A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 57: Check

Desmond staggered back as his exposed skin began to fester and black blood flowed out of his body. He could no longer heal. In the blink of an eye, he had transformed from a handsome nobleman of the Western Continent into a hideous monster.

Superior Black Blood could put a Marquess to sleep forever. At this time, Duke Desmond only had the strength of a Baron. However, he still retained some of his qualities as a Duke, so he was only severely and not fatally injured.

But regardless, Desmond was at his weakest at the moment, so this was a good opportunity to kill him. Zhang Yuelu naturally noticed this, so she waved her hand to summon her paper sword. Countless fragments flew out of the sword and expanded into paper lotus flowers that swirled and scattered in the air, resembling snowfall.

These paper lotus flowers that separated from the Amorphous Paper had petals as sharp as knives. When they spun, they became rotating blades that effortlessly cut through everything in their path. Even bricks and stones were like tofu against the blades. The Blood Shadows besieging Zhang Yuelu were shredded into blood mist by these paper lotus flowers.

With a leap, Zhang Yuelu closed the distance with Desmond. The paper sword in her hand moved so fast that it was just a white shadow. She slashed at Desmond’s body repeatedly, aiming at his vitals.

Desmond no longer dared to fight Zhang Yuelu in close combat. In the past, he would have used summons and servants to hold Zhang Yuelu back. However, under the pursuit of the Parthian Parliament, all his servants had been destroyed. With nothing to show for it, he could only spread his wings behind his back and dodge at the fastest speed he could manage.

His figure overlapped, making it dizzying to watch.

After Lingquanzi dealt with the Blood Shadows that besieged him, he immediately cooperated with Zhang Yuelu by controlling the Yellow Turban Warrior to block Desmond’s escape. However, the Yellow Turban Warrior was only good for defense. It was not agile enough to compete with Desmond, so it was quite useless.

At this moment, the “cowardly” Qi Xuansu finally joined the group. He removed the Executioner, Meridian, and Green Bird Pistol from his body, leaving only his master’s short sword and the Divine Dragon Pistol.

Desmond and Zhang Yuelu both noticed Qi Xuansu’s presence, but neither cared about him. Qi Xuansu remained calm without a hint of nervousness. Usually, he looked like a flowerbed Daoist, but that did not mean that he was as harmless as one.

After years of traveling in the harsh conditions of the real world, Qi Xuansu had toughened himself up. At moments of life and death, he could still maintain his composure.

Qi Xuansu leaned against the wall and walked toward Arthur, who could not move because he was seriously injured. Qi Xuansu made a gesture of drinking and asked, “Do you have any more?”

Arthur understood what Qi Xuansu was referring to. He struggled to take out a bottle from his bag and said, “No more black blood. This is holy water.”

Qi Xuansu took the bottle from Arthur’s hand, uncorked it without hesitation, and poured half of the holy water in the bottle into his mouth. For a moment, Qi Xuansu felt as if his throat was burning. This burning sensation was ten times stronger than shaojiu. The difference was that shaojiu would give Qi Xuansu a hangover, but the holy water made Qi Xuansu feel at peace, as it eliminated all his negative thoughts.

At this moment, Qi Xuansu, like Arthur, had a faint glow around him, much like a firefly. Then Qi Xuansu pulled out his short sword. This was his master’s relic, which Madam Qi retrieved from The Inn’s assassins and returned to Qi Xuansu.

Although Qi Xuansu always carried this short sword with him, he rarely used it. Even when facing Li Sanxin’s flying sword or Zhuge Yongming’s fists, Qi Xuansu did not draw this short sword.

However, he had no choice but to draw the short sword at this moment. At first glance, this sword seemed ordinary, but the blade was as reflective as a glass mirror.

Qi Xuansu looked at his reflection on the face of the sword and poured the remaining half-bottle of holy water onto the blade. In an instant, the sword also glowed with a white light.

He first walked toward Hendrick, who had lost his heart, then chopped off the sinner’s head without giving him any chance to resist. Qi Xuansu stabbed the sinner’s chest again to ensure that he would not revive.

At the same time, the Superior Black Blood continued to corrode Desmond’s body, so he would eventually lose. Zhang Yuelu seized the opportunity to corner Desmond and even stabbed him in the chest. With nowhere to retreat, Desmond raised the Blood Sword in his hand and stabbed Zhang Yuelu in the head.

Although Zhang Yuelu had stabbed Desmond in the chest, it was not enough to kill him. But if Desmond stabbed Zhang Yuelu with his Blood Sword, she would likely die.

At this critical moment, Zhang Yuelu froze and stopped attacking Desmond. But before Desmond could rejoice, he saw the paper sword in Zhang Yuelu’s hand turn into a white paper spear. It grew out of thin air and stabbed him straight in the chest, nailing him to the wall. The spear was long and rigid.

