No taboos

Chapter 452 Greed
Dafu bit down on the thing and pulled hard, but the thing was quite strong and managed to hold its own against Dafu.

Dafu strained his eyes to the limit, urging Fanzhezi to hurry up and make a move!
Xu Yuan, however, remained unhurried. If Da Fu was capable, then he should hold out a little longer.

Xu Yuan stood up, then slowly squatted down.

Standing up, the pit was no longer visible. As he squatted down, Xu Yuan kept staring at the location of the pit, which suddenly appeared about four feet below.

Even with Lord Xu's current level of skill, he did not perceive any changes in space during this process.

This is very unusual!

Xu Yuan has already been to Zhuojian and Lingxiao, and is probably the person with the most acute perception of spatial power among the fifth-rate people.

Xu Yuan's lack of perception indicates that the mysteries of this space far surpass the realm of the fifth rank.

Dafu's normal height is three feet, but when he stretches his neck and stands on tiptoe, he can barely reach four feet.

Xu Yuan discovered that the boundary of the pit was exactly four feet below the surface.

Xu Yuan reached out, and the animal sinew rope burrowed into the pit, also entangled the thing, and together with Da Fu, they pulled it out.

puff!
When the thing was pulled out, Dafu fell backward onto his butt.

But the flat-mouthed creature kept biting down on that thing.

It really was a colorful... strange snake.

This snake's feet were as thick as an adult's arm, but it was only about four feet long, clearly not the ancient well-flower python that spewed fire from its mouth.

Wei Jinyuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

After the monster was pulled out, it had sinister eyes and turned to bite Dafu on the head.

With a flick of his wrist, Dafu slammed the strange snake firmly to the ground, then swiftly stretched out his foot, his large webbed foot completely covering the snake's head.

Then Dafu proudly showed off his achievement to Fanzhezi.

Xu Yuan frowned and opened "Looking at Fate" once again.

I just checked with the "Looking at Fate" method, and there are no evil spirits in the grass.

Where did this strange snake come from?

Upon closer inspection, the strange snake turned out to be a low-level evil spirit, at most a ninth-rate one.

Xu Yuan immediately shouted, "Dafu, let go quickly..."

At the same time, Xu Yuan's sword pellet flew out, as fast as lightning, heading straight for the strange snake.

When Dafu heard Fanzhezi shout this, he was confused for a moment: I have already subdued this thing, why do you want me to let go?

However, it immediately sensed that the things in its mouth and under its feet had suddenly changed.

Its originally smooth body quickly sprouted many sharp thorns!

Dafu felt a sharp pain in his foot from being stabbed, and hurriedly pulled his foot back, opened his mouth, and darted backward.

Only then did I see clearly that what was clearly a strange snake had now transformed into a bizarre centipede-shaped creature, its entire back covered in sharp, insect-like thorns!

The spikes gleamed with a dark sheen, clearly indicating they were highly poisonous.

After breaking free of its control, the strange creature twisted its head and tail, biting at Dafu's neck.

Its head and tail are the same, both having four dark red eyes, with a long, sharp mouthpart extending from the middle of the eyes!

Daifuku was already fast enough, but this thing was unexpected and even faster!

Just as the two long mouthparts were about to pierce the large neck, the sword ball arrived in time and with a hiss, sliced ​​the strange back open!

After seeing the strange snake transform, Lang Xiaoba shouted "Dafu!" and without thinking, threw a punch!
boom!
With a muffled thud, all the power in his body coalesced into a meteor, which slammed into the strange creature with tremendous speed.

But it was still a step slower than Lord Xu's sword pellet.

Martial Secret - Heavenly Star Fall!

The strange creature was instantly blasted to pieces.

Having already had his back slashed open by Lord Xu, how could he possibly withstand another blow from Lang Xiaoba?
Dafu, still shaken, squealed softly and spun around in place a few times with his head down.

Check yourself for any injuries.

Fortunately, it was just a prick on my flipper, and the small wound is almost healed.

The poison in this stuff doesn't cause Dafu any harm.

Lang Xiaoba looked at his fist with a blank expression: "The Heavenly Starfall...completely mastered?!"

Because of his concern for Dafu, Lang Xiaoba threw a punch in a moment of desperation, which actually allowed him to break through his bottleneck in one fell swoop!

Ji Shuangqiu's heart tightened. Oh no, she couldn't hit this man anymore!

He might even beat me up!

