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The wide sleeves of the haori, soaked through, fluttered in the wind, like a...
An invisible wind billowed and lifted it, making the oppressive feeling that made one's chest feel suffocated even stronger.
Dou Tang walked slowly towards him, and Ping Jiangmen watched as he approached, but his hand seemed frozen in place, unable to wield the precious sword in his hand.
Dou Tang ignored him and walked directly to Huai Yin, calmly gazing at the disheveled and exhausted girl before him, his eyes lingering on the small wounds on her body for a long time.
He slowly reached out his hand, while Huaiyin closed her eyes in fear.
Dou Tang's hand hovered above Huai Yin's head, as if he wanted to touch her, but in the end, his hand did not fall. His fingertips trembled slightly before he withdrew it.
With a slight twist of his right hand, Dou Tang turned around and looked at Taira no Masakado.
Unlike the mocking and murderous eyes he had seen before, the eyes that Taira no Masakado was facing now seemed to have become a completely different person. Those eyes no longer held anything that could be called emotion, like staring at a pair of glass beads with blue light bulbs inside.
It's like facing a dead person and staring into their eyes.
Dou Tang threw down the sword in his hand, and it clattered down in front of Huai Yin.
Then, he lightly rubbed his foot on the ground.
"boom!"
The ground in front of Huaiyin suddenly exploded, and she quickly covered it with her hands. She also clearly saw Dou Tang rush out like a chariot, grabbing Ping Jiangmen by the neck with one hand and slamming him backward.
Before Ping Jiangmen could react, he was pushed out by Dou Tang, who was shrouded in black mist, and crashed into the outer wall of the processing plant with a loud bang.
Wheely Descent was utterly shocked, but he still rushed out after her, not even caring about Ringo Shinzen.
One by one, the fiery ropes slid along the ground, rushing towards Dou Tang.
"Ho..."
Heiji Masakado forced out a breath, still unable to understand why the situation had taken such a sharp turn for the worse, or even why Dou Tang had unleashed such powerful strength.
When Dou Tang heard the sound he squeezed out, his eyes widened even more. His body, which appeared much thinner than Taira no Masakado's, burst forth with irresistible power. He raised his arm high and then pressed it down.
"boom!"
He pressed Taira no Masakado directly into the ground, causing the ground to crumble into pieces, and half of Taira no Masakado's body was buried in the ground.
Despite the excruciating pain in his throat, Taira no Masakado swung his sword at Tou-tang's neck!
Dozens of fire ropes also arrived behind Dou Tang, soaring into the air and plunging down towards him!
Chapter 116: Shaped like fog, body like a demon
At such close range, Dou Tang has no chance of dodging in close combat!
As Taira no Masakado thought this, the reflection of his precious sword illuminated Dou Tang's face. This strike would surely slit his throat!
Dou Tang's blue eyes moved slowly, his left eye taking in the approaching treasured sword, while his right eye rolled back and he disappeared from Taira no Masakado's sight.
No, he didn't disappear; he just wasn't looking at him anymore.
A ridiculous thought popped into Taira no Masakado's mind: Dou Tang's eyes could probably see through even his own flesh and blood. He was turning over now so that he could see through his skull and brain and watch the fire ropes that were attacking his back.
Bizarre and terrifying.
What he was seeing was definitely not a "leader of the new era" or a "reckless exorcist," but an absolute monster, a being even more bizarre than evil spirits.
The next moment, black mist rose, and Dou Tang's figure spun up.
He tilted his head back to avoid the blade, his entire body lifted up by an invisible force. As he turned, he kicked out, the thick fog wrapped around his leg transforming into a whirlwind that rushed out and directly met the fire rope, producing a sizzling sound like hot iron touching cold water.
Then, Rin-yūdō suddenly realized that all his fire ropes had gone out of control, or rather, they no longer existed.
Dou Tang, shrouded in black mist, burst through the air, simply and brutally reaching out to press down on Lun Yudao's charred head and slamming it hard onto the ground.
Not satisfied with just that, he swung his arm, lifted Wheely Djokovic up, and hurled him aside. Wheely Djokovic's body transformed into a cannonball, crashing into the roadside green belt and smashing the trees to pieces.
At the same time, Taira no Masakado had already gotten up and rushed forward, wielding his sword with both hands and slashing down.
Dou Tang did not turn his head, but suddenly twisted his right arm and caught the sharp sword with his palm, gripping it tightly.
“Monster…” Taira no Masakado cursed through gritted teeth.
On Dou Tangmo's black body, faint white marks began to appear, like knife wounds. All the details of his clothes were also enveloped and soaked in pure black, melting into pitch black where no details could be seen.
