Inside the prison, blood covered the floor.
Every jailer lay in a pool of blood, dead in a gruesome fashion.
Four strange figures clad in black robes, their limbs and faces shrouded in black mist, came to the cell holding the Demon Person. They reached out and wrenched the entire cell door off its hinges.
"So it's you. I never expected the four of you to take orders from Chu Gu." Looking at the four who had come to rescue him, the Demon Person slowly crawled out of Lu Dengke's chest.
"The matter of gathering the essence of a thousand people can't be delayed. It's no longer realistic to collect essence from other villages and counties. Where's your Spirit Gathering Banner now?" the leader demanded.
"That Demon Subduing Captain discovered it and took it away. I don't know where he hid it."
"What?!"
The four were shocked. "How could you let the Demon Subduing Captain find the Spirit Gathering Banner?"
"You don't know—the Demon Subduing Captain who came to Wendeng County this time is quite uncanny. He seems able to see essence with his eyes, and his personal strength is no small matter either. Even the ghost I summoned with the Spirit Gathering Banner was no match for him."
After crawling out of Lu Dengke's chest, the Demon Person couldn't help but pour out his grievances.
But the four Demon Persons standing outside had no interest in listening. They had come to Wendeng County on orders to rescue someone.
Rescuing him was merely incidental. Their most important task was to bring the Spirit Gathering Banner, which contained essence, back to Chaotian Capital.
The Spirit Gathering Banner wasn't in the Demon Person's hands. Finding it again would likely cost them dearly.
"Take him with us. That Demon Subduing Captain locked him up here, so the Spirit Gathering Banner should be somewhere inside the county yamen too. We'll search for it now."
One of them entered the cell and lifted the Demon Person, who had no hands or feet. The group then prepared to leave as quickly as possible.
But just then, a figure walked in from outside at the prison entrance, blocking the demons' escape route.
"It's that Demon Subduing Captain!" the Demon Person cried from the back of the one carrying him.
The newcomer was Ning Xiu.
"So there really are accomplices." Looking at the five Demon Persons in the prison and the jailers' corpses scattered across the floor, Ning Xiu couldn't help frowning.
Brutally murdering jailers inside the county yamen was an outright challenge to the dignity of the Great Shang dynasty—and a disgrace to the Demon Subduing Bureau.
Quietly, Ning Xiu's right fist turned crimson. Visible heat rose from its surface.
"Be careful. This man isn't an ordinary Martial Dao Eighth Rank. Don't hold back," the puppet Demon Person warned them.
The four Demon Persons shrouded in black mist stepped forward, each radiating murderous intent toward Ning Xiu.
Now that they'd been spotted, they couldn't let this Demon Subduing Captain leave alive.
Whoosh!
The pool of blood beneath one Demon Person's feet instantly turned black. Countless hands reached out from it, blanketing the air as they swept toward Ning Xiu.
Another Demon Person rapidly formed hand seals. Droplets of blood drifted from his body and hung motionless in the air.
In an instant, every droplet transformed into a thin crimson needle, and they all shot toward Ning Xiu.
The prison passage was narrow to begin with. The attacks from these two Demon Persons completely sealed off every avenue of escape, leaving Ning Xiu nowhere to dodge.
He could only face the attacks head-on.
Lower-rank martial artists excelled at close-quarters combat, but they had few ways to deal with long-range attacks.
Usually, they could only dodge or endure the blow, then find a way to close the distance and bring their strengths to bear.
These Demon Persons had crossed paths with the Demon Subduing Bureau many times. They were naturally old hands.
As soon as they met Ning Xiu, they unleashed a fierce barrage of techniques, clearly aiming to inflict grave injuries and cripple his fighting ability.
In the blink of an eye, Ning Xiu took a forceful step forward, charging straight into the Demon Persons' techniques.
Relying on his body tempered by the Golden Bell Shield, he broke through the tide of black hands and the countless blood needles.
The black hands and blood needles conjured by the Demon Persons were formed from filth and had a "body-piercing" effect. They were techniques the Demon Persons had devised specifically to counter martial artists' body-hardening skills.
Ning Xiu managed to break through, but countless red marks appeared across his skin. Several even showed tiny beads of blood.
It was the first time since he'd raised the Golden Bell Shield to the ninth layer that he'd suffered such severe injuries.
There was no denying that these Demon Persons were formidable—far stronger than the Scaled Demon and the puppet Demon Person he'd faced before.
Ning Xiu was secretly taken aback, while the Demon Persons stared in disbelief. "How is that possible?!"
They knew better than anyone how effectively the tide of black hands and blood needles could pierce the body. There was no way a Martial Dao Eighth Rank martial artist's body-hardening skill could withstand them.