Ji Shuangqiu's mind raced as she tried to come up with a solution.

With her intelligence, she naturally changed her mind... but just a quick change of mind, and she couldn't come up with any solution.

When Xu Yuan saw through his "observation of fate" that the strange snake was only of the ninth-rate level, he realized something was wrong: how could a minor evil spirit of the ninth-rate level be able to be dragged out by Da Fu for so long, and even need his help to pull it out?
Dafu was unaware of his own strength, but Xu Yuan had long since realized that this seemingly ordinary guy was extraordinary.

So they immediately released the sword pellet, and sure enough, the monstrous snake transformed and had another form.

Xu Yuan patted Dafu's head to comfort it.

Then he crouched down, moved step by step to the front of the pit, and without saying a word, breathed fire into it.

Let's burn it first to see if there are any other evil spirits inside.

But as the fire shot out, Xu Yuan was surprised again: Something's strange!
The fire in the abdomen was supposed to burn through the pit before being withdrawn, but the pit was only so big.

But the fire in my abdomen, like water, leaked away from somewhere.

Xu Yuan could control the fire in his abdomen at will, so he wanted to take it back.

The result was that most of it was recovered, but a small portion was still missing.

Xu Yuan exhaled another ball of fire from his abdomen, condensing it into a fist-sized fireball, which slowly floated into the pit, illuminating it completely.

The pit was five feet in diameter, and the soil, after being burned by the fire inside the five streams, had a pottery-like state.

However, there are no deep, long fissures or caves within caves.

Xu Yuan was puzzled. After thinking for a moment, he dispersed the fire bead, and with a whoosh, the fire in his abdomen filled the entire pit again.

This time, another small amount of internal heat leaked out!

Xu Yuan thought to himself that it was strange. Da Fu had already swayed over and stuck his head into the pit.

"Dafu..."

Dafu walked around inside and came out, and nothing unexpected happened.

Suddenly, Mu Han called out from behind, "Lord Xu, come and see!"

Xu Yuan withdrew, and Mu Han pointed at the snake egg, which was gently shaking.

Is it about to hatch?

But the snake egg shook for a while, then fell silent again, as if the creature inside had not yet fully hatched.

Xu Yuan looked at the pit, then at the snake egg.

Could it be that... the fire that leaked out of the abdomen was absorbed by this snake egg?

Did the power of the fire within its belly hatch the snake egg?
To verify this, all Xu Yuan needs to do is go over and breathe a few more breaths of fire from his abdomen.

However, Xu Yuan was cautious and did not want to do that.

Who knows what will hatch from this snake egg?
What if a powerful evil spirit is released?
Mu Han reminded him, "Sir, it's getting dark."

Xu Yuan looked up at the sky; it was indeed about to get dark.

"Let's take these snake eggs and settle down here."

Liu Hu immediately said, "This humble official has already prepared the accommodations. Gentlemen, please follow me."

As soon as Xu Yuan and the others left, Wei Jinyuan and his group immediately opened the door and came out. Before it got dark, they ran to that area and, imitating Xu Yuan, squatted down and saw the pit.

Uncle Xi solemnly pulled Wei Jinyuan back: "You can't go over there! The space here has been altered, probably by some great evil spirit. That pit is most likely a trap!"

Uncle Xi still had many more questions in his mind:
This technique of superimposing or interlacing spaces is collectively known as "Luban lock". It has a fixed operating mode and can make a void complex out of thin air. It can be simply understood as... using this space to assemble a "Luban lock".

Although it's not exactly a trick to distort space, only a third-rate evil spirit could pull it off!
But if there really were some third-rate evil spirits, how could this place be like this now?

Even the previous "mysterious place" shouldn't be just a small area like the deserted village.

Even a third-rate evil spirit can reign supreme in Xiaoyu Mountain.

Uncle Xi couldn't understand it.

Everything in this deserted village seemed increasingly mysterious and enigmatic.

Wei Jinyuan's eyes lit up: "The great evil spirit is fishing? Xu Yuan has already taken the bait?"

Uncle Xi thought for a moment and said, "That snake egg is probably the bait."

……

Liu Hu arrived a few days early and reserved the largest courtyard in the village.

There were several large brick houses in the courtyard. Liu Hu cleaned out some of them so that people could still live in them, made some simple reinforcements, and pasted door gods on the doors.

The villagers who moved back did not occupy the place because the yard was too big, and the cost of renovation would be a huge expense for them.

