Chapter 681

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Main Character:

Shen Yao

Slay Demons?!

"This is a bunch of lunatics!"

After going to monitor those fish people as Shen Yao said, the System was directly driven crazy with anger. Wow! It had never seen such a crazy organization.

Shen Yao:...

Shen Yao's curiosity was piqued, and she hurriedly urged the System to quickly tell her just what kind of madness it was. Seeing that Changsheng Daozhang and Yuan Kong Master were also very annoyed.

The System pursed its lips, indicating that from the name "Slay Demons" alone it could infer this organization's core foundation: irreconcilable with demonkind!

Things like catching and killing demons are just the basics; true clan extermination and species eradication are also done effortlessly. Inside the Slay Demons organization, every person is wreathed in resentment qi. Techniques like the evil art of separation used by that young demon slayer are a must-have skill for every member; the grudge children they have created are innumerable.

"... They deserve to be struck by heavenly thunder, to die a terrible death!"

The System prides itself on being an artificial intelligence, its emotions not as abundant as humans', yet even it felt its qi and blood surge with anger watching them, wishing it could personally step in and dispose of them.

Shen Yao sighed, "The existence of this kind of organization also counts as a balancing technique arranged by the Heavenly Dao."

After all, this is not a normal world; the relationship between humans and demons is complex.

Looking into it closely, Slay Demons is not hated and opposed by Daoist temples and Buddhist monasteries because they want to exterminate demons completely; actually, it is because Slay Demons strikes viciously at humans, and has even actively attacked and injured several disciples of Daoist temples and Buddhist monasteries.

Daoist temples and Buddhist monasteries have joined forces to deal with Slay Demons more than once, but because the other side excels at hiding, like tenacious wild grass — "wildfire burns but cannot consume it all, the spring wind blows and it grows again" — this cycle repeated, and they could never truly wipe them out in one net. The cost was disproportionate to the gain, so they had to give up.

The System looked quite displeased, clearly disliking the Slay Demons organization, and no longer had its former agility of hissing and scurrying away; it just stayed there listlessly, not moving.

Seeing this, Shen Yao raised an eyebrow, feeling that the System occasionally being emo like this wasn't bad; at least her ears would be clean for a few days.

As for Slay Demons coming to find trouble? Aren't Changsheng Daozhang and Yuan Tong Master still there? Shen Yao believed she wouldn't need to step in for the time being.

…………

"Capture them, take them away!"

"Don't waste words with them. The old Taoist has sealed their qi meridians; without technique support, they are no different from ordinary people."

"Amitabha, well done, well done."

Shen Yao stood by the relay station window, lowering her eyes to look down at the courtyard below, a mess of carnage. Since the young demon slayer was executed, this was already the fifth wave of Slay Demons thugs coming for revenge.

Without exception, under the joint counterattack of Changsheng Daozhang and Yuan Kong Master, they couldn't hold out more than a few moves before becoming prisoners.

But even so, they still couldn't stop the endless suicidal charges. Who knows if the Slay Demons organization has too many people, or if they simply cannot let this loss of face go.

"Perhaps both. After all, lunatics cannot be judged by common sense."

The System has now learned from a setback; knowing lunatics have no logic, it doesn't use logic, and instead understands these people's extreme thinking even better.

"We've stayed in Huizhou Cheng for quite a while. Slay Demons won't stop. It's delaying the return-to-the-capital arrangements."

Lin Xingzhi had once promised her that Qingping City was also on his inspection tour; it was his first destination after descending the mountain, and held an extremely special status in his heart.

"Host, I feel Slay Demons won't stop easily. More and more people are dying." There's no way to de-escalate.

"Then let's see who can endure longer. Changsheng Daozhang and Yuan Kong Master have backup plans. In terms of foundation, Slay Demons can't match Daoist temples and Buddhist monasteries backed by the Imperial Court." How can a street rat compare to the Righteous Path?

Who knows, maybe Changsheng Daozhang and Yuan Kong Master are dragging things out on one hand while waiting for people from the capital on the other, wanting to give Slay Demons a "big gift package" and thoroughly resolve this bone-gnawing maggot.

Shen Yao and the System chatting like this was pure idle talk; the speculation was based on their own thoughts, not a guarantee that the Daoist temples and Buddhist monasteries would actually do so.

The result: the Daoist temples and Buddhist monasteries far away in the capital indeed wanted to go all the way and thoroughly resolve the Slay Demons scourge, completely dismantling this organization that had been entangled with both sides for a very long time, from the inside out.

A convoy of carriages and horses drove on a wide, clean street. Shen Yao raised her hand to pull aside the curtains on both sides, her gaze lightly sweeping over alley mouths, rooftops, and such places.

"What's wrong?" Lin Xingzhi asked.

Shen Yao shook her head, reached out to form a hand seal, and laid a forbidden restriction inside the carriage. "There are many unfamiliar cultivators outside."

"Slay Demons thugs?" Lin Xingzhi subconsciously tightened his fingers.

"No, more like disciples of Daoist temples and Buddhist monasteries." But they weren't wearing Daoist temple or Buddhist monastery attire. Pairs of them arranged in special positions.

