Chapter 40: Night (Bonus Chapter—Please Follow and Vote!)

Thunder rolled.

A violet-gold lightning flashed across the horizon, and low thunder rumbled through the air.

East city.

No one knew when, a group of black-clad figures descended from the sky and clashed with the Heaven and Earth Alliance’s hall masters and disciples lying in wait.

The clashing of blades echoed endlessly through the alleys, screams rose continuously, and severed limbs, washed pale by rain, could be seen scattered on the ground.

“Are these Ghost Cultists?”

Li Rui stared at the corpses lying on the ground.

Their skull caps had been ripped open by swords and knives—they died a gruesome death.

Anyone who saw such a horrifying scene would tremble in fear.

There were bodies of both Heaven and Earth Alliance disciples and Ghost Cultists.

Li Rui was strangely calm.

He ripped open the chest of a masked man in black and saw a greenish-black ghost flame tattoo—the unmistakable mark of a Ghost Cultist.

“So it is.”

The Ghost Cultists had struck.

It wasn’t surprising.

The Huaqing Sect, the Heaven and Earth Alliance, and the county magistrate’s office had deployed such a massive force not merely to deal with Xu Hua, but primarily to target the Ghost Cult.

Li Rui crouched down.

He rummaged through several Heaven and Earth Alliance disciples’ bodies, his movements expert and fluid—his fingers brushed over their forms until he felt something different, then stopped.

His expression quickly turned delighted.

He had indeed found a fair amount of silver.

Altogether, it added up to a full hundred taels!

“This is far faster than collecting a salary.”

No wonder some people preferred the shady path—how many years would it take to save a hundred taels by honest work? Robbing was so much quicker!

Too bad there were no elixirs, let alone spirit pills.

But that made sense.

Who in their right mind would carry elixirs around? Most martial artists would swallow any pill they got on the spot.

The trope of someone hoarding a divine pill only to be killed and let the enemy claim it simply never happened.

Li Rui had expected this.

He stuffed the silver he found into a sack and tossed it into the courtyard of a nearby house.

He had other tasks to do—carrying a hundred taels of weight would surely hinder his blade.

Don’t sacrifice the big for the small.

As for the Ghost Cultists’ corpses, he didn’t even glance at them.

They all wore night-robes—unless they were mad, who would hide valuables in night-robes? Not even silver. Searching them would be a waste of time.

He stood up and melted back into the darkness.

Continuing to search for targets.

“Xu Hua!”

Heavy rain poured down, quickly pooling on the ground; raindrops the size of pearls splashed ripples across the water.

A narrow alley.

“Keep your eyes open!”

Ying Liu barked at the men behind him, his expression grim.

He kicked aside the corpse of a Ghost Cultist, his face twisted with disgust.

“Damn it.”

He’d thought this would be an easy bounty—instead, he’d nearly lost his life.

These Ghost Cultists were too sneaky—they surged forward all at once and caught him off guard.

A terrible scar cut across his right shoulder.

Ying Liu’s expression didn’t change—he’d lived on the edge of blades for years; this minor wound meant nothing.

“Hall Master Ying, what should we do next?”

A young disciple asked anxiously.

“Do? Do what? Get the hell out of here! Let someone else take the bounty!”

Ying Liu spat a bloody wad onto the ground.

He was afraid.

The Ghost Cult’s assault was far fiercer than expected—if they kept fighting like this, he’d lose his life.

What good were opportunities if you were dead?

“Why haven’t the Huaqing Sect’s experts acted yet?”

Ying Liu scanned the area, frowning.

Just then—

He suddenly heard a faint, rustling sound—so quiet, he’d have missed it if he hadn’t held his breath and focused.

The next instant—

A young disciple’s voice shrieked.

“Ghost! It’s a ghost!!”

Ying Liu spun around, staring in the direction the disciple pointed.

Nothing there.

“What nonsense! If you dare scream again, I’ll crush you first!”

Ying Liu was furious.

But as he turned to scold the young disciple, he saw the other disciples with him staring in horror, mouths agape, eyes filled with pure terror.

“Damn it—who’s faking ghosts?”

Ying Liu whirled—and his pupils dilated in shock.

Splash!

A monstrous creature, over ten feet tall and entirely black, stood upright; its scales shimmered with metallic sheen in the darkness.

It opened a mouth like a bloodied maw, and a Ghost Cultist corpse on the ground was shredded by sharp fangs and swallowed whole.

Plop. Plop.

Crimson blood mixed with rainwater trickled to Ying Liu’s feet, staining the ground red.

Even Ying Liu, hardened by countless bloody scenes, froze in terror—warmth seeped from his soaked crotch.

“Damn Ghost Cult—what the hell is this thing?!”

Boom!

Violent lightning exploded, briefly turning the world white as day.

The next instant—

The narrow alley held only a pile of shattered remains.

At the other end—

On the broad streets of Qinghe City.

Dao Xiong and his two companions had faces as dark as storm clouds.

Kong Xianian’s hair was soaked by rain, no longer elegant or refined; his face was twisted with rage:

“Damn it! These Ghost Cult bastards actually raise ghost beasts!”

He stared warily at the colossal creature ahead.

Dao Xiong tightened his grip on his massive hammer.

He wiped rain from his face.

He was calculating whether the three of them together could kill the giant monster.

The Ghost Cult’s tactics had exceeded his expectations.

Just as the monstrous creature was about to turn—

A flying sword pierced the rain-soaked night.

Like a silver dragon soaring through the heavens.

Plop!

The flying sword pierced the monster’s skull; with a thunderous crash, its massive body collapsed, splashing up a great wave of standing water.

All three stared, pupils wide.

Liu Zhen’s eyes filled with excitement: “It’s Elder Jiang’s flying sword—Elder Jiang has acted!”

Dao Xiong stared in disbelief at the scene before him.

The man hadn’t arrived—but the sword had.

The Sword Immortal of Jiangdong—his reputation was well-deserved!

Liu Zhen quickly snapped out of his shock: “Go find Xu Hua! He just took a blow from Sword Captain’s hammer—he can’t have gone far. We’re no longer needed here.”

“Understood.”

Dao Xiong and Kong Xianian nodded.

In a secluded alley.

A bearded man fled wildly in panic, unaware of how many streets he had passed through.

'Fuck, fuck, fuck!'

'Jiang Lin, how could it be Jiang Lin?'

If Jiang Lin had come to Qinghe County, all of the Ghost Sect’s backup plans would become laughable—he knew tonight’s scheme had utterly failed.

Xu Hua refused to accept it.

He was just one step away from confirming whether the secret technique had been taken by the coachman.

Suddenly!

A black figure appeared not far from him.

On his back was a massive blade.

In the blink of an eye, the man lunged before him, gripping the hilt of the enormous blade and swinging it full circle toward Xu Hua.

White Ape Slashing Blade!

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(End of Chapter)