Chapter 116: Plans

When the young man on the left spoke, Xie Xiushi shuddered. He instinctively raised his hands, and as his clothes slid away, he turned to flee, his bright red loincloth glaringly visible.

"A mortal vessel is too impure; it only serves to contaminate that trace of divinity," Zhong Cangqiu said calmly.

A three-foot-long sword, hovering in mid-air, rippled with ghostly afterimages. It stopped abruptly, its tip resting an inch from the center of Xie Xiushi’s brow. The pressure made his skin ache, and he dared not take another step.

Chen Chi rode his purple-black horse slowly to Xie’s side, reaching out to touch the curved ram’s horns on the man's forehead. "In the year since the Star Officials began descending from the heavens, this is the only case of divine separation we’ve encountered, isn't it?"

"Young Master Chen, it is the only one," Mu Rongyan replied, having ridden back as well. Her cold, clear eyes glanced at Xie Xiushi, who stood frozen by the threat of the sword.

Xie Xiushi covered his exposed torso in shame. Being stared at in such a state by a beautiful young woman was mortifying, yet he couldn't help but steal a few glances at her. Surely, there was no harm in looking at a beauty.

"I thought I wouldn't encounter anything interesting on the journey south from Junhuang Commandery, but it seems I've found two things already."

Chen Chi gave a light laugh. His left hand, which had been gently touching the ram’s horns, suddenly shifted from a caress to a firm grip, pulling upward with force.

"Ah!"

Xie Xiushi let out a cry of agony. Though the horns were not torn off, the violent tug ripped open a large, bleeding wound across his forehead. Blood streamed down his face, distorting his features in pain.

Chen Chi rubbed his palm, looking down at the bloodied man with a faint smile. "It seems your horns are real. But I wonder, are your eyes just as genuine?"

"They’re real! They’re real!" Xie Xiushi cried out in pain, clutching his horns with both hands.

The smile faded from Chen Chi’s face. He looked calmly at the man, whose face was now masked in blood. "If they are real, then protect them well. Do not look at things you have no business seeing."

Mu Rongyan’s cold eyes remained expressionless as she turned her horse to stand behind Zhong Cangqiu.

"How does it feel to wield the power of the Ji Water Leopard?" Zhong Cangqiu asked, his gaze fixed on Qingtan Mountain.

Knowing the question was directed at her, Mu Rongyan replied in a low voice, "It makes controlling water much easier, and I have gained an affinity for the clear winds of the southeast. Furthermore, I have attained some insight into the stellar power of the Ji Mansion of the Eastern Seven Mansions."

Zhong Cangqiu looked back at her. "Does that divinity affect your own temperament?"

"I have felt nothing of the sort thus far," she replied softly.

"In that case, you may return and have the Prince prepare to purge the Star Officials in the Southern Wilderness Province. We shall use the guise of 'the evil star bringing disaster to the world'."

Zhong Cangqiu flicked his finger, and the three-foot sword hovering before Xie Xiushi returned to his waist.

Mu Rongyan looked up, a trace of worry on her face. "Master Zhong, the last time we captured a Ji Mansion Star Official, we lost many cultivators of the Profound Spirit Realm, and three great cultivators of the Spirit Wandering Realm perished. And that was only because the Star Official was arrogant enough not to flee and fought us to the death."

"Those cultivators were a worthy price for a single Ji Mansion Star Official," Zhong Cangqiu said calmly.

"But there are not many cultivators left in the Southern Wilderness Province..."

"But there are many demons in the Southern Wilderness Province."

Zhong Cangqiu cut off her concern, looking down at the purple-gold alms bowl in his hand. Inside, the liquid shimmered, with threads of souls drifting within.

Mu Rongyan’s expression shifted to one of shock. "So you had already anticipated this, Master Zhong? That is why you resigned from the Prince’s service to travel south from Junhuang Commandery, collecting these soul-incenses to temper the demons?!"

"Hiring cultivators requires profound crystals; naturally, hiring demons requires something a bit more... special," Zhong Cangqiu said, his eyes lowered.

*Swish.*

A flash of sword light.

The green-robed demon monk standing behind Zhong Cangqiu didn't even realize what had happened before his head was severed. His body and head parted ways, and the double-branched, six-ringed tin staff in his hands clattered to the ground.

The moment it touched the earth, the staff transformed into a skeletal weapon topped with two skulls and six bony arms.

Zhong Cangqiu stroked the misty blade of his sword. A wisp of green soul drifted from the tip into the metal, and the mist around the blade thickened. Though the three-foot sword lacked a scabbard, the swirling mist seemed to serve as a natural one.

"Naturally, one doesn't need to recruit demons of this caliber. Once it has finished its task, killing it serves as a public service."

A faint smile played on Zhong Cangqiu’s lips. Killing the demon monk was to him no different than crushing an ant on the path; it did not even warrant a second glance.

Mu Rongyan looked at Cui Dandan and Cui Ya, who remained at the foot of Qingtan Mountain. "And what of these two from the Cui Manor?"

"Humans are different from demons, and we must show some respect to Chief Clerk Cui." Zhong Cangqiu looked toward Cui Dandan, who was watching them from a distance, and smiled.

"But Chief Clerk Cui only mentioned once, perhaps unintentionally, that the Cui Manor in Dreamfloat City had some connection to him. He never spoke of it again," Mu Rongyan noted.

"Some things only need to be said once, whether intentional or not."

Zhong Cangqiu watched as Chen Chi, mounted on his purple-black horse, drove the blood-soaked Xie Xiushi back toward them like a stray goat.

"Cangqiu, lend me that Night-Sanskrit sword. This fellow keeps trying to run; if I stab him to death, he won't be able to anymore," Chen Chi said, eyeing the sword at Zhong’s waist. His tone held no guilt or remorse, only impatience and annoyance.

Zhong Cangqiu flicked his finger at the skeletal staff on the ground. It rose into the air and landed in Chen Chi’s hands. "The Night-Sanskrit sword has a spirit, and it is not compatible with you. This skeletal staff suits you well."

Irritated that the sword was denied to him, Chen Chi took the staff and lashed out, striking Xie Xiushi’s bare back.

*Crack.*

The bony arms of the staff stained with blood, and the two skulls flickered with ghostly phosphorus light.

Xie Xiushi was knocked flat by the unexpected, brutal blow. His back was a ruin, with six bowl-sized wounds gushing blood.

"You have gone too far."

Seeing this, Cui Dandan could no longer stand by. She stepped forward to block Chen Chi, who was preparing to strike again, her voice calm despite the suppressed fury in her heart.

But Chen Chi cared little for who blocked his path. The skeletal staff did not hesitate.

The two skulls on the staff turned, their eye sockets glowing with ghostly fire, their jagged teeth snapping open, and the six bony arms spread out like razor-sharp blades.

*Clang.*