"Ah!"
Fang Tianhu's wretched wails rang through the prison cell as Ning Xiu ripped the entire Ghost Back from his back.
The man's Ghost Back vanished completely, leaving him a bloody, mangled mess.
Stripped of his Ghost Back, Fang Tianhu seemed as if his weak point had been struck. His whole body collapsed helplessly to the ground.
In an instant, his long hair turned white as winter snow. Deep, weathered wrinkles spread across his face, and his body began to waste away at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Ning Xiu held the entire sheet of back-skin in his hands. At that moment, it seemed to contain all of Fang Tianhu's vitality and spirit.
Strip away that vitality and spirit, and his true form would be exposed, his magic power utterly depleted.
"Those old executioners couldn't find the reason you were impervious to blades and spears, so naturally they couldn't do anything to you. But things are different now." Ning Xiu's blade fell, and Fang Tianhu, his face haggard, was instantly severed from head to body. He died swiftly and cleanly.
Demon Person killed. Universal Proficiency +2000
"Hm!" Ning Xiu looked slightly surprised when he saw the proficiency he had gained.
He had never expected a Martial Dao Sixth Rank Demon Person like Fang Tianhu to yield so much proficiency—500 more than Steward Chu, whom he had killed before.
With Fang Tianhu dead, the Ghost Back in Ning Xiu's hand had lost the host it clung to. Its vitality was clearly at death's door.
The entire sheet of skin began to wither. It made one last attempt to beguile Ning Xiu. "As long as you put this seat over your body now, this seat can still pass on the Great Dao of Longevity to you."
Ning Xiu didn't react. "You can keep that path and walk it yourself."
With that, he drove his blade into the Ghost Back.
Seeing Ning Xiu act this way, the Ghost Back could only give up. It opened its mouth and began to chant:
"Black Liang Zen Tai Mountain, a golden light cave in the mountain. This seat bestows the path of longevity; believers shall come of their own accord."
It wasn't screaming, but its voice rang out like a great bell and a taut drum, clearing the mind and burrowing deep into the heart.
Ning Xiu's mind wavered in an instant. A range of peaks slowly appeared before his eyes, with a lofty mountain among them, bathed in the blazing sun.
Beneath the cloudless sky, it shone like a golden light crowning its peak. The faint echoes surrounding it came from a cave dwelling within the mountain.
A figure whose features could not be made out walked out of the cave. Golden birds soared across the sky, and white cranes rose into the azure clouds.
Flowers bloomed in midair, and the faint strains of immortal music drifted through the air.
Faced with such a scene, it would be hard for any commoner not to believe they were looking at an immortal.
It wasn't just Ning Xiu. Everyone throughout the Demon Subduing Prison, even the entire Demon Subduing Bureau and the surrounding areas, heard the ethereal chant from some unknown place and saw the same illusion.
The Lower Three Ranks Demon Subduing Captains and the commoners all wore vacant expressions, with a hint of piety and reverence on their faces.
Most of the Middle Three Ranks Demon Subduing Captains had the ability to resist on their own, and hadn't fallen into the false illusion.
A dragon's roar rang out!
In an instant, an unknown corner of the Demon Subduing Bureau suddenly resounded with a dragon's roar.
"What vermin dares come to the Demon Subduing Bureau and beguile people with its teachings?"
With a cold snort, it was as if a copper gong had thundered beside everyone's ears, while an icy chill pressed against their backs. One after another, they came to their senses, unable to stop themselves from feeling a lingering fear.
Ning Xiu's eyes immediately returned to normal. He stared at the Ghost Back in his hand, astonished.
Just then, someone pushed open the cell door from outside, and a Cloth-Robed Old Daoist carrying a wine jar walked straight in.
"Hm!"
Ning Xiu met the man's gaze and was struck with amazement.
It was the very Cloth-Robed Old Daoist Qin Daorong had drawn on paper. His looks and even his bearing were exactly the same as in the painting. That showed just how astonishing Qin Daorong's skill with a brush was.
He remembered what Marquis Wuyi had called him last night... "A commoner in plain clothes, with talismanic arts that reach the heavens, Immortal Path Rank 2, Bai Taicang."
This was a major figure!
"Greetings, Lord Bai." Ning Xiu hurriedly clasped his fists.
"You know me?" Bai Taicang looked rather puzzled.
Although he held the post of Silver Tiger Demon Subduing Captain in the Demon Subduing Bureau, he rarely went out and never involved himself in its affairs.
He spent all his time quietly living in the depths of the Demon Subduing Prison. He was either drinking or out buying wine.
Apart from guarding the Demon Subduing Prison, Bai Taicang would step in to stabilize things whenever an accident or disturbance occurred inside.
