Chapter 17
The light from the bracelet was so piercing that the female ghost let out a series of shrill screams. Her already tattered body developed numerous holes that emitted white smoke, causing her to clutch her head and jump away from Lin Queli. Her hair also retracted, as if she were avoiding the bracelet at all costs.
Lin Queli’s eyes widened.
He remembered what Ji Chun had said before, that this bracelet contained a trace of Helan Xue’s spiritual energy and could ward off evil and protect the body.
My god, a trace of spiritual energy, a single spirit bead, could have such an effect?
At this moment, the surroundings were filled with flying frost. Lin Queli touched a falling snowflake, and it melted in his palm.
But this snow was a different matter for the female ghost. When it landed on her, it burned, causing her even more pain. She writhed in agony, her face twisted as she lay prostrate to the side, glaring viciously at Lin Queli.
Seeing that she couldn’t get close, the female ghost came up with another plan.
“Heh… heh…”
Lin Queli saw the female ghost use her hair as a weapon, knocking down the beam above his head.
…!
Lin Queli scrambled to his feet to dodge. More and more beams fell around him, raising clouds of dust. The female ghost also used her hair to roll up a nearby candlestick and a hanging sword, stabbing them towards him.
“Break!”
“Break! Break! Block!”
Lin Queli hastily threw out several spells and actually managed to block them.
But it wasn’t so easy after that.
Lin Queli looked up and saw the large bronze bell above him begin to sway precariously.
No way…?
Rumble—!
It was too late to run now. If he was unlucky enough to be caught on the edge and hit by the bell, he would really be done for. So Lin Queli directly squatted down and covered his ears in fear.
The bell cast a shadow over him.
The snowflakes disappeared at this moment, replaced by a light from the bracelet on Lin Queli’s wrist. Then, a white figure appeared before him.
Bang—!
The bell exploded before it fell, shattering into pieces with a huge sound. Lin Queli covered his ears and his eyes widened in ecstatic joy. “Shizun…?!”
Helan Xue could actually get in?! How did he do it!
The sound of cracking began to appear around them, and the scene Lin Queli saw began to collapse.
Was Helan Xue… crushing the illusion with his bare hands?
Lin Queli jumped up and rushed towards Helan Xue. Helan Xue caught his waist, and then Lin Queli felt as if he were falling, and some black shadows and spiritual energy rushed towards them.
“Shizun…!”
Lin Queli hugged Helan Xue in fear, feeling all the things flying towards them dissolve.
Helan Xue looked down. Although he was separated by the veil, he could still see that Lin Queli was terrified. He was curled up, his head buried in his chest, his head bowed, revealing his fair, defenseless nape.
He was just like the mountain cats in the back mountain, who were always frightened by the huge explosions caused by the disciples’ practice and would run around, hiding in people’s arms, but instead exposing their vitals, very stupid.
Helan Xue frowned and pinched the back of Lin Queli’s neck, making him look up and back.
“Eek…!”
Lin Queli shrank back from the ticklish sensation. At this moment, a strong wind blew, and because of Lin Queli’s movement, the veil was blown away.
Helan Xue looked down and was stunned.
That beautiful face suddenly, without warning… appeared before his eyes.
Perhaps because of the heavy makeup, the last trace of childishness in Lin Queli’s features was covered up. The flower mark on his forehead was like a blooming peony. He was truly a bride so beautiful that one couldn’t take their eyes off him, androgynous.
It should have been a face that could bewitch people, but the person standing here was Helan Xue, and Helan Xue met those sparkling eyes. Only his most troublesome “disciple,” Lin Luo, would look at him like this. The person who had been so scared just now was now only filled with the excitement of being saved by his Shizun.
Helan Xue frowned and stepped back, putting distance between himself and Lin Queli.
“Shizun…!”
Lin Queli was a little flustered.
What are you doing!!
Lin Queli was afraid that he would suddenly be thrown away by Helan Xue and fall, so he clung to Helan Xue even more tightly, almost hanging on him.
“…Lin Luo.”
Seeing Lin Queli’s fear of not being able to hold on and falling, Helan Xue tightened his arm and pulled him into his arms, his tone icy. “Don’t move.”
“Oh!” Lin Queli was afraid that his random movements would affect Helan Xue’s performance, so he immediately nodded obediently and stopped grabbing him.
