Charlotte Cloud was completely stunned. She didn’t know what to say, didn’t know what to do. A thousand thoughts raced through her mind, but it was as if her head was empty and she hadn’t thought of anything at all. She just stared blankly at the man in front of her—where divinity and devilry met, he was truly one of a kind.
Whoosh—purple light flashed. The woman with the ball of energy swept her sleeve, and Charlotte Cloud instantly fell unconscious. The man snapped his fingers, the ribbons untied, and Charlotte Cloud was tossed into the arms of her little maid. The little maid clung to her trembling, hugging her young lady tight, huddling with the priestesses, all of them unsure what this devil was planning.
“Are you feeling better now, sir?” The enchantress sidled up with a sultry smile, flattering him: “Your words just now really moved me to tears. But I can’t help being jealous—you said so much to her, you must want to take her under your wing.”
“Take her under my wing? I’d rather plant her in the ground and pile on the dirt!” Despite his words, Old Eagle knew that his tone just now hadn’t quite fit the style of Jade Hawk Johnson—but who says Jade Hawk Johnson has to talk a certain way? He does what he likes, and that’s the real spirit of the world’s number one flower thief!
The enchantress sent a soundless message: “Sir, do you still want to deal with Miss Chu?”
“No need. If you want a real bombshell, these bastards are even more useful than the Chu Family.” Old Eagle’s gaze turned icy as he barked at the wolf-headed man lying motionless on the ground: “If you’re awake, get up—don’t play dead in front of me. I kill every Serenity Abbey dog I see. None of you are getting away. But if you behave, maybe I’ll give you a quick death.”
“Heh… heh… heh hahaha…” The wolf-headed man’s hollow mouth opened and closed, squeezing out a madman’s laugh from deep in his throat. His vocal cords were torn, his mouth split open, and the muscles on both sides of his jaw had snapped, so he couldn’t close his mouth. As he pushed himself up and slowly raised his head, that gaping maw looked just like the dislocated jaw of a snake—truly terrifying.
In Western mythology, snakes are the symbol of the devil. And the ghostly green light in his eyes made him look just like one.
“Quick… death…?” Eerie green energy billowed out, as if his whole body was burning with ghost fire. At the same time, as if summoned by something, every unconscious man in the temple was suddenly enveloped in that same ghostly flame. The men twitched, their faces twisted, and when their eyes snapped open, their pupils seemed to roll back into their heads—utterly horrifying. The girls scrambled away in terror, feeling as if just one glance would suck them into an endless whirlpool of agony.
Like flames consuming firewood, the men’s bodies began to turn ashen, withered, and shrouded in death. But the ghost fire only burned higher. When the men gave a final twitch and breathed their last, the flames suddenly left their bodies and surged toward the wolf-headed man.
It was as if ghostly wails echoed all around. The ghost fire danced and swirled in the air, trailing long ribbons of eerie green light. As the saying goes, 'many hands make light work'—with all the flames wrapping around the wolf-headed man, his ghostly green aura soared to new heights.
“Aaaah—!” Amidst endless agony, the wolf-headed man’s ghostly green aura flared into a blazing foot-long flame, filling the air with chilling, sinister energy. With a stomp, he transformed into a surge of ghost fire that lunged at the white-haired man. The enchantress’s eyes flashed, ready to intercept—this power felt truly ominous. But Old Eagle simply strode past her, walking straight toward the ghostly flames.
“That’s some serious power,” Old Eagle raised his hand.
“But too bad—I just happen to be able to…” A dark golden light glowed from Old Eagle’s hand.
“Crush it!” Boom—the furious tide of ghost fire came to an abrupt halt as Old Eagle grabbed the wolf-headed man by the throat and lifted him into the air. With a sinister hiss, green sparks flew everywhere, radiating bad vibes. But no matter how wildly the wolf-headed man burned, Old Eagle’s arm—bathed in dark golden light—seemed totally invincible.
Thud! With a loud crash, Old Eagle strode forward and slammed the wolf-headed man’s neck down onto the idol. The wolf-headed man howled and thrashed, his ghostly aura burning like it was trying to defy the heavens. The women watching from the sidelines just stared in shock, faces blank with disbelief—this was straight-up supernatural.
But to Old Eagle, this ghost fire was nothing compared to the weird, bluish-grey aura that spewed out when the old Serenity Abbey priest coughed up blood. That stuff was rare but top quality—even with eight layers of protection, Old Eagle wouldn’t touch it. But this ghost fire? It’s a whole level lower. His Supreme Yang martial arts just crushes it!
Old Eagle stood firm as a rock, pinning the wolf-headed man to the idol with one arm. The ghost fire kept swelling, but it couldn’t even singe a single hair on Old Eagle’s head.
