Chapter 32: Volume I: Mountain Ghost Rumor, Chapter 32: Kill

Volume I: Mountain Ghost Rumor, Chapter 32: Kill

"She is far worse than Zhao Chan."

"Can't blame her. Zhao Chan is already in the Upper Grade Body Refining Realm and has a rare treasure like the peach branch, so of course he has confidence when encountering demons. What about Wu Ting? Her life is entirely tied to Zhao Chan, so how can she treat it with a normal heart?"

Huangfu Changqiu and Xun Lan were discussing their performance.

So far, Zhao Chan was far superior to Wu Ting, whom they also thought highly of.

Xun Lan smiled slowly: "Zhao Chan is happy too early. There is still a fierce ghost hiding in that graveyard."

"Senior Sister Xun, you have spoken wrongly. Peach wood naturally restrains ghosts, not to mention the peach branch in his hand."

"A ghost close to the Middle-Grade Qi Gathering Realm is even more troublesome than a demon," Xun Lan said slowly, watching them continue to lead the mule toward the graveyard.

"With you and me here, why worry? Just watch Zhao Chan's performance. By the way, what about that buzzing fly? Should we kill it?"

Xun Lan pondered: "Leave it to Zhao Chan. Since he knows that demons are fierce and cruel, he should also understand that there are scumbags among human cultivators who are no less than demons."

Huangfu Changqiu nodded: "There are countless demons among humans. Half of this world is ruined by them."

The outsider cultivator also did not notice the existence of Huangfu Changqiu and Xun Lan.

He did not intend to return to Youju Town and continued to follow Zhao Chan from afar.

Approaching the graveyard, Wu Ting couldn't help but say softly: "It's so cold."

That was a kind of gloomy cold, different from the chill after the weather turned cool.

Zhao Chan pinched a Flame Talisman. With the Chang Ghost refined by the Mountain Ghost and the Mold Ghost hiding in Nongsui Lane in front, he became extra careful.

When Wang Huan gave him the Flame Talisman, he told him that this talisman could also ignite ghosts.

The three types of talismans—Flame Talisman, Ice Condensing Talisman, and Wind Summoning Talisman—had their usage methods simplified by the experts of the Yang County Demon Slaying Division, so they could be used without True Qi.

There was also the Demon Searching Talisman that Wang Huan once used to find the Mountain Ghost, which Demon Slayers could activate with hand seals.

If it weren't for the fact that the Flame Talisman ignited everything around it indiscriminately when used, he would have wanted Wu Ting to carry it on her person.

The Mountain Ghost Flower Money had a protective effect, but one was given to Chen Xianggu, and one was given as a wedding gift to Brother Yang and Sister Cui Cui.

"Sister Wu, with me here, don't be afraid," Zhao Chan comforted her.

He stood beside Wu Ting, always vigilant for any movement nearby.

The graveyard was ruined by the demons. Many graves were exposed, and the bones inside were nowhere to be seen, presumably swallowed by the demons.

He led the mule to the northeast corner of the graveyard.

"Sister Wu, you don't need to do anything, just stay by my side," he said cautiously.

Wu Ting didn't dare to be careless and nodded in agreement: "Okay."

With his cultivation level raised to the Upper Grade Body Refining Realm, the strength in his muscles and bones was connected as one. Every movement Zhao Chan made could mobilize his strength, and even the outer parts of his body could temporarily serve as weapons if he wished.

In addition, his vision, hearing, sense of smell, sense of taste, etc., were all enhanced.

Zhao Chan felt that his internal organs were the most improved. His heart was like a heavy hammer beating a drum. After calming down, he heard his heart beating like spring thunder.

After about one and a half incense sticks of time, the deep pit for burying the coffin was dug.

He could untie the coffin himself, lift it, hold it with both arms, and put it into the burial pit.

Then he filled it with soil.

The mule seemed to notice something, exhaling hot air from its nostrils, and its four hooves kicked the ground.

