Borrowing a Knife

A crescent moon hung at an angle. Zhu Hong'an and Yang An lay in the middle of the courtyard, their bodies washed pale by the moonlight.

Gao Xian and Zhu Qiniang stood in the shadows beneath the eaves, both cloaked in gloom. Together with the two figures in the moonlight, they formed a striking contrast of light and dark.

A sudden flash of delight broke through the gloom surrounding Gao Xian.

Of course he was glad. He had sensed Old Wang's presence.

If the Evil Spirit didn't show up tonight, things would be difficult.

Gao Xian tugged Zhu Qiniang back toward the side room. She looked at Zhu Hong'an lying in the courtyard, a trace of hesitation on her face.

She hadn't sensed the Evil Spirit, but she had noticed that Zhu Hong'an was about to wake up.

Gao Xian knew Zhu Qiniang didn't have much faith in him and wasn't convinced the Evil Spirit had arrived, so he tightened his grip.

His strength naturally couldn't compare to Zhu Qiniang's. He was merely using the gesture to express his confidence.

In the end, Zhu Qiniang still followed Gao Xian's lead, and the two of them retreated into the dim side room.

Zhu Hong'an, lying on the ground, suddenly twitched slightly. Then he opened his eyes.

Seeing this, Zhu Qiniang's hand muscles instinctively tensed. She nearly crushed Gao Xian's knuckle.

Gao Xian endured the pain and held tight to Zhu Qiniang. The Soul-Bewildering Powder was potent; even if Zhu Hong'an had regained consciousness, his body was bound to be limp and numb.

Old Wang was almost here. Zhu Hong'an had no chance of escaping!

Zhu Qiniang sensed Gao Xian's resolve too. She glanced at him, and he smiled at her, signaling that she didn't need to be so nervous.

In the dim room, Gao Xian's neat white teeth and sparkling eyes stood out. His smile seemed to glow, lighting up the shadowy room.

The smile was infectious, and Zhu Qiniang slowly relaxed.

"Ugh..."

Clutching his head, Zhu Hong'an let out a pained groan. He couldn't remember why he was lying there or why his head hurt so much.

Zhu Hong'an shifted his gaze and saw Yang An lying nearby. A look of confusion crossed his chubby face.

"Yang An's here too. Yang An and I were just drinking together. How did I end up on the ground? Where's Qiniang?"

From her hiding place in the room, Zhu Qiniang watched clearly as Zhu Hong'an's eyes gradually brightened. He was obviously coming to his senses.

Zhu Hong'an seemed to sense Zhu Qiniang and Gao Xian watching him. He looked up and saw two figures in the side room.

The room was extremely dim, and he couldn't make out their faces. But their builds made it easy to recognize them as Zhu Qiniang and Gao Xian.

Zhu Hong'an's gaze naturally fell on their joined hands. He flew into a rage. Those two adulterous dogs were carrying on right in front of him!

"No, those two adulterous dogs joined forces to set me up."

Zhu Hong'an suddenly remembered. He'd been dealing with Gao Xian when Gao Xian had caught him off guard and knocked him unconscious.

But what were those two doing just standing there? What were they planning?

The more Zhu Hong'an thought about it, the angrier and more frightened he became. As he struggled to get up, a black figure with half its head missing appeared before him.

The sight of its half-missing head was horrifying, and the single remaining eyeball gleamed green, even more sinister and terrifying.

"An Evil Spirit!" Zhu Hong'an immediately recognized the thing before him and instinctively reached for his Three Yang Talisman.

He knew how terrifying Evil Spirits were. He always kept more than ten Three Yang Talismans in his sleeve pouch.

The moment Zhu Hong'an moved his hand, he knew something was wrong. He wasn't even wearing his robe. How could he reach for his talismans?!

Worse, his Azure Wood Armor had been taken, and so had his Thunderlight Ring.

Without talismans or magical artifacts, Zhu Hong'an froze for a moment, then hurriedly formed a hand seal and recited an incantation, trying to cast the Lesser Yang Evil-Slaying Technique.

The technique was made to break through the filth of Evil Spirits. It was a powerful spell.

But his hands and feet were limp, and even his tongue was numb. He couldn't form the seal or recite the incantation.

A cold smile appeared on Zhu Qiniang's face. Zhu Hong'an was at the eighth level of Qi Refining, but he rarely fought anyone and had next to no combat experience.

Confronted by an Evil Spirit without warning, every move he made was laughable.

Old Wang, his head half gone, gave Zhu Hong'an no chance. His black hand shot into Zhu Hong'an's chest.

