Chapter 106: Can Even Summon an Enchantress, You Know

Over there, Anuo swiftly led her group into a great hall blazing with Buddhist light. A monk tried to block her, and Anuo slapped him away with one palm.

The monk blocked once, but a tremendous force surged forth, and his whole body flew up as if riding the clouds, then with a "bang" embedded into the wall, which cracked like a spider's web with a rattling groan.

Forget the monks on the field—even the City Governor's personal guard stared with eyes gone perfectly round.

This is a little girl?

Hold on a moment, let us first check whether you are a demon or monster…

Anuo had no patience to dawdle with them. The flowers and plants in this temple could tell her where the hidden bones were; she needed them to lead the way. But her master was currently dealing with a third-grade demonic cultivator, and that woman was still waiting behind to stab him in the back—dangerous in the extreme. Anuo had to go back and help her master.

She swiftly hurled a disc, which smashed thunderously into the temple's Buddha statue.

The Buddha statue, struck by the iron disc, crumbled like tofu, soon revealing a pit beneath.

The City Governor's guard stepped forward to look, and saw a great heap of tiny bones.

Fire shot from everyone's eyes: "Beasts!"

The Governor's face darkened as he glanced over, then said sternly: "The whole army seize the demon-monks of Hongfa Temple—let not a single one escape!"

Shouts of battle rose from all sides. Anuo never spoke a single word from start to finish; her figure flashed and vanished swiftly, gone to help her master.

Even the Governor was startled by her speed: "Such a small child—how was this strength raised? So Lu Xingzhou's cultivation is on the low side because he gave all the heavenly materials and earthly treasures to his child to eat?"

That guess at least hit half the mark…

Over there, the Infant Ghost's encirclement had fallen into chaos. His old lair had been suddenly raided by the Governor; now the Infant Ghost didn't even know whether he should first concentrate his strength to annihilate Lu Xingzhou, turn around to fight the Governor, or simply slip away.

But seeing Lu Xingzhou's calmly smiling, infuriating expression was simply too aggravating. The demonic cultivator's violent temper quickly gained the upper hand, and the Infant Ghost's eyes went red: "All of you, charge at me! Exorcising demons and defending the Dao, is it? I'll let you know the price of meddling!"

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!" Several monks had already closed on Lu Xingzhou, golden Buddhist light blasting toward him in a frenzy.

The monks down here actually still practice Buddhist sect techniques…

The Buddhist light blasted right before him, and Lu Xingzhou finally had no margin left to ignite more talismans. He swiftly summoned a mirror.

The Buddhist light struck the mirror's surface and reflected back.

The monks dodged the rebounding Buddhist light, their fists already blasting toward Lu Xingzhou's face.

No matter how strong, Lu Xingzhou is still just a Dao cultivator—being entangled at close quarters is very unpleasant, and what's more he's a cripple in a wheelchair, even less able to fight… wait.

Lu Xingzhou suddenly reached out and seized the wrist of the monk whose fist was blasting toward his face, and under the gaze of all, he stood up.

With a "bang," he kicked the monk squarely in the lower belly. The monk sprayed a mouthful of fresh blood; his wrist was held so he couldn't even fall backward, and Lu Xingzhou casually redirected him so a companion's fist blasted into his skull, killing him stone dead on the spot.

The scene seemed to freeze for an instant. The force of that kick—you say you're a cripple? You sit in a wheelchair every day, aren't you bored? Just for that one moment?

How can there be such a bored person in this world!

With another "bang," Lu Xingzhou delivered a dashing spinning side-kick, and another monk flew out backward, crashing through the courtyard wall with a clatter.

The Infant Ghost sucked in a cold breath; this time he had no heart left to keep tangling with Jinge, and prepared to flee.

A tiny figure appeared abruptly, throwing a punch at his back.

The Infant Ghost blocked Jinge's blade with one hand, and in the midst of everything turned to trade a punch. His body swayed, and he nearly vomited a mouthful of blood.