There were three rooms in total, and Liu Hu discussed it with Mu Han.

"Lord Xu will have a private room, the Inspector and the female yamen runners under my command will share a room, and the rest of us will have to squeeze in."

Liu Hu was accompanied by four constables, all of whom were newly initiated and insignificant cultivators. Among them was a female cultivator.

Xu Yuan did not refuse. He could be more approachable to his subordinates, but no matter who shared a room with him, they would feel uncomfortable.

After assigning the rooms, Liu Hu rolled up his sleeves and said, "This humble official will show you gentlemen what I can do. Although Pingli County is small, it has several local delicacies."

Xu Yuan smiled and said, "You must try it."

Liu Hu called two of his men to help, while Xu Yuan and the others sat and waited for dinner to be served.

Lang Xiaoba's eyes darted around, and he said to Ji Shuangqiu with ill intent, "Let's go, let's have a go in the yard."

Ji Shuangqiu glanced at him coldly and said, "You've already achieved a minor level of proficiency. I don't need to train you anymore. You can train me instead."

Lang Xiaoba tilted his head and thought for a moment before he understood that Ji Shuangqiu meant... I should stand there and let her hit me, but I shouldn't hit her?
This woman has become smarter!
Lang Xiaoba angrily said, "Are you scared?"

Ji Shuangqiu couldn't stand this, and glared angrily, saying, "You think I'm afraid of you? Come on, let's have a match in the courtyard!"

"go!"

Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Soon, continuous sounds of gunfire echoed from the courtyard.

Liu Hu and two of his men were cooking dinner in the half-collapsed kitchen. They could clearly see Lang Xiaoba punching Ji Shuangqiu three times on the ground from about 30 feet away.

Then Ji Shuangqiu got up and threw a punch at Lang Xiaoba.

However, her "Falling Star" technique was still lacking in skill. When it hit Lang Xiaoba, who was three zhang away, it could only make his upper body sway slightly.

Ji Shuangqiu was soon bruised and swollen, but she fought to the death and refused to retreat!

While preparing the ingredients, Liu Hu remarked to his two subordinates with admiration, "Look at these, these are the elite members of the Purification Division in the big city! So diligent and hardworking!"
If you want to go out and make your way in the world, you have to ask yourselves first whether you can work as hard as they do...

The two henchmen shook their heads repeatedly, and one of them, with slicked-back hair, even smiled and said, "Sir, my family owns four shops on North Heng Street, and also 120 mu of farmland in the village."

You enjoy cooking, and I enjoy your cooking, which is why I work under you and even receive a salary from the imperial court—I could never dream of working for the Bureau of Purification.

As they were talking, Lang Xiaoba's whole body twisted, his muscles began to gather from the soles of his feet, and his power seemed to surge all the way to his fist. "Hey!" Lang Xiaoba roared and threw a heavy punch.

Ji Shuangqiu gritted her teeth and crossed her arms in front of her. Then, with a thud, she was sent flying half a meter away and landed on her buttocks. She was stunned and didn't come to her senses for a long time.

Lang Xiaoba was startled and quickly stepped forward to help her up: "Are you alright? I hit her too hard..."

But then a cunning glint flashed in Ji Shuangqiu's bewildered eyes. She suddenly grabbed Lang Xiaoba's outstretched hand, and with a swift, serpentine flip, pinned Lang Xiaoba beneath her.

Then he straddled Lang Xiaoba's waist, raised his two fists, each the size of a vinegar jar, and began to punch Lang Xiaoba's face repeatedly!
"Dong dong dong..."

Lang Xiaoba tried several times, but failed to flip Ji Shuangqiu over.

He has indeed achieved minor success in the "Falling Star" technique, taking a step ahead in the cultivation of this martial art.

But purely in terms of martial arts skills, he is weaker than Ji Shuangqiu.

Lang Xiaoba clutched his head, howling as he was hit, and angrily cursed, "You cheated!"

As Ji Shuangqiu fought, she said, "All's fair in war!"

"You're not just feeding me a move!"

"I'm done sparring, and I'm bursting with rage. All I want to do is beat you up!"

Liu Hu was just finishing a dish when he saw this scene. He then said earnestly to his two subordinates, "As for the Exorcism Bureau, it's fine if we don't go. But the interpersonal relationships among colleagues in that department are quite complicated and difficult to manage..."

