While Xiang Hai was voicing his grievances in the Zuixian Restaurant, several sinister gazes pierced through the gaps in the window lattice, locking onto the private room where Lu Qiancha and the other two were.
“Are those three the Daoist priests the old madam mentioned?” the leader asked in a raspy, low voice that carried a bone-chilling coldness.
“There’s no doubt,” the second person replied, a cruel arc curling at the corners of his mouth as his gaze swept over Xiang Hai sitting beside Lu Qiancha. “Who else could be sitting with the City Lord and looking so unfamiliar?”
“Wait for them to leave, then we’ll test these ox-nosed priests’ worth.” Killing intent flickered in the leader’s eyes. His voice dropped even lower, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue.
“If they’re just showy frauds, kill them on the spot and clean it up. If they actually have some skill, report to the Lord immediately so we can set up defenses ahead of time. They must not be allowed to ruin the grand plan.”
“Understood!” The others nodded silently, their figures merging into the shadows of the bustling streets like ghosts.
***
The banquet concluded.
Hearing that Lu Qiancha and the others had not yet found a suitable place to stay, Xiang Hai gave a generous wave of his hand to apologize.
He handed over the keys to an elegant courtyard he owned near the city’s fang market for the three to stay in temporarily.
On the way to the residence, the moonlight had already quietly climbed over the eaves.
Gantang’s small mouth pouted high, still dwelling on the old madam’s order for them to leave.
“Hmph, that old woman is really something. She goes on and on about how heavy our killing intent is. When demons were wreaking havoc and slaughtering living beings, why didn’t she jump out and say they had a heavy desire to kill? What a double standard!”
“Heh,” Shangguan Yunzhu let out a contemptuous sneer. Her red lips parted slightly as she hit the nail on the head.
“Sister Gantang, haven’t you realized it yet? What that old woman despises has never been about killing; it’s simply these dao robes we’re wearing. The conflict between Buddhism and Daoism, the sectarian prejudice—that is the root of it.”
“Oh…” Gantang elongated her tone as if she had suddenly seen the light, then she wrinkled her nose again. “So that’s how it is. How pedantic!”
Just as she finished speaking, three thuggish ruffians emerged from a dark alleyway ahead like mold growing in the shadows. They suddenly cut across, blocking their path.
The leader had a head like a rat and eyes like a buck. His triangular eyes darted over the three of them, lingering for a moment on Gantang and Shangguan Yunzhu’s faces.
He bared a mouthful of yellow teeth. “Yo, unfamiliar faces? Where are you outsiders from? Don’t you know the rules?”
Lu Qiancha frowned slightly. She didn’t want to waste words on such petty criminals. “Move,” she said coldly.
“Move?” The head ruffian gave a strange laugh and spread his legs, striking the posture of a local tyrant.
“Open your dog eyes and look closely. This road is covered by our White Tiger Hall. You want to pass without even saying hello? Shouldn’t you leave a little road-buying money for us brothers?”
His lewd gaze grew even more brazen, stickily scraping over Gantang and Shangguan Yunzhu’s bodies.
A cold light flashed in Lu Qiancha’s eyes. She had completely lost her patience. With a slight thought, the Demonic Sword Remnant Heart appeared in her hand out of thin air, pointing straight at the head ruffian’s throat.
“An explanation?” Lu Qiancha’s voice was as cold as ice from the nine underworlds. “Is this sword enough of an explanation for you?”
“Damn it, you dare show a weapon?!” The head ruffian’s expression changed drastically as if he had been greatly insulted.
He jumped up and roared in anger, “Brothers, grab your gear! Maim this pretty boy who doesn’t know his place!”
At the same time, he screeched at the sparse pedestrians on the street, “White Tiger Hall is doing business! Anyone who doesn’t want to die, get the hell away!”
The roar spread like a plague.
The pedestrians who had been watching the commotion turned pale instantly. Like startled birds, they screamed and fled in all directions, hiding in shops on both sides for fear of being caught in the crossfire.
Some wanted to stay and watch, but they were immediately dragged away by their companions. “Let’s go, don’t go looking for trouble.”
Lu Qiancha’s Ling Shi had already poured out silently like a tide, instantly scanning the three ruffians in front of her.
They were all mortals without any ling power.