After tightening his arm and closing the distance between them, Helan Xue could no longer see Lin Queli’s face, but the narrow waist he was holding was impossible to ignore.
Lin Queli was completely unaware of Helan Xue’s expression, because the surroundings were becoming more and more chaotic.
With a dizzying spin, Lin Queli felt his consciousness slip away for a moment. When he opened his eyes again, he found that he was still in the temple, but the surroundings were different from the dilapidated temple with the faint green light before. The mess on the ground and the fallen walls and ruins were gone, replaced by Qiansui and the others.
The female ghost was being suppressed by Qiansui and the others, and they were sealing her in a gourd.
“That’s great!” Qiansui breathed a sigh of relief. “The one who has been causing trouble recently has finally been subdued by us. As expected, things are different with Grandmaster here. Young Master Lin, you…”
Qiansui turned his head to look at Lin Queli and was dumbfounded. Not just him, but the other disciples as well.
Lin Queli was startled and turned to look for his veil, but couldn’t find it.
He was so embarrassed that his face turned red, and he felt extremely awkward. Seeing everyone staring at him without speaking, he felt scared.
Is it really that strange?
Lin Queli was afraid of being laughed at and subconsciously hid behind Helan Xue, grabbing his arm in the process.
It’s just… why did Helan Xue’s arm feel a little stiff? Could it be that he was disgusted by having such a cross-dressing disciple and felt embarrassed?
He pouted. Everyone asked me to wear women’s clothing for the mission!
Damn it!!
I’ll take off my makeup as soon as I get back!
He barely let go of his hand and turned to ask Qiansui, “What’s going on? How did you find me?”
Qiansui looked away and didn’t look at Lin Queli—if he looked again, he wouldn’t be able to speak.
“We chased the Demon Clan all the way to a very far place. The Demon Clan really went all out. Three of the five elders of the Demon Palace came this time! But with Grandmaster here, they were beaten back one after another! Later, Young Master Jiang came to find us with the bearers, saying that you were missing.”
Qiansui patted the man next to him—Jiang Li, the fake groom.
Jiang Li couldn’t hear what Qiansui was saying at all. He was just staring at Lin Queli.
Didn’t they say the fake bride was a man? Can a man be this good-looking? I thought it was some burly man…!
Seeing that Jiang Li didn’t react, Qiansui explained for him that Jiang Li had felt that the sedan chair was too quiet halfway through and thought something was wrong. When he opened it, he found that it was long empty, but the bearers had not noticed, and the weight had not changed.
Lin Queli told them about the ghost messengers. It must be that after the sun set, the female ghost used the wedding dress to drag Lin Queli into her illusion.
“We followed the female ghost’s tracks to the temple, but it would take time to break the formation. We were a little worried, but Grandmaster was too amazing…!” Qiansui said excitedly, “I don’t know what method Grandmaster used, but he actually broke into the illusion directly, and without any formation, he destroyed the illusion with his spiritual energy!”
Lin Queli glanced at Helan Xue.
It seemed it was because of the bracelet. No wonder Helan Xue was so calm and not worried that something would happen to him.
Lin Queli said, “Now that the female ghost is suppressed, we can give the villagers an explanation. What about the fragment?”
With so much at stake, Lin Queli was even more anxious about the Demon Sword fragment than they were.
Qiansui smiled. “Everything went smoothly! With Grandmaster here, we chased and killed many demons along the way, and we also followed the demons’ tracking of the strange qi and found the location of the Demon Sword fragment in Yangjing Village. It is now being guarded, and we will definitely not let the Demon Clan successfully activate and seize it.”
“As for those three elders… they were well-prepared. Although they were seriously injured, they still escaped into the deep mountains. We were going to continue the pursuit, but the fragment was already in hand, and something happened to you here, so we rushed back!”
Lin Queli scratched his head and said with some embarrassment, “Oh…”
Helan Xue said lightly, “It’s fine. We’ll catch them eventually.”
Helan Xue didn’t care. He had even killed the Demon Lord, so he was naturally not worried about the elders.
The most important thing on this trip was the Demon Sword fragment.
Lin Queli nodded.
This trip could be considered over. Fortunately, there were no major mishaps. The few of them packed up and prepared to go back.
Lin Queli stretched, loosening his waist and tapping his sore thighs.
He then realized that he had a lot of scrapes and bruises on his body, but none of them were serious. Anyway… not as serious as Helan Xue’s spanking.
