In a restaurant not far from the guest building, Zhang Kuo and Han Ye were eating lunch.

"Ha~!" Han Ye drank the last bite of stewed mutton in the pot, put down the chopsticks and spoon, touched the swollen little belly and asked, "Where are we going after eating?" ”

Zhang Kuo glanced at Han Ye thoughtfully, used chopsticks to pick up the remaining side dishes, and said indifferently: "Send you home." ”

Han Ye was stunned, and it took a long time to come back to his senses, and he looked at the demon with unbelievable eyes and said, "Really? ”

The Adversary bowed slightly.

Thinking that he could go home soon, Han Ye was in a good mood after all, he touched the jade pendant on his chest through the placket of his clothes, and his face couldn't hide his joy, and there was a trace of reluctance.

Zhang Kuo thought to himself: "Little ghost, now there are many people in the martial arts who want to take my life, it is better to send you back to Mingjian Hall and let Situ Sheng and Han Feng protect you than to stay by my side." ”

Zhang Kuo's worries are not superfluous, he has a lot of enemies, Han Ye will be implicated sooner or later, in order to protect Han Ye, it seems that sending him back to Ming Jian Hall is the best way. He raised his head and drank a bag of wine, got up and said, "Set off when you are full, you have to travel a long way today!" So saying, he put a piece of silver on the table, took his sword, and went out of the shop.

"Hey, don't wait for me!" As soon as Han Ye came back to his senses, Zhang Kuo had already strode out of the store, and he had to follow in a hurry.

At noon, the street was naturally lively, and Han Ye followed Zhang Kuo through the crowd, and almost lost several times. Perhaps worried that Han Ye would get lost in the crowd, Zhang Kuo had to turn around and grab Han Ye's hand, and then lead him away.

After about a quarter of the road, the people on the street gradually became scarce, Zhang Kuo took Han Ye to an intersection, and suddenly felt someone lightly bump on his shoulder, and then he heard an "oops", and a sloppy young man sat on the ground.

Zhang Kuo felt strange: no matter how strong his body was, the strength just now would not knock that person down, right? However, something even more outrageous came immediately, and after the young man sat down on the ground, four or five more people suddenly came, all dressed in hanging clothes, and looked like a group of scoundrels in the market, and they pretended to be concerned and asked the man on the ground: "Boss, how are you?" ”

"Ouch~!" The man sitting on the ground shook his right arm, looked at Zhang Kuo and said, "My hand was broken by him." ”

This is really ridiculous, Zhang Kuo immediately knew that this group of people was going to knock him off.

Sure enough, a scoundrel supported the "injured" young man, and several other people walked up to Zhang Kuo and pushed and shoved him to pay for it.

"Humph! A bunch of idiots! Zhang Kuo's murderous thoughts have moved, but he has not forgotten his promise to Han Ye, so he doesn't want to deal with this gang of splashes, so he takes Han Ye's hand and is about to leave. Where are the splashes willing to follow? Some dragged Zhang Kuo's hand, and some grabbed Zhang Kuo's collar, doing their best to splash their skin.

Zhang Kuo was annoyed now, frowning, the fierce light in his eyes grew, he let go of Han Ye with his right hand, and then slowly leaned towards the Longquan Sword on his waist, and said in his heart: "If someone offends me, I will offend someone!" You can't blame me if you look for death! ”

Seeing that Zhang Kuo was about to draw his sword and avoid a bloody disaster, at this moment, Han Ye grabbed his hand and shook his head with a displeased face, as if to say: Do you remember promising me anything?

Looking at Han Ye's clear eyes, Zhang Kuo finally gritted his teeth, and suddenly emitted Xuanyuan True Qi from his body, pushing those splashes out, and then looked at the gang fiercely, and said angrily: "Next time, let grandpa see you doing this kind of thing, I will not spare your lives, get out!" ”

Most of the splashes bully the good and fear the evil, when they see that the other party has this ability, who dares to provoke him? As a result, the "injured" young man who took the lead slipped away first, running much faster than the others, and the rest of the people also smeared oil on the soles of their feet and fled.

Perhaps because they were fed up with the wretched spirit of these scoundrels on weekdays, people saw Zhang Kuo scaring the splash away, and they clapped their hands and applauded, only saying: "What a hero!" Hero! ”

Zhang Kuo rarely tasted the taste of being praised by everyone, and with a smile on his face, he pulled Han Ye and said, "Let's go." Then the two of them went out of Handan under the simple gaze of everyone.

