Roaring Dragon-Chapter 64: Ghost-Wall Maze

Splash, splash—

More than a dozen men from Mudan Pool swam silently to the shattered tower ship. As the earth-shaking commotion suddenly ceased, everyone instinctively froze in place.

Linghu Qingmo floated in the water, eyes full of worry as she stared at the ominously silent ship above.

"Why’d it go quiet all of a sudden?"

Princess Changning hovered nearby, brows deeply furrowed.

"Probably means the fight’s over."

"Who won?"

"No idea. If the demon bastards won, they’d have already fled. But if Xie Jinhuan won... then we’re in for trouble."

Everyone clearly grasped how serious this was.

Still, with no knowledge of what happened onboard, none dared to just slink away. What if Xie Jinhuan was gravely injured and still salvageable?

Lin Wanyi badly wanted to go up and check, but as a shamaness, she couldn’t risk making a wrong move. So she turned to the others.

"What now?"

Princess Changning thought of going up for a peek herself, relying on her martial prowess—but before she could even reach the deck, a fat black hawk swooped from the sky and landed on the ship roof, peering down below.

"Guji guji~"

BOOM—!

Like stepping on dynamite, the moment Meiqiu landed, the entire ship tower rumbled. A figure soared into the air and landed atop the bare beam—eyes swept past the bird, then scanned the area—

And locked eyes with them.

For one heartbeat, the entire river went dead silent.

Lin Wanyi, still half-submerged, caught sight of Xie Jinhuan above—eyes wild, brimming with hunger and lust, like he was about to make her faint on the spot. Her heart sank.

"Crap—RUN!"

BOOOOM—

A second later, a piercing wind roared as Xie Jinhuan leapt from the ship, yelling with the crisp cadence of proper Daqian dialect:

"Ugly-ass bastard! Daring to scare me, huh?!"

The dozen armed men burst from the water in full panic, scattering like a school of fish, fleeing for dear life.

Splash, splash—

Lin Wanyi was filled with dread. She thought for sure Xie Jinhuan would grab her and do God-knows-what. But a few moments into the chase, she realized... she wasn't that attractive.

A glance over revealed that the bloodlust-crazed Xie Jinhuan wasn’t paying her, Linghu Qingmo, or even Liu Qingzhi the slightest attention—he was beelining straight toward Princess Changning.

?!

Everyone was stunned. They turned and rushed to intercept him.

Princess Changning herself, dumbfounded, drew twin sabers from her back and shouted as she sprinted:

"Why's he after me?! What’d I do to scare him?!"

Steward Hou, ever the sniveling sidekick, stuck close behind her and offered his take with a rat-like glint in his eyes:

"Young Master Xie probably thinks Your Highness is hideous. Gave him a fright."

"WHAT?!"

Liu Qingzhi and the palace guards were horrified and shouted from afar:

"Steward Hou, step away from the princess! He’s charging at you, not her!"

"Huh?! That brat’s blind or what..."

Despite the insult, Steward Hou had enough sense to realize Xie Jinhuan had mistaken him for the hideous freak. He instantly broke off from Princess Changning and bolted over the river.

And—just as expected!

Xie Jinhuan, who’d clearly been startled moments ago, caught another glimpse of Hou’s gremlin-like face and erupted in a killing rage. He snarled and gave chase, roaring:

"Think you can scare me and just run off?! Let’s see how far you get!"

"When the hell did I scare you?!"

Steward Hou ran like his life depended on it, arms pumping and feet skimming across the water’s surface. Even while fleeing, he couldn’t stop yammering.

The rest of the crew immediately changed course, trying to intercept Xie Jinhuan and break up the chase.

But Xie Jinhuan’s explosive speed was terrifying even in normal times—now, in his frenzied state, he covered dozens of meters in a blink and closed in on the steward.

Just as it looked like his loyal dog was about to be slaughtered, Princess Changning gripped her twin blades, eyes filled with panic but utterly helpless.

Fortunately—ugly folks have ugly luck.

Right when Xie Jinhuan was about to strike, the massive figure of a sixteen-foot-tall ghost-bride appeared nearby, shouldering a red parasol and staring him down with a provocative look:

“Hey punk, weren’t you gonna make me cry or something? Come on, then~”

She even showed off her long, creamy-white legs, swaying her hips like a giant pendulum!

What the f—?!

Xie Jinhuan nearly short-circuited. Eyes going bloodshot, he charged toward the ghost-bride like a rabid dog.

