Lure and Cripple

Defeating the Locust Tree Spirit required a nighttime assault. Zhou Yan had originally planned to return home and come back after dark.

But the middle-aged butler had prepared a guest room for him to rest in and asked what preparations he needed. They could get whatever he required ready right away.

Zhou Yan shook his head. A tree that had become a spirit was nothing like an ordinary ghost or demon. Ordinary things simply wouldn't work against it.

These spirits had a hard time growing powerful, but they were also difficult to deal with. Common methods were useless against them.

For Zhou Yan, this was a major challenge too.

If he didn't have a secret weapon—and if this weren't the estate of a wealthy patron—he would have considered using explosives against the Locust Tree Spirit.

But that would have given him a bad reputation.

People had hired him to deal with a spirit, and he was using explosives? What did they need a Daoist priest like him for, then? Wouldn't it be better to send in the army and the police directly?

Given this family's circumstances, that would hardly be difficult.

There was no helping it. Since he had taken their money, he had to do the job as well as he could—and do it with style.

In his line of work, doing the job with style meant eliminating the evil spirits as quietly as possible.

After all, evil spirits had a bad reputation.

Even an encounter with one could give people something to gossip about.

So the best outcome for the host family was to have the evil spirit eliminated without a sound, leaving no rumors behind.

The more prominent the family, the more they cared about their reputation.

Zhou Yan had a plan. He went straight to bed.

He needed to rest up for tonight's battle and face the Locust Tree Spirit in peak condition.

Night fell.

Zhou Yan sat cross-legged outside the garden, the Peach Wood Sword laid across his knees. The Cinnabar Rope lay beside him, and two Corpse Controlling corpses stood nearby.

At Zhou Yan's instruction, everyone else in the estate had kept well away. No one was to go near the garden without good reason.

Dealing with the Locust Tree Spirit was troublesome enough. Zhou Yan didn't want anyone under its influence showing up at a critical moment and ruining things.

As the yin energy grew heavier, Zhou Yan slowly rose. Holding the Cinnabar Rope, he walked over to the locust tree.

He tied the tree up with the Cinnabar Rope, then used a peachwood nail soaked in Rooster Blood to pin the other end of the rope to the ground.

His purpose was to keep the Locust Tree Spirit's demon soul from entering another tree.

At Zhou Yan's movements, the locust tree began to sway without a breeze, its branches trembling nonstop.

Gradually, it stirred to life. Its branches began whipping toward Zhou Yan.

The Locust Tree Spirit's power was far greater at night than during the day. Its branches came lashing in amid fierce gusts of wind.

Just as one of them was about to strike Zhou Yan, the two Corpse Controlling corpses suddenly stepped forward to shield him. They viciously battered the branches, smashing them to pieces.

The yin energy was heavy at night, and the Locust Tree Spirit's strength had indeed increased.

But the zombies' strength increased even more.

During the day, zombies could unleash less than a tenth of their power, and they also suffered from the harm of yang energy.

Only at night could they unleash their full power.

That was one reason Zhou Yan had chosen to strike after dark.

As the zombies fought the Locust Tree Spirit, Zhou Yan finished setting up the Cinnabar Rope and carefully watched the spirit's attacks.

So far, the Locust Tree Spirit's demon soul had yet to appear. It was relying on the tree's massive size and countless branches to attack, seemingly intent on dragging the fight out indefinitely.

Suddenly, a mass of locust roots burst from the ground, like countless sharp stakes aiming to pierce Zhou Yan through.

"I've been waiting for this."

Zhou Yan seemed to have anticipated the attack. He leaped aside, easily dodging the roots.

At the same time, the Peach Wood Sword in his hand glimmered. He brought it down hard on one of the roots.

"Ah..."

The root was severed, and the Locust Tree Spirit let out a piercing, shrill scream.

It turned out Zhou Yan had cut one of the spirit's main roots. It was almost like losing an arm—no wonder it reacted so violently.

Zhou Yan had gone to great lengths to find an opening. How could he possibly let it pass?

He raised his hand and thrust the Peach Wood Sword, imbued with the Evil-Expelling Incantation, straight at the locust tree. The blade drove deep into its trunk, meeting no resistance.

The Locust Tree Spirit screamed again.

Zhou Yan realized that a powerful soul brought many benefits.

It improved his control over both Magic Power and his body, and allowed him to notice things invisible to the naked eye.

Like the main root hidden among the Locust Tree Spirit's many roots. If his powerful soul hadn't detected it, Zhou Yan would never have been able to pick it out from the tangle.

He had also spotted the Locust Tree Spirit's hidden weakness, which was why his sword had pierced it so easily.

The Locust Tree Spirit was like a giant wielding a heavy weapon: seemingly unstoppable, but actually rather clumsy.

If he couldn't find its weakness, that would be one thing. But Zhou Yan's soul had exposed it, like stripping off its armor and revealing a vulnerable spot.

No matter how tightly it guarded itself, there was always room for a lapse.

"Roar..."

Crippled several times in succession, the Locust Tree Spirit seemed to go berserk. Countless branches came crashing down.

Zhou Yan quickly retreated, narrowly dodging their blows.

The two Corpse Controlling corpses, however, were still locked in a struggle with the Locust Tree Spirit. Branch after branch slammed into the zombies, producing the clang of metal striking metal.

It was their restraint that gave Zhou Yan enough chances to cripple the Locust Tree Spirit.

"Too bad I don't know any fire-based Daoist spells. Otherwise, dealing with the Locust Tree Spirit would be even easier."

Zhou Yan sighed inwardly, but swiftly retreated.

At the same time, a strand of his consciousness flew from his mind and transformed in midair into a Yaksha, which lunged viciously at the Locust Tree Spirit.

The Yaksha brought its trident down hard on the Locust Tree Spirit. The weapon seemed almost transparent as it sank straight into the depths of the tree.

Then the Yaksha yanked the trident back out. A dark green apparition was impaled on its prongs.

That was the Locust Tree Spirit's demon soul.

If Zhou Yan hadn't crippled the Locust Tree Spirit again and again, impaling its demon soul would never have been so easy.

The Locust Tree Spirit had simply been too impatient. If it had truly tried to wear Zhou Yan down, Zhou Yan would have been the one to grow anxious in the end.

But spirits were spirits. It lacked the intelligence to see through Zhou Yan's bluff, and had been frightened into attacking Zhou Yan himself.

Unfortunately for it, this had been Zhou Yan's plan all along: to cripple the Locust Tree Spirit's demon soul.

In the end, Zhou Yan's plan had worked perfectly. He had crippled the demon soul at relatively little cost and defeated the Locust Tree Spirit...