"There are still twenty-seven days..."
Today was the sixth day of the sixth month!
Every morning when he got up, it was as if someone were loudly reminding him. It was truly irritating.
Even more irritating was that it was raining today.
Rain poured down from the sky, and everyone in the city was in a foul mood.
Whenever it rained, the Rainy Night Devil would appear, drag people into the water, and quietly eat them.
Although the official word was that the Rainy Night Devil only appeared by the water at night, everyone knew better than to go near the water during the day, too.
They had to stay far away from rivers, lakes, and stone bridges.
The rain was coming down especially hard, pouring like water from a tipped bucket.
Luo Zhou thought it over. He wouldn't go to the Daoist Academy today.
He'd cultivate at home!
Students of Xianya Hall had that privilege.
Three Dragon-Slaying Thrusts were basically enough. If he made too many, they wouldn't keep well for long.
Judging by the timing, Lu Yue ought to find new prey in the next couple of days, and then they could head out to hunt it!
He got up and began cultivating. First, he practiced Azure Profound, then Purple Skies, then Brown Scale; first White Sun, then Black Nether, then Azure Profound again...
He practiced the three hundred and sixty forms over and over!
When he grew tired, Luo Zhou sat down and began to reminisce.
He recalled the memories of the five Woodworm Devils. With their memories, he knew nearly everything about Green Ridge City.
Green Ridge City was governed by a Dao Foundation city lord. Under him were twelve constables, fifty constable deputies, and several hundred hangers-on.
There weren't many constable deputies, actually. Green Ridge City had a local population of two hundred thousand, another hundred thousand permanent residents from elsewhere, and several thousand visitors passing through each day.
Besides the constables, there were five hundred soldiers in the Sea Police Camp east of the city and eight hundred in the Fire Crow Army to the west. Those were Green Ridge City's true military strength.
Among the city's constables were Yan Ruoyi, Chi Yu, Wang Ying, Li Haitian, Wu Lihui...
Luo Zhou had a feeling that the 13th of the Month Devil was one of them.
After all, the 13th of the Month Devil was definitely at the Qi Refining stage, and so were those twelve constables.
But trying to identify the 13th of the Month Devil among them was sheer wishful thinking.
Luo Zhou didn't dare follow them. Those constables had all kinds of tracking and investigative supernatural abilities. They were professionals; if he tried to tail them, he'd be spotted at once and would be courting death.
When he killed Gu Shanhe, Luo Zhou hadn't even dared touch his clothes, much less take his storage pouch.
The five Woodworm Devils' memories had stressed again and again that he must stay far away from those constables.
Still, there was another way.
Luo Zhou had a hunch that the Wang Family members' bloodline was no ordinary one. On the ninth night, the seventh night after the dead returned to their souls, perhaps he could uncover the 13th of the Month Devil's secret through the Wang Family's Dead Spirit.
But he'd need to prepare some spiritual incense and talismans for summoning spirits and conducting sacrifices.
By nightfall, the rain had finally stopped.
Some of the lower streets and neighborhoods had flooded, the water rising well past knee-deep.
Ping'an Quarter sat on high ground in the city, so it hadn't flooded.
Luo Zhou thought it over, then slipped out and headed for the Wang Family's house again.
He'd investigate once more!
But when he sneaked into the Wang Family's home, Luo Zhou frowned. The place had been turned into one big construction site.
Liu Jinpeng had beaten up Bald Old Wang's relatives and taken over the Wang Family's estate.
All kinds of rumors had been flying around the neighborhood these past few days.
They said Liu Sanmei had married Bald Old Wang just to get her hands on his estate.
They said Liu Sanmei and Liu Jinpeng weren't siblings at all, but husband and wife, and that the child Liu Sanmei had given birth to was Liu Jinpeng's, too.
Luo Zhou didn't believe it. The Wang Family's so-called estate was worth only a few taels of silver.
That hardly seemed worth paying such a steep price for.
Had Liu Jinpeng even let other people have his wife?
But when Luo Zhou slipped in that night, he found something was off.
The outside of the Wang Family's house looked normal enough, but inside, everything had been turned upside down. It didn't look like they were renovating; it looked as if they were searching for something.
And in the middle of the night, people were still digging inside, secretly turning the place upside down down to the last inch.
Luo Zhou sneaked in to investigate. Liu Jinpeng was definitely suspicious, and those rumors might not have come from nowhere after all.
He slipped away and went home to rest.
The angrier you were, the calmer you had to be; the sadder you were, the louder you had to laugh!
On the seventh day of the sixth month, just as Luo Zhou had expected, Lu Yue found a new Crocodile Dragon.
The troop leader, Cheng Wanli, came to inform Luo Zhou.
