The Ascension of Contracted Spirits

Chapter 169 - 126: Death, Like Water Disappearing into Water (6000 words) _3

As he landed on the ground, he tilted his chin, his calm gaze unchanging.

"Bang!"

The bandit leader, his jaw clenched until his molars almost cracked, threw out a similar jade talisman.

Amidst the thick smoke, he abandoned the already dead Digging Cat Demon, attached two "Featherweight Symbols" to his leg, and sprinted back in the direction he had come from.

"Whoosh-"

The wild wind raged on, dispersing the smoke that would have taken the Ghost-Faced Moth ten seconds. Huazhu only needed one.

She chased after him, like a wavering streak of golden lightning.

Just as the bandit leader suddenly changed direction, trying to jump into the pit dug by the Mutant Mud Frog, a magnified shield blocked the entrance. Standing on the shield, the bandit leader’s face turned sour.

"In the Yellow Mud Swamp, we have a secret store. Spare me, and I can give you much treasure!"

"Not interested."

Ye Hanjun emerged from the cave, dusting himself off, and nonchalantly said,

"You have 1 minute 30 seconds left."

The bandit leader took a deep breath, forcibly plastered a smile on his rough cheeks, and rubbed his hands together,

"How about this, I’ll follow your command from now on, working as your servant."

"If you tell me to go east, I won’t go west. If you tell me to kill, I won’t hesitate. From now on, my life is yours."

"If you don’t trust me, you can feed me some poison or something. Hold my weaknesses against me, so I can’t mess around..."

"Seems interesting."

Ye Hanjun glanced at him,

"But you’re too weak, not worth wasting my energy."

"You have 1 minute 10 seconds left."

"Tsak!"

The expression of the bandit leader darkened in a split second, his face so gloomy it seemed like water could drip from it.

He glared at the three of them, no longer hiding his raging killing intent:

"I am willing to admit defeat, as I’ve lost my Contracted Spirit and cannot activate ’Burrow’!"

"But if I die here today, even if I become a fierce ghost that can never reincarnate, I will find you for revenge!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the bandit leader started running towards the muddy land.

Huazhu shadowed him closely, occasionally smashing down a shield in his path, using it as an obstruction to restrict his escape route.

Like this, the 1 minute 10 seconds countdown ended, and the verdant barrier wrapped around the bandit leader began to collapse bit by bit.

The protective artifacts he had on—had completely lost their value.

"Slash!"

The hurricane surged, and an air claw formed rapidly, sharp claws aimed at the bandit leader’s head.

The Hand of Snatch appeared once again. However, this ability, used consecutively, had shortened the arm to one meter and the color was extremely dim, on the verge of dissipating at any moment.

With a thud, the tangible Earth Element and Wind Element collided, both suffering damage.

The bandit leader stared wide-eyed, stumbling and falling to the ground.

Even though intense fear oppressed his soul, he still used his hands and feet to crawl, trying to buy some time for survival.

"Slash!"

With a few seconds interval, Huazhu reformed the air claw, and with a swipe, the bandit leader rolled sideways, using his back to resist the strike.

A clanging sound, his outer clothing was completely torn, exposing the light armor underneath. Five distinct scratches appeared on it. It was damaged, but not penetrated.

"You really are tenacious..."

Ye Hanjun chuckled, watching the wind claw strike for the third time.

This time, the bandit leader still resorted to a rolling movement.

But this time, Huazhu had predicted and cast her spell in advance, accurately estimating his position.

Hence, a jet of blood sprayed out and the bandit leader, his head pierced by the claw, convulsed on the ground, gradually losing his life’s vital energy.

"Master Han, could he actually turn into a fierce ghost? Sounds rather mystical..."

This was the first time Su Mei had seen Ye Hanjun kill someone.

The heat of life being extinguished right before her eyes- this scene still had a compelling visual impact.

But perhaps it was because the bandit leader wanted their lives from the start, acting tyrannically and unscrupulously, he deserved his death.

Su Mei was just curious. Spirits like zombies and ghosts, indeed a portion of them were conceived after a human’s death.

Could this bandit leader, after many years, become one of them?

"There’s probably a one in ten-thousand chance."

Ye Hanjun donned sterile gloves and picked over the corpse, retrieving a few valuable items like medicine and runes.

He then took off the gloves, pulled out a bottle of saturated fat, poured it on the body, and lit it on fire.

"Sizzle-"

Flames devoured the corpse rapidly. Ye Hanjun took a step back and nodded.

"Now, it’s almost zero."

"Once the corpse turned to ashes, he won’t be able to transform into the Corpse Race."

"As for his so-called determination, it’s far from being deep enough. It’s quite difficult for him to become a normal ghost, let alone a fierce ghost... If he were a necromancer or a similar position, then I might worry a bit, considering getting a monk to read scriptures or something..."

"A ’bandit’, his abilities have nothing to do with this. It is purely an oral curse, with absolutely no substance."

Ye Hanjun wasn’t worried in the slightest.

Rebirth after death is one of the highest laws in this world that ordinary people have no right to touch.

As for corpse transformation, most of it is nature’s gift.

A place heavy with gloom is likely to birth more Nether Fond Spirits.

Sunny regions, hot throughout the four seasons, are less likely to produce such spirits.

These are not things that humans can casually interfere with.

The bandit leader, once dead, is simply dead, like water mingling with water, simple and pure.

"Master Han, what should we do with the remaining two bandits? Shall we attempt to pursue and kill them?" asked Li Jingming.