Chapter 25: First Battle

“Brother!” Nian Nuer shouted desperately. She shouted so loudly that Xugui was startled. Was there another ghost apart from the mother and her daughter?

Xugui looked at the bamboo trees. He looked extremely cautious, and the absorbing strength of his banner suddenly decreased.

At that moment, Xugui hadn’t realized that someone was standing at the top of a surrounding wall. It was Mu Yi.

Actually, when Xugui had started attacking, Mu Yi had been there already, but he had recalled his Qi and hidden at the top of the wall. He couldn’t afford to act recklessly and carelessly.

Good hunters were patient. Initially, Nian Nuer and Mu Yi had agreed to wait until the enemy acted carelessly, then Mu Yi would jump behind him and kill him before he could react.

But they hadn’t thought the enemy would be so strong. Nian Nuer had already been seized by panic. She had even ruined their plan.

Of course, Mu Yi wasn’t angry at her. She was just a child after all. In normal circumstances, she would have stuck to their agreement, but in such a situation, she was greatly agitated and didn’t know what to do.

Similarly, Xugui wasn’t a fortune teller. When Nian Nuer shouted “brother,” he thought that it was her real brother, her biological brother, and that he was a ghost too. He couldn’t have imagined that it was a person who was alive and had already come to capture her in the past. He couldn’t have imagined that it was the person he had heard of who had failed before him.

So, he didn’t think of looking behind himself and focused on the bamboo forest.

After all, the gate was closed, and he had said that nobody could come. Furthermore, the place they were in was surrounded by walls and was a secret courtyard. Therefore, he couldn’t think that the danger could be coming from outside.

Thus, Xugui was convinced that the one Nian Nuer called brother was in the bamboo forest.

Even though it was the first time Mu Yi was going to engage in a battle to the death, he had already fought against many children of his own age before. He just had to consider this battle the same way. The cruelest, the toughest, and the quickest would be the winner.

Mu Yi had shown mercy the other day when he had fought against Nian Nuer. He had checked how strong she was. However, against an enemy, he would be merciless. Besides, the enemy was stronger than he had expected; otherwise, he wouldn’t have let him bully Nian Nuer and her mother for so long.

Therefore, he needed to use his full strength directly from the beginning.

“Five thunders charm, attack!”

Mu Yi had to be fast and responsive. If he was too slow, he would die and not be able to use the element of surprise.

Therefore, Mu Yi put his full strength into his five thunders charm.

He had only one five thunders charm, and he had been lucky to succeed in making one. Even though this was the first time he was using it, Mu Yi was confident that it would work properly.

As Mu Yi activated the five thunders charm, Xugui sensed an energy behind him. His facial expression changed drastically, and he quickly recalled his Ghost King Banner and placed it above his head.

“Kacha!”

At the same time, thunder rumbled. Flashing lights appeared, forcing Mu Yi to close his eyes.

He heard a horrible shriek and he opened his eyes again, but everything in his vision was white. After a few seconds, he could finally see clearly again.

Nian Nuer had dragged her mother away. They looked startled.

As for the target, he was on his knees. His body was black. His Taoist robe was completely torn apart, and his hair was messy. It was almost impossible to recognize him.

The most important thing was that the Ghost King Banner, which was on his body, was broken into two pieces.

Despite Xugui looking injured, Mu Yi didn’t stop being vigilant. He continued, taking out an evil spirit slaying charm and throwing it.

The evil spirit slaying charm exploded halfway up in the air as dazzling white lights invaded the atmosphere again. Luckily, the evil spirit slaying charm also worked on human beings even if it didn’t paralyze them like it did with evil spirits.

But it was better than nothing. Besides, being struck by the evil spirit slaying charm was like being struck with a hammer.

At that crucial moment, Xugui suddenly jumped and dodged the attack. He put his hand on his broken flag.

At that moment, Xugui’s heart was pounding. He had many years of experience and hadn’t thought that he had been tricked by a kid, and the worst part was that he had been injured by that same kid. He had even broken his Ghost King Banner in two. His chest was pounding. He was really furious.

“Nuer, come. Let’s kill him!” Mu Yi shouted loudly. Xugui realized things were going to be more difficult than he had expected. Luckily, the Five Thunders Charm wasn’t enough to kill him since his physical strength was quite impressive on top of being protected by his Ghost King Banner.

If Mu Yi hadn’t surprised him and didn’t have a five thunders charm, even if Mu Yi, Nian Nuer, and her mother had joined hands, they wouldn’t be able to defeat him.

As for Mu Yi, he didn’t think it was a problem to join hands to fight against an enemy. Back when he fought against children of his age, they also joined hands with their friends even though Mu Yi was alone. Mu Yi didn’t care about fairness in such circumstances because strength in itself wasn’t a fair concept.

Nian Nuer decided to listen to Mu Yi. Xugui was their enemy, and he wanted to capture her and her mother. Without hesitation, she threw herself at Xugui.

Xugui suddenly took out something from under his shirt and threw it.

Mu Yi didn’t know what Xugui had thrown but he didn’t dare to catch it either. Xugui also threw his flag at Nian Nuer.

The item he had thrown was round like a full moon. It crashed onto the ground and exploded. Then, smoke invaded the space, obscuring everyone’s vision.

When the smoke dispersed, Xugui was already on the other side before he jumped and grabbed the top of the wall with his right hand.

Just as Xugui was about to escape, an incredible black light suddenly streaked across the sky.