Chapter 21: Ancient God Appears in a Flash of Lightning

The youth led Long Qi to a small courtyard and had someone deliver a brown Daoist Robe to him.

"I am the Sect Leader's Head Disciple, given the name Hanyang by Master; you may call me Senior Brother from now on. This is the Outer Sect Disciple Residence, four to a room. The new disciples should have gone to Hufeng Hall by now. This is the Outer Sect Disciple's study robe; hurry and change into it, then follow me there." Having said this, he turned and walked out.

Hufeng Hall is where the Yuanqing Sect's outer disciples have their morning lessons. Every day at the third quarter of the Mao hour, the personal disciples of the various Elders take turns leading them in meditation and breath regulation, and at the Chen hour, the Elders come here to lecture on scriptures and preach the Dao.

Today is for the new disciples' initiation, and the Punishment Elder, Fuyin Zhenren, is to explain the sect rules and taboos here.

By the time Long Qi arrived, there were already many people in the hall. At a glance, he saw Liu Xia, and Liu Xia also saw him. Both were incredibly astonished and hurried forward to exchange greetings.

Before the two could finish their pleasantries, a disciple in blue robes chanted that Fuyin Zhenren had arrived, and the two hurriedly followed the crowd to stand in formation.

The rules and taboos were incredibly tedious; Long Qi let them go in one ear and out the other. The speaker was grave and profound, while the listener was absent-minded.

Just as he was feeling bored, a person beside him made him unable to help but glance over.

He saw that the person was no more than six feet tall, with delicate features and a thin frame, yet he stood upright. It was clear, however, that this person had no heart for this: fine sweat beaded on his forehead and the tip of his nose; although his eyes were fixed forward, he seemed dazed, and even when answering questions, he was slower than the others.

After about the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, the blue-robed disciple in front announced that training would begin tomorrow and told everyone to disperse and rest. This person then hurriedly chased after Fuyin Zhenren, who was about to leave. Seeing this, Long Qi quickly pulled Liu Xia, who was beside him, and followed quietly.

"Punishment Elder!" The person stopped Fuyin at the hall entrance. "Disciple Wuyang is the son of Guyang City Lord, Zhao Shen." As he spoke, he bowed low.

Although Fuyin did not know why the new disciple was like this, he hurriedly helped him up.

After Zhao Wuyang rose, he bowed again: "Please save my mother." His voice was like a creaking axle, and the sound of sobbing was audible.

He then recounted his mother's encounter to Fuyin Zhenren. After listening, Fuyin frowned and began to calculate on his fingers.

In the end, it was a small auspicious hexagram, yet he revealed a look of worry, which startled Zhao Wuyang.

Could it be that his mother was beyond the help of medicine?

He hurriedly prostrated himself and knelt, kowtowing with "thuds" while begging Fuyin through tears.

Seeing this, Fuyin hurriedly had the disciple beside him help him up, told him the hexagram, asked him to set his heart at ease, and promised to treat his mother.

Then he turned to the disciple beside him and asked: "Is your Junior Sister in the mountains?"

"Replying to Master, Junior Sister went down the mountain to Youran Abode the day before yesterday and has not yet returned," the disciple stepped back and answered with a bow.

"Youran Abode?" Fuyin Zhenren narrowed his eyes.

"Youran Abode?" Long Qi also looked at Liu Xia in confusion: Could it be that the person he saw that day was the Punishment Elder's disciple?

Liu Xia looked confused at being stared at.

What was wrong with Youran Abode?

Lingxiang attempted to summon the City Lord's wife's soul with a Summoning Talisman, yet the Talisman Paper had no reaction at all. It was just as she had expected: it was a type of Soul Bewitching technique.

The Soul Bewitching Technique traps a person's refined soul in a dream, unable to escape.

Seeing this, Maidong was about to perform the Dream Probing Technique on the City Lord's wife, but was stopped by Lingxiang.

Soul Bewitching techniques are mostly not long-lasting, yet the City Lord's wife had been in a coma for so long; she guessed it must be that old yellow weasel sneaking over every night while people were asleep to cast the spell.

Since it had already gained intelligence, it must certainly know of the Yuanqing Sect. Having hidden in the City Lord Mansion for so long, it must have many eyes and ears. Now that Lingxiang and Maidong had intervened in this matter, it must surely know as well.

Therefore, before saving Lady Qiao, they had to make some arrangements to prevent that old creature from doing something harmful in its desperation.

Since the Soul Bewitching Technique usually requires close proximity to cast, the three discussed for a moment and decided to set up an Array Formation in the inner room: one for Demon Binding, and one for Soul Binding.

The so-called Demon Binding is like a hunting trap; if a demon touches it, an invisible cage will trap it, making it unable to escape.

Although this yellow weasel has divinity, it is ultimately of the monster kind, and the Demon Binding Array can specifically restrain it.

The Soul Binding Array will slow the flow of Spirit Power within its body, making it difficult for it to move or cast spells.

