Chapter Ninety-Five: The Lurking Beast

Item: Holy Spirit Sword Art, Twenty-Second Sword

Type: Martial technique.

Grade: Three-star, first-rate superior martial art.

Note: The first twenty-two forms of the Holy Spirit Sword Art are already the most exquisite and pure swordsmanship in the mortal world.

After the Ruthless Sword and the Sentimental Sword were fused into one, the Holy Spirit Sword Art had drawn infinitely close to transcendental martial arts, separated from it by only a single line.

Once he had mastered it, Ning Xiu's swordsmanship immediately surpassed his saber arts. By now, the Blood Saber Technique was indeed somewhat lacking.

And while Ning Xiu was hunting ghosts everywhere, thousands of li away in Mao County, a dust-covered youth suddenly appeared.

He wore a dull gray robe, and from head to toe there was a lazy air about him. At dawn, he walked up to a breakfast stall.

The owner of the stall was an old man, whom the nearby residents affectionately called Old Zhang.

In recent days, refugees had been flooding into the city, driving prices sky-high. As a result, his steamed bun shop had been doing much better; often, shortly after he opened, everything would already be sold out.

Even so, it was still too early at this hour.

Old Zhang looked up at the sky, then let his eyes pass over the youth before him, and a few different thoughts stirred in his mind.

"Fine steamed buns and meat buns," Old Zhang said, lifting the steamer lid. White steam billowed out from within, and one soft white bun after another lay quietly inside.

"Our little shop also has homemade braised dishes and special soy milk. What would you like to eat, sir?"

"I want to eat you."

The youth said it in a calm, matter-of-fact tone, as though it were the most natural thing in the world. It was enough to make one's hair stand on end, and Old Zhang was thoroughly startled.

"M-my lord, please do not jest with this old man. I'm already so old; I couldn't bear such a joke," Old Zhang stammered.

The youth smiled, revealing a mouthful of fine white teeth.

"Then bring me a serving of buns, a bowl of soy milk, and a plate of braised beef."

"Right away!" Old Zhang called out, hurriedly preparing the food for the young customer.

But the youth's mind was clearly elsewhere.

He looked into the distance and thought to himself, The nearest town to Niu Family Village is here. According to his route, he should have come here. Given his usual manner of doing things, shouldn't he go wherever something strange appears?

If not for the matter at the Six Doors, Ning Xiu might truly have arrived in this small town by now.

"Could I have been chasing in the wrong direction from the very beginning?" the youth murmured with a frown.

...

Just like the Nether Alliance, the Six Doors were also searching the world for Ning Xiu at this very moment.

That day, two uninvited guests suddenly arrived at the Mao County yamen.

The plump county magistrate and the local constable carefully accompanied the two visitors as they walked into a room.

In the middle of the room lay two corpses. They were the two Six Doors constables killed by Ning Xiu. One of the bodies was missing its head, and the death scene was horrifically miserable.

"When and where were these two bodies found?"

"Your lordship, three days ago, Constable Zhang from the yamen discovered the bodies of these two colleagues in a forest not far from the county," the plump magistrate replied, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he cautiously studied the two visitors.

The one in front had a gaunt face and wore an ink-black fish-dragon robe. Whenever his eyes opened and closed, a cold gleam flashed within them.

A chilling aura seemed to radiate from him, making the air feel frozen.

Just thinking of what the ink-black fish-dragon robe represented made the plump magistrate shiver involuntarily.

The other man was dressed like a scholar, entirely different from the Six Doors constable beside him. He gave off an utterly pleasant impression, like a spring breeze brushing the face.

"Well? Can you find him?" the black-clad constable asked coldly, his voice full of murderous intent.

The middle-aged scholar frowned. After a moment of silence, he said, "I will do my best."

He stepped forward and looked at the two corpses, his hands constantly forming different seals.

As time passed, the aura around him changed as well, becoming eerily cold.

The wooden windows and doors around the room opened and shut without warning, producing a rapid succession of heavy bangs.

A series of sinister gusts swept through the room, accompanied by cries like wailing ghosts.

"Open!"

The middle-aged scholar gave a sharp shout and thrust out his right hand like lightning, gouging out one of the corpse's eyes.

The eyeball exploded with a bang.

A phantom image was projected into the air, showing a human face, though somewhat blurred.

The black-clad constable stared fixedly at that indistinct face, his right hand unconsciously tightening.

"Don't let me find you!"

...

Far away, Ning Xiu could guess that the Nether Alliance and the Six Doors were both searching for him, but he could never have imagined they possessed such a method.

Otherwise, he would have been glad that he had worn a human-skin mask.

In other words, the face seen by the Six Doors was not Ning Xiu's true appearance.

As for human-skin masks, Ning Xiu had drawn many of them, of all different kinds. However, one still had to match the mask to one's build, so not all of them were usable.

"I heard from the people in town that not far from here, Sifang Township was recently attacked by bandits," Ning Xiu muttered softly. When he lifted his head, a faint crease appeared between his brows.

His expression unchanged, he walked through the town and noticed that many constables had suddenly appeared.

Since a large number of villagers had fled into the towns, public order in every town had been affected over this period. It was perfectly normal for constables to come out and maintain order.

But from the looks of it, these constables were obviously searching for someone.

Watching the movements of one of them, Ning Xiu's pupils contracted sharply. The constable took a portrait from his robe and kept scanning and looking around.

The face in the portrait differed slightly, but Ning Xiu could confirm with complete certainty that it was the same human-skin mask he had been wearing before.

Although no fourth person had been present when he killed the two Six Doors constables, Ning Xiu had still changed masks out of caution.

But how had these constables obtained his portrait?

Although Ning Xiu did not know how they had managed it, he understood that he would have to be even more careful from now on.

At this moment, he was like a beast lying in wait upon the boundless earth, continually gathering strength, ready at any moment to deal his enemy the most deadly blow.

He had no intention of acting against the constables now. Before he understood their methods, doing so would only expose his whereabouts.

Though Lingnan Prefecture was vast, the power of the government could not be underestimated. Once his trail was exposed, escaping pursuit would be far more difficult.

For someone with ill intent, merely wearing a human-skin mask would not be enough to deceive them.

Ning Xiu slowly withdrew his gaze and continued walking toward the outskirts of the city as though nothing were amiss.

If he had not guessed wrong, evil ghosts ought to be waiting for him there.