Eight-Man Sedan?

Outside the west gate, the Jiang Tian Deng Trio was locked in battle with a Mist Shadow Person.

It was a mist-realm demon, likely Mist Realm, Fourth Rank.

It was at a higher realm than the team, but it was fighting alone. Team leader Zhang Feng was willing to give the squad a chance to train—and earn extra points.

However, ever since Lu Ran had left, the team's battle formation had fallen into complete disarray.

At that moment, Tian Tian stood at the very front!

Her tiny figure held up a huge Petal Shield, resisting the mist balls flung by the Mist Shadow Person.

She was the only one on the team with a defense technique, so there was nothing wrong with her position.

The real problem was that the tall, upright Deng Yutang had been crouching behind Tian Tian with his knees bent.

Every now and then, he would extend his spear past the edge of the Petal Shield and viciously jab the Mist Shadow Person a few times.

There was no denying that the two worked remarkably well together, inflicting injury after injury upon the Mist Shadow Person.

But the sight of it... well, it was a little hard on the eyes.

It could not be helped. At his current stage, Deng Yutang had no defense technique to protect himself.

And the Mist Shadow Person was wildly hurling mist balls around like it was tossing fucking bombs!

Without Lu Ran, Jiang Ruyi had taken up the jungle position. She drifted around the outskirts, doing everything she could to divide the Mist Shadow Person's attention.

"Zzt~ zzt~"

The electric light flickering from the girl's fingertips also traced out her path of movement.

Again and again, Electric Shackles Talismans struck the Mist Shadow Person with pinpoint precision.

However, the Mist Shadow Person's bodily structure was extraordinarily peculiar. Its entire body was made of gray mist, greatly weakening the Electric Shackles Talisman's effects.

"Crack!"

Once again, an Electric Shackles Talisman struck the Mist Shadow Person precisely.

Fine currents of electricity, like little snakes scurrying in every direction, crawled throughout that body filled with gray mist.

"Heh..."

Jiang Ruyi came to a halt, panting heavily as her chest rose and fell.

Deng Yutang reacted with lightning speed, viciously thrusting his spear forward.

The spear tip entered the mist and punched a hole through the gray-mist head.

The Mist Shadow Person's head was like a punctured balloon, endlessly leaking strands of mist.

"Hiss!"

As the electrical current within the Mist Shadow Person dissipated, it immediately let out an enraged roar.

Its pair of gray mist claws abruptly solidified into tangible form and fiercely seized the spear tip.

"You fiend, how dare you!" Deng Yutang clenched his weapon with all his strength and roared in fury as well.

On the battlefield,

Red Turban Believers never lacked an aura that pressed down on others.

But in terms of strength alone, humans of the Same Realm were simply no match for the Demon Race.

Not to mention that the Mist Shadow Person was a full two Small Ranks above Deng Yutang!

"Hold steady!" Electric light flickered once more beneath Jiang Ruyi's slender jade-like fingers.

Honestly, without Jiang Ruyi, this team would have been crushed long ago.

Deng Yutang's spear would have been snatched away ages ago, and Tian Tian's Petal Shield would have been torn apart who knew how many times.

Just as Goddess Jiang cast her technique, attempting to suppress the demon once more—

"Whoosh!!"

A fierce wind suddenly rose!

A figure flashed past Jiang Ruyi's side, sending her raincoat fluttering and her long hair flying.

Jiang Ruyi's body stiffened as her beautiful eyes widened!

Her stunned expression gradually turned to delight. "Lu Ran."

"Baa~"

A sheep's bleat quietly rang out, concealed amidst the wind and rain. It escaped human ears, and the Mist Shadow Person showed not the slightest reaction.

Sure enough, it was useless.

Lu Ran sighed inwardly.

The Mist Shadow Person's face had only an outline, no facial features—so naturally, it had no ears.

He truly did not know how it perceived the world, or how it even managed to howl.

In any case, Lu Ran's divine art, Sound of Lamentation, could not affect this unusually structured Mist Shadow Person.

"Wuh?" The Mist Shadow Person suddenly turned its head, "looking" behind itself.

Although Lu Ran's divine art had no effect, the Mist Shadow Person clearly sensed the invading enemy.

"Sss!"

The slender Xiaguang Saber severed a curtain of rain.

A ghostly figure darted through the air at extreme speed, crossing paths with the Mist Shadow Person.

In that instant,

The Xiaguang Saber cut the Mist Shadow Person cleanly in half at the waist!

