Chapter 206: Where Is the Eldest Disciple?

The "disciples" were all startled, rushing out from all over the observatory; upon looking up at their master's appearance, they showed no sign of surprise.

Instead, each drew the "sword" from their back.

They held pine branches in their hands.

With faces full of determination, they shouted in unison: "We study the sword, practicing bitterly day after day, tempering ourselves at every moment, all for this very moment!"

"Exterminate demons!" The crowd swung their swords at the empty air, roaring in unison.

The old Taoist laughed heartily, saying: "I indeed did not misjudge you! Good, good, good! The sect is fortunate! Disciples all—follow your master to slay demons and destroy evil!"

That black wind and black sand whooshed out from above the mountain gate, carrying up a patch of withered branches and fallen leaves from the ground.

The disciples also pulled open the mountain gate, rushing out with a crash, repeatedly shouting: "Kill demons, kill demons—"

Xu Yuan stood with his mouth agape, his mind full of doubts:

What is going on?!

They were clearly the people of the Pollution Removal Bureau after all: Fu Jingyu, Song Lu, Yu Yunhang, Lang Xiao Ba, Di Youzhi, Qin Ze, Mao Dabin, Zhou Leizi...

But why did they seem to have truly immersed themselves in the role of "Qingxia Observatory disciples"?

They had thrown themselves in self-forgetfully!

Xu Yuan looked again at the muddy river; that dragon, though identical to the one in the Yu Well Village, possessed a completely different aura.

In its pair of huge eyes lay malice toward the entire world.

It was not hatred, but a pure evil.

Just this gaze was enough to determine: this demon creature was surely born a bad seed.

It was here to eat people, destroy, and pollute.

As it swam along the river channel, the water overflowed to both banks; unknowingly, it had already reached the mountain gate of Qingxia Observatory.

If anyone else lived nearby, their houses would by now be submerged.

The old Taoist, hovering in mid-air, shouted: "Disciples, do not be impatient!"

Fu Jingyu and the others then held their "swords" and formed a formation, standing firm in the river water before the mountain gate.

That evil dragon had already swum up to the stone bridge.

The old Taoist's head once again poked out from the black wind and black sand, looking at the stone bridge and the evil dragon with full expectation.

The evil dragon's head had already entered the bridge arch; the old Taoist was overjoyed, but unexpectedly, the evil dragon retreated, lifting its head with a mocking smile and gazing far up at the old Taoist in the sky.

The old Taoist dared not act rashly, still hoping the Dragon-Slaying Sword beneath the bridge might have a chance to strike down this fiend with a single blow.

But suddenly, the evil dragon moved its entire body, crashing into the stone bridge with a boom.

The stone bridge collapsed, and huge blocks of bridge stone rolled down into the river water.

The old Taoist let out a loud "Ah!" in the sky, diving straight toward the evil dragon: "All disciples, listen to my order!

Follow your master to slay demons and destroy evil—"

The evil dragon flicked its tail; layer upon layer of huge waves submerged the disciples before the mountain gate.

Then it sank into the river water, its massive body disappearing from sight.

The old Taoist rushed to the river surface; a huge arm extended from the black wind and black sand.

The arm was thick, unlike a human body.

It was covered in various overgrown tissues, flesh tumors, and bone spurs; the rough skin looked as if it were coated with a layer of shells and snail shells.

In a hand like a ghost's claw, he held a huge withered branch.

The front end of the withered branch continued to grow, spreading out dozens of twigs.

He thrust his "sword" into the water.

The withered branch spread through the water, forming a great net that locked down the entire river channel!

"Slay demons and destroy evil!"

"Slay demons and destroy evil!"

"Slay demons and destroy evil!"

The old Taoist screamed madly without stopping; a wild wind rose on the river surface, and darkness and gloom spread everywhere.

Xu Yuan suddenly realized: "This 'slaying demons and destroying evil' seems to be the obsession of this evil spirit..."

The evil dragon suddenly shot up from the water.

Although its massive body was locked by the withered branches, it struggled with all its might, snapping the branches apart one by one.

Then it suddenly spat out a thick column of water, striking somewhere in the sky.

