Chapter 47

In the courtyard of the City God Temple, Su Jianqing scolded her younger sister: "You, a young lady, how could you get so excited when you heard that a man was naked? Is that something you should be looking at?"

Su Tingyu felt a bit embarrassed but also不服气, pouting, she said: "Then why are you looking?"

As sisters, did she not know Su Jianqing well enough? Covering her eyes was no different from not covering them at all.

A flush of embarrassment actually appeared on Su Jianqing's translucent face.

But she quickly found a reason: "I'm different, I'm not a young lady anymore, I'm a ghost."

What kind of logic is that? Just because you're a ghost, you can do anything without restraint?

In the courtyard of the City God Temple, Qin Shaoyou and the night guards felt a bit awkward.

But they had no time to cover up.

The spiritual rain summoned by Fu Yun extinguished the evil fire on their bodies, but the Black Lotus Sect demons and zombie puppets were still around, attacking them.

With a powerful enemy in front of them, why cover their butts? It would be better to free their hands to fight the enemy!

The night guards, freed from the torment of the evil fire, were greatly invigorated. They mustered their remaining courage and charged towards the Black Lotus Sect demons and zombie puppets.

For a moment, the fighting became even more intense.

The scene was a bit too graphic.

At this moment, a rapid and intense sound of hooves echoed.

A fully armed cavalry unit charged into the City God Temple, knocking over a large number of zombie puppets blocking the temple gate.

Leading them was Xie Zongqi, who had led the team to capture the skin-changing ghost at the residence of Zhang Shilang.

It seemed that the operation at Zhang's residence went very smoothly. It was likely that Zhang Shilang, as Xue Qingshan had guessed, had made all the necessary preparations. Once the demon suppression officers arrived, they had taken down the skin-changing ghost and his accomplices with inside help.

Otherwise, Xie Zongqi and the Su sisters would not have been able to come to their aid so quickly.

The reinforcements from the Demon Suppression Bureau, upon seeing their colleagues in the courtyard with damaged armor, fighting the Black Lotus Sect demons and zombie puppets bare-handed, immediately took off their extra weapons and threw them to their colleagues.

Xie Zongqi, along with a few night guards with higher cultivation, charged straight towards the Black Lotus Sect Bodhisattva to support Xue Qingshan.

The water jars in the City God Temple had all shattered, leaving space for the horses to charge through. Although there were Black Lotus Sect demons and zombie puppets blocking the way, Xie Zongqi and his team pierced and trampled their way forward!

On this side, Qin Shaoyou leaped up and caught a knife thrown by a colleague.

The zombie puppets and ghost infants surrounding him tried to block him, but Ma Heshang, with his hands forming the Vajra armor seal and chanting protective mantras, charged in, not only knocking several zombie puppets away but also grabbing two of them to use as weapons.

Surprisingly, he wielded them quite skillfully, smashing several zombie puppets on the spot.

After catching the knife, Qin Shaoyou swung it back at a ghost infant entangled with him.

At this moment, he did not need to consume his blood qi to resist the evil fire, allowing him to fully unleash its power.

The scorching blood qi gathered on the blade, and when it struck the ghost infant, it cut through it like a hot knife through butter, splitting it in two.

The ghost infant screamed in pain but did not disappear, its divided soul trying to escape.

Qin Shaoyou stepped forward, slicing off the ghost infant's head, executing it completely.

This skilled move frightened the other ghost infants that were about to come to the rescue.

They all stopped in their tracks, not daring to attack Qin Shaoyou again, only baring their teeth from a distance, giving their fallen comrade some mental support.

The Laughing Arhat was also frightened by Qin Shaoyou's restored martial prowess.

Especially when he saw Qin Shaoyou, under Ma Heshang's cover, charging towards him with a knife, his fear grew even more.

Shocked and afraid, he instinctively tried to escape.

But as he turned to run, Ma Heshang threw a zombie puppet at him.

In his panic, the Laughing Arhat failed to dodge and was knocked to the ground.

Struggling to get up, he opened his monstrous mouth, trying to spit out more ghost infants to protect himself.

Before he could complete this series of actions, Qin Shaoyou had already pounced on him, pinning him down and thrusting a scorching blood qi-infused dagger into his neck.

This time, the dagger smoothly pierced through the Laughing Arhat's neck.

A foul-smelling blood spurted out, splattering Qin Shaoyou.

"You..." The Laughing Arhat's eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at Qin Shaoyou.

"This time, I've definitely pierced your neck, right?"

As Qin Shaoyou spoke, he pressed the dagger in his neck and slashed.

"I'm sending you to meet your close friends, no need to thank me!"

"I thank you..." The Laughing Arhat tried to curse, but before he could finish, Qin Shaoyou cut off his head, and his body stiffened, no longer struggling.

As soon as he died, his belly swelled.

