Techniques and Dao

Chapter 91 Fighting with Life
On the Bedland cruise ship.

Hua Sheng checked his bleeding wounds again, the pain being secondary. He began to wonder if he, a grown man, was going to die on this cruise ship tonight.

While Hanamori occasionally thinks about death, it's as distant as planning what he'll do at eighty—a thought too far off. In fact, humans, when faced with most problems, don't consider the day they'll die. And most desires in the world are predicated on the premise of perpetual possession. If everyone understood that possession is only fleeting, the desire to possess would diminish considerably.

Even people over ninety years old rarely consider death as a prerequisite for their considerations, let alone Hanamori, who is only a sixteen-year-old boy.

To die on a ghost ship in the vast ocean, aboard a ship haunted by a legendary monster—that's quite a legendary way to die! Sadly, it may never be known. How ironic that, in search of an answer to a question, one boards this strange ship and loses their life.

And if I were to die, Xiaoqing, who is blind, and this little girl would probably not live much longer either. But isn't that how fate is? Life is unpredictable. When death is imminent, who can truly be prepared?

Hua Sheng thought to himself, "How can I admit defeat so quickly! I still have a stack of talismans in my hand, so I can't be considered unarmed. I can fight to the death against this old hag Wuwang and the strange beast Qiongqi, so I can't say I have no resources at all!"
Xiao Qing held onto Hua Sheng's arm tightly; at this moment, he had become the only support for this girl who had lost her sight.

"What happened? What exactly happened?" Xiaoqing huddled up in a ball.

"Your sister should be somewhere else. She was always with our Xiao Mei at first, but it turns out she was an old witch in disguise!"

"Ah!" Xiaoqing exclaimed in surprise, "Where is my sister?"

"I... don't know where she is either." Hua Sheng pressed hard on his wound to stop the bleeding.

Xiao Qing covered her face with her hands: "My sister must be dead!"

"Don't overthink it! Maybe they're like the other passengers. Look, no one's on the boat anymore, they must have escaped." Hua Sheng was in dire straits himself, but he still wanted to comfort Xiao Qing.

Before them stood the witch-like Wu Wang, a hundred times more ferocious than a tiger, stroking Qiongqi's head: "Good boy! Qiongqi, which one should we eat first?"

Hua Sheng gripped the iron rod tightly and shouted angrily, "Pah! You old hag! I've eaten coarse grains since I was a child, so my skin is tough and my flesh is thick. I'm afraid you can't digest me!"

"This kid is still being stubborn." Wu Wang chuckled, his voice like the rattling of an old wooden door that hadn't been oiled for centuries, sounding rather eerie.

Hua Sheng, enduring the pain, thought, "Looks like they're going to have to take my stance first? I'll have to fight this old hag to the death!"

"Want to resist?" Wu Wang clicked her tongue. "Unfortunately, I suddenly remembered I have important business to attend to first." She pointed to the little girl in black lying unconscious on the ground. "We can eat her first, then we can eat you."

"If you want to eat her, you have to eat me first!" Hua Sheng pointed at Wu Wang with an iron rod.

Wu Wang patted Qiongqi: "It seems we need to speed things up. If the Sui Xing Sha is finished, we probably won't be able to do anything to this kid. Since this 'righteous young hero' has suddenly appeared out of nowhere, we should get rid of him as soon as possible."

Qiongqi immediately understood and let out a series of low growls as it approached Hua Sheng. Hua Sheng struggled to his feet on one leg, hopping a few times until he finally regained his balance. He took out the stack of talismans, preparing for a desperate fight.

Unexpectedly, Wu Wang glanced at the talismans in his hand, then contemptuously extended a finger and waved it towards the outside of the ship. The entire bundle of talismans was pulled out of Hua Sheng's hand as if hooked by a thread, and dozens of talismans flew into the dark night sky outside the cruise ship like snowflakes.

Seeing that her hope of survival had vanished, Hua Sheng felt her blood rush to her head and almost lost her balance, nearly tumbling over the railing as well.

"Damn it!" Hua Sheng gritted his teeth in hatred. This Wu Wang seemed unfathomable, and he might not be a match for him at all. But the most urgent task was to deal with this monster first. Only after killing Qiongqi could he consider whether he could survive.

Qiongqi, leading its gu eagles, pressed closer and closer, now less than five meters from Huasheng. Huasheng could no longer distinguish whether the drops falling on her eyebrows were rainwater from her hair or cold sweat from her forehead.

Qiongqi suddenly leaped off the ground and pounced. Hua Sheng knew he couldn't dodge, so he raised his iron rod to meet it.

With a snap, Qiongqi's sharp claws broke the fragile iron rod in two, leaving a new wound on Hua Sheng's body.

Hua Sheng was panting heavily, his vision was somewhat blurred. Was it from exhaustion or excessive blood loss? Or perhaps both?

The surrounding Gu Diao (a type of mythical creature) approached from behind Hua Sheng. Hua Sheng swung the iron rods in his left and right hands back and forth, repelling two Gu Diao that were trying to ambush him. However, being surrounded, he was likely still outnumbered.

However, Hua Sheng could only focus most of his attention on the most difficult Qiongqi to deal with.

At this moment, Wuwang seemed a little impatient and urged impatiently, "Qiongqi, hurry up and deal with this troublemaker. Don't forget the important matter!"

