Although Yang An had prepared himself mentally in advance, he was still extremely tense.
The matter of demons and monsters was deeply etched into the memories of his former self. When some terrifying thing spread through rumors, whether those rumors were exaggerated or not, when it truly arrived, anyone would react just as he did.
Yang An faced a formidable enemy. He pulled the small knife from beneath his pillow, held it before himself, and stared unblinking at the door.
In his mind, he imagined how the demon outside might enter and how he should respond. In an instant, all manner of jumbled thoughts sprang up.
Then, in the next moment, without a sound, the red flame in the bowl on the table rippled slightly.
Immediately afterward, before Yang An's eyes, the door, whose bolt had been firmly secured, slowly opened a crack.
As though controlled by an invisible hand, the door bolt swiftly dropped to the floor, and the door flew wide open.
Yang An instantly rose from the bed and stared fixedly outside, only for his heart to jolt.
In the deep darkness of the night, there was nothing outside the door. Nothing at all!
But before he could make another move,
the red firelight in the bowl suddenly flared brightly, illuminating the room even more.
And at that moment, Yang An's pupils abruptly contracted.
At the doorway, where there had been nothing at all, a distorted figure suddenly appeared, as though the red firelight had revealed its form.
The demon wore a grayish-white monk's robe. Its body was twisted and hunched, its limbs uneven in thickness and all warped to varying grotesque degrees.
Its bald head had neither mouth nor nose, only two hollow, pitch-black eye sockets that seemed to be staring straight at Yang An.
It seemed not to have expected Yang An to be able to see it.
Separated by a distance of about ten feet, the two exchanged a glance and both froze for a moment.
This was the first time Yang An had seen what a real demon looked like.
Yet after seeing the demon's true form, the first emotion that surged through him was not terror or fear, but... astonishment!
Because after revealing itself, the demon's clothing was exactly the same as that of the monks in White Buddha Temple!
Even its head was identical to theirs, utterly devoid of a single hair.
He had returned disappointed from White Buddha Temple only that day, so the memories of those greedy bald monks were still vivid.
In an instant, Yang An reacted, and a terrifying thought immediately arose in his heart.
White Buddha Temple... demons...
The monks of White Buddha Temple are demons?!
It seemed that, by sheer accident, he had discovered the truth behind why demons had appeared in Jiu Nan Town.
At that moment, the monk-like demon stepped into the room and entered the crimson firelight.
A piercing scream immediately rang out.
The entire room was bathed in red firelight, and naturally, the demon was illuminated as well.
In an instant, countless red blotches began appearing across the demon's body. They looked like the red marks left by searing heat burning straight through flesh. Patch after patch surfaced, and in the blink of an eye, covered over half its body.
Although Yang An had no idea how the demon, without a mouth or nose, could scream,
he immediately realized that the Lighting Method was displaying its demon-repelling effect.
He had not expected the effect to be so immediate, or so powerful.
The demon clearly had not expected to suffer such intense pain upon entering. Only a breath after stepping into the room, it did not hesitate before turning and rushing outside.
Trailing scorching red firelight, the demon's figure shot out of the house in an instant and vanished into the dark night outside in the blink of an eye.
From the demon's appearance to its panicked flight and disappearance,
the entire process had ended in only a single breath.
Yang An was still standing on the bed, gripping his small knife before him, utterly unprepared for this outcome.
Once he could no longer see the demon's figure and the outside was once more swallowed by profound darkness, he immediately jumped off the bed, rushed over in a few strides, shut the door, picked up the fallen bolt, and slid it back into place.
Only after doing all this did Yang An let out a breath of relief, his entire body filled with indescribable excitement.
He had never imagined that the Lighting Method would work so well. It had far exceeded his expectations.
Its ability to repel demons was so simple and brutal.
Had that demon lingered for another breath or two, the flames ignited within its body would likely have burned it completely to ashes on the spot.
Is this an immortal art?
Strong! Too strong!
After witnessing the might of the Lighting Method, Yang An finally let out a long breath. The oppressive weight that had hung over his heart these past days dissipated by more than half at this moment.
This was the confidence that came from possessing power.
His gaze fell on the bowl containing blood on the table. Once the excitement faded, it was time to consider what to do next.
Though the Lighting Method was immensely powerful and worked immediately, it also consumed a great deal.
The blood, which had not been plentiful to begin with, was now nearly depleted. It had been rapidly consumed when the method displayed its power and drove off the demon. What remained would likely be unable to deal with any more demons.
If that demon returned, this little blood would definitely not be enough.
More terrifying still, what if there was more than one demon in Jiu Nan Town?
Yang An's heart sank, and he inwardly cursed his bad luck.
Seeing the demon's true form had instantly made him think of White Buddha Temple. If the demons truly had some connection to White Buddha Temple, then no matter what, he could not remain in Jiu Nan Town any longer.
It seemed he could only find a way to survive tonight first. Once dawn came, he had to leave this dangerous place.
Meanwhile, outside the house, atop a roof somewhere,
Pan Shi and Pan Yu, Senior Brother and junior sister, had been quietly waiting for the demon below to finish its business and quickly leave.
Yet in an instant, brilliant red light burst from the house below. After a piercing scream, the demon that had entered the room fled at breakneck speed, looking as though it had caught fire.
"Senior Brother, what is going on?"
With a bloody single eye protruding from her forehead, Pan Yu stared at the scene below in astonishment, then turned to Pan Shi beside her.
Pan Shi wore the same stunned expression.
He had originally believed that the demon would swiftly deal with the person in the room before leaving.
He had not expected the result to be so vastly different from what he had imagined.
The demon had actually fled!
Why had there been signs of burning across the demon's body as it fled? What was that red light in the room?
Everything had happened far too suddenly.
Facing his junior sister Pan Yu's question, Pan Shi pondered for a moment and immediately reached an answer.
"It seems I misjudged him. The person in that house is actually a fellow practitioner!"
Think about it: throughout Jiu Nan Town, every resident dared not make the slightest sound at night for fear of attracting demons. Yet this house alone had a lamp lit, light spilling from it like a firefly in the darkness, impossible to ignore.
Earlier, Pan Shi had thought the person inside was simply too foolish, that such behavior was no different from courting death.
But now that he thought about it, this was clearly fishing!
He had been waiting for the demon to reveal itself!
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