Setting up a grave mound for Lao Liu, Zhao Chan also prepared a tombstone. Although it was just a long strip of wood, given Lao Liu's temperament, he wouldn't mind.

Zhao Chan didn't know what Lao Liu's name was. When they were together, Lao Liu always let him call him "Lao Liu". Lao Liu didn't care about being disrespectful.

He had no choice but to use the Green Snake Sword to carve a sentence Lao Liu often said—"Life and death are determined by fate, wealth and honor are in the hands of heaven," and end it with the two words "Lao Liu."

The characters were written crookedly, as if worms were crawling.

He originally wanted to ask Yang Yun for advice on calligraphy, but unexpectedly, fate played tricks on him. He ran around every day and had no time to practice calligraphy at all.

Zhao Chan looked at Wu Ting and said embarrassedly: "It's not good-looking."

She smiled and said: "Lao Liu wouldn't mind."

It seemed that Lao Liu didn't mind or care about anything in the world.

Staring at the tombstone he had set up, Zhao Chan said softly: "Dust to dust, earth to earth. Lao Liu can be considered to have been laid to rest."

So far, he didn't know whether the remains searched from Eren Mountain belonged to Lao Liu...

Still letting Wu Ting follow him closely, Zhao Chan tidied up the graveyard that had been severely damaged by the demons.

Then he took the mule's reins and left slowly.

The temperature suddenly became colder.

Wu Ting shivered: "Zhao Chan, are you cold?"

"Cold," he nodded.

"Is it..."

"Yes."

Without needing to hear what Wu Ting wanted to say, he confirmed it directly.

Unusual events must have demons.

It was unusually cold when entering the graveyard. If there were no ghosts, Zhao Chan absolutely wouldn't believe it.

But he couldn't find the ghosts with his naked eyes. They were not like the Mold Ghost in Nongsui Lane, which looked no different from a living person, nor were they like the Chang Ghost refined by the Mountain Ghost, which only had an illusory body, like condensed thick fog, but could be seen with the naked eye.

"So I let Sister Wu stay by my side. If it dares to come out, I will kill it with one sword."

Unfortunately, until the two of them plus a mule walked out of the graveyard and could no longer feel the cold, this hiding ghost did not appear.

Perhaps it saw Zhao Chan killing that group of demons like killing chickens and was afraid.

Wu Ting turned to inspect the graveyard and whispered: "It still won't come out."

Zhao Chan asked in a low voice: "Does Sister Wu have the courage?"

"Can you protect me?" she asked back.

"Yes."

"I have the courage," Wu Ting smiled reluctantly.

Her personality was to seek stability. Helping Zhao Chan attract demons was already her limit. If she gambled her life to lure the ghost hiding in the dark to appear, Zhao Chan would owe her a huge favor.

"Sister Wu, turn back and return to the graveyard. Let's see the courage of this ghost."

Without a word, Wu Ting turned back and walked into the graveyard, seemingly trusting that Zhao Chan could save her at a critical moment.

Just like when the eagle-headed, leopard-bodied demon pounced on her, and Zhao Chan pushed it back with one sword.

Only a few steps into the graveyard.

A black smoke rose beside Wu Ting.

Zhao Chan, who was staring at her, immediately threw the peach branch at the black smoke.

The black smoke had just formed a transparent evil ghost when the peach branch pierced through it and nailed it to the ground.

Peach wood restrains ghosts, not to mention this peach branch.

The evil ghost hadn't taken any action yet, and it died with hatred.

Wu Ting ran back to Zhao Chan's side in a panic. Seeing him pinch a hand seal and throw the talisman in his hand at the slowly dissipating black smoke, the black smoke instantly turned into a rising flame. After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the black smoke disappeared without a trace.

Zhao Chan walked back into the graveyard, and the coldness that seemed to have soaked into his bones finally disappeared.

Wu Ting's mood fluctuated up and down in a short time: "If you say this ghost is smart, it didn't dare to appear in front of you. If you say it's not smart, it appeared when you hadn't gone far."

