Do I Really Have a Way to Subdue Demons and Exorcise Evil?

Once the temple doors closed, the inside of the temple was pitch-black.

Neither side could see very well in the dark, and scraps of paper and incense ash were flying everywhere.

In the dimness, Yunzhi felt an unusual tremor in her hair and the loose folds of her robes. She acted at once, dodging to the side.

Whoosh! Through the murk, two black objects resembling great blades slashed at her from the doorway, coming down almost against her body. A muffled crash rang out, and the bricks and stones of the altar split apart.

"Screee..."

A piercing howl of pain immediately came from the doorway.

"That's called cement! It's hard!"

After saying this, Yunzhi turned and dodged again. At the same time, she seemed merely to wave her hand, and a broken chunk of masonry suddenly flew toward the doors.

"This Door Is Impassable!"

The fine hairs on Yunzhi's face trembled, making her duck at once.

With a rush of wind, the chunk of masonry actually flew straight back the way it had come and smashed into the statue behind her.

"That's a statue of the Heavenly Emperor! It's even harder!"

Once again, she dodged as soon as she finished speaking.

She turned sideways and watched as a great blade-like object slashed at her again. Without hesitation, she sank her teeth into it.

"!"

It was hard too!!

Yunzhi felt an ache shoot through her teeth, but she made no sound.

She had figured it out on the first exchange: like her, this thing could not see very well in the dark. Right now, it was relying mostly on sound, vibrations, and the movement of the air to judge its opponent's position and movements. So she had used her superior intelligence to lure it into exposing itself repeatedly, while she remained hidden.

It looked perilous, but she actually had it under control.

Yet after the two demons fought dozens more exchanges, neither could do anything to the other!

Yunzhi discovered that although the demon was weakened, its cultivation was higher than hers, and it had the marvelous move "This Door Is Impassable," which nothing could get past.

Her cultivation was a little lower and her body a little weaker, but she was in perfect condition and more intelligent. She also had the technique "Night Tour of the Palace," which let her hide her body in the dark, making her even harder for the demon to find.

Yunzhi had the initiative, but she could not hurt it.

It could hurt Yunzhi, but could not find an opportunity.

"Let's see how long you can hold out!"

Yunzhi dodged as she roamed through the night, flinging chunks of masonry in quick succession.

This demon had only just broken free of its seal, and unlike her, it had no blessed grotto-heaven to nourish it with spiritual energy, nor spiritual resonance from discarded flower petals to help it. It had also pushed itself to use an escape technique to flee the immortal mountain. It should be extremely weak by now; otherwise, it would not have been so anxious to demand a blood sacrifice from the townspeople. Presumably, it could not hold out for long.

Sure enough, its momentum gradually faded.

First, it could no longer shout "This Door Is Impassable," and all the chunks of masonry Yunzhi threw struck the doors squarely. Later, it could not even fight back.

"This is bad..."

Yunzhi, however, had an even greater headache.

She had discovered that even with its magic power exhausted and its strength gone, standing motionless right in front of her, the demon was still beyond her ability to deal with.

These doors were unbelievably hard.

"I need to find another way!"

Yunzhi gradually began to consider retreat.

Worse still, she could not get out.

Both windows were fake, too.

That meant she was trapped in here as well.

"Could a fellow Daoist come to my aid?"

Her voice flew out of the temple and carried into the night sky.

Some of the town's cats and dogs heard her cry for help and, moved by the Gathering Beasts and Summoning Birds technique, came running at once. The barking of dogs immediately filled the space outside the little temple.

Birds flew to the doorway as well and pecked hard at the doors.

Anyone walking at night would probably have gotten a fright.

But these animals were all that could come from the town.

They could do nothing to the demon, and Yunzhi was even more afraid that these "fellow Daoists," who had come to help out of kindness, would instead be eaten by the demon as a blood meal. So she respectfully asked them to leave.

Just then, she heard what sounded like a noise on the roof. A moment later, a tile was lifted away, and a sliver of moonlight spilled in.

"Huh? The roof can be opened?"

Yunzhi bent her knees slightly and sprang into the air.

Under the bright moon, a figure burst through the roof and, without hesitation, scooped up the cat on top of it and flew into the distance.

"Senior Xie, why did you come?"

Once they reached a safe place, Yunzhi respectfully set the cat on the ground, feeling both a little touched and a little frightened after the fact.

The cat lowered her head and put a piece of meat on the ground. When she raised her head, her eyes were sparkling. At such a critical moment, the first thing she said was:

"Braised chicken neck. Do you want some?"

"Have you always been so generous, Senior Xie?"

"The Daoist won't eat it."

The cat sounded very annoyed.

"You carried it in your mouth, Senior Xie. Of course the immortal master wouldn't eat it. Once you take human form, if you offer it to him in your hands, perhaps he'll eat it." Yunzhi paused, then continued with the question she was concerned about. "How did you end up on the roof, Senior Xie?"

"Side-Swept Bangs! Impressive!"

