I Slay Gods and Demons in the Deceit Night
Chapter 308 - 219: Seal the Door! Afterward!

Chapter 308: Chapter 219: Seal the Door! Afterward!

Behind the stone gate, lanterns glowed like a proud sun, their blood-red light illuminating the crimson mist that filled the sky.

Endless chains produced a heavy clanking, the remnants of fierce battle shocking all sides.

Numerous ghostly soldiers raised their battle cries, ghostly flames flickering, too many to count.

And within that crimson mist, the shadow of a woman coalesced.

She gazed at Lin Yan, her eyes seemingly filled with a touch of joy.

At their first meeting, Lin Yan had chosen to draw his blade against her.

This time, he wielded the same blade, horizontally before the gates of the Netherworld, to offer her a path of escape.

"You’re not coming over?"

Lin Yan furrowed his brows tightly and yelled loudly.

This red-clad woman, now having spared enough strength to conjure a shadowy figure of herself.

Apparently, she was not thoroughly entangled.

She could escape, following the stone gate out.

But there she remained, quietly watching Lin Yan.

Then, she performed a graceful greeting.

As the greeting concluded, she lifted her head, her face wearing a smile, and she nodded slightly.

Immediately, her figure abruptly dispersed, returning to the red mist!

And with the sweeping mist, there came a piece of gold!

The gold struck the Night-Luminous Blade.

The Night-Luminous Blade was sent flying away.

The stone gate slammed shut!

"..."

Lin Yan let out a stifled grunt and took a step back.

His face shifted through a gamut of expressions, utterly unable to comprehend why the red-clad woman was unwilling to return.

And just then, he saw the piece of gold that had flung the Night-Luminous Blade, now lying at his feet.

The gold flowed like water, suddenly spreading out as if it were a sheet of paper.

Two characters emerged on it.

Seal Gate!

——

Meanwhile, in High Willow City.

Mr. Lu emerged from the inner city.

Lv Tang, who had been waiting with a carriage, drove it over.

"Didn’t I instruct you to assist Wu Chang in cleaning up the outer city?" Mr. Lu said evenly.

"It’s mostly done. Deputy Commander Zhou and Han Commander have both stabilized the situation," Lv Tang said pensively. "This time, things went extremely smoothly, beyond expectations."

"Because the key to victory in these matters lies in whether the Liu Family ancestor can become a Yin God on Dayin River, not within the city," Mr. Lu said, stroking his beard with a smile. "With the Liu Family ancestor fallen, the other families naturally will step in to topple the Liu Family, making your jobs much smoother."

"Passing off the embezzlement of the expansion materials to the Liu Family implicates all the other families; Wu Chang might not be so willing," Lv Tang remarked with a frown.

"Well, it’s up to him to decide now."

Mr. Lu spoke calmly, slowly saying, "The plot of all these matters ultimately depends on the human heart! Different hearts make different choices, leading to different outcomes!"

The old man chuckled and said, "Just as right now, the reins are in your hands, and it’s up to you to steer the carriage in whichever direction."

"As for Wu Chang, right from the start, I have placed the reins in his hands."

"How he chooses, or how she chooses, ultimately, is beyond my calculation," Mr. Lu stated.

At that moment, Mr. Lu sighed.

"What’s with all these ’he’s’?"

Lv Tang frowned and said, "Didn’t you say Wu Chang was alone? Where did all these ’he’s’ come from?"

"Wasn’t your sealing broken by Han Zheng? How can you still not understand?" Mr. Lu chuckled. "In the future, there really might be many ’hes,’ ’shes,’ and ’its’..."

As he spoke, Mr. Lu’s smile gradually faded, and he spoke slowly: "That sliver of Lord Qingling’s wayward soul has yet to be found."

"Late this evening, the Sky Observation Bureau received word from Ji Baochang, and now the people from the Tribulation Ash are searching for Lord Qingling’s lingering soul," Lv Tang contemplated.

"The last sighting was eighty miles outside of Coastal City, where it claimed to be ’Duke Murky Spirit’ and had apparently switched numerous bodies..."

"Have Qifeng Prefecture City assist with finding it!"