After the two finished setting up the Array Formation, they hid on the roof beams and formed hand seals to conceal their presence. Ajin transformed into his cat form and hid on the roof tiles.

The sky was already breaking at dawn. The three had waited all night, yet they did not see the prey show up at all.

Just as Maidong finished yawning for the umpteenth time and thought the old creature was not coming, the door opened with a "creak." She thought it was the old yellow weasel and hurriedly gathered all her focus to look at the door, but the person who entered was the City Lord, Zhao Shen.

Just as she thought it was the deep affection between the City Lord and his wife, and that the City Lord was worried about Qiaoshi Furen and prepared to jump down from the beams to pay respects, she was interrupted by Lingxiang's hand gesture.

Maidong was puzzled. Lingxiang pointed at the City Lord, then pointed back at her own eyes, and only then did Maidong notice:

The City Lord's eyes were actually glowing with a ghostly light!

This old yellow weasel had actually possessed the City Lord!

The possessed City Lord walked to the bed of Qiaoshi Furen, gathered his breath, raised his hands, and was about to cast a spell when Lingxiang hurriedly formed hand seals to activate the Demon Binding Array.

A circle of fluorescent light immediately appeared in front of the footstool, preventing the "City Lord's" feet from moving and making it impossible for him to get close to Qiaoshi Furen.

In this way, she exposed herself, and the "City Lord" had already seen the two on the roof beams.

Maidong hurriedly pinched the Sanskrit Gesture hand seals before he could react, and golden light appeared on the ground.

The "City Lord" felt as if the Spirit Power in his body had frozen, and before long, he collapsed.

And where he had originally stood, there was actually a yellow weasel!

That yellow weasel was like a seven-year-old child, standing in front of the bed with only its hind paws touching the ground. It was four feet long, trapped by the Array Formation and unable to escape, its mouth making "click-clack" sounds, its cry sharp.

Seeing the yellow weasel trapped, the two jumped down from the roof beams. Only then did Lingxiang see the yellow weasel's form clearly; with such cultivation for its size, its Inner Elixir must be an excellent ingredient for alchemy.

Just as she was thinking about how to extract its Inner Elixir, a rustling sound came from outside. Before long, she saw groups of small yellow weasels entering from outside, one after another rushing toward the two of them.

Maidong was shocked. Currently, the two of them were anchoring the Array Formation and could not leave. If one of them were attacked, it would give the old yellow weasel an opening; wouldn't that mean all their efforts would be wasted?

Just as that group of small yellow weasels jumped up to pounce on the two, a black wind blew by. Ajin stepped on the wind and arrived. He manifested his divine form, as large as a fierce tiger, with eyes like copper bells and sharp teeth like blades, blocking the two and roaring. Under his paws, two small yellow weasels were pinned down, and a golden divine mark on his forehead revealed his status as a member of the Divine Clan.

He was actually an Eight-Tailed Divine Cat!

However, Lingxiang had no time for astonishment. Those small yellow weasels stared covetously at Ling and Mai, trying to find a gap to rescue the old yellow weasel. From time to time, a few would feign a charge to distract Ajin, while other weasels took the opportunity to circle behind.

But Ajin was, after all, a Divine Envoy and a feline; these petty tricks could not fool him, and with a sweep of his tail, he sent them flying far away.

Yet this led to a stalemate. The original plan was for Ling and Mai to trap the old yellow weasel and for Ajin to take it down, but they had not expected that he would now have to protect the two of them and the unconscious City Lord Zhao nearby.

Seeing his juniors injured and unable to escape, the old yellow weasel immediately began to shriek. Before long, yellow mist rose all around its body, and Lingxiang immediately felt it stinging and blinding.

"Not good! This move again!" Ajin was shocked, transformed into human form, flashed to the side, and shouted: "Watch out!"

Lingxiang only felt her mind falling into Chaos. Thinking it was bad, she hurriedly took a Calm Spirit Talisman from her Universe Bag and attached it to herself, recovering her clarity in the snap of a finger.

However, Maidong was not skilled in talisman arts and lacked any method of self-protection, so within moments, he felt his entire body go weak and collapsed onto the ground.

With the Soul Binding Array broken, the old yellow weasel felt the Spirit Qi meridians within his body return to normal, so he cast a spell to attack Lingxiang.

Lingxiang hurriedly raised a shield of the Wave-Calm Art to block it, but she did not anticipate the small yellow weasels swarming her; just as they were about to pounce on her face, Ajin flashed in front of Lingxiang, gathered Qi in his hands, and scattered them away.

Seeing this, the old yellow weasel sprayed something from behind him, aiming it directly at Maidong.

Lingxiang was greatly alarmed and shouted for Maidong to run quickly, but Maidong was paralyzed by the old creature's mist and could not move, and he was about to be struck!

In the blink of an eye, a white figure burst through the window and with a wave of his hand, swept the yellow weasel's attack aside.

In his daze, Maidong looked at the newcomer—

"Master?"

"Senior... Senior Brother!"

The person who arrived was none other than the Yuanqing Sect's Law Enforcement True Person, Fuyin Zhenren!