87: Chapter 87 The Wonderful Uses of Ruyi Jin

Lv Ci crouched at the corner of the dark cave, tapped his fingertips three times on the rock wall, and grinned: "I'll scout the way for everyone first."

He suddenly exerted force with one hand, and several streaks of blue energy burst from his palm, slithering like spirit snakes into the depths of various tunnels. Wherever the energy passed, a series of "clicks" rang out from the ground—sounding like footsteps triggering traps.

In an instant, firearms roared, poisonous sand splattered, and iron darts pierced the air, mixed with indigo-purple toxic mist gushing from the rock crevices. The entire cave flickered between light and shadow, like a deadly firework show.

Ryan suddenly poked Mia's waist with his elbow and lowered his voice: "Why not learn this move? When you treat Tuaner later..."

Before he could finish, the girl's neck instantly flushed crimson, the heat spreading all the way to the tips of her ears. "I suggest that the next time you drink a healing potion—" Her fingertips rubbed the hilt of her sword, dangerous sparks dancing in her blue eyes, "—you add an extra dose of muting medicine."

A withered corpse clad in Japanese dou-gusoku armor was mechanically approaching the group.

"An appetizer?" Ryan weighed his silver-plated warhammer, the holy water bottle spinning in an arc in his palm. The Tang Clan members watched with arms crossed, and not a single person moved to stop it.

The golden halo of [Holy Charge] exploded at the head of the hammer, blasting the dried corpse's skull back. Under the continuous critical hits of hammer strikes followed by shield bashes, pale flames rose where the holy water splashed. The corpse actually let out a human-like wail—this "Zombie Yunxiu-kun" controlled by the [Puppeteer] A-Yun turned into a pile of charred ash in the blink of an eye.

"Cough!" In the shadows of the cave, A-Yun spat out a mist of blood and collapsed to his knees, while the whites of the snake-user Kimura Kotaro's eyes next to him were bloodshot.

"It seems the first wave of attack failed. Xu Duo." Makino Ittosai looked at his companion nonchalantly.

But Xu Duo sighed helplessly and began to play his strange tune.

Everyone in the Tang Clan felt the tune was sinister. Even after blocking their ears, they were still affected.

Lv Ci even saw the scene of his elder brother being killed because of the music.

Ryan tidied himself up, patted away non-existent dust from his hands, and went back to teasing Mia. "So, you still have a male mindset? How about I call you 'Big Bro' from now on? Big Bro, lend me that precious blade you spent many days forging and fusing with Alchemy for a couple of days. Fighting Eita with my current weapon puts me at too much of a disadvantage."

Mia drew the Honor Saber that the Dean had sent her through connections. Over the past few days, she had asked the Old Sect Leader for many high-quality blades and had now fused them to A-rank using her talent skill.

She rested it against Ryan's neck. "How about I give you a slash right now to fulfill your dream of using a blade? Then I'll say I was affected by Xu Duo's music. Do you think that's appropriate?" A dangerous light flickered in Mia's red eye, while a blue flame seemed to burn in her blue eye.

"Fine, I'll buzz off, alright?" Ryan scurried behind Aunt Yu and whispered a few more things to her. Aunt Yu's eyes lit up instantly. "Hmm, it should be quite interesting to poison those two when we get back." Always one for chaos, she began to ponder post-war entertainment.

Seeing that his music hadn't fully succeeded, Xu Duo sighed and began to play a different melody. Wisps of white fire drifted out from his flute, flying towards the Tang Clan members.

In the corner, the newly awakened A-Yun and Kimura Kotaro chatted in low voices. "Xu Duo is usually stingy with his Pure World White Lotus Fire. He's really going all out today." Kimura looked vaguely like a moving snake nest.

"That knight with the hammer is very dangerous. Eita failed to kill him smoothly last time. Eita said he seems to have some kind of item that can transcend life and death."

"The information my Black Dragon fed back to me is that the little girl in the red dress is the most dangerous. Animal instincts are sometimes very reliable. She might need Chu Byei or Eita to take her down." Kimura sent a message to Lay Buddhist Erli while in the [Ripples] state.

Uncle Ying went up to see if he could slash the flames apart, but the result was not ideal. For a moment, everyone was at a loss. After all, they were an assassin team, and they were somewhat helpless against this white fire that was almost categorized as a magic attack.

Mia tightened the black gloves on her wrists and extended both hands parallel to the ground. An invisible wall formed by converging points of light appeared in front of her. [Holy Light Barrier Lv5]. She pushed the flames back into the cave, wedging them at the entrance from which they came.

The rolling white flames licked against Mia's [Holy Light Barrier] but could not advance an inch.

Liang Wuer laughed. "This little Enshrined's method is not bad. Do you take disciples? Please accept a bow from this humble one, Enshrined Lady."

Mia didn't have a spare hand to help him up. Before he could finish his sentence, Ryan directly pulled him up from the ground with a chokehold. "Have some dignity!"

Soon, Xu Duo's white fire rolled back to him and Makino Ittosai, nearly burning Aoyama Yohei as well. Things were becoming difficult for the Bihe Mountain ninjas to accept. All the methods they had prepared were countered by Mia and her companions.

At this moment, a large number of black snakes attacked the group. While slaying the snakes, they rushed deeper into the cave. From the other side of the tunnel, a large number of white qi-like butterflies flew out. The white butterflies seemed harmless but flew toward the group.

While attacks on the white butterflies were ineffective, red butterflies also flew out of the cave. Everywhere the red butterflies landed, violent explosions occurred.

Everyone began to run to avoid the butterfly explosions. While running, Aunt Yu stepped on a mechanism. She only had time to shout a warning for everyone to watch out for traps.

A large hole opened in the ground. Ryan couldn't dodge in time and fell in. He only had time to lower his visor and transform into a wolf. The moment he landed, Aoyama Yohei suddenly appeared beside him, a blade flash instantly striking Ryan's stomach, intending to cut him in half. However, the effect of the standard armor was evident; the armor, enhanced by Mia's Alchemy, only showed a scratch.

When Ryan landed, many hidden weapons flew from above. The sharp sound of Liang Wuer's darts knocking down the hidden weapons came from overhead.

When Mia and Liang Wuer landed, Ryan also struggled to get up. Even though it was through armor, that slash was still quite a blow.

The three of them stood back-to-back at the bottom of the cave. Mia drew her [Zhongzheng Sword—Modified EX] and stared at the corner of the tunnel in the distance. She knew Eita was standing there, waiting to harvest their lives.

And above the pit, the Red and White Qi Butterflies had already sealed off their retreat...