"Probably because Sister Wu is too attractive."

"What are you saying!" she said angrily.

Zhao Chan smiled awkwardly: "It's Sister Wu's constitution. Lao Liu said that women are naturally Yin. Perhaps the Yin Qi in Sister Wu's body is more abundant than other women, so the ghost couldn't help but appear to swallow you."

"You owe me a favor!"

"I remember."

Wu Ting smiled again: "Just joking. Am I a stingy person?"

Zhao Chan was very serious: "Owe Sister Wu a favor, and it is owed. If there is a chance in the future, I will definitely repay it."

"As you wish." Wu Ting asked, "Next, are we going back to Youju Town, or are you going to use me as bait to kill demons?"

"Let's circle around the town," Zhao Chan added after a pause, "Don't go to the northeast direction of the town."

"Why?"

"Brother Shao Hua and the others died in that direction."

Shanniu Village was located ten miles northeast of Youju Town.

However, Zhao Chan had no bottom in his heart. If that Mountain Ghost left Shanniu Village and wandered in the mountains and fields, everything would be hard to say.

Wu Ting said solemnly: "What kind of demon is that?"

"It has very strange facial features: monkey eyebrows, dog eyes, cow ears, leopard nose, tiger mouth. People say it is called a Mountain Ghost, and it is a treasure in the eyes of cultivators with high cultivation," Zhao Chan said.

Wu Ting wondered: "Since it is a treasure, why hasn't anyone caught it?"

"I don't know. It should be that the Mountain Ghost is very good at hiding," Zhao Chan said uncertainly.

"Sigh, what kind of disaster have we suffered here? The days used to be stable, why did it suddenly become... become uneasy?"

He shook his head and said nothing, but he had some guesses in his heart, though they had not yet been verified.

Zhao Chan felt like he was dreaming these past few days.

Wu Ting grabbed the mule's reins: "What are your plans for the future?"

"I want to go to the Yang County Demon Slaying Division for help."

"No, not this, but the plan to get through this disaster."

Zhao Chan looked up at the clear blue sky and whispered: "Still in the Demon Slaying Division, doing my best to do what I should do. Lao Liu once told me that one must be down-to-earth and not aim too high. If one is conceited and arrogant, one will inevitably fall heavily.

I don't want to fall, so I want to take every step steadily and solidly."

Wu Ting looked at him: "Lao Liu's influence on you is really deep. And you, you listen to him so much."

"Yes," Zhao Chan smiled, recalling the bits and pieces of his time with Lao Liu. "He never forced me to follow the principles he said. He just broke the principles down and explained them thoroughly, letting me choose whether to do it or not."

Wu Ting laughed: "No wonder you are willing to listen to him."

The two talked and laughed.

It seemed as if they were not just burying Lao Liu, but enjoying themselves after attending a wedding banquet.

Passing by the demons that had been slaughtered.

Wu Ting's gaze swept over.

She seemed to have suppressed her fear and boldly observed the appearance of the demons.

"Really ugly."

"The demons I encountered are all very cruel."

Just after finishing, Zhao Chan hesitated to speak.

"Anything else to say?" Wu Ting asked.

The young man suspected: "I know that demons rarely have human emotions, but... but..."

"What?"

Then he shook his head: "Perhaps I am overthinking it. If they are demons, they are too hard to distinguish from real ones."

Except for the northeast direction, they circled around Youju Town.

During this period, because Wu Ting was showing off, the number of demons attracted reached six.

They were all insignificant demon beasts that relied on instinct and couldn't be called "demons."

Zhao Chan easily killed them one by one.

"Time to go back."

After coming out, Wu Ting was exhausted, so she simply sat on the cart, making the mule move forward as if driving a carriage.

Zhao Chan was about to take the reins, but his raised hand fell again: "Sister Wu, if there are flies buzzing around you, what should you do?"

"Since they are flies, of course, I should swat them to death."

"Good."

"Ah? There are no flies!"

