Chapter 36: External Enemy

At this moment, deep in a small alley outside the Qi family residence, another household's house was filled with countless paper copper coins.

A gaunt old figure stood before the candlelight.

In midsummer, she was nevertheless wrapped in a thick cotton-padded jacket.

At this moment, gazing at the flickering candlelight, her eyes brimmed with intense resentment.

"Hongmei, my poor daughter, you can finally rest in peace; Mother will soon avenge you—not just that vicious Madame Zhou, but everyone in the Qi family main branch will be buried with you, for they are all your murderers!"

She muttered softly, occasionally accompanied by a cough or two.

Her eyes also held a hint of pain.

Her daughter had originally been a second-rank maid in the main household; because she served well, Qi Yuanwu took her into his quarters as a concubine. Everything had been fine, but after she fortuitously became pregnant, one mishap followed another, culminating in her falling into the well and dying with her unborn child.

She had long warned her daughter to be wary of that vicious woman, but day and night she could not guard against the family's overwhelming power, and in the end met this fate.

What made the old woman resentful was that Qi Yuanwu, the patriarch of the Qi family, didn't utter a single fair word—he treated her like a dead ant rather than a beloved concubine bearing his blood; how could she not resent him?

But then a low, cold laugh came from outside the window.

"If you rely only on these current methods, you may not be able to exact your revenge!"

Hearing this, the old woman looked toward the person outside, and her eyes instantly twisted.

"You deceived me—you didn't say this sorcery could completely kill that vicious woman, as well as Qi Yuanwu and everyone in the Qi family main branch?"

Her whole body was covered with a thick layer of yin energy, resentment.

Moreover, horrifying ulcerous sores erupted on her face, like a living toad, terrifying to behold.

The person outside slowly appeared at the doorway, glanced at the old woman's ulcerous sores, showed no surprise, and merely nodded.

"That's because, with no one interfering, now someone is meddling and ruining your plans!"

Beneath the cloak, the figure was especially icy in the dark wind.

The old woman instantly grew anxious; having paid such a heavy price, if she fell short at the end, who would avenge her daughter and grandson?

"What should I do then? Speak quickly—you surely have a way?"

Her figure now resembled a vengeful ghost seeking life!

This figure paid no heed to the old woman's rashness, saying, "It's simple: dig up the Magic Suppressing Object, go finish the final rite, then find a way to lend your daughter a hand!"

The old woman's expression froze upon hearing this.

"Isn't it just a daily offering? It hasn't even passed midnight yet!"

"It's too late; we can only speed up, otherwise you might not get your wish!"

This figure's eyes held a hint of a smirk.

His eyes also held something strange—no matter what, Madame Zhou must not live!

The old woman nodded, then without further hesitation wrapped herself in a black cloth and hurried toward the Qi family manor.

……

In the Qi family inner courtyard, accompanied by a roar like thunder, a terrifying gloomy energy surged up from the well like a flood, accompanied by countless terrifying black hairs, like a horde of black worms.

The runes around the well rim burst, and the yellow flags snapped one after another.

The black hair shot forth like a heavenly net, racing deep into the inner residence.

Tianxu Old Daoist witnessed this and turned pale with shock.

Such an accident was completely beyond his imagination; according to his knowledge, the Mother-Child Ferocious Evil, though fierce, might not be able to break the ancestral magical artifacts of the Tiexian Observatory.

He was not lacking experience in dealing with such fierce vengeful spirits.

Shocked, he didn't have time to lament the broken magical implements; he raised his hand and drew a purplish-red long sword from his waist.

The spiritual energy flowing on this sword was stronger than that of the several items, and faintly bore a trace of mystical rhythm.

This is the supreme treasure of the Tiexian Observatory.

A genuine magical implement, a treasure nurtured by magical power.

"Slash!"

He let out a fierce shout, and the myriad threads of spiritual energy in his hand condensed into a purplish-red sword shadow that fiercely slashed the countless black hairs, instantly cutting them all; within emerged two near‑mad figures, one large and one small.

It was a tall woman with beautiful features, now covered in azure lethal energy, cradling in her arms an evil infant with sharp mouth and fangs.

The crimson sword light pierced her forehead bit by bit, inflicting grave harm.

Yet it never fully severed her in two; meanwhile, at the door, talismans flew up from the ground, forming a talisman wall that blocked her black hair.

This wound instantly enraged the Mother-Child Resentful Ghost; the female ghost released the child ghost and turned into a surge of dense black energy that rushed toward Tianxu Daoist.

"Medddling old fool, today I'll take your life as well!"

"Eat!"

The child ghost turned into a black bolt of lightning‑fast shadow, arriving before Tianxu Old Daoist in an instant—so fast he could not dodge.

He could only mobilize his spiritual power to form a protective gust before him.

Zhang Jian, leaning against the wall, silently shook his head; the Qi Refining stage's spiritual gust could not withstand the child ghost's claws, which were stronger than the female ghost's yin energy and especially swift.

But just then, Zhang Jian's eyes twitched as he saw Qi Yi flash forward, brandishing a sharp sword that became a mighty sword stab striking the child ghost's claws; scorching hot blood spurted out, instantly breaking the child ghost's claws, and a fierce, invisible surge of scorching energy rushed like a flood to blast the child ghost, making it howl in pain.

"How dare a petty ghost disturb the peace of my Qi family residence—seek death!"

Qi Yi's eyes were full of icy chill; his great sword waved out layers of blazing blood‑light, sweeping forward like a ferocious tiger.

"Refined Viscera Blood Strength, Pure Yang Vital Blood?"

Zhang Jian saw this and was instantly astonished.

Refined Viscera is the fourth stage of body‑tempering martial artists, equivalent to the fourth stage of internal‑refining martial artists' innate phase; surprisingly, this maternal grandfather of ours is a Refined Viscera practitioner.

Such Refined Viscera practitioners are rare among body‑tempering martial artists.

Its breakthrough difficulty is somewhat greater than that of internal‑refining martial artists.

"No wonder, even at sixty he still has rosy lips and white teeth, growing younger with age—this maternal grandfather is certainly not ordinary……"

Zhang Jian secretly thought.

The blood-colored longsword crisscrossed like a shooting star; that surge of ultimate yang energy that burns everything erupted, and the dense massive net enveloped the unsuspecting child ghost.

Moreover, a surging tiger-dragon aura erupted around his maternal grandfather's body.

As if the tiger-dragon's roar shook forth, raging across mountains and rivers.

Zhang Jian watched this scene, and his expression shifted abruptly.

He was still seeing for the first time a titled court martial officer truly erupt; his circulation of tiger-dragon aura was indeed terrifying, enough to suppress many external evils.

If an ordinary cultivator had a low realm, they could be suppressed by that tiger-dragon aura in a single encounter and then be instantly killed.

"No wonder those myriad heretical paths, no matter how rampant, dare only lurk in the shadows to cause mischief."

Zhang Jian secretly thought, the faint pride after his breakthrough also gradually faded; under the mighty Great Qian court, even cultivators must act cautiously.

At this moment, seeing the two suppress the mother-and-child evil spirit, Zhang Jian abandoned the idea of intervening.

He glanced toward the depths of the flower garden, feeling that the one practicing the demon-sealing technique might act; he simply made up his mind and rushed toward the flower garden.

After he arrived, soon he spotted a sneaky figure lurking around the flower garden; seeing it, Zhang Jian's eyes flickered with a faint smile, his figure vanished, and shortly afterward he led another figure into the flower garden.

Soon a shrill scream rang out from the flower garden; the piercing cry immediately drew the Qi family's patrolling servants.