At other times, Bai Taicang never appeared in public or revealed his abilities, and he didn't wear the Bureau's uniform either.
Among the Bureau's younger Demon Subduing Captains, hardly any knew who he was, and he knew the few who did.
So when Ning Xiu called him by name outright, Bai Taicang was rather surprised.
Who was it? Who had exposed his identity?
"This subordinate is Ning Xiu. Last night, when Lord Qin fought Marquis Wuyi, he drew your honored likeness to help him. Your strength was formidable. This subordinate was fortunate enough to learn your name from Marquis Wuyi. To meet you today is a true honor, Lord Bai," Ning Xiu explained.
Bai Taicang: "..."
In all his long life, perhaps the thing he regretted most was the day Qin Daorong had warmly invited him out for a drink.
Then they'd drunk together for two or three months straight, with fine wine and delicacies at every meal. Bai Taicang had set aside his worries and immersed himself in days filled with good wine.
At the time, he hadn't noticed that whenever he got thoroughly drunk, that fellow Qin Daorong would observe him intently from the side.
He looked like a jeweler who had just laid eyes on a piece of precious jade. It was strange beyond words.
Then one day, Qin Daorong, who had once been so warm and hospitable, suddenly seemed to become a different person. He stopped seeking Bai Taicang out for drinks, and the invitations came to an end. Bai Taicang had been terribly frustrated at losing the chance to drink fine wine for free.
Later, a rumor somehow began circulating among the Demon Subduing Bureau's Silver Tiger Demon Subduing Captains: Qin Daorong had grasped Bai Taicang's essence, and could even draw him and make him fight.
Bai Taicang suddenly understood. He had been used. That fellow Qin Daorong had used drinking as an excuse to secretly observe him and grasp his essence.
His ultimate goal had been to draw Bai Taicang as a tool to use in battle.
Bai Taicang had been consumed by regret. Qin Daorong had actually schemed against him—an old man! As expected, painters had rotten hearts.
But he cared about his dignity and would never go confront Qin Daorong over something like this.
Besides, Qin Daorong had treated him to months of expensive wine. He simply couldn't bring himself to fall out with him over it.
"Did you come here for something, Lord Bai?" Ning Xiu asked, puzzled.
Since he had been inside the Demon Subduing Prison, he had no idea how much of an impact the Ghost Back's chant had just made outside.
He thought he was the only one who had seen that illusion.
Bai Taicang looked helpless. "A verminous Demon Cultivator from beyond our borders slipped into the Demon Subduing Prison to spread its teachings. I sensed that the disturbance originated in this cell, so I came to take a look. Did you find anything unusual while carrying out the execution?"
Ning Xiu immediately told Bai Taicang everything that had just happened and shared all his discoveries.
Taking the Ghost Back from Ning Xiu, Bai Taicang examined it closely. "This Demon Cultivator from beyond our borders attached a wisp of its remnant soul to a human body. Its disguise was remarkably clever. No wonder the Demon Subduing Captain who guarded him earlier failed to notice. For Demon Cultivators to go to such lengths to sneak into Chaotian Capital and spread their teachings, with no apparent benefit to themselves, yet keep showing up again and again... These demons never abandon their desire to ruin our people."
A blue flame rose from Bai Taicang's palm, instantly burning the entire Ghost Back to ash and leaving sparks scattered across the ground.
Black Liang Zen Tai Mountain referred to Zen Tai Mountain in Black Liang Prefecture. This Demon Cultivator's cave dwelling was there.
It was worth noting that Black Liang Prefecture was not under Great Shang's jurisdiction. It was one of the twenty prefectures still beyond its borders, not yet reclaimed.
Bai Sha Prefecture bordered Black Liang Prefecture and lay in the border region.
According to Bai Taicang, this Demon Cultivator had turned its remnant soul into a Ghost Back and attached it to Fang Tianhu, intending to use Fang Tianhu's identity to secretly sow chaos within Great Shang. Unexpectedly, by a twist of fate, the Demon Subduing Bureau had discovered it halfway through and captured him.
But before dying, the Demon Cultivator's remnant soul had still spread its teachings and beguiled people in Chaotian Capital. That had truly disgusted the Demon Subduing Bureau.
Who knew how many commoners would have seeds planted in their hearts today by those claims about the so-called Path of Longevity? The Demon Subduing Bureau would have to send people to reassure and warn them, lest the thoughts take root and someone succumb to temptation and actually go to that so-called Zen Tai Mountain to seek longevity from a Demon Cultivator.
All this manpower and effort had to be spent because of a Demon Cultivator. It was a true blight.
And blights like this were countless in the mountains, rivers, and marshes of the twenty prefectures. These vermin thought every day about invading Great Shang's territories, beguiling the common people, and splitting the empire apart.
