Chapter 17

In the world of the Classic of Mountains and Seas, at the source of the Lijishui River, Li Mang was still flipping rocks, but his movements were getting slower. The skin around his wounds had already been infected by the dead qi and turned black.

However, Li Mang persisted. He found many strange creatures under the rocks, and although he was disappointed that none of them were turtles, it gave him more motivation. At least there was something in the crevices of the rocks.

"Swish!"

Another rock was flipped over. Just as Li Mang thought the situation would remain the same, a snake-like head suddenly darted up, moving so fast that it frightened him into dropping the rock back to its original position with a thud, unsure if it had hit the creature's head.

"...It doesn't seem to be a snake, but a turtle, just like the one I saw last night. It's black and has a long neck like a snake!" Li Mang was excited, but then he saw the rock he had dropped and couldn't help but smile bitterly. Would the turtle still be alive after such a large rock fell on it, especially since the water wasn't deep?

Even if it was damaged, it wouldn't matter, but he couldn't leave it in the water for too long, or the blood's effects would diminish. So, Li Mang quickly and carefully moved the rock aside.

The water here was very clear, with only rocks and no dirt. Even after such a big commotion, the water in the rock pit remained clear.

A black turtle, about the size of two fists, was lying still in the water, its head retracted. More astonishingly, there wasn't a single scratch on its shell, showing how tough it was.

Li Mang suppressed his surprise and quickly took out a wooden stick from his pocket, carefully extending it toward the turtle's head.

"Snap!"

The turtle's head shot out so fast that it was astonishing. Even more shocking was that the wooden stick, as thick as a finger, was bitten in half by the turtle, which was truly unbelievable!

Seeing the turtle about to escape, Li Mang picked up a large rock nearby and slammed it down with a heavy thud— "Clang!"

It sounded like metal colliding, showing how hard the turtle's shell was.

"Thud! Thud..."

The rock pressing on the turtle shook violently, and the splashing water made a sound, indicating that the turtle was struggling fiercely, sensing the danger. If given enough time, it might have escaped.

"The wooden stick is too fragile; I need to find something else!" Li Mang quickly ran to the shore and went to the burlap bag he had left nearby. After searching, he found a stun baton at the bottom.

"This should knock it out!" Li Mang wasn't entirely sure. The stun baton had an output voltage of hundreds of thousands of volts, but it wasn't the usual AC or DC current; it was a pulse current, which was less harmful. How it would affect a turtle was unknown.

Returning to the spot, Li Mang moved the rock aside again.

"Hisss!" The turtle angrily raised its head, warning Li Mang.

This was a police-style stun baton, quite long. Li Mang stood on a rock that was higher than the water, pressed the button, and slowly extended the stun baton's tip.

"Hisss!" The turtle, naturally angry, lunged forward with its neck, which could extend up to thirty centimeters, and its sharp teeth bit down on the stun baton, leaving marks on the tough industrial plastic, which was terrifying.

"Zap!"

A bolt of electricity shot out from the stun baton and hit the turtle's mouth.

"Whoosh!"

The turtle's neck instantly retracted into its shell, and it remained motionless. Even when Li Mang poked it with the wooden stick, there was no response.

"Success!" Li Mang was overjoyed and quickly picked up the turtle, fearing it might change its state, and carried it to the shore.

Indeed, the stun baton's power, though strong, wasn't enough to kill the turtle due to the nature of the pulse current. When Li Mang placed the turtle on the rocky beach, it woke up and tried to escape, but Li Mang, who was on high alert, stopped it.

Killing the turtle required skill; otherwise, once its head was retracted, it would be hard to kill it, especially since Li Mang needed its blood.

So, Li Mang found a thicker wooden stick and let the turtle bite it. Then, with his other hand, he quickly swung a kitchen knife, and with a "snap," the turtle's head was severed.

Bright red turtle blood flowed from the severed head. Li Mang didn't waste a moment, taking two disposable cups and turning the turtle upside down to let the blood flow out quickly.

The turtle's body wasn't large, but it had a lot of blood. The bright red turtle blood filled two cups, looking very beautiful.