"You certainly are impressive, Senior Xie. A little temple like that is no obstacle to you. Even with the doors shut, you can go in whenever you please."

"You couldn't get out!"

"I certainly can't compare to you in that respect, Senior Xie."

As Yunzhi spoke, she thought it over, then said, "That demon is blocking the doors. Its skin is thick and its flesh tough, and I can't do anything to it. I need to return to the mountain and ask the immortal master for help."

"Back to the mountain!"

The woman and the cat headed back.

Unexpectedly, just as they returned to the brightly lit street, they ran into one of the two middle-aged men from that day. His surname seemed to be Li.

Yunzhi was startled, afraid she had frightened him.

Clearly, Old Li had indeed gotten a fright.

Late at night, a young woman was walking alone with only a cat, coming from the direction of the temple where strange things had been happening. Together with the strange sight he had witnessed earlier, how could he not be startled?

"Daoist priestess, what are you...?"

"I just went to take a look inside the temple."

Sure enough!

The middle-aged man instinctively looked behind her, then glanced toward the mountain where the Daoist temple stood.

Never mind whether the Daoist priest at the mountain temple really had any abilities. The sheer courage it took to go into that temple at night to investigate, knowing full well that strange things had happened there, was enough to inspire astonishment and admiration. And someone without any abilities clearly could not have done such a thing.

"Then may I ask how things are over there? And what was all that just now? Why were so many dogs running that way, and sparrows flying over there too?"

So I did alarm people after all?

I hope the immortal master won't blame me.

Yunzhi pondered this and carefully arranged her words before saying solemnly:

"There is no need for concern. An unexpected disturbance involving our personnel occurred in the area of the temple ahead. The situation is under control, and I have formulated a response plan. I am about to return to the mountain to request a dharma artifact from the immortal master to address the crisis. Members of the public in the surrounding area are requested to stay away from the site of the incident for the time being."

The middle-aged man was taken aback, and became even more frightened.

Yunzhi nodded to him before leaving.

"Reporting to the immortal master: Yunzhi calculated every possibility, but never calculated that the demon would turn out to be a fool, utterly incapable of communication. As a result, Yunzhi's clever plan came to nothing."

"Go on."

"Yunzhi was not mistaken about the rest. That demon was extremely weak. Yunzhi fought it for quite some time and has exhausted its magic power and energy. Unfortunately, its skin is simply too thick and its flesh too tough, and Yunzhi is also to blame for her own incompetence. At present, she truly has no means of hurting it."

Yunzhi spoke to Chen Du in shame:

"Yunzhi fears she has already alerted it. If it recovers at all tomorrow, it will surely flee far away. Yunzhi had no choice but to hurry back through the night and ask the immortal master for a way to subdue demons and exorcise evil."

Ask me for a way to subdue demons and exorcise evil?

Chen Du was taken aback.

What way do I have to subdue demons and exorcise evil?

After thinking it over, Chen Du said, "If it came to the mountain, I would have a way to deal with it, but I cannot properly break my precept and go down the mountain."

"I would not dare trouble the immortal master to break his precept. I only ask that the immortal master give his permission and lend Yunzhi the treasured sword from the mountain that day!" Yunzhi spoke with unwavering resolve, as though she had sworn to defeat it.

"That sword?"

Chen Du could not help wondering what was so special about it.

"Immortal master, please understand: Yunzhi would never dare harbor any intention of stealing a treasure. It is only that when the immortal master brought the sword back to the temple that day, Yunzhi sensed an astonishingly sharp aura from it. Such a treasure is sure to break through that demon's defenses." Yunzhi was afraid he would misunderstand her, and also that he would grow suspicious. "As long as Yunzhi has the sword, she can surely drive it back, or even slay it on the spot, and then return the treasured sword!"

Is that sword really so formidable?

"Hmm, there's no other way, then," Chen Du said, going along with it as he shook his head. "That sword was used by a friend of the founding master. It was something he treasured, so it shouldn't be lent out. But I suppose the founding master's friend also used it to travel the world and drive out evil spirits and demons. Sending it on this errand now won't be letting it down, so take it for the time being."

"I will not let the immortal master down!"

"Come with me."

Yunzhi followed him to his room. When he opened the door, she saw the treasured sword lying casually on the table, while the sword hanging on the wall was still the one the immortal master had held on the first day she came here.

She could not discern the slightest spiritual resonance from that one, though.

"Take it."

The immortal master had already placed the treasured sword in her hands.

When Yunzhi took it, her expression involuntarily turned solemn. Her mind went momentarily blank, and she actually had the illusion that she could cleave heaven and earth apart.

"Does the immortal master have any instructions?"

"Go and come back quickly."

"Senior Xie, I'm going."

"Go and come back quickly," the cat said, imitating her Daoist. She scratched her head, thought for a moment, and added, "Don't crawl under cars."

"Yes."

Yunzhi went down the mountain with the sword.

Chen Du watched her departing figure, his mind going momentarily blank.

Do I really have a way to subdue demons and exorcise evil?