Seeking Aid

Lu Chuan was utterly astonished. He had used this move with the aid of the Spirit Gathering Banner several times, though not many.

But he had never seen anyone withstand the Demon Person's attack in this way.

To match the Two-Horned Evil Spirit through sheer strength alone—it was like a wild bull locking horns.

In Lu Chuan's eyes, Ning Xiu, bracing the Two-Horned Evil Spirit's palm with both fists, looked as though he had become the fiercest of beasts.

"Mm!" The Internal Energy of the Great Sun Profound Scripture gave Ning Xiu the strength to withstand the Two-Horned Evil Spirit.

But the longer he held on, the more he felt his blood and qi surging wildly within him, his heart pounding faster and faster.

This was a sign that he was exerting himself too much. If he kept holding on, the blood vessels in his arms might become so engorged that they burst one by one.

Fang Ping watched from the side, his heart silently twisting with worry. Unfortunately, he was just an ordinary constable and couldn't offer Ning Xiu any help at a time like this.

Suddenly, the Two-Horned Evil Spirit moved again.

Its other hand formed a blade and swept low along the ground, chopping toward Ning Xiu.

Ning Xiu was using both arms to hold back the Two-Horned Evil Spirit's palm. He had nothing left to stop this strike.

Watching this, Lu Chuan unconsciously smiled in triumph.

With the Spirit Gathering Banner's help, even a Martial Dao Eighth Rank expert would gain no advantage against his Ghost Summoning technique.

As long as he killed Ning Xiu, he could save his true body.

Then he could conceal himself and assume another person's identity and appearance. No one would ever discover his presence again.

The evil spirit's hand blade shot out and slammed into Ning Xiu's side.

Yet at that very moment, something no one could have expected happened.

Ning Xiu stood his ground against the evil spirit's attack, as immovable as a mountain.

The evil spirit's blade couldn't even push him half an inch.

Instead, the Two-Horned Evil Spirit's hand, which had struck so swiftly, stopped the moment it touched Ning Xiu's body.

It was as if time itself had frozen.

This was... the ninth layer of the Golden Bell Shield!

"H-How is that possible?!"

Lu Chuan's eyes widened. He couldn't accept that this was the outcome before him.

Was this Demon Subduing Captain some kind of stone man sprung from a rock?

Otherwise, how could he take the full force of the Two-Horned Evil Spirit's attack with his bare body and remain utterly unmoved and unharmed?

At that moment, the Great Sun Golden Mark that had appeared on Ning Xiu's back shone like a candle flame, gleaming with golden light.

The sight was dazzling enough to make anyone's head swim. Fang Ping didn't know what kind of technique this was, but he understood that a Demon Subduing Captain was no ordinary person. Their sole duty was to eliminate Evil Spirits.

He immediately looked away, not daring to stare any longer, lest his eyes be affected.

"This is the first time I've encountered such a powerful Evil Spirit. This trip to Wendeng County has certainly opened my eyes." Ning Xiu looked at the Spirit Gathering Banner that Lu Chuan was controlling.

A smile, strangely out of place, appeared on his face. Seeing it made Lu Chuan's heart skip a beat.

Could it be that those two clashes still hadn't pushed him to his limit?

Sizzle, sizzle!

Ning Xiu's right fist gradually turned a deeper red. The redness began creeping up his wrist and eventually spread to his forearm.

The hand of the Two-Horned Evil Spirit that touched Ning Xiu's fists began to sizzle. Within moments, wisps of hot white smoke drifted from it.

"Ha!" Ning Xiu roared as the muscles in his arms bulged, veins rising one by one like coiling dragons.

As the Great Sun Profound Scripture reached its absolute limit, the force unleashed by its Internal Energy let Ning Xiu tear the Two-Horned Evil Spirit's palm apart with his bare hands.

With a ripping sound, the Two-Horned Evil Spirit's claws split in two.

Without pausing, Ning Xiu pushed off with his foot and sprang toward the Two-Horned Evil Spirit.