"I wonder if this turtle blood can help heal my wounds?" Li Mang speculated. Thinking about the possible fight ahead, the injuries were a disadvantage. He gritted his teeth, endured the腥味 (fishy smell), and drank one cup. Taking advantage of the boost from the turtle blood, he left the world of the Classic of Mountains and Seas with the other cup.

Returning to the Mengshan Shrine from the Classic of Mountains and Seas, Li Mang saw the room in disarray, with scattered red bills particularly eye-catching. His eyes narrowed, but he didn't have the heart to deal with it. He quickly looked around but didn't see the female ghost.

"Strange, did she leave already?" Li Mang wondered, then cautiously walked out of the main hall.

The main hall was also in a mess. What made Li Mang's face, which had turned red from the turtle blood, turn white was the temple keeper's corpse, which was unrecognizable, with both arms torn off and a large blood hole in the chest, indicating that the heart had been removed.

"Ugh..."

The blood he had just swallowed churned in his stomach.

"Ji ji, you little brat, I've been waiting for you for a long time!" The female ghost's cold laugh suddenly came from in front of him. Li Mang felt a blur in his vision, and the female ghost appeared before him.

The sudden appearance of a rotten face made Li Mang unable to hold back the turtle blood in his mouth, and he spat it all out onto the female ghost.

"Zap!!"

"Ahh!!"

As the red blood mist sprayed onto the female ghost, it instantly corroded her, like being splashed with sulfuric acid, and the part of her face that was only one-third rotten was completely disfigured.

Enduring the discomfort, Li Mang gritted his teeth and threw the remaining turtle blood at her— "Zap!!"

"Ahh! Ahh!..."

The female ghost's惨绝人寰 (horrible) screams echoed, and her ghostly form was corroded by the turtle blood, turning into smoke.

Li Mang's face was pale, and he kept retreating. The sight of the dead temple keeper and the female ghost enduring terrible torture was beyond his tolerance, making him panic.

In her screams, the female ghost finally turned into a pool of black water, and the rotten smell made Li Mang vomit again, even spitting out bile.

At this moment, the sound of commotion came from outside. Li Mang knew it was Daoist Zhang and his men. He could only endure the discomfort and re-enter the world of the Classic of Mountains and Seas to retrieve the turtle's entire body. He then hit the floor with the turtle, creating a scene of killing the turtle, including the kitchen knife, wooden stick, and struggle, as well as the disposable cups, leaving nothing out.

After doing all this, Li Mang finally let out a deep breath and then collapsed at the door, unconscious.

Moments later, Daoist Zhang and a group of soldiers rushed into the shrine. The scene inside made the soldiers, who had initially been indifferent, tense up and aim their guns in all directions.

The first thing they saw was the temple keeper's mutilated body, with a face that was unrecognizable, both arms torn off, and a large blood hole in the chest, which was extremely terrifying.

Even Daoist Zhang's heart skipped a beat when he saw this. Then, he noticed the black 'sewage' under his feet, and his face stiffened. The soldiers didn't know what the black water was, but Daoist Zhang, who was familiar with such things, immediately recognized it as corpse water.

"There's another body here!" a soldier shouted from the side.

Daoist Zhang's heart raced, and he quickly pushed aside the soldier and saw Li Mang lying motionless at the door, his skin black and his body covered in ghostly qi, a clear sign of death.

"Li Mang, I'm sorry for you!" Daoist Zhang fell to his knees, sobbing and crying, looking very pitiful.

"Li Mang! Li Mang..." Bao Ren, out of breath, finally arrived and was stunned by the scene, kneeling beside Daoist Zhang with red eyes.

"Hey... Commanders, he's not dead yet!" a new recruit whispered.

"Li Mang, you died so tragically... What? He's not dead?" Daoist Zhang was startled, hurriedly checked, and found that Li Mang was still breathing, far from dead. He immediately ordered the soldiers to carry Li Mang and began to purify the ghostly qi on his body while rushing him to the vehicle.

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PS: Thank you to M Hu, Kada, Feng Renyuan, Terminator Dad, Xiao Xiao Shuishou, Cleaning Master, Chiga, Du Ni Wan Bian, Persistent Handsome, Shuai Da Ha, and other readers for your support, reviews, and likes. Thank you.