Chi!
Li Shunxi rolled to the ground just in time to avoid the deadly sword aimed at his neck by Gong Ruqing. For a moment, he was completely flustered. Though he knew a method to dispel the possession, he needed Gong Ruqing to stay still—and right now, that was impossible. With no one to help and no chance to act, he could only dodge again and again.
Suddenly, hurried footsteps echoed nearby.
Li Shunxi instinctively looked up—and to his relief, Lu Sheng emerged from the darkness, walking step by step with an unreadable expression.
Li Shunxi’s heart soared.
"Brother Lu! Come and help!"
Lu Sheng remained calm, gripping a straight-bladed blade as his gaze swept over the chaotic scene—landing briefly on Li Shunxi, who was still tumbling on the ground.
"Save me!!" Gong Ruqing cried out as she rushed toward Lu Sheng. Her face was streaked with tears, her clothing torn and disheveled, exposing glimpses of skin.
"Help me hold her down! I have a way to get rid of her possession!!" Li Shunxi leapt up and ran toward Gong Ruqing.
" Ninefold cycles, heart and soul return to peace... Under Heaven's serenity, the Yellow Temple..."
Puff!!
Before Li Shunxi could finish chanting the incantation, a blade slashed through the air.
A gleaming arc of light, pure and sharp like a mountain spring in the dark, swept down—and split Gong Ruqing in two from head to toe.
The luminous blade cleaved the possessed woman in a single stroke. A breath later, before Li Shunxi could even process what had happened, Lu Sheng's body trembled. His upper muscles expanded rapidly, ripping his clothes apart. A glowing red line shot up from his chest to his forehead, forming the shape of a "川" between his brows.
Swish!
With a single motion of his blade, a hurricane-like force surged through the backyard. Lu Sheng struck a guard with the back of his blade, sending the man flying, then turned and charged toward Li Shunxi.
Just then, a shadow sprang from beside Li Shunxi.
Bang!!!
Two powerful figures collided mid-air with brutal force.
"Roar!!"62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFYXnJ54wGe
"Ah!!!"
Almost simultaneously, the two let out deafening howls and clashed again like enraged beasts.
Ding ding ding!!
A series of deafening clangs exploded beside Li Shunxi, sending shivers through his body.
Crack!
A bolt of lightning tore through the sky, momentarily illuminating the two figures locked in battle.
Lu Sheng's body had grown even more massive than before—his muscles bulged like cords of steel. Wielding his straight blade like a war hammer, he struck with overwhelming force.
Amazingly, the man facing him caught every blow head-on.
Li Shunxi's eyes widened in horror. He nearly screamed.
"Corpse… Corpse soul!!!" His voice trembled as cold sweat drenched his back.
"Go!" Duan Meng’an appeared from nowhere, grabbed Li Shunxi, and dragged him away at full speed.
The last remaining guard, pale with terror, quickly followed them, desperate to flee the battleground.
The creature fighting Lu Sheng was shrouded in gray and black. Its skin was completely exposed—decaying muscles, darkened blood vessels, and every rotting detail visible. Its eyes were pure white, and it stood much taller than an ordinary man. Though it appeared thin, the power it unleashed was monstrous.
Lu Sheng channeled every ounce of strength into the fight. The Blood Fiend Art surged through him, pushing his body to the limit—yet he was only barely matching the creature’s might.
Ding!
Lu Sheng struck again, the blade driven by immense force—but it left no mark on the corpse's flesh.
"Like hell I’ll accept this!!! " he growled, fury burning in his chest. Gritting his teeth, he prepared to unleash the Black Tiger Jade Crane Art.
"Run! That’s a corpse soul— bronze skin and iron bones, utterly unkillable!" Li Shunxi’s voice shouted urgently from a distance.
"Corpse? Can’t be killed?" Lu Sheng’s eyes narrowed. The blood-red symbol on his forehead grew sharper, and he gripped the blade with both hands, channeling all of his power into a single point.
"Tiger’s Wrath!!" he roared.
The Tiger’s Wrath—his strongest move and the essence of the Blood Fiend Art—flared into life. Under the moonlight, it gleamed like a silver serpent. With a thunderous shout, he brought it crashing down on the corpse’s skull.
Clang!!!
