Chapter 28: Hunt

Truly the Hall of Yama!

And it actually came for the two of us? Could there be someone stronger assassinating the Young Master?

"There are so many people around the Young Master, and City Lord Xu is no weaker than us; it's not empty..."

As the thought just flashed through Huo Lei's mind, a great fire suddenly erupted in the distance, reflecting red across the horizon.

After a moment more, demonic qi shot up to the sky, wild winds raged, sand and stones flew, and the wild howls of demons echoed through the clouds.

"Demons!" The two looked back in horror: "Over there is... the City Lord's Manor?"

"This is bad! Something strange happened at the City Lord's Manor, and it involves demons; will Xu Bingkun and the Demon Suppression Bureau get dragged into it?"

"It's a trap!"

Suddenly an empty wheelchair appeared before them, spinning round and round on the spot; the laughter in the air grew even closer: "You chased after the wheelchair, and since you've seen it, why rush back?"

The two followed the sound, and a sword light shot straight toward them; behind the sword light were a pair of cruel eyes: "Since you've come, play with me for a while."

"Clang!" Huo Lei swiftly blocked the sword light and said urgently: "A fifth-grade assassin... I'll deal with him, you go back quickly!"

"Going back is fine, but stay for at least half a cup of tea."

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!" Figures of mountain Daoists appeared on both sides, the aura of magical treasures flowing through the mountains, subtly forming a Dragon-Binding Array.

Huo Ting, furious: "How much money did the Hall of Yama give you to work so hard! We'll offer double!"

"Even if you offer ten times, in our eyes, it can't compare to a single word from him."

After sending off the Huo Lei and Huo Ting brothers, Huo Yu felt a momentary slight unease.

Uncle Fu is dead, the Huo Lei and Huo Ting brothers have left, and the guards belonging to him are only a batch of seventh or eighth grade; suddenly it feels rather weak.

But looking at all the experts in the hall, City Lord Xu Bingkun and his guard, the various deputy commanders and mid-level officers of the Demon Suppression Bureau, and Liu Qingcang is also an expert; no matter how you look at it, it's still a peak situation. Moreover, once something happens here, the Huo brothers can return to support very quickly.

The opponent simply cannot make a move at such a time.

Huo Yu quickly suppressed the small unease in his heart and snorted: "Everyone sit, drink some tea first, and discuss how to hunt down that bastard."

Xu Bingkun stroked his beard and smiled: "With the colleagues of the Demon Suppression Bureau here, the matter will be much easier; after all, the Demon Suppression Bureau has very rich experience in investigation and relevant treasures, and once traces are found, they have sufficient strength to hold the person down."

In fact, the people of the Demon Suppression Bureau really didn't want to get involved; forced into the fire, they could only reply: "Tomorrow morning we will divide and search; as long as he is still in Xiazhou, it's impossible for him to hide without a trace."

Liu Qingcang said: "What if he's hiding in a civilian house? Search house by house?"

"Naturally, we search house by house." Huo Yu glared at Xu Bingkun with some dissatisfaction; originally, today should have been for house-by-house searches, but this city lord wasn't efficient enough and stubbornly dragged it until now.

Xu Bingkun seemed not to see it and stroked his beard: "Then shouldn't that house right next door be searched first?"

Lu Xingzhou drew hatred and pulled Huo Yu's gaze away from Shen Tang, but he also knew he couldn't pull it for long. From Xu Bingkun to Liu Qingcang, various provocations around Huo Yu could easily pull Huo Yu's gaze back with just any excuse.

So Lu Xingzhou had always planned for a quick battle; he never intended for Huo Yu to live past the second night.

Huo Yu was somewhat tempted by what Xu Bingkun said; it was deep night now, and if they searched the Shen Merchant House, could they also...

Just as he thought this, a wild howl suddenly rose in the distance.

Everyone was stunned for a moment, quickly left the hall, and leaped to a high place to look toward the source of the sound.

Great fires erupted at the City Lord's Manor, and demonic qi pierced the sky.

