Chapter 5: Three Flavors Punish Plagues
“Quickly weave an invisible net, chaotic blades shatter the wind and dust!”
Just as he stepped into the fourth floor, Li Ye saw the person in uniform inside the wide-open door reciting a line so dashingly, his leaping figure drawing sword light into afterimages, overlapping into trace after trace of spider webs, slashing straight toward the Five Plagues Ghost he had caught up to.
“Thousand Spiders Web!”
The figure was elegant, the swordplay nimble, and Li Ye even saw him slash out sword qi.
If Li Ye were a martial arts expert, this person was a wuxia expert!
But now he felt no admiration at all; after that person swung out the sword net, sealing off the Five Plagues Ghost’s movements in front of him, he also carved dense gashes all over its body.
The instant the attack was launched, that person’s figure landed, smoothly drawing a gun and pressing it against the Five Plagues Ghost’s heart, chuckling lightly: “Bye-bye!”
With the Six Dragon Gate’s realm, killing a newly born lesser demon was a piece of cake!
“Fuck!”
Bang!
Muzzle fire erupted, this time piercing a hole through its heart.
That person dashingly blew on the gun muzzle, then turned his head toward the source of the voice, frowning as he said:
“Didn’t I tell you to wait? Why’d you come up? So young and already swearing—don’t worry, powerful insect repellent bullet, custom-made. The first shot didn’t kill it, but this one will surely disintegrate it.”
“Behind you!” Li Ye roared again.
That person immediately sensed something wrong and quickly turned back, only to see the Five Plagues Ghost’s mouth suddenly shooting out a scarlet tongue, rushing straight at him.
This person’s reaction was also swift; he twisted his body aside, the sword blade stabbing back from below upward, piercing through the long tongue. But though his reaction was fast, the extended long tongue still grazed his shoulder, rubbing out a wound.
“Ah!”
A hoarse shout came from the Five Plagues Ghost’s mouth, and its humanoid form burst forward, pouncing straight ahead.
On that body covered in dense gashes, with holes in its head and heart, five ghostly shadows bulged up, as if about to split apart.
That person raised his brows, gripping his long sword to meet it head-on.
“It’s about to transform into disaster! If you want us dead, then move!”
But before he could attack, the roar from behind rang out again.
This made him hesitate slightly, and in that hesitation, the Five Plagues Ghost pounced right up, its rotten, foul-smelling big mouth biting viciously into his wounded shoulder, instantly adding a black ring to it.
“Ugh ah…”
That person let out a sound like his essence had been sucked dry.
His figure thinned by a full circle in that instant, while the demonic creature, nearly splitting apart, consolidated quite a bit from that bite.
Bang bang bang!
Several salt water bullets hit his shoulder, striking the demonic creature’s head and making its movements stiffen.
“Leaking Shadow Vanish!”
That person twisted his footsteps and spun his wrist, spinning his body like a top.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle!
The sword blade was like a rotating cutting edge, swiftly breaking free of the Five Plagues Ghost’s restraint, letting him float upward and retreat, his speed so fast it left a brief afterimage in place.
Thud!
He crashed right next to Li Ye, who was holding the salt bullet gun.
While the Five Plagues Ghost was flung backward from being shaken free, Li Ye seized the chance, pulling out his lighter to ignite the Molotov cocktail he’d been gripping, smashing it forward viciously.
Crack!
The sound of glass shattering rang out, a bright clump of flames enveloping the Five Plagues Ghost’s body, stopping it in place.
Flames counter germs too!
“Luckily…” Li Ye breathed a sigh of relief.
“Th-thanks, I’m Huang Qingyi, I…”
“Luckily you got bitten once!”
Huang Qingyi was stunned, even his motion to get up halting.
Li Ye said: “That’s not a Filth Worm, it’s a Five Plagues Ghost. If it hadn’t bitten you and sucked your essence, letting those five ghostly shadows split off, the demonic creature would have transformed into disaster!”
