"What?"
"A great evil spirit!?"
"Junior brother, have you found the great evil spirit?!"
A group of Daoist priests crowded in front of a shop, holding various snacks in their hands.
Hearing the call, they all turned their heads toward the source of the voice.
And that one glance caused everyone's expressions to change drastically.
There!
Su Muwan stood ahead, looking no different from an ordinary person.
But!
In the eyes of these Dragon Tiger Mountain Daoists,
she was surrounded by a thick aura of malevolence, with black mist swirling around her, as if countless grotesque faces were twisting and howling.
Her gaze was cold and bloodthirsty, filled with boundless malice, as if she might shed her human skin at any moment and transform into an evil spirit!!
"Everyone!! Prepare for battle!!!"
The leader, a Daoist named Zhang Hu, immediately narrowed his eyes and roared solemnly.
At the same time, he drew his peach wood sword and looked at Su Muwan with horror.
So strong!!
Just the malice emanating from her standing there was enough to make him almost suffocate!
Is this... the great evil spirit that our senior brothers and masters spoke of?!!
"Yes!!"
Everyone instantly snapped into action.
They placed their snacks on the shopkeeper's counter one by one.
Then, raising their peach wood swords and talismans, they confronted Su Muwan.
They watched her with tense and wary expressions.
Gulp!
The sound of swallowing echoed among them.
Shock! Disbelief! Incredulity.
They knew they had come to deal with an evil spirit that could potentially destroy the world.
But... they hadn’t expected to encounter it so soon!
However!
They had over a dozen elite disciples from Dragon Tiger Mountain! A mere evil spirit? They had plenty of ways to deal with it!
The oden shopkeeper beside them looked utterly confused.
Wait, are you guys cosplaying or something?
Su Muwan stood there, feeling utterly speechless.
Are you kidding me? I just came out for a stroll, and now I’m caught up in this mess?
What the heck is this evil spirit they’re talking about?
The sky is clear and cloudless—where’s the evil spirit?
And wait, are you saying... I’m the evil spirit?
Su Bailian cowered in the back, her face panicked.
What? What? What?
Why is there suddenly a fight?
What’s going on?
The Dragon Tiger Mountain Daoists... are saying someone is an evil spirit?
Su Muwan?
Shouldn’t she be scarier than any evil spirit?
Su Muwan looked at the Daoists in front of her, wielding their peach wood swords as if they were exorcising demons, and felt deeply offended.
She immediately shouted, "Wait a minute!"
"Are you guys mistaken? I’m not some evil spirit you’re talking about!"
Zhang Hu and the others frowned even more deeply.
"Nonsense!"
"Even without the Heavenly Eye, we can see the malevolence surrounding you!"
"Such evil energy!! We can tell at a glance you’re not human!"
Su Muwan: ???
On the other side, a few Daoists looked grave and said, "Senior brother, the great evil spirit can even speak. This is clearly not an opponent we can handle!"
"An evil spirit taking human form—this requires a Celestial Master to deal with!!"
Zhang Hu nodded, took a deep breath, and said with reddened eyes, "Junior brothers and sisters."
"We don’t have time to inform our senior brothers or masters."
"The evil spirit is right in front of us. We can’t just let it go!"
"This battle might cost us our lives, but for the sake of all living beings... we cannot retreat!"
"..."
Su Muwan stood there, tugging at Qin Luo’s sleeve. She looked up at him in shock and said, "Are they insane?"
"Qin Luo, what are they even talking about? It’s so random!"
Su Muwan was baffled. Are there even any normal people left in this world?!
Stop talking nonsense and acting like you’re about to die for no reason!!
Qin Luo, on the other hand, watched the group of Daoists with amusement.
In his eyes, these Daoists seemed pure but also... a bit foolish?
He thought for a moment, then chuckled softly, "Let’s see what happens."
"See what? They’re about to start a fight!"
As soon as the words left her mouth,
Zhang Hu and the others simultaneously gripped their talismans and shouted at Su Muwan, "Evil spirit!!!"
"We, by the will of heaven, shall vanquish demons and restore peace to the world!!"
Su Muwan twitched her eye, took a deep breath, and tried to argue again, "I told you, I’m not an evil spirit."
"Heaven and earth, spirits disperse."
"Hey... can you not start chanting spells while someone’s talking?!"
As the incantation was recited, the spiritual energy in the air began to gather, forming streaks of golden light.
Above Su Muwan’s head, a massive talisman array slowly took shape.
Zhang Hu looked at Su Muwan with determination, ready to die for the cause. He and the other Daoists were bleeding from their mouths.
This was their first attempt at activating such a massive exorcism array, and the backlash was terrifying!
But!! It was worth it!!
"Righteous energy of heaven and earth, majesty of the eight directions!!"
"By the heavens’ decree, summon the thunder to annihilate the evil spirit!!"
Gurgle!
Zzzzz!!
Qin Luo looked up.
From his perspective, the malevolent energy around Su Muwan began to churn violently, clashing against the golden light of the array.
No... it wasn’t so much a clash as it was the malevolent energy devouring the golden light.
"Huh... as expected of the young lady."
"Wait, no, what’s going on?! What are they doing?!"
From Su Muwan’s perspective, the Daoists were chanting spells, and then they started spitting blood.
Zhang Hu and the others coughed up blood, their pupils shaking. "Such powerful evil energy!!!"
"Senior brother! Our array is about to break!"
"Junior brothers and sisters, it seems... we won’t make it out of this alive today!"
"In that case, let’s... burn our essence blood!"
"Yes!!"
At Zhang Hu’s command, they all pushed their hands toward the array in the sky. "Merge!!!"
"Merge!!"
Boom!
The Daoists shouted in unison, thrusting their hands forward.
The golden light in the array rapidly condensed!!
It was finally the critical moment!
Zhang Hu roared, his eyes bloodshot, spitting blood. "Heavenly thunder, protect us, annihilate the evil spirit.........."
Before he could finish,
Slap! Slap! Slap!
"Ugh—!!!"
A series of slapping sounds rang out.
Black claws appeared beside each of the Daoists, relentlessly slapping their faces.
Thud! Thud!
Zhang Hu and the others, overwhelmed by the backlash of the array, collapsed to the ground.
Qin Luo flicked his fingers and smirked. "The casting time was too long."
"Go back and learn how to cast spells without chanting."
Su Muwan snapped out of her daze and looked at Qin Luo.
Casting time?!?
Those weird terms they were saying earlier—was that the casting time?
Crack—!
The array shattered!
Along with it, Zhang Hu’s confidence was also crushed.
Zhang Hu’s lips trembled. "The array... is broken!"
"Senior brother... the evil spirit is too strong. Even the array couldn’t handle it!"
"Impossible... how could this be... the array has never failed before...."
Su Bailian stood in the back, utterly confused.
If Su Muwan could still sense some spiritual energy fluctuations,
then from her perspective, all she saw was the Daoists holding talismans, muttering incantations,
and then being slapped by the claws Qin Luo had summoned.