Volume Three: The Tomb of the Fox Immortal - Chapter 55: Fierce Battle Against the Headless Ghost

Following the direction pointed by Xu Tian, Li Kun and I looked up toward the dome, only to see two figures floating in the air right above our heads.

Those two figures were the headless ghost and the large dog. The headless ghost was currently floating motionless near the top of the dome, staring intently down at us on the ground. In its embrace, it tightly held the body of the large dog around the waist, with the dog's head hanging downward, appearing to have already fallen unconscious.

Seeing this, Li Kun immediately shouted upwards, "Damn it, you little fiend, how dare you grab Master Li's brother! I think you're truly tired of living."

At his words, a surge of black vapor suddenly poured out from the neck of the floating headless ghost. Within seconds, the phantom of a head materialized upon its shoulders.

Then, a harsh and piercing voice rang out slowly from the headless ghost: "You damned wretches actually killed my wife outside. I originally intended to kill this brat first, only to have you damned fellows drag him here. If Fox Fairy Yueer hadn't protected you, I would have killed every last one of you long ago."

Li Kun retorted, "Do you really think you can take all three of us down by yourself? You flatter yourself far too much. If you have the guts, let him go, and Master Li will beat you to death with both hands tied behind my back."

What Li Kun said made sense to a certain extent. If he unleashed the full power of his bloodshot eyes against the headless ghost, the spirit certainly wouldn't be able to withstand it. However, we were currently in a bind regarding the headless ghost. From the looks of it, it seemed to still be trapped near the dome by the Fox Fairy's spell seal. If Li Kun activated his bloodshot eyes to attack, the headless ghost would undoubtedly use the large dog as a human shield, which might result in the dog getting accidentally injured by Li Kun.

Just at that moment, the headless ghost felt its body suddenly loosen. Realizing that its seal had been lifted, it wrapped one arm around the large dog's waist and leaped straight down from the dome.

Seeing the headless ghost jump down, all three of us grew alert. The headless ghost took a few steps toward us, while Li Kun and I shielded Xu Tian behind us, and I had already drawn the Soul-Slicing Blade, gripping it tightly in my hand.

Xu Tian lacked combat capability. Even though his martial prowess was decent and he had clearly undergone training, he carried nothing capable of dealing with spiritual entities. If anything happened to Xu Tian, Li Kun and I would have no time for regrets.

Xu Tian was extremely nervous now, gripping the Type 87 rifle slung across his chest in search of some sense of security, though he knew full well that this weapon would be completely useless against the headless ghost before us.

The headless ghost laughed upon seeing our stance and said, "Brat, weren't you quite arrogant just now? Why are you backing away now? What, are you scared?"

I stepped in front of Li Kun and said to the headless ghost, "Since it has already come to a fight to the death between us, we might as well settle it with our true strength. Let us decide both victory and defeat, life and death—let's see whether you are scattered into nothingness or the three of us meet our doom."

The headless ghost gave a cold chuckle and said, "You overestimate yourself far too much."

With that, the headless ghost waved its arm, tossing the unconscious large dog aside. Immediately afterward, we watched as billowing black ghostly vapor began to gather around the headless ghost's body. In the blink of an eye, this black vapor formed a thin layer of ghostly armor around it, and as we watched this scene, we were secretly startled.

This black ghostly vapor looked almost like a set of black armor formed over the headless ghost's body, appearing nearly solid and protecting every part of its form tightly.

At this sight, our hearts tightened. We had not expected the headless ghost to have such a trick up its sleeve. Its death energy could actually condense into a nearly tangible protective armor. This was going to be troublesome; with this layer of protective armor, it was uncertain whether my Soul-Slicing Blade could pierce through the ghostly energy to completely destroy it.

Li Kun and I stood shoulder to shoulder. I motioned to the right with my hand, and Li Kun nodded. I then stepped forward and walked slowly toward the left side of the headless ghost, while Li Kun walked toward its right side.

Seeing our maneuvers, the headless ghost let out a contemptuous laugh and said, "Attacking me from both sides, are you? I'm just afraid your skills won't be up to the task."

No sooner had the words left its mouth than the headless ghost spun around abruptly. The head condensed at its neck gave me a faint smile, and then its body charged fiercely straight toward me.

Seeing this, I gripped the Soul-Slicing Blade and stared fixedly at the headless ghost's movements. The moment it charged at me, Li Kun followed closely behind it, rushing forward as well. However, Li Kun did not unleash his bloodshot eyes, fearing he might accidentally injure me, so he could only grit his teeth and wait for an opening.

Just as the headless ghost lunged at me, I was still pondering how to mount a counterattack. But the very instant the thought crossed my mind, the headless ghost had already sprinted right in front of me and struck a fierce palm directly at my chest.