Qiongqi growled as if in response, then paced back and forth a few steps. Suddenly noticing Xiaoqing trembling beside him, its eyes flashed with ferocity, and it leaped forward, stomping Xiaoqing under its claws. Xiaoqing screamed in agony, struggling wildly with her hands, frantically pulling at Qiongqi's claws. But less than a second later, Qiongqi suddenly bit down on Xiaoqing's neck, and Xiaoqing let out a shrill cry before being held in Qiongqi's mouth.

Hua Sheng cried out in alarm, but it was too late. The Qiongqi's sharp teeth had severed the artery in Xiao Qing's neck, and blood spurted several meters from beneath her face. The scene was instantly gruesome; Hua Sheng's entire view was stained crimson!

"No!" Hua Sheng trembled with rage. "You beast!"

Xiao Qing suddenly used her last bit of strength to desperately hug Qiongqi's neck with both hands and shouted, "Hua Sheng, hurry! Hurry!"

Qiongqi, its neck caught in the grapple, momentarily sluggish. Looking closer, it became clear that when Xiaoqing grabbed it, Qiongqi had taken a step back, landing squarely within the magic array Hua Sheng had set up with the talisman. Dozens of vines sprouted from the array, tightly binding Qiongqi. Qiongqi frantically twisted its body, trying to break free.

At this moment, Qiongqi's attention was drawn to the last bit of strength that Xiaoqing's frail body displayed in her final moments.

Hua Sheng seized the opportunity, ignoring the excruciating pain all over his body, and limped forward desperately. Then he jumped up and plunged the two broken iron rods in his hands into Qiongqi's eyes!

With a muffled thud, Qiongqi let out a deafening roar!
Perhaps it was the magic array combined with the spiritual power of the talismans still clinging to the iron rods, but the two iron rods emitted a golden light in Qiongqi's eye sockets. Qiongqi suddenly rolled and twisted back and forth, while Xiaoqing, now powerless, was thrown far off the cruise ship, falling into the sea covered in blood. Huasheng was also knocked aside by Qiongqi's tail, which was as thick as a bowl.

The blind Qiongqi lunged and bit back and forth in fury. After slamming down half of its iron rod, the monster crashed into the railing, lost its balance, and fell into the dark sea with a thud.

Covered in blood, Hua Sheng picked up the remaining half of the iron rod as if holding onto the last half of her life.

He shouted at Wu Wang with his last remaining strength, "You damned old hag! Are you scared now!"

Although he knew nothing about Wu Wang, Hua Sheng was prepared to perish together with Wu Wang in this inescapable dangerous situation.

Perhaps he was not capable of a mutual destruction, but only hoped to fight to the death before he died, delivering a full-force blow! Just like Xiao Qing did when facing the ferocious Qiongqi.

Wu Wang didn't seem to care about losing the evil Qiongqi; she chuckled in an unpleasant voice.

"So this is what foolish mortals are like. Even on the verge of death, they can't resist trying to gain some verbal advantage. No wonder you mortals all end up with a tragic fate."

At that moment, Hua Sheng and Wu Wang simultaneously heard a child's groan. Hua Sheng turned his head and saw that, after the commotion, the little girl in black was slowly waking up from her slumber.

The little girl's awakening was immediately noticed by several Gu eagles around her. The monster pounced on her to bite her, but as it bit the little girl, the Gu eagles seemed to be touched by a talisman, and the Gu eagles that fell into its mouths all cried out and turned into mud.

Despite appearing to be protected by some kind of force, the little girl was still bitten, and blood immediately flowed from her arm. Seeing their companion die a violent death, the remaining Gu Diao could only growl and circle around, not daring to approach.

Seeing that the Gu Diao couldn't harm the girl, a barely perceptible flicker of fear flashed in Wu Wang's eyes. But when she simultaneously noticed that the girl was also injured, she immediately said, "It seems her primordial spirit is not yet complete. We must deal with this little thing as soon as possible!"

As he spoke, Wu Wang stretched out his right hand, and his arm gradually flattened, transforming into a steel knife.

Hua Sheng had just been stabbed by a steel knife and was still shaken. With only half an iron rod left, he didn't know how to cope.

Before Hua Sheng could think further, Wu Wang stretched out his left hand towards him. Hua Sheng suddenly felt as if he were bound by steel wires and couldn't move. Moreover, the more he struggled, the tighter the wires became, making it hard for him to breathe. His clothes, already soaked with blood, dripped blood onto the ground as if he were wringing out a towel.

"Boy! Watch me cut off your head and throw it into the sea to feed the fish." Wu Wang laughed contemptuously and charged forward, brandishing his steel knife.

But as she spoke, the smile on Wu Wang's face suddenly froze. After taking only two steps, she herself stopped in mid-air like a puppet.

Wuwang struggled briefly, but remained motionless, like a puppet bound by ropes.

Hua Sheng was also unable to move. He thought his time was up, but he didn't know why the old hag Wu Wang was also bound hand and foot like him.

He looked at the girl in black, who was lying on the ground panting, seemingly not having done it herself.

At that moment, a drunken voice sounded from behind Wuwang.

"Sigh! I, Young Master Lan, am truly a busybody. With so many passengers on this dilapidated cruise ship, I'm always busy with one thing and another."

(End of this chapter)