I'll Eat You!

Fang Wen's words were a blatant threat. He truly had no way of knowing whether the two would actually heal anyone. When Lu Guiyan had been struck by the Fierce Tiger Gang's poisoned dart and hung between life and death, they had turned a blind eye, looking on with cold detachment. If not for Bai Liuxian revealing their identities, who could have guessed that these two were actually physicians? Given that Wu Lingxiao's injuries were so severe that only they could treat them, the pair was surely anything but ordinary... If they treated Zuo Qingshuang, perhaps she could recover without Fang Wen needing to intervene himself. On the other hand... if they refused to treat her, the system quest had only instructed him to deliver them to Feixue City, never specifying what would happen to them once they arrived. The two men understood the implication behind Fang Wen's words. Exchanging a glance, they finally climbed down from the wall and walked over to Zuo Qingshuang's side. They did not dare gamble on whether Fang Wen was merely bluffing. From what he had said, it was clear he already knew who they were. Consequently, Fang Wen obviously harbored resentment toward them. In all likelihood, his words were far more than an empty threat... Thus, having stepped down, one took Zuo Qingshuang's pulse while the other retrieved a needle case from within his robes. Fang Wen's mouth twitched slightly at the sight. They really were doctors. Turning back around, he saw the burly monk from Nianhua Zen Courtyard, bathed in radiant golden light, repeatedly pummeling Cao Jiuyin with heavy fists while chanting, "Amitābha!" Golden light swirled with every punch, sending ripples through the thick folds of fat across Cao Jiuyin's body. Meanwhile, the other monk was kneeling on one knee, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, though his condition appeared far less dire than Zuo Qingshuang's. Beside them, the leading expert of Feixing Palace leaped into the air and drove a Flying Star Dart straight into Cao Jiuyin's back. A dull thud echoed. The Flying Star Dart held a hidden secret: upon penetrating the flesh, it detonated beneath the skin, leaving a gruesome, gaping blood hole in Cao Jiuyin's back. Yet before blood could gush forth, the mangled flesh began writhing madly. With a sudden contraction, the bloody hole snapped shut, leaving not a trace of injury on the skin's surface. "What kind of martial art is this?" Watching this, Fang Wen was utterly amazed. Compared to the conventional methods of the reputable orthodox sects, the martial arts of the demonic path truly possessed an endless variety of bizarre tricks. At that moment, an elderly Daoist from Taixu Dao flicked his horsetail whisk. Countless glinting bristles shot forth like driving rain, converging into a dense barrage of sword qi aimed straight at Cao Jiuyin's vital acupoints. Fang Wen found the martial arts this Daoist displayed somewhat familiar. Hadn't that Daoist whose head Fang Wen had punched down into his chest cavity used similar techniques? As the thought crossed his mind, Cao Jiuyin swept one arm across to shield himself from the rain-like sword qi. In an instant, his arm was riddled with bloody holes. The burly monk of Nianhua Zen Courtyard shouted: "Merciful Buddha!" With both hands, he yanked the prayer beads from his chest, unleashing a flurry of whistling swooshes. Each bead gleamed with golden light, instantly embedding itself deep into the rolls of fat across Cao Jiuyin's chest. A squelching tear rang out! The expert from Cangwu Sword Sect, who had been watching for an opening from the side, thrust his longsword in at an angle beneath Cao Jiuyin's opposite ribs. The blade plunged in up to the hilt. Twisting the steel viciously, he gritted his teeth and snarled: "Die!" In that moment, aside from the attractive matron from Yuqing Pavilion and the expert from Wentian Mansion who had already departed partway through, the remaining masters all unleashed their deadliest strikes. Fang Wen, however, frowned slightly. Reaching out, he stopped the matron from Yuqing Pavilion just as she prepared to join the fray, calling out in a low, urgent voice: "Everyone, fall back!" Yet the warning came a step too late. The flesh across Cao Jiuyin's body suddenly swelled violently. In the span of a single breath, a sound like wailing ghosts and howling wolves erupted in all directions. As his internal skill surged, waves of true qi erupted from his body and swept outward in the blink of an eye. The monk from Nianhua Zen Courtyard bore the brunt of the blast. The prayer beads he had driven into Cao Jiuyin's chest were the first to be deflected and hurled outward as the flesh expanded. The monk cried out in alarm and struck out repeatedly, yet failed to ward them all off; one bead slammed straight into his chest. Fortunately, the monk possessed some protective discipline. When the bead struck him, instead of a fleshy thud, a crisp sound of shattering rang out. He was blasted back over two zhang, collapsing to one knee and spitting out a massive mouthful of blood. The experts from Cangwu Sword Sect, Taixu Dao, and Feixing Palace were likewise blasted back by the concussive true qi. They tumbled several times through the air before hitting the ground, stumbling unsteadily as blood sprayed from their lips. Cao Jiuyin was drenched in blood, yet the flesh across his body churned, restoring him completely in the blink of an eye. His beady, soybean-sized eyes swept darkly across the crowd with a cold sneer: "The Seven Sects of the Eastern Domain... overestimating your own strength! You think the likes of you can kill this king?!" Clutching his chest, the monk struggled to his feet. "My senior brother Liaokong... where is he now?" "You mean that old monk?" Cao Jiuyin grinned hideously. "He has already become one with my flesh and blood. What little remained of his bones, I tossed into the back mountains to feed the wolves." "You... you ate him?!" The monk's face went pale, instantly replaced by blazing fury: "Vile demonic fiend! You deserve death!" "With just you?" Cao Jiuyin sneered. "Stinking monks of Nianhua Zen Courtyard have mediocre martial arts, but your flesh and blood isn't half bad... highly nourishing! "It just so happens I could use your flesh as well!" With that, he strode forward in great bounds, charging straight at the monk. The monk roared in fury, true qi churning throughout his body, but his protective divine art had already been shattered, leaving him at the end of his rope. Just as the attractive matron from Yuqing Pavilion moved to intervene, Fang Wen spoke up: "Stay here and guard Senior Zuo." The woman froze. If she stayed here to protect Zuo Qingshuang, what was he going to do? Before she could process her astonishment, Fang Wen had already stepped forward. His figure shifted like azure clouds, appearing before the burly monk in an instant. The monk had already resolved to fight to the death—not merely to avenge his senior martial brother, but to rid the world of this vile fiend and seek justice for all those who had been consumed. Even if he died, it would merely mean meeting the Buddha a little earlier. Never did he expect a figure to suddenly blur into view before him. The monk was startled: "Young Benefactor Fang..." Before he could finish, Fang Wen curved his fingers into a seal with his right hand and struck boldly with the Demon-Subduing Dharma Seal. Times had changed, and this Cao Jiuyin was clearly no easy foe to slay. Fang Wen put slightly more force into the strike, so much so that the palm unleashed the rumble of wind and thunder as it shot forward. At that exact moment, Cao Jiuyin arrived, and spotting Fang Wen right in front of him, a venomous gleam flashed in his eyes: "Still dare to meddle?! "I'll eat you first!" As the words left his mouth, a thunderous boom erupted. His fist and Fang Wen's Demon-Subduing Dharma Seal collided head-on!