PCJ – Chapter 269 The First Battle

“The inevitable will always come. Go into the house and close the door properly. I can’t be concerned about you right now,” Zhang Jiaohua said.

“Hey, hey.” Chen Shunchang and his wife hurried inside the house and shut the door tightly.

“Master, will it be alright?” Lin Hongfang, frightened, asked with a pale face. She hadn’t expected that even after hiding in the horticultural area, they would still be in danger.

“Don’t worry, it will be fine. If Jiaohua wasn’t confident, would he have left us here in the horticultural area?” Chen Shunchang, though nervous, did not show it, which somewhat reassured Lin Hongfang.

Zhang Benrui ran desperately, so much so that he didn’t even realize he had lost one of his shoes. Ahead was the horticultural area. Although there was a big gate, it didn’t have a door. Without thinking, Zhang Benrui rushed in.

He saw Zhang Jiaohua directing the mountain dogs to confront a group of black cats. Zhang Jiaohua shone a flashlight on a fat cat, and the fat cat’s eyes turned white under the beam, looking somewhat terrifying.

“What are you doing in the horticultural area?” Zhang Jiaohua asked coldly.

“Jiaohua, I think the villagers have misunderstood you. My father went to consult the immortal today, leaving early in the morning and hasn’t returned by evening. When I went to find him, a group of black cats came out from Chen Maozhong’s house. Fortunately, I ran fast, otherwise, my life would have ended at Chen Maozhong’s house,” Zhang Benrui leaned against a pile of straw, gasping heavily.

“What does that have to do with me? When you returned the protective talismans, you were the ones leading the charge. I said at the time that you could return the talismans, but after that, don’t come to me for anything. Go find your father. This horticultural area is not a place for you,” Zhang Jiaohua said coldly.

“Jiaohua, don’t be like that. We all share the same surname, Zhang. You can’t write two Zhangs with one brush. We are relatives, after all. We did wrong this time, but you can’t just watch us die, right?” Zhang Benrui tried to reason with Zhang Jiaohua.

“Zhang Benrui, get the hell out of here, or I’ll make you regret it!” Zhang Wenrong came over, pointing a shoulder pole at Zhang Benrui.

Zhang Benrui was unwilling to leave the horticultural area at this time. Who knew where those black cats were hiding?

“Forget it, let him be. The black cats are about to attack. We won’t be able to take care of anyone else. If he wants to die here, let him. You three, get the talismans ready at all times and don’t get hurt,” Zhang Jiaohua said, no longer paying attention to Zhang Benrui.

Zhang Benrui looked at Zhang Jiaohua and the others, noticing they all held a stack of talismans. The black cats were right across from them. If they were attacked, everyone had talismans for protection, but he was left defenseless. It would be a huge disadvantage. Besides, if the black cats came to the horticultural area, staying here would be even more dangerous. Realizing this, Zhang Benrui turned and ran.

“Really something else,” Zhang Wenrong spat at Zhang Benrui’s retreating figure.

“Meow!” The fat cat finally lost its patience, letting out a furious roar. All the black cats moved at once.

A dense swarm of black cats, numbering over a hundred, could definitely overwhelm the mountain dogs with sheer numbers.

Zhang Wenrong, Zhang Hanggou, and Zhang Jiagen looked serious. Each held a shoulder pole, guarding Zhang Jiaohua.

At the moment the fat cat launched the attack, Zhang Jiaohua waved the flag in his hand.

“Woof woof woof…”

A series of fierce dog barks erupted in the horticultural area, instantly overshadowing the black cats.

These were mountain dogs. With the enhancement of the dog summoning spell and the mountain dog formation, their power increased several times. The momentum of the black cats was immediately suppressed.

Cats were naturally at a disadvantage. The fat cat thought that with the advantage in numbers, it could turn the situation around. It had gathered all the black cats from Meishan. These were not ordinary cats but wild cats unique to Meishan. Such large numbers of wild cats were rare. Wild cats usually stayed deep in Meishan and rarely caused trouble in the village. But for some reason, they had come to Meizi’ao to cause trouble this time.

Under the dog barks, the leader cat wasn’t much affected, but the ordinary black cats struggled to endure and nearly turned to flee.

“Meow!” The fat cat let out a sharp cry again. It was no ordinary cat; among the wild cats, it was unique. Though its combat power might not be much stronger than the leader cat, its greatest strength was not in individual combat. It was an anomaly among wild cats. It had learned a strange evil technique, capable of controlling creatures mentally and drawing their life force. Its purpose for coming to Meizi’ao was to absorb yang energy. The more yang energy it absorbed, the stronger it became. It could also control its kind using the evil technique.

The morale of the wild cats seemed to rise suddenly, forgetting that their opponents were a group of mountain dogs.

Hundreds of wild cats charged into the mountain dog formation like a black torrent crashing into a forest.

Boom!

The strong impact nearly scattered the mountain dog formation, but after the violent shake, the formation slowly recovered. Some of the attacking wild cats lay on the ground forever, never to rise again.

The dead were weak wild cats, only about ten, but for the large number of wild cats, this loss was negligible.

On the mountain dog side, there were no casualties, just a few injuries among the puppies. Although this didn’t affect their actions, Zhang Jiaohua felt a pang of regret. After raising these puppies for so long, he had feelings for them and didn’t want to see them lost in such an inexplicable battle.

But at this moment, Zhang Jiaohua had no time to be sentimental. The fat cat decisively began a second, more violent attack.

“Jiaohua, this won’t do. We are too passive like this. We can’t let those dead cats take the initiative. We need to take the initiative to attack!” Zhang Wenrong seemed to understand the situation.

“Alright!” Zhang Jiaohua suddenly waved the flag in his hand and began to chant a spell:

“Between heaven and earth, nothing is the root. Broadly repair the intent, prove my divine powers. In the three realms, only the Dao is supreme. My body is covered with golden light, unseen by the eye, unheard by the ear, encompassing heaven and earth, nurturing all life. Recite the poem ten thousand times, the body shines with light, guarding the three realms. First, capture the green-robed monk; second, capture the red-robed official; third, capture the yellow-robed Taoist; fourth, capture the hundred arts masters. If it’s an evil sorcerer, left hand entwined, right hand untied, mouth chanting spells, blood from the mouth, let them tumble every three steps, stumble every five steps, left eye tears, right eye bleeds, three souls lost, seven souls determined, thrown into the deep well, quick death. I beseech the Southern Dipper Six Stars, Northern Dipper Seven Stars, I serve the Supreme Old Lord, urgently as the law commands.”