Zhu Hong'an screamed as he tried to cast his spell. He abandoned it and slammed both palms into Old Wang.

The pain triggered a sudden surge of strength in Zhu Hong'an. As a cultivator at the eighth level of Qi Refining, his organs, bones, muscles, and flesh were all exceptionally strong, and his magical power was abundant.

In that desperate strike, the force of his palms, fueled by magical power alone, reached several thousand jin.

Old Wang was struck, and patches of black ash burst from his body. He bared his teeth in a soundless shriek and struck again.

His fingers were as sharp as knives, and they carried a terrifying corrosive force.

With a sudden burst of power, the Evil Spirit's hand pierced Zhu Hong'an's breastbone and seized his heart.

Though Zhu Hong'an was a cultivator at the eighth level of Qi Refining, he couldn't withstand such an injury. His body went limp, all strength gone.

As the Evil Spirit's yin energy seeped into him, the plump, fair-skinned Zhu Hong'an quickly lost every last drop of blood and essence. His body withered, shrank, and blackened, soon becoming a corpse as charred as coal.

After absorbing Zhu Hong'an's blood and essence, the green light in the Evil Spirit's eye grew noticeably brighter.

Under normal circumstances, a cultivator at the eighth level of Qi Refining with talismans and magical artifacts in hand wouldn't be so easily killed by Old Wang.

Zhu Hong'an met this end because he'd first been dosed with Soul-Bewildering Powder, had his magical artifacts, talismans, and robe taken away, and wasn't thinking clearly.

Seeing Zhu Hong'an reduced to a corpse as black as charcoal, Zhu Qiniang's jade-green eyes held a trace of satisfaction and relief.

Gao Xian also breathed a sigh of relief. His plan had succeeded, and all his efforts hadn't been in vain.

After killing Zhu Hong'an, Old Wang grabbed Yang An, who was lying nearby.

Yang An became a dried corpse in his sleep, passing away quite peacefully.

After absorbing the blood and essence of two cultivators in a row, Old Wang seemed to have swallowed a great tonic. His thin, blackened body appeared to grow a couple of inches taller.

Old Wang wasn't satisfied. His lone green eye turned toward Gao Xian in the room.

Even in the dim room, Old Wang easily pinpointed Gao Xian's position by sensing his aura.

Zhu Qiniang was about to attack when Gao Xian said, "I'll do it!"

She was a little surprised. Though this Evil Spirit was ugly, its strength was not to be underestimated. Zhu Hong'an had been killed with a single grab.

Could Gao Xian really handle it?

Golden light surfaced deep in Gao Xian's eyes. At the turn of his thoughts, his grandmaster-level True Yang Spear shot out in an instant.

The invisible spear, condensed from magical power, divine sense, and yang energy, stabbed into Old Wang's chest. The yin energy ignited the True Yang Spear, making it flash with blinding golden light.

The True Yang Spear was the bane of evil energy. Though Old Wang's body was impervious to blades and spears, it couldn't withstand the thrust.

A hole pierced straight through his black chest, and a mass of black ash burst out.

Old Wang was gravely wounded. He bared his teeth in a soundless shriek, his body twitching and trembling uncontrollably.

At that moment, Gao Xian unleashed a second True Yang Spear.

As the invisible spear collided with the yin energy, it flashed with golden light once more. The golden light blasted half of Old Wang's head to pieces.

Then the third True Yang Spear struck, piercing Old Wang's abdomen.

The spear's fierce, blazing aura was like fire. Three consecutive strikes blasted Old Wang's body to pieces. His ruined remains turned to black ash, which scattered on the wind as the True Yang magical power consumed them.

With Old Wang's destruction, the wisp of evil energy wrapped around Gao Xian also vanished completely.

Zhu Qiniang knew Gao Xian's True Yang Spear was powerful, but she hadn't expected his skill to be so great that he could unleash three spears in a row.

Most importantly, Gao Xian hadn't formed a hand seal or recited an incantation. His three swift, fierce strikes came one after another, leaving the Evil Spirit no chance to react before it was utterly destroyed.

She looked at Gao Xian again, her admiration for him growing.

Zhu Qiniang had thought Gao Xian was a little softhearted and incapable of accomplishing anything great.

After this, she realized that Gao Xian was deeply calculating. He could keep his head down and bide his time, yet act decisively when it mattered.

Moreover, though he was still young, Gao Xian had become a master alchemist, and he possessed extraordinary talent in spellcraft as well.

Zhu Qiniang had a feeling: This handsome man will surely accomplish great things one day!