Demonic Arts and Evil Cultivators

Su Ding'an paused, his expression growing a bit more solemn.

"Ever since then, the Shen Family residence has changed."

"Within a radius of a hundred paces, whenever someone approaches, black shadows formed of ink and water emerge out of thin air."

"These black shadows have no fixed shape; some resemble humans, some resemble beasts, and others are just formless, like a casual scribble."

"No one knows how they appear. Perhaps one moment there is nothing in front of you, and the next, a black shadow is lunging to kill."

Su Ding'an's voice carried a hint of dread.

"These things are elusive and numerous. The personnel at the Linchuan County station call them Ink Spirits."

"According to Zhao Heng, the time he entered the Shen Family residence, he encountered a dense swarm of Ink Spirits—there must have been over a hundred of them."

"Moreover, these things are incredibly hard to kill!"

Lu Yuan's brows twitched slightly.

"Ordinary blades and swords feel like they are cutting through water. Although you can destroy their form, they recover in the blink of an eye, causing no damage at all."

"To truly injure them, one must use spiritual power to empower their weapon."

"With Zhao Heng's cultivation at the late stage of the Initial Realm, it took three strikes of his Demon-Suppressing Iron Fan to kill a single Ink Spirit. Those ordinary Demon-Suppressing Guards need at least ten strikes."

"Furthermore, the further in you go, the stronger the Ink Spirits become. It is said that the ones near the Sword Hall are indistinguishable from real people, and they even wield weapons made of ink."

Lu Yuan pondered for a moment. "What about the manpower at the Linchuan County station?"

Su Ding'an shook his head. "That is exactly the problem."

"Linchuan County is not large, and it hasn't had many demon infestations in the past, so the Prefecture Bureau did not dispatch a Demon Suppression Commander to oversee this place."

"With a top-tier Demon Suppression Captain like Zhao Heng, plus five Demon-Suppressing Guards and the local bailiffs, it was usually enough to handle things."

"But now that the Shen Family residence is crawling with Ink Spirits, according to Zhao Heng's estimate, it would take at least a fully equipped squad of Demon-Suppressing Guards to handle it."

A squad means fifty men, equivalent to a branch of the Longevity Cult in Chixia County.

By this count, the current manpower at the Linchuan County station isn't even enough to serve as a snack for those Ink Spirits.

Lu Yuan nodded, remained silent for a moment, and asked, "What about the lady in that ancient painting?"

"No one has seen her." Su Ding'an shook his head. "Zhao Heng said he sensed an extremely strong demonic aura inside the Sword Hall, but he couldn't find the source."

"In my opinion, that thing is likely hiding behind the scenes, manipulating Shen Yulou and those Ink Spirits to act as its thugs."

Speaking of this, Su Ding'an suddenly shrank his neck.

"By the way, there is another sinister aspect. The way those Ink Spirits kill is very strange. The people they kill have no wounds on their bodies, but they turn a grayish color."

"When those victims are carried out, both their bodies and their clothes are faded and gray, just like people in an ink wash painting."

"Sir, what do you think that demon is trying to do? Turning people into paintings? This is just too bizarre..."

Lu Yuan spoke calmly and faintly: "Why waste effort thinking about a demon? Regardless of what it wants to do, we just need to slay it."

Su Ding'an was stunned, then nodded in agreement.

"That is true."

The next afternoon, outside the city of Linchuan County.

The city gates were wide open, and twilight was closing in.

Pedestrians were sparse, and the city walls of blue brick and gray tile shimmered with an aged luster under the setting sun.

Su Ding'an jumped off his horse, rubbing his backside, which was sore from the ride.

"Sir, the station is in the south of the city. Shall we go there to settle in first, or..."

Before he could finish, his gaze was instantly drawn away.

"Eh? What is that..."

Lu Yuan followed his line of sight and saw two Demon-Suppressing Guards wearing Dark Patterned Brocade Robes standing by the city gate, their waists hung with Horizontal Sabers, their expressions cold and stern.

Opposite them were seven or eight people in gray-white robes, with a silver crescent moon embroidered on their collars.

Among those people, a hunched demon was bound by dark red chains.

