Keyboard Immortal

Chapter 1418: Human Face, Snake Body

Zu An noticed the eyes, and looked vigilantly in their direction. He still had the Blue Mallard ability; even though he couldn't move as naturally in the Weak Water as he could in normal water, it was still much easier for him than it was for other people.

However, to his surprise, the red eyes quickly disappeared. The enemy had gone into hiding on purpose; it was clearly waiting until Zu An went even deeper before ambushing him.

You want to use the darkness to ambush me? Zu An thought, his expression turning extremely strange.

The Weak Water was the Yayu’s domain. Even in the darkest depths where there was no light, it could still rely on its sense of smell and the water currents to identify Zu An’s position. Meanwhile, if a human couldn't see, they were no better than meat on a chopping board.

When it recalled how it had been beaten so shamelessly and miserably by the human and its companions, and thought about how the human would now be forced into a one-on-one in this Weak Water, there was no way it wouldn’t get revenge.

Alright, the light is already growing dim… Let me sense where he is now.

Huh? Why can’t I sense him at all?!

The Yayu was shocked, to the point that it thought that Zu An had already returned to shore. However, it quickly rejected the idea, because it had been paying attention to the human the entire time. There was no way it could have failed to notice if he really had returned to shore. That wasn’t even accounting for the fact that it was easy to enter the Weak Water, but leaving definitely wasn’t as easy.

The Yayu swam to and fro in search of its target, but even after searching a huge area, it didn’t find a single hair of the human. It was as if he had vanished into thin air. It had already gotten excited thinking about its revenge, but after the human disappeared, it became more and more annoyed.

Meanwhile, Zu An hid in the darkness, silently observing the situation. He had already seen through the monster’s intentions, but since he had the Hidden in the Dark skill, the darkness was naturally more favorable to him. In absolute darkness, not even an earth immortal could detect his existence, let alone the Yayu. Of course, he didn’t blindly attack, but rather patiently waited for an opportunity.

Perhaps because of Lord Sui’s Pearl, he felt as if his senses were many times sharper than before. Even in the dark, he could clearly sense everything around him. He sensed that the Yayu was getting more and more frustrated because it couldn't find him.

Over time, however, the current of water around the Yayu’s body drew closer and closer. When it reached a mere few meters from Zu An, he suddenly moved.

The Yayu sensed that something was off. It quickly turned around to flee, but a chill surrounded its body. Zu An stabbed the Flying Snow Sword into the riverbed, and as the sword’s sharp tip pierced into its depths, large amounts of the water began to freeze into ice at a visible rate, as if forming into an ice storm.

The Yayu was about to turn around and fight Zu An when it saw that its escape route was sealed off. Then, however, it saw a lamp light up. It had suffered considerably because of that lamp before, so it was quite alarmed to see it. Had the white-clothed woman and the long-haired woman also arrived? 

While the Yayu’s body was affected by the Empress Lantern, Zu An took out the Universe Ring and smashed it against the monster’s head, making it confused and dizzy. He wasn’t in a rush to take its life, and instead sealed it in place with the Snowflake Sword. Then, he trapped it with the Primal Skysilk.

Meanwhile, back on the shore, Yan Xuehen sensed the Primal Skysilk moving. She quickly pulled it toward the shore.

When they saw that Zu An had dragged the Yayu up so quickly, the three women were stunned. Wasn’t this guy a bit too strong?

After returning the Empress Lantern, Flying Snow Sword, and Lord Sui’s Pearl to the three women, Zu An stood in front of the Yayu. He took out the White Lotus Flame, saying, “I couldn't kill you with weapons before, so let's give the White Lotus Flame’s power a try.”

At first, there was disdain in the Yayu’s eyes, but then it quickly put on a look of immense fear.

Zu An laughed in annoyance, saying, “I hadn’t expected you to be capable of these kinds of tricks.”

Yan Xuehen said, “At such a high level of cultivation, creatures naturally develop sentience. Of course, that is when it comes to normal creatures. As for this monster, it is hard to say.”

“Can you speak?” Zu An asked the Yayu directly. However, the monster stared at him with its large copper eyes and didn’t respond.

