“Watch out!”
The warning came from Mu Qinghe, whose jade pendant on her chest trembled uncontrollably—a sign of impending danger.
She grabbed Ling Xiaodong and leapt directly onto a nearby rooftop eave.
The moment after, where the two had been standing suddenly appeared a deep claw mark etched into the ground.
Mu Qinghe took out a cyan talisman from her bosom and pressed it against her forehead. The blurry black shadow immediately revealed its true form in her eyes.
It was a mountain ghost.
Its face was green with sharp fangs, its posture humanoid but on all fours, the claws on its toes unusually sharp and pitch black. The most striking feature was the ring of cyan flames swirling around its neck, like a lion’s mane.
“Cyan Netherfire! This is a Ghost King!”
Although Ling Xiaodong was surprised by Mu Qinghe’s agility, he also sensed the sinister ghostly aura gathering on the black shadow below.
He extended his sword finger before his eyes.
“Heaven’s law is clear, earth’s law is spiritual, yin and yang converge essence, water spirit reveals form, spiritual light draws in water, reaching sky and earth, laws enforce each other, yin and yang mirror, true form appears swiftly, swiftly reveal true form!”
His pupils quickly transformed into mystical yin-yang fishes, slowly rotating. To Ling Xiaodong’s eyes, the night instantly became as bright as day, and the shadow on the ground revealed its true form.
A mountain ghost! Ling Xiaodong had read about this kind of demon in the books.
He knew it was the Luo Sect’s doing.
Just as Yun Yi had suspected! There were indeed ghost cultivators in the Luo Sect who could tame demon ghosts!
“Daoist Ling, let’s go! Only a cultivator at the Six Harmonies realm can match a Ghost King!”
Without another word, Mu Qinghe grabbed Ling Xiaodong, holding him firmly under her arm, and soared toward the Luo Sect’s outpost established in Peng City.
To find the Helm Master! The Helm Master was a Six Harmonies cultivator and could handle this Ghost King!
The Ghost King behind them roared angrily and leapt onto a rooftop, hot on their heels.
Ling Xiaodong, trapped under Mu Qinghe’s arm, still didn’t understand what was happening.
Why was he being carried while leaping across rooftops? Just as he was about to ask her to put him down, his yin-yang eyes glimpsed a hidden ball of cyan flames below the roof ahead.
“Watch out ahead!”
But it was already too late.
“Peng!”
Just as Mu Qinghe landed on a rooftop, the lurking mountain ghost burst forth like thunder from the tiles, slashing its claw at Mu Qinghe’s calf.
Mu Qinghe cried out in pain, and both she and Ling Xiaodong fell from the rooftop.
The other mountain ghost had also arrived. Now trapped with danger in front and behind, the two grotesque and ferocious mountain ghosts circled them slowly, searching for the perfect strike to kill.
Mu Qinghe’s heart pounded in anxiety. Blood streamed from the wound on her leg, and the ghostly energy invading from the ghost’s black claw caused unbearable pain with even the slightest movement.
“Daoist Ling, I have a way to survive, you must go on ahead!” Mu Qinghe urged desperately.
As the Holy Maiden of the Luo Sect, she certainly had life-saving methods. If she took a fatal blow, she would swap places with a substitute puppet at the Luo Sect’s main altar thousands of miles away.
More than herself, she now worried about Ling Xiaodong’s safety. To her, he was just a low-level small Taoist with limited skills.
“What nonsense is this? You want me to abandon an injured woman and run? I, Ling Xiaodong, would never do such a thing!”
Ling Xiaodong drew the precious sword from his waist—the one he had snatched from Shao Yinhua earlier. It looked extraordinary, so he took it along.
The mountain ghost’s yellow cat-like pupils narrowed warily, staring at him. The next moment, Ling Xiaodong vanished from where he stood, teleporting directly in front of one of the mountain ghosts.
He swung his sword, but no sharp feedback came through the blade.
The sword had indeed sliced across the mountain ghost’s neck, but it was like cutting through air—the ghost’s head remained completely intact.
Startled by the sudden attack, the mountain ghost leapt back in fright. Shaking its head and finding itself unharmed, it glared even more fiercely with its cat-like eyes and let out a low growl.
