Chapter 114 – The Arrogant Evil Spirit

While Gu Quan was reprimanding those reckless individuals, a constable soon rushed over and delivered an extremely distressing message.

—Someone had been attacked and possessed by a Malevolent Ghost.

“Let’s go.”

As they took a shortcut to the scene, Gu Quan and his companions encountered a child along the way. Right before their eyes, the child, who had strayed into an alley while chasing a stray cat, was possessed by a Malevolent Ghost.

“Bastard, get out!”

“Kekeke…”

Gu Quan’s furious shout… was naturally useless.

After possessing the child, the Malevolent Ghost not only refused to leave but arrogantly sneered at Gu Quan.

“Hahaha, I won’t come out. What can you do to me…”

The ghost’s brazen arrogance only fueled Gu Quan’s anger.

But whether it was anxiety or frustration, the incident had already occurred, and Gu Quan was determined to resolve it.

However, looking at the eight- or nine-year-old child before him, he found it difficult to take action.

Torn between the Malevolent Ghost and the child, he hesitated. Just then, the ghost possessing the child spoke.

“You’re hesitating, hahaha… Why hesitate? Kill me…”

“I’m right here. Why don’t you strike…”

As it spoke, the child began walking toward Gu Quan.

This insolent attitude made Gu Quan clench his fists tightly, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

But just as he was about to make a decision, a voice suddenly spoke up beside him.

“Don’t act yet. This is still a child. Let’s capture him instead…”

The speaker was Zhuang Zhan, who seemed to have a kinder heart than Gu Quan.

Under his command, a soldier nervously approached the child with a rope, intending to bind him.

This scene only made the child more arrogant.

“Hahaha, too scared to act? If you won’t do it, I’ll do it myself…”

As it spoke, the Malevolent Ghost controlling the child reached out and clawed at its own face.

This sight made Gu Quan curse under his breath, calling it a beast.

It also enraged Mu Lin’s classmates—while Mu Lin and Wan Yangyu were locked in a stalemate at the tavern, Qi Qiu, finding the situation uninteresting, shifted the perspective of the Projection Mirror, still hoping to locate Mu Lin’s Main Body.

But instead of finding Mu Lin, he witnessed the scene before him.

Realizing something, Qi Qiu did not shift the perspective away but turned to Dongfang Ya and said, “Standing by while people in Quanshi City are killed—your Student is quite capable, but his heart is too ruthless.”

This remark made Dongfang Ya’s expression darken.

“Hmph, if you have something to say, say it directly. Don’t beat around the bush to provoke me.”

“Besides, if Mu Lin is ruthless, isn’t Wan Yangyu and the others from your Dao Palace the same? They’re also in Quanshi City, yet I don’t see them saving anyone.”

This did not faze Qi Qiu. With his thick skin, he replied, “This is ultimately Mu Lin’s task. We shouldn’t steal the spotlight. Moreover, Yangyu and the others offered to cooperate from the start, but Mu Lin refused, leading to this tragedy.”

“If he had agreed readily, this child wouldn’t have died… Huh?!”

Qi Qiu intended to use the child’s death to criticize Mu Lin, but before he could finish, his expression froze.

The situation in the projection had taken an unexpected turn.

…

Seeing the malevolent ghost manipulating the child to self-harm, instinctively, Gu Quan rushed toward the child.

However, halfway there, his movements involuntarily halted, and his face revealed the same utterly astonished expression as Qi Qiu.

The reason he stopped was not because it was too late to rescue the child, who had already met a tragic end, but because something beyond his expectations had occurred.

Driven by malice toward life and a desire to provoke Gu Quan, the malevolent ghost sneered while manipulating the child, raising its hand to claw at its own face.

To maximize the provocation, the child’s hand even reached toward its own eyes.

“You can’t save anyone. All of you will die…”

But just as the malevolent ghost uttered these arrogant words and raised its hand, halfway through the motion, a force suddenly surged from within the child’s body, halting the ghost’s action and stopping its self-harm.

At this moment, the malevolent ghost still hadn’t grasped the severity of the situation and instinctively sneered:

“Oh? There’s resistance? Hehe, if you were an adult, I might fear you a bit. But a child—what do you have to resist me with?”

“Let me show you what true terror is…”

As it spoke, the malevolent ghost prepared to delve into the child’s deeper psyche, seizing complete control of the child’s body.

Then, in less than three seconds, a terrified cry erupted from within the child.

“Who are you? You’re not a child! No—you’re not even human!”

“Bastard, let me out! Let me out…”

“?!?”

The malevolent ghost’s sudden roar and its fear-filled struggles left Gu Quan stunned.

The next moment, he witnessed an eerie scene: a faint, ethereal spirit was frantically trying to escape the child’s body.

