Lu Zheng surged forward, shouting, “Madam, clear your peach blossoms, let me test his mettle first.”
“Be careful, Young Master!”
“You think I’m afraid of you?”
Shen Ying’s hands formed seals, and the swirling peach blossoms parted to create a path.
Lu Zheng got a clear look at the grey-robed ghost’s face.
A square face, dark and ashen, eyes glinting with black light, a trace of menace at the corners of his mouth.
His form flickered between solid and ethereal, his wide sleeves mostly hiding his hands but not the foot-long, dark-green nails on his fingers.
“Your *Eighteen Forms of Mountain Bearing* was stolen from me by that wench, and martial blood energy doesn’t counter ghostly yin. Pretty boy, you still want to test my mettle?”
The ghost screeched, seeing Lu Zheng charge straight at him, and moved to meet him, body gliding forward.
But Lu Zheng could tell, unlike the straightforward boar demon, this ghost was a martial expert in life, his airborne movements weaving left and right, each action layered with variations, avoiding a direct clash.
“Slash!”
Lu Zheng swung his sabre horizontally, blood energy surging, blade light crisscrossing.
The ghost shrank back, dodging the strike with an eerily fluid motion, then twisted, bypassing the blade to close in.
Five long, dark nails shot towards Lu Zheng’s face.
“Young Master Lu!”
Shen Ying gasped, peach blossom miasma rushing in urgently.
Lu Zheng’s swift defeat of the boar demon had raised her expectations, assuming he could at least hold his own against the ghost.
So, when he called out, she stepped back to observe.
Yet in one move, how was he already in mortal danger?
Shen Ying panicked, filled with regret, “Young Master Lu’s martial skills are high, but his experience is lacking. I didn’t consider this, damn it!”
Regretting letting him face danger and dreading how to explain to the Liu sisters.
The miasma surged, but it was clearly too late…
As the nails neared his face, Lu Zheng’s left hand rose, as if aiming for a mutual strike to collapse the ghost’s chest.
“Haha, seeking death!”
The ghost twisted, willing to take the blood-infused palm to kill Lu Zheng in one blow.
But…
“Boom!”
A flash of fire erupted, a wave of ethereal, true qi exploding.
“Ah!”
The ghost screamed, nails retracting as black smoke poured from him, his form flickering as he retreated.
“Exorcism Talisman, you’re a Taoist!”
“No, you’re mistaken, I’m not.”
Lu Zheng’s voice was calm, but his movements were swift, chasing the ghost, flinging Exorcism Talismans that turned into streaks of green light.
The ghost endured the pain, claws swiping, shattering some talismans mid-air, but…
The distance was too close, and five or six talismans struck his body.
“Aaah!”
Thick black smoke billowed from the ghost.
Screaming, he fled towards the manor’s exit.
“Madam Shen!”
Lu Zheng’s shout snapped Shen Ying awake. She waved, and the peach blossom miasma enveloped the ghost.
She looked at Lu Zheng in disbelief, “Young Master, how do you have so many Taoist Exorcism Talismans? Do you practice Taoist arts?”
Lu Zheng smiled, “Just a humble lay disciple of White Cloud Temple.”
The ghost shrieked, “You just said you weren’t a Taoist!”
Lu Zheng raised an eyebrow, feigning confusion, “I’m a lay disciple, does that count as a Taoist?”
As the ghost was besieged by miasma, Lu Zheng leapt closer.
“Madam Shen, are you affected by Exorcism Talismans?”
Shen Ying nodded, “I’m half-ghost, half-spirit, refined by the peach tree’s essence, but still not of the Mysterious Gate, vulnerable to their aura.”
If the ghost shattered the talismans mid-air, Shen Ying, controlling the nearby miasma, would be affected.
Lu Zheng nodded, “What if I drive the talismans directly into his body?”
Shen Ying’s eyes lit up, “Then it’s fine.”
Lu Zheng grinned, stepping forward, clutching an Exorcism Talisman in his left hand, his right wielding the sabre, charging the ghost.
“Swish!”
The miasma parted, the Embroidered Spring Sabre, infused with soaring blood energy, slashed down.
Surrounded by miasma, the ghost had no escape. Gritting his teeth, he raised his hands, dark yin qi cloaking his claws, meeting the sabre head-on.
“Clang!”
Lu Zheng struck with a mountain-cleaving blow, but the ghost’s ten claws vibrated, deflecting most of the force.
In martial skill, the ghost outclassed him.
But Lu Zheng’s left hand grabbed for the ghost’s wrist.
The ghost recoiled, then saw Lu Zheng flick a finger, launching an Exorcism Talisman.
At the last moment, the ghost spun, firing yin qi to blast the talisman mid-air.
But…
Lu Zheng’s seal shifted, the talisman veering three inches, dodging the yin qi and striking the ghost’s chest.
Black smoke rose, the ghost’s form fading further.
“Transportation Technique!”
Ignoring the ghost’s shock, Lu Zheng closed in, sending two more talismans.
The ghost, now wary, let one hit but dodged the sabre’s entanglement, shattering the other mid-air.
Lu Zheng’s eyes narrowed, hardening his resolve, consuming three strands of fate’s light to enhance his sabre skills.
“Again!”
The ghost felt Lu Zheng’s blade work shift, becoming unpredictable, fluid in detail and force.
What the—?
A breakthrough in battle?
Impossible! No breakthrough was this seamless!
“Pop, pop, pop!”
Three soft sounds, and three more Exorcism Talismans struck the ghost’s body.
The ghost gave up, enduring pain to break free, desperate to flee the manor.
But this was Shen Ying’s domain, and with Lu Zheng weakening him, the ghost, who once escaped easily, found himself trapped!
“Shen Ying, let me go!” the ghost wailed.
“You should’ve died thirty years ago. With Young Master Lu’s help, I won’t let you escape again!”
Shen Ying’s usual grace vanished, her expression fierce, “I want you dead!”
“Shen Ying, let me go, I swear I’ll never return. If I die, Lord Night Veil won’t spare you!”
“Let him deal with the City God first!”
Lu Zheng blinked, sparing no blood energy, his sabre weaving a wheel of light under the moonlight.
He and Shen Ying worked seamlessly: if the ghost tried to flee at all costs, Shen Ying trapped him with miasma, or Lu Zheng blocked with talismans, ensuring he couldn’t escape.
As the moon dipped west, nearing the hour of the Ox, Lu Zheng fired his last two Exorcism Talismans into the ghost’s near-transparent body. The ghost froze, despair in his eyes.
Then…
“Boom!”
The ghost’s form exploded, black smoke scattering.
“Buzz!”
Nineteen strands of fate’s light were gained.