I was caught completely off guard by this blow and could only raise the Soul-Slicing Blade to guard my chest. A wave of intense pain shot through me, and my body was driven straight back several meters by the force of the strike.

Seeing this, the headless ghost glanced with some astonishment at the blade in my hand and said, "This knife is quite a fine item indeed, to be so sturdy."

At that exact moment, seizing the opportunity while I was knocked back and no longer needing to hold back, Li Kun's eyes suddenly flared with black death energy. In an instant, they condensed into two solid beams of black light. Just as the headless ghost finished speaking, it felt a sudden chill sweep straight into its back.

Sensing this heart-stopping menace, the headless ghost whipped its body around, but the speed of the two black light beams filled it with genuine terror. Although it managed to turn, its right arm was still struck by one of the beams, and in the blink of an eye, the entire arm dissolved into a wisp of smoke and completely vanished.

A shrill, miserable scream echoed instantly through the entire grand hall. When the headless ghost turned to look at Li Kun, whose eyes were burning crimson, its pupils constricted sharply, and it shouted aloud, "This is... Ghost Eyes!"

The moment the words fell, the headless ghost acted as though it had gone mad. The black ghostly vapor around its body began to swirl and condense rapidly, forming a massive awl-like spike that gradually took shape in front of it, looking much like a gigantic icicle.

Witnessing this, Li Kun wore a grave expression as a surge of black death energy erupted violently from his body. This energy also began to take shape in front of him, and within seconds, Xu Tian and I saw a nearly tangible black vortex appear before Li Kun. This vortex was more than twice the size of the ones he had previously conjured.

Under the shocked gazes of Xu Tian and myself, boundless waves of black aura burst forth once more from both combatants. Combined with the headless ghost's ghostly energy and Li Kun's death energy, a thick layer of frost instantly coated the entire grand hall.

Seeing this, a bad premonition arose in my heart. If their attacks collided head-on, the entire grand hall and perhaps even the entire Fox Fairy Tomb would likely collapse completely.

A gale of black wind howled through the hall. In the center, the headless ghost and Li Kun were still continuously condensing their momentum. The black vortex in front of Li Kun continued to expand until Li Kun himself was completely obscured within it, leaving only the massive vortex which occupied nearly half the hall, causing the stone statues at the center to begin cracking inch by inch.

Realizing that this could not be allowed to continue, I knew that if the two attacks collided, although the headless ghost would undoubtedly be obliterated, the four of us would also be thoroughly buried within this Fox Fairy Tomb.

With that thought, I shouted to Xu Tian beside me, "Old Xu, run back quickly!"

Xu Tian paused upon hearing my words, turned his head to look at me, and asked, "What about you then, Old Liu? You're not planning to risk your life again, are you?"

I yelled at the top of my lungs, "No time to explain! You run first, I'll be right behind you!"

With that, I prepared to rush toward the headless ghost, but Xu Tian gritted his teeth and said, "Damn it, if we die, we die together! Today I'll risk my life with you too. The exit is so far away; if this place really caves in, I won't be able to outrun it anyway. I might as well die with the two of you—at least I'll have company on the road to the netherworld. It's worth it!"

Hearing this, I felt a surge of warmth in my heart, but there was no time for words. Covering the blade of the Soul-Slicing Blade with one hand and raising the other to protect my eyes, I slowly pressed forward against the howling black gale toward the headless ghost.

At that moment, I felt Xu Tian pushing me from behind to help me move forward. I did not turn back, simply fighting my way against the wind toward the front.

Right then, the headless ghost and Li Kun widened their eyes simultaneously and let out a simultaneous, deafening roar.

The instant that joint roar echoed, I knew something was terribly wrong—the two of them were about to unleash their attacks.

Without hesitation, I shouted to Xu Tian behind me, "Old Xu, push!"

Hearing this, Xu Tian shoved hard against my back with all his might. Propelled by his push, my body lunged straight forward toward the headless ghost.

I gripped the Soul-Slicing Blade tightly and drove it with all my strength straight into the headless ghost's back.

With a muffled tearing sound, the black death energy in front of the headless ghost began to rapidly dissipate, and a fresh shriek of agony burst from its throat.

At that moment, I felt the Soul-Slicing Blade in my hand shudder violently, beginning to frantically devour the black death energy on the headless ghost's body like a starving wolf stumbling upon meat.

Simultaneously, Li Kun's body gave a violent jolt. The black vortex before him abruptly collapsed, and a ferocious wave of pressure surged outward through the hall. Unable to sustain such an immense drain of ghostly energy any longer, Li Kun crashed heavily to the ground and passed out cold.

Unable to maintain my grip on the blade any longer, my body was blown backward by the violent shockwave, slamming heavily into the stone wall behind me.