Chapter 24 Part 1

“It’s you!”

Zhang Jue looked up at the condescending Chu Yi and instantly felt as if he had been stabbed. While he and his master had been struggling below against the Peach Blossom Evil, Chu Yi had been hiding up top watching the show!

Zhang Jue felt his face burning hot. He touched it and found a patch of scarlet blood, which made his face flush even redder with anger. “You were here all along—why did you only act now?!”

If he had acted earlier, Zhang Jue wouldn’t have been disfigured!

“Zhang Jue, mind your manners!” Zhang Shaoyi sternly scolded him, but he accidentally coughed up another mouthful of blood. A bitter smile appeared on his face. Never had he regretted not properly teaching his disciple more than at this moment. So reckless with his words, unable to read the situation—was it really because he had spoiled him?

He glanced at the Li Hongming couple, who stood stunned nearby, and guessed that they had invited Chu Yi behind his back. Though annoyed and unwilling deep down, things had reached this point, and he had nothing left to say.

Chu Yi looked at Zhang Jue speechlessly. “If I were you, I’d run right now…”

Was this guy insane? With the Peach Blossom Evil right there, he still had the energy to blame him?

The man was covered in blood, a perfect human target. Even the Peach Blossom Evil wouldn’t pass up such an easy mark to go after someone else!

Before Chu Yi finished speaking, there was a muffled “pfft” sound, and a peach tree branch pierced through Zhang Jue’s chest!

“Master, save… save me…” Zhang Jue twisted and struggled frantically. Evidently, he was lucky this time—the branch hadn’t hit any vital organs.

But he was truly terrified now. His pants instantly darkened with a wet stain as liquid trickled down his pant leg in a steady stream. It was hard to say which was more pathetic: the top or the bottom…

Chu Yi touched his nose. This really wasn’t his fault for jinxing it!

Master Zhang watched as the peach tree branch lifted Zhang Jue up, continuously drawing blood from his body into the tree trunk itself. Another branch lunged toward him—

He quickly begged for help. “Dao Friend Chu, we disciples offended you earlier. If you have a way, please save us master and disciple! Zhang Shaoyi will be eternally grateful!”

At this point, the bodyguards hired by the Li family had all fled upon seeing the danger, but the Li Hongming couple still stood their ground firmly. Snapping back to reality at his words, they dropped to their knees. “Master Zhang, we were blind, but Yun Kai is innocent. Please save him!”

Chu Yi had already leaped down from the building the moment Master Zhang spoke. He reached out and gently lifted the Li Hongming couple to their feet, saying calmly, “No need for that. I wouldn’t have come if I wasn’t going to save people.”

With those words, he had them step back. He then flicked out two more copper coins. One snapped the branch attacking Master Zhang; the other brought Zhang Jue down to safety.

As the branch broke, the blood it had sucked from Zhang Jue soon pooled on the ground…

The Peach Blossom Evil was one with the peach tree. With its branches successively broken, it roared in pain and lunged at Chu Yi with claws outstretched, engaging him in a fierce fight.

Ouyang Yuyuan and Mu Jiajun watched the apocalyptic scene below, their legs turning to jelly.

Ouyang Yuyuan chattered his teeth as he asked, “Jia… Jiajun, should we run too?”

Without Yi Ge blocking the front, he felt utterly unsafe!

Mu Jiajun stiffly turned his neck and gave him a sidelong glance. “I’d like to run, but… but let go of me first…”

“No way, I can’t stand steady.”

“Me neither…”

“Then… we’ll just stay like this.”

The two cowards were on the verge of hugging their heads and sobbing.

Yu Qingxian had followed Chu Yi to the railing’s edge the moment he jumped down, gripping the iron bars tightly with both hands. When Chu Yi narrowly dodged the Peach Blossom Evil’s claws, his heart leaped into his throat.

He had seen Chu Yi agree so readily before and never imagined the request he accepted was this dangerous. In comparison, that bit of compensation was worthless…

Chu Yi didn’t have it easy either. He had to evade the Peach Blossom Evil’s yin qi while guarding against the occasional sprouting peach tree branches. But after fighting for about fifteen minutes, he finally found an opening and slapped his last Purple Lightning Thunder Talisman onto the Peach Blossom Evil’s forehead!

Yin evil entities feared heavenly thunder the most. Though this was a modified version, it clearly worked well.

Lightning snakes slithered from the top of its head downward, instantly enveloping its entire body. It let out a shrill scream, and as if triggered, lightning particles in the clouds above responded. A bolt of purple thunder tore through the sky with a “boom,” igniting the peach tree.

The peach tree’s mutated branches twisted and deformed one by one, burning into black charcoal and falling away. The Peach Blossom Evil deflated like a punctured balloon, massive amounts of yin evil qi spilling outward until, finally, with the yin evil qi gone, it shed back into a white, transparent mass.

Chu Yi quickly peeled off the talisman, which still had a trace of spiritual power left. Wei Xiaoxiao’s remnant soul couldn’t withstand even a spark of lightning—it would scatter to ashes in an instant.

Wei Xiaoxiao blinked her eyes, looked down at her translucent hands, then at Chu Yi. “Who are you? How… how did I become like this? Am I dead already?”

“Xiaoxiao!” The Wei couple finally saw their daughter with her sanity restored and cried out in disbelief.

They normally lacked Yin-Yang Eyes and couldn’t see souls, but with the yin qi so thick now, it was no surprise they could. In fact, everyone saw her.

“Dad, Mom, why are you here too?” Wei Xiaoxiao was utterly confused, almost thinking she was dreaming.

“Xiaoxiao, Xiaoxiao, my poor daughter…”

“Xiaoxiao, your mom and dad missed you so much!”

The Wei couple wept and laughed, wanting to embrace their daughter but afraid to approach.

Seeing the Peach Blossom Evil destroyed, the Li Hongming couple hurried over. “Master, what about our son?”

“Yeah, Master, where’s Yun Kai?”

“Stay calm.” Chu Yi waved his hand and first looked in another direction. “Master Zhang, is Zhang Jue alright?”

Zhang Shaoyi had already stopped Zhang Jue’s bleeding while he had the chance. Hearing Chu Yi call him Master Zhang twisted his expression a bit, like he was being mocked, but the man had saved their lives, so the title was out of respect…

Zhang Shaoyi said, “He’s fine, just passed out from excessive blood loss.”

But after this heavy blow from the Peach Blossom Evil and the extreme fright, it was uncertain if he’d dare to catch ghosts and exorcise evils with him anymore.

Master Zhang secretly glanced at Chu Yi, unable to fathom how someone so young possessed such profound skills. And that Purple Lightning Thunder Talisman—its power was no small matter. He must be a disciple from some hidden eminent sect, right?

Wei Xiaoxiao’s parents had wanted to hide her death from her, but they couldn’t conceal it. With their hints, she soon recalled everything from before her death.