She frowned and flicked her wrist. The demonic sword turned into a precise red light, stabbing directly at the tendons of the head ruffian’s right wrist that held the knife. This strike was intended to disable his ability to hold a weapon without being fatal.
However—
The blade pierced in without any resistance, as if it were stabbing into a ball of cotton. There was no tactile sensation at all. The expected scene of severed tendons, broken bones, and flying blood did not occur.
Furthermore, the opponent did not lose any mobility because of it.
‘?!’ Lu Qiancha’s pupils suddenly constricted. A strong sense of incongruity felt like ice water being poured over her head.
She slid her body like a ghost, easily dodging the knife that the opponent swung at her.
The demonic sword followed through with an upward slash. This time, the target was the wrist joint of the hand holding the knife.
A red light flashed, and with a soft *squelch*, the hand holding the knife was severed at the wrist and fell to the ground.
“Dammit! You actually dared to damage my clothes? I’ll skin you to patch my outfit!”
Instead of crying out in pain, the head ruffian erupted in an even more violent rage. His remaining left hand actually drew another rusty machete from somewhere on his waist.
At the same time, the severed hand on the ground suddenly grabbed the fallen hilt.
Its five fingers gripped tightly, blade facing up. It actually formed a bizarre pincer attack with the headless body, lunging madly at Lu Qiancha.
The ruffian became furious instantly. He pulled out another knife, and together with the hand that had fallen on the ground, he attacked Lu Qiancha.
‘What kind of monster is this?!’ Even with Lu Qiancha’s firm will, she couldn’t help but feel her scalp tingle as a chill ran up her spine.
The expressions of Shangguan Yunzhu and Gantang changed instantly upon seeing this. These things in front of them were definitely not human.
**[Hidden Sword: Slash]**
Lu Qiancha made a prompt decision and held nothing back. She took a deep breath, and the ling power nurtured within her body erupted, pouring entirely into the Demonic Sword Remnant Heart.
The black and red blade was instantly covered with a dark, bone-chilling cold light.
A fierce, matchless half-moon sword energy shot out from the sword, tearing through the air. Carrying the resolute will to cut through everything, it slashed fiercely at the head ruffian’s neck.
*Squelch.*
The head flew up and rolled onto the ground.
However, the horror did not end.
The severed head spun twice on the ground, its bloodshot eyes glaring fixedly at Lu Qiancha. Its mouth actually opened and closed, letting out a raspy, hideous curse, “Pretty boy, I’m going to skin you. Give me your skin!”
At the same time, the headless body and the severed hand on the ground continued to wave their blades without fear of death, lunging madly from different angles.
For a moment, Lu Qiancha had to face a shouting head, a headless corpse wielding a knife, and a severed hand hacking wildly. The scene was utterly bizarre and hair-raising.
“You seek death,” Shangguan Yunzhu snapped, her face masked in frost.
Her jade fingers lightly pinched a sword seal, and dozens of cold, shimmering red frost swords as thin as cow hair instantly appeared around her. The tips were all locked onto the battlefield, ready to strike.
Gantang also let out a sharp cry. Her long sword was already unsheathed, and light blue ling power swirled around the blade as she prepared to step forward to help.
At this critical moment, a fierce light flashed in Lu Qiancha’s eyes. Her left hand reached into her storage bag like lightning, pulling out a bottle of wither potion that shimmered with an ominous jet-black color.
“Go.” With a flick of her wrist, the potion bottle flew like an arrow, accurately smashing against the chest of the headless body that was attacking madly.
*Crack.* The bottle shattered.
*Sizzle—*
Like boiling oil on snow, accompanied by a heart-wrenching, non-human, shrill scream, the parts of the head ruffian’s “body” that touched the potion began to melt and collapse rapidly at a visible rate, like a wax statue under a scorching sun.
A thick, pungent black smoke rose.
“Aaaagh—my skin! My skin!”
Amidst the shrill screams, a twisted and hideous black evil spirit, covered in black smoke and emitting a thick, foul stench, suddenly broke free from the rapidly melting human skin. Its form was blurry, its features distorted, and nothing but pain remained.
“Give me skin! Quickly, give me a skin!” The evil spirit let out a venomous shriek. It lunged desperately toward the shadow of a narrow, deep alleyway piled with junk.
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