The Blade-Wielding Legend
Chapter 37: Jungle Battle with the Evil Beggar

Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Jungle Battle with the Evil Beggar

Mournful cries, barking dogs, everything instantly descended into chaos.

The beggar’s lantern fell to the ground, igniting some dry grass. The flames and thick smoke spread, driving the wild dogs even madder.

The remaining beggars scattered immediately.

"Triggered the trap, watch out for hidden weapons!"

"He released the snake, kill him already!"

"Don’t disturb that ghost!"

While evading the wild dogs, they exchanged secret codes.

Although each region and each gang had its unique terms for the pugilistic world Spring Festival, the entire pugilistic world had a set of common expressions, and after hearing them enough, they could be understood.

Translated, it meant "we’ve been discovered, be careful of hidden weapons," "release the snake, kill him," "don’t disturb that ghost."

These phrases were enough to bluff a layman, but Li Yan naturally understood them.

Beggars were already adept at handling snakes, and considering they had secret techniques to drive wild dogs, it wasn’t surprising they would release snakes for a surprise attack on him.

However, "don’t disturb that ghost" made Li Yan’s heart sink.

This was most likely the beggars’ backup plan.

Invoking difficult entities to deal with often resulted in unpredictable consequences.

Thinking of this, he no longer concealed his presence. With a leap, he jumped off the hillside and charged downward.

Woof! Woof woof!

The already agitated pack of wild dogs immediately spotted him.

The creatures, already wildly aggressive, some chased after the beggars, but more bared their fangs and charged at him.

Moreover, several beggars removed the cloth bags from their bodies, unfastened the buttons, and threw them suddenly. Instantly, more than a dozen black snakes shot out, swiftly slithering on the ground towards Li Yan.

Clang!

Li Yan’s expression remained unchanged as he drew the Guan Mountain Blade.

With a single thought of Storing God, the Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin Blade Tassel began swaying.

Having crossed the threshold of the Mystical Sect and succeeded in storing god within his sea of consciousness, although he hadn’t yet established a building for visualization, and the god visualized was merely a fuzzy light mass, he could already use this magic artifact.

Guided by divine thoughts, the menacing aura on the blade tassel spread instantly.

The entire blade seemed like ice, exuding a chilling aura.

According to Wang Daoxuan, the Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin combined with the plaque bestowed by the court formed a small, but sinister and self-circulating negative scenario.

Extracting only the Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin would form "momentum."

Although this "momentum" was yin sha, it was fierce and aggressive, most suitable for suppressing evil.

These wild dogs, though mere flesh and bone, having eaten human flesh for years, inevitably absorbed a yin evil qi, making them extremely sensitive to it.

"Woo woo~"

The moment Li Yan drew his blade, the pack of wild dogs bristled all over, as if meeting their nemesis, and turned around, fleeing in all directions.

Those black venomous snakes also fled.

Even more vicious, the creatures directly slithered back the way they came. Some dove back into the cloth bags; others suddenly leapt up, attacking the beggars.

Obviously, the venomous snakes had lost control.

Several beggars, taken aback, were caught somewhat off guard, but being snake-handling experts, they listened to the wind, forming claws with their right hands, grasping the snakes at seven inches in midair, and stuffing them haphazardly into their pockets.

But in this brief moment, Li Yan had already closed in.

Slash!

A beggar hadn’t even reacted before his neck was slashed, blood spurted out as he collapsed to the ground. He could only clutch his neck, making gasping sounds, and quickly fell silent.

The old beggar beside him clearly had more killing experience. As he leaped back, his dog-beating staff whistled down.

This move was called "club beat dog’s head."

When dealing with a vicious dog, at the moment the opponent pounced, one would leap back to create distance while bringing the staff down vertically, striking its vital parts.

When used against humans, it didn’t necessarily just target the head.

The staff, being a long weapon, only needed to strike the enemy’s wrist to shatter bone, forcing them to drop their weapon, then step forward and diagonally strike the throat.

If the opponent dodged, one could take the opportunity to create distance.

The old beggar had a good plan, but Li Yan was obviously faster, dodging the staff simultaneously as he killed the beggar.

The old beggar retracted his staff in response and twisted his body, preparing to deliver a sweeping blow.

However, as Li Yan rolled to his feet, he had already grabbed a handful of gravel and sand and, with a twist of his wrist, flung it out.

The old beggar got a faceful of it.

Panicking, he was about to retreat when he felt a chill on his neck. His vision spun as Li Yan directly severed his head.

This was a life-or-death struggle, and Li Yan was relentless with his swift blade.

"The target is tough, run!"

