Chapter 148: Yellow-Armored Warrior-General

"A netherworld emissary! There are no dead people here, so why would a netherworld emissary appear? This place is still some distance away from the hospital."

Qingya stood suspended in the void, surrounded by swirling ghostly energy. Her expression was somewhat ferocious. Over the years, she had constantly evaded the pursuit of the netherworld emissaries, so the moment she saw the netherworld emissary robe, she immediately recognized it. However, because her husband was currently in pursuit of Zhang Shouzhen and the others, she did not flee immediately. More importantly, this netherworld emissary merely blocked her path without making any movement and remained entirely silent.

She began to carefully observe the netherworld emissary, finding something rather peculiar. The emissary's stature was short, resembling that of a young child, and why did this emissary lack a soul-locking chain?

Suspicion arose in Qingya's mind, and her body began to drift toward the side, intending to bypass the emissary. Yet, as she moved, the netherworld emissary opposite her moved as well, doing so silently and clinging to her like a shadow. Qingya's expression turned chilling as she reached out and grabbed forward. The surrounding ghostly energy surged wildly, condensing in mid-air into a tangible fist about a zhang in size. This fist, wreathed in ghostly aura, smashed fiercely toward the netherworld emissary.

Suddenly, a crisp, girlish giggle emanated from the netherworld emissary. Facing the descending fist, a petite and exquisite palm suddenly stretched out from the opponent's sleeve. The palm slapped against the massive fist, and ghostly energy condensed in the air, forming a colossal ghostly hand that viciously seized the giant fist before it exploded with a deafening crash. Both types of ghostly energy dispersed simultaneously. Qingya turned somewhat pale and retreated several steps in the void, but Xiaoling remained completely motionless, her netherworld emissary robe invisibly neutralizing a great deal of the opponent's ghostly energy.

"You are not a netherworld emissary! You have no soul-hooking chain, but why do you wear a netherworld emissary robe?"

Qingya furrowed her brows and shouted angrily. The opponent's ghostly energy could also be materialized, meaning she was likely in the same realm of cultivation as herself.

"You don't need to know. I am merely responsible for stalling you."

A milky, childish voice rang out.

"So you're just a little brat! You think you can stall me? In your dreams!"

Qingya let out a grim laugh and flicked her sleeve. The surrounding ghostly energy transformed into black arrows that hurtled straight toward Xiaoling. Because both were spiritual bodies, being attacked by the opponent would cause actual harm, or even lead to total destruction of their souls. After all, the energy contained within a spiritual body is finite; once damaged, the energy dissipates. Without replenishment, the spiritual body would weaken, and if all its energy vanished completely, the soul would scatter into oblivion.

Xiaoling let out a soft huff, showing no weakness. She pointed forward, and the black ghostly mist within her body transformed into a circular shield right before her. The arrows bombarded the shield—some embedded themselves into its surface, while others bounced off entirely.

Just like that, the two ghosts at the Incarnation Realm became deadlocked, leaving Qingya unable to break away and provide support to Shaohua.

***

Meanwhile, at the entrance of the hospital, Zhang Shouzhen was contemplating whether or not to project his primordial spirit to deal with Shaohua the corpse demon. A strange purple rune lit up between Jiuer's brows, and a pale purple crystal shield materialized in front of her. The strips of cloth tainted with corpse demon Qi were temporarily unable to pierce through this crystal shield. Seeing this, Zhang Shouzhen finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This crystal shield was definitely not a spell of hers, nor was it something ordinary zombies could possess. It should be an innate divine ability contained within the bloodline of the Ancestral Zombie. For Jiuer to comprehend it while still so weak—just how concentrated must this Ancestral Zombie bloodline be? Furthermore, who were her parents? This bloodline was innate rather than acquired, and since Jiuer was already a zombie before awakening her zombie powers, it meant that at least one of her parents was an extremely high-level zombie.

At this thought, a sense of unease welled up inside Zhang Shouzhen. Jiuer... was Jiuer also abandoned by her parents? Or perhaps her parents had their own unspeakable hardships.

