Forge a path to success.

Chapter 83 Completing the Mission After Many Hardships
It charged forward with all its might, even aggravating its knife wound, pushing Chu Hengkong forward to pin him against the mountain wall. The claws were incredibly tough and hard, and Chu Hengkong couldn't break free for a while. He simply used a binding force to lower his center of gravity, and thrust his right hand forward with the rock knife, trying to sever the jade fox's claws.

At this moment, another sphere flew in, with the word "Void" written on it. Chu Hengkong was illuminated by the light of this sphere, and his strength immediately weakened, making him unable to stop the Jade Fox's advance for a moment.

The nail bindings grew increasingly firm, and the influence of the illusory word seemed to deepen accordingly. A hundred meters passed in the blink of an eye; the jade fox silently extended its claws, pressing him to the ground. The remaining two orbs of light merged together, growing larger with the jade fox's breath, the character "gun" flashing within them. White light gathered and expanded, forming a giant energy spear resembling a tree trunk. The spearhead plunged straight downwards, determined to pierce through Chu Hengkong with a single blow.

This energy gun was incredibly powerful, almost comparable to the breath of the Fire Serpent. Other runes flickered within the gun, indicating that a series of attacks would follow immediately upon impact. This was Jade Fox's trump card, a technique that could be considered overwhelming even among other ascendants of the same level. But the shot inexplicably missed; the human suppressed under its claws suddenly vanished. He appeared behind Jade Fox, in the shadows created by the light.

The spoils of victory in the Shadow Giant battle: Shadow Movement.

Chu Hengkong leaped onto the jade fox's back, his left tentacle tightening around the fox's neck like a noose around its lifeline! The jade fox's fur hardened and shot out, violently tumbling to throw its enemy off. But Chu Hengkong gave it not even a second's chance, roaring as he attacked: "Vander!"

Van der popped his head out and shouted, "Stop!"

The tentacles had touched the enemy's body, fulfilling the conditions for the hypnosis. The jade fox's movements ceased instantly, its blood-red eye turning backward, reflecting a steel blade. Chu Hengkong held his rock-blade against the fox's eye, his right hand still steady. "Let it break free of your control."

"I'm trying! I'm trying!"

A second passed in the blink of an eye, and the hypnosis was about to wear off. Vande stared into the fox's eyes, their almost inorganic blood-red color completely different from the previous raging beast. He extended invisible, intangible spiritual tentacles, attempting to soothe the restless spirit beneath its cold shell.

Soul, heart, spirit, and primordial spirit—different factions on Dust Island have different names for them, but the library, like most authoritative institutions, calls this formless and intangible essence "the Ghost Body." It is one of the only two essential aspects of life, the source of spirit, memory, and emotion. Generally, the Ghost Body's form is roughly the same as the physical body, but this fox is a rare anomaly. Its Ghost Body is broken, ugly, and almost amorphous, like torn pieces of flesh. Its outline doesn't resemble a fox at all.

Vande was terribly nervous. It stared at the ugly thing, trying its best to make its voice sound gentle.

“We’re all acquaintances now, we’ll just pluck a few feathers and leave,” it said cautiously. “Calm down. Don’t fight.”

It simultaneously "looked" at the fox's ghostly body and flesh. The ugly little thing became a bit more docile under the soothing touch of the tentacles, and the fox blinked, seemingly becoming a little more lively.

But suddenly, the crimson in the fox's eyes sharpened. A blurry, pure white appeared from the ghostly perspective, its power repelling all of Vande's tentacles, then transforming them into countless sharp needles that pierced the fox's ghostly body, further dismembering, cutting, and ultimately dominating its remains. The ghostly body had no flesh, yet this scene filled Vande with a nauseating stench of blood. It hurriedly used its power, trying to pull the fox's consciousness out of its body, but the pure white light was too intense; it was directly repelled!

"It won't work! The enemy is too strong!"

With a scream, Vande tumbled out of his pocket. The defeat of his spiritual tendrils had a backlash, causing him to convulse in agony on the ground. The fox's hardened fur pierced the tendrils, and it suddenly strained to break free. But Chu Hengkong held fast to the tentacle noose, and with a vicious thrust of his rock knife, it pierced the jade fox's eye like a steel nail!

Chu Hengkong silently released his inner energy, using the blade to completely destroy the Jade Fox's brain. The blade pierced diagonally through the Jade Fox's jaw, pinning it to the ground. The dying beast struggled desperately, but the assassin steadily suppressed its movements. With his bone forging nearly complete, this beast posed little threat to him.

Twenty seconds later, the fox's head slumped to the ground, its blood-red eyes closing completely.

It's dead.

Vande struggled to its feet, its fear growing stronger, not because of the fox, but because of the assassin beside it. In that instant, Chu Hengkong unleashed a chilling killing intent. Normally a man of great emotion, he had been more like a machine than the fox when he drew his sword earlier. Like the pure white needles that controlled the ghost's body.

It thought that perhaps this was the other party's true appearance, coldly wielding a knife to kill, without any human passion.

“…I don’t actually hate it that much,” Vande said softly. “It’s been diligently throwing stones for so long.”

“I didn’t originally intend to kill it; I only planned to cut off a piece of its flesh for the ritual. But it was controlled, and the other side’s methods are so powerful that even you can’t interfere,” Chu Hengkong said. “This isn’t the first time it’s been controlled; what was it used for before?”

"I don't want to guess," Vande said dejectedly.

“I didn’t want to either,” Chu Hengkong said calmly, “so I killed it.”

