Swallow Return

The giant hungry ghost skeleton leader was enveloped in a dark gray light shield, and its lost arm grew back, but its overall size became slightly smaller.

Suddenly, a piercing voice rang out from within the group of normal-sized skeletons: "Run! I don't want to be absorbed again!"

This opinion immediately gained widespread approval.

"Yes, yes! Becoming part of the leader's body is definitely not a pleasant thing!"

"Farewell! Farewell!"

"Hmph, I'll be the one absorbing that guy someday! But I'll be backing out for today..."

Then, the dozen or so normal-sized skeletons scattered in all directions.

The slightly smaller giant hungry ghost skeleton leader stomped his foot and roared in fury, "You heartless bastard! Isn't our hungry ghost skeleton race famous because of our ability to unite as one?!"

As he spoke, he disregarded Lady Guidie and the bathhouse monster, as well as Liuyun who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and angrily opened his arms to catch the fleeing skeleton.

This guy has extremely long arms and is incredibly fast; he grabbed two people with a single wave of his hand.

Then squeeze hard.

"what--"

"Waaah—"

Two screams rang out in quick succession, and the two captured skeletons vanished into thin air. Then, the giant hungry ghost skeleton leader seemed to have grown slightly larger again.

The other normal-sized skeletons that ran away escaped even faster.

The giant hungry ghost skeleton leader tried to capture it again, but there was no time for that.

……

Sasaki Ryuun, who had just unleashed a powerful slash that severed the monster's arm, paused only for a moment before continuing his pursuit.

The "Osafune Nagamitsu" in his hand, a famous sword transformed from Iori's grandmother, is connected to its master's soul. It is as if an extra organ has grown on his body, or as if it is an extension of his arm, drawing a perfect arc in the air.

This time, they crashed into the shoulder of the giant hungry ghost skeleton leader.

The opponent's bones and rotting flesh were quite tough, and when they came into contact with the blade, they sparked with a dazzling display of light.

But in the end, "Changchuan Changguang" was still the better choice.

On the chest of the giant hungry ghost skeleton leader, a huge wound more than ten feet long suddenly appeared. The wound showed no signs of healing and instead continued to expand, instantly becoming a foot wide.

Moreover, small, normal-sized skulls kept falling out of the crack.

Twenty or thirty popped up in a short time.

It was like a rice bag with a hole in it, with white rice flowing out in a rush.

With each normal-sized skeleton that fell out, the giant hungry ghost skeleton leader shrank in size by one unit.

All the guy can do now is howl and frantically wave his hands, trying to grab the fallen skeleton and absorb it back into his body.

But it was all in vain.

Liu Yun pressed on, immediately inflicting several more new wounds on him.

It's like a pool with three or five large holes underground to drain water, but only two small taps above to fill it. That's bound to cause the pool to be emptied.

……

Hungry ghost skeletons are monsters that have the characteristic of devouring each other.

A tribal leader often devours all his own kind that he can see, transforming himself into a gigantic monster.

That's why they're so difficult to deal with.

However, the "Long Ship Long Light" in Liu Yun's hand contains the power to "erasure all things, both intangible and tangible." When it slashes, it not only causes damage, but also directly breaks the characteristic of the hungry ghost skeletons devouring each other, making them become individual beings again.

Chapter 170 The Delight of Man and Blade as One

Blades flew, their cold light gleaming.

Despite launching nine full-force attacks against the same monster, it still hasn't completely fallen.

Moreover, what he is holding now is not the ordinary iron he used in the past, but the famous sword "Osafune Nagamitsu" that was transformed from Iori's grandmother!

This is a rare memory in Liu Yun's demon-slaying experience.

Tonight's enemy deserves respect.

However, the question remains: can the other party be considered "a monster"? That is the question.

With Liu Yun's repeated sword strikes, the giant hungry ghost skeleton leader, who was four or five zhang tall, had lost his original limbs and large parts of his chest and abdomen. His entire body was disintegrated and scattered.

The "Nagafune Nagamitsu," the incarnation of Iori's maternal grandmother, has the characteristic of "erasing all things, both tangible and intangible."

So every severed part of that great monster, after falling to the ground, turned into a pile of normal-sized skeletons.

There are at least three hundred of them, I estimate.

The main body still exists, but it has shrunk to a little over ten feet, at most two or three times the size of an average person.

This is precisely the nature of the "Hungry Ghost Skeleton Clan".

They devour each other, evolving in a monstrous, symbiotic way—it's truly terrifying, deserving the description "horrifying beyond measure."

However, what's scary is when they're put together.

After splitting off, the individual units were not very strong, and they had absolutely no sense of unity.

This is self-evident nonsense—among members of the same kind, they are all hunter and prey to each other; there is no trust whatsoever.

Just now, sixty or seventy bathhouse monsters were badly beaten by the giant hungry ghost skeleton, and a third of them were seriously injured in an instant.

But now they can finally hold their heads high.

