Maybe.
He was saying, maybe.
Maybe at first, the Daoist only wanted to take the Small Sumeru Bag from Pan Yu. The probability of him using lethal force was perhaps only fifty percent.
But now, judging by the change in the Daoist's expression as it gradually turned sinister...
Yang An felt the probability of the man using lethal force had just shot up to one hundred percent.
And at this moment, with Pan Shi grievously wounded on the ground staring at him expectantly, and Pan Yu so nervous she was practically plastered to his back, he had suddenly become the last line of defense.
Yang An felt an immense amount of pressure.
The main reason was that he couldn't run.
Even Pan Shi, a real Cultivator, had fallen. He was just an ordinary person. How could he possibly escape?
Besides, this senior brother and junior sister had helped him before, carrying him out of Jiunan Town while he was unconscious, giving him food and even an Elixir.
Although there was a fair bit of misunderstanding mixed in, the help they'd given him was real.
Yang An asked himself: the Daoist had been ignoring him the whole time. If he could run, the man might not even bother with him.
But could he, in good conscience, really choose to abandon them and run away alone?
'But if I don't run, how am I supposed to fight this Daoist?'
'I don't have the strength for it. The moment I face this powerful Daoist, I'll expose the fact that I'm just an ordinary person, and in the end, I won't be able to do anything anyway…'
'Huh?'
'Wait a minute!'
'It seems... it's not entirely impossible...'
Just as Yang An's mind was in a turmoil, his eyes caught sight of the Daoist, who had been wounded by Pan Shi's sneak attack. He saw the man grip the bone spike embedded in his abdomen with a withered hand, seemingly about to yank it out by force.
An idea suddenly flashed in Yang An's mind.
'Maybe... I can give it a try?'
「Meanwhile.」
The Daoist reached out, gripped the bone spike in his abdomen, and frowned slightly.
After embedding itself in his body, the bone spike was rapidly releasing a toxin that suppressed his Mana to a certain degree. However, the effect wasn't significant.
At most, it would inhibit his strength slightly, allowing him to use only seventy percent of his full power.
But even at seventy percent, dealing with the two frail little punks left before him was no problem at all.
With the sensory abilities of his Cultivation Technique, he had long since detected that the remaining two were ordinary mortals. The girl had a faint trace of Mana, but the man had none whatsoever—just a commoner, nothing to worry about.
"Hehe, so you managed to injure me. But that's as far as you'll get. Now you've thoroughly offended me, and I absolutely cannot let you off easy today."
He let out another strange laugh as he tightened his grip on the bone spike and pulled hard.
SQUELCH!
A bone spike, about three inches long, was forcefully ripped from his stomach. The sudden opening caused blood to spray all over the ground, with most of it staining the Daoist's filthy robes. It was a gruesome sight.
But the Daoist didn't even frown. He merely glanced at the bone spike in his hand before clenching his fist and crushing it to dust.
Meanwhile, on his abdomen, the flesh around the exposed, bleeding wound began to contract, pulling the gash together. It looked less horrific, though blood still trickled out slowly.
The Daoist then ignored his own injury and turned to face the still-standing Yang An and Pan Yu.
To be precise, his gaze was fixed solely on Pan Yu. Yang An just happened to be standing between them, like an insignificant bystander.
He began to walk slowly toward them, an immense pressure washing over them.
Standing behind Yang An, Pan Yu clutched the Small Sumeru Bag at her waist, her heart in a panic.
'I know Yang An is a Primordial Feeding Realm Cultivator, but this Daoist is one too.'
'Besides, Yang An hasn't fully recovered. He might not be able to stop him.'
'What should I do?'
'What should I do?'
'If Yang An can't stop this Daoist either, my Small Sumeru Bag will be stolen! Then it'll be so hard to have delicious barbecue in the future!'
'All those spices... my fellow disciples searched for so long to get them for me...'
'Pah!'
'What am I thinking?'
'Pan Yu, oh, Pan Yu, how can you still be thinking about food at a time like this? We're about to die!'
They say a woman's mind is a mystery. Countless thoughts flashed through Pan Yu's mind in that instant, so chaotic that even she couldn't grasp them. Her focus drifted away before snapping back abruptly.