What kind of ghostly strength does this child have!

His momentum to flee was abruptly cut off, and the Infant Ghost suddenly realized he had become the surrounded one.

Lu Xingzhou's talisman spirits and soul banner had already completely driven the ghost-infants away; now they dispersed to deal with the other monks, as if Lu Xingzhou alone were an entire army.

No wonder he didn't care at all about the so-called encirclement… as long as someone could hold down the Infant Ghost himself, he could handle the underlings on his own.

Lu Xingzhou charged left and right through the crowd, seemingly running rampant, but in truth his eyes were like ice, as if waiting.

He was waiting for Pei Chuyun to make her move.

This most stalemated, most chaotic moment was when the enchantress was most likely to suddenly launch a sneak attack.

He had also set up an ambush with Ying Shuang, waiting for this very moment.

But to Ying Shuang's surprise, the all-seeing Judge seemed to have miscalculated this time.

From beginning to end, the enchantress showed not the slightest sign of wanting to act. She hid on the roof of a side courtyard nearby, quietly watching the battle, not moving at all.

The battle seemed long in the telling, but in truth lasted only a few breaths. By now Anuo had even joined the fight, and the Governor had arrived as well.

The strongest force clearly could not be used to capture the other monks—seizing the Infant Ghost was the core objective.

With Anuo cutting off his escape, the Infant Ghost couldn't shake off Jinge and Anuo—those two pieces of cowhide candy—for the moment. Tangled for only a brief moment, the wind howled all around as the Governor and his strongest bodyguards closed in from every side.

The Infant Ghost raged: "Meng Guan! You and I have had close dealings. If my affairs leak out, you think the Emperor will treat you well?"

Governor Meng Guan pressed his palms together, and a stream of Buddhist light—purer even than the Hongfa Temple monks'—erupted forth, as he laughed: "To investigate the case I played along; how could Your Majesty fail to understand?"

The Infant Ghost, hard-pressed on every side, was in a wretched state: "Have you never considered that Gu Zhanting might not believe your ghost-story!"

"Whether he believes it or not is not so important…" Meng Guan said: "I'm actually quite curious—how did Mr. Lu determine that I wasn't one of the Infant Ghost's lot, so much so that he'd send a disciple to arrange a meeting with me? You clearly saw me walking arm-in-arm with the abbot, so very close."

Lu Xingzhou looked up at the midair battle and finally spoke: "When I went to see Commander Jinge, no one from the Qian family was lying in wait; they let the Commander stay inside without hindrance. At the time I suspected the Governor might be a good one… If you truly meant to arrest Commander Jinge, a place like the Qian family should have been an iron net, so how could the Commander have been so comfortable? Either the Governor was a useless figure who didn't want to do anything, or he meant to give the Commander a pass…"

"…" Jinge silently hacked away, saying nothing.

Meng Guan laughed: "That bit of guesswork doesn't seem sufficient. What if I really am a useless figure?"

"But the Governor had someone notify Huo Lu that I was here. The Governor had no reason to target me for no cause; doing so suggests the malice was directed at Huo Lu." Lu Xingzhou smiled: "Think about it, and it makes sense. If I were the Governor, I certainly wouldn't be happy to have a son of the Huo family come over as Deputy Governor. Before long the Governor would be sidelined—who could accept that?"

Meng Guan's smile vanished.

"Since the Governor hoped Huo Lu and I would clash, at least it proves the Governor and Huo Lu aren't in the same lot. And I've already determined Huo Lu and the Infant Ghost are in the same lot, so that proves the Governor and the Infant Ghost aren't either." Lu Xingzhou sighed: "Guessing from this alone might be rash, but combined with the earlier point that the Governor meant to let Commander Jinge go, the two corroborate each other, and it's close enough—at least worth letting Anuo try to pass a message. If the Governor brushed Anuo off, my master and I would have grabbed our buckets and run long ago. Since the Governor was willing to send troops, then I, Lu, am willing to take one risk."

