“TCH!”
Li Shunxi dropped and rolled across the ground, barely slipping past the lethal slash that would have opened his throat. For a moment, the world spun; he struggled to regain his footing. The methods he knew for purging a possessed body all required the target to be restrained—and with no one to help him, he was out of options.
He kept dodging frantically, breath ragged, when the sharp rhythm of approaching footsteps cut through the chaos.
Li Shunxi twisted toward the sound. From the pitch-black darkness, Lu Sheng emerged—expressionless, steady, walking as if the storm around them meant nothing.
Relief flooded Li Shunxi.
“Brother Lu! Come lend a hand!”
Lu Sheng only cast him a faint glance, taking in the sight of Li Shunxi rolling clumsily across the dirt, saber clutched in hand.
“SAVE ME!!!”
Gong Ruqing hurled herself toward Lu Sheng as well, tears streaking down her face. Her clothes were ripped to ribbons, baring pale skin beneath, her movements wild and desperate.
“Quick! Help me press her down! I’ve got a way to dispel the possession!!!” Li Shunxi scrambled upright and rushed toward her.
“Nine refinements return souls to rest, heavenly peace in yellow pagoda—”
SPLAT!
Before the final syllable left his tongue, Lu Sheng’s saber had already carved a clean diagonal arc through the air.
In the dark courtyard, the bright saber gleam sliced Gong Ruqing from crown to toe in one fluid stroke—thin and clear like a stream of spring water bursting from stone.
In the blink of an eye, the crescent-shaped flash had reduced a living beauty to two clean halves. Li Shunxi stood frozen, unable to process the sight, when the ground beneath Lu Sheng’s feet cratered. His muscles swelled violently, tearing through what remained of his clothing. A crimson line rose from his chest to the top of his skull, the mark forming the character for blood—血—between his brows.
SWOOSH!
With a single sweeping motion of his long saber, a gust of wind roared through the backyard like a brewing typhoon. Lu Sheng struck the flat of the blade against a guard’s back, sending the man hurtling through the night, then surged forward in two thunderous strides toward Li Shunxi.
A shadow suddenly blurred past Li Shunxi’s side.
BOOM!!!
Two immense forces collided in midair, the impact thundering across the courtyard.
“ROAR!!!”
SHRIEK!!!
Their cries tore through the night, ear-splitting and feral, as the two figures lunged at each other once more like enraged beasts.
DANG DANG DANG!!!
Each clash reverberated through Li Shunxi’s bones. His knees nearly buckled under the sheer force of the shockwaves.
KA-CHA!
Lightning ripped across the sky, its white glare illuminating the two combatants locked in a blur of brutality.
Lu Sheng’s body had grown to nearly twice its size. Thick cords of muscle knotted across his frame, veins bulging as he swung his straight-backed saber with savage ferocity—more like a heavy war hammer than a blade.
And yet, the opponent caught every strike.
Li Shunxi’s breath hitched. He stared at the figure and felt his scalp prickle.
“Soul… Soul of the Dead!!!” Cold sweat drenched his back.
“Run!” Duan Meng’an burst out of the darkness, seized his arm, and dragged him away.
The last remaining guard, face drained of all color, scrambled after them, desperate to escape the battlefield.
The creature fighting Lu Sheng was entirely grayish-black. Its skin was bare, stretched over rotting muscle and dark, decaying veins. Its eyes were milky white, its frame tall yet disturbingly thin—but its strength was monstrous.
Lu Sheng unleashed everything he had. Blood Fury Skill blazed to its utmost limit, propelling him to his peak. Even so, he could only match the creature blow for blow.
DANG!
His saber struck again with crushing force—yet the razor edge failed to leave even the faintest mark.
“I’m not buying it!!!” Rage surged through Lu Sheng’s chest as he prepared to activate the Black Tiger Jade Crane Skill.
From the distance, Li Shunxi’s panicked shout pierced the air:
“Run! That’s a Soul of the Dead. It’s got skin of copper and bones of iron. It’s indestructible!”
“Soul of the Dead? Indestructible?” The crimson 血 mark on Lu Sheng’s forehead sharpened, glowing with an ominous intensity. He tightened both hands around the saber hilt, drawing every ounce of strength from his body and condensing it into one devastating point.