Such was Mr. Lu’s instruction as he pondered, "And there’s the Fallen-tier Illusory Mists Ghost Ship. If not found soon, I fear it’ll quickly return to the ’Most Vile, Most Evil’ tier."

——

Inside the Observatory Tower of the inner city.

The atmosphere was silent for a long while.

The prior anomaly on Dayin River, the reemergence of the Netherworld, the ghostly soldiers descending the river, then surging back against the current.

The light that symbolized Wu Chang’s Qi Mechanism had also nearly vanished.

But at the edge of the Divine Mirror, a hint of red appeared.

"That red trace, is it from the red-clad Evil Spirit that even the grand offerings at Liu Zun Temple failed to banish last time?"

"Heard that the Life-money and the Mysterious Lamp merged into a Most Vile, Most Evil object, identified by Mr. Lu as the Life-taking Mysterious Lamp. Wasn’t it subdued by this red-clad Evil Spirit on the Dayin River last time?"

"Yet, this reappearance has been so quiet?"

Everyone exchanged uneasy glances, a sense of worry rising within them.

This Evil Spirit might well transcend the Most Vile, Most Evil category.

Being too close to High Willow City could alarm Liu Venerate!

Even lingering outside High Willow City posed an imminent and colossal threat!

At least among those present, facing such an Evil Spirit beyond their tier would certainly mean they wouldn’t survive.

"No need to worry any longer."

Just at that moment, a young woman in green ascended the Observatory Tower and, giving a greeting, said, "Junior Ling He relays the Great Temple Priest’s decree: The red-attired Evil Spirit has been sealed within the Netherworld!"

"From today forth, the Temple will send out one hundred and sixty incense burners to cleanse the vicinity within a hundred miles of evil spirits in preparation for the final expansion of the city walls!"

"Recently, there has been a shortage of military forces within the city. I implore all families to act together and dispatch Martial Artists to accompany the incense burners and slay demons."

"This time, those involved in criminal cases shall face execution if their crimes warrant death, and those whose crimes are less severe... must all participate in the purge as a means to atone for their offenses."

"This is also the will of Liu Venerate."

——

Beneath the Dayin River.

Within the cave.

Lin Yan silently affixed the Spirit Talismans he had swept up earlier onto the stone door, one by one.

As the last of the Spirit Talismans was placed, the stone door became entirely ethereal, as if vanishing from sight.

He stood before the stone door, silent for a long while.

His hand gripped that piece of Gold.

He felt a great heaviness in his heart.

After some time, he slipped the piece of Gold into his bosom and picked up the Night-Shining Precious Blade.

The Great City Guard stood quietly at the edge of the cavern, waiting for Lin Yan to make a move before approaching.

"The power atop the Spirit Talismans is ultimately limited."

The Great City Guard spoke slowly, "With the Spirit Talismans here, like rootless water, they will fail in no more than three months, by which time a new set must replace them!"

He looked at Lin Yan, his gaze sharpening slightly as he spoke out, "Your ability has reached the very pinnacle of the Qi Refining Realm, hasn’t it?"

Just now, when he tried to hold the stone door shut, forcibly sealing it, Wu Chang had apprehended him with a single move.

The clash of their True Qi was nearly equal in measure.

Then Wu Chang flung him away with a flick of his hand, tossing him, the Great City Guard, backward.

Despite not having exerted his full strength,

the capabilities Wu Chang displayed were not something those of the ordinary Qi Refinement Realm could match.

"With just such prowess, I nearly fell into the Netherworld, unable to extricate myself."

Lin Yan glanced at the stone door and remarked calmly, "Had she not saved me, starting from today, I would no longer be the Inspection Envoy of the High Willow City Sky Observation Bureau, but a Soul-binding Envoy of the Netherworld."

The Great City Guard couldn’t help but glance at the stone door and, with a sigh, said, "I know you conduct your affairs impartially, detesting evil, but I didn’t expect you to show mercy even to an Evil Spirit! As someone with authority, often one must learn to make choices, not merely distinguish between pure good and evil..."

"And so, High Willow City has accumulated so much evil over the years."

Lin Yan walked out, his voice heavy, "It won’t be like this in the future!"

