Spear Stab to Break the Enemy

Those people's faces gradually twisted into something fierce, their eyes bloodshot like wild beasts, while deep, muffled sounds rumbled from their throats.

Along the way, Old Zhao had done almost all the fighting. Before Ming Shu could borrow the power of the Demonic Spirit from the Stone Pagoda, she had no combat ability whatsoever.

She had only a tiny bit of practical experience, too.

But with the small blue Stone Pagoda on her, she felt emboldened.

With a light point of Old Zhao's finger, those fearless thugs would fall unconscious. Hopefully, they could have a good sleep.

Hopefully, everything would be back to normal tomorrow.

Old Zhao could deal with four or five people at once. As it happened, the ruffians who had originally been loitering around the alley entrances usually moved in groups of three to five.

At most, they carried a cudgel or two; not one of them had an iron weapon. After Old Zhao knocked down a group of four, Ming Shu picked up two cudgels from the ground.

Although the battle on Ming Shu and Old Zhao's side was more intense, slowing their advance so that they could not move quickly,

on Chong Li's side, after receiving the county magistrate's support, they had already received the message sent in by Second Senior Brother. Thanks to the tip-off from Earl Ying, they had to deal with several forbidden areas first.

Only half of the county magistrate's constables had reported for duty. The others had certainly been incapacitated by their lack of strength, and after taking medicine from the Ximen Family, they had now lost control.

The situation was far more serious than the county magistrate had predicted.

There were not enough people they could deploy to act against several targets at once. Thus, they could only concentrate their forces and deal with them one by one.

Ming Shu and Old Zhao were chased all over the city by those local thugs and hired hands. It seemed they had already gotten lost.

The city had completely descended into chaos.

The county magistrate, Chong Li, and Ren Yuan brought the secretary and constables—mainly those who were not from the Ximen Family—and joined forces with several other lineages. They assembled dozens of Martial Artists and more than two hundred household guards, relying on a little of each family's hidden reserves to barely resist the erosion of the strange power in the air.

They prevented the ordinary guards and household servants from also losing control.

With more people came courage, and their combined fighting strength was still passable. They charged together toward the nearest brothel, where things had already descended into complete madness.

The scene was a total mess: smashing, wrecking, tearing, screams, even howls. The brothel, once lavishly decorated, had become battered and disordered.

Chong Li and Ren Yuan charged inside and fought their way to the very back. They opened the underground secret passage, knocking down more than a dozen guards along the way and leaving them for the constables behind to lock up.

They were eager to descend and see how the so-called forbidden area raised ghosts, how much was left, and whether there were any valuable clues.

As for Ming Shu and the others, while lost, they arrived at the entrance of the gambling house she had observed several times that morning.

Most of the people inside the gambling house had gone to the Ximen Family. Although the interior had also become a complete, chaotic mess,

several Third-tier Martial Artists still remained. Moreover, they did not appear to have gone mad.

Their clothing was that of Great Jin, but their eyes and bearing immediately revealed an intense foreign aura.

They were barbarians.

The moment Old Zhao and Ming Shu entered the gambling house, they exchanged a glance and understood each other without words.

Old Zhao had never truly taken the group of pursuers behind them seriously. The real enemies were the barbarian scouts before them.

Ming Shu and Old Zhao shut the main doors, blocking the thugs outside. They had all lost control, and after losing their two targets, they showed no inclination to force their way into the gambling house.

Ming Shu and Old Zhao had lured them all the way here only because they feared the thugs would attack other ordinary people indiscriminately.

Those who had lost control in the city were actually only a minority. Some people were perfectly fine, while others had fallen unconscious.

An enormous disaster involving more than a hundred thousand people had occurred only a handful of times in Great Jin's thousand-year history. If it was not handled properly, not only would the county magistrate's official career come to an end, but the leading figures of the entire faction behind him would suffer as well.

Therefore, the leading figures of this faction within the Academy were certainly already on their way. What Ming Shu and the others needed was more time.

They also had to do everything possible to keep the losses within the smallest range.

Behind several Third- and Fourth-tier Martial Artists sat a Fifth-tier barbarian warrior. His eyes were gloomy and vicious. After confirming Old Zhao's strength, he immediately drew his saber and attacked.

He leaped into the air and charged at Old Zhao.

When Old Zhao and Ming Shu had exchanged glances moments earlier, the two had tacitly divided their tasks.

Old Zhao had extensive combat experience. She would first deal with the scouts below the Fifth tier, while Ming Shu herself would hold off this leader.

Demonic Spirit-Bearing Heavenly King, activate! Ming Shu instantly gained immense strength.

The two wooden cudgels in her hands suddenly felt different as well.

One was like a javelin. Ming Shu hurled it with all her strength at the Fifth-tier barbarian leader who was leaping toward her.

A sharp tearing sound rang out. Unable to dodge in midair, the man relied on the saber in his hands and slashed down head-on.

He split the wooden cudgel in two. Yet he could not stop its momentum. The two halves still slammed into his body and sent him flying backward.

Ming Shu swung the remaining cudgel and charged over.

Old Zhao had already seized the saber from one man's hands and killed another with a wave of her arm. With her advantage in cultivation, she dodged several perilous attacks in an instant amid the group's assault.

Ming Shu did not look over. Her side was the more dangerous one.

Relying on the spear-and-cudgel techniques provided by the Demonic Spirit, she launched an offensive.

Of the four skills, only two could still be used. Aura and Formation Borrowing Strength were currently impossible to employ.

Spear Stab to Break the Enemy and Pagoda Protection, however, both required perfect timing. They could only be used at the most critical moment for maximum efficiency.

The leader crashed into the wall and used the impact to bleed off the force. Then he continued wielding his saber against Ming Shu. As expected of a scout leader capable of leading a team deep into enemy territory, both his adaptability and combat strength were formidable.

His experience and insight in slaughter were formidable as well.

It was just that he carried no aura of a demonic spirit, Ghost Spirit, or Demonic Spirit. To head south and infiltrate Great Jin's cities, they had to avoid the various checkpoints, especially the sorcerers of the Sky-Toppling Observatory. Their qi-observing arts were extraordinarily sensitive.

Thus, they could only send over these Martial Artists who had cultivated solely in the Martial Dao.

They still remained here to guard the place. Ming Shu did not know what other schemes they had, but no matter what, she had to hurry down to the forbidden area below and see what was happening.

If they had set up some means of dragging the entire city down with them, it had to be destroyed in advance. Otherwise, people could be killed at any moment.

Relying on the Demonic Spirit's power, Ming Shu temporarily fought the leader to a draw.

This bought Old Zhao precious time. She had already defeated all the others, killing several and capturing two.

Then she turned back to join the attack.

The first and second floors of the gambling house were smashed into an even greater wreck.

All kinds of gambling implements lay scattered across the floor.

Outside, dense clouds blotted out the sun, while the lamps inside cast a dim light.

They were pressed for time, and a trace of wariness stirred in Ming Shu's heart.

She instantly used Spear Stab to Break the Enemy. Taking advantage of the moment when Old Zhao charged over and entangled the enemy, she thrust the cudgel through his shoulder and pinned him to a pillar.

Old Zhao seized the opportunity to knock away his weapon and cripple both his hands, reducing his combat strength as much as possible.