Everyone suddenly turned their heads and stared at Xu Bingkun; Xu Bingkun's face instantly turned deathly pale, and he forced out: "Could demons be attacking my City Lord's Manor?"

Demons attacking... this wording removed quite a bit of suspicion that he himself raised demons; immediately a deputy commander of the Demon Suppression Bureau shouted sternly: "Demons invading is the top priority; forgive us, Young Master Huo, we must go immediately!"

Without waiting for Huo Yu to reply, the people of the Demon Suppression Bureau vanished in an instant, and Xu Bingkun, even more anxious, led the crowd away.

Huo Yu felt he could also fight demons and pulled Xu Bingkun: "City Lord, don't rush; let's go together."

Xu Bingkun thought inwardly that if the demons spoke out of turn, with only a group of Xiazhou subordinates present, they could still try to cover it up or suppress it forcefully, but if you were there and heard it, it would be disastrous; so he advised: "We don't know what cultivation level those demons are, but they dare invade my City Lord's Manor, so they must be extremely strong. Young Master, your precious body should not stand by a dangerous wall; even if you want to go, please wait until those two guards return before going together."

Huo Yu thought it over and found it reasonable; he nodded: "They will return soon; City Lord, go ahead, and we will follow shortly."

In the blink of an eye, the Huo residence, once at its peak strength, was left with only Huo Yu and his guard, growing cold and desolate.

Looking at the bright lights and the mess of cups and bowls in the hall, Huo Yu's sense of guilt suddenly grew even stronger; he always felt the vast Huo residence was like a haunted house.

He paced back and forth twice and still said: "Why haven't Huo Lei and Huo Ting returned yet... No more waiting; go slay demons!"

The guards had no idea the Young Master had reached such a level of fierce outside but weak inside; they thought he really intended to fight demons and, rather rarely, felt a bit of respect: "Since the Young Master wants to go, we will protect the Young Master to the death..."

Before the words ended, a clear wind swept through, the candle flames flickered, and a chuckle came through the air: "Young Master Huo, sixth son, aren't afraid of demons, but are you afraid of ghosts?"

The wailing of ghosts echoed through the hall, and all candle flames went out.

Huo Yu, completely on instinct, rushed out of the hall and shouted sternly: "That bastard is still pretending to be a god or ghost; if you have the guts, come out!"

Just as he stepped out of the hall, he felt something was wrong.

Turning his head, not a single guard had followed him out; the hall was silent, as if cut off from another dimension.

The only sound that could be heard was Liu Qingcang's roar: "You stinking brat, how is it you!"

Before Huo Yu could figure out the situation, a shadow sitting in a wheelchair slowly slid out from the shadows; under the moonlight, Lu Xingzhou's calm face gradually appeared: "Young Master Huo, long time no see."

"You..." Huo Yu was stunned for a few breaths, then suddenly realized: "You are not Huo Shang at all! You are that hunter's..."

"I never said I was Huo Shang." Lu Xingzhou said calmly: "After all, sharing the same bloodline with you, I think Huo Shang would also find it quite unlucky."

Huo Yu finally figured out what the problem was: "So actually you've been hiding in our back mountain all along!"

Lu Xingzhou snapped his fingers: "Tsk, rare to be smart once."

Huo Yu's stunned expression vanished, replaced by a mocking smile: "While the city's official forces gathered here in great numbers, you guided me to send away my guards; then used demons to lure away the officials, instantly causing my peak situation to collapse... Do you think your layout is so exquisite, and finally you face me, this Young Master?"

Lu Xingzhou said calmly: "If you had thought of these things a cup of tea earlier, you might not die."

Huo Yu's expression turned ferocious: "But haven't you thought that you can't beat me?"

"Whoosh!" A small flying sword suddenly appeared before Huo Yu, then instantly expanded, and a brilliant sword light shot straight toward Lu Xingzhou.

At such a short distance, there was absolutely no way to dodge.

A talisman appeared in Lu Xingzhou's hand.

