Putting on a duckbill cap and pulling the brim low to cover the upper half of his face, Yang Xiao quietly left the back door of the Patrol Defense Office.
Near the secluded area by the back door, Yang Xiao flagged down a black car, and the driver quickly brought him to the alley where the holess man had disappeared.
After a brief observation nearby and finding nothing amiss, Yang Xiao pressed the brim of his cap even lower and then began to walk deeper into the alley. He vaguely rembered this place; there was an abandoned factory area ahead, with low-rise bungalows inside the alley that had been discarded.
Although these bungalows were abandoned, their structures were still relatively intact, and many still had doors and windows, which attracted so holess people to spend the night here.
The missing holess man was just like that, eating sweet potatoes and singing in the room, that’s how he encountered Yang Xiao by chance.
Returning to this place, Yang Xiao felt a lot of emotions in his heart. If it wasn’t for eting himself last ti, Elder Sui would have been in danger. The people from Yiling Academy wouldn’t have let him go, and he didn’t expect Elder Sui to have such formidable strength, being a real Ghost-level Apostle.
Indeed, the world of martial arts is vast, with nurous factions and many experts; it’s only because he secluded himself in the small place of Rongcheng that he was unaware of the vastness and depth of the world.
But he did not have plans to leave yet; he liked this place, which felt like ho to him.
"Tap tap tap..."
The alley was deep and quiet, barely any windows were lit, only at the street corner where a few dim lights were flickering, emitting a barely alive glow.
Following his mory, Yang Xiao quickly found the place where he had fought with Elder Sui, and the ho of the holess man was nearby.
Following the road in his mory, he arrived in front of the small house; the doors and windows were closed, and the inside of the house was pitch dark, with eerie silence all around.
But as Yang Xiao approached, before he could even reach out to push the door, he heard a "creak—", the door opened by itself under Yang Xiao’s astonished gaze, and a figure walked out composedly.
This person was obviously not a holess man; he was rather thin, holding a sowhat twisted wooden crutch in his hand, and wearing a long black cloak that wrapped most of his face and entire body, appearing extrely mysterious.
"My intuition was right, it was indeed you." The man in the cloak lifted his hat, revealing a gloomy old face, none other than the team-leading elder from Yiling Academy that had once crossed paths with Yang Xiao.
"It’s you?!" Yang Xiao frowned and instinctively stepped back.
"Speak, where did you hide that person?!" Elder Pu stepped forward, his eagle-like sharp eyes staring intently at Yang Xiao, and in a low voice he threatened, "Kid, no one can save you today, I advise you to be sensible."
"How dare you attack soone from the Patrol Defense Office?" Yang Xiao challenged.
Hearing this, Elder Pu suddenly laughed, his face horrifically contorted, emitting a hoarse and muffled sinister laugh, "No one will know, you’re a smart one, I won’t let you go spreading words. Today you must die, but the difference is how."
"No one knows you ca here; I could torture you to death bit by bit, or I could grant you a quick death, it all depends on your choice."
Elder Pu walked leisurely with his hands behind his back, completely disregarding a captain from the Patrol Defense Division, as in a one-on-one situation, there were few in Rongcheng who could match him; this was not arrogance, but extre confidence in his own strength.
"And the holess man?" Yang Xiao kept retreating while looking towards the house Elder Pu ca out from.
Seeing this, Elder Pu grinned, his smile sinister as he said, "You’re about to die, and you still have ti to worry about others, don’t worry, you will soon et that stinking beggar."
Now the situation had beco completely clear; the holess man who sneaked back was caught here by Elder Pu, who then deduced that Sui Chengguo’s escape might be related to Yang Xiao, which led him to follow through the night. The mysterious person behind him last night was this elder from Yiling Academy, Elder Pu.
"Elder Pu, I don’t understand what you’re saying, our Patrol Defense Office and your Yiling Academy have always had a good relationship. Aren’t you afraid of affecting the relationship between the two by attacking today?" Yang Xiao spoke loudly, as if deliberately proclaiming it for soone nearby to hear, "And you are an elder, attacking a junior like , aren’t you afraid of tarnishing the reputation of Yiling Academy?"