Those hundreds of normal-sized skeletons, though all belonging to the same race, were a complete rabble, only concerned with scattering and fleeing.

The bathhouse monsters, filled with anger and resentment, finally had someone to vent their frustrations on!

They immediately displayed their unique abilities: some wielded swords and spears, some threw and fired, some bared their fangs and claws, some summoned lightning, water, and fire, some emitted invisible energy waves... and many more strange and unusual attack methods, instantly turning many normal-sized skeletons into dust.

Originally, within the magic circle's range, these skeletons should have been able to continuously revive.

However, there were no such signs at the time.

It's possible that the contract required by this magic circle is too complex to accommodate the special circumstances of the "Hungry Ghost Skeleton Clan"; or it's possible that when Liu Yun used "Long Ship Long Light" to cut off the main body, he had already severed the connection with the magic circle.

In short, the hundreds of skeletons made of bones and rotting flesh were relentlessly pursued and attacked by the bathhouse monster. About 30% of them were immediately killed, and the rest fled in panic.

……

On the main battlefield, the hungry ghost skeleton leader, when his body shrank to only one zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) in size, finally couldn't resist and decided to run away.

He was hacked so badly that he couldn't mount any effective counterattack.

This guy's speed is quite fast and agile relative to his body size; it's not much slower than Liu Yun.

However, most of the powerful attacks from the huge arms and hands were defeated by the unstoppable blade light of Liu Yun and the sharp edge of "Long Ship Long Light", achieving nothing.

Two brilliant attacks finally succeeded, leaving wounds that would have been fatal to humans.

But Liu Yun only needs to push it away quickly, adjust his breathing slightly, and a burst of white light will shine from his body, allowing the deep wound that exposes the bone to heal back to its original state at a speed visible to the naked eye.

This matter is truly perplexing. Who is the mortal human being, and who is the monster with supernatural abilities?

To be honest, the eerie winds constantly swirling around the giant hungry ghost skeleton leader were somewhat useful.

This at least made Liu Yun feel uncomfortable, requiring him to expend more energy to maintain his focus.

The giant hungry ghost skeleton leader wasn't stupid. After several exchanges, he realized that his ordinary melee combat was ineffective, and only his special attacks could offer some resistance.

Then, this creature opened its huge mouth, which was half bone and half rotting flesh, and let out a sharp, piercing roar. It concentrated its remaining power and unleashed an unprecedentedly strong gust of yin wind that swept towards Liu Yun.

This chilling wind actually condensed into a clearly visible black mist, completely unlike the petty tricks it had just used.

At the same time, he used the technique of "earth burrowing" to desperately burrow underground.

Surprisingly, it crawled in pretty fast!

The solid, flat ground was like a sparse sand dune to the Hungry Ghost Skeleton Leader; with a little effort, he could sink into it and be buried.

Seeing an unprecedentedly powerful, eerie wind blowing towards him, enveloping him from all sides, Liu Yun unconsciously became alert and vigilant.

"Lord Liuyun, that is pure 'death energy.' Any sentient being that comes into contact with it will immediately feel physically and mentally exhausted, weak in the limbs, and mentally disoriented. It may even cause serious injuries requiring a long period of recuperation, or even instant death. You need to be careful!"

Lady Guidie had spoken these words beforehand, and they were delivered to Liuyun's ears at that moment.

She probably knows a lot about the characteristics of the "Hungry Ghost Clan"!

Upon hearing this, Liu Yun sensed some risk and instinctively tried to dodge.

Although hiding like this might give the hungry ghost skeleton leader a chance to escape.

But Liu Yun didn't really care whether that guy ran away or not.

Anyway, there wasn't any particular grudge, and reducing someone's height from four or five zhang to just over one zhang was already a significant weakening.

However, just as Liu Yun was about to retreat, a thought suddenly struck him.

He sensed that the "Nagafune Nagamitsu" he held in his hand, which was Iori's maternal grandmother, was now filled with boundless fighting spirit and courage, unwilling to retreat or hide, but hoping to face her head-on!

"I am more than capable of cutting off this sinister wind!"

It was as if the white-clad woman, who showed no signs of aging and resembled Iori by about 70%, was standing tall and shouting this out.

Can a knife cut through the wind?

The disturbance I just experienced wasn't too great, so I didn't think about how to deal with it and didn't notice whether "Nagashima Nagamitsu" had this extraordinary ability.

Now, facing a thick, dark wind, Liu Yun hesitated slightly, fearing for his safety.

However, he hesitated for only a very, very short moment.

The telepathic connection between myself and the "Long Boat Long Light" in my hand transmits endless fighting spirit and confidence.

This convinced Liu Yun that this was not a blind and reckless act of arrogance, but rather a confident approach based on a thorough understanding of himself.

So he gave a soft shout, gathered his strength, and swung his blade upwards!

The blade flashed again.

"Lord Liuyun, you should move aside!"

Lady Guidie stood a dozen steps away, her expression immediately filled with anxiety.