There was actually a mortal here!
Cheng Buxiu stared grimly at the mortal deliveryman. Beneath the sleeve of his trench coat, he flicked a finger, sending a silver needle flying without a sound.
A cold glint flashed through the air. The silver needle circled behind the deliveryman and pierced his scalp in an instant.
Before the deliveryman at the door could speak, his vision went black, and he collapsed limply to the ground. The plastic bag of breakfast food in his hand fell too, spilling soy milk and broth across the ground.
"The Spirit-Erasing Needle? Too late!"
Han Suxin spoke in a low voice, her expression icy.
She knew that the Cheng Family cultivator had just released the Spirit-Erasing Needle to erase the mortal's memories of this moment, hoping to avoid detection by an Outer Demon.
But that azure sun had been hanging in the air, and their magical battle had caused such a commotion. Unless he was blind, how could anyone have missed it?
The next moment-
After the deliveryman fell, a strange, subtle change suddenly came over their surroundings. Distant scenery seemed to warp, and the warm golden sunlight slowly turned a sickly green. An eerie, oily green glow spread over the worn, whitish paving stones. Even the sky outside the window looked as though someone had splashed it with a bucket of emerald paint...
At that moment, everything around them seemed to acquire a hazy, spectral green tint, like an oil painting.
Only Cheng Buxiu and Han Suxin remained unaffected.
Any cultivator who witnessed this scene would know what it meant-
An Outer Demon was about to descend!
Cheng Buxiu's expression grew even uglier at the sight.
Although he lived up to his name, never resting until he accomplished whatever he had set his mind on, he still planned carefully to avoid trouble.
When he had sensed the genuine Azure Sun Ruler earlier, he had also noticed this woman, whose cultivation seemed no weaker than his. Suspecting that she too had only just discovered the Azure Sun Ruler and had yet to refine it, he had thrown caution aside. After setting up an illusion and a sound-suppressing restriction, he had moved straight in to seize it.
Now it seemed the Azure Sun Ruler belonged to the owner of this calligraphy and painting shop. He appeared to have provoked an extraordinary figure!
What made him even more disgusted with himself was that a mortal had actually noticed his magical battle, bringing an Outer Demon down on them!
But with an Outer Demon upon them, he could not flee. Fleeing would be useless anyway.
When an Outer Demon descended, the area surrounding the cultivator who had attracted it would be warped and severed from the real world. This green Outer-Demon Domain was proof!
Thock! Thock! Thock!
Suddenly, a sound like stones being struck came from outside the door, chilling both their hearts.
They immediately stepped out of the shop and looked toward the depths of the alley, where the sound had come from.
A strangely shaped beast slowly emerged from the alley. It resembled a red leopard, with a sharp horn on its forehead and five tails. The cries coming from its mouth sounded like stones being struck, making it seem utterly bizarre.
More than half of its bell-sized eyes bulged out of their sockets, covered in twisted threads of blood. It stared at the two human cultivators with bloodthirsty madness.
"It's a Zheng!"
Han Suxin's eyes changed as she immediately recognized the strange beast before them. Among the many Outer Demons that took the form of exotic beasts, a Zheng might rank near the bottom, but ordinary cultivators had no hope of dealing with one!
"A Zheng?" Cheng Buxiu's pupils contracted sharply too. Despair rose in his heart, and he let out a bitter laugh. "To think I'd die here."
He had witnessed the terror of a Zheng decades ago. Back then, he had been ordered to hunt down a Zheng that had gained free will and hidden itself in the mortal world. More than a dozen other cultivators had accompanied him, all at least as powerful as he was, some stronger. Yet none of them had expected the Zheng to be so terrifying. Only after paying an appalling price had they barely managed to destroy it!
In the end, only he and one other person had survived.
Their situation now was even worse, and reinforcements were almost impossible. If other cultivators entered this Outer-Demon Domain, they might attract even more powerful Outer Demons!
How could the two of them alone deal with this terrifying Zheng?
Even peerless experts on the verge of ascension would never risk entering an Outer-Demon Domain.
