Punishing the Thief

Song Chengan held the Demon Subduing Staff and gave chase.

Finally, the paper crane they had been tracking stopped in front of a dilapidated garden south of the city.

This must be the place.

Song Chengan looked at the garden gate, then ultimately chose to climb over the wall.

Song Chengan saw a scrawny child.

The child saw him too, then turned and ran.

"Stop!"

Song Chengan chased after him without a second thought.

"Grandpa Balu."

"Someone's here."

Wu Gou'er pushed open the door and burst in.

A gust of wind blew in with the door he opened, causing the copper lamps on the ground to sway violently, nearly extinguishing them.

"Get out!"

Balu waved his hand, and Wu Gou'er was sent flying, crashing into the wall and losing consciousness.

"You idiot, how many times have I told you not to burst in like that?"

"If you blow out the lamp, I'll kill you!"

Balu roared in fury.

On the ground.

Forty-nine copper lamps surrounded Balu.

"Just one step left."

Balu slowly performed a ritualistic walking pattern.

Years of preparation, all for today.

As long as he could borrow life...

He didn't want to die.

When he was young, he had considered himself fearless of death.

But now he was old, and death had truly arrived.

He was afraid.

He wanted to live longer.

He wanted to reach Foundation Establishment, to form a Golden Core.

"It's almost done!"

Balu felt his long-decayed heart seemed to become young again.

Its beat was so powerful.

"Not good!"

"The formation!"

Song Chengan entered the garden, chasing the child.

But with a moment's distraction, he lost sight of the child.

Suddenly, a thick fog inexplicably appeared in the garden.

In the fog.

The rockeries seemed to come alive, moving constantly.

Each time they moved, the path on the ground changed direction.

This formation is truly bizarre.

Song Chengan thought of the great formation in the dense forest of Mount Luo.

It also used mist to disorient people, preventing them from entering Mount Luo.

If I smash the stones, the formation should break.

Song Chengan knew that in some crude formations, the manipulated objects themselves were part of the formation's foundation.

Like these rockery stones.

Song Chengan couldn't do anything about the larger rockeries, but the smaller stones were not a problem.

Seeing one of the stones move towards him, Song Chengan directly raised the Demon Subduing Staff and swung!

With a loud bang, the stone shattered into a pile of fragments.

"Just as I thought."

"You just need to shatter enough foundation points of the formation, and this formation will naturally collapse."

Inside the dim room.

Balu's aged face flushed with excitement.

"It's done!"

"They all say you borrow fate to defy the heavens."

"I have surpassed heaven."

A smile involuntarily appeared on his face.

A Qi Refiner in the late Dao Seed Realm, a Gu Master, had borrowed the Mandate of Heaven.

This... was an achievement worthy of pride.

"Squeak."

Just then.

A rat appeared on the roof beam at some point.

It fell down.

Coincidentally, it landed right on one of the bronze lamps.

Balu froze.

He hadn't done anything.

He let the startled rat scurry around, eventually bumping its head and passing out on the door.

Balu fell silent.

At this moment, the door was kicked open.

A young man holding a long staff appeared at the entrance.

"Demon Suppression Division business, you are under arrest!"

"Heh heh."

Balu waved his hand, and a cloud of gray poisonous smoke surged towards Song Chengan.

Song Chengan's expression changed drastically.

The Gu Masters of the Southern Border were most skilled with Gu worms and poisons; he didn't dare to be careless and could only retreat from the room first.

This gave Balu an opportunity.

With a leap, he grabbed the unconscious Wu Gou'er and smashed through the window, escaping.

"You can't get away, surrender now!"

Balu stopped.

He panted heavily.

"I'm old, I can't run anymore."

As he spoke, he threw Wu Gou'er onto the ground.

Then, he drew his sword and attacked Song Chengan!

A surge of gray True Qi erupted from his sword.

Song Chengan met the attack with his staff!

But his expression immediately changed, and he quickly retreated!

Because in the instant they clashed, some tiny strange insects floated towards him.

Those strange insects were extremely small; they wouldn't be noticeable without a close look.

"Watch your sword!"

As soon as Song Chengan dodged, Balu thrust his sword again.

"They're fighting!"

"Someone's killing someone!"

As the two clashed, the street immediately descended into chaos.

Pedestrians fled in all directions.

But some people stopped after a few steps to watch the spectacle.

"Get lost, the yamen is on duty."

"If you keep watching, I'll arrest you all and throw you in jail!"