After walking for more than two hours, the sky gradually darkened, and the sky was already full of dark clouds, and I was afraid that heavy rain was coming.

Suddenly, a strong wind blew in the forest, blowing the fallen leaves everywhere, and there was some strange smell of dampness in the wind, Han Ye covered his face with his hands and followed Zhang Kuo closely, not forgetting to ask: "Hey, shouldn't we rest for a while, I'm hungry and my legs are a little sore." ”

Zhang Kuo looked around and said unhappily: "Little ghost, is it about to rain if you don't see the sky?" If you don't want to get drenched, you'd better keep your mouth shut until I find shelter from the rain! ”

"Oh." Han Ye replied in disappointment, and was about to continue with Zhang Kuo, when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a grass bush in the distance, which moved with the wind, faintly revealing the cave that was hidden by it.

"Hey." Han Ye tugged at the corner of his clothes, pointed to the grass in the distance, and asked, "There seems to be a cave there." ”

Zhang Kuo took a closer look at the place where Han Ye pointed and found that there was indeed a cave thirty or forty steps behind the grass, which he hadn't noticed because it was covered by grass and trees. So, he pulled Han Ye through the grass and into the cave, which was slightly wider than the last one, and the air in the cave smelled of rotting moss.

Han Ye sat on the low stone in the cave, Zhang Kuo glanced at him, and said, "Little ghost, it's still the old rule, I'll go out to find firewood and food, you stay in the cave well, and shout if you have something, understand?" ”

Han Ye nodded, and Zhang Kuo went out of the cave without delaying time, and as soon as he got out of the cave, a strong wind swept through the entrance of the cave, and the wind was faintly accompanied by the baby's mournful cry, which made people feel creepy. But there could be no babies in the wilderness, and it was not strange to say that there was a strange sound in the mountains and forests, Zhang Kuo disagreed, and gradually drifted away.

Walking to a place two or three miles away from the cave, Zhang Kuo picked up some dry branches, and by the way to see what game there was, he thought while looking for it: "That kid has arrived at the Mingjian Hall, he will not be willing to let me go, I am afraid that those villains will fight again, it is better to send him nearby, I will take the opportunity to escape, and the people of the Mingjian Hall will find him soon." ”

Zhang Kuo was still collecting firewood and thinking about things, when he suddenly heard an exclamation not far away, "There are monsters!" Help me! The voice was immature with extreme fear, and Zhang Kuo knew that it was Han Ye's voice when he heard it.

"Not good!" Zhang Kuo hurriedly dropped the dry branches, pulled out the Longquan sword, and hurried to the cave in a hurry, but when he arrived there, the shadow of Han Ye was long gone, and there was a strong smell of aquatic plants and fishy smell in the cave, and there were still some rancid silt on the low rocks.

Zhang Kuozheng was at a loss, and Han Ye's cry came from outside the cave again, and the mournful baby cry from before could be faintly heard. Zhang Kuo pulled his legs and chased out, and a book that Changkong had shown him flashed in his mind, called "Demon Suppression Spectrum", which contained records of the demons encountered by the disciples of Shushan in the past dynasties, one of which he was particularly impressed, and the book described it as "born in the fierce water, nine black beasts, seven feet high, with many limbs in the lower body, the voice is like a baby's cry, and it is good to eat babies, and it is one of the most ferocious demons in Kyushu." Zhang Kuo thought back to the previous things while running, and finally affirmed that it was this fierce demon who captured Han Ye - "Nine Babies (1)"!

However, thinking that the other party was the Nine Infants, Zhang Kuo was faintly scared in his heart, because this kind of resentful spirit with countless babies trapped in the body of the most vicious demon was a disaster every time it appeared. Legend has it that in ancient times, the fierce water was boiled by the Golden Crow (2), and the nine babies escaped from the water and endangered the world, but fortunately Hou Yi, the first shooter in the god realm, found it and destroyed it with an arrow, but left the heir of this monster. But Hou Yi is a god, no matter how powerful Zhang Kuo is, he is just a mortal, how can he fight such a fierce demon?