Many commoners and cultivators who couldn't resist temptation fell into depravity halfway through and became the Demon Cultivators' accomplices. Their intentions were truly detestable, and they were loathsome beyond words.
But with Great Shang's current forces stationed along the border, they could only prevent the Demon Country's armies from invading. They couldn't completely stop Demon Cultivators from beyond the borders from slipping in.
So incidents like Fang Tianhu's happened again and again. At their root, they were difficult to prevent or stamp out.
The Demon Subduing Bureau hated watching this happen, but there was nothing they could do. Their reach simply wasn't long enough to get into the twenty prefectures and deal with those Demon Cultivators who called themselves Cave Masters, Manor Lords, this Seat, that Seat, or Great Kings.
Vermin would always hide in the shadows, striking in secret.
Fools would always fall for greed and temptation, then descend into depravity.
All the Demon Subduing Captains could do was strengthen their defenses within and fight off threats from without. Perhaps one day, Great Shang's army would truly reclaim the twenty prefectures.
When that day came, the Demon Subduing Bureau would surely step in and execute every last Demon Cultivator in those mountains and caves.
"Lord Bai, I've finished my execution. If there's nothing else you need me to handle, I'll be on my way," Ning Xiu said, watching Bai Taicang burn the Ghost Back.
Now that Fang Tianhu, the tough one, had been executed, he should go collect today's assignments from the Prison Warden. As agreed, today he could execute to his heart's content in the Demon Subduing Prison.
"Take this and wear it. You may remove it after three days. This is an order. Do not disobey or neglect it." Bai Taicang took out an orange-yellow talisman and handed it to Ning Xiu.
As the person who had been closest to the Demon Cultivator's remnant soul, he was very likely to have had a seed planted in his heart.
"Many Demon Subduing Captains in the past had seeds planted in their hearts and failed to take the matter seriously. The Demon Cultivators' power then influenced their temperament, consciousness, and thoughts unseen, day after day and night after night. In the end, Demon Subduing Captains who had been utterly loyal to Great Shang fell into depravity halfway through and succumbed to the demonic path. This is a Calming Spirit Talisman. It can effectively purge a Demon Cultivator's beguilement."
"Thank you, Lord Bai." Ning Xiu accepted it carefully and offered his sincere thanks.
He was only a Martial Dao Seventh Rank. If a seed had truly been planted in his heart, he wouldn't have been able to detect it with his own abilities. Bai Taicang's gift had come at the perfect time.
He tucked the talisman into his robes and left the cell.
After he had gone, Bai Taicang immediately scratched his head and sighed. "I'll have to talk to Qin Daorong. I don't want the younger generation in the Demon Subduing Bureau learning I exist from him. Wouldn't that make me his trump-card enforcer?"
When Ning Xiu told the Prison Warden that he had successfully executed Fang Tianhu.
The Prison Warden's expression was quite a sight. Ning Xiu was a Martial Dao Seventh Rank, but the several old executioners he had sent before were no pushovers either.
How had this kid succeeded when it was his turn? Could it be that those old executioners really were past their prime?
Only after Ning Xiu explained the entire execution did the Prison Warden understand.
"I didn't expect you to be so sharp. All right, then. Since that's how it is, I'll keep my promise and give you a good time." The Prison Warden opened the register in his hands and read out the cell numbers as he flipped through the pages.
All told, he read out more than two hundred cells. Most were in the Xuan Zone or Huang Zone, with a few in the Di Zone mixed in.
As for the Heaven Zone, there wasn't a single one.
The reason those Evil Spirits and Demon People were brought all the way from other places back to Chaotian Capital and locked in the Demon Subduing Prison
was that some of them had value worth squeezing out.
For instance, the Demon Person who had possessed He Yunlang and could produce Black Origin Pills on its own. Its ability was something the Demon Subduing Bureau needed.
As long as it obediently cooperated, the Bureau wouldn't execute it unless its lifespan ran out.
Besides that, many Evil Spirits produced materials suitable for refining pills inside their bodies, or grew parts fit for crafting artifacts.
Those were all reasons the Demon Subduing Bureau captured them alive, brought them back, and kept them imprisoned.
Once they had no value left to squeeze out, there was naturally no point in keeping them in the Demon Subduing Prison and wasting cells and food. They were executed without a second thought.
The Evil Spirits and Demon People locked in the Heaven Zone were all great demons and ruthless figures at the Upper Three Ranks. Surely they possessed boundless value.
So it was only normal that there were no cells in the Heaven Zone that needed clearing.
After memorizing the cells the Prison Warden had called out, Ning Xiu immediately set off to begin that day's executions.
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