They were doomed, with no chance of survival!
Thock, thock, thock!
Amid those strange sounds, like stones being struck in rapid succession, the Zheng suddenly pushed off with its powerful limbs and became a black blur hurtling toward them!
It was too fast!
Han Suxin's expression changed drastically. She was about to take out a Magic Treasure and risk her life to buy time when she suddenly felt something stir inside her sleeve.
She froze briefly. With no time to think, she swept her sleeve-
Whoosh-
An ordinary white calligraphy sheet unfurled in the wind and flew out of her sleeve.
The slightly yellowed white rice paper fluttered in the air, bearing the stark black character for "Steadfast." The calligraphy sheet seemed to have come alive, floating and dancing in midair without any wind. The boldly sweeping character moved with the sheet, as though it was about to leap off the paper.
"Steadfast!"
Suddenly, a mighty voice, calm and detached yet carrying a trace of amusement, boomed like rolling thunder through the eerie Outer-Demon Domain.
Hearing that somewhat familiar voice, Han Suxin gazed up at the fluttering calligraphy sheet in overwhelming excitement, boundless hope welling up within her.
She recognized it. That was Senior Lin's voice!
As that calm voice rang out, the pitch-black character for "Steadfast" suddenly flew off the calligraphy sheet. Once it rose into the sky above the spectral green domain, it began expanding rapidly.
In an instant, the enormous character grew until it seemed large enough to blot out the sky, then slowly pressed down toward the Zheng below!
The enormous ink-black character proclaimed its rule, true to its own meaning-
Steadfast!
Beneath the pressure of Steadfast, the ferocious, terrifying Outer Demon Zheng trembled wildly, struggling to break free, but could not move an inch!
The ink-black character pressed down, blotting out the sky. Even the spectral green domain seemed to tremble!
"This..."
Cheng Buxiu watched in shock. "She actually has such a precious treasure? Could that senior-the owner of this calligraphy and painting shop-have bestowed it on her?"
Meanwhile, on the desk inside the shop behind them, the bluestone paperweight that had been lying quietly suddenly rose into the air, brimming with sentience. As the ink spot stuck to it steadily shrank, it flew out of the shop and transformed into a dazzling azure sun, bearing down on the Zheng!
Cheng Buxiu was astonished. This azure sun was far more powerful than the one he had produced with his Imitation Azure Sun Ruler!
He had never expected the Azure Sun Ruler inside to fly out on its own. No one seemed to be controlling it; it was acting entirely through its own sentience. But what was powering it?
At the sight, Han Suxin suddenly remembered the ink spot she had seen on the Azure Sun Ruler earlier.
That was the ink Senior Lin used for his calligraphy. It contained an extremely high concentration of spiritual energy. Even a single spot was enough to activate the Azure Sun Ruler.
Just as the tiny amount of ink remaining inside the Two Principles Magic-Gathering Basin could allow it to activate on its own!
She had initially assumed that Senior Lin had accidentally touched the paperweight with the tip of his brush, leaving that ink spot. At the time, she had even thought that an expert of his caliber should not make such a mistake.
But now it seemed that Senior Lin had deliberately left an ink spot on the paperweight!
Could it be... that Senior Lin had foreseen this situation all along?
Boom!
The azure sun descended with overwhelming power, engulfing the terrifying Zheng in dazzling azure light in an instant!
When the azure sun dispersed, only a vague, spectral green shadow remained of the Zheng. Its body had been utterly pulverized, leaving only its primordial spirit, which was slowly sinking into the depths of the void as though preparing to escape.
We can't let it escape! Otherwise, it'll come back again!
The thought had barely crossed Han Suxin's and Cheng Buxiu's minds when, before they could act, they felt a tremendous suction coming from behind them. They turned to look and discovered-
On the little table by the door, the drab gray Two Principles Magic-Gathering Basin had also risen into the air, its opening aimed directly at the Zheng's primordial spirit!