BOOM BOOM BOOM—

Steward Hou, who was ready to recite an epic poem about his tragic, handsome death, suddenly noticed Xie Jinhuan veer away toward empty river.

He blinked, dumbfounded.

"Now that’s more like it. Knew he had bad eyesight..."

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—

Xie Jinhuan blazed across the river like a storm, but instead of chasing anyone, he just ran in huge circles.

Lin Wanyi and the others watched with puzzled expressions. After holding their breath for a moment, they finally realized the danger had passed and drifted cautiously back into the water to observe.

"What’s going on with him?"

Linghu Qingmo frowned. "Probably trapped in a ghost-wall maze... looks like he got cursed by a Wujiao sorcerer during the fight."

Princess Changning nodded slightly. "Let’s check the ship. If we can save anyone, we should."

The group quickly retreated toward the shattered vessel.

Linghu Qingmo and Lin Wanyi, worried about Xie Jinhuan’s injuries, didn’t stray too far.

Meanwhile, reinforcements from the city weren’t too far behind. In moments, a hundred Mo Armor soldiers arrived at the river and charged toward the ship.

Shortly after, a burst of wind ripped through the downstream air—a white wave surged across the water, racing toward them!

Linghu Qingmo’s eyes sparkled.

"It’s Master Li Jing!"

Lin Wanyi let out a sigh of relief.

"Master Li! Xie Jinhuan took a Dao Surge Pill! Knock him out before he hurts himself!"

"Huh?!"

Li Jing, having been the first test subject of that infamous pill, knew exactly how dangerous it was. He flew toward the scene.

"How many dead?!"

"The demon «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» scum should be wiped out. Most folks on the ship might be beyond saving. Why’re you only showing up now?"

"Dan Prince’s Pavilion got hit with a diversion tactic. Had to rush back. Thank the heavens losses weren’t too bad."

Li Jing eyed Xie Jinhuan, who was still drawing loops in the river. Though unsure what was happening, he approached silently to knock him out—

But when he was still ten meters away, Xie Jinhuan suddenly snapped out of it, eyes darting around. Then he locked onto Li Jing and shouted in perfect, cultured Daqian speech:

"OLD BASTARD! Give me back my book!"

With that, he slashed westward—blade arcing like a flying immortal!

Li Jing, no stranger to being cursed over his pill, wasn’t offended. He turned to the junior cultivators behind him and calmly explained:

"He’s under the drug’s effects. Curses everyone. Don’t take it personally."

Steward Hou, ever the bootlicker, nodded fervently:

"Master Li is right. He’s clearly lost his mind, just babbling nonsense."

"Is that so...?"

Lin Wanyi and the others looked skeptical. After all, Xie Jinhuan hadn’t cursed anyone else. They silently thought to themselves:

So this ‘Dao Surge Pill’ doesn’t just make you crazy—it enhances your kill priority list. He slaughters enemies first... then wipes out his teammates.

Too bad the pill’s side effects were so brutal. No way he could take a second one anytime soon. Honestly... it was just more proof that “Zisu’s products are guaranteed garbage.”

Still, Li Jing was no joke—vice headmaster of Danyang Academy, a true first-rank martial expert. Even if Xie Jinhuan’s strength doubled again, it’d be hard to hurt him.

As the two clashed, Li Jing blocked the sword with his sheath and struck Xie Jinhuan’s chest with a lightning-quick finger jab.

Thump~

Xie Jinhuan, eyes still ablaze, collapsed face-first into the river...

——

Meanwhile, inside Danyang City – Dan Prince’s Pavilion.

With the distress signals sent, Danyang’s top talents were already rushing back.

The demonic aura upriver had finally calmed. Dan Prince let out a small sigh—but the final casualty reports hadn’t come in yet. He paced the floor anxiously.

Dean Xu Hunli of the Armory Institute was beneath the Eight Trigram Platform, checking its intricate mechanisms and murmuring to himself:

"Someone jammed the universal wheel. That's why the formation didn’t respond. No matter how fancy it is, machinery’s just a tool. Next time something odd happens, triple-check everything."

Zhu Wenyuan stood nearby, folding fan in hand.

"The Eightfold Luminance Array has never failed before. Just a few days ago, it was the first to detect the demonic blood aura from Zihui Mountain. Who’d have thought someone would exploit it now for a diversion..."

Xu Hunli finished adjusting the probes and stroked his beard.

