The translucent figure knocked out of the ring staggered as though drunk, swaying several steps through the air before barely finding his footing. He looked like an old man with white hair and beard, his eyes now comical spirals. Clearly, the sudden "attack" had left him dazed.
"Outrageous! Young people these days have no martial honor whatsoever! A sneak attack! You came to deceive me! To ambush an old man like me, Yao Chen!"
The old man's spectral figure rubbed his forehead as though he had been clobbered with a club, growling furiously under his breath. His voice was aged and hoarse, tinged with the irritation of someone whose sweet dreams had been interrupted.
"Yao Chen?!" Hidden in the shadows, Ling Ying's pupils abruptly contracted! Venerable Yao, Yao Chen! What was he doing here? And why was he living inside Xiao Yan's ring as a soul? Even more unbelievable, this once-mighty figure had actually been knocked out by the Xiao Clan's newly arrived, bizarrely behaved Adopted Son through such... such a childish method?! This was a tale straight out of the Arabian Nights!
During that brief, stunned silence, a clear, anxious cry came from outside the courtyard gate. "Brother Xiao Yan! What's wrong? What happened?" It was Xun'er! Ling Ying had placed her under "house arrest," forbidding her from spending too much time with Xiao Yan, and she had been tossing and turning, unable to sleep. When she happened to hear screams and sounds of fighting from the courtyard, she had immediately rushed over in concern.
At the sound of Xun'er's voice, Ling Ying instantly recovered from his shock. He glanced at the bedraggled Xiao Yan on the ground, then at the legendary soul hovering in midair, before finally turning his gaze to his young mistress, who was running toward the courtyard gate.
Protect the young mistress! That was his foremost duty! He absolutely could not let Xiao Yan, that "pig," seize another chance amid this chaos to root up his tender little cabbage! As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Ling Ying silently melted into the deeper darkness once more, remaining wholly alert and ready to handle any unexpected turn of events to keep Xun'er safe.
Meanwhile, the tremendous commotion in the courtyard finally woke the other people resting in the Xiao Clan Courtyard. A jumble of footsteps and shouts approached from afar. Clearly, quite a few people had been awakened and were coming to investigate.
The expression of Yao Chen's hovering soul changed; naturally, he too had heard the commotion outside. Revealing his identity now would hardly be wise. Not good! he cursed inwardly. Without lingering, his figure flickered into a streak of light and shot back into the black ring on Xiao Yan's finger with a whoosh, as though he had never appeared.
Almost at the same instant Yao Lao disappeared, the locked courtyard gate was smashed open with a bang. A crowd of Xiao Clan members who had come upon hearing the noise surged into the courtyard, including several bleary-eyed stewards and guards, and even the Second Elder. When they saw the scene inside, everyone froze, an extraordinary assortment of expressions spreading across their faces.
In the center of the courtyard, their former genius, the present-day "trash" Xiao Yan, sat slumped on the ground in an utterly wretched posture. His face and hair were coated in a sticky, reddish-black liquid that gave off a strange, bloody stink, and a large, plainly visible lump bulged atop his head.
Opposite him stood the newly arrived Adopted Son, Xiao Yi, wearing a strangely cut "Daoist robe." He held a small bronze bell in his left hand and a crude wooden sword in his right, wisps of pale smoke still rising from its tip. Beside him lay a strange cross-shaped object, while broken hemp ropes, a dozen crooked wooden beads, and a pile of burned, ashen bark were scattered around his feet. The battered table nearby was covered with all manner of bizarre objects whose purposes were anyone's guess. What... what sort of show were they putting on here?!
Before Xun'er could get a clear look at the situation inside, a barely perceptible shadow appeared behind her like a phantom, and a hand settled gently on her shoulder. It was Ling Ying.
"Young mistress, it's chaotic here. This is no place for you. Let's go back first." Ling Ying's voice was low and calm, carrying unquestionable authority. He did not even give Xun'er time to react. Half-forcibly wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he turned and silently led her away from this trouble-ridden place, swiftly disappearing into the night.
To him, whether it was the "pig" on the ground, Yao Chen's soul that had appeared for a fleeting instant, or the strangely behaving Xiao Yi, all were full of uncertainties. Keeping his young mistress away was the best choice.
Still slumped on the ground, Xiao Yan caught sight of Ling Ying leading Xun'er away from the corner of his eye, and the taut string in his heart instead relaxed. He secretly rejoiced that, thank goodness, Xun'er had not seen him in this miserable state, bruised and filthy all over. Otherwise, he would have lost every last scrap of face.
After their initial shock, the Xiao Clan members who had flooded into the courtyard finally began whispering among themselves. "What... what happened here? How did the Third Young Master end up like this?" "That's... Xiao Yi, isn't it? What on earth is he wearing? And he's holding a sword and a bell?" "Is that red stuff on the ground blood? And those beads and burned paper..." "Why aren't they sleeping in the dead of night? What kind of cult ritual are they performing?" Murmurs rose one after another. Everyone found the bizarre scene before them utterly incomprehensible.
"What's all this racket!" The Second Elder frowned and sternly silenced the crowd. His sharp gaze swept over Xiao Yan on the ground and Xiao Yi standing nearby, before finally settling on Xiao Yi as he demanded in a low voice.
"Xiao Yi! What exactly happened here?! What are you two playing at in the middle of the night?!"
Faced with the elder's questioning, Xiao Yi showed not the slightest panic. Instead, he puffed out his chest, a smug expression spreading across his face. He waved the Peachwood Sword in his hand, then shook the bell, its clear chime sounding particularly jarring in the quiet night.
"Second Elder, please judge wisely! I was carrying out Heaven's will and upholding justice!" Xiao Yi declared with his head held high, his tone brimming with boastfulness.
"I suspected that something unclean was haunting Brother Xiao Yan and interfering with his cultivation! So I specially combined Buddhist teachings, Daoist arts, and Western holy light to create my own Unmatched Chinese-Western Demon-Exorcism Method! That last blow worked brilliantly-it knocked that skulking 'unclean thing' right out! It got away, but at least that proves my method works!"
Hearing Xiao Yi's explanation, riddled with holes yet delivered with absolute confidence, the watching clan members exchanged looks, their expressions growing stranger still. Exorcism? A blend of Chinese and Western methods, at that? Had this boy truly gone mad?
On the ground, Xiao Yan grew even more furious when he heard Xiao Yi still smugly spouting nonsense. He had indeed seen that "ghost" just now-but there was no way he would so easily let off Xiao Yi, the culprit who had barged into his room in the middle of the night and beaten him into this ghastly state!
Xiao Yan abruptly raised a hand and pointed at Xiao Yi, his voice somewhat distorted by anger and the pain in his face as he loudly complained to the Second Elder.
"Second Elder! Don't listen to his nonsense! He's a lunatic! He burst into my room in the middle of the night wearing those strange clothes, then started burning me with fire and hitting me with things without a word, and even spat filthy stuff onto my face! Look at this lump on my head! And my face! He deliberately came to pick a fight and beat me up! You have to see justice done for me!"
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