The demon's skin was gray and white like a corpse, its body covered in cracks, and its hands were long-armed ape-like, extending much further than a normal person's.

Waves of demonic aura radiated from its body, suppressed by the dark red chains; it was clearly a magical artifact used to imprison demons.

"It looks like people from White Moon Villa are handing over a task to the local Demon-Suppressing Guards," Su Ding'an explained in Lu Yuan's ear.

"Sect disciples handing over tasks to the Demon-Suppressing Guards?" Lu Yuan looked puzzled.

"Sir, this is a new decree issued at the beginning of spring. Some counties with insufficient manpower can post tasks to nearby sects."

"If sect disciples complete the task of slaying demons, they can exchange the case files at the Prefecture Bureau for some common spiritual materials or pills."

First, the descendants of loyal martyrs could be directly promoted to the Demon Suppression Bureau, and now they were issuing bounties to nearby sects for demons.

It seems that not only is Linchuan County plagued by demons, but demons across the Great Gan seem to be becoming increasingly rampant.

"So that's how it is."

Lu Yuan nodded slightly, his gaze shifting toward the group of people.

The lead disciple from White Cloud Villa pulled a dossier from his robes and handed it to a Demon-Suppressing Guard, his tone carrying a hint of seeking credit.

"Lord Zhang, this monster claimed seven lives in the willow forest outside the city. We chased it for two days before capturing it. Please verify."

Zhang Shun took the dossier, compared it against the hunched figure, and nodded.

"The appearance matches; it is exactly as described in the dossier..."

Suddenly, the runes on the Demon-Binding Rope flickered, as if something had gone wrong.

Zhang Shun's eyelids twitched, and his expression changed drastically.

The Demon-Binding Rope was a magical artifact specifically crafted for monsters, possessing a natural power to restrain demons and spirits.

Yet, at this moment, although the creature was bound, it was not truly suppressed.

Its hands and feet were tied, but the demonic aura surrounding its body was rising sharply.

"Something's wrong!"

He roared, just about to retreat.

The hunched figure suddenly erupted into action.

Snap!

The chains shattered into pieces, fragments flying in every direction.

The thing let out a shrill screech, swung its arm, and with fingers like knives, slashed viciously into Zhang Shun's abdomen.

Zhang Shun was sent flying backward, his robes torn to shreds.

Blood gushed out, revealing five mangled, bloody claw marks.

"Old Zhang!"

The other Demon-Suppressing Guard exclaimed in shock.

Having succeeded with one strike, the thing did not stop, moving like a grey-white ghost through the gatehouse and darting toward the city.

Several pedestrians at the city gate who couldn't dodge in time were sent flying by the impact, falling to the roadside with screams as dark, bruised welts rapidly appeared on their bodies.

"Pursue!"

Zhang Shun groaned in pain, collapsing to the ground.

The other Demon-Suppressing Guard didn't hesitate, drawing his blade to give chase. The other disciples from White Moon Villa finally snapped out of their stupor and hurriedly followed.

Only the lead man remained to tend to the injured Zhang Shun.

But the thing was too fast; in a few leaps, it vanished into the depths of the alleys, and they sprinted into the city without hesitation.

Zhang Shun clutched his wound, gritting his teeth as he glared at the lead White Moon Villa disciple, his eyes practically spitting fire.

"Look at the mess you've made!"

The man's face turned deathly pale, and he stammered in panic, "Lord Zhang, this has nothing to do with us! It was clearly the demon that broke free from the Demon-Binding Rope..."

"Demon? Are you blind, you bastard?" Zhang Shun cursed furiously.

"That was a human! A human practicing demonic arts! Who taught you to use a Demon-Binding Rope on a person?"

"Get moving and chase it! If any of the city's commoners are harmed, I'll have your head for it!"

"..."

On the other side.

Su Ding'an withdrew his gaze from the two of them.

"My god! What kind of demonic art turns a person into that ghostly mess? If it were me, I'd probably have—"

He kept rambling on, but when he turned his head, he froze.

The Wind-Chasing Horse was completely empty.

He hurriedly looked around, but there was no sign of Lu Yuan.

"Where did the lord go?"

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