And yet this martial Demon Subduing Captain before them had seemed to brush them off with ease. Just how deep was his mastery of body-hardening skills?
After a few steps, Ning Xiu had closed in on the four Demon Persons. He reached out and grabbed for one of their faces.
Whoosh!
A powerful suction force burst from the Demon Person's body. A black vortex emerged from his mist-shrouded head and slammed into Ning Xiu's face.
The powerful suction roiled the qi and blood inside Ning Xiu. His blood surged uncontrollably toward his head, threatening to burst from his seven orifices at any moment.
Ning Xiu endured the discomfort and swiftly thrust his hand into the black mist, gripping the Demon Person's face with pinpoint accuracy.
The internal energy of the Great Sun Profound Scripture erupted. As Ning Xiu clenched his hand, a heart-rending wail rang out from within the black mist.
When Ning Xiu let go, the Demon Person collapsed onto the ground. The black mist on his face dissipated, revealing a visage twisted out of shape by external force, blood streaming from all seven orifices.
Killed a Demon Person, Universal Proficiency +800
After crushing one enemy to death in a single, clean motion, Ning Xiu swung back around and punched the Demon Person beside him. Seeing his companion die at Ning Xiu's hands, the other man was badly shaken.
He hurriedly raised a hand to block the blow, but he vastly overestimated his own strength and underestimated Ning Xiu.
The Pure Yang Extreme Fist struck his palm, then crashed into his chest with overwhelming force.
There was no surprise. His chest caved in instantly, and the broken tips of his ribs pierced through his flesh. Blood gushed out like a spring.
Killed a Demon Person, Universal Proficiency +900
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. The other Demon Persons didn't have time to react.
Just as the puppet Demon Person had said, this Demon Subduing Captain was no ordinary Martial Dao Eighth Rank. He was anything but simple.
After killing two Demon Persons in quick succession, Ning Xiu stood there like a demon king, his ruthless methods striking terror into the three who remained.
"Run!"
Someone shouted, and the Demon Persons immediately turned to flee, desperate to escape the prison.
Martial artists already held a huge advantage in close-quarters combat. Now this Demon Subduing Captain could also ignore their techniques with his body-hardening skills.
The gulf in strength between them was so great that they weren't even on the same level. How could they fight? Running was the only sensible choice.
The three remaining Demon Persons were all valuable witnesses. If Ning Xiu brought them back to the Demon Subduing Bureau, they would surely be able to force plenty of useful information out of them.
Naturally, Ning Xiu wasn't about to let them leave so easily. He grabbed the iron cell door the Demon Persons had torn off and hurled it at the fleeing figures with all his strength.
Boom!
The iron door landed squarely in the middle of the passage, blocking the fleeing Demon Persons. Ning Xiu quickly caught up and seized the arm of the one carrying the puppet Demon Person on his back.
"Where do you think you're going?" As the vigorous qi and blood of the Pure Yang Extreme Fist surged, the black mist around the Demon Person melted away like snow beneath the blazing sun, revealing his hidden face.
What was surprising was that the Demon Person was a strikingly beautiful woman. A purple rose tattoo on her fair right cheek was especially conspicuous.
Seizing the opportunity, another Demon Person hurried around the iron door and continued fleeing toward the prison exit.
Now that he'd captured one Demon Person alive, there was no need to go out of his way to capture the others alive too.
After all, Ning Xiu was alone and couldn't be in two places at once. Even if he caught two Demon Persons, he'd have trouble keeping both under guard.
In an instant, he reached out and pulled the iron door from the ground. With a swing of his arm, he hurled it with all his might.
The heavy iron door flew at incredible speed and struck the fleeing Demon Person squarely in the back. He pitched forward onto the ground and immediately went still.
Killed a Demon Person, Universal Proficiency +700
Four had broken into the prison that night. In the end, they had failed to rescue the puppet Demon Person or take the Spirit Gathering Banner. Instead, they'd suffered three deaths and one capture.
The lone female Demon Person stared at Ning Xiu, her face gone pale with fright. She'd never imagined the Demon Subduing Captain who came to Wendeng County this time would be so ferocious.
She'd killed Iron Horse Demon Subduing Captains before, but she'd never seen anyone so savage.
"What are you looking at?" To prevent the female Demon Person from trying anything, Ning Xiu struck her unconscious with a single palm. Then he slung her and the puppet Demon Person she'd been carrying over his shoulders and headed back.
He planned to lock them in separate cells. After what had happened, there was no way he could stay in Wendeng County. He had to escort the two of them back to Chaotian Capital as soon as possible to prevent any further trouble.
"You're quite the troublemaker. We locked you in the prison, and other Demon Persons still came to rescue you. Looks like you still have plenty of puppet bodies in Wendeng County to send word to the outside world."
