Kill That Taoist Priest

Li Chu sheathed his sword, looking at the empty night sky ahead with some regret.

Although he had killed this ghost, he hadn't gained much. He had a premonition that things wouldn't end so simply.

A Qiang turned his head, looking at the empty courtyard ahead, questioning his life.

Where did my wall go?

Such a huge wall, and it just disappeared?

The little daoist priest's voice interrupted his shock again.

"Could you please come back with me?" Li Chu said.

Before the resentful qi on A Qiang dissipated, it was best not to let him stay here any longer, to avoid any accidents.

He had to be cautious at this time; after all, human lives were at stake.

"Oh." A Qiang quickly got up.

He was actually a little scared.

But when someone in front of you could clear everything tens of zhang, even tens of zhang away, with a single sword strike from a distance, it was hard to refuse them.

Li Chu walked ahead silently, and he followed meekly behind.

After passing a few streets, A Qiang immediately recognized that this was the way to the county government office.

He mustered his courage and asked, "Are you a lord from Facing Heaven Pavilion?"

"No, I'm from Virtuous Cloud Temple outside town," Li Chu shook his head and answered simply.

"Oh, you're Little Daoist Priest Li, right?" A Qiang immediately recalled.

He had heard people say before that there was a particularly handsome little daoist priest in Virtuous Cloud Temple. Thinking of Li Chu's face again, it clicked.

Then, he suddenly remembered that A Zhen had told him about this matter.

Another wave of sadness washed over him.

Li Chu knew he must have something sad on his mind, but he wasn't good at comforting people.

He brought him all the way to the county government office, where the three shifts of yamen runners had recently increased their patrols, led personally by Head Constable Zhou Dafu.

He handed A Qiang over to Zhou Dafu, leaving the follow-up matters for him to handle.

Returning to the backyard of the yamen, he saw Li Xinyi waiting in the courtyard.

"Solved?"

Li Xinyi knew what he was going to do.

"Mhm, it went smoothly," Li Chu said.

Li Xinyi looked at him with a complex expression.

Two days ago, they had discussed observing qi, and she had wanted to report to the Sect to request a Master be dispatched.

Who knew that tonight, he would be able to monitor the entire Yuhang Town area?

Just now, Li Chu had discovered a place with dense resentful qi and went ahead to wait for the rabbit. As expected, he had eliminated a ghost that had come to sow discord in people's hearts in one fell swoop.

But...

Li Xinyi really wanted to loudly question the Man before her.

Why are you so fast?

But she knew that asking would yield no results.

She had already asked during the daytime. At that time, Li Chu had told her with a completely innocent expression that he had mastered the Mind's Eye Art of the Blind God Sword predecessor.

Li Xinyi immediately threw him a charming, pleading look.

Desire, wanting.

When a Beauty shows such a look, not many Men can refuse.

Moreover, Li Chu had no intention of keeping it to himself anyway.

The Blind God Sword predecessor was so great as to spread his unique Secret Art throughout the jianghu. How could he be petty?

Thus, he carefully took out a stiff Yellow Book...

If this book hadn't been produced by Li Chu, and it were a second person, Li Xinyi would definitely have thought he was a Liar.

But Li Chu's expression was too serious, to the point that she actually believed his nonsense.

She took the "manual" from Li Chu's hands as if she were holding a treasure.

But upon seeing the Cultivation Method on it, she began to doubt again.

Just by closing her eyes and sensing, without any incantations, to suddenly perceive the Breath of Heaven and Earth in one day...

It looked like a scam no matter how you looked at it.

Even a Child wouldn't believe such nonsense, right?

But she still cultivated according to the method for a whole day.

I can't feel anything.

Just as I thought, it's all a lie!

But she didn't feel disappointed.

Because it should be like this, only a fool would fall for such a trick!

Miss Li stomped her foot.

But Li Chu explained with utmost seriousness, "To observe qi, one needs the 'mind's eye.' You don't have it yet. Just keep trying to feel it."

Indeed, that's what the book said.

But no matter how she heard it, Li Xinyi felt like it was a personal attack...

And no matter how much she disbelieved him, Li Chu's current qi-observing ability was undeniable.

She couldn't refute that.

So annoying.

White Bone Mountain, Corpse Hiding Cave.

This place was once a lush, verdant mountain. Legend has it that during the He Luo Conquest Battle, a large army buried over a hundred thousand surrendered soldiers from the Southern Kingdom here. The entire mountain gradually became barren.

Centuries later, a mountain flood broke through the cliff face, revealing a massive pile of white bones that filled the surrounding area.

The locals reburied all the bones on the mountain. Fearing that this might give rise to restless spirits, they invited an immortal master from Green Goat Palace, one of the Twelve Immortal Sects, to perform a ritual.

From then on, the mountain was known as White Bone Mountain. The cave where the bones were buried was later called Corpse Hiding Cave.

Another few hundred years passed.