Five Plagues Ghosts suck human essence, which satisfies them.
Normally, martial artists handle demonic creatures—robust in qi and blood, strong and sturdy. Getting bitten once, having essence absorbed instead temporarily stabilized the Five Plagues Ghost.
But from the look of this person, he hadn’t been polluted either; qi and blood resisted pollution.
Li Ye shouted: “Don’t just stand there! That bit of your essence won’t hold for long, and my flame intensity is just suppressive. Hurry and use the right method to kill it now!”
Huang Qingyi’s expression was a bit odd; he stared blankly for a moment. “The right method?”
“Sunlight, intense ultraviolet, lasers—all high-heat energy weapons, high-temperature sterilization! Anything that kills germs works! Other stuff won’t do. You’re asking me about this, you…”
Li Ye suddenly furrowed his brow, looking at Huang Qingyi for two seconds, uncertainly saying: “You know about Filth Worms but not Five Plagues Ghosts?”
“Huh?”
The dumbass sound from Huang Qingyi made Li Ye’s already rock-bottom heart plunge into the abyss.
That person’s face even turned bashful. “The folks below give me the intel and methods in time; I just handle the killing.”
“The Great Qing is done for!”
Li Ye laughed in anger.
He glanced at the flames on the Five Plagues Ghost gradually shrinking, then took out another Molotov cocktail to have ready, saying: “Anyway, this is a special demonic creature. If you don’t kill it with the above methods, it’ll cause a big disaster—at minimum, the whole residential community gets critically ill. You’d better not provoke it.”
Fuck, it’s already fully provoked now!
Li Ye gritted his teeth: “How long for your reinforcements to come back with proper stuff?”
“If other units send reinforcements, at least half an hour. Our bureau only had me on standby, so I got here fast. The others are on tasks; it’d take even longer for them to arrive.”
He clearly looked like an ordinary person, but Huang Qingyi answered honestly.
He felt like he was facing a teacher back in university, that stupid feeling of being crushed by knowledge.
Hearing this, Li Ye turned and walked away without thinking.
“Then let it suck you for half an hour; I’ll go get my parents and run.”
Huang Qingyi grabbed Li Ye’s sleeve. “I can’t hold it that long!”
“None of my business, I’m a student!” Li Ye tugged, but couldn’t pull free.
Huang Qingyi’s tone carried a plea: “That bite felt like it took half my life. It won’t even take half an hour before I’m dead. I don’t know much about demonic creatures, but I get that it’ll transform into disaster—then we’re all done for!”
Li Ye turned back hatefully, glaring at him. “Where’s that gun-slinging swagger from earlier?”
But now he couldn’t leave.
He was right; from the moment the ghostly shadows appeared on the Five Plagues Ghost, it had started transforming into disaster, just temporarily held together by that bit of essence.
This wouldn’t last long—good luck, ten or so minutes; bad luck, just a few.
Li Ye couldn’t bet on whether his family could escape safely.
He took a deep breath, forcing down the discomfort of his body’s illness, scanning his backpack, the remaining Molotov cocktail in hand, and the salt bullet gun dropped on the ground earlier.
And
His gaze turned to this room—as a trash hoader’s collection spot, it was piled full of all sorts of garbage, some completely moldy and reeking, while the kitchen diagonally opposite, open without a sliding door, was also stuffed with junk.
It had what he needed.
Essentially, the Five Plagues Ghost was a lesser demon; its counters weren’t too hard, even simpler than a Filth Worm.
When he studied Filth Worms, he’d specifically looked up the Five Plagues Ghost’s weakness.
Ancient texts and papers both recorded the Five Plagues Ghost’s weakness.
It loves acid yet fears acid, fears the sun.
The simplest modern method is high-temperature sterilization; anciently, it was wine, white vinegar, plus salt, heated and scorched to extinguish its five plagues.
It’s called ‘Three Flavors Punish Plagues’!