The taiji diagram of the two principles inside the basin rotated slowly. An invisible vortex enveloped the vague green shadow and sucked it into the basin in an instant. The intertwining currents of yin and yang immediately shredded it into nothingness.
Then the sickly green sunlight returned to its warm golden hue. The spectral green paving stones outside the door reverted to their worn, whitish appearance, and the eerily green sky overhead finally became azure blue again.
The Azure Sun Ruler flew back inside of its own accord and settled onto the desk, once again resembling an unremarkable bluestone paperweight.
The gray iron basin on the little table by the door also fell still, looking like nothing more than an ordinary basin.
The character for "Steadfast" in the sky shrank and returned to the calligraphy sheet, only slightly paler than before. The sheet rolled itself up and flew back into Han Suxin's sleeve.
All was calm. Everything was as usual.
It seemed as though the whole thing had been an illusion, and nothing had happened.
The deliveryman lying on the ground slowly came around too. He froze for a moment, then scrambled to his feet. After glancing at the plastic delivery bag on the ground and then at Han Suxin and Cheng Buxiu standing nearby, he scratched the back of his head in bewilderment.
He could not remember how he had ended up on the ground. Had he passed out from low blood sugar because he had skipped breakfast?
Still, work came first. Distressed to find that the soy milk and the broth inside the crab roe buns had spilled, he hurriedly looked at the two of them apologetically. "I'm really sorry. I don't know what happened-I just suddenly passed out. I'll get you a fresh order right away. Please wait a little while. I'm so sorry about this."
Han Suxin suddenly remembered that this was the breakfast Senior Lin had ordered, so she nodded. "Then be quick."
"Of course. Please wait a moment!" The deliveryman nodded hastily, picked up the bag, and hurried away.
Once the deliveryman was gone, Cheng Buxiu, who had been standing silently to the side, suddenly said in a low voice, "You said earlier that the Azure Sun Ruler belonged to the owner of this shop... that senior? And your calligraphy sheet..."
"That's right. The Steadfast character that suppressed the Zheng just now was bestowed on me by Senior Lin."
Han Suxin said coolly, "Your ancestor probably received a character from Senior Lin too. Otherwise, how could he have passed his heavenly tribulation so easily without even using the Azure Sun Ruler? Presumably, your ancestor also gave the Azure Sun Ruler to Senior Lin."
Cheng Buxiu's breath caught.
Now he finally understood why his ancestor had never said where the Azure Sun Ruler had gone.
With such an immensely powerful senior living in seclusion in the mortal world, even his ancestor probably would not dare casually invoke the man's name for fear of displeasing him.
"A word of advice: you should take the initiative and confess your wrongdoing to Senior Lin as soon as possible. He's broad-minded, kind, and benevolent, and he knows your ancestor. If you're sincere enough, he might forgive you."
Han Suxin glanced at him, then sighed. "After all, Senior Lin doesn't particularly care about these so-called supreme treasures... You probably don't know this, but in this shop, your Cheng Family's supreme treasure, the Azure Sun Ruler, is merely a paperweight Senior Lin uses to hold down his paper. And this Two Principles Magic-Gathering Basin is nothing more than a basin he uses to wash his brushes."
"A paperweight? To wash brushes? So that's how it is..."
At her words, Cheng Buxiu stood rooted to the spot.
At that moment, he suddenly understood why the Azure Sun Ruler was willing to guard this tiny calligraphy and painting shop despite having no master...
This senior did not care about the Azure Sun Ruler at all. The ruler had simply submitted to him of its own accord.
In that case, the Two Principles Magic-Gathering Basin and the Azure Sun Ruler were probably protecting this shop of their own accord to curry favor with Senior Lin...
He took a deep breath and slowly walked toward a nearby shadow, leaving only a few low words behind:
"I'll go back and put my affairs in order. Tomorrow, I'll come to beg Senior Lin's forgiveness. Whether I live or die... will be entirely up to him. Please pass that on for me, and ask him not to implicate the rest of my Cheng Family."
PS: (Another chapter of three or four thousand characters, and once again, no cliffhanger. What a good author I am...)