At this moment, moonlight slanted into Corpse Hiding Cave.

It illuminated four shadows of various appearances.

Seated on the east was a figure in the attire of the Previous Dynasty. A plain white, wide-sleeved robe, flowing and ethereal. Upon closer inspection, one would notice that the robe seemed to be empty beneath.

Looking up again, a skull was visible on the robe. Its bones were stark white, its eye sockets empty, with two wisps of ghostly fire flickering within.

It raised a hand, which was indeed a white, bony skeleton.

As its finger moved, a shout echoed through the cave.

"I bumped into a Daoist priest! Ah—"

The cry ended in a wail.

"This is a telepathic message from Lan Cai. (He) went to Yuhang Town to collect Life Silver just now and only sent back this message. (He) should be... dead by now."

The white-robed skeleton said in a deep, hoarse voice.

"A Daoist? Is it that Daoist who went on a killing spree in the Ghost Tower?"

Sitting to the south was a tall Ghost General clad in heavy armor. The moonlight couldn't illuminate (his) face clearly, only revealing the bloodstains and rust on (his) iron armor, suggesting (he) had endured countless years.

(His) voice was harsh and unpleasant, like metal grinding.

"Eighty percent it's him." The white-robed skeleton replied. "When the Ghost Tower incident happened, we worried that if this continued, the subordinates who defected with us from the Ghost Kingdom would eventually be killed by him, so we sped up the collection of Life Silver. I didn't expect... now even collecting Life Silver is falling victim to his wicked hand."

"Foolish. As long as Our King's Seal is broken, we can have as many low-ranking subordinates as we want. Rushing for success has instead cost us a Ghost General! Heh heh."

Sitting to the west, opposite the skeleton, was an incredibly broad and imposing back. (He) was about three Zhang tall, with shoulders more than a Zhang wide. Although (his) physique was human-like, (he) was clearly not.

(His) voice was also incredibly deep and resonant, (his) cold laugh echoing in the cave.

"Black Fang!" The white-robed skeleton snapped. "You should know that speeding up the collection of Life Silver was a decision made by Lan Cai and me. And... it's not that if we weren't in a hurry to break Our King's Seal, we wouldn't be killed. That Daoist might be coming for us."

"That's Right."

The last Ghost in the cave, sitting in the shadows to the north, had a voice that was charming and lingering, surprisingly a Female.

(She) said slowly, "In this Jiangnan Town, where would such a powerful Daoist suddenly appear from? Most likely, it's some nosy fellow from White Jade Capital or Green Goat Palace who discovered some clue and is watching us here."

"So what do we do now? I'd like to hear your plans." The white-robed skeleton asked.

The armored Ghost to the south said, "Our King's Seal is about to be broken. We just need a little more Life Silver. Why don't we collect Life Silver elsewhere? Even if it's farther away. As long as it's safe..."

The white-robed skeleton remained silent.

The Ghost to the west, known as "Black Fang," said, "Where else can we hide? Haven't we hidden far enough? If you ask me, there will be other Cultivators elsewhere. It's just one Daoist; why not just kill him and be done with it? Always placing your hope in Our King, Life Silver isn't that easy to collect. Before then, we might all be slaughtered one by one."

The charming Female hesitated, "Although that's the case, we still don't know the Daoist's strength..."

Black Fang added, "If he were truly a cultivator of high attainment, he would have found us long ago. We wouldn't still be sitting here calmly discussing."

"But..."

The Female was about to say more when the white-robed skeleton spoke, "Enough."

"Black Fang and I are of the same mind." The white-robed skeleton said. "I also think killing him sooner is the best option. He went on a killing spree in the Ghost Tower first, and now he's preventing us from collecting Life Silver. It's clear he's coming for us. Black Fang is right, we can't always place our hope in Our King!"

"Heh heh." Black Fang chuckled twice.

(His) laughter was still echoing in the cave when the white-robed skeleton spoke again:

"Then I'll leave this matter to Black Fang to handle. First, investigate the Taoist's background, then prepare to make a move. Green Armor and Red Ribbon will both be under your command. You must ensure there are no mistakes!"

Black Fang's laughter abruptly stopped.

It hesitated, paused, and asked, "Bai Jian, you..."

The white-robed skeleton immediately replied, "I need to stay here to refine the Life Silver I collected earlier. It's a critical moment, and I can't get away. If this delays the speed of breaking Our King's Seal, the loss will outweigh the gain."

"But you are..."

Black Fang wanted to say more.

Then it heard the white-robed skeleton say, "Black Fang, you can't do it, can you? You were just speaking the most passionately, and I thought you were the worthy first Ghost General. If you're scared, we can discuss it further..."

"How could I be scared!"

Black Fang roared, suddenly stood up, and strode out of the cave with great momentum.

The sound of its footsteps was as pure as a blank sheet of paper.

Thanks to "Xiao Dong Chong Xin" for the 500 reward.