Chapter 31: Stall

“Holy Maiden, there’s a ruined temple ahead—would you like to rest?” The maid supported the Holy Maiden; both were exhausted, their bodies newly scarred with wounds.

Last night, seeing they couldn’t escape the mountains in time and finding no place to spend the night, they squeezed into a crack between two massive boulders, and the Holy Maiden pulled out a seven-colored cloud-silk shawl and draped it over them.

It was a strange artifact crafted by a Craft Cultivator.

Once covered, it instantly blended into the surrounding environment.

Not only did it leave no visible flaw, but even their scent was completely masked.

The two of them dared not move a muscle or make the faintest sound.

The nights in the mountains were terrifying—strange, overwhelmingly powerful horrors passed by them at intervals, each one crushing the spirit.

Just before dawn, disaster struck: a rabbit, fleeing some horror, crashed headfirst into the crevice.

They were exposed and had no choice but to fight the horror to the death.

Though they survived, they had alerted other malevolent entities, forcing them to flee nonstop; the Holy Maiden’s Craft Cultivator artifacts and her Law Cultivator “Dharma Coins” were nearly spent.

But at last, dawn arrived.

The two women nearly burst into tears.

Surviving even one night in the deadly “wild land” of Ghost Witch Mountain meant they could boast of it for the rest of their lives.

The Holy Maiden glanced at the ruined temple: one corner of the main hall had collapsed, doors and windows gone, the two pillars at the entrance half-eaten away at the base by some unknown creature, swaying precariously, ready to crumble at any moment.

The altar inside was still intact, but the incense burner lay shattered into pieces.

The central statue had lost one arm and half its head, looking utterly pitiful.

The Holy Maiden shook her head: “Don’t go in—there might still be horrors hiding inside.”

She looked ahead again: “Let’s push on a bit farther—find a sunlit slope to rest.”

“Yes, Holy Maiden.”

They had taken only two steps when the Holy Maiden suddenly grabbed the maid’s arm: “Wait!”

The Holy Maiden pulled from her sleeve a pair of earpieces made of red wood and yellow brass, slipped them on, listened intently, then turned pale: “Someone’s coming!”

The maid froze: “Who would come here…?” Then she suddenly realized: “It’s that boy!”

The Holy Maiden nodded: “Very likely.”

“Why would he be here?”

The Holy Maiden sneered coldly: “To kill us.”

The maid’s first reaction was amusement—but then her eyes widened: “He doesn’t actually think he can do it, does he?”

“He’s young and reckless. After a few victories, his confidence has ballooned!” The Holy Maiden scoffed. “And he must have deduced we spent the night in the mountains—either dead or badly wounded. Hmph. He guessed right.”

The maid gritted her teeth: “Even wounded, killing him would be child’s play!”

“Don’t underestimate him,” the Holy Maiden said, drawing a deep breath. “He found us in this vast mountain range—what does that mean? It means that boy left a mark on us sometime ago.”

The maid frowned: “That complicates things—we were planning to hide and ambush him.”

The Holy Maiden scanned the area: “No ambush. We fight him right here, openly. Our losses have been heavy—but if we can claim the June Insect, it’s still a massive profit.”

The maid nodded firmly, took position on the open ground before the slope, and summoned her last three Yin Soldiers, preparing to hide them around the perimeter.

But the Holy Maiden gestured for her to wait.

Then, the Holy Maiden picked up a stick and drew a large circle around the maid, enclosing every spot suitable for hiding the Yin Soldiers.

Such a simple act left her drenched in sweat, her body visibly drained—she had expended tremendous energy.

“Holy Maiden…” the maid cried, heart aching. The Holy Maiden waved her off: “Keep arranging. Within my ‘Stall,’ every rule favors me—and I want to see what he thinks he can use to kill us!”

The boundary the Holy Maiden had drawn on the ground was the “Stall” of a Law Cultivator who practiced the “Commerce Method.”

Whoever owns the Stall sets the rules.

Once Xu Yuan steps inside, everything turns against him.

If he’s trapped within the Stall long enough, he can be turned into “merchandise” on the Stall.

Then, like a butcher, he can be cut into parts—and each part sold for whatever price desired.

The Holy Maiden herself could buy him outright at a pittance—he’d be utterly powerless to resist.

But the Stall’s power requires Eighth-Tier Law Cultivator rank. The Holy Maiden had only just reached Eighth-Tier Law Cultivator not long ago—but now, wounded, the cost of activating it was immense.

The maid immediately concealed the Yin Soldiers throughout the Stall.

One behind the grass on the left, one beneath a large boulder ahead-right, one in the shadowed corner behind the temple’s steps.

She had only these three left.

The Holy Maiden sat atop the large boulder, placing the Divine Crossbow across her knees.

The Divine Crossbow held only one arrow—but the Holy Maiden believed one arrow was enough to end this.

Last night’s narrow escapes had nearly exhausted all her Craft Cultivator artifacts.

Yet the Holy Maiden remained utterly confident: today would mark the triumphant completion of her mission.

“I am the Holy Maiden chosen by one hundred thousand devotees of the Pingtian Sect—I am destined to become one of the Three Hundred Concubines of the Great Pingtian Saint!”

“I am nineteen, already an Eighth-Tier Craft Cultivator and Eighth-Tier Law Cultivator! The entire sect channels its resources into me!”

“My fate is noble! What can a lowly farmhand from a backwater village possibly match me with?”

“I’ll kill him in less than half an hour.”

“In half an hour, I will become a Master of Fate, Craft, and Law!”

Hidden in her other sleeve was a small, gleaming dagger.

On the narrow path ahead, grass rustled—the maid tensed, waiting for him to emerge—but no one appeared.

As the maid puzzled over this, a flash of golden light shot toward her throat!

“Dantian Cultivator! It really is you!” the maid cried, pulling a fly-whisk from her hand and whipping it toward the golden pellet.

The pellet curved midair, suddenly transforming into a short sword that snapped the fly-whisk’s handle clean off.

Then the short sword continued its arc toward the maid’s neck.

A flash of icy dagger light stabbed sideways—CLANG!—deflecting the sword back.

The maid cursed: “Coward! Are you even a man?”

Xu Yuan did emerge—but in a blur, his feet kicking up dust as he surged forward, reaching the maid in an instant, swinging a short rod straight at her head.

The Yin Soldiers hidden along the way had no time to react.

The Holy Maiden moved like lightning, her dagger slicing toward Xu Yuan’s throat.

Xu Yuan sidestepped, missing the maid with the rod—but the rod suddenly transformed into a long rope, whooshing around the maid’s neck.

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(End of Chapter)