“TIGER KILL!!!”
Black Tiger Saber Technique—his only Intent Proficiency technique, and the strongest strike he possessed—merged with the raging inner Qi of Blood Fury Skill. Under the moonlight, the unleashed force streaked forward like a bolt of lightning, cleaving down toward the Soul of the Dead’s skull.
“DANG!!!”
The blade shuddered violently the moment it made contact.
“BOOM!!!”
Crushed under overwhelming force, the saber erupted into a spray of glittering shards that scattered across the creature’s body like metallic rain.
Lu Sheng hurled aside the broken hilt. His hands flushed a deep, bloody red as he slammed both palms down repeatedly onto the Soul of the Dead’s head—each blow a Heart-Shattering Palm laden with destructive intent.
“DIE!!!”168Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeybw7SC4N0
Lu Sheng bellowed like a maddened beast, driving his entire body’s might into the creature’s face under the full power of Blood Fury Skill.
With his final strike, he was blasted backward, landing hard but steady. He stared ahead—at the Soul of the Dead, whose face had been beaten into a hollowed indentation.
“ROAR!!!”
The creature was flung across the courtyard. Countless blade fragments jutted from its body; its form spasmed and writhed in a grotesque spectacle. It crashed to the ground and rolled violently, its flesh steaming as if boiling. White mist billowed from its skull, carrying a nauseating burnt stench.
“Roar!!!”
Its final cry tore through the night—then its body collapsed, liquefying into a spreading pool of black water.
Steam curled from Lu Sheng’s palms. As he exhaled, thick vapor poured from his mouth like smoke. Only after seven or eight long breaths did the haze within him finally dissipate.
His body slowly shrank back to its normal proportions, and the crimson 血 mark on his forehead faded from sight.
“You alright, Brother Li?” Lu Sheng turned toward Li Shunxi, who stood beside Duan Meng’an, still shaken by what he had witnessed.
Li Shunxi stood frozen, his face flushed crimson, still shaken by the brutal scene he had just witnessed. “Al… alright… thanks for coming to rescue… Brother Lu,” he stammered, barely able to form the words.
As his thoughts finally settled, a sudden pang of grief struck him—Gong Ruqing’s torn body flashed before his eyes. “How can Brother Lu take lives so callously and treat them like dirt?! Miss Gong Ruqing was a living person! Since Brother Lu had such power from the beginning, why didn’t you use it earlier?!”
Lu Sheng reached them then, now dressed in a fresh outer coat.
“What power? I don’t know any supernatural skills or magic arts. And was that Gong Ruqing? Hadn’t she already turned into a ghost after being possessed?”
“Don’t know? Brother Lu, are you kidding me? You don’t know and yet you could kill a living Soul of the Dead?” Li Shunxi cried out in disbelief.
“I don’t know whatever ‘soul’ or ‘dead.’ As long as it’s a freak, I’ll smack it till it’s dead. Isn’t it as simple as that?” Lu Sheng looked at him, genuinely puzzled.
“A possessed body is a possessed body! A ghost is a ghost! A possessed body is just a body taken over by a spirit. If the ghost is expelled, the person can still be saved!” Li Shunxi sputtered, voice cracking.
“A possessed body is a ghost. And a ghost must die,” Lu Sheng replied with solemn conviction.
“But that’s a person! A LIVING PERSON!” Li Shunxi argued, momentarily forgetting the monstrous strength Lu Sheng had displayed earlier.
“Whatever’s a danger to me is a ghost,” Lu Sheng said flatly. “You should count yourself lucky you weren’t possessed.”
A cold tremor ran down Li Shunxi’s spine. He had more to say, but the words shriveled before they could escape his throat.
“Let’s go.” Lu Sheng turned toward the backyard cellar.
“Boss, here’s a saber,” Duan Meng’an said quickly, offering a blade. Another saber hung at his side—one he had taken from the fallen guard.
Lu Sheng accepted it without a word and strode toward the kitchen.
The group moved together, approaching the kitchen and retracing their earlier steps toward the cellar.
Lu Sheng lifted the cellar door, revealing several unconscious figures inside. Ning San—who had vanished earlier—lay among them, along with the two remaining guards and two women.
