Wu Zhen respected Si Buxiang as an enemy. Although his appearance was somewhat shabby, Wu Zhen had to admit that this monster was indeed formidable. Before Mei Zhuyu appeared, she had slightly tested Si Buxiang and realized she couldn’t overpower him directly, which was why she had hidden. If she could have beaten him, she wouldn’t have wasted so many words.
Now, as she pretended to be carefree and joked with Mei Zhuyu, she was not relaxed at all, constantly observing Si Buxiang’s changes and movements.
The current situation seemed to be in her favor, but Wu Zhen knew clearly that they were at a stalemate. Now, it was a matter of who would lose patience first.
The thunder in the sky continued unabated. Dark clouds hung low, but it still hadn’t rained. The atmosphere was as tense and stagnant as their current situation.
“It seems you are truly determined to oppose me to the end today,” Si Buxiang—the monster Ying—said coldly. His eyes glowed eerily within his rotting skull, the light within them seeming to flicker. Wu Zhen heard the reckless message in his words and tensed inwardly, but still smiled as she spoke, “That’s not quite right. It’s just that if we give you what you want, how can we be sure you won’t kill us after getting it?”
Ying laughed strangely, not responding to Wu Zhen’s words. He also realized that Wu Zhen was just stalling for time, looking for his weaknesses and flaws. Just as he had no intention of letting them go, Wu Zhen had no intention of handing over the item.
As Wu Zhen was about to say something more, she suddenly felt her wrist tighten. Mei Zhuyu grabbed her hand and pushed her back, his other hand already swinging the dark peach wood sword in a horizontal sweep. With a clang, Ying, who had been at a distance just moments ago, was now in front of Mei Zhuyu, the serrated white bones protruding from his body clashing against Mei Zhuyu’s sword.
Wu Zhen clicked her tongue, casually hanging the cat corpse—supposedly that of the first Cat Lord—at her waist, then with a flick of her wrist, grasped a red whip. If possible, she didn’t want to engage in a big fight, fearing that she might accidentally harm the child in her belly, which sounded terrible.
Wu Zhen wanted to help, but after standing by for a while, she couldn’t find an opening to intervene. Not only could she not find an opening, but the two were fighting with increasing intensity, their auras rising steadily, and their destructive power was equally astonishing. Wu Zhen had to step back slightly to avoid it. Both Mei Zhuyu and Ying were intent on killing each other as if driven by the revenge of a murdered father or a stolen wife.
And wasn’t it indeed the revenge for a murdered father and a stolen wife?
“Years ago, you were able to seriously wound me because you obtained your father’s spiritual power before his death. But now, can you still do it?” Ying’s voice was low and slow, echoing repeatedly in Mei Zhuyu’s ears.
Mei Zhuyu ignored him, his movements showing no hesitation, seemingly paying no attention to his words.
But Ying continued, “How did it feel to crush your father’s heart with your own hands to obtain his remaining power? Perhaps you can try it again this time.”
His voice was full of malice, with a hint of mockery. “You must want to kill me to avenge your parents, right? Why not do as you did last time? Go crush that woman’s heart over there, gain her power. Maybe then you can kill me.”
Mei Zhuyu, who had been expressionless until now, clenched his jaw, his movements becoming even more fierce. Sensing his anger, Ying laughed with satisfaction, “It’s just a woman. No matter how much you like her now, it will change eventually. Nothing compares to the power you can hold in your hands.”
“Back then, you could crush your own father’s heart without hesitation. Such cold-bloodedness surprised even me. How come you’re now sentimental and can’t bring yourself to do it…”
As Ying was speaking, a red whip suddenly lashed out at his face, accompanied by a thunderous crack, interrupting his words. Wu Zhen, wielding the long whip, her face icy cold, pointed at Ying’s nose and cursed, “You bastard, did you forget I exist? Your mouth is full of shit! Your dog eyes must be blind not to see he’s a thousand times more upright than a rotten mud monster like you. A putrid corpse like you that’s been buried for who knows how long should stay in the ground forever. Your mouth is just a hole, yet you have so much to say. This time, I’ll send you back to the earth!”
Mei Zhuyu, who had also been pushed out of the battle by Wu Zhen’s whip, heard her words and raised his sword with a slightly helpless expression. He knew that when his wife was with others, she would use some coarse language, but when she was with him, she tried to avoid such words, appearing much more refined. But now, she was probably truly angry and didn’t care about such things.
This wasn’t Mei Zhuyu’s first encounter with Ying. The last time they fought, he had also been verbally provoked by him. But Mei Zhuyu was not eloquent and didn’t want to engage in verbal sparring with Ying, so he could only silently endure his words. But now, with Wu Zhen present—she was not one to quietly listen to others’ insults. Even if others didn’t insult her, she would make a few jabs if she didn’t like them. Let alone someone like Ying, who had truly angered her.
Although she didn’t know where he got this bad habit of poking at people’s wounds while fighting, when it came to arguing, Wu Zhen had never feared anyone. As she viciously lashed her whip against Ying’s enormous body, she sneered, “Looking at your resentful, pent-up state, what’s wrong? Did the first Cat Lord from our demon market abandon you? It’s not surprising. With your appearance, I’d abandon you too if I were him.”