Yet it still did not die. Only the section cut through at its waist continuously leaked gray mist.

"Ha! Brother Lu is back!" Deng Yutang's tiger-like eyes shone brightly as he shouted excitedly. "I knew you'd be fine!"

Tian Tian pressed her small mouth together, secretly delighted. Both her little hands trembled with excitement.

When Lu Ran had been abducted by Yanzhiren and vanished into the vast night, Tian Tian had felt as though she had been struck by lightning.

After so many years, she had finally found several teammates who respected her, a warm little group of her own.

Yet this story she had so yearned for had only just begun.

And everything had been stolen away by that bewitching Yanzhiren.

Tian Tian's heart had been weeping, but as always, even her sorrow made no sound.

Much like her was Jiang Ruyi, who had also been left utterly distraught.

She had watched helplessly as Yanzhiren carried Lu Ran away and disappeared into the rainy night.

That scene was like a slow-motion shot.

It replayed in her mind over and over, leaving her unable to focus.

Everyone living in this world knew how perilous the night of the lunar fifteenth was.

After every fifteenth, death notices released all over the world reminded the commoners time and again of that cold, cruel reality.

Yet when a living, breathing person vanished from right beside her, Jiang Ruyi still had not prepared herself mentally.

Especially when that person was Lu Ran.

Lu Ran, who had sat beside her for two years, laughing and fooling around with her.

Lu Ran, who had trained day and night atop that old rooftop, declaring that he would join the Jade Talisman Sect and slaughter every demon in the world.

Every tiny fragment of those memories made that vanished figure incomparably clear in her mind.

Jiang Ruyi did not even dare think further, much less dwell upon his fate.

Only Deng Yutang had continuously raised morale and cheered the team on, saying comforting words like, "He'll definitely come back," "Don't worry," and "Brother Lu will definitely be fine."

Funny enough,

What ultimately brought this team "back to life" was the Demon Race's Mist Shadow Person.

The sudden crisis temporarily awakened their lost and wandering shells.

Jiang Ruyi forcibly suppressed her churning emotions and gathered her spirits for battle, never imagining that in the midst of that bitter fight,

That figure whose fate had been unknown would appear once more and return here!

It was so much like an impossible dream.

"Whoosh!"

The tattered black raincoat flapped wildly in the heavy rain.

That pitch-black phantom-like figure flashed past the Gray Mist Person's side again.

"Roar!"

The Mist Shadow Person was beside itself with rage, its misty body trembling violently.

It had long since released the spearhead in its hand. Mist balls continuously gathered in its pair of mist claws as it frantically hurled them at Lu Ran.

"Die!" How could Deng Yutang possibly let such an opportunity slip away?

Gripping his spear, he thrust again and again.

In an instant, the Mist Shadow Person's upper arm, shoulder, and side of its head were stabbed into something resembling honeycomb briquettes, with vast amounts of mist leaking out.

"Roar!" The Mist Shadow Person turned to battle Deng Yutang again, but the moment its claws stretched out, Tian Tian's Petal Shield blocked them solidly.

The Mist Shadow Person viciously gripped the Petal Shield, intending to fling both shield and person away together!

At the same time, a familiar scene played out once more.

The Electric Shackles Talisman arrived in time, shocking the Mist Shadow Person until its body shuddered violently.

Deng Yutang immediately stabbed at the Mist Shadow Person's claws, relieving Tian Tian of the danger.

And such a scene had already played out countless times.

The battlefield changed in the blink of an eye. While Deng Yutang was still doing his best to rescue Tian Tian, the black Phantom appeared once more!

"Sss!"

The Divine Mist spreading beneath his feet traced Lu Ran's path.

Drawing enormous amounts of Divine Power from the Divine Power Bead hanging around his neck, he arrived behind the Mist Shadow Person in an instant, unleashing killing moves in rapid succession.

Beheading!

The Xiaguang Saber's cold light blazed as it swept across the Mist Shadow Person's neck.

Diagonal Slash!

With a turn of the blade edge, the blade tip cut from the Mist Shadow Person's right shoulder down to its left waist.

Horizontal slash!

His wrist twisted, the blade swept right—shoulder driving arm, arm driving hand.

Using his saber as a brush, Lu Ran forcibly painted a "Z" across the canvas filled with gray mist.

In an instant, mist erupted everywhere.

"Hiss—"

The Mist Shadow Person hissed furiously, stretched thin in all directions as it turned and tore backward.