Lin Xingzhi raised his hand to prop his chin. "This morning, Changsheng Daozhang and Yuan Kong Master specially handed me a jade tablet."

Jade tablet?

Shen Yao lowered her eyes, looking at the milky-white spirit talisman jade tablet at her waist, no longer than a finger. This was fastened on her by Lin Xingzhi when they left.

Smiling, he nodded, then blinked, indicating this jade tablet might be their passage token.

Passage token. Changsheng Daozhang and Yuan Kong Master using them as bait?

"Hmm, Changsheng Daozhang and Yuan Kong Master are the bait, right?"

The System indicated that no matter how extraordinary Changsheng Daozhang and Yuan Kong Master are, they wouldn't do something as stupid as using the current Prince and Princess as bait. Not to mention the feelings of their three genius disciples need consideration, even the Emperor's side can't be ignored.

"Bait or not, our say doesn't count. It's up to those Slay Demons lunatics to decide."

In other words, whoever Slay Demons chooses to attack becomes the bait in this annihilation operation, not whoever Changsheng Daozhang and Yuan Kong Master subjectively designate.

The jade tablet tied at her waist was unfastened by Shen Yao, sealed, and handed to Lin Xingzhi.

Lin Xingzhi understood perfectly. As he further tightened his grip on the jade tablet in his hand, a boom— a huge roar came from outside the carriage. The horses were startled and began to panic.

Lin Xingzhi pulled Shen Yao into his embrace. The two huddled in a corner inside the carriage. The jade tablet in his hand began to emit a faint, shimmering micro-glow, conveniently enveloping them both.

"Hmph! Move! Capture the Prince of Jing and the Princess of Jing, and let's see how the Daoist temple and Buddhist monastery people explain themselves to the Imperial Court."

"Yes!"

The neat, uniform acknowledgment fell. People dressed in red-and-black long robes formed hand seals and flew into the air, soaring toward the middle carriage with the same movements and postures.

Bang!

The carriage compartment exploded. Fragments flew in all directions. Shen Yao and Lin Xingzhi retreated using the surging waves of qi that appeared, and just as they were about to fall, they were caught by someone reaching out.

"Protect the Prince and Princess! Everyone, follow me to engage the enemy!"

Shen Yao then saw the group of disciples who had been hiding earlier leap up and engage the people ahead in battle; Changsheng Daozhang and Yuan Kong Master landed last, the two first expressing their apologies to Shen Yao and Lin Xingzhi, then attacking the demon-slaying bandits ahead with an even more fierce posture.

Good news, the two sides are evenly matched and neither gains the upper hand; bad news, this battle will not end anytime soon.

Good news, the enemy is mainly targeting Lin Xingzhi and Shen Yao, the other guards and Imperial Army at most suffer injuries and are in no serious danger; bad news, with both sides fighting they have no leisure to be too careful, and apart from Lin Xingzhi and Shen Yao, the other guards and Imperial Army, having no one to watch over them, inevitably get caught in stray spells.

Lin Xingzhi takes the opportunity to shout for them to retreat quickly, not to linger.

On the surface Shen Yao follows beside Lin Xingzhi with a panicked expression like a copy-paste, but in private she must still stay alert to movements on all sides, protecting her own and Lin Xingzhi's safety without alerting others.

"Wangye, Wang Fei Niangniang, we..." Lin An supports his tattered armor, his thoughts still not fully detached from the battle just now.

The power of the spells is truly impossible to counter; ordinary people facing them have only a dead end.

"Go back, with Changsheng Daozhang and Yuan Kong Master holding the line here, nothing will happen."

Even if something does happen, it is all the more necessary to go back and prepare, so as to arrange manpower in advance for the wife to leave smoothly under protection.

Lin Xingzhi has no thought of serving the country with loyalty; moreover, even Changsheng Daozhang and Yuan Kong Master cannot hold out, so what use could an ordinary Wangye like him be.

Lin Xingzhi brings Shen Yao swiftly back to the Yi Zhan, then calls the three children Lin Chengyan to his side to instruct them, until dusk approaches and he sees Changsheng Daozhang return safely to the Yi Zhan, only then does he let out a long breath of relief — good.

"Wangye, the demon-slaying bandits are indeed somewhat troublesome; the Old Taoist and Yuan Kong Master are currently entangled in battle with them."

Actually, if they did not have to worry about too much, both Changsheng Daozhang and Yuan Kong Master could have returned, but hatefully the demon-slaying bandits attacked the surrounding commoners on their own, forcing them to devote most of their energy to passive defense rather than active offense, which is why the two sides are deadlocked with no progress.

"Does Changsheng Daozhang have a solution?" Before the demon-slaying bandits launched a large-scale offensive, they had not failed to think of evacuating the commoners of Huizhou Cheng in advance.

But doing so would not only make the target larger, it would also make it convenient for the demon-slaying bandits to strike at any time.

Therefore, after much thought, aside from reducing daytime outings, the commoners of Huizhou Cheng carry on no differently than usual.