Ying finally experienced what Mei Zhuyu had felt before. He felt that every word of Wu Zhen’s mocking speech stabbed at his heart, reminding him of past events. The pain and hatred were so intense that he recklessly tore open half of his body, turning his inner bones into spikes that shot toward Wu Zhen.
Those bone spikes were surrounded by a dark miasma, clearly indicating that even a slight touch would be extremely unpleasant. Wu Zhen, always ruthless, sneered and advanced instead of retreating. She grabbed the cat corpse in her hand and met the corrosive corpse fluid head-on. Ying hadn’t expected this move and was startled, hurriedly withdrawing, afraid of destroying his last ‘medicine.’ Wu Zhen seized this opportunity, her whip nearly severing his body.
Ying swiftly retreated, letting out a long howl. But he was no ordinary opponent. Even after being wounded by Wu Zhen’s opportunistic attack, he was still able to counterattack. A sharp white bone, at a tricky angle from below, nearly slashed Wu Zhen’s throat. She had to awkwardly step back, using her hand to block.
A spray of blood flew from her arm. Wu Zhen landed to one side, touched her arm, and found her hand covered in red. She couldn’t help but curse under her breath. Their exchange had taken only an instant. Mei Zhuyu glanced at her arm and frowned, saying, “Don’t interfere. I’ll handle this.”
Knowing he cared for her and worried about her getting hurt again, Wu Zhen neither agreed nor disagreed with his sentiment. If they could team up, they should take advantage of their numbers. Otherwise, wouldn’t it be a waste and foolish?
“This isn’t the time to take turns. It’s not like we’re having an archery competition with rounds. Let’s just attack together. I don’t believe we can’t take down this thing,” Wu Zhen said, shaking the blood off her arm.
Seeing the blood on her hand, Mei Zhuyu’s face turned so cold it could almost freeze. “No, I can handle it alone. You can’t move so vigorously.”
But Wu Zhen didn’t argue. “I said I can, so I can.” With that, she charged at Ying with her whip.
Ying was more severely injured, but he healed quickly. Or rather, his body was strange. It was already in tatters, so another large gash didn’t seem to inconvenience him much. Instead, several oddly shaped bone spikes grew from the wound, making his appearance even more indescribable.
Mei Zhuyu could only leap forward, overtaking Wu Zhen, trying to block most of Ying’s attacks head-on.
But at that moment, an unexpected change occurred.
The fresh blood flowing from Wu Zhen’s arm wound dripped onto the cat’s corpse. The corpse suddenly emitted a brilliant light, turning into a ball of light that shot straight into Wu Zhen’s body. Wu Zhen’s eyes widened, and she suddenly fell backward, powerless.
The incident happened so suddenly. The three were in the midst of battle when a bone spike aimed at Wu Zhen’s heart. If she had been conscious, she could have easily blocked it. But caught off guard, she had no defense. Just as it seemed blood would spray, Mei Zhuyu unhesitatingly changed the trajectory of his sword, thrusting it to the right to block the attack for Wu Zhen. As a result, he was pierced through the abdomen by the bone spike.
Slicing off the bone spike embedded in his abdomen with his sword, Mei Zhuyu wrapped an arm around Wu Zhen and retreated several steps.
Ying had already noticed the cat corpse’s mysterious disappearance into Wu Zhen’s body. Seeing what he wanted to be taken by another, he was furious. With a roar, all the bone spikes on his body stood erect at once.
Mei Zhuyu held the unconscious Wu Zhen with one arm, blood flowing unceasingly from his abdominal wound. The hand holding his sword didn’t tremble at all. Feeling Wu Zhen’s steady breathing, he exhaled, placed her under a withered tree nearby, and then pulled out the bone spike from his abdomen. He suddenly raised his sword to the sky, writing a spirit talisman in the air to summon lightning.
Ying was frantically trying to kill Wu Zhen, who had taken the cat’s corpse, but Mei Zhuyu stood before him, not allowing him to get close. Both fought with their lives on the line, red blood, and black corpse fluid nearly covering the surrounding ground. Thunder rumbled, and the broken houses around them seemed as if swept by a great wind, becoming even more dilapidated.
Suddenly, Wu Zhen opened her eyes. She stood up, looking at her hands and body.
Mei Zhuyu was the first to notice Wu Zhen’s awakening. Before he could speak, he saw Wu Zhen unhesitatingly throw herself at Ying. She smiled at Ying and said, “After so many years, I didn’t expect you’d become like this.”
“Back then, I wanted you to live forever. Later, I realized how wrong I was. Ying, your life saddens me more than your death. Now, I’m going to correct this mistake.”
Mei Zhuyu immediately realized this wasn’t Wu Zhen. As for Ying, he fell silent as soon as ‘Wu Zhen’ uttered her first sentence. He seemed to recognize who this was, looking at the current ‘Wu Zhen’ with a peculiar gaze that seemed to contain hatred and fear, yet also nostalgia and sorrow. However, in the end, only greed and killing intent remained.
“I will not die. I will live on forever. Since you’re already dead, don’t interfere with me anymore,” he said.
‘Wu Zhen’ was unfazed and instead burst into laughter. “That won’t do. Not only will I interfere, but I’m also going to kill you.”
In some ways, this person who seemed to be the first Cat Lord was indeed somewhat similar to Wu Zhen.