Please, Young Master, Slay the Demon!
Chapter 321 - 5: With You Here, I’m Better Off [Ask for monthly tickets!]_1

Chapter 321: Chapter 5: With You Here, I’m Better Off [Ask for monthly tickets!]_1

Xu Ziyang followed the woman in yellow through a dim corridor lit by red candles, echoing with faint sounds of merriment. However, in this gloomy and somber environment, it sounded more akin to mourning rather than jubilation.

"The path ahead will be dangerous," the woman in yellow warned as she turned back.

"I understand," Xu Ziyang nodded, his eyes clouding over.

After passing through a moon-shaped gate, the chilly winds around them suddenly intensified. Just a few steps forward, sudden bouts of coughing echoed around them.

"Cough cough..." an old hag, unsteady on her feet, was tending to plants in the yard. As she noticed them approach, she inquired "Who’s there?"

"Granny Lin," answered the woman in yellow, "just passing by with a guest."

"Oh..." the hag lifted her eyes towards Xu Ziyang, smiling weakly, "where does the young man hail from?"

"Shu Mountain," was Xu Ziyang’s reply.

As soon as the words left his lips, he abruptly sprang into action. In that instant, thick, black tendrils burst from the ground beneath him. They morphed into interconnected arms bearing razor-sharp nails, all attempting to seize Xu Ziyang!

This old hag had snuck an attack while asking questions, revealing her sinister intentions!

Xu Ziyang’s vicinity was filled with swirling sword light that quickly severed the black-handed appendages. When he glanced back at the hag, her left arm was gone!

"Can’t catch you with one arm, huh?" Despite losing an arm, the hag cackled before giving a hard yank again.

With a crack, her right arm also fell to the ground.

In an instant, countless black hands sprouted from the ground resembling a massive, branched tree.

Seeing the multitude of reaching arms, Xu Ziyang wasted no time. He summoned his Geng Metal True Qi, his body shimmering in a golden light, and transformed into a vajra.

The Fifth Stage Golden Body!

Swish——

A streak of golden light flashed, and Xu Ziyang activated a thunder spell aiming a single finger at the hag’s forehead.

Bang!

The hag’s forehead was penetrated by a blackened hole, a faint wisp of smoke rising from it. The next second, her body shattered into specks of dust that dissipated into the atmosphere.

The woman in yellow watched the scene unfold, a flicker of fear in her eyes. Perhaps she was startled at how efficiently Xu Ziyang exterminated the ghost, evoking a certain kinship.

In truth, had it not been for her warning about alerting other malicious spirits, Xu Ziyang might have deployed his powerful sword technique to kill the hag even faster.

Seeing the arms disappear, leaving churned soil in their wake, the woman in yellow sighed, "Old Granny Lin was the housekeeper’s mother, responsible for tending to the plants in the residence, a warm and friendly elderly. What a tragic end she’s met."

"No matter." Xu Ziyang replied impassively. "I have helped her enter the cycle of reincarnation."

In the face of his matter-of-fact tone and unyielding belief that he was doing her a favor by killing her, the woman in yellow was momentarily taken aback.

After a brief pause, she suggested, "Let’s continue."

They crossed the flowerbed and arrived at a pond nestled amidst artificial hillocks, intending to bypass them.

Suddenly, the woman in yellow warned, "Be careful of this pond!"

Just as her words lingered in the air, a large, black-spotted fish leaped out of the water, its horrifying mouth akin to a blood basin as it roared.

In terms of sheer malignant energy, it was even stronger than the hag they previously encountered.

But Xu Ziyang was even swifter this time. He held his Zhan Gang sword horizontally and swept through the scene, a three-foot sword aura enveloping him, cutting the black fish cleanly in two.

Bang——

Watching the disintegration of the black fish in mid-air, the woman in yellow seemed to have regained her composure. Nonchalantly, she continued leading Xu Ziyang forth, though she couldn’t help but remark: "This fat, black fish was originally raised in the pond for ornamental purposes and quite clever, often playing dead to startle people. Everyone in the family was fond of it... and now it’s turned into such a monster."

After exterminating a few more ghosts stronger than the previous ones en route, they didn’t find any major challenges. As far as Xu Ziyang was concerned, the differences in strength among these ghosts were negligible—defeating them was only a matter of time.

After a while, the woman in yellow finally led him to a wall enclosing a courtyard with a collapsed hole in its middle.

"You can escape through here", she said, "Once you’re out, run as far away as you can and never come back."

Xu Ziyang stared at the hole which seemed to lead into another world. As he prepared to step forward, he turned back to ask one question.

"Before me, there was another demonic creature that broke in here. Have you seen it?"

...

"Divine senses are very limited here, it’s best to remain cautious," cautioned Jiang Yuebai as they stepped inside the abandoned Shen manor, immediately alert to the gusts of ill winds surrounding them.

As they crossed the desolate front yard, they heard shouts and sounds of fighting from the other side of the enclosure.

Unsure if it was Xu Ziyang or the man who had flown in just before on his sword, Chu Liang was the first to lift his Dustless Sword and promptly ascended the walls.

Across the wall, a cultivator dressed in blue was fighting an ethereal maid-like specter.

The ethereal being, clad in maid attire, had disheveled hair, bloody hollow eye sockets, and looked quite horrifying. She was reaching forward with ten blood-colored nails, trying to grasp the cultivator.

The blue-robed cultivator, at the Third Realm, shouldn’t be having such a hard time against a specter like this, but he appeared winded. Soon, he began to lose the upper hand.