He raised his right fist. With the speed of his charge behind it, he unleashed the full force of the Pure Yang Extreme Fist, smashing it down on the Two-Horned Evil Spirit's head.

Bang!

The crimson fist, transformed from his vigorous blood and qi, was Ning Xiu's most powerful weapon at that moment.

Blood and qi were the bane of all Evil Spirits, and Ning Xiu's right fist was imbued with the Pure Yang Extreme Fist.

The instant Ning Xiu's fist struck the Two-Horned Evil Spirit's forehead, its head shattered.

Cracks spread rapidly across it like a spiderweb before the eyes of everyone present.

The Two-Horned Evil Spirit, as large as half a room, began to crumble. Its entire body dissolved into countless fragments and shrank back into the surface of the Spirit Gathering Banner.

Evil Spirit slain, Universal Proficiency +1000

Lu Chuan stood there holding the Spirit Gathering Banner, speechless. Ning Xiu's actions had left him stunned.

With the Spirit Gathering Banner amplifying it with the vital essence of countless living beings, his Ghost Summoning technique should have had no trouble killing a Martial Dao Eighth Rank expert.

But now...

Ning Xiu clamped a hand over Lu Chuan's face. His red-hot palm was like a burning iron brand, and Lu Chuan's face immediately developed countless cracks.

With a forceful squeeze, Ning Xiu tore away a palm-sized chunk of his face.

Inside the gaping hole, Lu Chuan's face was completely hollow.

He was like an empty clay figurine molded by a craftsman.

The situation was exactly the same as what Ning Xiu had seen earlier in the mansion where the Scaled Demon had been hiding.

Clearly, this fellow was also a puppet incarnation of that Demon Person.

The Spirit Gathering Banner shook wildly in his grip. Lu Chuan finally fell to the ground, his entire body breaking apart into fragments.

Demon Persons have all sorts of bizarre methods. Without experience dealing with them, it's almost impossible to guard against them. Good thing I had the upper hand.

Ning Xiu reached down and picked up the Spirit Gathering Banner. Since the Demon Person had valued it so highly, it must have some remarkable properties. Naturally, he would take it with him.

As Ning Xiu withdrew the Great Sun Profound Scripture, the Great Sun Golden Mark on his back gradually faded, and his body returned to normal.

Fang Ping hurried over and asked, "Lord Ning, are you all right?"

"I'm fine. I've eliminated this Demon Person, but I suspect there may be other incarnations hiding in Wendeng County. Hurry to the imperial post station and write a request for reinforcements in my name. Have someone deliver it to the Demon Subduing Bureau, addressed to a woman named Su Qianqian," Ning Xiu said.

"Yes, I'll take care of it right away." Fang Ping nodded, then turned and ran off.

Although Ning Xiu had caught the two Demon Persons wreaking havoc in Wendeng County—one dead and the other captured—there were still lingering problems beyond his ability to handle.

The Demon Person who could create puppet incarnations had been in Wendeng County for nearly half a month. He must have made quite a few incarnations in secret.

Finding them all required specialized expertise. They would have to rely on the Demon Subduing Captains in the Demon Subduing Bureau who cultivated other great paths.

Carrying Lu Dengke's corpse and taking the Spirit Gathering Banner, Ning Xiu quickly left the Lu residence. He planned to return to the county office first and lock the Demon Person in jail.

On the twenty-second day of the fourth month, Jingzhe.

The Wendeng County gazette recorded that sudden riots had erupted across the county. At the marketplace, a vegetable seller had gone mad and slashed more than twenty innocent people with a knife.

At South Hall Private School, an old scholar had lost his mind and strangled more than ten students. A stable hand at a post station had ridden a horse into the crowds, killing more than thirty pedestrians.

The cook at the Five Bushel Inn had poisoned the food and killed more than forty diners. The hunter Cai Liang had used his hunting bow to shoot more than ten women and children at random.

Constables who had rushed to the scene upon hearing the news killed the perpetrators on the spot. The bodies of several of the assailants were as fragile as porcelain. They had no internal organs, blood, bones, or brains. The incidents were classified as the work of Evil Spirits.

