Elder Yao saw no Lost Souls or Deathgate Star in front of him, but it seemed his foot had stepped on something.
It felt like some scattered distiller’s yeast.
Elder Yao had stepped into a trap of his own making.
The courtyard in the dream and the real one had significant differences. As Elder Yao chased the Deathgate Star in his dream, his steps became distorted. Through a series of unfortunate events, he ended up walking into his own trap.
The medicine jars hanging in the storehouse burst, showering Elder Yao with Medicinal Powder.
This was the poison he had carefully prepared, and now it had all fallen on him.
The poison immediately began to seep into his skin. Elder Yao’s body stiffened, and the heavy alcoholic fumes that shrouded him quickly dissipated by more than half.
This alcoholic haze was Elder Yao’s important barrier against misfortune. He lifted his wine jug, trying to wash off the poison with its contents.
Unsure if his palm was wet with sweat or liquor, the jug slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground.
As Elder Yao bent down to pick up the wine jug, two Lost Souls pounced on him from behind.
The Three-pointed Double-edged Sword, driven by Elder Yao’s will, moved on its own to parry the attack from behind.
But at this very moment, by an unlucky coincidence, the poison violently took effect. Elder Yao was wracked with extreme pain. His concentration wavered, his Technique became unbalanced, and the Three-pointed Double-edged Sword spiraled out of control, stabbing towards his own back.
The thrust was both fierce and precise, piercing straight through Elder Yao’s chest.
Elder Yao pulled out the Three-pointed Double-edged Sword. He stumbled and, in his staggering, stepped into another trap he had set—a jar of strong liquor fell and spilled all over him.
There were many jars of wine in the courtyard, any of which could wash away the poison, except for this one. This particular jar had been specially prepared by Elder Yao to intensify the poison’s effects.
With the potent poison raging through his body, Elder Yao’s skin began to peel off, his flesh a blurred mass of gore. He stood rooted to the spot, finding it difficult to move.
Lost Souls wielding various Weapons closed in, attacking from all sides, while the Four-Sided Banner struggled to fend them off. The alcoholic fumes surrounding Elder Yao were nearly exhausted, and he could no longer even control the Banners.
Elder Yao heard the Deathgate Star’s voice: "Look at you. What do you even amount to?"
Ominous words.
The Deathgate Star suddenly appeared, passed through the Supporting Banner, grabbed the weakened Elder Yao, and, as if toying with him, threw him to another Deathgate Star.
Holding Elder Yao, the Deathgate Star sneered, "You, a mere drunkard, think you’re fit to be a Local Deity? I don’t even need to act personally to kill you. I can just summon a few stray Lost Souls, and they’ll take your wretched life."
Under the weight of such inauspicious talk, Elder Yao’s will to fight vanished.
Three Lost Souls lifted the Three-pointed Double-edged Sword and plunged it into Elder Yao’s chest.
The Deathgate Star said, "Do you even care about your reputation? If you really care about this old face of yours, just kill yourself now. It’s for your own good. Wouldn’t it be a laughingstock to the world if a Local Deity were truly killed by stray Lost Souls?"
The Deathgate Star had it all planned out for Elder Yao: "The living people in Medicine King Valley—I’ll leave half of them. The other half I’ll give to you as burial companions. What are you waiting for? Reluctant to die? You’ve lived to this age, have you no shame!"
Elder Yao suddenly wrested the Three-pointed Double-edged Sword back and slashed towards the Deathgate Star.
The great sword swung through the air but, just at that moment, a ringing filled Elder Yao’s ears. He struck in the wrong direction, missing the Deathgate Star, and was kicked to the ground by another one.
There were a few more wine jars at the foot of the wall. Elder Yao struggled to get up, attempting to summon the wine jars to him.
A gust of wind blew past, completely dissipating the alcoholic fumes around him, and his Technique failed.
Elder Yao rushed towards the wine jars at the base of the wall, but a Deathgate Star reappeared, kicking him squarely in the chest and sending him flying more than ten feet away.
Before Elder Yao could get up, another Deathgate Star appeared beside him, forging misfortune into a long sword that stabbed towards Elder Yao’s back.
Elder Yao barely dodged, only for yet another Deathgate Star to transform misfortune into an iron hammer, smashing it into his face.
This hammer blow cracked Elder Yao’s skull. Misfortune poured in, and his vision dimmed; he could only vaguely make out outlines.
Elder Yao was certain he was not dreaming.
Struggling to his feet, Elder Yao hadn’t even steadied himself when several Deathgate Stars, leading a crowd of Lost Souls, advanced to attack.
After struggling for several rounds, Elder Yao finally got his hand on a wine jar. Before the wine could touch his lips, a Clone of the Deathgate Star smashed the jar with an iron hammer and, with another heavy blow from the hammer, slammed Elder Yao against the wall.
The wall collapsed. Elder Yao crawled out of the rubble, managing to stand by leaning against a bed.
At the bedside sat the wind-up Phonograph Li Banfeng had sent.
He knew what the Phonograph was for, and he knew where the record came from.
This battle was humiliating. Up to this point, Elder Yao hadn’t even seen the real Deathgate Star.
Elder Yao saw the wine vat in the room. This was his last chance, the only backup plan currently available to him.
But he knew well that given the current state of the battle and his luck, if he rushed directly towards the wine vat, he might not touch a single drop of wine.
As Elder Yao took a step towards the wine vat, his knee gave out, suddenly dislocating. He collapsed to the ground.
He propped himself up with his hands, crawling towards the wine vat.
Two Lost Souls approached, stepping on Elder Yao and pinning him to the ground. He fought to rise, throwing off the two Lost Souls. One of them staggered and crashed into the Phonograph beside the bed.