Chapter 174: Encountering Lingxiang at a Critical Moment

As soon as Banxia finished speaking, a burst of laughter was heard from all around: "A fine 'acting as one pleases'." Accompanied by the laughter, a beam of light descended, and then an old man leaning on a long staff appeared.

He was no more than three feet tall, leaning on a wooden staff; that staff looked very familiar, as it was the very one held by the Mountain God. Only, the person holding the staff no longer wore an owl's head, but instead had frost-white hair and beard, looking rather disheveled and dusty.

Knowing from the voice that it was the Mountain God, Long Qi immediately drew the Seven-Star Dragon Abyss from his back, ready to strike. The Mountain God retreated repeatedly, waving his hands and saying, "Young one, do not be so irritable. Let us talk things over; why resort to such hostility!"

Upon hearing this, Long Qi gave a cold laugh: "You old scoundrel, you actually have the gall to show your face. It is clear that you have been the one playing tricks behind the scenes all along, and yet you want me to talk things over? Watch as I hack you to pieces today to vent the hatred in my heart!" Maidong walked and skipped along the way, her heart feeling as if it were about to fly. This was her first time leaving the sect, so how could she not be incredibly excited?

From childhood to now, this was her first time leaving Guyang City!

Although it began to rain halfway there, this did not affect Maidong's mood; she simply pinched the Bishui Jue and ran even more joyfully through the curtain of rain.

No wonder Lingxiang was always idling about and loved to go out; it turned out that wandering outside was this delightful! It was fortunate she did not listen to Lingxiang; if she had waited for her for a day, she might have been discovered by her master, and then she would not have been able to leave at all, and would likely have had to return to be punished.

Maidong thus traveled wantonly until she reached Donggui County, and the rain happened to stop at this very moment.

Not long after the rain stopped, the sun revealed itself, shining on the bluestone slabs in Donggui Cheng until they were black and shiny. Street vendors also came out one after another to set up their stalls, each calling out their wares; it was quite lively.

The freshness after the spring rain carried a hint of damp stickiness, drawing the town's children out to chase and play, their laughter constant as they ran after one another.

Gazing at the bustle before her, Maidong felt her heart soaring, and she looked at and picked through many curious trinkets at various stalls, occasionally playing with the children passing by.

She played in the market for a long time like this, and as it neared noon, if her stomach hadn't started chanting the "hunger" mantra, she would likely still be playing wildly!

Although Donggui County was just a county seat, it was no worse than Guyang City. It is rumored that during the previous dynasty, when the national territory in the southwest was invaded by Manzhou tribes, a general rose up to fight the enemy, recovering much lost territory in one fell swoop and even striking at the Khan's lair, performing great meritorious service. After returning to the Imperial Court in victory, the Emperor personally enfeoffed him as the Marquis of Donggui, and this general's hometown was this small, then-unknown county, so it was later renamed Donggui County.

Although the dynasties have changed, the country is now whole, all thanks to that general of the time, so even though the Emperor is now of the Zhao surname, Donggui Cheng remains firmly established.

Moreover, because Donggui County is located north of the Daha and has a canal running through it, the Imperial Court values this place highly and specially dispatched a magistrate to manage the area.

Therefore, do not let the fact that Donggui County is only a county seat fool you; it is very lively and prosperous, no worse than those famous cities.

Ajin did not answer him, only giving a light hum: "What exactly is going on with that head of yours?"

The Mountain God sighed upon hearing this: "Alas, it has been so many years; guarding a head is quite boring. What does it matter if I let him play with it? It is nothing major."

"Be careful that you cannot find it later; I fear you will become the second Xingtian," Ajin said, turning into the shape of a cat and heading toward the deep pool on the mountain.

And behind him, the Mountain God muttered in a low voice: "So many years have passed, and you are still so annoying."

The Merfolk's roar continued for a long time without stopping, and everyone present felt their heads splitting with pain; Liu Xia's ears had already begun to bleed. Just as everyone began to reach their limit, a Fire Talisman suddenly flew over and struck the Merfolk's back.

The moment the Fire Talisman stuck to the Merfolk's back, it exploded instantly, forcefully driving the breath he was using to roar back into his abdomen, after which he began to cough violently.

After a bout of heavy coughing, he looked back and saw Banxia, wrapped in a Talisman Robe, lying by the edge of the pool, and in her hands, she now held two Talismans suspended over the pool water, saying to the Merfolk:

"If you do not stop, I will drop this Black Mud Talisman into the water. I just don't know if the woman at the bottom of the lake can withstand the filth of the pool water!"

Maidong was listening with great interest, but the two people at the next table began to talk.

