First Encounter with a Cultivator

Bathed in the glow of the setting sun, a luxurious carriage slowly entered Qingshan Town.

This was Bi Changsheng's group of three, traveling toward Ningyun City. The Qingshan Town they had now reached already fell under Ningyun City's jurisdiction. With another two days of travel, they would arrive at Ningyun City.

As they entered Qingshan Town, Bi Changsheng's attention was drawn to a notice pasted by the roadside. It roughly stated that strange aberrations had recently been causing trouble at Steward Zhang's residence, and that he wished to recruit capable individuals to slay demons and eliminate evil. Whoever succeeded would be rewarded with one thousand taels of silver.

"An aberration?"

It was the first time Bi Changsheng had heard of something other than martial artists. His interest was immediately piqued, but he did not act rashly. He decided to investigate matters clearly before making any plans.

After entering Qingshan Town, Bi Changsheng and the others found an inn to settle into. Once their rooms had been arranged, Bi Changsheng came down to the inn's main hall.

"Brother, could I ask you about something?"

Stopping an attendant, Bi Changsheng took out a tael of silver and handed it to him.

"Please ask away, sir. I'll tell you everything I know."

The attendant accepted the silver Bi Changsheng offered, his face splitting into a delighted grin.

"When I entered Qingshan Town earlier, I saw a notice at the roadside about aberrations causing trouble at Steward Zhang's residence. I've been curious about such strange tales since childhood, so I'd like to learn more. Brother, do you know the truth of the matter?"

Seeing that the attendant had agreed, Bi Changsheng came straight to the point.

"Sir, you've come to exactly the right person. My maternal aunt's husband's elder sister's second maternal uncle's daughter works at Steward Zhang's residence. She knows this matter better than anyone."

To make his words sound more credible, the attendant first rattled off a string of relations before beginning his tale.

"This matter goes back more than ten days. One night, quite a number of animals at Steward Zhang's residence suddenly died under mysterious circumstances, and their deaths were exceedingly bizarre."

"At first, Steward Zhang thought someone was deliberately causing mischief and did not pay it much mind."

"But over the next few nights, more and more animals continued dying at Steward Zhang's residence. The dead animals gradually changed from frogs, snakes, and insects to chickens, cats, and dogs. In the end, even the cattle and horses raised by Steward Zhang's family died mysteriously."

"At that point, Steward Zhang still suspected that someone was behind it, but he began taking the matter very seriously and sent people to patrol the residence every night."

"Who would've thought that even the residence guards would later die for no reason? That finally put Steward Zhang on alert. He had the martial artists he supported lie in wait at night, and only then did they discover that an aberration was at work."

"Recently, guards at Steward Zhang's residence have still been dying mysteriously every night. Steward Zhang put up the notice precisely to deal with that aberration and attract strange and capable people."

"So that was it."

After hearing the attendant's account, Bi Changsheng finally gained a general understanding of the matter.

"As long as you're satisfied, sir."

With that, the attendant went off to work, carrying his unexpected windfall with him.

Bi Changsheng, meanwhile, returned to his room and quietly waited for nightfall. After hearing the attendant's description, he had decided to visit Steward Zhang's residence tonight and investigate, to see what the aberrations of legend looked like.

Ordinarily, Bi Changsheng's temperament would never have led him to do something like this. After all, aberrations were said to be immensely powerful beings. Yet from the attendant's description, Bi Changsheng had realized that although this aberration was growing stronger at an astonishing pace, it was still very weak at present and posed no threat to him whatsoever.

Besides, he was merely going to investigate, not slay demons and eliminate evil. The danger was even lower.

Such an opportunity was rare, so Bi Changsheng decided to use it to first learn about aberrations. If he encountered one in the future, he would not be left completely in the dark.

Time swiftly passed, and before long it was midnight. Bi Changsheng was just preparing to depart for Steward Zhang's residence when he suddenly sensed an icy presence drifting past beside the inn. The presence was not particularly strong, but it was strange.

It was not just Bi Changsheng. Little Black in his room seemed to have sensed the anomaly as well, barking furiously toward the outside of the inn. It even woke quite a few guests in the inn, and Little Black was cursed at by them from afar.

Bi Changsheng first calmed Little Black down, then hurriedly gave chase through the inn window. Fortunately, the presence was not moving very quickly. The moment he left the inn, Bi Changsheng saw a pale red aberration drifting through the air not far away, its form faintly humanoid.

After sensing it carefully, Bi Changsheng confirmed that the icy, bizarre presence he had felt came from this pale red aberration. He looked in the direction it was drifting, which happened to be toward Steward Zhang's residence—the very place he had inquired about today.

"Looks like I won't have to search for it this time."

Originally, Bi Changsheng had only learned the general direction of Steward Zhang's residence and thought he would need to search around after arriving there. He had not expected someone to lead the way for him now—and that "someone" was even the very target he sought.

Bi Changsheng followed the spirit body all the way to a luxurious manor within the town. The manor was brilliantly lit, and a group of people had already gathered in its front courtyard.

Bi Changsheng casually concealed himself atop a roof within the manor, intending to observe the situation first.

What even Bi Changsheng had not expected was that the aberration likewise hid itself somewhere, just as he had. It seemed to possess considerable intelligence.

In Steward Zhang's front courtyard, an old and a young Daoist dressed in Daoist robes had set up an altar and were performing a ritual. The old Daoist appeared to be nearly seventy, while the young Daoist looked one or two years younger than Liu Zhengqing.

Thus, the old Daoist was mainly presiding over the ritual, while the young Daoist assisted at his side. A large crowd of people from Steward Zhang's residence surrounded them.

At first, Bi Changsheng was quite interested in the ritual and watched intently. But the longer he watched, the more he realized that the old Daoist was merely putting on an empty show, without the slightest hint of anything miraculous about it. He was probably a swindler.

"Whew, Steward Zhang, this poor Daoist has already laid a net of Dharma across your residence. If that aberration does not come, then so be it. But once it comes, this poor Daoist will certainly ensure it never returns."

After finishing the ritual, the old Daoist spoke between gasps to a middle-aged man with a protruding belly.

"Daoist, you've worked hard. So long as you help us eliminate that aberration, the reward we promised will certainly be paid in full."

The fat middle-aged man, who was Steward Zhang himself, said happily to the old Daoist.

"With this poor Daoist here, Steward Zhang need not worry."

Waving a hand, the old Daoist put on an unfathomable air.

Just then, a sudden change erupted. The aberration hiding nearby seemingly agreed with Bi Changsheng that the old Daoist was all show and no substance. It shot out in an instant and slammed into a middle-aged woman standing beside Steward Zhang.

The middle-aged woman was sent flying by the aberration's tremendous force. Yet it did not stop there. It directly wrapped around the woman's head and twisted hard, snapping her neck at once.

After killing the middle-aged woman, the aberration seemed to draw something from her body. Her corpse visibly shriveled by a full measure, while the aberration's aura rapidly grew stronger.

"Wretched thing! You dare commit murder before my eyes!"

Once the old Daoist reacted, he drew a talisman from his robes. Spiritual power surged through his hand and activated it. The moment the talisman shattered, it released a fireball that blasted toward the aberration.

The old Daoist Bi Changsheng had taken for a fraud was actually a cultivator.