Seeking Truth with a Sword-Chapter 572 - 515 Betrayal
Several trees, so thick it would take multiple people to encircle their trunks, toppled one after another like dominoes. Alarmed birds within the forest panicked and took flight, forming a dark mass against the sky.
Ghost Shovel was approaching at breakneck speed, the distance closing rapidly.
Li Ang pursed his lips, swung his right arm behind him, and shot out several talismans from the talisman plate.
The Wind Sand Talisman called forth a gale, lifting the accumulated leaves on the forest floor. The Light Talisman created a bright light, obstructing the opponent’s vision. The Earth Melt Talisman liquefied the soil, turning the ground into sticky mud to delay the pursuer’s steps.
At the same time, he concentrated his Telekinesis beneath his feet and stomped sharply, propelling his figure to shoot up and fly over the canopy.
On the Cultivation Path, only Martial Artists were unable to fly using their own power. Even at the Martial Arts Grandmaster realm, they still had to travel on foot.
"Thinking of escaping?"
Ghost Shovel grinned. With a stomp onto a tree trunk, he darted through the forest like a bolt of lightning, traversing the vast muddy marshes. With a slash in mid-air, he easily cut through the oncoming wind and sand, incidentally tearing apart the Light Talisman that was emitting strong light.
He, too, reached the top of the canopy, locking onto Li Ang, a hundred meters away.
WHOOSH—
A strong suction force spontaneously formed, halting Li Ang’s flight.
He turned his head to look and saw Ghost Shovel standing on a tree trunk, the huge maw on his abdomen splitting open again, creating a fierce wind.
Countless leaves and branches were drawn into the gaping maw, vanishing as if swept away by the wind.
Li Ang had no desire to find out what was inside Ghost Shovel’s belly. He immediately circulated his Qi Sea and exerted his Telekinesis. At the same time, he threw out numerous Mind Silks, tangling them around the trees below and in front of him to provide leverage points against the suction force.
"Heh."
Ghost Shovel chuckled softly, opened his right hand, and aimed it at the dense forest ahead, the slit in his palm slowly blooming open.
A powerful suction force was generated anew. Following the direction of his palm, trees snapped one by one.
Li Ang’s Mind Silks, along with the tree trunks, spiraled into the slit in Ghost Shovel’s palm.
Are you the reincarnation of a vacuum cleaner, I wonder?!
Li Ang silently complained in his heart, letting go of the Mind Silks as he watched the distance between himself and Ghost Shovel shrink.
The Arbitrary Gate was still on cooldown and couldn’t be used again. The Cloud Patrol Realm talismans in the talisman plate were also likely ineffective against Ghost Shovel.
Then the only option left was...
Li Ang’s gaze turned cold as he called upon Mo Si.
Numerous threads extended from his spine, originating from his back and wrapping around his chest, torso, and limbs.
He slowly moved his fingers and then suddenly clenched them into a fist. The air in his palm crackled explosively due to the intense compression.
CRACK. CRACK.
After forming the first layer, the Mo Si on his body continued to transform rapidly, creating structures like ridges, barbs, and scales.
Eventually, it formed into heavy Dark Armor, in an insectoid and serpentine style.
WHOOSH—
He drew the Triangular Spear from his waist. A wealth of Mo Si poured into it, permanently transforming the weapon that had accompanied him for so long. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞
The spear’s form became increasingly exaggerated. It grew fine, snake-like scales that seemed alive, constantly expanding and contracting.
He no longer resisted the fierce wind, letting himself plummet toward the ground, his long spear thrusting straight at the giant maw on Ghost Shovel’s abdomen.
CLANG!
Ghost Shovel’s Chopper blocked the Long Spear Blade, and the giant maw on his belly closed as a result.
"So this is your secret?"
Ghost Shovel sized up Li Ang’s Dark Armor from top to bottom, then suddenly burst out into loud laughter, "Hahahaha!"
"..."
Li Ang didn’t understand what madness had suddenly possessed the other man, but since Ghost Shovel stood still, he was content to regain some strength.
His Qi Sea circulated, replenishing his energy. Simultaneously, he contacted his Mo Si Clones thousands of miles away, directing all of them to move towards the Northern Desert. This battle was extremely arduous; survival depended on gathering every share of Mo Si.
After a while, Ghost Shovel finally ceased his maniacal laughter and, looking down at Li Ang with indifference, asked, "Do you know who I am?"
"Wu Xinou, from the Songmo Governor’s Mansion in Hebei Dao."
Li Ang, who had read Ghost Shovel’s file, said gravely, "As a child, he experienced the rebellion at the Songmo Governor’s Mansion where his parents were killed by rebels. He was then adopted by the Zhongsi Institute and, upon reaching adulthood, served at the border of the Anxi Four Towns Protectorate. Because of unauthorized usage of Mutated Objects, he fell onto the Demon Path and defected from Yu Country."
"’The Academic Palace told you all that, didn’t they? But did they tell you how I fell onto the Demon Path?’"
Ghost Shovel grinned. "Over twenty years ago, a rebellion broke out simultaneously in the Anxi Four Towns. The rebels colluded with the Demon Sect, cut off all communication, and laid siege to the forts.
They tried to seize one of the Mutated Objects guarding the town to offer it to Jing Country.
The siege lasted three days and three nights, with countless comrades exhausted to death.
The General kept telling us reinforcements would arrive any moment, but even by the seventh day of the siege, there was still no sign of them.
The town’s crossbow arrows were exhausted, and our food supplies were incinerated by Demon Sect saboteurs hidden within the city. The few hundred remaining defenders and tens of thousands of civilians had no choice but to eat warhorses, and then... other unspeakable things."
Ghost Shovel patted his own cheek with the flat of his Chopper. "The military town was at its breaking point. Everyone knew that the day the city fell would be the day we died.
So, a few colleagues and I snuck into the General Mansion and stole that Mutated Object. This thing here."
Ghost Shovel pointed the blade at the giant maw on his abdomen and said coldly, "Eight of my comrades were with me. We took turns, trying to see if any of us could merge with it. The price was becoming a demon, to save everyone else in the city.
The three comrades before me didn’t survive the fusion. They were all devoured by this great mouth.
When it was my turn, it finally seemed sated. It merged with me, attaching itself to my abdomen.
Relying on it, I snuck out of the city, killed the enemy’s leading Demon Sect Cultivator, forced the rebels to retreat, and saved the crumbling military town.
After the rebels retreated and communications were restored, the reinforcements finally arrived—unhurriedly. They assumed the military town had already fallen and hadn’t even bothered sending Cultivators to investigate.
That was ironic. But what’s even more ironic is that I was arrested by those same reinforcements."
Ghost Shovel laughed loudly. "They said I had merged with an Alien, that I’d fallen onto the Demon Path! They tortured me, trying to rip this great mouth from my body.
You know, even then, I felt more aggrieved than resentful. I grew up in the Zhongsi Institute, loyal to Yu Country. I knew the destructive power of demons, knew their existence was detrimental to Yu Country.
But one day, after a session of torture, I overheard the prison guards talking. The comrades who had snuck into the General Mansion with me that day—the ones who survived—had also been secretly arrested and executed.
They had witnessed my fusion with the Alien. They had to die.
One of them had told his family what happened, so his entire family was secretly executed too."
Ghost Shovel spread his hands and sneered. "That’s the fate of a lapdog. We never betrayed Yu Country, yet Yu Country betrayed us. All our sacrifices, all our blood and sweat, meant nothing to those in power."
