Chapter Twenty-Five: A Dark and Windy Night for Murder

  Xiao Chen tidied up his clothes and opened the door to walk out.

  The dinner was sumptuous, and the long-absent mayor of Huangshi Town finally appeared. This man was majestic and extraordinary, eight feet tall, like an iron tower, with a square ear and nose, curly whiskers and tiger eyes, wearing armor, his whole body emitting a kind of murderous aura that only comes from years of war.

  It was learned during a dinner conversation that the town mayor did not show up yesterday because he led a team of 100 warriors in the city to execute those unknown creatures.

  The name of the town master is Ma Tiangang, a warrior of Lingjue Mirror Eight Heavens, and also an elder of the inner door of Yunjian Sword Sect. He was sent here to protect Huangshi Town for many years and guard the border.

  "Master Ma, you fought that unknown creature yesterday. Why don't you tell us about its moves and weaknesses? That way we'll know how to handle it next time." A disciple spoke up at the dinner table.

  Upon hearing this, Ma Tian said: "Those things are like humans but not quite human, their bodies are like ghosts, they have incredible strength, extremely fast speed, and an abnormal thirst for blood. Yesterday, more than thirty of our brothers were drained of their blood by them."

  Pausing for a moment, Ma Tian Gang continued: "Follow me, yesterday we also had a harvest, beheading four unknown creatures, come and take a look."

  As he spoke, Ma Tiangang stood up and led everyone to the morgue where the unidentified creature was being kept.

  Xiao Chen also followed, in the morgue, there were more than a dozen corpses of unknown creatures. Today's color had darkened, and dim oil lamps were lit in the morgue.

  Under the light of the oil lamp, everyone found that those dozen or so corpses were roughly human in shape, with four limbs and a head, and even their facial features were similar to those of humans, with seven orifices. The only difference was that their bodies were covered in dense, dark green scales, like fish scales, covering their entire body, as if they were wearing armor that could withstand knives and guns.

  Their legs are also different from humans when examined closely. They are obviously much longer than human legs, and their muscles are extremely well-developed.

  "The truly terrifying thing is right here..." Ma Tian Gang said, drawing his treasured sword with a 'whoosh', taking two steps forward and using the long sword to lift up the unknown creature's mouth.

  As the mouth of that unknown creature was pried open, all the disciples felt a chill in their hearts. It turned out that its mouth did not open and close vertically, but instead opened and closed with four corners, just like flower petals blooming, opening extremely wide.

  What's even more terrifying is that the fangs in their mouths are longer than wolf teeth, as long as a normal person's middle finger, like sharp daggers.

  Everyone suddenly thought of what Ma Tian had just said. This strange thing likes to suck people's essence and blood, and those fangs undoubtedly explained everything.

  "What kind of ghost thing is this, it's so scary!"

  "His mouth can actually open as wide as a snake's!"

  "This fang-like shape is peculiar, a natural-born killing tool!"

  Many disciples were shocked by the appearance of this unknown creature, it was a human-shaped beast, a deadly weapon that could kill people and take their lives.

  "This thing doesn't belong to either the demon beast or human, I've never seen it before. Their strength varies, those with green scales are only equivalent to a Condensed Spirit Realm warrior. If you encounter red or golden ones, don't fight, retreat immediately. The unknown creature with golden scales is extremely terrifying, even I'm not its match." Ma Tian Gang sheathed his sword and explained.

  Xiao Chen's eyebrows slightly furrowed, he didn't know what this thing was either. It somewhat resembled the vampires he had seen on TV in his past life, but he had never heard of a vampire with scales and a mouth that opened into four corners.

  "How can such a thing still exist in this world." Yet at this moment, the voice of Ye Liu Xing echoed in Xiao Chen's mind.

  "Shooting Star Sister, do you know what this thing is?" Xiao Chen's mind communicated with Ye Liu Xing.

