Black Journey to the West: The Imposter Star Lord

Chapter 17: Exorcising Demons

Outside Lijia Village, as night fell, every household had their doors and windows tightly shut.

The wind rustles the leaves on the treetops, and in the village, neither dogs bark nor chickens crow.

"Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling..."

A bell rang out from afar along the path outside the village.

As the yellowish light drew closer, the lantern's dim glow revealed a slender, fair-skinned young man's face.

The boy carried a lantern in one hand and a bronze bell in the other.

Every few steps, he would gently shake the bronze bell in his hand. A dark shadow followed closely behind him, keeping a silent distance.

"Life in this world is so wonderful, like a rush pith by the river, swaying and disappearing..."

Only when they reached the village entrance did the boy lower his voice, take out a thick wad of money from his satchel, and scatter it at the village entrance.

His expression also became solemn, and he shouted, "The dead are on their way; the living should give way!!"

The gleaming white money for guiding the way was scattered everywhere by a wisp of cool breeze.

Reaching the well, the boy drew a bucket of water and eagerly drank it.

Thump thump thump~

Ah! That feels great!

Wiping the water from the corner of his lips, the boy let out a long breath, and his whole body perked up.

Looking up at the dense starlight overhead, he was dazzled and couldn't help but sigh.

"This place, when you look up, you see a sky full of stars, when you look down, you see pure, unpolluted well water, even the air is sweet... Damn!! I really want to go home."

After muttering a string of curses, the boy plopped down on the edge of the well.

"Buzz..."

The courtyard gate was quietly opened, and a woman came out from behind it. She glanced in the direction of the boy, tucked a stray hair behind her ear, and walked towards the boy carrying a bowl of food.

"Young master, do not be afraid. This widow, Wang, saw that you were drawing water from the well alone and drinking cold water. She must be hungry. She brought you some food to fill your stomach and meant no harm."

The young man looked up and took a closer look by the moonlight. This woman, surnamed Wang, looked to be about twenty-five or twenty-six years old. Although she was plain-faced, she was indeed beautiful, and he couldn't help but take a few more glances.

Seemingly embarrassed by the boy's gaze, Wang subtly turned her head away.

"Aren't you afraid of me?"

The boy pointed to the shadow standing behind him.

Wang shook her head: "These days, the living are more terrifying than the dead."

As she spoke, Wang handed the bowl and chopsticks in her hand to the boy.

She sat sideways next to the boy: "When I was eighteen, I was traded for a cow. My husband is an alcoholic who beats and scolds me every day."

As Wang spoke, she seemed to recall something sad, and leaned her body closer to the boy.

Unexpectedly, the boy suddenly stood up, leaving Wang with nothing.

He turned his head to look at Wang Shi, and said with a forced smile, "Oh, how pitiful. Should I give you an award?"

Wang: ? ? ?

As he spoke, the boy put the bowl in his hand on the ground and stuck his chopsticks upright in the food.

"I don't have the patience to listen to stories. If you're not planning to take action, I'm leaving."

The food, which had been quite palatable, suddenly became moldy and smelly.

Wang sighed and leaned against the well: "So, how did you figure that out?"

"Because you're stupid. This village is so deserted. I didn't even hear a dog bark when I came in. You, a woman, just popped out here. It's like you have the words 'I'm a monster' written all over your face."

Wang's face turned cold, and she slowly raised her head. The flesh and blood of her once beautiful face dripped to the ground like mud, and in the blink of an eye, only a pile of bones remained.

Blue flames flickered in the empty eye sockets.

"You filthy men deserve to die!"

As he spoke, he lunged at the boy, his hands stripped of flesh to reveal white bones that looked like steel claws, and grabbed at the boy's chest.

The boy, with a cold face, simply stepped back, waiting for the white-boned woman to pounce before suddenly raising his palm.

Swish! !

On the boy's hand was an emerald ring, and at that moment a blinding golden light burst forth from the ring, striking the skeletal banshee's face.

