Roaring Dragon-Chapter 59: Forced Disenchantment

Dong-dong-dong—

On the central platform of the grand hall, the beat of the drum grew faster and faster.

The strange fragrance of the Mad Corpse Blossom diffused among the crowd. The gamblers became increasingly frenzied—some had veins bulging from their foreheads, eyes bloodshot and wild.

As time passed, the cheering devolved into hoarse roars, but bizarrely, no one in the hall seemed to think anything was wrong. Like a pack of crazed apes, they howled along:

“OOOH—!!”

Even though Xie Jinhuan held his breath as long as he could, the poisonous smoke still got into his system. His blood began to boil—not with pain, but overwhelming euphoria and excitement. He had a burning urge to shout at the top of his lungs and just let it all out.

And clearly, he wasn’t the only one.

Once the crowd reached a certain level of frenzy, a burly man in the back stared at the swinging “dancer” above with fire in his eyes and began furiously shaking his hands inside his trousers.

Someone else was shoving silver into his chest, laughing hysterically:

“Leopard! It’s the leopard again! Haha!”

Chaos spread like wildfire, surging outward from the center of the hall and then upward to the upper decks.

Dong-dong—

Crash—

One deranged act after another erupted, and instead of shocking the crowd back to their senses, it only emboldened them. Soon, someone was standing on the second-floor railing, waving their junk around...

Realizing that his thoughts were slipping, Xie Jinhuan quickly pulled out the blue pill Lin Wanyi had given him and tossed it into his mouth. A rush of cold surged straight to his skull—his mind cleared significantly.

He didn’t know how long had passed when suddenly, the dancer above began to emit a red mist.

The mist trailed behind them as they swung, gradually expanding until it filled the air overhead—coalescing into a thick red cloud.

Then, from within the mist, dozens of voluptuous, juice-dripping naked women emerged, laughing seductively:

“Heeheehee~...”

Clink clink clink...

Countless gold, silver, and copper coins began raining down from the red fog, showering the ecstatic crowd below.

This drove the frenzied mob over the edge. Some trampled over others in a crazed attempt to reach the floating women, while others dove for the coins, laughing maniacally.

Twisted grins stretched across their sweaty faces. The thick air began to swirl with blood-tinged energy, rising toward the cloud above.

Though Xie Jinhuan could still see through the illusion, he knew the hallucination was beginning to seep into his mind. He kept his head down, forcibly restraining his thoughts and avoiding the visual trap entirely.

Just then, a whisper reached his ear:

“Get ready to charge.”

As the words fell, the red cloud rippled.

VMMM—

In the next instant, all those heavenly naked women... transformed into Steward Hou!

Caked in garish makeup, they blew kiss after kiss toward the crowd:

“Mwah mwah mwah~”

The falling coins? Turned into giant spiders and toads!

What the f—?!

The entire crowd, on the brink of eternal orgasmic bliss, instantly froze.

The once chaotic hall became dead silent. freewebnσvel.cøm

The man with his hand down his pants visibly sobered up.

The ghastly hallucination, so grotesque and jarring, didn’t just jolt the revelers—Xie Jinhuan himself twitched in shock. He nearly lashed out with his Tiangang Mace and smacked one of the illusions in the face.

Poof. The illusion vanished completely.

“AHHHH! GHOSTS—!!”

“GET ME OUT!!”

“HELP—!!”

...

Within seconds, the hall erupted again—but this time, with screams of pure terror.

The crowd awoke from their trances and looked around in horror at the twisted scene. They scrambled for the doors, rolling, crawling, pushing each other in a mad dash to escape.

Above, Taishu Dan—who had been casting spells atop a ceiling beam—realized someone had disrupted his enchantment. The ritual was out of control. He barked a sharp command:

“Seal the doors!”

He raised his left hand, revealing a bronze bell and shook it violently:

Jing-ling-ling—!

The urgent chime was soul-shaking. Those who’d just started running froze mid-step like puppets whose strings had been cut.

In the midst of the packed crowd, Xie Jinhuan pushed toward the exit. But the moment the bell rang, it felt like someone had clamped a curse directly onto his skull. His body trembled and slowed involuntarily.

No hesitation.

CLANG—! The Tiangang Mace flew from its sheath.

With his entire body surging with power, he let out a thunderous bellow:

“To hell with your damn mother’s thunder!”

BOOOOOM—!!

A shockwave of thunder erupted as the mace spun like a buzzsaw, slicing through the swirling red fog and tearing open a path through the hall straight to the source of the bell!

Taishu Dan’s expression twisted, but he didn’t stop ringing. Instead, he lifted his right hand and flicked his fingers:

Whoosh—whoosh—

Two cloaked puppets crashed through the railings, leaping into the air to block the incoming weapon.

The first puppet raised its saber to intercept—but the moment it touched the flying mace, its entire upper body was obliterated.

BOOM—!

The cloak exploded, flesh and bone flying everywhere.

The second puppet immediately followed up and barely managed to block the mace’s force. But it was sent hurtling back, crashing through the dome of the ship.

CRASH—!

Taishu Dan, stunned at seeing his prized puppets—years of investment—reduced to one destroyed and one disabled in seconds, roared:

“It’s Xie Jinhuan! Kill him!”

He Can and the swinging demon “dancer” didn’t need the order. They immediately darted from both flanks toward the man who had revealed himself.

But Xie Jinhuan hadn’t intended to stick around. That mace throw was his sucker punch.

He had already begun dashing for the door.

CRASH—!

He smashed through the thick double doors.

Outside, more than a dozen mercenary thugs hired from the martial world had been stationed on the deck. The moment the white-robed figure burst through, a rain of blades greeted him.

Swish swish swish—

Landing on his feet, Xie Jinhuan froze for half a second—taken aback by how many were waiting.