They spent quite some time dealing with the fox's carcass. Transporting it back to town was absurd, so Chu Hengkong dragged the jade fox's body for a while, until he reached the spot where the fox usually pushed stones. He tossed the fox down the path like a fox tossing stones, and it took quite a while to hear the echo.

He then repeated the process, dragging the centipede's corpse down the mountain. The enormous worm, as big as an iron bridge, caused him a lot of trouble. Chu Hengkong personally dragged it from the front, and released the Demonic Spider Puppet to assist in the transport. After half a day, he finally managed to move the centipede to the top of the mountain and let it roll down the mountainside.

“Now we’re all set,” said Van der. “How do we get down?”

Chu Hengkong stuffed it back into his pocket.

"Give me three seconds to prepare to defend myself. Okay. Jump." They jumped off the cliff just like the day they first arrived, and their voices echoed after a long while. After they disappeared into the distance, the thinning mist was pierced by crimson light, and pairs of crimson eyes opened in Yingluo Mountain.

Those were the eyes of lions, snakes, and birds. The army of strange beasts that had once hunted them had always been there, lurking silently in the mountains. Thousands upon thousands of eyes turned to the foot of the mountain, to the town that shouldn't exist. Then the red light faded, and the beasts collapsed to the ground, silent as the dead.

·
After landing, Chu Hengkong rolled three times, feeling that he had improved compared to before. They got up from the ground and spoke at the same time.

"Let's go see Qi Su." "Let's go find Qi Su!"

They looked at each other in surprise, then laughed. Chu Hengkong rushed back to the town as fast as he could. The town looked much the same as when he left, and the slow-paced townspeople greeted him. When he pushed open the door to Kai Su's workshop, a little girl with green hair was working on a steel plate with a short stick.

"So fast?" Qi Su grinned mischievously. "Did the fox chase you away? I told you we should forge some equipment first—what are you doing, you squid?!"

Chu Hengkong lifted her up and carefully examined her to confirm that the child was unharmed. Fan De, moved, nestled on Qi Su's head. The little girl, her face flushed, kept kicking Chu Hengkong, yelling, "What are you doing?! Put her down! I'll call for help if you don't!"

Chu Hengkong put her back on the ground and smiled, a rare occurrence for him: "That fox also used secret script. I'm a little worried."

"Fox? What fox? Don't think he can get away with this just because you're beating around the bush..." Qi Su pointed at him haphazardly, then realized halfway through her sentence, "...you, you killed that fox?"

Nodding.

Qi Su's eyes were filled with surprise, delight, and a variety of other emotions he couldn't understand. She burst into tears.

"That's wonderful!" The little girl couldn't stop wiping her eyes. "That's wonderful!"

News of Yu Hu's death spread throughout the town, and the two corpses unmistakably confirmed the truth. Everyone in the town rejoiced; this momentous event breathed unprecedented life into the lifeless town of Ying Shi. Xiang Fuzi was the first to suggest that such a joyous occasion should be celebrated, so people made many straw rope ornaments and stone statues around the statue of the deity in the center of the town.

Just then, Brother Bernfar, who had been fishing for over ten days, returned. He hadn't caught a single fish, but he had found plenty of mushrooms, lotus roots, and wild fruits. So that evening, the townspeople made vegetarian lotus root sandwiches, mushroom cakes, and a fruit juice that looked like wine. All of this food was given to Chu Hengkong and Fan De.

This was the best meal Chu Hengkong had eaten in the more than ten days he had been away. There weren't many dishes, but the cheerful atmosphere was reassuring. Everyone laughed loudly as if relieved of a great burden, and one after another came up to toast him, praising his kindness and martial arts skills, as well as Fan De's erudition and humor.

Xiang Fuzi was the happiest man at the banquet. Although he didn't drink, he was as excited as if he had drunk too much. He waved his empty cup under the dragon statue and sang: "My dear friend from town, a warrior from afar! Alone... single-handedly, I charged into the deep mountains. I eliminated three scourges, full of vigor and high spirits!"

"What do you mean by 'single-eye mount'? Am I a mount?!" Vande protested loudly. Xiangfuzi laughed heartily: "All the materials are ready, the ceremony is about to begin. The two of you will be embarking on a long journey tomorrow, to this small mountain town. May you both return home safely!"

"Great!" Qi Su shouted. Everyone clapped. Chu Hengkong sat by the campfire, looking at everyone's heartfelt smiles, and felt much more relaxed.

Perhaps Van Der is right; sometimes it's not necessary to get to the bottom of things. As long as the outcome is good, then everything is fine.

After the banquet, the two were the last to leave, and only returned to the church to rest after confirming that everyone was alright.

In the dead of night, a townsman quietly left his house. He went alone to the centipede's corpse, stroked its shiny black shell, and smiled after a long while.

"Brother Chu, thank you very much," he said softly.

He walked for a while longer, until he reached the northernmost part of the town, in front of the church built by outsiders. The dim light illuminated his pale face; he was Xiang Fuzi, dressed in a magnificent black robe, wearing an ancient tall crown, and his hair was carefully tied up. He looked as solemn as if he were attending a ceremony. Brother Bernfar stood at the entrance of the small church, his expression equally solemn.

Xiang Fuzi bowed to him and asked, "Brother Chu..."

“I asked him to go to sleep,” Bernfar’s voice carried a reassuring strength. “Please rest assured.”

Xiang Fuzi felt relieved, truly relieved, with nothing left to worry about. "I entrust everything to you," he said contentedly. The monk calmly stepped forward and took his arm. "Please come with me."

He followed the monk through the door and into the dark and peaceful church.

The next day, Xiang Fuzi disappeared.

(End of this chapter)