Luo Zhou immediately called out to the leader.
"Leader, could you do me a favor? A friend of mine passed away. Please buy me some spiritual incense and talismans for summoning spirits and conducting sacrifices."
Cheng Wanli frowned. "That kind of spiritual incense and those talismans aren't cheap. They start at a Spirit Stone."
One Spirit Stone was worth a thousand Broken Spirits.
Luo Zhou gritted his teeth. "I have thirteen thousand Broken Spirits on me."
That was thirteen Spirit Stones!
Cheng Wanli said, "All right. When we get back this time, I'll take you to the Spirit Market. But it really won't be cheap.
"Think it over carefully. We risk our lives to earn these Broken Spirits. Is it worth it?"
There were still twenty-six days. He had to kill four rogue cultivators from the Woodworm Devils. If he couldn't do it, Luo Zhou had a feeling that perhaps death would be a good thing.
"It's worth it!"
"All right. We'll come back from hunting dragons tomorrow, and I'll take you to the Spirit Market to buy what you need."
The two of them made their arrangement!
On the eighth day of the sixth month, the group set out to hunt dragons once more.
This time, they traveled more than a hundred li.
The heavy rain from the previous two days had forced the Crocodile Dragons to carve up their hunting grounds anew.
They set off, moving with practiced ease.
Luo Zhou had changed his weapons. He carried two Eyebrow-Level Staffs and a short saber. He'd replaced the fine-iron spear with a seasoned-bronze staff.
It was five feet long, with a copper knob on the end as big as a fist. The entire staff weighed thirty-four jin.
Now that he had the Nine Bulls' Strength and the power of ten thousand jin, he'd switched to a heavier weapon.
Cheng Yubo handled logistics and prepared Luo Zhou's weapons without spending much silver.
Along the way, Lu Yue continued checking to see if they were being followed.
They had ten horses and switched mounts repeatedly before arriving at the Crocodile Dragon's territory.
Everything went smoothly. Luo Zhou quietly found the Crocodile Dragon.
But this was the Crocodile Dragon's new hunting ground, and there was no Dead Spirit here—so there was no Rewarding Good and Punishing Evil reward, either.
Luo Zhou attacked. This time it was easier than before. The range of his Dragon-Slaying Thrust had expanded, making it safer, too.
After killing the Crocodile Dragon, he broke its seven apertures and left behind traces of a curse killing.
Luo Zhou noticed bite marks all over the Crocodile Dragon's body. It had been driven out of its old hunting ground.
The world was hard to get by in. It wasn't just people who struggled; even beasts like the Crocodile Dragon had a hard time staying alive.
Everyone busied themselves loading the cart, disguising it, and driving it back.
They passed through Black Pine Forest up ahead. Less than twenty li later, they'd be back in Green Ridge City.
Suddenly, Zhang Chuan said, "The wind is tight!"
Everyone jolted at those words. It was a code warning them of danger.
They immediately stopped and went on guard.
Cheng Wanli looked into the distance and shouted:
"Which friend from the jianghu is that? What brings you here? You're blocking the road—let's sit down and talk it out..."
Before he could finish his greeting, a neigh rang out from the woods ahead.
All ten yellow piebald horses collapsed, cutting off the Dragon Fang Troop's chance to flee.
Without making a sound, more than twenty masked figures in black robes charged out of the woods.
Zhang Chuan bellowed and loosed an arrow!
It flew like lightning, piercing the head of the foremost masked figure as he charged out and killing him on the spot.
But the enemy seemed not to care at all that one of their own had died. Still without a sound, they surged forward in a dark mass.
It was enough to chill the blood and fill them with terror, sapping the strength from their entire bodies.
Zhang Chuan kept drawing his bow. Now he was showing his worth.
Each twang of the bowstring sent another enemy tumbling.
The person struck by the fourth arrow let out a scream, shattering the enemy's silent killing formation.
Zhang Chuan burst into laughter, dropped his bow, took a hammer in his left hand and a saber in his right, then charged into the enemy ranks.
Lu Yue and Cheng Yubo each took up a weapon and guarded the cart.
Luo Zhou raised his seasoned-bronze staff and gasped for breath.
The troop leader, Cheng Wanli, had vanished, but they all knew he was searching for the enemy's leading sorcerer.
Whoever had made all the yellow piebald horses collapse with a single cry, and set up a silent killing formation, had to be a sorcerer.
Zhang Chuan plunged into the enemy ranks, darting from place to place. His saber swept through the air, taking off heads, while his hammer crashed down, splattering brains.
On every dragon hunt, he'd hardly done anything beyond lending a hand. He'd seemed to have no value at all.
At this moment, he'd proved himself worth every Broken Spirit he was paid!
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