"Brother! I heard a beggar came to the ruined temple in the outskirts?"

"What beggar? That is clearly a martial artist, but I don't know why he has been lying there for days; it seems he was injured."

"Tsk tsk tsk, with the rain falling all night, he might just die there. Since he is a martial artist, he must have weapons on him. Either way, when the government officials go to collect the body, they will take them, so why don't we two go take them today? We could at least trade them for some wine money."

"You kid, you want to profit from a dead man?"

"Brother, you don't know, my wife has been keeping a tight leash on me lately, and I want to go out and have some fun..."

Maidong did not take in the rest of the conversation, because the two people at the next table suddenly stood up, dropped two copper coins, and went out. And the reason Maidong didn't take it in was because the aura emanating from these two people was the same as the aura remaining on the wounds of Long Qi and the others during the Yuanqing Sect's Second Martial Exercise...

That was something only the Demon Race would have!

To think that there would be Demon Race lurking in Donggui County; looking at the situation, it seemed to be related to the martial artist the two diners mentioned earlier.

The affairs of the Demon Race could hardly be called a small matter! Although she had not experienced the tragedy of the Yuanqing Sect back then, she had learned seven or eight parts of it from the stories passed down by her senior brothers. Since she had encountered it today, she should go and investigate; otherwise, who knows what that so-called Demon Lord is plotting behind the scenes.

Maidong dropped a few copper coins and carefully followed them out of the inn. Along the way, she pinched the Reverse Scale Jue, following at a distance that was neither too close nor too far, and the two Demon Race individuals naturally did not notice.

However, this Donggui County was truly a bit large; after exiting the South Gate and walking for a long time, she finally found the ruined temple the two had mentioned. By this time, night had already fallen, and the sky had long since turned dark.

Seeing him like this, Zhao Wuyang was even more confused. Could it be that falling into an illusion is like having a dream, and one can even be startled awake from it?

Just as Zhao Wuyang was about to turn Long Qi over, a burst of laughter came from all around; this laughter was extremely shrill, making his hair stand on end.

"Who? Who is playing god and acting like a ghost!?"

Zhao Wuyang shouted loudly, but the laughter did not stop; instead, it grew more frantic, as if it found his question too funny.

Just as Zhao Wuyang stood up and pinched a seal to open his Spirit Vision to investigate the surroundings, the laughter stopped abruptly. He hurriedly stood up, drew his sword, and looked around vigilantly.

All three brothers were trapped in an illusion and unable to move; now, only he could protect them!

Just as he was carefully watching the movements around him, he suddenly felt a gust of wind behind him. He immediately turned and thrust his sword, but he stabbed at empty air; there was nothing behind him at all.

This was strange. He had clearly felt movement behind him just now; how could there be nothing?

As soon as these two Demon Race individuals broke free, they saw a person lying on the ground. This person's clothes were tattered and they were covered in wounds, appearing as if they had no life left in them. If not for the fact that they were still moving, it would not be an exaggeration to say they were dead.

One of them kicked the person over; although the face was covered in mud and grime, one could still make out some features.

The two looked at each other and raised their blades to strike. It was at this moment that a palm wind attacked. The two were alert and hurriedly dodged to the side.

"Who goes there, daring to interfere with the Demon General's work!" As soon as the two Demon Race individuals stood firm, one of them immediately shouted.

The person who arrived was dressed in a peach-colored dress and looked to be only seventeen or eighteen; it was Maidong, who had been quietly following the two.

Maidong did not answer, instead flipping her body and flying toward one of them, Spirit Power bursting from her palms, her dress rustling. Before that person could react, their skull was split open by a single palm strike.

The other person saw this and raised their blade to strike at Maidong. Maidong turned, her skirt fluttering, and kicked the blade away. It was unclear if the temple floor tiles were old or what, but when her foot landed on the ground, it was shattered by the kick, and gravel flew everywhere.

A piece of gravel hit the person's mask, and it was instantly shattered and fell off. Banxia looked up and saw that although the person's nose and mouth were like a human's, their eyes were like those of a housefly.

No wonder they had to use a mask to cover it; it turned out they could not shed their Demon Aspect!

Seeing that they were exposed, the demon creature no longer hid it. Its body continued to swell, its clothes tore, fly wings appeared on its back, buzzing loudly, and two arms emerged from its waist, the forearms like blades.

Seeing this, Maidong hurriedly pinched the Heavenly Dipper Hand Seal, chanting the Golden Light Incantation, and traced in the air with her fingers. Before long, a Dharma Array appeared out of thin air in front of her, glowing with golden light.

