Hai Pig pays his respects to Second Master

"You court death!"

The monster roared and lunged straight at Chu Nan.

Whoosh!

Chu Nan used a peculiar footwork to dodge aside, his figure shifting back and forth through the room, making the monster miss every lunge, unable to catch him.

Moreover, the monster seemed wary of something. It did not attack with its full strength, deliberately suppressing the release of its demonic Qi instead.

"Chu Nan, this monster is at the Second Rank Middle Stage, but it seems afraid of attracting the attention of the Demon Suppression Camp in the city."

"So it hasn't dared to use its full strength. You should seize this chance to escape the Chu estate and go to the Demon Suppression Camp, or find a way to turn the tables and kill it."

Elder Meng's voice rang through Chu Nan's mind.

Escape?

Turn the tables and kill it?

A flicker of thought crossed Chu Nan's eyes!

Then!

Without hesitation, he charged out of the room, flinging a handful of insanely hot chili powder behind him.

Sss...

The insanely hot chili powder plastered the monster's face, making its four facial lobes twitch from the burning heat. Its eyes could not open at all, and it could only instinctively unleash its strongest strike toward the doorway ahead: Rending Claw.

Swish!

Bang!

The room's door shattered to pieces beneath the claw light.

Yet!

No scream came from Chu Nan.

"Huh..."

"Was my attack so fierce just now that he didn't have time to let out one last scream?"

"Tsk, tsk... looks like I've grown stronger again."

"Once I complete this mission, the resources the higher-ups reward me with should be enough to exchange for three fox demon girls. Not bad... ah..."

A satisfied smile appeared at the corner of the monster's mouth.

But.

Before he could enjoy even a moment of delight!

He felt a chill in his chest. An indescribable power instantly shattered his entire body, snuffing out his life.

Bang!

The monster fell to the floor, his eyes still wide in death!

And protruding from the middle of his back was the end of a weasel-hair brush, still radiating waves of white light. It was none other than Vast Righteous Qi.

"Phew..."

Chu Nan exhaled a breath of stale air.

Leaning against the table, he looked at the demon's corpse on the floor, a trace of satisfaction and release in his eyes.

This was his second time facing a demon directly. This time, he had finally made his first kill and overcome his psychological fear.

"Chu Nan, it seems Vast Righteous Qi suits you well. In the future, you should cultivate both the Confucian and martial paths, walking a unique great Dao."

"Your cultivation in the Confucian Dao is still too weak right now. Without my help, you couldn't possibly wield Vast Righteous Qi."

Elder Meng's firm voice rang out. "You must open your Confucian Palace first."

"The Confucian Palace..."

A gleam flashed through Chu Nan's eyes.

The Confucian Palace was the first step on the path of Confucian cultivation. Opening it made one a true cultivator of the Confucian Dao, able to use the Lip Spear and Tongue Sword Technique.

Speaking poetry to mobilize the Vast Righteous Qi of heaven and earth was the strongest, most effective kind of power for suppressing demons.

One could say:

The reason demons never wreaked havoc in Great Qian's imperial capital was not that it had too many experts, but that the Confucian Academy was there.

Within it gathered a great many masters of Confucian cultivation. The powerful ones could reduce every demon within a hundred li to flying ash with a single shout.

Thus, the imperial capital was forbidden ground for demons!

He shook his head.

Chu Nan stopped thinking about this. Opening his Confucian Palace was a matter for later. Right now, he needed to confirm whether any demons remained in the Chu estate.

After some thought!

Holding a folding fan, Chu Nan walked out of the room as though nothing had happened. The entire Chu estate was silent, as though the fight just now had not drawn any attention outside.

"Steward... where's Second Master's tea?"

"Steward..."

Chu Nan called as he walked, his eyes casually sweeping over the entire courtyard.

His heart, however, sank.

Many servants lived in the Chu estate, and all of them were quick-witted and vigilant. The commotion from his battle with the demon had been so loud that they could not possibly have failed to notice. They would surely have rushed toward his quarters.

But now:

There was not a single sound in the courtyard!

Then there were only two possibilities. One: he was currently the only living person in the Chu estate, and everyone else had been killed. Two: the demons had used some means to seal off his quarters, leaving the others unable to sense anything unusual.

Just as Chu Nan, still pretending nothing was wrong, reached the courtyard entrance and prepared to leap straight out!

"Fall back!"

Elder Meng's shout rang out.

Whoosh.

Using that peculiar footwork, Chu Nan retreated at top speed, instinctively throwing the folding fan in his hand forward.

Boom...

A black-robed figure appeared where Chu Nan had just stood. Catching the folding fan in one hand, he raised his head to reveal a deathly pale, eerie face and said with a sinister smile:

"Good reflexes. A pity your attack was so poor."

"Not necessarily!"

Having retreated several dozen meters, Chu Nan said coldly, "Your Second Master's fan isn't so easy to take."

What?

The ghost-faced demon's expression changed.

Sizzle...

A burning sound arose.

There it was.

Wisps of white mist rose from the hand with which the ghost-faced demon had caught the folding fan, its surface turning bloody.

"Poison..."

The ghost-faced demon said angrily to Chu Nan, "You actually carry such deadly poison around with you? Is something wrong with you?"

"Unfortunately, what can mere poison do to a protector like me? Today is the day you die."

"If you must blame someone, blame your brother for not knowing what's good for him and daring to oppose our White Lotus Cult. Still, he's already waiting for you on the road to the Yellow Springs."

With that.

The ghost-faced demon extended a claw and reached for Chu Nan.

Just before this.

If he had not been afraid of drawing the attention of the city's Demon Suppression Camp and deliberately set up a simple formation in the courtyard, he would have struck directly and killed Chu Nan long ago.

Now, the formation was complete. No matter what fighting took place here, the Demon Suppression Camp would be unable to detect it.

It was time to torture Chu Nan to death. Yes, torture him to death. He wanted the other party to die horribly, to warn the other Demon Suppression Guards that opposing the White Lotus Cult meant the extermination of all nine generations of their families.

"Watch out, dodge!"

"This demon is at the late third rank. With your current ability, you can't possibly hurt him."

Elder Meng shouted anxiously.

Bang!

Chu Nan dared not hesitate. He rolled like a lazy donkey to evade the sharp claw, then darted aside once more.

Boom...

Boom...

The ghost-faced demon missed twice in succession, but an eerie excitement spread across his face.

"Run!"

The ghost-faced demon grinned. "I love seeing you want to escape but fail. Dying too easily would be boring instead. Kahaha..."

With that.

He attacked Chu Nan again, toying with him.

"Chu Nan, he's toying with you. If this continues, you could die at any moment." Elder Meng's resolute voice rang through his mind. "In a moment, I'll burn a portion of my soul to take you out of here. But I may fall into slumber for a while because of it. I hope you'll take care of yourself."

Having said that.

Ignoring Chu Nan's fierce objections, Elder Meng was about to begin burning his soul to rescue him.

Just then!

A warhammer descended from the sky, hurtling straight toward the demon!

Danger...

The ghost-faced demon's expression changed drastically, and he instinctively dodged backward.

Boom...

An earth-shaking shock resounded throughout the courtyard.

Visible shock waves knocked down quite a few surrounding walls. The ghost-faced demon ahead was also blasted over a hundred meters away. Sprawled on the ground, a trace of crimson at the corner of his mouth, he looked up in shock:

There!

A slightly plump man in a brocade robe, his expression faintly cold, stood atop the warhammer, shielding Chu Nan from the shock waves.

He turned to look at the astonished Chu Nan, gave a slight nod, and said:

"Hai Pig pays his respects to Second Master!"