With keen senses, Qin Yuesheng instantly identified the direction of the sound, pinpointing it behind an old tree not far away.
A figure quickly bolted from behind the tree, running straight out of Pengqiao Village. How could Qin Yuesheng let them go? He immediately set off in hot pursuit.
