Chapter Forty-Four: Subduing Demons and Vanquishing Evil

The temple was eerily silent.

The one who had been speaking earlier—was it truly the corpse that had lain dead for so long?

Everyone exchanged glances, their terror beyond measure. Some tried to flee, only to find their legs stiff and unresponsive. The bald, burly man swallowed hard; even he, accustomed to dancing with death, could not suppress his fear.

If even these seasoned wanderers were so shaken, how much more frightened must the brother and sister be? The honest young man held the girl close, patting her back repeatedly, yet his own face was drained of all color.

Moments ago, the girl had witnessed the young gentleman break a steel blade with ease, realizing he was a man of great skill. Her admiration mingled with awe. Who would have thought, in the next instant, that the speaker was a ghost?

"I can speak—are you not afraid I am some demon refined from a horizontal bone?"

A voice still issued from the corpse.

As it reached their ears, everyone shivered involuntarily.

Qingyuan let out a cold laugh. "If you truly were a man-eating demon, would you let your prey escape? Those caravans you scared off earlier—you couldn't devour them, so you drove them away."

The voice paused, then asked, "When did you discover me?"

Qingyuan gripped his iron staff and slowly approached. "From the moment I entered the temple. You carry a sinister aura and remain motionless. As for cracking the rock with your scabbard—that was easy. You simply pushed your sheathed blade onto the stone, and secretly struck, fracturing it. These people are weak in martial arts; they couldn't tell. Perhaps some sharp-eyed members of those departing caravans realized, which is why they left so decisively."

"Are you not afraid I am a demon?"

"If you were, you wouldn't speak so much nonsense," Qingyuan replied, his voice icy.

Gu Cang had once been a mere spirit, not a great demon, but he could already speak. Having seen such things before, what was there to fear now?

Qingyuan drew nearer, sent forth a talisman, which adhered to the corpse.

"Burn!"

He spoke.

The talisman ignited, setting the corpse ablaze.

"Daoist arts?"

"Magic?"

Exclamations erupted throughout the temple. "Is he an immortal?"

The brother and sister were especially dumbfounded.

Before their astonishment could settle, a flash burst from the flames.

"It comes..." A cold gleam shone in Qingyuan’s eyes as he struck with his iron staff.

A scream echoed from the light, which was flung back and pinned against the wall.

By the firelight, all could see clearly.

It was a bird.

A parrot.

Majestic beyond compare, its eyes glowed like embers, claws sharp and menacing, gouged deep into the wall as if it were soft as tofu.

"So it’s a parrot. No wonder your cultivation is lacking, yet you can speak."

Qingyuan laughed, then continued, "You have some skill, but still dare to act recklessly before me?"

"My skills... are far greater than you think..."

The parrot let out a sudden, piercing cry that echoed through the night.

Bang! Bang!

A thunderous sound erupted from the side walls.

Two objects rolled in.

Everyone gasped sharply.

They were two humanoid monsters—one large, one small—entirely green and covered in vines.

"Two wood demons?"

Qingyuan glanced at them. "An old demon and a young one. With you, that’s enough to challenge a cultivator of the second realm."

"Then prepare to die..." The parrot’s laughter was shrill. Suddenly, it seemed to sense something amiss. "Why are there only two of you?"

The two wood demons waved their vines, about to reply.

At that moment, a figure leapt down.

It was Gu Cang, clad all in black.

He landed beside Qingyuan, blade drawn and stained with green blood, his other hand holding the corpse of a young wood demon.

"Damn it."

The parrot screeched. "We’ve already lost one!"

Earlier, the reason for letting the previous group go was that two of them were martial masters with inner strength, capable of rivaling second-realm cultivators. Who would have thought this newcomer would be even more troublesome?

"Attack!"

The parrot called out.

The two mountain ghouls lunged forward.

Gu Cang lifted his blade and leapt toward the parrot on the wall.

One slash to kill this annoying bird!

The parrot transformed into a streak of light, dodging away.

The blade struck the wall, carving a deep trench.

Gu Cang twisted the blade, locking in combat with it.

Meanwhile, the two wood demons charged at Qingyuan.

The other people in the temple shrank back in fear. Most of them were martial artists; even the bald man and another could channel their blood and energy.

If they worked together, they could kill a wood demon, but wood demons were supernatural, beyond ordinary experience; their hearts were already filled with dread and they dared not approach.

"I have cultivated for years, only recently attained success. Today’s demon-slaying is my first."

Qingyuan showed no fear—instead, he smiled, iron staff ready for battle.

"Look out behind you!"

The pretty girl suddenly cried, her eyes fixed in horror on something behind him.

All in the temple turned to look, crying out in alarm.

Qingyuan felt a chill at his back, but he was already prepared, calm and unhurried. His staff spun around as he turned, striking the clay idol in the temple.

The idol was shaped like an old man holding a serpent-staff. It had been resting on the staff, but now the staff was raised high, about to strike Qingyuan.

Its movements were slow, but Qingyuan’s counterstrike landed squarely on its leg.

A cracking sound echoed.

Countless fractures spread across the idol.

Qingyuan’s cultivation had advanced, his physical strength greatly increased. His blow had been prepared and forceful, and the idol survived only because it possessed some supernatural qualities.

A scream issued from the idol.

It toppled backward, smashing onto the ground, shattering into pieces.

Its head rolled continuously, as if alive, something struggling to emerge from within.

Qingyuan prepared to act again, but behind him the wood demons were already upon him.

He did not turn, nor look back, his expression cold, the firelight reflecting a chilling visage.

He flipped his hands, producing two carved figures of a tiger and a wolf, wrapped them in talismans, and rolled them on the ground.

As the carvings rolled, they suddenly expanded.

"Howl!"

Two roars sounded almost simultaneously.

They were fierce wolves, but larger and more powerful than ordinary wolves, with sturdy limbs, sharp claws and teeth, kingly markings on their foreheads, eyes cold, their presence fierce like tigers.

Their roars shook the mountains and forests.

The spirits could not withstand their ferocity, trembling before the fight even began.

The people in the temple were dumbstruck.

"Go!"

Qingyuan pointed, and the tiger and wolf lunged at the wood demons.

He himself turned to the shattered idol, his voice cold: "Elm becomes ghost, willow becomes monster. You old fiend have harmed countless travelers... it’s time to depart."

He released his hand, sending five or six fire talismans flying, which ignited spontaneously.

The clay idol was enveloped in flame, gradually charring.

The screams grew ever more wretched, then faded.

Qingyuan turned his gaze to the parrot.

Gu Cang was still locked in battle with it, but could never land a blow. He grew anxious, thinking: If only I could strike it once, this bird would surely die.

But the parrot was small and agile, and with its innate abilities, Gu Cang could not touch it—instead, he was scratched in many places.

"Damn!" The parrot saw Qingyuan’s attention turn to it, saw the wood demons devoured by the tiger and wolf, the old ghost burned by talismans, and grew terrified. It tried to escape.

"Trying to run?"

Qingyuan flicked his hand.

The iron staff shot out as a dark streak.

A sharp smack!

The parrot let out a final scream, crashed to the ground.

On close inspection, its bones were broken, tendons snapped, dead on the spot.

ps: This chapter is an extra for Elder Feng Wu’s longing. May he have no worries in life.