No one on the scene spoke again; only the silent sounds of fighting remained.

Even the Infant Ghost couldn't help listening with some distraction, thinking to himself that Meng Guan had been playing along with him all along because he had no evidence and could only try to get close and investigate in secret. Obviously he couldn't just send troops on a whim—otherwise he would have done so long ago; why would he need to wait for Lu Xingzhou?

So the first thing Lu Xingzhou did in the fight was summon the soul banner; the wailing of ten thousand ghosts gave outside observers a signal—"there really is a demonic cultivator here"—and Meng Guan felt he had his evidence and decisively led his men in.

But that damn soul banner is Lu Xingzhou's, not mine!

The Infant Ghost felt he had fallen into an utterly absurd situation—if he died like this, he would never rest in peace!

He couldn't help wanting to die an informed ghost: "Then how did you know Hongfa Temple was a demonic cultivator's den?"

Lu Xingzhou blinked: "The Allure of the Maiden Sect told me."

Pei Chuyun: "???"

"Bang!" The others were all slightly distracted wondering about the trick behind this, but A'Nu was not. Taking advantage of the Infant Ghost's apparent lapse in focus, her small fist blasted through the black fog's defense and grazed its ribs.

The sharp pain jolted the Infant Ghost awake. It suddenly clenched its teeth, and its already thin, small frame shrank violently once more; the infant's head on its belly showed an expression of agony.

Jing Ge, who had been silently entangled in the fight all along, suddenly barked sharply: "Careful! It's going to self-destruct its body to escape as a wicked infant!"

Meng Guan and A'Nu both shielded themselves at top speed. A "boom" exploded in the field, and the terrifying blast leveled the small hill of the guest courtyard.

While everyone was defending themselves, an infant phantom shrieked as it fled: "Lu Xingzhou, the Maiden Union Sect! This lord remembers you!"

Pei Chuyun: "..."

A streak of flowing light fled in an instant.

Jing Ge's expression was ugly: "Chase it! We absolutely cannot let a demonic cultivator like this escape!"

Meng Guan's expression was also very ugly: "I'm afraid we can't catch up."

Lu Xingzhou turned his head to look at the empty surroundings, then smiled faintly: "It's fine. Someone wasn't at the center of the fight, waiting on the sidelines at all times to provide support. Her escape art is excellent—she'll be in time."

The wicked infant was fleeing when a breathtakingly beautiful woman suddenly appeared before it; it had no idea how she had intercepted it.

"The Maiden Union Sect!" The wicked infant recoiled in horror and tried to go around.

But how could this battered, half-dead remnant of a wicked infant possibly outrun a fresh force like Pei Chuyun?

The flowers of the Union of Joy bloomed suddenly before its eyes, the wicked infant's consciousness grew hazy, and the back of its neck had already been pinched up by a slender hand.

The wicked infant cursed weakly: "Bitch! This lord has not offended you, so why…"

Pei Chuyun was even more annoyed than it was: "Once you believed his provocation and came to hate us, then of course this was the only outcome."

The wicked infant was stunned for a moment: "Mis…understanding? If it's a misunderstanding, why not release me, let bygones be bygones, and deal with Lu Xingzhou together…"

"Too late." Pei Chuyun's face was expressionless: "I can't possibly trust that you won't hold a grudge later… Besides, I'm also a demonic cultivator—a dog that delivers itself to my door; only a fool would refuse."

The wicked infant: "?"

Pei Chuyun tapped a finger at the wicked infant's brow. The wicked infant's soul sea spun, and it completely lost its self-awareness.

Pei Chuyun first stored the wicked infant in a storage bag, frowned with her delicate brows as she thought for a while, then suddenly let out a light laugh: "What a bastard. But now that I have an extra trump card in the form of a third grade wicked infant, are you really that confident I can't kill you next?"

(End of chapter)