Damage this minor would do no real harm to the powerful female ghost.
But it was enough to enrage her.
The female ghost rasped, her fingernails sharp as she charged straight at Daoist Priest Hu.
Wanting to see Jiang Nuo's skills, Wang Ping shielded the ordinary people and retreated with them, just as before.
"Mr. Jiang! She's all yours!"
"Nuonuo, she's so fierce."
Si Yan leaned close to Jiang Nuo, his voice very quiet.
"It's okay. Don't be scared, don't be scared."
Jiang Nuo offered a few soothing words, seemingly unconcerned. He even had time to toy with Si Yan's hand, utterly at ease.
The inexplicably ignored female ghost: "..."
She did not understand why this man had not rushed over to fight as she had expected.
Only when the elderly Daoist Priest Hu looked ready to have his bones knocked apart did Jiang Nuo act.
He slowly turned around, the faint amusement in his eyes flashing with a biting chill as he looked at the female ghost.
Then his gaze drifted to her belly, and his lips curved slightly. "So you're a Mother-Child Fiend."
No wonder this mission was worth so many points.
Hearing the term "Mother-Child Fiend," Daoist Priest Hu, who lay on the ground, finally understood something. He scrambled up and fled in a panic to join Wang Ping and the others.
There was no way he could win!
"Hrr... eee, eee, eee..."
Mixed into the female ghost's low growls were the shrieks of the ghost fetus in her belly.
A fierce wind suddenly swept through the entire courtyard. Bamboo leaves rustled in the gusts, countless leaves scattering and obscuring everyone's vision.
It also sent the female ghost's long hair flying wildly. She laughed shrilly, her target actually Si Yan.
A natural-born Spirit Body like his was a potent tonic to her. It might even allow the ghost fetus in her belly to be born successfully and become an even more powerful fiend.
Si Yan stood behind Jiang Nuo, his gaze icy, but his body struggled to withstand the fierce wind.
Seeing the female ghost's intention, Jiang Nuo's eyes darkened, his faint amusement turning into a dangerous chill.
Trying to steal my Little Lucky Star, huh.
This isn't fun. Better just kill her.
His hands rapidly formed spell seals. Without Jiang Nuo moving from his spot, the red thread in his sleeve flew out as though it had a mind of its own, wrapping around the female ghost and tightening, silver light flickering along it with a biting gleam.
"Hrr!"
The female ghost's hands were bound. She shrieked and arched backward, thrusting out her belly as a double surge of ghost power struck. Jiang Nuo's eyes flickered. He held two fingers of his left hand together and murmured something.
It was not a traditional ghost-killing mystic art. The cold light spilling from his fingertips resembled ice spikes. They hung in the air for half a second, then stabbed toward the female ghost's belly in unison.
The fierce wind blew back the hair over Jiang Nuo's forehead, revealing his handsome features. Yet there was not a trace of a smile on his face now, and his eyes were as unfathomable as a demon god from hell.
Those eyes...
The instant the female ghost looked into his left eye, her entire ghostly body jolted. Then she began trembling uncontrollably, her expression gradually filling with terror.
It was as though she had seen something that terrified her beyond measure, robbing her of the ability to resist.
Sensing something wrong, the ghost fetus in her belly desperately tried to crawl out of its mother. The moment its black claws emerged, the cold light sliced them off.
The injury to her ghost fetus thoroughly enraged the female ghost.
She snapped out of her terror, but did not continue fighting. With a shriek, she flew into the bamboo grove. The bamboo leaves shook a few times, and she vanished.
The fight had lasted only a few minutes. With the dim night and fierce wind, Jiang Zhong and the others farther away had not seen what methods Jiang Nuo had used.
All they knew was that Jiang Nuo had driven off the ghost Daoist Priest Hu feared so much in just a few exchanges.
Si Yan, however, had seen everything clearly.
He lowered his eyes, somewhat puzzled.
Nuonuo's eye...
Holy shit... I'm stunned!! Jiang Nuo is so powerful!!
God Nuo!! I'm screaming! So fucking awesome!
My idol is a master ghost slayer!! I'm proud!
The haters kept getting slapped in the face. Who would have thought that fight would be so spectacular!
It seemed... it really did seem impossible to find fault with it!
No! That ghost hadn't been killed yet. What good was a flashy fight!
As though they had finally found something to use against him, the haters started clamoring again.
What are you hyping him up for? The female ghost got away! So it looked a little flashy?? What good is that!
Exactly! Kill the female ghost first if he's so capable, then you can hype him up! Otherwise, it's all just for show.
In fact, Jiang Nuo really was about to chase her in.
He had barely lifted his foot when Daoist Priest Hu called out to stop him.
"Hey! Wait!"
Daoist Priest Hu pointed at the candles he had placed on the long table earlier.
"While the flames burn, fear no taboo; once they go out, do not proceed!"
"This female ghost is vicious! Bamboo groves are yin, and this is a yin hour. Going into that grove is throwing your life away!"
He rattled on at length.
Jiang Nuo did not take in a single word.
He merely gave everyone a faint smile, the killing intent still lingering in his eyes making that smile inexplicably chilling.
"It's fine."
With that, he walked straight into the bamboo grove.
Si Yan considered it, then chose not to follow.
The bionic bee camera split off another unit, which flew in after Jiang Nuo.
Without Jiang Nuo beside him, Si Yan gathered his overcoat closer and slipped his icy hands back into his pockets. He glanced at the blood-red coat, which was growing restless again, an icy indifference seeping from the corners of his eyes.
Alarmed at the sight, Wang Ping hurriedly added another association talisman to the coat, stabilizing the Skin Ghost.
Xu Tian's legs felt a little weak. Her heart was still pounding from the fright earlier.
Too terrifying...
It was not that Xu Tian had never watched Weird and Strange Adventure's livestreams, but she had always treated them as scripted. Now she had suddenly learned that all of it was real...
She drew a deep breath, clutching her chest, unable to recover for a long while. She shook the nanny's arm. "Mom... quit. Quit tomorrow. It's too dangerous here!"
The nanny suddenly screamed.
"No! I can't quit!"
Those words seemed to have struck a nerve. The nanny reacted violently, shaking her head neurotically and muttering.
"I can't quit! I can't!"
Old Madam Jiang and Jiang Zhong exchanged a glance. Frowning and glaring, she said, "What are you talking about? Is there something in the Jiang Family you can't bear to leave behind?"
But the nanny seemed unable to hear anything else and adamantly refused to communicate with them.
Inside the bamboo grove.
If the courtyard had still offered some visibility, the tangled bamboo grove was pitch-dark, so dark he could not see his hand in front of his face.
Jiang Nuo followed the ghostly aura forward.
A ghostly shadow suddenly flashed past. He stopped and tilted his head to look at the things hanging ahead.
More gaudy, ugly paper dolls.
They hung one after another from bamboo branches, swaying in the night breeze as though they had hanged themselves.
Judging by how they were hung, someone seemed to have put them there.
Remembering the human aura he had sensed on the female ghost earlier, Jiang Nuo formed a guess and hissed softly.
That kid Jiang Tong is young, but he's got some nerve.
He even wants to become the ghost's ready-made baby daddy.
But these paper dolls...
A smile playing on his lips, Jiang Nuo bit his finger and brushed it over the paper dolls' eyes, light flickering in his left eye.
In an instant, the paper dolls seemed to come alive. The yin energy in them was already there; Jiang Nuo did not even need to supply Spiritual Power.
"Go."
Jiang Nuo gave the command softly.
"Hee hee hee hee..."
The half-human-height paper dolls all jumped down and bounded off in pursuit of the female ghost's aura.