The ethereal spirit was surrounded by swirling black smoke, along with an aura of bloodshed, slaughter, and gray negative energy… All these ominous energies mingled together, giving the malevolent ghost an aura of foreboding and brutality.

In contrast, the child appeared innocent and adorable.

Yet, in the end, it was the adorable child who forcefully dragged the brutal spirit back into its body.

“Seal!”

  ”No…”

As a “Seal” rune flashed, the resentment-laden spirit lost all strength to struggle.

Finally, the malevolent ghost was completely sealed within the child’s body.

After accomplishing this, the child turned its gaze toward Gu Quan.

“Whoosh…”

Under the child’s indifferent stare, Gu Quan instinctively took a step back and assumed a defensive stance.

Clearly, what he had just witnessed had frightened him.

Circulating his inner energy and raising his long saber into a fully defensive posture, Gu Quan shouted, “Who are you? No—are you human or a ghost?”

“I am neither human nor a ghost. I am a paper figure, a paper figure folded by Lord Mu Lin.”

As it spoke, the paper figure child had used the living human energy within its body to cast a spell—the Paper Figure Soul Seal.

Without a steady supply of abundant living energy, the paper figure child gradually began to fade.

It transformed from a lifelike human child into a pale, paper-like appearance.

Due to the uncanny valley effect, the pale, sickly paper figure child was deeply unsettling.

Just looking at it sent shivers down Gu Quan’s spine.

Fortunately, the paper figure child’s earlier explanation had made him realize that this child was a friend, not a foe.

“The Paper Figure… it’s a technique employed by Lord Mu Lin.”

“Mhm.”

After nodding, the pale-skinned, expressionless paper figure child obeyed the summons and walked toward Quanshi Tavern.

“…”

Watching the paper figure child pass by him, Gu Quan instinctively held his breath.

Only when the child had moved far away did he finally exhale the breath he had been holding.

“Huff…”

“Huff…”

“Huff…”

Soon, Gu Quan realized he wasn’t the only one wary of the paper figure child. His subordinates also unconsciously let out sighs of relief after the child passed by.

“Pathetic.”

With a cold rebuke, Gu Quan followed behind the paper figure, hurrying toward Quanshi Tavern.

Clearly, he didn’t fully trust the words of the paper figure child and remained on guard against it.

Just as he emerged from the alley, Gu Quan’s pupils contracted sharply.

Quanshi City’s wide streets were now eerily silent, devoid of any ‘people.’

But though there were no people, there were aberrations—dozens of paper figures, all expressionless, were walking along the streets of Quanshi City, heading toward Quanshi Tavern.

The paper figure child he had feared blended seamlessly into the army of paper figures, like a drop of water merging into a river, disappearing without a sound.

“So, all those reckless humans earlier weren’t people at all—they were paper figures!”

By now, Gu Quan understood: Quanshi City didn’t have that many foolhardy individuals.

At the same time, he also realized that the paper crane summoned by Mu Lin was merely a decoy. The paper figures that had appeared silently were Mu Lin’s true killing move.

“That lord is rather terrifying…”

Gu Quan was wary, and so was Zhuang Zhan.

Watching the silent procession of the paper figure army, a cold sweat broke out on his back.

Simultaneously, he was utterly perplexed by one thing.

“When did he make his move? I remember Lord Mu Lin never left our sight after entering Quanshi City, nor did he ever take any action. He just ate and drank…”

Faced with Zhuang Zhan’s confusion, Gu Quan spread his hands and shook his head. “Don’t ask me. Like you, I never saw Lord Mu Lin make a move, but that’s irrelevant.”

At this point, all the worry on Gu Quan’s face transformed into joy.

“Although I don’t know when the lord made his move, I’m certain of one thing: the lord who came to exterminate the demons is ruthless in his methods, his abilities are anomalous, and he’s more fearsome than demonic monsters. With him here, our Quanshi City is saved.”

Hearing this, Zhuang Zhan was taken aback, but he soon nodded and said, “You’re right. This lord’s arrival is truly our fortune…”

…

As an enemy, Mu Lin, with his unfathomable and immensely powerful methods, would be a headache. But as an ally, he was a source of reassurance.

However, while Gu Quan regarded Mu Lin as an ally and thus felt at ease, outside the Tower of Illusory Heavens, Qi Qiu’s expression was dark as night.

Especially after Dongfang Ya’s sarcastic voice rang out, his face grew even darker.

“Scheming and ruthless, indifferent to ordinary mortals, tsk tsk…”

“Oh, right, someone also said that child was going to die… Teacher Qi Qiu, do you know anyone like that?”

The nearly explicit mockery left Qi Qiu stifled with frustration. But this time, he had indeed misjudged the situation, leaving him at a loss for how to refute it.

After a long moment, he could only grit his teeth and say, “You’ve won this time, but don’t get too cocky. The source of the incident in Quanshi City hasn’t been eliminated yet.”

(End of Chapter)