The Yaksha Leader felt chilled to the bone, his heart racing several times faster than usual. He slowly turned his head to one side and finally clearly saw the owner of the left hand gripping the small sword. He immediately let out a great sigh of relief.
"Many thanks to Mister Ji for saving my life!"
The Yaksha Leader stepped aside and cupped his hands toward Ji Yuan in salute. The river water running down his cheeks looked especially like cold sweat. Seeing the Crimson Small Sword still trembling and struggling in Mister Ji's grasp, he knew that if it had struck him between the eyebrows just now, he would surely have died.
"You may withdraw. Return to the Dragon Palace. Leave this matter to Ji."
The Yaksha Leader glanced in one direction, then nodded to Ji Yuan.
"This humble one shall take his leave first!"
With that, the Yaksha plunged back into the river. Ripples stirred across the river surface, yet his entry made no sound. Ji Yuan held the small sword and looked toward the direction the Yaksha Leader had been watching. In an indifferent tone, he said,
"Will you come out yourself, or must Ji invite you out?"
As he spoke, a thread of electric current flashed across Ji Yuan's left hand. The Crimson Small Sword struggling endlessly in his grip immediately fell still. He brought it closer for a look. Apart from being only a palm in length, its spirit inscriptions and ornamental patterns were all exquisitely wrought, like a longsword reduced to scale.
Around four or five breaths after Ji Yuan finished speaking, a woman dressed in pale blue slowly emerged from a patch of woods by the river. Though her lower body was no longer a fish tail, she still carried a faint demonic