After a full half-incense stick's time, Ji Shuangqiu finally breathed a sigh of relief, grunted, and got up from Lang Xiaoba with satisfaction.

Both of them returned with pig heads on their heads. Xu Yuan coughed twice and said to Mu Han with shame, "I have neglected to discipline my subordinates. Please forgive me, brother."

Mu Han quickly waved his hand: "Both of you are pillars of society."

The two idiots' behavior was indeed funny, but Mu Han couldn't quite laugh.

He is a seventh-rate divine cultivator, and these two are both seventh-rate martial cultivators.

Martial arts practitioners are inherently superior to divine practitioners.

These two were both skilled fighters and resilient, with incredibly vigorous energy. Especially now, having just experienced a "great battle," Mu Han felt a faint stinging pain in his soul even though he was only seven feet away from them.

These were his ghostly soldiers, fearing the power of the blood and qi emanating from the two individuals.

Mu Han did some calculations and figured that the two of them could also become patrol inspectors in the Southern Bureau.

Moreover, it must be an inspection team with real power.

Lord Xu himself is making rapid progress, and his troops are also strong and well-equipped.

He truly has a bright future ahead of him.

Mu Han was genuinely envious.

When he first entered the Department of Purification, he was also full of ambition.

But as time went by, he encountered colleagues who were more outstanding than himself, and watched helplessly as they surpassed him.

Later, he married and had children in accordance with his parents' wishes.

Life gradually turned into "wife, children, and a warm bed," and the ambitions of the past were no longer hoped to be realized in this lifetime.

Looking back at the young Xu Yuan now, reflecting on the first half of his life... does he regret it? He does have some regrets.

But more than anything, it's a feeling of helplessness.

Perhaps I really don't have that talent.

"Dinner's ready!" Liu Hu shouted, leading his men to bring over the food. The aroma immediately wafted into the room, dispelling Mu Han's melancholy.

Xu Yuan's appetite was whetted: "Lord Liu, your cooking is superb."

A group of people sat around a table and ate very quickly.

Liu Hu himself didn't eat much; seeing how popular his cooking was made him happier than if he were eating it himself.

"Back then, I started learning to cook at the age of nine. I really suffered. I worked for my master for free for three years, doing all sorts of odd jobs and hard work. It wasn't until the fourth year that I was allowed to cut vegetables with a knife."

Then he worked in his master's shop, earning only fifty coins a month. He learned on the job and it took him six years to complete his apprenticeship.

"Back then, a high-ranking official passed through Pingli County and enjoyed my cooking so much that he gave me a recipe for a medicinal ingredient. It took me several years of saving to finally master it."

As Liu Hu was reminiscing about the past, he suddenly realized something was wrong: one person was missing.

Where is Chen Yang?

Chen Yang was one of his subordinates, a wealthy and slick-haired constable.

The other three constables looked around, equally puzzled: "We don't know, they were just here a moment ago."

The members of the Exorcism Division were highly alert and immediately stood up and rushed outside: "It's already dark, something's wrong!"

After searching the courtyard, they suddenly heard Lang Xiaoba's voice coming from behind the house: "Chen Yang, stop!"

Everyone rushed over immediately, only to find Chen Yang standing beside a broken millstone in the open space behind the house, holding the snake egg in both hands, exuding an intoxicating and frenzied aura.

Mu Han's expression changed: "When did he steal that egg?!"

The snake eggs were originally wrapped in a fishy-smelling cloth and placed inside the house.

Without saying a word, Lang Xiaoba unleashed a punch: Heavenly Star Fall.

Chen Yang ignored everything around him, raised the snake egg with both hands, and then opened his mouth as wide as he could with all his might!
His mouth then split open, blood splattering all the way to his ear.

The snake egg trembled in his hand, fine cracks appeared on its shell, and then pieces of the shell broke off one by one.

A strange creature, half snake and half worm, with vibrant colors, emerged from inside.

As soon as this thing appeared, the surrounding contamination skyrocketed!
Lang Xiaoba's "Heavenly Star Fall" slammed into Chen Yang's chest with a thud.

He was hit so hard that his sternum shattered and collapsed.

He was sent flying ten feet away.

But Chen Yang had already swallowed the strange creature whole.

When he fell to the ground, his whole body twisted and turned, and he quickly transformed into that strange shape, which was a full ten feet long and as thick as a water bucket.

