The river didn’t seem to be more than a meter or two deep, but even a Mythical expert like the bald officer could only struggle with all his might when he fell in. He couldn’t escape no matter how hard he tried and was about to fully sink at any moment.
Suddenly, a voice came from the bamboo forest beside him. “Among the ghosts of a Ghost Parade, there’s a ghost named Hashihime—Bridge Lady. She stands by the bridge, and if a man is tempted by her, he will be lured into the river where he will drown. I believe you are that Hashihime?”
“Brother-in-law...” Ji Moqing was overjoyed when she heard the voice. She looked in the direction of the voice and saw Fang Mingsu walking out of the bamboo forest.
Fang Mingsu’s gaze was firm. He wore golden armor and emitted a dazzling golden light like the sun. As he spoke, he approached the wooden bridge. When the golden light shone on Hashihime, she let out a tragic cry as white smoke emitted from her body.
The woman hurriedly used the paper umbrella to block the golden light from Fang Mingsu’s body, but the golden light seemed to have a strong restraining effect on her. Wherever the golden light shone, not only Hashihime, but even the wooden bridge and river water began to emit white fog.
Hashihime glared fiercely at Fang Mingsu. Her body suddenly turned into white fog and vanished along with the wooden bridge and river.
On a second look, there was no river. The bald officer and company were struggling on the grass. After realizing their predicament, they stood up and looked at each other, unsure if they had been hallucinating.
“Brother-in-law!” Ji Moqing looked at Fang Mingsu as though she had found a backer. She stopped praising Zhou Wen and turned to run towards him.
Zhou Wen naturally didn’t stop her. He found Ji Moqing a burden to begin with—he had only brought her along on account that she was a fellow human.
Since she had already found a powerful relative like Fang Mingsu, Zhou Wen naturally couldn’t be bothered with her. He continued walking forward.
“Devil, why aren’t you acting all fierce now? Are you afraid of my brother-in-law?” Ji Moqing pulled a face and shouted at Zhou Wen’s back, “You aren’t handsome at all. You don’t have any poise. You’re just a cold-blooded devil.”
She had been disgusted by her praise of Zhou Wen. It wasn’t easy for her to find someone to rely on. If she didn’t deliver him a few sarcastic remarks, she would feel terrible.
“Little Qing, stop it.” Fang Mingsu stopped her from continuing.
“He’s most afraid of you. With you around, he wouldn’t dare do anything to me,” Ji Moqing said.
Fang Mingsu shook his head and said, “I’m afraid you are mistaken. If he really wants to deal with me, it would be impossible for him to easily let you return to my side. If he wants you to return, it means that he has no intention of fighting with us.”
With that said, Fang Mingsu shouted in Zhou Wen’s direction, “Friend, thank you for taking care of Little Qing. If you don’t mind, why don’t you travel with us?”
“There’s no need,” Zhou Wen said as he left without looking back.
Zhou Wen only wanted to find Shiraishi Satomi quickly. It was too dangerous here. Sei Gasakai had requested Shiraishi Satomi to accompany him. It wasn’t nice for him to go back and tell him that his disciple was dead, right?
However, not long after Zhou Wen walked out, he heard a strange sound coming from the village.
Fang Mingsu and company also heard the sound. They turned their heads and saw the village in the fog suddenly become clearer.
Standing here, they could roughly see the situation in the village.
Just the parts they could see were filled with strange dimensional creatures. They looked like demons and ghosts with all kinds of appearances.
Hashihime was also among them. However, at that moment, she was prostrating on the ground with the other demons and ghosts. They were all kneeling in the middle of the village.
They had already experienced the horror of Hashihime. For such a powerful dimensional creature to prostrate on the ground without even daring to raise her head, what was she bowing to?
Everyone, including Zhou Wen, couldn’t help but look in the direction where the demons and ghosts were prostrating. It was also the center of the village.
However, Zhou Wen and company didn’t discover any terrifying creatures. In the middle of the village was an empty space. Most of the area was empty except for a well.
Zhou Wen realized that the strange sound was coming from the well.
“That’s bad. This is the birthplace of the Calamity creature. We need to go.” Fang Mingsu’s expression suddenly changed drastically. He retreated as he pulled Ji Moqing. The bald officer and company hurriedly followed Fang Mingsu.
Unfortunately, it was too late for them to leave. Large numbers of dimensional creatures had already appeared on the surrounding bamboo forests and beaches.
The dimensional creatures looked strange, but their levels weren’t low. They were at least at the Epic stage, and there were even Mythical creatures.
The most powerful ones were the man who carried the lute on his back and Hashihime.
There were still many ghosts in the village that hadn’t come out. The most powerful one had a face that resembled an evil ghost. It had a long nose and wings on its back. It looked like a mythical Daitengu.
Behind the Daitengu was a white-haired woman in a snow-white kimono. Her body floated as snowflakes danced around her. She looked like the legendary Yuki Onna—snow woman.
“Daitengu, Yuki Onna, Hashihime, and Umibōzu. I’m afraid this is really the birthplace of the Calamity creature... Could that well be where the Calamity creature is?” the bald officer said in shock.
“Stay close to me.” Fang Mingsu pulled Ji Moqing. The Guardian armor on his body glowed with golden light. Wherever the golden light went, the ghosts retreated. If they retreated any slower, they would be burned to ashes by the golden light.
The Guardian’s power is extreme Yang in nature. It’s indeed the nemesis of ghosts. It’s no wonder Honn Shinsakura wants to use Fang Mingsu to deal with the ghosts. Zhou Wen sized it up and guessed which race Fang Mingsu’s Guardian came from.
Without needing to guess, he quickly knew where Fang Mingsu’s Guardian originated.
Although the golden light on Fang Mingsu’s body was extremely effective against ghosts, the four Terror-grade creatures like the Daitengu and the Yuki Onna weren’t too afraid. They surrounded Fang Mingsu.
Fang Mingsu had no choice but to go all out when fighting four adversaries. Soon, he revealed all his strength.
Seeing the familiar golden flames ignite on Fang Mingsu’s body as he resisted the four Terror creatures, Zhou Wen immediately recognized that it was identical to the phoenix flames of the phoenix chick.
Could it be that the Guardian Fang Mingsu obtained is the one Chick’s mother is guarding? It’s no wonder he can become one of the four war gods of the new era. Zhou Wen had reared Chick for so long and had a deep understanding of a phoenix’s might.
If Fang Mingsu really obtained the Phoenix race’s Guardian, his strength definitely wouldn’t be too weak.