The blade struck, but instead of cutting, it shuddered violently against the corpse’s head.
Bang!!!
The force was so great, the blade shattered into countless fragments, erupting in a deadly shower of metal.
Amid the explosion of shards, Lu Sheng hurled aside the broken hilt. His hands now crimson as blood as he unleashed a flurry of devastating palms onto the creature’s face.
"Die!!!" he roared, his voice tearing through the night as he poured every drop of strength into one final strike.
With that last blow, Lu Sheng landed on his feet, panting heavily, his eyes fixed on the corpse’s crushed face.
Roar!!!
The creature was sent flying. Blade shards embedded in its body, it looked gruesome and disfigured. It crashed to the ground, rolled several times, and came to a stop. Its skin glowed red-hot, like iron in a forge. Steam hissed from its head, and a burnt stench filled the air.
Roar!!!
The corpse writhed violently, letting out a final inhuman scream—then its body began to dissolve, melting into a pool of foul, black water.
White smoke still curled from Lu Sheng’s palms. After landing, he let out a long exhale—thick vapor trailing from his lips like mist. It took seven or eight deep breaths before he expelled the lingering heat and waste from his body.
Gradually, his frame shrank back to normal. The crimson blood character on his forehead slowly faded until it vanished completely.
"Brother Li, are you okay?" Lu Sheng turned and looked toward Li Shunxi, who stood nearby with Duan Meng’an.
Li Shunxi seemed stunned, his face flushed. The brutal scene he had just witnessed still clung to his mind, refusing to let go.
"No... It's okay... Thank you, Brother Lu, for saving me..." he stammered, struggling to compose himself.
As he finally regained his senses, a wave of sorrow and anger surged in his chest. He thought of Gong Ruqing—cut in two by Lu Sheng’s blade.
"Brother Lu, why are you so careless with human life?! Miss Gong Ruqing was alive! If you had this kind of strength earlier, why didn’t you use it to save her?!"
Lu Sheng, already close, silently pulled on a coat.
"What strength? I don’t know any Taoist magic. That was Gong Ruqing? If she’s possessed, doesn’t that make her a ghost?"
"You’re saying you don’t know? Brother Lu, are you joking? If you didn’t know anything, how could you beat a corpse soul to death with your bare hands?" Li Shunxi shouted, anger and disbelief in his voice.
"I don’t know what a corpse soul is. If it’s a demon, I just beat it to death." Lu Sheng’s tone was flat, almost confused.
"Possession is different from being a ghost! A possessed person is still human! If you drive the ghost out, the person survives!" Li Shunxi’s voice cracked as he tried to explain.
"Possession means ghost, and ghosts deserve death." Lu Sheng corrected him with chilling sincerity.
"But that was a person! A living person!" Li Shunxi cried out, emotion overwhelming his reason.
"Anyone who harms me is a ghost." Lu Sheng replied calmly. "You should be glad you weren’t possessed." He glanced at Li Shunxi, his gaze cold and indifferent.
Li Shunxi felt a chill spread through his entire body. He opened his mouth to speak—but no words came.
"Let’s go." Lu Sheng buttoned his coat and turned toward the backyard cellar.
"Boss, here’s a blade." Duan Meng’an quickly stepped forward, handing over a weapon he had picked up—one of the blades left behind by the guards.
Lu Sheng took it without a word and strode toward the kitchen.
The group moved with familiarity, retracing their earlier steps. As they passed through the kitchen, they headed directly toward the entrance to the cellar.
Lu Sheng opened the cellar door. Inside, several people lay unconscious—Ning San, the two missing guards, and the two young ladies who had vanished earlier.
"It’s not safe to stay here. Let’s leave immediately," Lu Sheng said calmly. "See if you can wake them up."
Li Shunxi finally had a moment to speak and asked the question that had been haunting him.
"Brother Lu, did you know there was a corpse soul lurking near me all this time?"
"Yeah. I sensed something was off but couldn’t pinpoint who it was. So I decided to separate from you. Sure enough, the moment we split, it revealed itself," Lu Sheng replied in a straightforward tone.
He had sensed something wrong ever since they rescued the Gong Ruqing sisters—a subtle, persistent feeling that something wasn’t right.
