The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 541 Victory or Loss
"How far is it?"

Lu Wushuang asked as he ran at full speed.

"just in front."

Nanako, clinging to her back, answered with a forced smile.

From the moment Yukimori from the mountains came to their door and the two left, to the moment they discovered that Li Miao was heading towards Izumo Taisha, and the two began to follow the trail, more than half the night had passed.

The sky to the east was already turning white.

The long night is about to end.

Lu Wushuang finally smelled the strong stench of blood in the air ahead.

She darted up a giant tree nearby and looked around.

"Is that Izumo Taisha Shrine on that mountain?"

Nanako followed her finger and carefully examined the outline of the mountain in the moonlight, comparing it with her mother's description when she was young, before answering softly.

"Yes, it's at the top of the mountain."

"Okay, you wait here."

Lu Wushuang casually hung Nanako on a tree branch, ignoring her screams as she swayed in mid-air, then leaped down from the treetop and ran towards Izumo Taisha Shrine.

She hadn't gone far when Li Miao was fighting with Yamanaka Yukimori, and she had heard their conversation clearly. Therefore, she could deduce the same things as Li Miao.

It is known that the two martial arts masters came to Japan to target Shintoism, and both have disappeared without a trace. Furthermore, the establishment of Izumo Taisha shrine is close to the time of Daruma's disappearance. Adding to this the information revealed in Yamanaka Yukimori's words…

Alternatively, Izumo Taisha may be related to Bodhidharma.

Or perhaps it is related to the culprit who caused Bodhidharma's disappearance.

Li Miao left the two behind and headed straight for Izumo Grand Society under the cover of night, further confirming her guess.

"My lord... he should be alright."

Lu Wushuang rushed down the mountain and stopped abruptly. This sudden stop kicked up a cloud of scarlet mud.

"This is... the work of the adults!"

Lu Wushuang slowly shifted her gaze.

She had never seen so many corpses before. Even though she came from the Blood Robe Tower, she had never smelled such a strong stench of blood. The air was soaked with blood, and her nasal cavity felt sticky when she inhaled.

Corpses, a massive number of corpses, stretched along a path up the mountain until they disappeared from sight. Just a glance was enough to estimate there were hundreds of them.

A sea of ​​corpses and blood.

Lu Wushuang couldn't help but shiver, her face suddenly flushed, and she clenched her sleeves tightly with both hands.

"This is the real him."

"This, this, this is simply...so beautiful!"

Lu Wushuang leaped up the steps, running up the stone steps while looking around as if he were enjoying a spring outing.

"Penetrating, tearing, shattering, slicing open."

"Head, chest, abdomen, waist, and limbs."

"Fists, legs, fingers, claws, weapons..."

"So beautiful, so beautiful! This is the true face of an adult, this is him! This is the person I can truly fall for!"

Lu Wushuang forcibly suppressed the surging emotions in her heart, stepped over Amago Haruhisa's headless corpse, and ascended the stone steps.

"No sound?"

"No, that's not right... There was a sound, but it was very faint."

Lu Wushuang listened to the faint sounds of fists and palms clashing coming from ahead, and was surprised. If Li Miao was eliminating the threat, the sound shouldn't have lasted so long; if Li Miao was fighting a powerful enemy, the sound shouldn't have been so quiet... Let alone a Celestial Being, even two top-tier experts fighting would have made a much bigger commotion!
Lu Wushuang stepped over the collapsed torii gate and, finally bathed in moonlight, vaguely saw two figures fighting. One of them looked like Li Miao.

"big--"

Lu Wushuang was about to shout, but before she could finish speaking, she swallowed the rest of her words. She suddenly dodged backward, leaping up the half-pillar of the torii gate ruins to the top and crouching down.

Her eyes widened as she stared intently at the two people fighting.

She wasn't mistaken; one of them was Li Miao.

However, unlike the lazy and noble image she remembered, Li Miao now seems less like a high-ranking official and more like a demon who has crawled back from hell to earth.

His right hand was severed at the wrist, and his left arm was also covered in wounds. Countless bloody gashes were open all over his body, but upon closer inspection, one could see translucent objects filling the gaps, wriggling as if mimicking the exertion of muscles and tendons.

But what's even stranger is his face. Apart from the grotesque smile that resembles that of a hungry ghost, there's also a splatter of golden blood that seems to have been sprayed onto it, giving that face, which could stop a child from crying at night, a touch of divinity.

"My lord, seriously injured!?"

Lu Wushuang could hardly believe her eyes.

"Who could have injured him like this! Who is fighting him?!"

She carefully examined another figure.

The moonlight revealed the outline of Bodhidharma's remains. They were no longer as intact as when he had just emerged from the statue. His body was covered with small, torn wounds, which, though not fatal, continuously oozed a reddish-gold liquid.

His left eye remained tightly closed, while his right eye socket was completely empty. The hole in his chest, which was originally the thickness of a finger, had been torn to the size of a fist.

"Born at the wrong time."

Li Miao had no time to pay attention to his surroundings, nor did he notice Lu Wushuang's arrival. After exchanging a punch with the remains of Damo, he was sent flying backward. He coughed up blood after landing, but then laughed out loud.

"Truly born at the wrong time!"

"I really want to see what you look like when you're fully prepared, clear-headed, and full of energy!"

Li Miao stood up, his protective inner energy once again filling the wound on his chest, pushing his combat power back to its peak. He was confident of victory in this battle, but that did not satisfy him.

Because he was facing an incomplete opponent.

Bodhidharma is dead. The dead have no sexuality; only the physical body remains. Therefore, the legendary ability of Jizhao, which can allow one to experience ten lifetimes in a single glance, the ability of Xuanlan, which best embodies the essence of Bodhidharma, and the still unknown sexual cultivation techniques, all did not appear on Bodhidharma's remains.

Moreover, it was bleeding almost dry.

A corpse is ultimately just a corpse; it cannot grow or regenerate. Once the blood is out, it's gone, and the wounds to the flesh cannot be healed. After nearly half an hour of fighting, the fighting power of the Bodhidharma corpse was less than 50%. Otherwise, Li Miao would not have dared to fight it head-on.

In addition, their moves were rigid and inflexible.

Li Miao has firmly grasped the opportunity to win.

If it continues to wear down little by little until the blood from the remains of Bodhidharma is drained, it will be unable to move anymore.

Even Lu Wushuang, who was observing from the sidelines, could see this.

Li Miao slowly shook his head.

"This is the first and last time I've fought someone like you, and I've learned a great deal... Logically speaking, I should continue to entangle with you until I've drained the last drop of blood from your body."

"But that would be too wasteful."

Li Miao slowly clenched his fist, assuming a perfectly square basic boxing stance, his front foot gradually extending out, his back leg bent, and his hands tucked to his sides.

"We don't know if Master Sanfeng is alive or dead. Such an opportunity may not come again. I think this fight should not turn into a bad one."

"Come."

"One move decides the outcome."

(End of this chapter)