Ghost Infant

"Rou Yan, don't keep attacking head-on. Analyze its attack patterns more and adapt to its rhythm."

"Jiang Wu, what are you hesitating for? Attack it head-on!"

On the street, two figures, one attacking and one defending, were joining forces against a grotesque humanoid Evil Spirit before them.

But compared to before, the confidence on their faces had already vanished. Both were covered in quite a few injuries and looked utterly bedraggled.

Meanwhile, Ma Xiu stood outside the battlefield, watching the fight with a smile. From time to time, he offered a few pointers, looking thoroughly at ease.

When Ling Yun arrived at the scene, this was what he saw.

With his eye for such things, he could tell at a glance that the two fighting were roughly equivalent to martial artists at the Force Comprehension level.

Their strength was not particularly impressive, but considering their age, it was already terrifying.

The martial artists at Black Tiger Martial Hall who were the same age as them were probably still agonizing over breaking through to Force Conduit.

But that was only natural. After all, not everyone had a cheat like he did.

At this point, the battle gradually entered its fiercest stage.

Faced with the Evil Spirit's increasingly ferocious attacks, the two complained bitterly as they retreated again and again.

Though Ma Xiu had no intention of stepping in to help, his gaze had grown serious.

After all, both of them came from influential backgrounds. A proper trial was fine, but if something truly happened to them, he could not bear the responsibility.

Just then, the Evil Spirit suddenly let out an enraged howl. Its strength surged in an instant, and Jiang Wu, who had been keeping its attacks in check, was caught off guard and sent flying on the spot.

His being flung away was bad enough, but it directly exposed Rou Yan, who had been preparing to attack from behind, to the Evil Spirit.

Facing the frenzied Evil Spirit charging straight at her, Rou Yan, who had never seen such a scene before, was so frightened that her mind went blank. She stood frozen in place, at a complete loss.

Just as blood was about to splatter across the scene, a patch of shadow suddenly appeared beneath the Evil Spirit's feet. The next moment, a pair of ghostly claws reached out from the darkness, flipping it onto the ground and pinning it down tightly.

"Why aren't you attacking yet?!" Ma Xiu's voice rang out, instantly jolting Rou Yan awake from her terror.

Looking at the Evil Spirit struggling to rise before her, she gritted her pearly teeth and thrust her longsword straight into its eye socket.

The longsword in her hand seemed to possess some special advantage against Evil Spirits. With this single strike, she severely wounded it.

"Roar!!"

As the longsword was pulled free, a stream of black blood immediately sprayed out. The heavily wounded Evil Spirit howled madly and actually broke free from the ghostly claws' restraint.

But sensing that things were going badly, Rou Yan had already retreated far to the rear.

Jiang Wu, who had been sent flying, also came rushing back with a flushed face. Apparently wanting to regain face before his goddess, he roared and charged forward again.

Yet Rou Yan did not spare him even a glance. She merely stared at the blood staining her sword tip, a flush passing over her face as though she was somewhat... excited?

The battle afterward was rather dull. The already grievously wounded Evil Spirit, coupled with Ma Xiu's occasional guidance from the side, soon let out a wail as Jiang Wu pierced its vital point, sending it crashing to the ground dead.

"Phew, it's finally over. This young lady is exhausted to death!" Rou Yan wiped the sweat from her face and collapsed onto the ground without the slightest concern for her image.

"Yeah. Who would have thought that a mere Mortal-Grade Evil Spirit would actually be this troublesome?"

Though Jiang Wu was also exhausted, he forced himself to look utterly relaxed in order to maintain his cool image.

Unfortunately, his constantly trembling legs had already betrayed him completely.

"Hehe, now you understand what I said before, right?"

"To tell you the truth, this Evil Spirit had only just taken form. Even among Mortal-Grade Evil Spirits, it was in the weakest tier."

"If it ate another two or three people, its strength would soar far beyond what it is now!" Ma Xiu walked over with his arms folded, smiling pleasantly.

"Next, let me teach you another piece of common sense: no matter where you are, you must stay alert to your surroundings at all times."

Seeing the baffled looks on their faces, Ma Xiu did not explain. Instead, he suddenly turned toward a dark corner and said in a low voice, "Friend, you've watched from the side for so long. Why not come out and meet us?"

"Someone was watching from nearby?" The two were first stunned, then quickly rose to their feet and looked in the direction Ma Xiu indicated.

Yet the scene was utterly silent. Other than themselves, they could find no trace of anyone else.

Just as they began to suspect that Ma Xiu was deliberately teasing them, a heavy set of footsteps sounded. A burly figure slowly emerged from the darkness.

Under the moonlight, Ling Yun's calm face was revealed before them.

"There really is someone!" The two perked up. After giving Ling Yun a once-over, disappointment quickly appeared in their eyes.

"Tch, I thought he was somebody important. So he's just a lowly martial artist." Jiang Wu's gaze was filled with disdain.

Rou Yan's eyes darted around as she asked curiously, "Hey, big guy, were you peeking at us from the side just now?"

Ling Yun gave her an odd look. "Peeking? Little girl, that's an interesting way to put it. This isn't your home. Do I need your permission to take a walk here?"

Rou Yan's expression stiffened, and only after a long while did she say indignantly:

"Hmph, what's with that? You're just a martial artist. What are you so arrogant about?"

Seeing his goddess suffer a setback, Jiang Wu's hormones immediately rushed to his head. Like an enraged young bull, he drew his sword and shouted as he moved to teach Ling Yun a lesson, only to be stopped in time by Ma Xiu.

Ling Yun had no intention of bickering with these two brats. Instead, he looked at Ma Xiu with interest and asked:

"By the way, how did you discover me? This time, I wasn't detected by that strange thing of yours."

Ma Xiu did not answer. He merely looked at Ling Yun with a somewhat grave expression.

Although his senses told him that the person before him was indeed only a martial artist, he inexplicably felt a shiver run down his spine.

It was just like... that Fiend-Grade Evil Spirit the squad had once surrounded and exterminated!

"Haha, what am I thinking?" Ma Xiu laughed inwardly, shaking his head to dispel the thought.

He must have been too tense tonight to entertain such an absurd idea.

He immediately gave Ling Yun an indifferent glance and bluntly ordered him away.

"Kid, the Demon Suppression Division is handling a case here. If you have nothing to do, get out of here now!"

This guy was somewhat strange. It would be best to drive him away quickly and avoid provoking him—that was what Ma Xiu thought.

Ling Yun was not angered. His gaze swept toward a certain direction as he said in an enigmatic tone:

"Rather than guarding against me over there, you should take care of yourselves first. Your trouble hasn't been resolved yet."