Upon hearing this, the Great City Guard chuckled and said, "In that case, what do you think should be done with the Liu Family, who has committed the greatest of evils?"

Lin Yan did not answer, walking out of the cave.

He surfaced the water and looked up at the sky.

Dawn was breaking, and the early morning light was beginning to emerge.

The Great City Guard also appeared from the bottom of the river.

The two stepped on the rolling river, watching the dawn to the east.

"In facing such circumstances in the past, how did the City Guard Mansion handle it?"

"When a power collapsed, it was thoroughly uprooted, completely eradicated," the Great City Guard stated indifferently. "To utterly eliminate evil, is that not your style of conduct?"

"How many people are in the Liu Family?" Lin Yan asked.

"Since the establishment of High Willow City, the number of people from the Liu Family who came to serve is not insignificant; counting until today, there must be six thousand people from the main line, branches, and subordinates of the Liu Family," the Great City Guard replied calmly.

"In the past, when things like this happened and a power fell, does that mean that these six thousand people must all face retribution?" Lin Yan pondered and asked.

"Of course," the Great City Guard replied. "Those who must be killed will be killed; those who must be imprisoned will be imprisoned; those who must perform hard labor will do so."

"Eliminating evil is not done this way," Lin Yan suddenly interjected.

"Then how should it be done?" the Great City Guard asked with a smile.

"Those who are extremely vicious, kill!" Lin Yan turned his head, speaking slowly. "To utterly eliminate evil is to eradicate ’evil’ itself, not to annihilate a power!"

"Do you also intend to act against other forces?" The Great City Guard seemed unsurprised, chuckling.

"To utterly eliminate evil!" Lin Yan declared. "You cannot place all evil on the Liu Family’s head and then regard other forces as pure."

"Just as Mr. Lu predicted, you are not willing to rest," the Great City Guard laughed. "Those who should be killed will be killed, those involved in this case but without capital crimes will serve hard labor... And all Martial Artists, together with the Temple incense burners, shall sweep the surroundings of High Willow City clean of demons and Evil Spirits."

"Good," Lin Yan nodded.

"However, what of the others in the Liu Family who are innocent? Shall they also be spared?" the Great City Guard asked with a laugh. "You are still too merciful."

"How do you think they should be dealt with?" Lin Yan asked, frowning.

"Those from the Liu Family, regardless of whether from a branch or the main line, have lived in luxury from birth by using the name of the Liu Family,"

the Great City Guard slowly stated. "If the Liu Family patriarch had succeeded, the entire Liu Family would have soared to the heavens, enjoying even greater wealth and honor in the inner city!"

At this point, the Great City Guard said, "Shared glory, shared downfall. Although they themselves have committed no evil, they have indulged in the prosperity brought by the Liu Family’s evil deeds! Therefore, if the Liu Family falls, they too should fall!"

"The remnants of the Liu Family, regardless of gender, age, branch, or mainline, regardless of whether they have done good or evil, must all be punished!"

"Wu Chang, remember one thing: when the heavens and earth collapse, and the great powers crumble, the so-called distinction between good and evil is never considered."

"This grand case is a gift I am giving you,"

"From this day forward, your impartial judgment, uncompromising integrity, and consideration for all will become well-known."

"And in the future, when the Blessed Land is built, with your name, it will attract more righteous people and draw in more Refugees."

"As for those within the Liu Family, many are skilled craftsmen!"

The Great City Guard walked forward, saying, "You killed the Liu Family patriarch and thoroughly investigated the case, essentially making an eternal enemy of the Liu Family!"

He stood at a distance, looking back, "But from today onward, the fact that you pleaded for the Liu Family will spread widely! The people of the Liu Family... will all be at your disposal..."

Lin Yan frowned and said, "The people of the Liu Family are not so foolish as to easily believe rumors."

"Once the Liu Family collapses, they will have no choice but to desperately seek a backer! As the rumor spreads, even if you come out to clarify, what remains of the Liu Family will still believe it."

The Great City Guard spoke slowly, "As for those who could stir up trouble—those who cannot be called virtuous but are capable— the Prefecture City side is reluctant to kill them, so... let the Residual Prison Mansion take them! That Lord has ways to subdue them!"