The remaining beggars, seeing Li Yan’s ferocity, turned immediately to flee.

The Beggar Gang, throughout its history, had always been numerous and diverse.

Though they were practitioners among the beggars, they usually just bullied ordinary people. Against fellows from the pugilistic world, they relied on their numbers, dog-driving, and snake-playing ways to catch others off guard.

But when encountering someone as ruthless as Li Yan, with their dog-driving and snake-playing tricks broken, they could only make a hasty escape.

Li Yan gave a cold snort and pursued them.

He was currently in a perilous situation, so he couldn’t afford to be careless.

He needed to find out why these beggars were causing trouble.

The beggars ahead scattered, though they had lost their lanterns, they were familiar with the terrain and darted into the dense woods.

Even with his smell superpower allowing him to sense everyone’s position, these slippery guys, some even crawled into tomb burrows and disappeared.

There were secret passages below the Chaotic Burial Mound!

Li Yan realized things were bad, and while running, bent to pick up a stone, which he flung.

"Ouch!"

A beggar, hit on the back of the head, lost his footing and crashed into a tree, causing his head to buzz and his vision to blur.

Clang!

He was just about to get up when he felt a chill on his neck, his Guan Mountain Blade already at it.

"Who sent you? Why did you attack us?"

Li Yan didn’t waste any words and asked coldly.

Who would have thought, the beggar with a blade at his throat seemed completely unafraid. He grinned, exposing rotten teeth, and started whistling with his lips.

"Seeking death!"

Li Yan’s eyebrows furrowed, and with a twitch of his wrist, he sliced the beggar’s throat.

Whistling at midnight was a major taboo.

Especially in this yin sha-infested Chaotic Burial Mound.

Wang Daoxuan had once explained this to him.

In ancient times, before the invention of writing, people tied knots for memory and used gestures and whistles for hunting.

These were the origins of various hand seals and witchcraft.

Similarly, there were associations with the colors white and red.

White symbolized severe cold, red symbolized blood.

These things were deeply imprinted in the soul and bloodline, passed down generation after generation, and even now, many spells were related to them.

For instance, some magic veins and folk witches still used whistles for spirit summoning and ghost controlling spells.

This beggar clearly meant to drag him down.

However, it was already too late.

Just as the beggar’s throat was slit, suddenly a fierce yin wind kicked up, and amidst the surging frigid mist, the sound of fighting seemed to echo.

At the same time, Li Yan smelled an icy stench of blood.

Although somewhat weaker than the Cold Altar Rampant Soldier, it lacked the beastly reek but was filled with killing intent, reminiscent of rusty weapons.

A soldier’s ghost!

Li Yan’s eyelid twitched, and he quickly stepped back, simultaneously sheathing his blade.

Wang Daoxuan had warned him of such yin objects.

On this Divine State, wars were never lacking.

From the great tribal wars of ancient times, the struggles between Shang and Zhou, to every change of dynasty, countless died in war, with yin evil qi gathering, bringing about vicious cycles, and souls lingering, forming soldier’s ghosts.

Some places even saw large gatherings, becoming transient yin soldiers.

These things wandering the land were also sources for recruiting soldiers.

The soldier’s ghosts could not bear the presence of weapons, once sensed, they, tangled in memories from when they were alive, would pounce like wild dogs.

There was once a town with transient yin soldiers, where the sound of battle cries was constant. A charlatan posing as a mystic advised the townspeople to wave kitchen knives, striking the blades together, hoping to scare away the yin soldiers.

The outcome was obvious, not a single person in the town survived.

Li Yan had the Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin, but having faced a Rampaging Soldier before, he knew it was not to be taken lightly.

Avoidance was best to avoid further exhaustion of life fire.

Whoosh~

The more intense the yin wind became, the colder and bloodier the stench that emerged from the grave pile drifted around before infiltrating the beggar’s corpse.

Crack!

Accompanied by unnatural bone movements, the beggar’s corpse stood up stiffly.

Li Yan held his breath, retreating slowly.

He intended to distance himself from this thing, but unexpectedly, that corpse staggered, moving towards him, carrying an increasingly strong cold blood stench.

Li Yan immediately halted, with a flash of fierceness in his eyes, resting his hand on the sword hilt.

Looks like this thing wouldn’t be shaken off.

However, the soldier’s ghost made a mistake by longing for physical bodies, possessing a dead body.

A body serves as both a vessel and a cage.

If he merely destroyed the body, it would leave to seek another one, but he had the Three Talents Demon Suppressing Coin. As long as he timed it right, he could kill it.

"Wait!"

Just as he prepared to act, a sound came from behind...