However, a violent tremor in the surrounding ground brought Zhang Shouzhen out of his musings. Qiansheng had finished her incantation. Kneeling on the ground with one hand supporting her wooden staff, she panted heavily before lifting her head. Her face was deathly pale as she screamed at the top of her lungs toward Zhang Shouzhen:

"Shouzhen, hold on! Earth Spirit, heed my summons, descend!"

The soil within a ten-meter radius turned into mud and began to spin incessantly. Although Zhang Shouzhen was bound, his feet were still planted on the ground, and he could feel his feet being gradually swallowed by the mire. Not far away, the mud and sand whirled into the air, transforming into a giant standing over two meters tall. The giant's facial features gradually sharpened, revealing a rugged-looking man clad in earthy-yellow armor and wearing a heavy helmet, surrounded by swirling yellow sand. The giant reached out and grabbed, causing the yellow sand to materialize into a long halberd that he gripped tightly in his hand.

"Release the two of them immediately, or don't blame my Earth Spirit for being impolite!"

Qiansheng seemed to have exhausted all her strength, unable even to stand up. Summoning this Earth Spirit had consumed her entire reserve of magical power. If any other adversaries were to appear right now, she would be in dire straits—she might not even be able to handle an ordinary person at the moment.

"Earth Spirit? Hmph, merely an empty shell without any spiritual intelligence, yet you hope to scare me?"

Shaohua chuckled, showing not a shred of fear. However, his handsome face was soon replaced by a solemn expression, because the yellow-armored warrior formed by the Earth Spirit had already launched an attack on him. The giant was completely unaffected by the surrounding mud, moving through it with ease. Raising his long halberd high, yellow light flashed, and a pungent earthy scent rushed toward him.

"Cut!"

The long halberd in the yellow-armored warrior's grip cleaved through the air with a piercing whistle, smashing viciously toward Shaohua's head. Judging by the momentum, it somewhat resembled how Qiansheng had attacked Shaohua with her wooden staff earlier.

The strips of cloth swirling around Shaohua rapidly converged above his head to form a shield. As the halberd struck, the shield began to shake violently, and the corpse demon Qi on it scattered. 收起 (Suppressing) his contempt, Shaohua opened his mouth and spat an even denser amount of corpse demon Qi into the cloth strips, instantly restoring the shield's sturdiness.

***

"Smash him, girl!"

Qiansheng panted as she pointed at Shaohua and issued her command. The yellow-armored warrior seemed tireless and possessed boundless strength. Wielding its long halberd like a giant hammer, it struck the shield blow after blow. The corpse demon Qi on the shield churned wildly. Shaohua gritted his teeth, continuously spitting out mouthfuls of corpse demon Qi to reinforce it.

"Ah..."

Zhang Shouzhen let out a miserable scream, feeling as though his ribs had been crushed. A mouthful of fresh blood spewed from his mouth, spraying onto the cloth strips in front of him. Touched by the pristine Yang blood, the corpse demon Qi on the cloth strips immediately began to billow white smoke, burning away as if doused in sulfuric acid.

By this time, Qingyu Tong had already arrived. Glancing at Shaohua, her body moved like a flash of white afterimage as she darted forward. A cold glint swept past from the scalpel in her hand, and the next moment, Qingyu Tong's figure appeared outside the mire, the blade completely unstained by blood.

Shaohua's head rolled off, and Zhang Shouzhen and Jiuer seized the opportunity to escape. The shield above Shaohua's head instantly collapsed, and the long halberd in the Earth Spirit's hand chopped down fiercely, smashing the flesh-rotted skeleton into pieces scattered across the ground.

"We finally killed him!"

Zhang Shouzhen rubbed his chest, still shaken to his core.

"He's not that easy to kill. You two go inside the hospital first."

Qingyu Tong walked over to Zhang Shouzhen, adjusted the glasses on the bridge of her nose, and spoke indifferently.