After locking the puppet Demon Person back in the iron cage, Ning Xiu slapped his face and sneered.
Each slap carried some force. After a few, the puppet Demon Person's cheek had swollen up like a pig's head, making him look ridiculous.
"Y-you think you've w-won? You r-ruined our p-plan. Someone's n-never going to f-forgive you," the puppet Demon Person mumbled.
Ning Xiu couldn't quite make out what he was saying. He only knew the other man was threatening him, and he didn't care much. He locked the iron cage again, then left the prison.
Such a brutal incident had happened tonight because he'd neglected the security and failed to have Dong Fu assign more guards to the prison.
Until Ren Qianxing had dealt with all the puppet bodies in Wendeng County, the two Demon Persons locked up in the prison absolutely couldn't be allowed to escape.
Ning Xiu was about to notify Dong Fu, have him send people to deal with the carnage in the prison, arrange compensation for the families of the dead post-station workers, and assign a fresh guard detail.
Ning Xiu had been in control throughout the fight and hadn't suffered any injuries, but the clothes he'd changed into not long ago had once again been ruined. They were torn to shreds and riddled with holes.
He'd been in the Demon Subduing Bureau for less than half a month, and he reckoned he'd already worn out four or five sets of clothes.
That rate of destruction finally made Ning Xiu understand why Demon Subduing Captains wore Mysterious Silver Lock Armor when they went out.
The armor was durable. No matter how many blows you took in it, your clothes wouldn't get damaged.
Ning Xiu wondered if he should start wearing that set of Mysterious Silver Lock Armor himself.
If he kept losing a set of clothes every time he fought, even a Demon Subduing Captain couldn't afford it.
He'd only taken a few steps out of the prison when something in his arms slipped through a hole in his clothes and fell to the ground.
Ning Xiu noticed, looked down, and saw the Six-Word Golden Bead he'd been keeping in his clothes.
After several days of reciting the Vajra Sutra, the six characters on its surface had turned a deep red. Even at night, they gave off a striking glow.
The object was wondrous indeed. For several days, Ning Xiu had recited the sutra every day in an effort to unlock the secret of the Six-Word Golden Bead.
But he didn't know whether he'd been doing it wrong or the time simply hadn't come. Other than the characters turning red, the Six-Word Golden Bead had shown no other changes or reactions, leaving him utterly perplexed.
He bent to pick it up and was about to put it back in his clothes when the moment the Six-Word Golden Bead touched the blood on his palm, it began to tremble violently.
It slipped from Ning Xiu's hand and flew into the air, spinning rapidly two or three zhang above the ground.
"Om! Ma! Ni! Ba! Mi! Hum!"
Vast Buddhist chants resounded through the night sky. Golden wheels, vajras, pagodas, and golden lotuses flew out of the Six-Word Golden Bead, whirling straight into the heavens.
The night sky above Wendeng County, which had been pitch-black, was instantly dyed a golden hue.
With a flash of golden light, golden rain began to fall from the sky.
The torrential rain struck the ground, where golden lotuses bloomed in its splashes—only to vanish in the next instant.
Ning Xiu stared up at the sight, dumbstruck. His heart was rocked to its core.
Who could have imagined that once activated, the Six-Word Golden Bead could create such a spectacle?
Amid the golden rain, Ning Xiu saw a giant seated in the heavens—a sacred, tiger-bear form with glaring eyes and drooping ears, a flaming golden wheel behind its back, and a colossal vajra in its hand.
The falling raindrops began to transform into characters. They arranged and pieced themselves together, until at last they formed a long golden scroll.
Ning Xiu's gaze went blank. His mind was wholly absorbed in the golden scroll, unable to pull away.
West of Chaotian Capital, at Great Spirit Sound Temple.
The temple had been utterly quiet, but suddenly its dusk and dawn bells and drums rang out of their own accord, though no one had touched them.
The incense burned inexplicably faster, and ash fell away in segment after segment.
More than ten old monks meditating with their legs crossed suddenly opened their eyes and looked north in disbelief.
"This is... the Great Arhat's Heavenly King Vajra Art!"
"The Great Arhat actually left behind this technique! A great fortune for the Buddhist path! A great fortune for the Buddhist path!"
"We must find this person. Whatever path they cultivate, we must honor them as a distinguished guest of our temple."
Within moments, all the strange celestial phenomena vanished, and the night returned to its usual darkness and stillness.
The people of Wendeng County slept on, never imagining that such an event had taken place in their county that night—one worthy of being recorded in the county annals.
Thanks to 'mkmkn' for the 176 fan points.
Thanks to 'Dao Yuanle' for the 100 fan points.
Thanks to 'Shu Shuo Wujie' for the 100 fan points.
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