"Easy fix. I’ll add a restriction layer—only verified qi signatures can modify the array, and any abnormal operation will auto-trigger a warning. The capital’s tower already has that feature."

It was a good solution... but a pricey one.

After all, when Xu Hunli “upgraded” the capital’s version, he pocketed 30,000 taels in labor fees.

Zhu Wenyuan raised an eyebrow. "This array’s simpler than the capital’s. If we invite Master Xu to upgrade it..."

"Ahem."

Xu Hunli raised a hand solemnly.

"Same design, same theory, same price. But out of respect for you, Mr. Zhu—I’ll give you a ten percent discount."

Zhu’s face turned green. He nearly cursed aloud:

"You greedy old buzzard. You call that a discount?!"

Dan Prince, though, wasn’t in the mood to haggle. His voice cut through:

"If there's a flaw, it must be fixed. If this delay led to civilian slaughter, we’d be paying a far higher price than money."

Xu Hunli beamed.

"Your Grace’s compassion humbles me. I’ll begin preparations immediately. The array will be ready in seven days—guaranteed."

Just then, Iron Phoenix Zhang—the royal marshal—leapt in through the window.

Dan Prince’s face turned thunderous.

"You out there dying or what?! A crisis this big and you only show up now?!"

As one of the most loyal retainers, Iron Zhang wasn’t offended at all. He saluted quickly:

"Please don’t be angry, my lord! I went to Huaijiang Bay first. Confirmed the demon scum were wiped out before returning."

Dan Prince relaxed slightly.

"Casualties? Did Xie Jinhuan survive?"

"Uh..."

Iron Zhang hesitated, then said awkwardly:

"Young Master Xie didn’t need saving. When he saw no one else was coming—he just went up alone and slaughtered the entire ship of demon bastards."

"What?!"

Dan Prince stared in disbelief.

Zhu Wenyuan and Xu Hunli were also stunned.

Zhu muttered, "That blood aura earlier... It wasn’t peak-tier demon lord stuff, but still third rank and above. Xie Jinhuan killed them alone?"

Iron Zhang nodded with admiration.

"When I arrived, the ship was in ruins. Thought Li Jing did it. Turns out it was Xie Jinhuan.

"According to his friend, Dr. Lin—he downed a Dao Surge Pill to save the civilians. She was crying, couldn’t stop him. His last words were, ‘If I don’t make it back, tell my father I didn’t shame him...’"

Dan Prince’s fists clenched, eyes misty.

"Loyal father, valiant son—a whole family of heroes!"

Zhu Wenyuan sighed.

"That pill... you take it, you’re in a kill frenzy. Friend or foe, doesn’t matter. Xie Jinhuan was ready to die. If he didn’t win, there was no coming back."

Dan Prince took a step forward.

"How’s his condition?"

"Chest wound, internal trauma, overstrained qi and muscles, no part of him unscathed. But over half the civilians are still alive. No injuries among the guards or staff.

"If he hadn’t gone up alone to delay the enemy, they’d have performed a blood ritual and escaped before reinforcements arrived."

SMACK—

Dan Prince slammed his fist into his palm, pacing with fervor.

"Bring me the best doctors, the finest pills! If that boy ends up with even one lasting injury—I’ll skin you all!"

"Yes, sir!"

Iron Zhang dashed out, feeling guilty—Xie Jinhuan had single-handedly minimized the damage. He was ready to kneel and thank him.

Xu Hunli, listening nearby, rubbed his beard.

"Such a loyal, talented youth... if only he’d been wearing one of my custom Ice-Scale Armors today."

Ice-Scale Armor, made from Ice-Soul Silk, was a third-tier artifact. Market price: 6,000 taels—not cheap, but not exorbitant.

But a Xu-made piece? Hand-crafted, tailor-fit? That easily pushed the price one or two tiers higher.

Dan Prince was still riding high on emotion—he waved grandly:

"Reward him! A fine steed deserves a fine saddle! A warhorse doesn’t wear rags!"

"True. A sword needs a hero—armor needs a—"

"Reward him!"

"I was just saying—"

"Master Xu!"

Zhu Wenyuan quickly stepped in. If he didn’t interrupt, this ‘gold-tongued campus salesman’ would bankrupt the Prince.

"Monsters are still lurking. The Eightfold Array must be rebuilt immediately. Master Xu, head back to the academy. I’ll have your payment delivered tomorrow."

Xu Hunli still wanted to press his pitch—but alas, he was shoved out the door.