A Good-for-Nothing

225. Hoist by His Own Petard

Translator: Dragon Rider

The little gazebo cloaked in a shroud of black gas gradually lost its original shape. Weird sounds emanated from that cloud of black gas, and the next second it once again formed into a human shape which looked like Wu Fangshuo but also bore some resemblance to the Human Devil whom had been killed by that Quintuple Lightning Enchantment performed by He Zheng.

Zhao Fei squinted his eyes which took on a faint expression of dawning comprehension at the sight of Wu Fangshuo reappearing in this form. “It all makes sense now.”

Zu Zhichong also came to understand, looking somewhat serious.

“We overlooked this detail – the Human Devil manipulates people. Before that fight at the Millenary Islands Lake, the Human Devil launched an attack on them at the entrance of an alley. As a psychic, Wu Fangshuo is the more prone to be influenced by the Human Devil’s powers. On top of that, his will is not very strong, so he stooped to becoming a culture dish for the Human Devil and did all those things.”

After hearing Zu Zhichong’s words, He Zheng flied into a temper. “Son of a bitch. It seems that I’ll have to teach you an abject lesson to have you stop taking me for a pushover. I killed you with the Quintuple Lightning Enchantment once, and I sure as hell can do it all over again!”

Having lost his marbles from rage, He Zheng immediately whipped out the Shadow Sword. He had always been impulsive, and these circumstances made it even more difficult for him to keep his temper. He Zheng quickly recited the spell.

“HE ZHENG! DON’T!” bellowed Zu Zhichong, who soon discovered that there was something suspicious about Wu Fangshuo.

But it was too late. Gusts of wind started howling around them, thunderclouds gathering in the sky. The Quintuple Lightning Enchantment was even more brutal and powerful than the Qingwei Thunder Spell that Zu Zhichong had just cast.

“Go!” thundered He Zheng who was completely beside himself with fury, raising the Shadow Sword, pointing it squarely in Wu Fangshuo’s direction.

Amid the glare of lightning, Wu Fangshuo’s face broke into an even more spooky grin.

“You fool are doing me a great favor.” It was the Human Devil’s voice that issued from Wu Fangshuo’s throat.

He Zheng abruptly widened his eyes as he came to realize the situation. Thunderbolts the width of a grown man’s forearm struck down, but Wu Fangshuo instantly turned into black gas and the thunderbolts missed their target. The next second, the black gas rapidly billowed towards He Zheng, and flashes of lightning followed hard on the heels of the black gas as though they were using GPS to locate him, striking everything in their way indiscriminately. The sheet lightning changed its direction, quickly closing in on He Zheng.

“STEP ASIDE!”

Zhao Fei bawled at him and threw the Quadruple Orientation Mirror forward, which absorbed all the thunderbolts.

“The Quadruple Orientation Mirror!” The black gas formed the shape of a human, its voice tinged with a ghost of surprise, but with that Wu Fangshuo chuckled, “I wonder how much lightning this mirror of yours could take in.”

His body had become one with the black gas, enabling him to switch between demonic Qi and human form at will. Every time the Quadruple Orientation Mirror absorbed a thunderbolt, the black gas came at another person. If Zhao Fei hadn’t come here on this day, Wu Fangshuo might be able to escape unscathed.

“There’s only one way to find out,” smiled Zhao Fei relaxedly, standing where he was, looking composed, controlling the Quadruple Orientation Mirror which was sucking in all lighting.

“Damn it. We need to do something.” He Zheng’s countenance gradually grew grave. “If things go on like this, sooner or later we’ll die at his hands.”

“I have an idea.” Zu Zhichong narrowed his eyes, staring in the direction of Wu Fangshuo, coming up with a plan. “He Zheng, help me deploy a formation. Xiao Chen, right now he’s targeting you. Hang in there.”

“Humph! If he dares attack me, I’ll have him rue the day he was born,” snorted Chen Qianlin, the sword in his hand menacingly reflecting the glare of lightning, appearing full of thirst for blood.

Beneath the overcast sky, amid whistling gales and blinding chained lightning, Wu Fangshuo turned into demonic Qi once again and launched himself at Chen Qianlin. Without a shred of fear on his face, Chen Qianlin whipped out the Sharpness Sword. The Chen family had been collecting high-quality swords for generations, and the Sharpness Sword was the most ancient and most powerful one they owned. Although it wasn’t listed on the Famous Swords Ranking, it almost held as much power as the Shadow Sword did.

On that day, when Chen Qianlin had learned that He Zheng owned the Shadow Sword, he’d become very jealous, angrily returned home, pestered his grandfather for quite a long time and eventually managed to trick him into giving him the Sharpness Sword.

The Sharpness Sword contained inexhaustible energy. Chen Qianlin let out a roar and charged forward, brandishing the sword. He had some time ago developed the ability to generate shock waves and sword-light when attacking with a sword. Although the sword couldn’t cause the black gas any harm, he and his sword, both cloaked in his Qi, were shielded in a layer of faint white light which kept the black gas outside. No matter how hard Wu Fangshuo tried, he couldn’t get through it.

“It’s now or never!” Zu Zhichong and He Zheng each threw out four Fu (Fu is a piece of rectangular paper on which magical figures are drawn by Chinese Taoist priests to invoke or expel spirits and bring good or ill fortune) at the same time, which were deployed in eight different positions around Wu Fangshuo according to the principle of the Eight Diagrams.

Wu Fangshuo was not afraid at all. Instead, he burst into ghoulish laughter. “You think you can trap me with a pathetic demon-binding formation?”

“Just stay where you are if you want to find out whether we can or can not do that.” Zhao Fei’s face was now much paler than it’d been a while ago, but he still looked utterly unhurried. At a single motion of his hand, the Quadruple Orientation Mirror in mid-air which had just taken in the last flash of lighting made a beeline for Wu Fangshuo and halted above his head.