Chapter 2468 — You Are an Alchemist?

So Wei Zhao abandoned any notion of the Wildfire Eight-Trigram Palm and went straight to compressing his true-qi bomb, preparing to hit the thing with one massive strike.

"Wh-what exactly are you?" the yellow-haired man quavered, asking cautiously.

"Heh heh heh heh..." The monster laughed again, yet gave no answer to the yellow-haired man. Instead, it seemed to be speaking to Wang Xinyan: "Come with me..."

With that, the monster slowly drifted into the distance, and Wang Xinyan set off, following close behind it. She was no cultivator, and her walking pace was limited, but the monster seemed to know her speed; floating just ahead of her, it kept to the very same pace.

"Wang Xinyan!" Seeing her walk off after the monster, Wei Zhao was alarmed and shouted again at the top of his voice.

But to his dismay, Wang Xinyan seemed utterly unable to hear him, and went on walking slowly after the monster.

"Jingjing, you and You Panhu and the others wait here. I'll follow and take a look!" Wei Zhao said, his expression grave.

The reason he would not let Han Jingyi come along was that if he had to use the true-qi bomb—his great finishing move—he would already be hard pressed just to keep Wang Xinyan safe; there was no way he could look after Han Jingyi as well. So leaving her with You Panhu and the others was plainly the safest course.

And from the situation at hand, it was fairly clear that this monster-like thing seemed interested only in carrying off Wang Xinyan; toward You Panhu, Kang Jinglong, Yellow Hair, and Purple Hair it showed scarcely any interest.

It had sent Purple Hair flying, but had not killed him—so its aim seemed singular indeed: it wanted only to seize Wang Xinyan!

With that thought, Wei Zhao strode rapidly after them. Yet the true-qi bomb in his hand never paused for an instant, compressing all the while.

Wei Zhao did not know what exactly the enemy was, nor how large a true-qi bomb it would take to annihilate it, so he could only pour in all his strength, packing as much true qi as possible into the bomb—keeping back just enough to repair his own meridians should he be injured.

Wei Zhao followed behind Wang Xinyan, and the ghoul ahead seemed not to mind him at all; its attention appeared fixed wholly on Wang Xinyan. It turned a blind eye to what Wei Zhao was doing—or perhaps it did see him and simply did not regard him as worth a thought.

In the blink of an eye, Wei Zhao realized that Han Jingyi and the others behind him had vanished from sight, and that he himself had arrived in an unfamiliar place. It was as though the road he walked and the scenery he passed were all shifting.

"What exactly are you? Where are you taking Xinyan? If you don't answer, I won't hold back!" Wei Zhao felt the true-qi bomb in his hand was about ready now, so he spoke to the thing.

But the misty, hazy mass seemed to pay Wei Zhao no heed whatsoever, still going its own way and guiding Wang Xinyan onward.

Wei Zhao frowned, abruptly quickened his pace, yanked Wang Xinyan hard behind him, and hurled a true-qi bomb straight at the misty mass, blasting it squarely.

"BOOM—"

A tremendous roar—the roar of the true-qi bomb's energy exploding. At the instant he released it, Wei Zhao used his true qi to shield Wang Xinyan away; a blast might not kill him, but if Wang Xinyan were caught in it, she would certainly not survive.

With that roar, the misty mass was blasted into four scattering pieces, breaking into wisps of fine vapor that spread outward. At the sight, Wei Zhao breathed a deep sigh of relief—man or ghost, the thing before him had finally been destroyed!

"Hoo..." Wei Zhao was just about to turn and see how Wang Xinyan was faring when he suddenly heard a sinister, ghastly laugh!

"Heh heh heh heh..." As Wei Zhao looked over in horror, the misty, monstrous thing—which had broken into wisps of fine vapor—actually gathered itself back together, re-forming into that mass that was neither man nor ghost. And the laughter came from that very thing!

"You... you're actually unharmed?" Wei Zhao stared in shock at the misty monstrosity before him.

"Boy, I didn't expect you to have a trick or two up your sleeve. It's been several thousand years... and you're the first to be able to blast me apart..." The monstrous thing was finally speaking to Wei Zhao of its own accord. Before, it had not deigned even to speak to him, nor to Kang Jinglong, You Panhu, or the others.

"What exactly are you? Why are you taking my friend?" Wei Zhao's heart went cold—the thing was not even afraid of his true-qi bomb!

"What I am is none of your concern. As for why I'm taking her, I naturally have my uses for her." After a brief silence, the monstrous thing spoke again: "Leave. I will not harm you."

"Are you a ghost?" Wei Zhao's mind raced, trying to think of a way out.

The ghoul talked fair enough—saying it would not hurt him—but in truth it had only seen how strong he was. Were it Purple Hair standing here, it would have swatted him away long ago! Of course, in this ghoul's eyes, Wei Zhao's strength rated only a little surprise; that it would not harm him did not mean it would let Wang Xinyan go.

But this time the ghoul gave Wei Zhao no further answer, and simply went on guiding Wang Xinyan forward! Her gaze was still vacant, as though her mind had been lost. Wei Zhao called out to her, but there was no response.

Wei Zhao wanted to reach out and hold Wang Xinyan back from going, yet feared it would provoke the ghoul to turn on him. Turning it over and over in his mind, he searched his memory for how the TV dramas dealt with ghosts and monsters!

Ordinary methods were useless against this ghoul, so Wei Zhao could only find another way.

Wei Zhao did not usually watch TV dramas, and he racked his brains for a long while before he finally recalled a ghost-hunting show he had once watched with Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu. In it, they said ghosts and spirits feared no blows, but all of them feared light and feared fire.

And in the old days, there was also the saying that building a fire could drive off imps. Wei Zhao thought it over—at present, this was the only move he had left; as for Maoshan Taoist arts and the like, he knew nothing of them at all.

With that thought, Wei Zhao hurried after them, and suddenly condensed a wisp of fire-attributed elixir flame in his hand and thrust it at the misty ghoul.

"OW—" The misty ghoul let out a miserable shriek and, forgetting all about guiding Wang Xinyan, instantly drifted far away!

Only after drifting several meters, well clear of the elixir flame in Wei Zhao's hand, did it stop, its voice full of shock: "An alchemist?"