"There are," Zhao Chan's killing intent rose.

He understood his current strength by killing demons. Before, he allowed Fan Pingjian to follow him and chose to swallow his anger, thinking it was his identity as a Demon Slayer that attracted the attention of outsiders. Until Fan Pingjian took the initiative, this time, he didn't want to endure it.

There were still seven miles to Youju Town.

Killing the outsider who was following them from afar here, the probability of being discovered by the outsider's accomplices was not high.

As soon as the words fell.

He swung his arms and strode toward the outsider who was monitoring him.

At the same time.

Huangfu Changqiu laughed heartily: "I thought he would endure humiliation and treat the cultivator watching him as a fly, but I didn't expect he still couldn't help it in the end."

"It should be good to have some youthful spirit," Xun Lan said, watching Zhao Chan sprint like a gust of wind.

"This outsider cultivator is also unlucky. If he had watched Zhao Chan early on, the young man would probably have endured it," Huangfu Changqiu's laughter was hearty, unlike a disciple from Baoyu Studio who leaned toward Buddhist cultivation.

Xun Lan thought about what to say and said: "Is this how Baoyu Studio teaches you to laugh so loudly?"

"There is the Bodhisattva way, wine and meat pass through the intestines, Buddha remains in the heart."

"Hmph, the next two sentences are, if the world learns from me, it is like entering the demonic path."

Huangfu Changqiu was unhappy: "Talking to you is really boring."

"I just said a truth."

"Oh, Senior Sister Xun, look at her expression."

They looked at Wu Ting.

"No more panic as before, her temperament has stabilized."

"Zhao Chan helped her temperament grow, she owes Zhao Chan a huge favor."

"Maybe she still thinks it's Zhao Chan who owes her a big favor."

"That's fine. Only with the entanglement of favors will the two not part ways. Since Zhao Chan is in the Demon Slaying Division, with his talent, he will sooner or later become famous far and near. Relying on their relationship, Baoyu Studio might have a use for them in the future."

"Senior Sister Xun's guidance is correct."

They turned their heads and continued to look at Zhao Chan chasing and killing the outsider cultivator.

Nothing interesting.

The outsider cultivator saw Zhao Chan rushing over and turned and ran without hesitation, but he couldn't outrun Zhao Chan. After about half an incense stick of time, he was caught up by Zhao Chan.

He didn't even have the strength to fight back.

The peach branch cut off the outsider cultivator's long sword, and by the way, took his life.

Watching Zhao Chan squat down to search the outsider cultivator's body, constantly putting things into his arms, Xun Lan smiled: "Money-grubber."

Huangfu Changqiu praised: "Not skilled enough. Only when killing people and looting becomes an instinctive reaction can one be considered a Mountain cultivator."

Zhao Chan returned to Wu Ting's side, stained with blood, and took out three taels of silver from his arms: "A total of six taels of silver, those who see it have a share."

Qiu Gao not only had four taels of silver and ten copper coins, but also a blade manual called "Broken Cloud Blade Technique."

When killing Fan Pingjian, he forgot to search his body.

This outsider only had six taels of silver and not even a cultivation secret manual.

Wu Ting stared at the calm Zhao Chan in astonishment, for a long time, "You even dare to kill people?"

"Demons can be killed, why not people?" Zhao Chan asked back.

"I... I always feel there is some difference. If it were me, even if I could kill demons, I wouldn't dare to kill people."

Zhao Chan thought for a while and said slowly, "Demons do evil, and people do evil. In fact, there is no difference."

"Sister Wu, demons must show their fangs when doing evil. On the other hand, when people do evil, they don't need fangs. As long as a person wants to kill another person, there are too many ways."

Wu Ting looked at him deeply, "It doesn't sound like a principle you could say. It wasn't taught to you by Lao Liu again, right?"

The young man mocked himself: "After my parents died of illness, I encountered too much malice. Lao Liu didn't need to teach me at all." ===== CHAPTER 33 =====