"But how can a corpse soul be so cunning? It knew how to hide, even how to pretend..." Li Shunxi shivered, horrified by the thought that he’d been so close to such a creature for so long.
"What about Gong Rumeng?" he asked, overwhelmed and confused.
"She’s either dead or missing. I don’t know," Lu Sheng answered indifferently. "Their lives or deaths have nothing to do with me. I only came here to investigate a case."
"You... How can you be so cold-blooded?!" Li Shunxi snapped, unable to contain his anger.
"Cold-blooded? We’re not related. Why should I care? What does that have to do with being cold-blooded?" Lu Sheng responded, genuinely puzzled.
Li Shunxi was at a loss for words. He couldn’t refute it, but the pit in his stomach only deepened.
Together with Duan Meng’an, he helped lift the unconscious people from the cellar, one by one, slowly waking them. Lu Sheng stood quietly to the side, unmoved.
Soon, the groggy group began to stir.
"I was just resting in my room… How did I end up here?"
"What happened? Why are we in this place?"
"Where are Qingqing and Mengmeng? Why don’t I see them?"
The ladies and guards who had just regained consciousness began to panic, their voices rising in fear and confusion.
"We should leave here first," Li Shunxi said, trying to calm the group.
"Mr. Li… have you seen Qingqing and Mengmeng?" one of the ladies asked, her voice trembling.
Li Shunxi lowered his head, unable to meet her eyes.
"Let’s go," he whispered, guilt written all over his face.
Lu Sheng scanned the crowd, then turned his eyes to Ning San.
"Sir," Ning San said quickly, stepping forward with his head bowed.
"Good, you’re still alive. Let’s get out of here," Lu Sheng said, his tone as light as ever.
Ning San nodded silently, his face full of shame.
"Wait! Where’s our young lady? Did you kill her?!" A guard rushed forward and blocked Lu Sheng’s path, fury written all over his face.
"That’s right! We woke up here—these two must be behind it!" another guard shouted, pointing at Li Shunxi. "Mr. Li, please help us catch this man!"
Lu Sheng looked at the two men standing in his way, then turned his gaze toward Li Shunxi, whose face was caught between hesitation and alarm.
"Are you going to leave?" he asked casually.
Though there were others present, for some reason, Li Shunxi felt as if Lu Sheng were speaking only to him.
"Leave? What about them?" he asked instinctively.
"They were always here," Lu Sheng replied.
The moment those words left his mouth, the noise in the room abruptly vanished. The crowd of guards and young ladies fell eerily silent. Then, slowly, strange smiles crept across their faces—unnatural, lifeless.
A chill crawled up Li Shunxi’s spine. His instincts screamed danger. Without hesitation, he hurried toward Lu Sheng and Duan Meng’an, putting distance between himself and the others.
He turned back to look at them once more.
"Mr. Li… you have to stand up for us… it was him—it was that man who killed our young lady…" the first guard cried again, but now his face had turned a corpse-like shade of blue.
"Mr. Li…"
Creeeaak—
The wooden kitchen door behind them creaked open. A hunched, crooked figure stepped into view.
"Mr. Li…" came a slow, chilling voice. "Qingqing’s body hurts so much… Why did you leave Qingqing behind… all alone?"
Gong Ruqing stood at the threshold, her body still split in two at the waist. A deep, bloody line ran across her torso like a grotesque seam.
Li Shunxi’s face drained of color.
"Ah!" Duan Meng’an cried out, shoving away the guard beside him. The guard’s expression had turned deathly pale, and a rank stench clung to his skin.
Ning San trembled, cold sweat running down his temples as he realized he’d just shared a space with a pile of corpses the entire time.
"Let’s go," Lu Sheng said simply, striding toward the kitchen door, not sparing the guards—or the walking dead—a single glance.
-----------
Hey there, Taleria here!62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6hd4iQQjuK
I hope you're enjoying the novel as much as I am. If you're having a great time reading and want to see faster, more consistent updates, your support would mean the world to me!
✨ Join me at: patreon.com/taleria_tl62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS0Ppnq4nYS
Sign up for free membership to keep reading—yep, it's totally free!
You'll also find my other translations there…62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQSEgiHnV7
And psst—advance chapters are waiting for you! 😉