  "Of course, this thing is called a ghost servant, it was created by Li Qianxing, the demon master who dominated the divine magic continent for a time. Their body is human, but after taking a special demonic insect, their soul is swallowed by the insect and they become like this, good at killing and bloodthirsty, obeying orders from others, they are thoughtless."

  "In that year, the demonic genius Li Qianxing relied on this heavenly puppet technique to create a shocking and heaven-defying massacre, creating millions of ghostly servants, dominating the divine and demonic continent. In the end, he was not tolerated by both the righteous and evil paths, who joined forces to attack him, causing Li Qianxing to fall. Later, this puppet technique also disappeared without a trace. Who would have thought that after thousands of years, this puppet technique would reappear in the world?"

  "Is this ghost servant that powerful? The Divine Demon Continent is home to countless strong individuals, can a mere million ghost servants really dominate the continent?" Xiao Chen expressed his skepticism towards the ghost servant's power.

  "Hmph!" Ye Liu Xing coldly snorted and said: "You don't understand, this ghost servant is different from ordinary puppets. It can advance in rank, just like humans, demons, or ghosts cultivating, and its cultivation speed is extremely fast. As long as it constantly kills people, devours their essence and blood, its power will grow stronger. Moreover, the higher the realm of the martial artist being devoured, the faster its advancement speed. A heaven-defying product, even more evil than the demonic path..."

  "Hiss——"

  Xiao Chen took a cold breath, and without Ye Liu Xing continuing to speak, he already knew the terror of Gui Pu, completely believing Ye Liu Xing's words.

  "How can we effectively kill this thing directly?" Xiao Chen asked.

  "I'm not clear either, back then the two paths of orthodoxy and heresy were completely relying on those old monsters with shocking cultivation to crush each other, now this thing has emerged again, it seems that another bloody storm is brewing..."

  Xiao Chen heard the words and had a thoughtful expression, could it be that all of this was truly being manipulated by the Demon Gate from behind the scenes? The Demon Gate grasped the method to cultivate ghost servants, then wanted to destroy the Yun Jian Sword Sect.

  Just as Xiao Chen was guessing this, Ma Tian said: "This ghost thing is hidden in the Nan Yun forest. Everyone rest well tonight, and we'll set out tomorrow to exterminate it."

  After watching Gui Pu, many disciples also dispersed, some rested and others patrolled.

  Huangshi Town is very large, comparable to some small cities in Zhongtu, so twenty battle teams were arranged to patrol and intercept, lest they be attacked by the ghost slaves.

  Xiao Chen's team, "Dinosaur Squad", is one of them.

  The night falls, no stars or moon in the sky, between the mountains and fields, the wind howls repeatedly.

  Twenty teams, over a hundred people scattered on the city walls of Huangshi Town patrolling, paying attention to every movement at all times, and will immediately sound an alarm if there is any unusual activity.

  "Qian Ming, Zhou Qian Long, you two are a team."

  "Yue Ling, You Jian, you two are a team."

  "Xu Jinming, Zhang Lin, you two form a group."

  "I'll be with Xiao Chen, he's the weakest and I'm the strongest, so I can take care of him. Is this arrangement meaningful?" Zhao Wumian stood on the city wall, starting to assign tasks.

  "Whatever Master Zhao decides is final." Qian Ming said.

  Xiao Chen's eyebrows furrowed, however. Zhao Wu Mian's arrangement seemed reasonable on the surface, making sure each group had roughly equal overall strength, and intentionally putting himself in the same group as Xiao Chen. To others, it looked like he was taking care of Xiao Chen, but Xiao Chen felt that Zhao Wu Mian wouldn't be so kind-hearted without a reason, and secretly remained cautious, yet didn't say anything.

  "So, everyone, let's lift our spirits and patrol!" Zhao Wumian said with a wave of his hand.

  The city wall of Huangshi Town is probably hundreds of miles long, with over a hundred disciples scattered all over the place. Each person patrols several miles of land, making the personnel extremely dispersed. It's also a dark and windy night, and it's almost impossible to see other patrol teams.