The old Taoist let out a mournful cry and retreated rapidly, wrapped in black wind and black sand.

Xu Yuan quietly made his way to the mountain gate, released the beast-tendon rope, and fished his subordinates out of the water one by one.

The first one Xu Yuan dragged out of the water was Fu Jingyu.

Young Master Fu's eyes were pitch black; he continued to shout with righteous indignation: "Slay demons and destroy evil—"

Xu Yuan frowned; the old Taoist had once said that this "evil dragon" possessed a supernatural ability called "Body Poison, Soul Evil," its soul naturally emitting a kind of evil thought; those affected by it would, from the very nature of their souls, become fierce and cruel.

But now it seemed the old Taoist possessed this ability as well.

The people of the Pollution Removal Bureau, upon contacting him, had been affected unknowingly.

That obsession of "slaying demons and destroying evil" had polluted everyone's mind and spirit, suppressed the purity of their souls, and unknowingly turned them truly into the old Taoist's "disciples."

My own immunity must surely be the merit of the "Hundred Taboos Forbidden" technique.

"If I had known this earlier... I would have brought Jia Yi along too."

Jia Yi's "Tiger-Leopard Thunder Sound" could awaken these people.

Xu Yuan thought for a moment, then flipped his hand to grab the carriage bell, gently shaking it beside Young Master Fu's ear.

Ding-ling-ling...

The carriage bell can shake the souls.

It also loosened the Old Daoist's obsession binding the souls.

Fu Jingyu groaned in pain and clutched his head.

Xu Yuan was about to ring the bell again, but Fu Jingyu grabbed his hand: "Stop ringing, I'm awake."

Xu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief; if this method didn't work, there truly were no other tricks left.

Xu Yuan pulled the beast-tendon rope, and the members of the Purification Bureau emerged one by one from the water.

"Slay demons and eradicate evil!"

As each person emerged, just like Fu Jingyu, they gripped pine branches and rushed back into the river to fight the evil flood dragon.

Xu Yuan sighed inwardly and raised the carriage bell again.

Fu Jingyu saw that Song Lu was the one closest to Xu Yuan, grabbed his arm, and said: "I have a way.

Gather everyone together, and I will cast the spell for all of them at once."

These people's roars had long since stripped them of their reason.

Xu Yuan simply wrapped the beast-tendon rope around them, binding everyone into a single bundle.

"Hurry up!"

Fu Jingyu held a triangular yellow flag in each hand, stepped in a pattern, and waved the flags, making them dance.

The flags snapped loudly in the wind.

He circled the group once, then flipped his hands backward, planting the two flags behind his left and right shoulders.

He then held his hands level before him, lifting a lamp.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

He stamped his left foot three times and shouted: "Purge and retreat!"

He opened his mouth and blew out the flame—

Whoosh!

The fire turned from solid to ethereal, drifting over the heads of the crowd.

In everyone's eyes, a wisp of black qi was forced out.

They came to their senses and asked, bewildered: "What was wrong with me just now..."

Xu Yuan retracted the rope and looked into the river: the Old Daoist and the evil flood dragon were locked in a fierce, indecisive battle.

The Old Daoist seemed to hold the upper hand, yet he could not inflict fatal damage on the evil flood dragon.

The evil flood dragon was massive in size, with thick skin and flesh, and possessed boundless vitality.

The withered branches had already grown and spread, covering a five-li stretch of the river channel.

Although those withered branches could attack the evil flood dragon from any angle, they could only barely pierce its scaled hide.

The evil flood dragon, meanwhile, constantly unleashed its divine arts; with a single open mouth, it could swallow a portion of the Old Daoist's black wind and black sand.

The Old Daoist's advantage in transforming into black wind and black sand through his cunning techniques was that he could always escape with a large portion of himself under such divine arts.

But continuing to expend energy this way was undoubtedly disadvantageous to the Old Daoist.

The Old Daoist suddenly reappeared, shouting loudly toward the Daoist temple: "Where is my eldest disciple!?"

Xu Yuan involuntarily stepped forward: "This disciple is here!"

(End of this chapter)