Song Chengan was furious at their behavior.

The Gu Master's methods were already bizarre and unpredictable, and he could barely defend himself.

These ignorant fools weren't running away but were instead watching the commotion.

With his roar.

Some people ran.

But there were still some who didn't know death and continued to watch.

"Worry about yourself first!"

Balu thrust out his sword.

Song Chengan dodged.

But immediately his expression changed.

A golden silkworm shot from Balu's hand and bit at him.

Song Chengan's face changed drastically!

Golden Silkworm!

In the Southern Border, it was known as a sacred insect.

How could someone who was only in the first realm of Dao Seed possess a Golden Silkworm!

Golden Silkworms were extremely poisonous; even a Foundation Establishment cultivator would die if bitten, let alone a Dao Seed realm cultivator like Song Chengan.

Song Chengan instinctively swung his staff at the Golden Silkworm.

"Huh?"

Song Chengan was stunned.

Didn't they say this was the sacred insect of the Gu tribe?

Why was it so weak?

The Gu worm turned into a pile of mud under his staff.

"No, my True Qi restrains it."

Song Chengan realized something.

He immediately circulated his Heavenly Radiance Dao Qi with all his might.

Instantly, his body was enveloped in a purplish-red True Qi shield. Balu's poisonous black True Qi, upon contact with his Heavenly Radiance Dao Qi, melted away like ice and snow.

Not only that.

Those strange poisonous insects could no longer get close to Song Chengan.

"Heavenly Radiance Dao Qi?" Balu recognized the origin of Song Chengan's Dao Qi.

"Heaven is destroying me."

"You can still surrender now."

"Surrender?"

"And be locked up in the Demon Suppression Division's prison for life?"

As he spoke, he lunged forward again.

Afterward, Balu attacked Song Chengan madly, as if he had gone insane.

But unfortunately, his attacks were useless.

He was too old.

His Blood Essence was declining.

Coupled with his True Qi being restrained by Song Chengan.

After more than ten rounds.

Song Chengan knocked his sword flying with a single strike.

Blood trickled from Balu's lips.

But his eyes were brighter than ever.

"Look at my move."

"Myriad Gu, Thousand Insects!"

As he spoke, he slammed his palm onto the ground.

Instantly, countless strange Gu worms, the size of soybeans, surged towards the surrounding crowd.

"Help!"

"Oh my god!"

"Brother Song!"

Ding Dahai, with a group of people, ran over from a distance at this moment.

"Run, those are poisonous insects!"

Song Chengan roared.

The crowd immediately descended into chaos.

Hearing this from a distance, Ding Dahai turned and fled.

"This is bad!"

Song Chengan's face turned pale.

How many people would die?

"Grandpa Balu, please don't kill anyone."

At this moment.

A weak voice came from behind Balu.

Balu paused.

The Gu worms passed through the crowd and crawled into the surrounding alleys.

Soon.

Dogs rushed out from the alleys.

Their eyes were blood red.

A Gu worm was attached to the back of each of their heads.

They roared and charged at Song Chengan.

Song Chengan naturally didn't hold back this time.

He struck them down one by one with his staff.

Song Chengan breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, they were just animals.

If these Gu worms had controlled people...

Song Chengan's Demon Subduing Staff hovered in front of a dog's head... The red in the dog's eyes faded. It let out a terrified yelp and then scrambled back into the alley, whimpering.

The other few dogs that had been controlled also fled in terror.

"Brother Song, this person is dead."

Song Chengan looked around.

He saw that Balu had stopped breathing at some point.

"This old fellow, how many people has he harmed?"

Ding Dahai kicked him to the ground.

"Captain Ding!"

Song Chengan was still shaken.

It wasn't that he was afraid of the strange man, but rather that, just moments ago, many innocent people had almost been controlled by the Gu worms.

"This man is a Gu master from the Southern Border. His methods are extremely bizarre. He almost harmed innocents just now."

"Hurry and persuade the onlookers to disperse."

"I just joined the Demon Suppression Division, and they don't know me. They won't listen to me."

Ding Dahai was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted: "Brother Song, don't worry. We'll go persuade them to go back now."

"Didn't you hear Brother Song?"

After Ding Dahai finished speaking, he looked at the yamen runners beside him and shouted.

The yamen runners immediately ran towards the surrounding citizens, beating and kicking them, their long staffs swinging non-stop.

Song Chengan: "..."