But he was afraid, Zhang Kuo still chased the sound and fishy smell to a muddy field.

At that time, dark clouds covered the whole sky, the wind danced fiercely, stirring the mountains and forests, and in the muddy ground not far from the river, there was a nine-headed beast several feet tall, each head of the giant beast had a huge mouth with fangs exposed, it had no eyes, only a long snake neck and a blood-red strange tongue protruding from its mouth, and this black monster only had to lift one of its heads, and a miserable baby cry would come out of its throat, and at the same time a fainting foul smell would blow. The most disgusting thing is the lower body, its lower body is densely covered with black tentacles, as long as six zhang, as short as two zhang, covered with silt at the bottom of the river, this fierce demon wrapped Han Ye with its tentacles, and opened its big mouth while shaking, and the sharp baby cry made the scalp tingle!

Han Ye was so disgusted that he wanted to vomit, he didn't even have the strength to resist, he shouted to the sky in despair: "Dad~~Mother~~The child doesn't want to die~~Woo woo~!" But the demon was overjoyed, and the baby's cry became louder and louder.

Although Zhang Kuo had the title of "King of Hell", he had never dealt with such a terrible demon, he looked up at the nine-infant giant beast, and his hand holding the sword couldn't help but tremble. In the past, the opponent was a human, and there was always a chance of winning the fight, but now in the face of the ancient demons, do you still have to live in the fight?

"This guy is too strong, he will definitely not be able to beat ......" Zhang Kuo broke out in a cold sweat on his forehead, and said in his heart: "With the speed of this monster, if I escape immediately, I will be able to escape, but ...... The bad thing is that the imp is still in its hands! ”

Just as Zhang Kuo hesitated, Han Ye's crying suddenly stopped, and Zhang Kuo looked up, only to see that under the dark sky, the boy was looking at him with a pair of hopeful eyes.

"What are you looking at me for?" Zhang Kuo didn't dare to look directly at Han Ye's thirst, clenched his fists, bowed his head and said, "Little ghost, I'm ...... I can't save you. ”

But at that moment, a passage from what Han Ye had said flashed in Zhang Kuo's mind.

……

"I have slept peacefully in the wilderness for the past ten days, because I know that at least someone will accompany me, and if wild beasts and bad people come, he will drive them all away......."

……

"Hmph, that's a nuisance." Zhang Kuo finally smiled with relief, his eyes gradually became firmer, and he said in his heart: "Little ghost, you said that I didn't care about anyone, it seems that you are wrong." ”

Thinking of this, Zhang Kuo's face regained his composure, and he smiled lightly: "No way, let's be a good person today......" After that, there was no longer a trace of fear on his face, he grabbed the Longquan Sword tightly, and scolded Han Ye: "Little ghost, cry a fart!" Give me silence and wait there! After that, Zhang Kuo drank the last sip of wine, raised his sword and rushed towards the Nine Infant Demon Beasts, with a momentum like a rainbow and indomitable!

Jiu Ying also sensed his presence, lifted Han Ye aside, and raised more than a dozen tentacles, like black spears piercing Zhang Kuo. Zhang Kuo regarded death as home, carried up the shadow step, dodged the puncture with three sounds, and then rushed towards the nine infants, the true qi on his body became more and more brilliant, just like a black lion running wildly, mighty and invincible!

Jiuying became a little panicked, and there were more and more tentacles attacking Zhang Kuo, Zhang Kuo had to take out his sword to cut off some of the tentacles that were attacking head-on, and when he was only a zhang away from Jiuying, the tentacles were already black and pressed on the top of his head, with a thick fishy smell that was disgusting.

Zhang Kuo was still thinking about how to save Han Ye, but Jiuying was annoyed and angry and moved closer to him, in addition to the thick and long tentacles on the periphery, the slender tentacles on the inside also moved, the so-called open guns are easy to dodge and dark arrows are difficult to defend, and the small tentacles are like cold arrows, tricky and insidious, stabbing a lot of wounds on Zhang Kuo's body.

Zhang Kuo frantically seemed to slash and slash, he had long forgotten the pain, and the true qi of Shushan had only taken effect at this moment, but although the wound had healed and the bleeding had been lost, and every time he cut off a tentacle, a lot of black water would splash out, the pungent smell made it difficult to breathe, and the sticky black water also made the sword swing not so easy.

