Mortal Bones

Chapter 26: Laying the Trap, Charging Ox Piercing Formation Battles the Chang Ghost

“Patience, just one final step.”

Forcing his racing heart to steady, Xu Taiping’s gaze fell upon the heavy clay jars of strong liquor resting beside his bed.

Tuning out the Chang Ghost’s incessant shrieks and provocations echoing outside the walls, he hauled the jars to the front courtyard, pausing at the edge of the pit he had meticulously excavated in the center of the grounds.

“As long as I can force your Yin soul to abandon its vessel, these jars will serve as your executioner’s wine.”

Xu Taiping cast a glance toward the front gates, then carefully suspended the jars directly above the hidden trap.

…

Deep into the night.

Bang! Bang!

Sensing the protective barrier waning, the Chang Ghost commanded its three demon wolves to violently ram against the gates of the Green Bamboo Residence, over and over again.

Xu Taiping stood like a rooted pine in the center of the courtyard.

He drew his bowstring back into a full moon. The arrow nocked against it was bathed in his Canxia True Qi, completely transmuting into a crystalline bolt of ice that radiated a biting, white mist.

Crash!

Under the relentless battering of the demon wolves, the final vestiges of spiritual energy sustaining the barrier flickered and died. The wooden gates splintered inward beneath the weight of a lunging beast.

“Roar…!”

Having long caught Xu Taiping’s scent, the demon wolves unleashed bloodcurdling howls. They launched themselves at him like three violent gusts of wind, while the cautious Chang Ghost shadowed closely behind.

Swish!

Xu Taiping’s fingers slipped. The primed arrow tore through the air with a piercing shriek, burying itself deep into the throat of the lead wolf. The Canxia True Qi laced within the shaft instantly erupted into jagged ice crystals, flash-freezing the beast mid-leap.

Shock rippled across the Chang Ghost’s rotting face; in all their previous skirmishes, Xu Taiping had never once revealed this lethal trick.

Smack!

Seizing that exact fraction of a second of distraction, Xu Taiping tossed his bow aside and dove into a forward roll. His movements were calculated to a terrifying precision, cleanly evading the snapping jaws of the second wolf.

Schwing!

Without a sliver of hesitation, the instant Xu Taiping bounded back to his feet, he drew the tempered steel saber from his waist. Surging his Canxia True Qi into the blade, he delivered a savage downward cleave.

Lacking any formal saber training, his technique was brutally crude. An ordinary demon wolf could have easily twisted away, but this specific beast harbored an old injury in its hind leg. Unable to pivot in time, the blade sheared clean through bone, severing its limb entirely.

In the blink of an eye, a pack of three had been reduced to a single mount ridden by the Chang Ghost.

Thud, thud, thud!

Eliminating the two wolves didn’t slow his momentum in the slightest. His small frame shot forward like a raging gale, charging directly at the mounted spirit.

“You are courting death!”

Furious and thoroughly startled, the Chang Ghost didn’t wait. When Xu Taiping was still twenty feet away, the spirit swung its sword from atop its mount, launching a ranged slash directly at the boy.

Boom!

The blade itself did not touch him, but its oppressive sword aura tore forward.

A crescent of pitch-black sword Qi, over ten feet long and shaped like a monstrous scythe, swept fiercely toward Xu Taiping with lethal intent.

Yet, facing this devastating strike, Xu Taiping didn’t even attempt to dodge. Leaning completely into the offensive, he vaulted into the air, plunging directly into the path of the brutal sword Qi as he hurled his fist toward the Chang Ghost.

Bang!

A thunderous impact echoed through the yard.

The Canxia Body-Protecting True Qi shielding Xu Taiping shattered under the blade’s pressure, detonating into a glittering cloud of crushed ice. However, beneath the fractured armor, his flesh remained completely unmarred. He continued his aerial trajectory, his fist descending like a falling meteor toward the ghost.

Impossible! How could he withstand that strike?