In the heart of the ghostly green vortex, the wolf-headed man glared at Jade Hawk Johnson with boundless hatred and curses, spitting out his final words: “You… will… die—White Tiger!”
Bang! It was like someone had tossed a handful of white phosphorus into the air—the ghostly green flames exploded into a massive fireball, turning the whole temple into a hellscape. The brighter it burned, the faster it went out. After that flash of light, only eternal darkness remained. Crack—the wolf-headed man’s neck twisted, and he was dead for good. But that wasn’t all—his arms and legs snapped off at the joints like a broken puppet, thudding to the ground.
Crack—the severed limbs shattered into lifeless fragments.
Crack—the innocent idol, scorched by the ghostly green flames, split with cracks from top to bottom and finally collapsed in a heap.
“White Tiger?” Old Eagle tossed the corpse aside, his mouth twisting in disgust. “Even after death, this guy’s still messing around. Filthy hands—shouldn’t have grabbed him bare-handed.”
“Messing around?” The enchantress didn’t get it. “How’s he messing around?”
Old Eagle shot her a helpless look and didn’t explain. Seriously, where’s your professional training, Three Wonders? Everyone knows a 'White Tiger' is just a woman with no hair down below—look it up if you want details, I’m not explaining. By the way, if we’re talking real 'White Tiger,' Joan’s the one—don’t ask how I know, hehehe…
Old Eagle turned and strode out: “He was hiding a signal rocket, probably to contact his buddies. Let’s head back, call our people, and fire off our own cloud-piercing arrow—see what kind of army comes running. Hopefully that old priest shows up himself. If I see him again, I’ll smash him to bits.”
“Yes, sir!” The enchantress whipped out her ribbons, tying up the corpses to drag them away. The bodies scorched by ghost fire crumbled like dead wood, shedding fragments as they scraped along the ground—way creepier than your average corpse. The demon enchantress didn’t care; if it came down to it, she’d just take the heads and leave the rest.
Just then, one of the priestesses who’d been hiding in the corner staggered to her feet. Her face twisted in pain and despair, and without a word, she hurled herself headfirst at a temple pillar—clearly ready to end it all.
But in a flash, Old Eagle darted over, grabbed her, and spun her around on the spot. Smack! He gave the priestess a not-too-hard slap and scolded, "You’re not a clueless girl anymore—you’ve got a family, maybe even kids. Is this really worth dying over?"
The woman just sat there, stunned, then collapsed to the ground, covering her face and sobbing. When she started crying, all the priestesses joined in, wailing at the top of their lungs.
Old Eagle frowned, about to scold them again, when the priestess spoke up in despair: "It’s exactly because I have a family and children that I have to die. If I die now, maybe my kids will be spared. If I don’t, we’ll all end up executed—every last one of us. My poor children are still so young. I—I’d better just die now! Boo hoo hoo…"
“Executed—everyone?” Old Eagle frowned. “Why?”
Another priestess answered mournfully, "Sir, you don’t know—this is the newly built Lady Mother's Temple. Lady Mother wasn’t supposed to be worshipped here, but the old ancestral temple was falling apart. The emperor is coming for the consecration, so they built this big new temple. We were chosen to serve Lady Mother, cleaning and guarding the place. But now the emperor’s about to arrive, and look what’s happened! We’re all doomed—tortured and executed!"
Once she started, the other priestesses broke down too, crying and wailing. "I’ve got no family, never married, so I’m not too worried. But my poor nephew—he might get killed because of me!" "Those damned villains, may they rot in hell!" "I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die! Mom, Dad, I want to go home! Boo hoo hoo…"
With the wailing reaching a fever pitch, Old Eagle shouted to quiet them down: "Enough! It’s not the end of the world yet—why all the crying? Just clean this place up, toss all the mess into the sea. As long as you fix things before anyone finds out, no one’ll be the wiser, right?"
“Sir, you don’t understand. The gold decorations are no problem—we can handle that. But the Lady Mother statue! That thing was a masterpiece, carved by a top artisan. There’s nothing else like it in the world. Now… where are we supposed to find a replacement? Without the statue, there’s no way we can cover this up!”
Staring at the pile of broken stone, Old Eagle scratched his head, a bit embarrassed. So that’s why they’re freaking out—over the statue. Wait, how did it break again? Oh, right—the wolf-headed guy burned it up while hugging it. And why was he hugging the statue…? Ha, must’ve lost his mind. Pretty sure that’s how it went…
All this talk about execution and family doom—none of it’s got anything to do with me! I’m not taking the blame! ...Sigh, guess when you break something, you really do have to pay up.
Old Eagle put his brain to work, searching for a solution.
The statue…
The statue…
Hmm?!
A spark of inspiration flashed in Old Eagle’s mind. He suddenly smiled slyly: “The emperor’s coming here to pray, right? Heh, I’ve got a fun idea—”