Dou Tang exerted force with his arm and suddenly swung the precious sword in his hand to the side. Ping Jiangmen's hand, which was tightly gripping the hilt, did not even have time to let go and was directly thrown away.
Heiji rolled a few times on the ground, quickly got up, resumed holding the sword in his hand, and looked at Tou-tang.
Dou Tang turned his head to look at him, and two points of blue light slowly appeared on his dark face. Only then did Ping Jiangmen realize that when he swung his sword behind him just now, he really was... observing behind him through his body.
How can this be……
Thin, white lines began to appear on that dark face, as if emitting a ghostly glow.
For the first time since his rebirth, the proud and arrogant Taira no Masakado felt fear.
Wheel Monk roared and charged toward Dou Tang, but Dou Tang held him down again. The surging flames continued to assault Dou Tang's body, but seemed to have no effect.
With one hand gripping Rin-yūdō's neck, Tou-tō looked at Taira no Masakado and strode forward.
Without hesitation, Taira no Masakado turned and ran, fleeing towards the factory area.
"boom!"
The familiar ground tremors, the familiar cracking sounds—a powerful gust of wind arrived behind Taira no Masakado, a tremendous force coming from the back of his neck. At that moment, he understood that there was no way to escape this guy; defeating him was the only possibility of survival.
Survive? An ancient vengeful spirit that has wandered through hell for thousands of years, would actually have a day when it comes to racking its brains to figure out how to survive?
But his thoughts were interrupted by a series of actions that followed.
Ringo Shinzen, who rushed to Huaiyin's side in a panic, stared in utter shock at the scene before her.
A tall figure shrouded in black mist moved forward, his two hands gripping the necks of two evil spirits.
They collided, or more precisely, they collided like a sharp-edged stone rolling on the ground and bouncing back up.
He pressed the evil spirit in his hand to the ground, slammed it against the ground, and his whole body bounced up with a bang. His body twisted erratically before falling back to the ground. He then casually pushed the evil spirit closest to the ground up and slammed it against the ground again.
There was no pattern to it; this time it was Hiramasakamon, and next time it might be him again. The twisting of his body was also completely erratic, as if it were a tattered rag connecting two evil spirits.
As they collided, shallow craters appeared on the ground, and the cement surface was completely ruined, looking as if it had been hit by a meteorite.
Dou Tang, along with two evil spirits, crashed directly into the burning factory.
After entering the factory, Dou Tang casually tossed the two evil spirits into the depths of the factory. The black mist completely enveloped his body, and his pair of blue eyes trembled and looked around, which was eerie and made people wonder whether the owner of these eyes still had any rationality.
Taira no Masakado got up from the ground, somewhat relieved that he had managed to hold onto his long sword during the violent impact, preventing him from being completely unarmed.
Wheel Monk was in an even worse state. He had already been half-crippled by the explosion, and now, after being ravaged by Dou Tang, there wasn't a single good spot left on his body. His charred arms looked like they would break at the slightest touch.
"Lord Taira no Masakado..."
He said tremblingly, "What do we do...? Who is this guy?"
Taira no Masakado did not answer his question, but simply snorted, and a golden crown appeared above his head.
The crown turned slightly, and the relief on it transformed into blurry, molten gold, which then solidified into other shapes.
Above them were several military generals who looked exactly alike.
A series of blurry lights and shadows emerged from behind Taira no Masakado. These lights and shadows were colorful and slowly transformed into human shapes. At the same time, the colorful lights also froze into the image of Taira no Masakado.
A few seconds later, six people who looked exactly like Taira no Masakado appeared in the same spot.
Back then, after Taira no Masakado declared himself emperor, he supposedly learned a secret technique from his mother, who was a snake god, that allowed him to create six identical clones of himself as "shadow warriors." These six clones were so identical to Taira no Masakado that they were indistinguishable from him, thus preventing assassination attempts.
However, this secret technique was eventually seen through by Taira no Masakado's favorite concubine, Kikyo-mae, who then told her brother, Fujiwara no Hidesuke, which led to Fujiwara no Hidesuke breaking Taira no Masakado's shadow puppet technique.
Whether this legend is true or not is impossible to verify, but for Taira no Masakado now, this skill of the "Shadow Warrior" is a gift from the Crown.
The crowns of Nagare, Gokusho, and Rin-yūdō... plus Taira no Masakado's own two, make a total of five crowns.
With five crowns, it's no wonder that Taira no Masakado acts so arrogantly.
The seven Taira no Masakados shouted at the same time, standing in the fire, facing the inhuman-looking Tou Tang.
Chapter 117 The Thing That Terrifies Evil Spirits
The fire ropes of the Wheel of Fortune spread across the ground, absorbing the flames that burned the entire factory, and then transformed into fiery snakes, swaying erratically.