Right now, no matter how fierce the fighting looks, the scope is still within controllable limits; this is also why Changsheng Daozhang could return.

However, they still must be prepared for the demon-slaying bandits to suddenly go crazy and act without scruple; at that time they must strike first and kill them before the bandits begin a great slaughter.

"... The relevant situation the Old Taoist has already prepared with Yuan Kong Master; please rest assured, Wangye."

Mm, this means they can still continue staying.

No need to leave in advance; Lin Xingzhi even less needs to worry excessively that his wife will expose her demon identity; it is just that the days in Huizhou Cheng will be a bit harder, temporarily staying at the Yi Zhan waiting for the outside situation to stabilize.

After careful calculation in his heart, Lin Xingzhi shows a grateful appearance on his face: "Thank you for your hard work, Changsheng Daozhang, for coming to inform us."

"Wangye need not be courteous; please stay," Changsheng Daozhang gives a bow, turns, and leaves once more.

In the following days, Lin Xingzhi's group begins residing permanently at the Yi Zhan; because a firefight is ongoing outside, even the three children who are most unable to sit still become cute and obedient and no longer make unreasonable trouble — one can see how far the reputation of these demon-slaying bandits spreads.

"Bad! They are very bad!"

Lin Chengjing expresses that her master specially instructed her: if she encounters such evil cult demon people in the future, she absolutely will not hold back.

"Yes, my Buddhism is compassionate, yet there are also wrathful Vajras," Lin Chengyan and Lin Chengjue most like to dance with knives and brandish staves; daily Yuan Kong Master teaches them cultivation, and no matter how bitter or tired they can persist.

The demon-slaying bandits are the lifelong enemies of the Dao Guan and Buddhist temples; as disciples, how could they not know.

Shen Yao raises a hand and touches the three children's little heads, thinking to herself she never expected they would actually have such deep origins with the Dao Guan and Buddhist temples.

Mm

When she gave birth to them back then, she only thought they must not be implicated by the half-human half-demon bloodline, so during pregnancy she tried her best to take pills to enhance the three children's individual aptitude; returning to the capital and entering the palace was only an accident of circumstances.

Now it is also a matter of course; whether it is her own title of nobility issue, or possessing the names of Dao Guan and Buddhist temple disciples, their futures need not be overly worried about.

"Host, why do I always feel Changsheng Old Man and Yuan Kong Old Man can't beat that group of crazy people? Every exchange they appear tied hand and foot, aiyah!"

The System is worried, even more so because it is not calm about their current situation.

Looking at such a vast and mighty large group of people, it sets off our advantage as very large, but being too righteous just makes you suffer losses; the demon-slaying bandits don't care about commoners, they do as they please cleanly and neatly, while this side must both control the situation and control casualties, tsk tsk tsk, watching another Dao Guan disciple get injured, forced to broadcast a gg live report from the scene, the System simply doesn't know what to say.

"He who laughs last is the winner; stay calm a bit, don't be afraid, we still have trump cards."

Seeing the System acting like it's dying, ghost-crying wolf-howling, Shen Yao kindly reveals a bit of inside information, saying Changsheng Daozhang and Yuan Kong Master anticipated this early on and have already prepared a follow-up move; right now both sides are trying to delay as much as possible, just seeing who can come out on top.

System:... Ah?

The System feels the Host is deliberately deceiving it, even though it has no evidence.

Changsheng Old Man and Yuan Kong Old Man still have a follow-up move? As the System with full-sky no-dead-angle monitoring, how would it not know?

Shen Yao:...

So the System's procedure is still not intelligent enough.

Pointing at the Jade Tablet previously handed to Lin Xingzhi, then handed back into her own hand, "Here, run a detection."

System:... Hm?

Following the Host's words, the System runs a detection on the Jade Tablet, and the result discovers there really is something inside.

Oh, saying "something" is not accurate; what is recorded inside the Jade Tablet is a Forbidden Restriction.

"This, feels somewhat familiar," the System feels it has definitely seen this somewhere; by its memory deduction, the interval won't be very long.

"The Forbidden Restrictions on those Fish People are of the same origin as it," Shen Yao blinks, smiling as she expresses that Changsheng Daozhang and Yuan Kong Master are not really stubborn old fossils, they know how to adapt when things happen.

Look, now aren't they playing the "openly repair the plank road, secretly cross at Chencang" routine very well.

Young demon slayers can use evil arts to separate their massive resentment qi; could others be kinder than young demon slayers? Don't joke.

This Demon-Slaying organization, if there were truly kind people they would not persist; those who truly can persist, kill ten let one go, there will still be fish that slip through the net.

System:...

The originally evenly matched battlefield ends with a sudden, shrill shout.

The demon-slaying bandits have incidents one after another, catching our side off guard.

"It's resentment qi, resentment qi gathering, why is resentment qi gathering?"

They clearly already separated the resentment qi; otherwise how could they have run rampant until now.

"Bad, something happened at the rear!"

The Forbidden Restriction set up backfires on themselves; the separated resentment qi gathers and condenses again; if not stopped in time, they will all die!