Excellent!
It seemed even this special cursed object, the Yellow Spring Umbrella, couldn't be replicated by the Mud Binding Spirit.
"I'm the real Lu Fei!"
Overjoyed, Lu Fei immediately raised the black umbrella to prove his identity.
The two Jing Jians looked around and immediately distanced themselves from the other Lu Fei, their faces filled with vigilance.
"Oh dear, you found out! How amusing!"
Lu Fei grinned and shrugged.
Black hair strands swiftly flew over, tightly entangling and slicing him.
The mud melted.
Lu Fei carefully observed - there was no core of resentment condensed within.
Then it must be in the other mud figure.
Which of these two Jing Jians was real, and which was fake?
"Lu Fei, I'm the real one!"
"I'm the genuine one!"
Both Jing Jians were desperately trying to prove their authenticity.
Lu Fei's gaze swept back and forth between them before he suddenly spoke.
"Brother Jing, how much does a peace talisman cost?"
"Two hundred!"
One answered without hesitation.
The other couldn't respond.
"That's the one!"
Lu Fei and Jing Jian pounced simultaneously.
Hair strands whirled through the air.
Having been toyed with by this evil spirit, both men harbored suppressed fury, desperately grappling with the fake Jing Jian - they couldn't let it escape again.
The fake Jing Jian was soon reduced to a puddle of mud.
Lu Fei used thunderstruck wood to search through the muddy remains.
Finally, they discovered a small creature the size of a finger, resembling a loach, desperately digging into the mud below.
Channeling spiritual power through his hand, he struck fiercely at the small loach with the lightning-struck wood.
The small loach frantically leaped sideways, dodging the staff.
"Don't even think of escaping!"
Jing Jian immediately followed up by thrusting with his Seven-Star Spirit Sword.
The small loach whipped its tail and leaped again, vaulting over the sword to land atop Jing Jian's head.
Mud rapidly slid down, instantly enveloping his entire head.
Possession!
Jing Jian's movements noticeably slowed. If completely covered by the mud, he would become the Mud Binding Spirit's puppet.
"Get off!"
Fortunately, Lu Fei had already arrived, smashing the lightning-struck wood toward the head.
With a thud, the small loach and mud cascaded off Jing Jian's body, leaving a large bump swelling on his head.
"You profiteer! Did you take this chance to get back at me?"
The blow from the staff left Jing Jian seeing stars.
"Only by attacking the possessed living creature can we weaken the Mud Binding Spirit's power... Now's your chance to strike back!"
Lu Fei had no time to apologize. The small loach crawled onto his foot as mud rapidly encased his calf, prompting his urgent shout.
"Then don't blame me!"
Enduring the pain in his head, Jing Jian gripped his sword with both hands and thrust forcefully toward Lu Fei's foot.
"Hiss—"
Lu Fei grimaced in pain, his teeth clenched.
The little loach crawled up along his leg.
Jing Jian's Seven Star Sword relentlessly pursued Lu Fei, stabbing at him.
"I'd say your revenge is a bit too harsh, isn't it?" Just as Lu Fei felt he couldn't hold on any longer.
The sacred sword finally pierced the tiny loach.
The loach thrashed its tail wildly, splattering mud everywhere, and actually broke free from the sword to leap away.
"Don't let it escape!"
Enduring excruciating pain throughout his body, Lu Fei hastily struck with his staff again.
Black Hair swiftly assisted, transforming strands into a fishing net to ensnare the loach.
Lu Fei followed up with thunderous blasts while Jing Jian wildly stabbed with his sacred sword.
Under their ferocious combined assault.
The little loach finally stopped moving, slowly melting into a pool of thick black sludge, leaving behind a small pitch-black bead.
"Damn it, if it hadn't died, I would've been stabbed to death by you first!"
Lu Fei plopped down on the ground, gasping for breath.
He had sustained injuries all over his body. Though they were superficial wounds, the cuts soaked in murky river water felt extremely uncomfortable.
Hei San leaned against him, hair strands fluttering as if coldly glaring at Jing Jian.
"I have a concussion!" Jing Jian rubbed the bump on his head.
After this rather unimpressive display of self-destructive fighting, both men found their magic power nearly depleted, and successively took out healing pills to swallow one each.
"Such a troublesome Mud Binding Spirit to deal with, and it only left behind such a shabby little thing?"
Lu Fei picked up that pitch-black little bead.
It wasn't even a demon core, just similar to the bead obtained from slaying the human-faced eel back then.
The effort and reward are severely disproportionate.
"We're lucky to have anything at all! Hurry up and take that mother and daughter back! I don't want to stay in this underwater hell a second longer!" Jing Jian waved impatiently.
The two returned to the area with the clay figures, found the mother and daughter, and each led one back with ropes toward their original path.
Passing through various bizarrely-shaped spaces, they reached the initial entrance.
However, the entrance had long been sealed shut—all windows and doors of this mud house were tightly closed without a single gap.
"How do we get out? Didn't you say you had a plan?" Jing Jian asked.
Lu Fei pulled out the pair of cloth dolls, scanned the oppressive, warped mud house, and frowned suspiciously.
"A question just occurred to me."
"What?"
"If we've already destroyed the Mud-Binding Spirit, why is this house still intact?"
Jing Jian froze.
Logically, when an evil spirit dies, its lair should be affected. Even if it didn't collapse, there should be some damage. Yet this house remained perfectly intact, without a single crack.
This wasn't normal.
Had they overlooked something?
"Aiya! You found me out again!"
As if confirming their suspicions, the entire house trembled, emitting a grotesque laugh.
Then—
The surrounding walls began to squirm and contort.
A grotesque face emerged, twisted into a sinister grin brimming with malice.
"Living humans are so amusing! I've lured so many here, but the alive ones are truly the most entertaining,"
"Holy shit!"
The two of them turned pale with shock.
"The entire house was a Mud-Binding Spirit all along! What we eliminated earlier was just part of it! No wonder there was only that small orb!" Lu Fei suddenly realized.
"How can you still be worrying about that now? Hurry up and move!"
Jing Jian shouted urgently.
"Hold tight to me!"
Lu Fei grabbed Jing Jian's hand, his mind focusing intensely.
"Run? Where could you possibly... Huh?"
The smiling face on the wall froze.
At a spot ten meters away.
Lu Fei and Jing Jian desperately swam upward with the two corpses.
"Stop! Don't go! I'm so lonely and cold down here all by myself! You can't leave—stay and keep me company—"
A furious voice rose from below.
The water currents churned violently.
"Quick! That evil thing is catching up!"
Though frantic with anxiety, their spiritual energy was nearly depleted. Burdened with two corpses and completely exhausted, they hastily swallowed another elixir pill, using this last surge of strength to propel themselves upward.
Boom!
A tremendous noise erupted behind them.
Lu Fei glanced back—it was actually the bus!
The vehicle covered in sludge and aquatic weeds pursued them through the water like a monstrous creature.
In comparison, the two of them were like two small, feeble fish.
Even worse, the surroundings were filled with chaotic waterweed.
Lu Fei suddenly noticed.
A pair of dark green eyes were hiding within.
"Water monkey!"
"Fuck! If we let this thing cause trouble, we'll really get caught!" Jing Jian's eyes bulged with rage.
"No!" Lu Fei's eyes suddenly lit up. "Let it take us up!"