The Chang Ghost had been certain that even if its attack failed to cleave the boy in half, it would inflict crippling injuries or halt his advance. It never fathomed that Xu Taiping’s True Qi could forcibly absorb the brunt of the devastation.

Boom!

While the spirit’s mind reeled in disbelief, Xu Taiping’s fist violently crashed down.

With no time to ready another sword strike, the Chang Ghost scrambled to condense its ghastly Qi, raising its arm to form a makeshift shield.

Crack!

To the ghost’s sheer horror, the kinetic force behind Xu Taiping’s punch eclipsed its wildest estimations, blasting it completely out of the saddle.

Has this brat been hiding his true strength?! Damn it! I should have poured everything into that slash!

Hitting the dirt with a jarring thud, absolute clarity finally struck the Chang Ghost.

But having seized the advantage, Xu Taiping possessed absolutely no intention of granting it a single breath of respite.

“Ox Horn Shattering Mountain!”

As if rallying his own spirit, the boy unleashed a guttural roar from his youthful lungs. An explosive wave of frosty Qi erupted around him, violently swirling and condensing into the colossal, phantom visage of a green ox. Bound to Xu Taiping’s descending fist, the ethereal horn slammed mercilessly into the Chang Ghost.

Bang!

Another explosive impact. The dense, suffocating Yin Qi blanketing the Chang Ghost was utterly shredded by the sheer blunt force of the strike, sending its rotting host body crashing flat into the earth.

“Charging Ox Piercing Formation!”

Before the entity could even twitch, a pair of fists armored in solid ice rained down upon it.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The most terrifying aspect of the Charging Ox Piercing Formation was its relentless momentum. Provided the cultivator possessed sufficient True Qi to fuel the barrage, the strikes would never cease, with each successive punch stacking kinetic power upon the last. Unless an opponent possessed overwhelmingly superior cultivation, breaking the combo was mathematically impossible.

Furthermore, because Xu Taiping executed the martial art utilizing Canxia True Qi, every impact deposited a rapid-freezing layer of ice crystals onto his target. After merely four or five strikes, the Chang Ghost’s hijacked corpse had been entombed within a massive block of ice.

Naturally, the technique harbored a glaring flaw: the instant the barrage ceased, the user would suffer a profound deficit of True Qi, rendering them terrifyingly vulnerable for a long recovery period.

“Brat… no matter how fierce your flurry… your True Qi will eventually run dry… Yield now, and I… might consider giving you a swift death!”

Clearly recognizing the fatal drawback of the technique, the Chang Ghost pushed through the agonizing pain to spit empty threats.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Xu Taiping didn’t so much as blink, continuing his brutal, rhythmic pummeling. Even as the skin of his knuckles split open and bled, his expression remained devoid of hesitation.

However, past the twentieth consecutive strike, the leaden weight of exhaustion began to set in. The furious tempo of his punches began to visibly drag.

“Come on, keep swinging! The moment you falter, I’ll carve you into pieces!”

Sensing his momentum waning, the Chang Ghost unleashed a malicious, mocking roar.

Thud!

Right at that moment, Xu Taiping delivered a punishing right hook—but his left arm failed to rise for the follow-up.

“Hahaha! Your True Qi is truly spent—”

The Chang Ghost erupted into hysterical laughter, instantly preparing to detach its Yin soul from the battered corpse to counterattack. But the maniacal cackling was abruptly choked off.

CRACK!

With a deafening splinter of wood and earth, the ground directly beneath the Chang Ghost collapsed. Its rigid, ice-sculpted body plummeted straight into the deep pit Xu Taiping had prepared days in advance.

This had been the plan all along. Xu Taiping hadn’t exhausted his True Qi on the Charging Ox Piercing Formation in a vain attempt to batter the creature to death; he had used the relentless barrage to forcefully herd the Chang Ghost backward, driving it perfectly into the ten-foot-deep trap.