On that side, the demon creature broke free from the constraints of its clothes, leaped up, and flew toward Maidong. At this moment, Maidong suddenly grabbed the Dharma Array in front of her and whipped it toward the demon creature as if it were a lash. In the blink of an eye, the array formation bound it tightly like a rope.

The bound demon creature felt an intense burning sensation on its body and hissed and shrieked; the sound emanated from the main hall, sounding extremely eerie.

And at this moment, two shrill screams came from outside the hall, accompanied by a flurry of messy footsteps.

"Mother of mine! ~ A ghost!..."

This voice was precisely that of the two people heard at the Gui Xiang Ju inn during the day...

Maidong could not help but roll her eyes, thinking to herself that these two were truly blinded by greed for money; running to this place in the middle of the night, were they not afraid of seeing a ghost...

The demon creature struggled incessantly, cursing and swearing; annoyed, Maidong threw a punch, and the demon creature's jaw was immediately knocked off.

Now it could only roar, yet it could not speak; Maidong was startled, thinking she had not controlled her strength well, and while apologizing to the demon creature, she threw another punch at it.

With this blow, the demon creature did not even have time to whimper, the roaring sound came to an abrupt halt, and in the blink of an eye, it had no breath left.

Although the two demon creatures had already been killed, leaving their corpses here in Chenjian unattended would inevitably cause some panic if seen by mortals.

She took a small pouch from her bosom and unfolded it in a few motions; inside were some scraps of paper and powder. She blew gently at the two corpses, and the powder flew off like butterflies, enveloping the two corpses. The demon corpses actually began to emit black smoke, and after a moment, they vanished, leaving only their clothes behind.

Although Lingxiang was well-versed in pharmacology and medicine, she had not taught a single bit of it to him or Xin Yi; now that they had encountered a situation, he really missed her a bit.

If she were here, a single Pill would surely solve the problem.

This was, of course, just Long Qi's wishful thinking; even for weeding in the fields, one still had to wait for the Fufang Powder to take effect, and now it was a living person—no matter how miraculous the medicine, it still required time to take effect, did it not?

And although Xin Yi was also anxious in his heart, he was not as flustered as Long Qi. When Zhao Wuyang was delirious from illness, he made a prompt decision to hurry on their way, and while traveling, he would occasionally rummage through the grass.

Long Qi was very puzzled to see him like this; Wuyang was already sick to this extent, yet he still had the heart to play in the grass—did he still think of himself as a three-year-old child?

Maidong was extremely confused, but the top priority was to treat him quickly. She reached out and carried him on her back, which was surprisingly effortless; it was just fortunate that it was already late at night, for if others had seen this scene, there was no telling how eye-catching it would have been.

It was fortunate that it was night; she figured those searching for him would likely not notice...

The person on the bed was muddled, hearing only a clinking sound around him, followed by the smell of medicine, and he was lying quite comfortably. Just as he felt at ease and thought about sleeping a little longer, he suddenly opened his eyes and sat up abruptly. As soon as he sat up, he felt a sharp pain in his body, as if something were pulling at him, binding him so tightly he could hardly move.

He gasped, propped himself up with his hands, and looked around. He saw that he was currently in a room; the room was not very spacious, but it was elegantly furnished. Looking at himself again, his clothes had been completely removed, but his whole body was tightly wrapped in fine cloth.

He remembered hiding on the rafters of a dilapidated temple outside the city; how could he have ended up in such a place?

Just as he was wondering why he was in this situation, the door suddenly opened, and he saw a young woman enter carrying a tray, on which was a steaming bowl of medicine.

The person who entered was none other than Maidong. Seeing the person on the bed sitting up, she smiled, turned, and closed the door: "You're awake," she said, bringing the medicine over.

"Most of your injuries are external, so there is no major harm, but the wounds were poisoned, which took me some effort."

The man saw that Maidong looked to be only seventeen or eighteen, yet she seemed to be a healer. Listening to her tone, it seemed she had saved him, but how had this woman managed to get him here?

Out of curiosity, he asked, and Maidong sighed: "It certainly wasn't easy to speak of. Although the poisons on you were common, I didn't know the exact formula. Fortunately, there was plenty of cogon grass outside the temple, and I went to the pharmacy to get a few doses of medicine, which, combined with acupuncture, finally forced the poison out of your body."

The man was astonished upon hearing this; this young girl was afraid she hadn't grasped the main point!

However, she did not look like those people from the Demon Race. Since she had saved him, he should thank her.

"Many thanks to you, Miss, for saving my life, but I have nothing on me now and have nothing with which to thank you."

Maidong waved her hand upon hearing this and handed him the medicine: "My master often says that doing good deeds and saving lives is the duty of a practitioner. Besides, I am a healer, so naturally, I cannot stand by and watch."