He turned around, his four blood-red eyes glaring fiercely at Lang Xiaoba, then twisted and burrowed into the ground.

Lang Xiaoba was closest. He took a few big steps forward, his huge body soaring half a zhang into the air, and stomped heavily on the ground as he landed!

thump—

The ground shook and oscillated.

The strange creature, which had already burrowed halfway into the ground, was so violently shaken that it could no longer burrow down.

Lang Xiaoba drew his sword and slashed at the strange tail.

Clang!

The sword and the insect shell on the strange creature sparked a trail of sparks.

The strange creature was completely unharmed!

It twisted its body in the ground, and a large amount of mud gushed out, instantly making the land wet and soft.

The strange creature suddenly burrowed in, disappearing more than halfway inside.

Lang Xiaoba slipped and almost fell, but Lord Xu intervened.

A sword flew out and pierced the strange tail with a hiss.

The insect shell that had just blocked Lang Xiaoba's slash without a scratch was as soft as tofu under Lord Xu's sword.

Dragon-slaying sword!
Xu Yuan hadn't used these two Dragon-Slaying Swords for a while.

But this time, Xu Yuan chose to try this sword.

Sure enough, this strangeness was controlled!

After being struck by the sword, the strange creature appeared to be in excruciating pain, trembling violently beneath the ground, causing even more mud to gush out from underground.

Xu Yuan then opened "Looking at Fate" and carefully observed and confirmed the location of the strange "fate". Then, with a wave of his hand, the Dragon Slayer Sword rose into the air and, after reaching a height of a hundred feet, turned and fell downwards.

The speed increased rapidly, and in a flash of light, the sword had already burrowed into the ground several feet deep.

The strange thing stretched out for a moment, stiffened for a brief instant, and then went completely limp.

The location of "fate" is the key to the strange situation.

"Dig it out!" Xu Yuan ordered.

Liu Hu hurriedly tried to lead his men to find hoes and pickaxes, but Lang Xiaoba and Ji Shuangqiu had already drawn their swords and started digging.

Liu Hu quickly called for people to come forward: "Let's dig together."

But they soon realized that they weren't helping, but rather making things worse.

The two burly martial artists, with their full strength, were like two wild boar kings rooting for sweet potatoes, Liu Hu thought.

The four of them going up there would be a hindrance and would hinder others from making their moves.

So Liu Hu quietly withdrew.

I'm also a little confused: these two wild boar kings... ah no, these two martial arts practitioners, when they fight they wish they could smash the other's head with one punch, why are they so in sync when they work together?
Despite their large size, they don't affect each other at all.

But if other people were to join in, it would seem superfluous.

Xu Yuan stood to the side with his hands behind his back, and asked in confusion, "Why is it only Chen Yang?"

The snake eggs were contaminated, so they were wrapped in a fishy-smelling cloth.

But others were not affected.

Only Chen Yang lost his mind and secretly stole it and ate it.

Thinking of the bizarre scene of Chen Yang tearing his mouth apart completely, Liu Hu said uncertainly, "Maybe it's because Chen Yang loves to eat? He's extremely greedy, far beyond what most people would do."

"Greedy?" Xu Yuan's heart skipped a beat.

"Sir, we've dug it up."

Lang Xiaoba and Ji Shuangqiu worked together and quickly uncovered the entire strange entity.

Xu Yuan raised his hand, and the two Dragon-Slaying Swords flew back and were put into the sword box.

Lord Xu looked around and, finding no alchemists among them, had no choice but to burn the strange corpse himself.

After the firelight faded, all that remained of the strange corpse was a white pebble the size of a broad bean.

Liu Hu twitched his nose: "This smells so good."

Xu Yuan picked it up, rubbed it in his hand a few times, and then put it into his sleeve.

……

Wei Jinyuan lived alone in a room. After dinner, he would wash up and go to bed.

Lying in bed, he went through the clues he had discovered over the past few days in his mind and decided on his course of action for the next day.

"If nothing unexpected happens, we should be able to find that ball of dragon's mouth fire the day after tomorrow."

Because Xu Yuan took the bait of that evil spirit, Wei Jinyuan's confidence returned, and he felt that he was sure to win the bet.

After thinking it over, he turned over and prepared to sleep.

"Tuk Tuk Tuk!"

Suddenly, a strange knocking sounded at the door, followed by a somewhat childish yet hoarse voice: "I'm so hungry, do you have anything to eat?"

(End of this chapter)