But a glance told him they were nothing but cannon fodder. At worst, this would take ten seconds.

No delay.

He drew his sword and swept it in a horizontal arc.

BOOM—!!

A violent blast erupted from the blade, shaving a whole layer off the wooden deck.

Thousands of splinters shot forward like a swarm of locusts. The lead thug was instantly torn into a ragged corpse, screaming in agony:

“AAAAH—!”

Xie Jinhuan charged straight through with the force of a one-man army. After Mad Dragon’s Tail Sweep, he immediately followed up with Black Dragon Crashes the Pillar—

HSSHH—

BOOM—!

A white dragon seemed to rise from the ruptured deck, carving a spinning vortex through the floor.

The white-clad figure dashed to the far end of the deck in a blink.

But no matter how quick he was, he was still vastly outnumbered. Behind him, He Can burst through the doors, unfurling his ghost umbrella. The black river surface was instantly shrouded in ghostly fog.

In the blink of an eye, Xie Jinhuan’s vision went pitch black—he couldn’t see a damn thing. But before the weeping ghosts could emerge, the Zhenglun Sword in his hand lit up with crackling blue-white lightning.

CRACKLE—!!

All the ghost qi within ten feet was vaporized.

Just as his vision cleared, a figure swooped through the air and landed on the prow of the ship, stirring up a thick red mist in the shape of a dragon.

WHOOOSH—

Xie Jinhuan halted.

He glanced behind. Seeing none of the real elites pursuing him, he chose not to flee immediately. He planted his sword at the bow and swept his gaze across the scene.

By now, the massive ship had drifted several miles with the current, circling a bend in the river and anchoring in a wide stretch of water two li across.

Faint lights twinkled on the horizon, but the Peony Pool was long gone from view. The surrounding river was silent and dark.

“Master Xie’s martial skill is indeed impressive. I am Du Qingyi. A pleasure.”

The colorful demon “dancer” had clearly seen Xie Jinhuan’s earlier outburst. He made no sudden move, instead removing his mask to reveal a pale, ghostly face under thick stage makeup—his eyes sharp and venomous like a snake:

“But I really don’t get it. We’ve never crossed paths, you’re not with the authorities. Why hunt us # Nоvеlight # down so relentlessly?”

His voice was a weird mix of high and hoarse—like a eunuch gargling gravel.

Xie Jinhuan ignored the androgynous freak and turned to the ghost shaman holding the umbrella:

“My father met a demon three years ago. The method it used to escape looked a lot like what you pulled off last time. Was it your doing?”

He Can, still standing near the door, stayed back—Zhenglun Sword's “anti-magic” effect made him keep his distance.

“Anyone who knows my movement art is either from the Underworld Sect... or one of their pets. I can ask around for you—if you make it out alive.”

Xie Jinhuan lowered his sword toward the deck and calmly surveyed the group:

“No need to ask. I plan to wipe the Underworld Sect off the face of the earth. As for you lot... since you ran into me today, don’t expect to see tomorrow’s sunrise.”

“What a big mouth,” Du Qingyi hissed, licking his lips.

“You’ve got a fine face. If I turn you into a puppet, we could sleep together every night...”

SSHHK—

Before he could finish, the tip of a sword howled across the deck.

CRACK—!!

A three-foot arc of light tore through the red fog and split the scarred planks beneath it.

Du Qingyi reacted fast, dodging with a graceful mid-air twist.

Xie Jinhuan’s body followed like a swimming dragon, angling to the flank.

Two thugs tried to block him. A flash of silver—and both had their throats pierced before they even knew what hit them.

Thud thud—

The sound of steel biting flesh. Before the bodies fell, the white-clad warrior was already at the railing.

Tap tap tap...

Several more thugs tried to chase, but seeing he hadn’t left, they hesitated.

Du Qingyi shouted:

“What are you idiots standing around for? Go!”

But the mercenaries were clearly spooked.

Xie Jinhuan had been thoroughly disgusted by the demon’s lewd remarks and wanted to kill him on the spot. But he knew the real elites inside were a tougher fight. He turned toward the ship and called out:

“Old bastard! If you don’t show yourself, I’m going to kill all your people!”

Inside, Taishu Dan was busy re-gathering the crowd and couldn’t spare the effort. Seeing Xie Jinhuan’s strength and not wanting to lose more minions, he waved a sleeve and sneered:

“Arrogant brat. Know your place!”

BOOOOM—!!

The upper deck windows exploded.

A black mist dragon, thick enough for two to hug, came crashing down, trailing grim, cold ghostly energy. Two more puppets burst through after it.

Zzzzt—!!

The Zhenglun Sword flared with lightning again, dispersing the ghost fog in an instant.

Seeing that the old monster could still fight, Xie Jinhuan didn’t linger.

He vaulted backward, flipping over the railing.

WHOOSH—

Tap tap tap...

Du Qingyi and a dozen others rushed to the edge just in time to see a white-robed figure running across the river, kicking up a trail of white foam toward the distant Peony Pool!

“What now? Do we chase?”

“No use. He’s going for backup. But all the top experts are downriver hunting the great demon. He won’t find help.”

Du Qingyi’s expression twisted with hate. Watching the figure vanish into the distance, he muttered:

“Big words, saying we won’t see the sunrise...”

“Don’t underestimate him. That brat hits like a hammer. Killing you or me would be nothing. If he sneaks back, he might actually kill someone.”

He Can glanced back at the ship:

“The ritual got interrupted. It'll take at least fifteen minutes to get the crowd worked up again. You spread the smoke—I’ll go ask Master for more puppets, just in case.”

Without another word, Du Qingyi vaulted to the rooftop. With a flick of his sleeve, red poison fog rolled down from the upper deck, cloaking the ship and seeping into the surrounding river...