Yet those two solidified, razor-sharp mist claws grasped only empty air.

The little painter behind it had already blasted mist from beneath his feet and flown backward.

The ragged hem of his black raincoat streamed forward without cease, rustling loudly.

As if it were mocking the Mist Shadow Person's impotent rage.

"Sss!"

Once again, Deng Yutang's spear pierced through the back of the head of the Mist Shadow Person.

The gleaming spear tip even poked out through the Mist Shadow Person's forehead!

At last, the crazily deflating Mist Shadow Person fell completely still.

For the Mist Shadow Person race, having its head pierced did not mean a fatal wound.

It was because the mist within its body had dispersed to a certain extent, reaching a critical point.

This bizarrely constructed creature had finally lost its life.

"Boom!!!"

Amidst the torrential rain, the Mist Shadow Person's body exploded with a tremendous crash.

A massive drop!

The sight was quite spectacular.

"Heh." Lu Ran spun his Xiaguang Saber in a Knife Flower, then placed two fingers on the slender, icy-cold blade and slowly wiped them to the tip.

Every trace of gray mist staining it was wiped away.

Don't ask.

Ask, and he was pulling out a plastic bag.

However, before Lu Ran had even finished pulling it out, he remembered something else and hurried toward the mist.

Then he desperately activated the Divine Power Bead hanging around his neck.

The crystal-clear jewel quietly lit up. The scattered mist finally found an organization and stopped gradually dissipating.

Strands of mist, like bizarre lines, twisted and flowed through the air, gathering at Lu Ran's neck and continuously pouring into the Divine Power Bead.

That scene was

both wondrous and bizarre!

Tsk, that felt good~

Lu Ran placed one hand at his neck, feeling strands of mist slip through his fingers and flow into the bead.

The Divine Power he had expended in the recent battle had now been replenished, hadn't it?

Suddenly, a hand landed on his back.

"Hm?" Lu Ran turned his head and, by the gymnasium lights, saw the girl's rain-soaked face.

Rainy weather was excellent cover, soaking everyone who fought in the rain.

But her reddened eye sockets clearly had nothing to do with the rainy weather.

"You... you're okay." Jiang Ruyi's voice was soft and quiet.

The countless words filling her heart ultimately condensed into only a few.

"Yeah." Lu Ran smiled and nodded, also noticing that something was off with the girl.

Beauty Jiang's eyes were full of complicated emotions.

There were too many feelings in her eyes for Lu Ran to tell whether she was worried or delighted.

Lu Ran smiled as he spoke, as if he truly was fine, comforting his teammates in his own style:

"I told Yanzhiren that marriage wasn't child's play. How could it be so casual?

We're not after her bride price money, but at the very least, she had to give me a proper status, right?

We've watched costume dramas too. It had to be an eight-man sedan, a proper marriage with matchmakers and ceremony!"

Lu Ran instinctively raised his hands, because the girl before him suddenly stepped forward and hugged him tightly.

This?

Lu Ran froze where he stood. Usually so quick with his tongue, he was suddenly at a loss for words.

Jiang Ruyi hugged Lu Ran tightly, as though confirming that he had truly returned.

Slowly, she released him, took a step back, lowered her head, and said softly:

"It's good that you're back."

Lu Ran's mouth hung slightly open. After a long while, he finally blurted out, "Actually, it'd be fine if I didn't go with her.

Yanzhiren was icy cold to hug. You're still warmer.

Oh, right, does your family have an eight-man sedan? Holy crap!"

Deng Yutang appeared behind Lu Ran, suddenly scooped him up, and tossed him into the air.

"Yahoo~~~

Hahaha! I knew it, I knew you'd definitely come back! Hahahaha!"

His uninhibited laughter brimmed with joy, irresistibly infectious.

Lu Ran laughed along with him. "Haha!"

No matter what psychological activity his teammates had gone through, Lu Ran was the one who had truly lived through it.

He had indeed taken a trip through the gates of hell.

Being able to survive was truly a stroke of fortune.

The heavy rain still poured down.

Yet as it fell upon Lu Ran, it was like sweet dew, letting the survivor of a great calamity feel the precious experience that only the living could possess.

Jiang Ruyi looked up at Lu Ran, who had been tossed into the air and was laughing heartily.

At last,

a smile appeared on her face as well.

Thanks to Nance Youhun, Jingdi, DaCapa, and Ye Luoweifeng for the donations. Thank you for your support, bosses—you're so generous! (`) Heart gesture