  "Xiao Chen, hand over your contribution points. I might spare your life." As the crowd dispersed to patrol, Zhao Wumian saw his chance and began to extort Xiao Chen with harsh words.

  Upon hearing this, Xiao Chen coldly laughed. As expected, Zhao Wumian intentionally put himself in the same group as him with no good intentions, and he quickly revealed his true nature. However, there was one thing that Xiao Chen didn't understand...

  "Why me?" Xiao Chen asked, puzzled as to why others didn't get robbed but he did.

  "Heh... Because you've offended someone you shouldn't have, even if you're a War Body disciple. So I advise you to hand over the contribution points obediently, and I can let you escape. Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless." - Zhao Wumian said with a faint smile.

  "It was Zhong Chongshan who brought you here!" Xiao Chen reacted instantly, and Yue Ling had mentioned that Zhong Chongshan's younger cousin was a martial arts disciple of the inner sect, with great power and influence. Adding Zhao Wumian's words at this moment, it was easy to guess.

  "Huh?" Zhao Wu's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he sneered, "Your reaction is quite quick, you actually guessed it. Then I can't let you stay any longer!"

  Zhao Wumian said finally, his voice increasingly cold and murderous, at the moment when the last word left his mouth, he slapped a palm towards Xiao Chen's forehead.

  Zhao Wumian's cultivation of the Ling Jue Mirror's Second Heaven had reached this level, and with this palm strike, his true yuan howled forth, condensing into a Yuan Qi sword that was an exact replica of himself. It shot straight for Xiao Chen's head, and if he were to be split in two, Xiao Chen feared that his head would be sent flying, showing that Zhao Wumian had already made up his mind to kill him.

  When cultivation reaches the Ling Jue Mirror, the true energy inside the body will transform into True Yuan, completing a qualitative transformation. The power is extremely fierce and unparalleled. When True Yuan is released, it can transform into various divine weapons and sharp instruments, with unmatched might. Even ten Condensed Spirit Nine Heavens warriors are no match for a Ling Jue Mirror warrior.

  Xiao Chen naturally knew the ferocity of Zhao Wumian's palm, and with a slight movement of his foot, he unfolded the Ladder Cloud, which floated gently like a leaf, drifting backward along the wind generated by Zhao Wumian's palm.

  "Cloud Ladder Escape?!" Zhao Wumian's eyebrows furrowed, and in an instant, he recognized the lightness skill that Xiao Chen had employed. This school of lightness technique was highly valued within the sect for its inner disciples, so naturally, they also practiced it.

  Splash!

  Zhao Wumian didn't care why Xiao Chen had used the Ladder Cloud Escape, in his eyes Xiao Chen was already a dead man. The tip of his foot touched the ground and suddenly a cloud of fog appeared under his feet, accelerating rapidly, shooting towards Xiao Chen, also using the Ladder Cloud Escape.

  "Die!" Zhao Wumian rushed forward rapidly, his finger pointing like a sword, with malicious thoughts in his heart.

  "Die." Yet at this moment, Xiao Chen's heart also emerged with the same idea.

  Just as Zhao Wumian was about to pounce like a bolt of lightning on a dark night, Xiao Chen's heart hardened and he suddenly opened the brocade pouch, then with a speed that left no time for concealment, splashed its contents directly at Zhao Wumian.

  Buzz!

  A thick and intense yin-yang poisonous smoke suddenly attacked Zhao Wumian, covering his face and body. The pitch-black night provided the perfect cover for the yin-yang poisonous smoke, making it completely invisible.

  "Three Styles of Thundercloud!"

  Xiao Chen gave a low, mournful cry, his treasured sword flashed out of its scabbard, without any hesitation, he killed with precision and decisiveness. At this moment, he did not retreat but instead advanced forward, directly attacking Zhao Wumian.

  Xiao Chen knew that if he didn't kill Zhao Wu Mian today, he would be killed instead.