Qin Shaoyou quickly stood up on guard.

The Laughing Arhat's belly burst open from the inside, and ghost infants crawled out, but instead of attacking others, they opened their mouths and began to devour the Laughing Arhat.

Even the ghost infants that had fought Qin Shaoyou earlier flew over to join in the feast.

In a short moment, the Laughing Arhat's flesh and organs were completely devoured, and even his bones were chewed to pieces.

After eating the Laughing Arhat, the ghost infants' resentment was released, and their forms quickly faded and disappeared.

Qin Shaoyou understood.

These ghost infants were definitely victims of the Laughing Arhat in life, and after death, they were enslaved by his evil magic.

While the Laughing Arhat was alive, the ghost infants, despite their resentment, had to endure.

But when the Laughing Arhat died... no, even when he was weakened, these ghost infants, who hated him to the extreme, would turn on their master and devour him.

"This is karma!"

Qin Shaoyou sighed.

Ma Heshang, who had followed him, smashed a zombie puppet and praised, "Amitabha, Master is right, Master has great wisdom!"

Qin Shaoyou did not mock Ma Heshang's flattery, which was always the same few lines.

He stood with his knife, looking around for the next opponent, the next recipe, and the next ingredient.

Covered in blood, he looked like a ghost-devouring arhat who had crawled out of the depths of hell, making every Black Lotus Sect demon who met his gaze shudder and feel their scalp tingle.

Even the zombie puppets, who should have no fear, were intimidated by the killing intent and bloodthirsty aura Qin Shaoyou released at this moment, and dared not attack him again.

Qin Shaoyou ignored these zombie puppets; he only wanted to kill more Black Lotus Sect demons.

The recipes and ingredients provided by the Black Lotus Sect demons were better and more tempting to him.

In front of the main hall of the City God Temple, the Black Lotus Sect Bodhisattva, surrounded by attackers, saw the heavy rain extinguish the Black Lotus Sacred Fire, changing the tide of battle, and felt a bit anxious.

While driving the Bodhisattva manifestation to resist the attacks of Xue Qingshan and others, he formed hand seals and chanted spells, trying to activate the black lotus in the sky above the City God Temple to stop the rain and bring down the Black Lotus Sacred Fire again.

But before he could finish his chant, a loud, resonant voice echoed inside and outside the City God Temple.

"Speak not of what is improper!"

These four words had a magical power, instantly silencing the Black Lotus Sect Bodhisattva as if his mouth were blocked by an invisible hand.

The Black Lotus Sect Bodhisattva's spell was interrupted.

The night guards and the Su sisters realized the danger of the black lotus in the sky.

Immediately, a night guard drew his bow and shot an arrow at the black lotus.

The Su sisters summoned talismans and magic swords.

Even Xue Qingshan, who was fighting the Black Lotus Bodhisattva, threw his spear, infused with scorching blood qi, at the black lotus.

Amidst a thunderous roar, the black lotus shattered and dissipated under the concentrated attack.

With it gone, the City God Temple suddenly brightened.

But at this moment, the Black Lotus Sect Bodhisattva regained his ability to speak.

Seeing the black lotus destroyed, he urgently tried to use a follow-up move, but the same resonant voice echoed again.

This time, it said: "Uphold the righteous and expel the evil!"

The Demon Suppression Bureau officers immediately felt a mysterious power surge into their bodies, dispelling their fatigue and even healing their wounds to some extent.

Most crucially, the blood qi they had consumed in battle was replenished.

Unlike the Demon Suppression Bureau officers, the Black Lotus Sect demons and zombie puppets in the City God Temple were suppressed by these words.

Even the Black Lotus Sect Bodhisattva was not exempt; his Bodhisattva manifestation instantly shrank from five zhang to three zhang.

Such a significant weakening enraged the Black Lotus Sect Bodhisattva.

He growled, baring his teeth, in the direction of the voice: "Zhang Yuanpu, do you not want your grandson's life?"

Zhang Yuanpu was Zhang Shilang.

Qin Shaoyou had reviewed these records before coming to Mianyuan County.

So the person who shouted those two famous sayings was Zhang Shilang?

This was the power of Confucianism? To use words to give buffs and debuffs to both sides?

Qin Shaoyou had no time to be curious because he felt the effect of "Uphold the righteous and expel the evil" weakening.

It was clear that Zhang Shilang had been shaken by the Black Lotus Sect demon's threat, affecting the effectiveness of his words.

Just as he was about to speak, Zhu Xiuzai shouted: "Zhang Shilang, don't worry, your grandson is in our hands!"

Qin Shaoyou was taken aback.

Zhang Shilang's grandson was indeed in their hands, but those words sounded so awkward.

It was like... like a kidnapper threatening the family.

Would Zhang Shilang misunderstand and turn against them?