Inside Erlang Temple.
Upon seeing the sky filled with thunder and lightning, Nanshanzi felt the spiritual energy in the air intensify, causing disruptions in climate and temperature.
Worried about the safety of Mochuan and Qinglianzi, Nanshanzi took out three copper coins from his怀, placed them in a black turtle shell, and shook them in his hand for a few minutes.
*Clatter.*
Nanshanzi stared at the coins while flattening the pile with his left hand, and simultaneously performed a few delicate calculations with his right. His eyes suddenly widened. Forgetting to put away the coins, he strode towards the temple entrance.
"Daoist priest! Where are you going? The specters outside haven't left!" Wang Hu quickly stood up to stop Nanshanzi.
"This humble daoist has divined that my junior sister is in danger. I must go save her."
Nanshanzi did not stop or even look back. To everyone's astonishment, he walked to the temple gate.
"I will deliberately lure away those specters. Once you see the number of specters decrease, leave here immediately." Without another word, he opened the temple door, stepped out, and flipped away from Erlang Temple.
The surrounding specters, seeing Nanshanzi emerge, immediately opened their massive mouths and pounced like famished ghosts upon seeing a delicacy.
...
Principal Liu and Teacher Hu left the school doctor behind and searched through the ruins towards the direction of the poisonous fog.
"Principal Liu, it seems there's no one in the poisonous fog..." Teacher Hu activated his supernatural vision, searching for the whereabouts of the green-clothed woman within the fog.
"..." Principal Liu clearly did not believe the woman had escaped, as he saw that the debris, steel bars, and steel plates touched by the poisonous fog had all turned into black water. If the green-clothed woman hadn't escaped, it would be impossible to find any trace of her.
The three entwined heads of Yamata no Orochi laughed heartily and then began to try and untangle their necks.
Just as one head was about to break free, a flash of crimson light and a flash of green light streaked past. In the blink of an eye, a massive snake head fell to the ground, spraying black blood everywhere.
*Bang—*
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.
"Ah!!!—"
Yamata no Orochi ignored the head that had fallen to the ground (it would grow back anyway). It used the fallen head to untangle the knot and, with a shriek, opened its gaping maw to bite at the two streaks of light.
However, the two figures were too fast. Within seconds, they evaded the snake's encirclement and flashed onto a collapsing building—the two specters the green-clothed woman had referred to as "Grief" and "Resentment."
The green-clothed woman also rose from the ruins behind the two specters, provocatively beckoning the great snake. (Come at me!)
Yamata no Orochi acted separately this time (doge), with two heads spitting different mists: gray gas with high temperature and purple gas with poison.
Driven by the rapid diffusion of the gray gas, the mixed purple gas also spread rapidly.
Facing this combined attack, the green-clothed woman frowned. Bei, standing beside her, extended a sleeve and whisked her away at high speed. Yuan flashed behind Principal Liu and Teacher Hu, taking them to a safe area, then produced a piece of paper as if by magic and handed it to Principal Liu.
Upon opening it, Principal Liu and Teacher Hu saw the paper, with its delicate handwriting, urging them to leave as soon as possible.
Principal Liu was startled and quickly grabbed Yuan, who was about to leave, saying, "Please convey to the young lady, do not fight here! The ground beneath us is a shelter, with over a thousand people inside. If this place collapses due to the fighting, they will all be doomed!"
Yuan nodded, cupped his hands towards Principal Liu, and then returned to the battlefield.
...
The military camp.
Xin Lei's war axe descended with immense lightning power. The dense lightning bolts, twisting like water-vat thick serpents, indiscriminately struck the incoming wind blades, wandering specters, and the dying soldiers in the camp.
Seeing this, Yimu ordered the Divine Wood to extend its branches, providing green shields for the soldiers and esper-users to block the dangerous arcs of electricity.
Da Tengu, upon seeing the sky filled with lightning and thunder, felt his hands, which were condensing demonic power, tremble slightly.
"This… is this truly a human…"
The lightning surrounding Xin Lei directly cleaved through the ceaselessly attacking wind blades, allowing Xin Lei to continue flying forward like a divine dragon wreathed in lightning.
"Evil spirit! Feel the wrath of heaven!"
"No—" Da Tengu abandoned his attempts to stop Xin Lei with wind blades and instead mixed wind blades with air currents using his demonic power, weaving them into a massive barrier.
*Boom—*
The ferocious lightning directly pierced Da Tengu's hastily erected shield and then plunged straight through his body.
Xin Lei's strike cut a straight, scorched wound across Da Tengu's body from his left shoulder to his right waist, and also severed one of his wings. He spat out a mouthful of blood and a small amount of internal organ fragments, losing all strength to struggle, and crashed into the magic circle, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Shuten Doji put down his sake bowl and looked at Xin Lei, who was still hovering in the air.
Xin Lei was breathing heavily, clearly having expended considerable energy. He hid his slightly trembling right hand behind his back and continued to speak in a stern voice, "Who is the next demon to be executed?"
Upon hearing this, Shuten Doji burst into laughter.
Meanwhile, Bing Huo's body was engulfed in crimson-gold flames, and he charged towards Ibaraki Doji like a burning truck.
Although Ibaraki Doji's body was much larger than Bing Huo's, he still raised his arms across his chest to block Bing Huo's charge, not daring to show any disrespect.
*Bang!!!*
Bing Huo, who was like a small cannonball before Ibaraki Doji, actually repelled him several steps with a single blow, only stopping when his back hit the Rashomon Gate.
Suddenly, thunder rumbled in the sky, and one or two bolts of lightning struck down, directly splitting the Rashomon Gate.
Ibaraki Doji, having lost his source of power, began to shrink, making the already difficult situation for Ibaraki Doji even worse.
Bing Huo seized the opportunity and sent Ibaraki Doji to join Da Tengu with a "Fierce Tiger Overlord Fist."
Afterward, Yimu also manipulated wooden branches to throw the unconscious Arakawa Master before Shuten Doji.
The three of them surrounded Shuten Doji from the upper left and right.
Xin Lei spoke coldly, "Evil spirit! Surrender now that it has come to this! Otherwise, we will surely kill you completely!"
"Hahahahaha!!—" Shuten Doji acted as if he had heard the funniest joke, clutching his stomach and continuing to laugh heartily.
The bell-like laughter did not bring any pleasure, but instead made the faces of the three grow even more grim.
"Alright… the show is over. It's time to move." Shuten Doji stopped laughing and spoke coldly.
*Hum.*
In the blink of an eye, Shuten Doji vanished from their sight.
"Not good! Be careful—"
Before Xin Lei could finish speaking, Shuten Doji had already appeared behind Bing Huo. The hand, which looked as soft as tofu, had directly pierced Bing Huo's shoulder. This was only because Bing Huo's sixth sense had kicked in, and he had managed to dodge the vital spot through muscle memory.
Shuten Doji clicked his tongue, disappeared again, and struck towards Yimu's head.
Yimu immediately protected himself with the Divine Wood shield, but Shuten Doji's strength was so immense that he could break both the person and the divine tree together. Thus, Yimu crashed into the ground, leaving a human-shaped gap in the broken divine tree.
"Hahaha— This is too much fun~" Shuten Doji sat where Yimu had been standing, roaring with laughter, completely disregarding Xin Lei and Bing Huo.
Just as Xin Lei was about to attack, Shuten Doji once again vanished from his spot and reappeared on the palanquin.
"Alright, I'm bored. Hurry up and destroy this place and move to the next."
With that, Shuten Doji waved his hands, and his gourd began to ravenously consume the surrounding maidens and the evil spirits emerging from the pillar of light.