'My Senior Brother is already grievously wounded because of me. How can I be thinking about such useless things?'
'But... if I die before I can even use all these spices, and some clueless person just throws them away like trash, that would be incredibly painful for me too…'
At this thought, the expression on Pan Yu's face was uglier than if she were crying.
If Yang An and Pan Shi could know what Pan Yu was thinking at that moment, who knows what they would have thought.
However, even if Yang An could know, he had bigger things to worry about.
Watching the Daoist get closer and closer, he was so nervous that sweat beaded all over his body, yet he had to force himself to remain calm.
'The Daoist isn't looking at me. His eyes are fixed on Pan Yu. This is the perfect chance!'
Three meters!
Two meters!
One meter!
Yang An silently counted in his mind until the Daoist was finally right in front of him, about to brush past.
At such a close distance...
'Fellow Daoist Yang, attack now!'
Pan Shi, lying on the ground, struggled to lift his head, his hands clenched into tight fists as he stared at Yang An.
All their hopes now rested on Yang An, but he still hadn't made a move.
At that moment, the Daoist looked at Pan Yu and slowly began to speak:
"Little girl, if you had listened to me earlier and obediently handed over the Small Sumeru Bag..."
The Daoist's words were cut short. His gaze suddenly shifted to a hand striking at him from the side. A cold sneer appeared on his face; he was clearly prepared.
He looked at Yang An beside him and couldn't help but lick his lips.
"Hehe, a sneak attack? You think you can... AAAAAHHHHH!"
But just as he was about to mock the man before him for overestimating his abilities, an intense white light suddenly flashed before his eyes, blinding him instantly. He subconsciously threw a hand up to shield his face.
At the same time, it felt as if countless fine needles were stabbing into every part of his body. An excruciatingly sharp pain shot through him, catching him completely off guard and making him scream in agony.
And in that moment, while the Daoist was suddenly blinded, a hand shot out with lightning speed and plunged into the wound in his abdomen.
Yang An performed at a speed he had never achieved since learning the Lighting Technique.
Incantation! Finger Formulas! It was all completed in an instant!
The Lighting Technique required blood as a medium to be cast, but it didn't have to be his own blood. Someone else's would work just fine.
Fortunately, before Pan Shi fell, he had left a wound on the Daoist, which gave Yang An an opportunity to try.
So, the next step was...
Ignition!
WHOOSH—
A massive crimson flame instantly swelled, igniting violently from within the Daoist's body. It then burst frantically from every pore and orifice, spewing out countless tongues of fire as if being unleashed.
In a mere instant, the Daoist became a man engulfed in flames, every inch of his flesh incinerated by the terrifyingly hot, red fire.
And since the fire had erupted from within him, using his own blood as fuel, it was impossible to suppress.
A pained shriek erupted from the Daoist's mouth. He collapsed to the ground and began to roll around frantically, trying to extinguish the flames, but it was completely useless.
"Run!"
The moment he ignited the Daoist's blood, Yang An shoved the stunned Pan Yu.
There was no better time to run!
Pan Yu snapped back to her senses. Her eyes, now fixed on Yang An, were filled with astonishment and adoration. Knowing this was no time for talk, she immediately ran toward her senior brother, Pan Shi, intending to help him up so they could escape together.
Yang An was also about to run toward Pan Shi, but he paused the moment he lifted his foot. He saw the staff that the Daoist had dropped on the ground in his panic.
He had witnessed the power this staff displayed as the Daoist's weapon. It was definitely a Magical Artifact.
Without a second thought, Yang An unhesitatingly snatched the staff from the ground and ran without looking back.
At the same time, before he had gotten very far, an information box popped up before his eyes.
「[Daoist Kong Shuai's Rectal Staff]: A Magical Artifact refined by Daoist Kong Shuai from his own foul flesh and blood. The exterior is hard, while the interior is pliable. As it was once part of Daoist Kong Shuai's physical body, it also contains Mana, can release putrid substances, and possesses the power to shatter mountains and pulverize stone.
Cost of Use: An exchange of the new for the old. Long-term use of this item will cause the user's rectum and genitals to rot.
Status: Purifiable!」