"ah!!"

The white-boned demon was struck by the golden light and instantly froze, her body rooted to the spot.

The boy landed a successful blow, followed by a muffled whistling sound as a dark figure leaped over him and swung his fist at the skeleton woman.

In the blink of an eye, the White Bone Woman seemed to have recovered her senses. Seeing the charging black shadow, she clawed at its heart.

"Sizzle!"

The bone claws ripped open the shadowy figure's clothes, but the next second, a fist the size of a clay pot, like a thousand-pound iron hammer, smashed into the white bone woman's head with a loud "bang!", shattering her skull.

"Splash!"

Scattered bones lay on the ground, and a wisp of emerald flame rose from them.

"Spirit Absorption Technique!"

At this moment, blood light appeared on the palm of the boy behind him. The blood light flashed, like a large net covering him. After a moment, a spiritual essence the size of a fingernail floated on the boy's hand.

Looking at the tiny amount of spiritual energy, Cao Xing muttered, "That's it? I thought it was some kind of monster. This little bit of spiritual energy isn't even enough to fill a tooth gap."

He then untied the gourd from his waist and stuffed the spiritual essence into it.

"younger brother!"

Bixia walked over, looked at her clothes with holes in them, and said with annoyance, "My clothes are torn."

"It's okay. Once this matter is settled and we have the money, I'll buy you an even better one."

Cao Xing glanced at Bixia's torn clothes, but there wasn't a single scratch underneath. He couldn't help but exclaim that Bixia's body was truly abnormal.

The two practiced the Crimson Blood Scripture together, and Cao Xing made rapid progress, reaching the threshold of the sixth level of Qi Refining in just one month.

Bixia, however, was only at the third level of Qi Refining.

However, Bixia's cultivation speed of "Crimson Blood True Understanding Profound Skill" was incredibly fast, and she had already reached the seventh level. Not only was she incredibly strong, but her physical strength was also frighteningly high.

Last time, they encountered an armored zombie in the mountains. Their golden ring was completely ineffective, so they had to let Bixia fight it. At first, Cao Xing was worried about whether Bixia could win and was prepared to run away at any time.

The result was completely unexpected. One punch made the zombie howl, two punches made it crawl and run, and three punches turned it into a corpse. It was a one-sided crushing defeat.

The Crimson Blood True Understanding Profound Technique has a total of twenty-eight levels. Bixia has only cultivated to the seventh level, yet she is already so powerful. It's unimaginable how many levels Bai Yao has cultivated. However, when facing the Yellow Robe Monster, she was slapped so hard that her skin was torn and bleeding.

At the time, I thought Bai Yao was just too weak, but now I realize I was being naive.

Compared to Bixia, Cao Xing has already worked very hard on the Crimson Blood True Understanding Profound Skill, but he has only just reached the second level.

It can only be said that although they are both children of the Yellow Robe Monster, their talents are completely different.

Cao Xing then used a piece of cloth to collect all the bones on the ground.

"Let's go."

The boy had only been gone a short while, about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

A streak of light descended from the sky and transformed into a young Taoist priest. The priest was fair-skinned, but had a scar on his forehead that looked crooked and twisted like a centipede crawling on it.

Seeing the dissipating demonic aura and the scattered bone fragments on the ground, his face turned ashen: "Who the hell came from, ruining my pet bone demon!"

After saying that, he made some hand gestures and did some calculations, but he couldn't figure anything out.

"Strange? There's nothing there?"

The Taoist priest, unwilling to give up, calculated for a long time again, but still came up with no result. His expression became even more puzzled: "Why can't I calculate anything?"

The Taoist priest, looking dejected, flicked his sleeves. His gaze swept across the scattered bones on the ground, and a thought struck him: "This person killed a demon and collected its bones; is he planning to go to the city to claim a reward?"

"Heh!" Thinking of this, the Taoist grinned and sneered, then leaped into the air and transformed into a streak of light, quickly disappearing into the distance.