“Daoist Ling, it’s useless! This Ghost King has no form or substance; only cultivators can kill it with arcane arts.” Mu Qinghe called out urgently from behind.
“Is there such a thing? Forget it, let’s run first.”
Ling Xiaodong scooped up Mu Qinghe, holding her tightly in his arms as before.
The only difference was that in his panic, he lost track of which way was front or back, so Mu Qinghe’s face was toward the rear, with her hips facing forward.
Ling Xiaodong pushed off hard, kicking up dust. The hard blue bricks beneath their feet shattered as he launched like an arrow toward an empty direction—much faster than when Mu Qinghe had carried him earlier.
The two mountain ghosts fiercely pursued, unfazed by the maze of streets. They dashed straight through thick walls as if they were nothing, running in a straight line behind them.
Ling Xiaodong avoided leaping between rooftops because the tiles couldn’t bear his weight. Watching the mountain ghosts pass through buildings, his mind raced to devise a plan.
Yun Yi was only at the Five Elements realm, unlikely to handle these two mountain ghosts. The only Six Harmonies cultivator in Peng City was that Wuyazi.
But the city lord’s mansion was in the center of Peng City, densely populated. Taking these two evil spirits there would bring disaster to innocent civilians. What should he do?
Just as his thoughts swirled, Mu Qinghe struggled within his arms and pleaded anxiously:
“Daoist Ling, throw me off! If this continues, you’ll die. I have a way to survive; I promise I’ll be fine.”
But Ling Xiaodong thought she wanted to sacrifice herself so he could escape. How could he agree?
His thoughts interrupted, Mu Qinghe’s restless movements only added to his frustration. The two mountain ghosts closing in only made it worse.
In irritation, Ling Xiaodong slapped Mu Qinghe’s rounded hip.
“Smack!”
A crisp sound rang out. Mu Qinghe instantly fell silent, not moving a muscle. Blood rushed to her cheeks and ears.
As the Holy Maiden of the Luo Sect, she had never endured such treatment. Even the sect’s disciples wouldn’t dare meet her gaze, and her foster mother certainly wouldn’t punish her like this.
As the proud Holy Maiden, she was being held and spanked by a man!
Ling Xiaodong didn’t have time to care what Mu Qinghe was thinking. His priority was to shake off the pursuing mountain ghosts.
Suddenly, inspiration struck. He remembered a concealment talisman in the Taiqing Jiuxuan that might solve their predicament.
Recalling the incantation from the book, Ling Xiaodong quickly learned the vanish-and-hide spell.
He bit his index finger, using his blood to draw the talisman on his Daoist robe while chanting:
“Heaven overturns, earth rolls, nine paths all blocked. Those who chase me will not catch up. Enter the heavenly vault, do not look back. Geng is the heavenly prison, Xin the heavenly court, Ren the heavenly jail; avoid and resist or be bound. Swift as the law’s decree!”
The effect was immediate. Ling Xiaodong’s figure gradually became transparent, his aura vanished. The two mountain ghosts behind slowed significantly, no longer frequently phasing through walls in direct pursuit. They stopped occasionally, searching for the right direction.
Seeing it worked, Ling Xiaodong tried to draw the talisman on Mu Qinghe as well. But his left arm was still wrapped around her waist, and with the mountain ghosts closing in, the only place he could draw was on the front of her hips.
“Miss Mu, pardon the rudeness!”
In a moment of crisis, even the proprieties between man and woman had to be set aside. With his blood still fresh, Ling Xiaodong drew the talisman directly onto the white cloth covering Mu Qinghe’s hips.
Drawing a talisman while running, on flesh no less, was far more difficult than Ling Xiaodong imagined. Moreover, the woman’s hips were softer than expected, sinking deeply with just a light press of his finger.
By the time he finished, Mu Qinghe’s face was flushed crimson. The sensation spreading from his fingers made her almost faint, a burning heat rising in her lower abdomen as she clenched her legs tightly.
With a flash, Ling Xiaodong veered into a small deserted courtyard and saw a pond within.
Without hesitation, he carried Mu Qinghe and leapt into the water.