Yun Jianyue said, “Since we can’t kill it, let’s just not do that and keep it prisoner instead. We’ll make it go through all manner of suffering, but we won’t let it die. Our Holy Sect has many forms of torture that are even worse than death by a thousand cuts. Should I give it a try?” She had an eager look on her face as she spoke. There was a strange glint in her eyes.

The Yayu looked at her, thinking. What a ruthless woman.

Zu An laughed and said, “I just happen to have some good ways to punish those who live forever. For example, I could throw this guy into a concrete sarcophagus and let it sink to the bottom of the ocean, trapping it in eternal darkness forever. Or maybe a volcano would be pretty good. It would be burned to death by the lava, and once it revived, it would be swallowed up again. Also…”

He had watched so many strange movies in the past that he really did have quite a bit of confidence in that regard.

Yun Jianyue got even more excited when she heard that. She felt that her methods could inflict more physical pain, but Zu An’s were psychological attacks. They began to exchange all sorts of torture-related knowledge.

Yan Xuehen and Yu Yanluo looked at each other in dismay. Even though Zu An was a bit perverted, he was still a decent person all around. Yan Xuehen absolutely couldn't let the witch bring him down the wrong path. She thought to herself that she had to properly lead him back to the righteous way.

After the two talked for a bit, they saw that even though the Yayu was shaking a bit, it didn’t react all that much otherwise.

As such, Zu An’s expression turned serious. He said, “In that case, then I’ll just send you off.”

“How?” Yan Xuehen asked, stunned. This thing clearly couldn't be killed.

Zu An said with a bashful smile, “Even though I’m not from the orthodox sects, I just happen to be proficient in some evil exorcism methods.”

As such, he used the purification skill of the Primordial Origin Sutra, chanting, “Dust to dust, earth to earth. Those who ought to depart, do not remain…”

As he spoke these words, a large hand appeared from what appeared to be the world of spirits. It pulled out what looked like a soul from the Yayu’s body. Shockingly, however, it didn’t have a dragon head and cat body, but rather a human face and a snake body.

The group exchanged a look. They had seen such a creature before, in the Shaoxian Mountain temple. However, the two had different faces. Had the Yayu’s face been distorted after it turned into a monster?

Zu An couldn’t help but ask, “Were you the one the temple was worshiping? What is your name?”

The soul struggled at first, but when it heard that, it became even more enraged and agitated. It roared angrily, “Er Fu![1]”

“Er Fu?” The group suddenly realized that the second character that was missing on that temple placard had to be ‘Fu’! The character that was supposed to follow would likely mean ‘temple’ or something.

“You… You’re all just as hateful as Er Fu. You’re even more treacherous than Wei! Ahhhhh!” The human-faced snake-bodied soul roared in anger, and all of the Weak Water surged. Endless waves crashed down on the shore.

At that instant, the three women finally understood what Zu An meant when he had told them about his experience flying above the river. They didn’t have any time to bother with the Yayu’s corpse, and quickly ran up Shaoxian Mountain.

The Weak Water’s waves crashed down on the Yayu’s body. The human-faced snake-bodied soul emitted waves of light, gradually freeing itself from the large, transparent hand. Meanwhile, the hand broke apart, eventually disappearing into nothing.

Zu An’s eyes were about to pop out. He hadn’t expected the Primordial Origin Sutra to actually fail! He had already gone through many things by now, so he quickly realized that it was probably related to the flaws in the laws of the world. That was why the Primordial Origin Sutra’s purification effects were incomplete.

However, he didn’t have any time to think about those things, because the Weak Water was still climbing higher. It quickly covered most of the mountain. The group felt alarmed. At this rate, the entire mountain would be completely covered soon afterward. They would also be completely swept up into the Weak Water. Even though with their cultivation, they would likely be fine for some time, there was no one to bail them out. Leaving the Weak Water would be difficult.

When they withdrew to the temple, however, they were surprised to discover that the Weak Water actually couldn't reach it, and came to a stop three feet beneath the temple.

“Er Fu! Wei!” The Yayu roared at the temple. Its face contorted, seemingly full of overwhelming hatred. Regardless of how much force it exerted, however, the tattered temple remained unfazed.

Zu An suddenly thought of something. He looked at the three women and asked, “Do you remember that missing sculpture in the chief position? Isn’t the star diagram where the statue should be the Roof constellation?”[2]