The talisman burned, and a curved mirror surface appeared before him; the sword light grazed the mirror surface and was deflected, crashing into the courtyard wall with a boom and shattering into pieces.

"Mirror Light Talisman..." Huo Yu paused, then saw Lu Xingzhou holding three or four talismans between his fingers, all burning simultaneously.

"A Daoist cultivator of considerable strength... pity he encountered the Huo family." Huo Yu laughed, suddenly summoning a jade pendant.

The pendant's light enveloped the entire courtyard; the talismans in Lu Xingzhou's hands suddenly extinguished, their spiritual energy completely dissipated.

"This is the Huo family's Forbidden Technique Spirit Jade; all Daoist arts of the lower three grades are nullified. What tricks can a cripple like you still have?" Huo Yu laughed heartily, waved his hand, and the flying sword circled back from the wall into his grasp. He thrust the sword forward with a lunge: "Die!"

With his Daoist arts nullified, Lu Xingzhou remained expressionless from start to finish, staring steadily at Huo Yu as he merged with his sword and lunged.

Until the sword was inches away, his left hand shot out like lightning, giving a slight flick; the sword's brilliance was effortlessly deflected off course.

Huo Yu, having completely misjudged the situation, was horrified in his heart. Lu Xingzhou was not merely a Daoist cultivator; he was also a Wu Xiu, cultivating both Dao and martial arts!

Who could have imagined that a sickly cripple in a wheelchair was actually a Wu Xiu?

Before his shock could subside, Lu Xingzhou's right hand, resting on the wheelchair armrest, suddenly pressed down lightly.

With a "Bang," the front end of the armrest suddenly exploded, firing countless fine needles with a thunderous crash, as if ten thousand pear trees were blooming at once, or like a torrential rain pouring down across the heavens and earth.

Rainstorm Pear Needles... not hidden weapons, but a magical treasure!

Lu Xingzhou's unassuming wheelchair was actually a magical treasure...

A specially crafted magical treasure, its grade not inferior to Huo Yu's at all... where did Lu Xingzhou get the resources to achieve such a thing?

Huo Yu finally realized that this battle was fought without knowing the enemy! He had no idea what he was facing, while his opponent knew everything about him.

Huo Yu had no time to think. The jade pendant hanging on his chest shattered with a crash, forming a soft shield before him. A sound like pearls falling on jade plates rang out as countless fine needles, radiating terrifying energy, struck the shield. Huo Yu spat a mouthful of fresh blood and was knocked backward.

"Quite a few treasures..." Lu Xingzhou slapped the armrest, leaped into the air like a soaring eagle, and pursued mid-flight.

Huo Yu, falling backward through the air, saw he could not dodge, yet excitement flashed in his eyes: "You were careless too!"

As he spoke, a figure flashed with incredible speed from the shadows to the side, a blade of light slashing fiercely at Lu Xingzhou's waist.

None of us can fly... being in mid-air is the most dangerous moment; there is no way to evade.

Lu Xingzhou's face remained expressionless: "You've been secretly following the Shadow Guard, truly thinking I didn't know? Now that he has appeared, you have no more trump cards..."

From the moment he spoke the first word, the ghostly wailing in the hall, previously as if cut off, ceased. A soft, round little dumpling figure appeared like a ghost, slamming a palm into Huo Yu's back.

A saving, brilliant light from Huo Yu's protective magical robe erupted again behind him, but upon touching A Nuo's fleshy palm, the energy vanished at light speed, failing to provide even the slightest protection, like ordinary clothing.

"Bang!" The palm pressed firmly against Huo Yu's back; the sound of cracking bones rose, and his spine snapped.

At the same time, Lu Xingzhou halted abruptly mid-air, just enough to let the Shadow Guard's blade slash pass. The shadow swept straight past him, and Lu Xingzhou casually slapped a fine needle into the shadow's ribs.

By this time, the sentence was perfectly finished.

"Pfft..." Huo Yu spat a mouthful of fresh blood and fell to the ground.

(End of this chapter)