By the time Ning Xiu returned to the county office, the whole place was already in utter chaos.

In less than half an hour, more than a hundred and thirty people had died in the small county of Wendeng.

When the constables told County Magistrate Dong Fu the news, he was stunned on the spot.

To him, it was like a bolt of lightning splitting a clear sky.

Or like someone slapping him hard across the face, dealing his heart a devastating blow.

"One county in mourning, one community wounded! Wendeng County has stood for more than three hundred years, and we've never seen such a grave disaster!"

Dong Fu slammed the Golden Bottle Amorous Women onto the table and roared furiously.

Several constables stood nearby, not daring to say a word. No one could have expected this to happen. They could only say that in an age of Evil Spirits, no one could predict what might come.

Just then, a bailiff hurried in from outside and said, "My lord, Lord Ning has returned."

Dong Fu's eyes lit up at once. After such a terrible tragedy had befallen Wendeng County, there was no way he could keep his official hat, whether in public or private.

Losing his position would be bad enough. What he feared was that his superiors, in their fury, would demand that he pay for Wendeng County with his life.

And now, Ning Xiu was his only hope of survival.

"Quick, take me to Lord Ning!"

Dong Fu dashed out of his study and followed the bailiff toward the courtroom.

Inside the courtroom, Ning Xiu sat in the county magistrate's seat, one foot planted on Lu Dengke's corpse. The Spirit Gathering Banner lay on the table.

He had already heard from the constables about the devastation in Wendeng County.

Knowing that the Demon Person beneath his foot had been responsible for it all left Ning Xiu deeply troubled.

The people of the world had suffered under Evil Spirits for far too long. Even Wendeng County, so close to Chaotian Capital, had suffered such casualties. What of the prefectures far from Chaotian Capital?

And what of the prefectures outside Great Shang's control? What sort of hellish lives did the people there endure?

Until every Evil Spirit was wiped out, the people of the world would never know peace.

A sudden resolve took root in Ning Xiu's heart: he would make this his responsibility. It was why he had joined Champion Camp and, no matter how hard it was, insisted on entering the Demon Subduing Bureau.

Besides, eliminating Evil Spirits earned him Universal Proficiency. What could be better?

"Lord Ning!"

Just as Ning Xiu was lost in thought, Dong Fu came rushing into the courtroom, his body wobbling with every step.

Before Ning Xiu could ask anything, Dong Fu dropped to his knees, tears in his old eyes as he cried, "Lord Ning, I failed in my duty and didn't protect the people of Wendeng County. I deserve to die!"

"That's enough. The dead can't come back to life. This has nothing to do with you; the responsibility is mine. I'll explain things to your superiors." Ning Xiu kicked Lu Dengke's corpse over to Dong Fu.

"Lu—Isn't this County Magistrate Lu? How did you..." Dong Fu had seen Lu Dengke on his first day reporting to the county office, so he recognized his face.

Seeing Lu Dengke wrapped tightly in bedding, Dong Fu was utterly astonished. The man had been missing for nearly half a month. He never expected him to appear before him in this state.

But the scene looked strange. Had something happened to him?

"County Magistrate Lu was killed by a Demon Person. He was an accomplice of the Scaled Demon from before. The Demon Person is currently hiding inside his body.

"Have someone find an iron cage and lock him up. Put him in the jail, and wait until the Demon Subduing Bureau sends someone to deal with him.

"Remember, don't let anyone get close to this Demon Person, in case something goes wrong."

"Gasp!!!"

Hearing Ning Xiu's words, Dong Fu scrambled backward on his knees, putting several steps between himself and Lu Dengke's corpse.

The sight made a phrase pop into Ning Xiu's mind: a nimble fatty.

"Thank you, my lord. I'll take care of it at once."

"One more thing..." Ning Xiu thought for a moment. "Since the new county magistrate was unfortunately killed, Wendeng County can't go a day without one. Have County Magistrate Huang come back and take up the post again."

Dong Fu replied, "Understood, my lord."