Shocked and furious, Desmond did not expect this Eastern Continent woman to have such insidious weapons.

Zhang Yuelu put away her spear and retreated before Desmond could counterattack.

During their short duel, the Yellow Turban Warrior finally caught up. To be fair, the Yellow Turban Warrior was only slow relative to Desmond’s speed. It was actually comparable to a Kunlun-stage Martial Arts Practitioner or Qi Refiner.

The Yellow Turban Warrior raised both his maces and smashed them down on Desmond’s head. Desmond wanted to morph into a puddle of blood, but the Superior Black Blood in his body prevented him from transforming. Thus, he could only condense his Blood Sword into a Blood Ball and push it forward with all his might. The Blood Ball exploded in the Yellow Turban Warrior’s chest with a thunderous blast, turning the Yellow Turban Warrior back into a paper man. There was also an obvious hole in the paper man’s chest.

Lingquanzi did not care about his fallen Yellow Turban Warrior. He got into a praying stance with his left hand stretched upward. His index, middle, and ring fingers of his right hand were bent, with his thumb and little finger stretched out, and placed at the base of his left palm, forming the Ghost Fan Seal. His Daoist robe fluttered even without the wind as he muttered, “Bind!”

Two invisible chains bound Desmond’s body and restrained him. Zhang Yuelu, holding the white paper spear, attacked again, piercing Desmond’s abdomen and intestines.

“You all deserve to die!”

The severely injured Desmond screamed like a banshee. Then, a powerful torrent of energy erupted from him, shaking the entire dungeon. Gravel and dust continued to fall, and Qi Xuansu almost got smashed.

Desmond broke free from Lingquanzi’s restraints and flung Zhang Yuelu and her spear away from him. However, the two wounds on his body showed no tendency to heal. Instead, black blood continued to flow out of them.

The consequence of the powerful burst of blood energy was that Desmond could no longer suppress the black blood in his body or the Six Void Tribulations from Zhang Yuelu. The flesh on his face began to fall off in chunks as the blood drained from his wounds. Desmond was frightened, angry, and resentful. He had to admit that he had never felt such profound fear.

Desmond was critically injured and had a high risk of dying. If he was not careful, he would die permanently. By then, he would not have another servant to revive him with the help of the Eastern Ancient Immortals.

Zhang Yuelu slowly stood up with the white paper spear. The blood energy earlier dissolved her Five Elements Qi Shield, so she was also severely injured. Among the Five Immortals Lineage, only the body of a Martial Arts Practitioner could regenerate like the level of a sinner. Zhang Yuelu was not a Martial Arts Practitioner, so she could not heal so quickly. Blood was still oozing from her mouth and nose at this time.

Even so, Zhang Yuelu did not care about her injuries. Instead, she transformed the paper spear into a soft paper whip. With a flick of her wrist, countless whiplashes formed a cage, trapping Desmond inside. Even though Zhang Yuelu did not exert much qi, the semi-immortal object was strong enough to hurt Desmond, who was already at the end of his tether.

Desmond tried his best to resist, but the seemingly fragile paper whip left gashes on his body that were deep enough to see his bones. Moreover, the paper whip had some kind of divine aura that made Desmond feel as if he was being burned by fire.

Reaching the critical moment of life and death, Desmond used all his might to stretch out his hand and point at Zhang Yuelu. Immediately after, Zhang Yuelu felt as if her blood was boiling and her insides were burning.

However, Zhang Yuelu did not retreat. She continued to strangle Desmond with her paper whip.

“Ahhh!” Desmond screamed.

Zhang Yuelu wrenched one of his arms with her paper whip and tore it off forcefully. Desmond once again used his blood energy, regardless of his exhaustion.

Thus, Zhang Yuelu was the first to bear the brunt. She flew backward and crashed into the wall, creating a circle of spider-web-like cracks in the stone. The paper whip finally stopped moving.

Lingquanzi barely blocked this blood energy at the cost of all three of his golden shields, which shattered. He threw out his last talisman, hitting Desmond right between the eyebrows. Lingquanzi then used his last bit of strength to activate the talisman by pointing at it and muttering, “Return to your dreams—”

In an instant, Lingquanzi felt drained of all his strength, and he fell to the ground, exhausted. Desmond, who was restless a moment ago, suddenly calmed down because he was trapped in his memories, unable to extricate himself.

At this moment, Desmond thought of his wife, who had died at the hands of a demon hunter, as well as all his happy memories. They used to live in an ancient castle with tall spires, green fields, dense woods, and clear rivers.

The next moment, a short sword interrupted Desmond’s memory. Desmond slowly lowered his head, only to see a blade protruding from his chest. A short sword doused in holy water had pierced his heart from the back.

Check.

In Chinese chess, after all other chess pieces were removed and only the generals of both sides were left on the board, the pawn crossing the river became the main determiner of the outcome.