Suo Life's strength gradually ran out, and he locked his thick eyebrows and said: "No, I have to find a way to rush out, otherwise if I die, the little ghost won't survive!" ”

So Zhang Kuo condensed his true qi, jumped violently, and jumped towards the towering tentacles like a tree cover above his head, and the bottom of his hand turned into a stream of qi into the sword, shouting, and swinging it towards the sky, and the white sword qi hit the tentacles heavily, the tentacles shattered, and the black water splashed everywhere. But when he heard a sudden sound of "boom", the top was finally blasted through by this sword qi, and Jiuying began to shake violently, as if he had suffered a lot of impact. Zhang Kuo took this opportunity to rush out of the tentacle encirclement in one breath and flew to the upper end.

Han Ye saw that Zhang Kuo, who was covered in blood, jumped out of the encirclement to save him, and was so moved that he couldn't speak, so he had to hold his breath and look at him intently.

Zhang Kuo saw where Han Ye was, his feet touched his side a little, and he galloped wildly with his kicking power, and when he was only a few feet away from Han Ye, the nine heads of the nine babies stood upright in the sky, making a deafening baby cry, Zhang Kuo didn't have time to save people, the angry nine babies had opened their bloody mouths and blew out a foul smell, and one of the heads bit at Zhang Kuo.

Zhang Kuo knew that it was unwise to save people at this time, so he jumped up to avoid the black head's sudden attack, and Jiuying suddenly opened his mouth, spewing out five streams of water and four flames from his mouth, and the water and fire were accompanied by the terrible cry of the baby, those are the resentful spirits of the baby! Five waters and four fires are like nine pythons surrounding Zhang Kuo, Zhang Kuo people can not avoid in the air, surrounded by water and fire, and water and fire finally formed a spherical water and fire net, firmly trapping the prey.

Zhang Kuo saw that Han Ye was beside him but couldn't save him, he was very anxious, and he himself was a mud bodhisattva crossing the river, and it was difficult to protect himself. The qi emitted by the water and fire net was scorching and cold, constantly tormenting him, Xuanyuan's true qi had been exhausted at this time, and as soon as the baby resentful spirit on the Internet saw a living person entering the net, he immediately greeted him with resentment, greedily sucking Zhang Kuo's essence, and the situation was already in danger!

"Shit, damn it...... The body didn't obey the call......" Zhang Kuo's face was gloomy, and he gritted his teeth and thought: "Most, at least, I want to save him!" ”

After thinking about it for a moment, Zhang Kuo finally made a decision, he mobilized all the true qi and even essence that could be used in his body, and poured all his brain into the sword, and the dragon spring gradually glowed with bright silver light. When the dragon light filled the sky, Zhang Kuo shouted, "Go!" Then he threw the flying sword in his hand, shooting directly at one of the heads of the Nine Infants, and the flying sword spun extremely strong and drilled out of the water and fire net, and shot at the Nine Babies with lightning speed, and before the Nine Babies could turn their heads, the silver sword light plunged into its ugly head.

"Wow, wow, wow!" Jiu Ying desperately twisted his body, shook his head and neck, let out a miserable scream, and squirted a stream of black liquid out of his head, squeezing out the Longquan Sword.

Jiuying was suddenly hit hard, painful and annoyed, and his interest in eating people was ruined, and he threw Han Ye into the mud, and then squirmed his huge body and burrowed into the river, and disappeared.

As soon as the water and fire net was closed, Zhang Kuo was no longer able to support it, and fell from the air, and when he fell, he glanced at Han Ye, who was not far from him, and when he thought of saving his life, a smile of relief appeared on his bloodless face, but the voice in his ears became more and more blurred......

Exegesis:

(1) "Nine Infants" - from "Huainanzi Benjing Xun". "Nine babies, the monster of fire and water, harm people...... There is fierce water in the land of Beidi. "Ancient Chinese Myths and Legends" even mentions that this kind of fierce demon became Hou Yi's third target.

(2) "Golden Crow" - a three-legged crow shining with golden light in the sun, is a classic image of the sun in China's mythology and culture. Han Yu, a poet and essayist in the Tang Dynasty, once wrote in "Li Hua Presents Zhang 11 Signature": "At the beginning of the golden crow seabed, Zhu Hui scattered the green glow. ”