As Chu Liang watched, the ghost’s pitch-black hair suddenly came to life. Thousands of strands sprung up abruptly, instantly binding the cultivator’s limbs, tying him up securely!

But by observing her movements, she didn’t seem to intend to kill this cultivator. Instead, she turned around as if to transport him somewhere.

At that moment, Chu Liang no longer stood by. He leaped into the air and unsheathed his sword.

Shi——

Two top-grade golden cores spun to release a surge of true Qi into the Dustless Sword, transforming it into a torrent of sword Qi!

The female ghost was slain by the sword before she even had a chance to see Chu Liang’s face!

Boom.

As her shattered body dispersed, the cultivator’s body lay on the ground. He seemed quite weak as he gasped for breath.

"Thank you, Young Hero, for saving my life..." he murmured, lying on the ground in gratitude.

"There is no need for courtesy," Chu Liang replied, helping him up and about to ask why he had rashly ventured here.

Then he noticed that Jiang Yuebai and Ling Ao had also come over. Suddenly, the man asked, "Are you Immortal Jiang from Shu Mountain?"

"Yes, I am," Jiang Yuebai responded with a slight nod.

"I’ve met you in Jiangnan..." The man smiled and continued, "You must have been summoned by my brother, right? I didn’t expect him to move so quickly. To think he even managed to recruit three out of the top four of Shu Mountain to save me. I’m really sorry for the trouble..."

After listening to what he said, Chu Liang instantly guessed who he was.

There were two cultivators stationed in Shaonan Town, Chen He and his younger brother, Chen Luo. Considering that Chen Luo was injured a few days ago, this must be him.

Only he could possibly know that the Shu Mountain Sect had dispatched its top four to take care of matters in Shaonan Town.

"So it’s Officer Chen," Chu Liang nodded with a smile, "No need for apologies, we..."

"We didn’t actually come to save you," Ling Ao interrupted.

"Um ..." Chen Luo’s smile wavered slightly.

Inwardly, Chu Liang nodded. Although the words were rather tactless... it felt good to be straightforward.

Then Jiang Yuebai timely asked, "Officer Chen, why did you break into the abandoned Shen Garden?"

Chen Luo sighed faintly.

He pulled out a half-withered, white laurel petal and showed it to the three of them.

"I came to find my lover. Her name is Mu Xi... she’s a flower demon from the Laurel Grove."

"Wow," Chu Liang uttered in a slight shock.

This guy, despite being a weak cultivator, is indeed courageous. He dares to love a demonic creature despite being a government official from the City Warden Office.

"Mu Xi gave me this laurel petal. I can sense her current state and location through it. I detected that Mu Xi is in danger somewhere here..."

A laurel flower demon?

Chu Liang and the others slightly furrowed their eyebrows.

"This abandoned Shen Garden was supposed to be inaccessible. The exterior restriction had somehow suddenly disappeared. But this place is way too dangerous. We must find Mu Xi quickly or she will be in danger!" Chen Luo said anxiously.

"We too have to find Senior Brother Xu from Shu Mountain. Maybe they encountered danger together," Chu Liang said, "Let’s look for them together inside. Officer Chen, do you know much about the Shen Garden?"

Hearing his question, Chen Luo replied, "Before my brother and I took up the post in Shaonan Town, the abandoned Shen Garden was already here. It had always been under a restrictive spell, with only some messages left by the previous station officers."

"The Shen family used to be the wealthiest family in Shaonan Town. However, they were later accused of being remnants of the previous dynasty with treasonous intentions. When the Imperial Court’s investigators checked out the place, the Shen family apparently didn’t have any cultivators, yet the two experts from the Regent Residence ended up being killed here! Later, they found out that not only the Imperial Court officers died. All of the Shen family members did too. The place turned into a land of death."

"Coincidentally, at that time, the Nanyin Square Master from the Ten Earth Sects was passing by. She sealed this place and reported that a wicked creature was inside. She forbade anyone from approaching, saying that the creature would perish naturally in twenty years. The Imperial Court also imposed an information blackout, only stating that the Shen family were rebels and that resentful spirits were present, hence no one should approach."

"We are only a few days away from the twenty-year period, yet the restriction has already disappeared..." He looked worried, "I don’t know whether it’s a blessing or a curse."

"Whether it’s a blessing or a curse, we have to go in and find out," Chu Liang declared. He then pulled out a Puppet Pill.

Whoosh——

With a flash of light, a divine skill was deployed that allowed him to create an army from beans. The resulting puppet took the lead, advancing into the garden.

"We’ll use the puppet to explore the route - follow it!" Chu Liang commanded as he chased after it.

Jiang Yuebai looked at Chen Luo, "Officer Chen, can you keep up?"

Upon hearing that, Chen Luo was eager to reply "yes", but his weak body wouldn’t let him pretend to be strong. He was severely injured and completely exhausted after the battle with the female ghost.

It was only because Mu Xi was in danger, and his brother had always forbidden him to have contact with the female demon, that he had rushed here desperately, disregarding his injuries.

Now it seemed he might slow them down.

Before he could think too much about it, Ling Ao bent over and lifted him onto his back, saying, "I’ll carry you."

"Ah..." Chen Luo was deeply moved and felt a little embarrassed, "I’m sorry for the trouble."

"It’s ok," Ling Ao replied, "It’s rare to have someone weaker than me in the team. With you here, I feel better."

Chen Luo fell silent.

He thought, although this person is kind-hearted, why does he have such a tactless way of speaking?