“It’s not wise to stay here any longer. We need to get out immediately,” Lu Sheng said calmly. “See if these people can be woken up.”
“Brother Lu, did you already know that a Soul of the Dead was beside me earlier?” Li Shunxi finally managed to ask.
“Mm. I sensed something wrong, but couldn’t tell who it was. That’s why I split up from you. As expected, it exposed itself afterward.” Lu Sheng’s explanation was simple, almost casual.
Ever since rescuing Gong Ruqing and her sister, something had felt off to him.
Li Shunxi trembled. “How can Souls of the Dead have such intelligence… they can disguise themselves and hide among us…” The realization that he had been standing beside a Soul of the Dead for so long made his skin crawl.
“Then what about Gong Rumeng?” he asked, his mind muddled with dread.
“Either dead or missing. No idea,” Lu Sheng replied indifferently. “Whether they’re dead or alive doesn’t matter to me. I’m only here to investigate a case.”
“You… how can you be so cold-blooded!?” Li Shunxi burst out.
“Cold-blooded? They’re not related to me. How is that cold-blooded?” Lu Sheng answered, genuinely confused by his outrage.
Li Shunxi opened his mouth but found no words to counter him.
Together with Duan Meng’an, he began lifting the unconscious people out of the cellar, shaking and slapping them awake. Lu Sheng watched in silence, not moving to help.
One by one, the rescued stirred.
“I was just resting in my room… how did I end up here?”
“What’s happening? Why am I suddenly in this place?”
“Where are Qingqing and Mengmeng? Why aren’t they here?”
Panic rippled through the women and guards as they regained awareness.
“We should get out of this place first,” Li Shunxi suggested.
“Young Master Li, did you see Qingqing and Mengmeng?” one of the women asked him.
Li Shunxi lowered his head, unable to meet her gaze.
“Let’s talk after we get out,” Li Shunxi said quietly.
Lu Sheng swept his gaze over the group, his eyes finally settling on Ning San.
“Young Master!” Ning San hurried over and bowed deeply before him.
“Good to see you’re not dead. Let’s go,” Lu Sheng replied, his tone indifferent.
Ning San lowered his head in shame.
Suddenly, one of the guards rushed forward, blocking Lu Sheng’s path. “Hold it! Where’s our Young Miss? Did you do something to her!?”
“That’s right! We woke up here, so it must be these two!” the other guard barked, glaring at Li Shunxi. “Young Master Li, please help us arrest this man!”
Lu Sheng looked at the two men barring his way, then shifted his gaze to the uneasy Li Shunxi.
“Are you coming?” he asked bluntly.
For reasons he couldn’t explain, Li Shunxi felt that question was directed solely at him—despite the crowd around them.
“I… go? Then what about them?” he asked.
“They belong here,” Lu Sheng answered.
The moment those words left his mouth, the entire courtyard fell silent. It was as if sound itself had been snuffed out.
The guards and the women all turned toward Li Shunxi—and eerie, unsettling smiles began to twist across their faces.
Cold terror stabbed through Li Shunxi’s chest. Instinct roared inside him. With all the strength he could muster, he leapt to Lu Sheng’s side.
He spun back toward the others just in time to hear the guard’s trembling voice. “Young Master Li… you must help us… it was that man, he killed our Young Miss…” But now the guard’s face was drained to an ashy, corpse-like pallor.
“Young Master Li…”
Ka-cha.
A harsh crack sounded behind him. The kitchen door creaked open.
A grotesque, twisted silhouette limped out of the darkness.
“Young Master Li… Qingqing’s body hurts so much… Why did you leave by yourself… You didn’t wait for Qingqing…”
Gong Ruqing—split into two halves just moments ago—stood at the doorway. A long, blood-red seam ran straight down her body, marking the exact place where Lu Sheng had cleaved her in two.
Li Shunxi’s face drained to a sickly green.
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Duan Meng’an cried out in terror, shoving the guard beside him away. The guard himself had turned deathly pale, and an unbearable, rotting stench seeped from his body.
Cold sweat streamed down Ning San’s forehead. The realization that he had been sleeping beside a pile of corpse-like creatures for who knows how long made his entire body tremble.
“Let’s go.” Without sparing the guards or the women another glance, Lu Sheng walked straight toward the kitchen door, his steps steady and unhurried.
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