Chapter 25: Stand-in Part 5

Xiang Xian ran to the base of the rockery, where the pitiful Guo Jing lay with a bleeding, broken head on New Year’s second day, unconscious. Xiao Kun hurried over as well. Xiang Xian said, “Quick, carry him inside!”

Xiao Kun said, “I have medicine. Give him some.”

This reminded Xiang Xian. He immediately pulled out a Healing Golden Pill from his sect and fed it to Guo Jing. Fortunately, Xiao Kun had sensed something at the last moment during their palm clash and held back his power to less than half a percent. Otherwise, a full-force strike would have sent Guo Jing straight to his next life.

“Aaah—” Xiang Xian felt he would sooner or later be driven mad by Xiao Kun. He scratched his head frantically, his face collapsing in despair.

Xiao Kun: “Calm down.”

Xiang Xian: “Why didn’t you discuss it with me first before just attacking?!”

Xiao Kun: “I’ve been suspicious all along. Aren’t you? Chaosheng was right—he truly has no magical power at all! And his magic treasure… that’s his only protective one?”

“This was one my Master gave him before passing!” Xiang Xian had completely lost his temper and sat down by the couch. Guo Jing’s bleeding from his seven orifices had stopped, but he remained unconscious.

“Think about it,” Xiao Kun said gravely. “This proves at least two things. First, he’s a mortal. Second, he’s not possessed right now.”

“Wait.” Xiang Xian’s mind was thoroughly muddled now.

“Let’s deal with his issue first,” Xiang Xian said. “You beat him up. What now?”

Xiao Kun: “Got any Soul-Dispersing Flower Powder? Let him sniff some. A sneeze and he’ll forget everything.”

“I’ll go look.” Xiang Xian suddenly remembered there was purified Soul-Dispersing Flower Powder in the Exorcism Division. This drug could make people forget recent events. Occasionally, when exorcists captured demons and left a mess that was hard to clean up, they would scatter some Soul-Dispersing Flower Powder for a simple, crude fix.

Xiang Xian: “What about his injuries?”

Xiao Kun: “Say he ran into it himself.”

“I heard all that…” Guo Jing said weakly, on his last breath.

Xiao Kun and Xiang Xian fell silent. After taking the spirit pill, Guo Jing had mostly recovered. Clutching his chest, he shakily got up, eyes full of fear as he looked at Xiao Kun, then at Xiang Xian.

Xiao Kun gestured for him to handle the questioning. Xiang Xian’s mind was a tangle right now—after all, this matter concerned him directly. Who could have imagined that Guo Jing, Grand Demon-Exorcist for over a decade, was actually a jianghu fraud? Xiao Kun, being uninvolved, stayed detached and calm.

“Lord Guo,” Xiao Kun might not mix in officialdom, but he knew well the ways of bureaucracy. He opened with, “Regarding today’s events in the Division, we swear once we leave, we will never mention it to a third person. But you must answer my questions honestly.”

“Y-Yes… yes.” Guo Jing kept shrinking back until he huddled in the corner of the couch, staring at Xiao Kun.

“Were you born without the talent for cultivation and unable to learn magical power?” Xiao Kun asked.

Xiang Xian sat to the side, hand over his forehead, not wanting to watch this farce anymore.

Guo Jing’s lips trembled, making his few immortal whiskers quiver. His eyes reddened like a wronged child.

Xiao Kun slowly drew his Tang Dao halfway out.

“No! No!” Guo Jing paled in terror and hurriedly said, “Yes, yes, yes… I… I’ve always had no magical power. What I showed the Official Family before was all… all tricks. I fed the rats some drugs…”

Xiang Xian waved his hand to signal no need to say more.

“This is the item you brought yesterday, isn’t it?” Having gotten his answer, Xiao Kun cut off Guo Jing’s rambling efficiently and picked up the document on the Chang’an Prefect’s extermination case from the table.

“Wh-What?” Guo Jing was already half out of his wits. He looked at it repeatedly and said, “I don’t remember… I don’t remember.”

Xiang Xian finally came back to himself and asked, “Lord Guo, did you come to the Exorcism Division last night?”

“I didn’t,” Guo Jing said. “I don’t think… I didn’t.”

Xiao Kun and Xiang Xian exchanged a glance. At this point, they had a rough understanding.

“Two possibilities,” Xiang Xian organized his thoughts. “The demon possessed his body for a short time.”

Xiao Kun sized up Guo Jing as Xiang Xian continued, “The first time the Demon Shaking Bell rang was the moment the Demonic Qi entered his body.”

For exorcists like Xiao Kun and Xiang Xian, it was naturally not easy to be possessed, as they had cultivation bases to protect them. But as a mortal, Guo Jing was extremely vulnerable to demonic control. Since ancient times, tales of “demons attaching to the body” or “being possessed by evil” were common for this reason.

“The other possibility: there’s another Guo Jing in Kaifeng City, and we just don’t know where he’s hiding,” Xiang Xian added.

At the same time, both men looked toward the map tucked in the commission.

“What place is this?” Xiao Kun examined the map.

“Mount Song, Shaoshi,” Xiang Xian answered. The next moment, he gave a look, pressed down on Xiao Kun’s sword hilt, and smoothly drew the blade. With a zheng, blade light flashed toward Guo Jing, who immediately cried out.

Guo Jing: “Ah… ah… Atchoo!”

The moment Xiao Kun saw the flower powder spread, he held his breath instinctively. Xiang Xian’s goal was just to scare a big gasp out of Guo Jing. Once achieved, he scattered the Soul-Dispersing Flower Powder, sheathed his blade, and retreated half a step with Xiao Kun, both bowing in unison.

“Atchoo! Atchoo! Atchoo!” Guo Jing sneezed a dozen earth-shaking times, still shaken.

Xiang Xian: “Lord Guo.”

Xiao Kun cooperated perfectly: “Lord Guo!”

Guo Jing looked bewildered, clueless about what had happened. As the Soul-Dispersing Flower Powder dispersed, Xiang Xian stepped forward solicitously. “Are you feeling better?”

“What happened?” Guo Jing’s eyes widened as he asked.

“You tripped over the threshold when entering the hall,” Xiao Kun brushed off his robe affectionately. “All good now, right?”

“Oh… I see.” Guo Jing still felt a headache, but the bleeding had stopped.