"Lord Taira no Masakado..."
Wheelyomichi looked toward Taira no Masakado.
None of the seven Taira no Masakados turned around, but instead said in unison, "Wannyūdō, let's work together and kill this guy!"
Wheely Descent nodded, but his words betrayed uncertainty: "Understood, General..."
Dou Tang stood still and watched them quietly. When he saw the seven Taira no Masakados raise their long swords, he bent down slightly and made a running start motion.
Taira no Masakado felt a chill run down his spine, and even in the midst of the fire, his hands and feet felt icy cold.
He's charging at us!
Dou Tang stomped his back foot heavily on the ground, transforming himself into a high-speed running bull, advancing with an earth-shaking momentum. With each step, the ground beneath his feet would crack and tremble.
"Bang bang bang bang-"
The powerful footsteps inspired awe before the mountains, and the black mist that spread backward with each step. Dou Tang remained silent, moving forward in taciturnity, his calm fury as cold as his blue eyes.
A calm rage—this is the essence of Dou Tang. Although he may have been briefly subdued by the warmth of life, his fury for evil spirits still burns in his heart. All he lacks is an opportunity, a suitable place.
Black mist enveloped his entire body, transforming Dou Tang.
Like a black dragon piercing through the fire, behind it lay only devastation. Spreading black mist drove away the flames and brought in the cold wind from outside the factory.
Six clones of Taira no Masakado stepped forward, fearless and wielding long swords, using the blades as shields. The two at the front crossed their swords and slashed out together, meeting the black dragon head-on!
Dou Tang's eyes darted around incessantly within the black mist, shifting focus at an incredibly fast pace, making one doubt whether he could truly see what was in front of him in less than a second.
This eerie pressure caused Taira no Masakado's shadow warriors to share the emotions of their master, revealing the deep-seated fear within Taira no Masakado himself.
Dou Tang quickly approached, extending his hand while simultaneously lowering his body again, transforming into a wolf that walks close to the ground, but raising his hands high, defying the natural laws of skeletal structure.
"His-"
A sound like something succulent being torn apart rang out. The Shadow Warrior looked at his arm in astonishment, only to find that it was gushing out black liquid.
Dou Tang appeared not far behind them, standing straight with his chest out and holding two arms in his hands.
"hiss--"
The sound of air being drawn in, like a bellows being filled with air for the last time, was heard.
Dou Tang casually tossed aside the two severed arms and turned around.
Instead of waiting to die, Lunrudao sent the moving fire ropes on the ground rushing towards Doutang, leaving trails of fire in the air.
Dou Tang stretched out his hands and made a grasping motion. The black mist moved with his mood and rushed towards the fire rope. The moment it enveloped the fire rope, Lun Rudao once again felt that he had lost control of the fire rope.
The control of the fire rope in the Wheel of Fortune is like a person controlling their own limbs. At this moment, the feeling of losing control of the fire rope is like a person suddenly having a limb amputated. Even though the original feeling of the limb is still left in the mind, no matter how you "act" in your original way, you will not get any feedback.
Isolation, or rather, severance, seemed to be the ability of the black mist to devour all abnormalities.
After absorbing the fire rope once again, the black mist seemed to have become even thicker. Before, one could see everything through the black mist, but now it was obvious that the mist was so thick and so... vivid.
Vibrant in terms of black.
The two shadow warriors with severed arms did not retreat, but continued to charge forward with their companions. Four long swords fell at the same time, and four sword lights mixed with two fists approached Dou Tang's face.
Dou Tang slowly clenched his fist, and his blue eyes trembled again.
"call--"
A long, drawn-out exhale sounded.
To Taira no Masakado's surprise, Tou Tang took a half step back and disappeared into the black mist, his blue eyes closing tightly.
The shadow warriors rushed into the thick fog, their long swords slashing down, but they missed.
Given Dou Tang's retreating speed, there was no way he could have dodged it. Where did he run off to?
Inside the fire, toxic gases mingled with flames, mixing to form pungent, thick smoke. In this semi-enclosed space where the smoke continued to rise, a cloud of black mist stretched out and splashed outwards.
Previously, the black mist simply flowed along the ground and only rose up when Dou Tang moved. But now, the black mist seemed to have its own thoughts and began to spread recklessly in all directions, engulfing Taira no Masakado and Rin-yūdō in an instant.
Despite being engulfed in the thick fog, Taira no Masakado remained calm and said, "Wannyūdō, come closer to me!"
At the same time, the shadow warrior also kept watch over his surroundings and slowly retreated to Taira no Masakado's side.
But no reply came from the thick fog, nor were there any footsteps; only continued silence.
It's as if someone has choked the "sound" by the throat, preventing it from intervening in the battle within the thick fog.
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