What was that saying again? When there was danger, Shizun could sweep away everything. When there was no danger, Shizun was the biggest danger.
On the way down the mountain, Jiang Li suddenly approached Lin Queli and coughed dryly a few times. “Young Master Lin, I’m sorry.”
“Hmm…?”
“I failed to look after you properly and let you be dragged into the illusion. It was my fault.”
“It’s okay?” Lin Queli found it strange. This Jiang Li was not a cultivator, so it would be strange if he could look after him!
Anyway, I have Shizun, so it doesn’t matter if he can look after me or not.
“To be able to pretend to be a couple with Young Master Lin is my good fortune.” Jiang Li said with a red face, “If Young Master Lin doesn’t mind, we…”
“Lin Luo.” Helan Xue turned his head and called out to Lin Queli.
“Mmm, mmm, mmm!” Lin Queli immediately went over with pleading eyes. “What’s wrong, Shizun!”
Helan Xue looked into the distance, as if he had sensed something. Frost began to form around him, as if he were condensing his spiritual energy and power. “You stay with Qiansui and the others. Don’t run around.”
Lin Queli was alert. Helan Xue’s appearance felt like he was about to unleash a big move, not like he was just going to teleport away normally. Could there be something big happening?
“Where is Shizun going? This disciple wants to go with you!”
The next moment, a loud noise came from not far away.
“Rumble—”
The mountain shook, and the birds on the mountain were startled and flew out.
Everyone was stunned.
Qiansui’s mouth was open. “Th-that’s… the direction of Zhaoming Village?”
They were in the temple halfway up the mountain and could see fire and thick smoke rising from Zhaoming Village not far away. It was engulfed in a sea of fire, as if… it had been blown up.
What happened?!
“Could it be that the Demon Clan, knowing that their plan had failed, did this in retaliation?”
Qiansui’s face was pale.
“But what’s the point? And if they wanted revenge, they should have retaliated against Yangjing Village. Why cause trouble in Zhaoming Village!”
Even though the disciples had been slaying demons and exterminating evil outside for a long time and were used to life and death and changes, they were still a little flustered at this moment.
Hearing their conversation, Lin Queli felt as if he had fallen into a frozen abyss. Then… what about the people of Zhaoming Village?
He subconsciously turned his head and saw that Helan Xue had already teleported away.
“Senior martial brother! Let’s not talk about that now, we… we have to go to Zhaoming Village to support them immediately!”
Qiansui and the others activated the teleportation array. When Lin Queli opened his eyes again, he found himself in a… sea of fire.
They had arrived at Zhaoming Village and saw that the houses and fields around them were on fire. There was thick smoke everywhere, and everyone was fleeing in a pathetic state, their screams and cries filling the air.
Qiansui and a group of disciples went forward to help the villagers evacuate. Many villagers seemed to have been injured in the explosion and couldn’t move. They were carried away by them, their flesh and blood mangled, to be treated.
Just then, Lin Queli looked down and saw a formation appear on the ground.
Heavy snow began to fall from the sky, melting the fire that was devouring everything. The formation shone brightly, as if it were absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to extinguish this tyrannical evil fire.
Looking down was the ever-growing formation. Looking up… Lin Queli saw Helan Xue standing high up on his sword. He looked at the disciples below and said slowly, “The fragment… is not just one.”
Behind Helan Xue, thousands of swords appeared in the sky, clanging in unison with their master’s words.
When these words were spoken, a chill ran down everyone’s spine.
The fragment is not just one…!
Lin Queli now understood. This was all the Demon Clan’s conspiracy!
The Demon Clan had discovered that there were two fragments here, one in Yangjing Village and one in Zhaoming Village. Knowing that Helan Xue had come down the mountain, they knew they couldn’t resist, so they simply diverted the Myriad Sword Sect’s attention to Yangjing Village, so that they could successfully carry out their plans in Zhaoming Village.
The way they took it… was so cruel.
—Only through devastation, the lives of the innocent, and the fear and resentment created, could the seal of the Demon Sword fragment be broken.
Helan Xue looked at the tragic scene around him, his eyes slightly stern.
The snow was still falling, not only to extinguish the fire, but also to form sharp blades, to find the demons who had stolen those fragments.
Lin Queli wanted to go forward to help, but he only felt a tightness in his chest.
He clutched his chest, unable to breathe.
What’s going on…!
