Chapter 102: Disciple of the Demon Sect

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“明月!”

Zhang Shouzheng was utterly shocked. Jiang Mingyue had entered only a moment before him—how had she ended up in such a miserable state?

“Bodhi… Bodhi was taken away. So… so many disciples of the evil sect…”

Jiang Mingyue spoke weakly. The blade had not pierced her heart directly, so she had not died at once.

Zhang Shouzheng hurried over and helped her up, while Jiuer stood guard beside them. This place was far too strange; they could not afford to lower their vigilance.

“I… I can’t hold on much longer…”

Jiang Mingyue stared at Zhang Shouzheng with difficulty. Her lips moved, but her voice had grown so faint that he had to bend down to hear what else she wished to say.

The moment he leaned close, however, he heard a soft chuckle. Realizing that something was wrong, Zhang Shouzheng immediately released Jiang Mingyue. Her expression changed at once—there was no trace of weakness left in her at all. With a sinister grin, she thrust her hand viciously toward his heart.

Her speed was astonishing. Zhang Shouzheng only had time to twist his body slightly before the other side of his chest was struck squarely. Intense pain erupted from his chest.

When Jiuer turned and witnessed the scene, her eyes instantly became crimson. She slammed her right hand down upon the top of the false Jiang Mingyue’s head.

The impostor had no time to dodge. The blow landed directly, and a black radiance flashed. “Jiang Mingyue” transformed into a straw effigy and fell to the ground. Its head split apart, then burst into flames.

“The Puppet Substitute Technique!”

Clutching his chest, Zhang Shouzheng spoke through clenched teeth.

“Tut, tut… Impressive. You actually recognized the Puppet Substitute Technique. You’re quite capable to have evaded my strike.”

A sinister voice came from nearby. A seductive young woman in a long black dress appeared before them. Her face was frightening: one half was as black as ink, while the other was crystalline white.

“A disciple of the Heavenly Demon Sect?”

With Jiuer’s support, Zhang Shouzheng rose to his feet and glared furiously at the woman.

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“So what if I am? I never expected you to be so vigilant that even my disguise technique couldn’t deceive you. If you hadn’t been keeping your guard up, that one palm strike would have shattered your heart. You’re considerably more capable than the other disciples of the Daoist sects.

“But the fellow beside you actually forced me to activate the Puppet Substitute Technique. Do you know how difficult it is to obtain a puppet substitute?”

The woman glared viciously at Jiuer.

The Puppet Substitute Technique was an extremely advanced secret art. To perform it, one needed a specially prepared substitute puppet. Such puppets had to be made from straw mixed with certain rare materials. Their advantage was that, when their master suffered a fatal blow, the puppet would bear it in the master’s place, allowing the master to escape death.

“You certainly have quite a mouth on you. You people set up this Nine Directions Ghost-Child Soul-Seizing Grand Formation and have killed who knows how many disciples of the Daoist sects. Today, I’ll settle the account with you. Do you really think one person can defeat the two of us?”

Zhang Shouzheng struggled to stand firm and lowered his hand. A few threads of blood trickled from his chest. He frowned, but what concerned him was not the wound—it was his clothing. A master craftsman had made it especially for him. Although he had more clothes at home, this particular garment had cost an exorbitant sum.

“Hee-hee. Since you know this is the Nine Directions Ghost-Child Soul-Seizing Grand Formation, you should understand that I’m not alone. Well, there are still several Daoist disciples left to deal with, so I’ll kill you two first. It will be your good fortune to die at my hands. I am Shuangxi, after all.”

Shuangxi held a black ritual banner. She swung it forcefully in their direction and began muttering an incantation.

Dark-red mist churned across the horizon, surging toward them like colossal waves. Within it, the shrieks of vengeful ghosts rang out, making their ears throb faintly.

“Jiuer, deal with this woman quickly. I’ll handle these evil spirits.”

Seeing the indistinct figures within the dark-red ghostly mist, Zhang Shouzheng resolutely raised his broken sword. His spiritual power surged through his entire body, and silver radiance welled over the blade.

He smeared the blood on his hand across the sword and chanted, “The sword’s origin is boundless; let no evil draw near. By the secret spell of the broken sword, borrowing the power of creation, destroy demons and slay monsters—obey this command!”

With a flick of his wrist, the broken sword erupted with intertwined red and white sword light. Zhang Shouzheng touched his toes to the ground and shot forward, entering the rolling ghost mist in an instant.

The moment he entered, pale arms surrounded him, filled with overwhelming ghostly energy, and clawed toward his body.

Sword light crisscrossed the air. With every slash, several arms were severed, dissolving into black mist.

Jiuer stared coldly at Shuangxi. Her gaze was icy as she glanced at the black ritual banner in the woman’s hand. Suddenly, she gave a strange smile, and her body transformed into several afterimages that rushed toward Shuangxi.

Shuangxi’s expression darkened. She suddenly drew several miniature skulls from her robes and hurled them at Jiuer.

The skulls immediately expanded to the size of ordinary human heads. Black energy roiled within their eye sockets as they lunged toward Jiuer with snapping jaws.

Jiuer stopped and stared coldly at the skulls rushing toward her. She did not even furrow her brow.

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“These white-jade skulls are extraordinarily sinister. The moment one bites you, its ghostly poison will enter your body, leaving you limp and helpless.”

Shuangxi watched Jiuer with smug delight. She had relied on these white-jade skulls to bite several disciples of the Daoist sects. Every one of them had been infected with ghostly poison and rendered utterly defenseless, allowing her to reap their lives with ease.

Her master had said that within this great killing formation, any disciples of the righteous path who entered were to be slaughtered one by one. There was no need to worry about anything else.

Yet an entirely unexpected scene unfolded.

Jiuer smiled brightly. As soon as one of the skulls reached her, she simply extended her hand and smashed her fist viciously into it.

“Boom!”

The white-jade skull shattered beneath her punch. Shuangxi stared at Jiuer in stunned disbelief. Before she could recall the remaining skulls, Jiuer smashed every one of them to pieces.

Then she chuckled softly. Two razor-sharp fangs emerged from her mouth as she charged straight toward Shuangxi.

“You… You’re a zombie!”

Shuangxi’s eyes widened. She had never seen a zombie before and could scarcely believe that one had appeared within this great killing formation—and had destroyed her white-jade skulls with such overwhelming force.

As she stood there in panic, a thunderous roar suddenly came from the distant dark-red ghost mist.

Within the seemingly boundless fog, blue-white lightning flashed. The ghostly mist began to disperse, vanishing in every direction.

“No! How is this possible?!”

Shuangxi screamed.

Jiuer had already reached her. A vicious expression crossed her face as she seized Shuangxi by the throat with one hand and yanked her forward.

Shuangxi was dragged before Jiuer like a rag doll.

“Senior Brother Tu… save me!”

Shuangxi’s voice was shrill with terror.

In the next instant, a sharp pain pierced her throat. Jiuer’s fangs had sunk into her neck, and she began devouring the blood within her body.