"Cut the nonsense. What do you Rongcheng Patrol Division think you are? Even Nalan Shuo dares to show his face to . Do you really think I’m easy to ss with?" Elder Pu slamd his cane on the ground heavily; it was clear that he was still brooding over the incident that day and there would be no peaceful resolution today.
The next second, in Yang Xiao’s field of vision, Elder Pu’s figure vanished instantly, followed by a gust of wind rushing from behind. Yang Xiao reacted swiftly, drawing the Human Bone Staff and turning to block, but even so, he was still struck by a powerful force and sent flying.
Having barely stabilized himself, Yang Xiao looked up only to see Elder Pu, cane in hand, standing where he had previously been, staring at him with a slightly surprised expression, "Impressive, young man, to have two moves like that. No wonder you could defeat a Venerable Level Heretic Cultivator."
"Today, I will add another to my list of accomplishnts, slaying an elder from Yiling Academy." Yang Xiao swung the Human Bone Staff, aiming two strikes at Elder Pu.
Elder Pu raised his cane to block, but unexpectedly, the intangible attack pierced through the cane, one strike hitting his head and another striking his chest. His mind went blank for a mont, but it was just for a mont.
By the ti Elder Pu regained his senses, he saw Yang Xiao turning his back and sprinting off into the distance along the alley, "Trying to run?!"
In the blink of an eye, Yang Xiao had reached an intersection, but he had to slow down because sothing about the scene in front of him felt off. He had been here before, and rembered that the street light here was lit, but now, it was pitch black.
It was not completely dark, but a sort of chaotic dimness, as if sothing was obscuring it.
"Woo woo..."
A child in tattered clothing, barefoot, covered in pitch black dirt, limped out from behind a corner, both hands covering his face, running and crying at the sa ti.
Upon seeing the child, Yang Xiao imdiately took out the Ghost Lantern, and as the dismal green light spread, he saw the child’s true form.
Indeed, this was a ghost. The child’s face had been entirely peeled off, leaving only a skeletal face, the body severely decomposed, with rotten flesh and blood dripping as he ran, leaving a muddy trail of blood on the ground.
This bloody trail was invisible to the naked eye and only revealed under the influence of Magic Artifacts like the Ghost Lantern.
Furthermore, the child was missing his left foot, limping as he ran, the decayed wound exposing yellowed bones.
The ghost child, head down, charged towards Yang Xiao. Fortunately, it was not very fast, and Yang Xiao managed to dodge just in ti.
The face-covered, eyeless ghost child then crashed headlong into a tree not far behind Yang Xiao. The part of the tree struck instantly rotted away, pitted and perforated, with foul-slling dirty water flowing out from the honeycomb-like holes.
Shocked, Yang Xiao also identified the ghost’s ability—it was corrosion, and he must not let it touch him, or he would end up like that tree.
"Elder Pu, is this a Heretic Cultivator’s Magic Artifact? Aren’t you afraid of being held accountable by Yiling Academy?" Yang Xiao shouted.
"Heh, the victor is king. There are others in the academy who possess such artifacts; it’s just an unspoken rule!" As Elder Pu spoke to catch Yang Xiao’s attention, his figure vanished and reappeared not far from that corroded tree, swinging his cane harshly down on Yang Xiao’s shoulder.
There was no avoiding it this ti; Yang Xiao directly used the Soul-Capturing Mirror’s ability, and the two nearly switched places.
With a "bang," dust was thrown up, and as the cane fell, it smashed a small pit into the ground.
Before Yang Xiao could catch his breath, the ghost child continued to run towards him barefoot, its speed noticeably faster than before, the shedding of rotten flesh accelerating as it kept its face covered, crying out in pain.
The situation was extrely unfavorable for Yang Xiao. The space here was already sealed; he could not escape, the ghost child was chasing him, and on top of that, he also had to be wary of Elder Pu’s sneak attacks. This person was not weak, at least a half-step into Ghost-level, and the situation remained stalemated largely because Elder Pu was holding back, not wanting to fatally strike.
After all, he still had questions and hoped to capture Yang Xiao alive, but of course, once he found out the whereabouts from Sui, the outco waiting for him was death.
"A Magic Artifact that can directly attack the spirit, a fine piece indeed!" Elder Pu, eyes showing greed and murderous intent, realized today he had truly stumbled upon a treasure.
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