I Slay Gods and Demons in the Deceit Night
Chapter 70 - 68: Burn Your Life, Light My Lantern

Chapter 70: Chapter 68: Burn Your Life, Light My Lantern

The shadowy wind was formless, arriving silently.

Lin Yan suddenly opened his eyes and raised his blade to strike down.

The shadowy wind dissipated and vanished.

He stood upright, blade in hand, holding a small crossbow, and quickly followed the path from which the shadowy wind had come.

He went straight out the main gate of Linjiang Station and turned left onto the street.

At the end of the street, there hung a lantern.

In High Willow City, every household had a Night Lamp made from willow branches.

Even if a family couldn’t afford the expensive lamp oil from the temple, at least the lantern itself definitely came from the Liu Zun Temple.

But this lantern was completely white, its flame dim, as if it was flickering on the verge of extinction.

With the night wind’s caress, influenced by the dim light, colorless "vines" formed one after another, reaching towards Lin Yan.

Ordinary people couldn’t see them.

But the cultivation of the Refining Essence Realm allowed Lin Yan to see them extremely clearly.

The center of the vines was empty, as if they were hollow tubes trying to pierce through Lin Yan’s flesh to draw out his blood essence.

"Oh?"

Lin Yan was slightly surprised, having never seen such a technique before.

Still, he pressed forward with his blade, slashing fiercely.

His body erupted with Evil Qi as the Demon Suppression Divine Power intimidated.

Wherever the blade light passed, the invisible "Qi-formed vines" were all severed, failing to materialize and immediately dispersing.

But before he could move forward, he suddenly felt a tightness around his waist.

Immediately, he lifted his robe, only to find that the gold had become scorching hot, as if it was trying to burrow into his body through his clothes.

Lin Yan’s face grew taut as he pulled off the piece of gold.

To his astonishment, it stubbornly adhered to the palm of his hand.

In an instant, Lin Yan’s vision blurred.

The robust vitality that once filled him had rapidly wilted by a third.

At the same time, the flame within the white lantern at the end of the street grew thrice as fierce.

Divine Skills! Demon Suppression!

Lin Yan immediately suppressed the gold, throwing it to the ground, and swung his blade over it.

The gold was cleaved in two by his strike.

The sensation of growing weakness was instantly severed.

And the lantern’s flame no longer intensified but maintained its current brightness.

"A piece of gold for my life?"

Lin Yan thought to himself, "To use my life as fuel for this lantern?"

His gaze turned grave as he stared at the lantern ahead, but he did not rashly advance.

The lantern’s bizarreness and malevolence surpassed his prior expectations.

At this moment, the shadowy wind grew even more chilling, as if the lantern had become extremely angry.

In just a short moment, even the flame gradually turned blood-red.

The blood-red glow cast its light over the entire street, turning this dark night into something wickedly grotesque.

The lantern hung in mid-air, swaying in the wind like a shrill, mournful scream, disturbing to the core.

It was like the anger of being deceived by someone.

The wind blowing around the lantern transformed into thousands of blood-colored "Qi-formed vines," lunging to attack.

Whoosh!

At that moment, Lin Yan raised his crossbow.

A crossbow arrow shot forth amid the thousands of blood Qi vines, arriving in an instant.

The lantern was pierced straight through.

The crimson firelight suddenly extinguished.

Thousands of blood-red "vaporized tendrils" instantly dissipated.

And the stone bricks under Lin Yan’s feet suddenly shattered.

His figure had disappeared from the spot, and in the span of a breath, he was at the end of the street.

He swiftly advanced, cleaved open the lantern, and kicked over the oil can inside.

"Dare to force buying and selling, to take a life, and still have the face to rage before me?"

Lin Yan stomped the lantern to pieces, then slightly furrowed his brows, thinking to himself, "Only ten strands of Evil Qi? So few? Something’s not right..."

——

Inside High Willow City, Liu Zun Temple.

Liu Jing, as a high disciple of the temple, suffered an unwarranted calamity and could not be saved in the end, despite the temple’s efforts.

The incident hung like a dark cloud over the hearts of everyone in the temple.

It even alarmed Mr. Lu, who currently resided in the outermost district of the outer city.

Unfortunately, Liu Jing could not hold on until Mr. Lu’s arrival and had already taken his last breath.

"The situation with Liu Jing is extremely complicated. This is everything unusual that has been recorded in the last two days."

The Twelve Temple Priests, with a mournful gaze, bowed slightly and handed over a booklet.

Mr. Lu’s expression turned grave as he took the booklet.

Liu Jing was dead, his life force completely extinguished, and dealing with such a mysterious calamity made it relatively challenging to find clues on the body alone.

Perhaps the records in this booklet could provide more leads.

"The signs of Tribulation Ash have started to reignite recently. Mr. Lu, should we move back to the inner city?" asked another temple priest.

"No need to worry. With Lv Tang present, those rats cannot take me down," said Mr. Lu before opening the booklet and asking, "The manifestation of ’Divine Intent Seeds’ has occurred, what are your plans now?"

"Last night, the Great Venerate exited isolation," The Twelve Temple Priests said. "After deliberation, we desire to awaken Liu Venerate and also try to cure Jing’er, unfortunately, he did not survive until Liu Venerate’s awakening."

The Great Venerate was the first temple priest of the Liu Zun Temple.

Sixty years ago, he was known to all parties as the Great Temple Priest.

In recent years, however, he was granted a venerated title by Qifeng Prefecture City.

Thus, the Great Temple Priest came to be known as the Great Venerate.

"Awaken Liu Venerate?" Mr. Lu pondered and then said, "Liu Venerate’s current slumber hasn’t exceeded three months. Aren’t you afraid of any repercussions from forcing him awake?"

"The Great Venerate is about to take the final step," The Twelve Temple Priests said solemnly. "He is fully confident he can eliminate any hidden dangers."

"That’s good to hear," Mr. Lu replied, flipping through the booklet. After a glance, he frowned, saying, "Liu Jing’s unusual symptoms are completely different from those of the Night Patrol Envoys?"

"Exactly, the ’inauspicious signs’ he encountered are not at all the same as those faced by the Night Patrol Envoys. Hence, for now, we do not know what exactly befell Jing’er," The Twelve Temple Priests spoke softly.

"So, what exactly did the Night Patrol Envoys encounter?" A burly man with a dark face leaned in and couldn’t help but ask, "Actually, I was the first to rush over to save them, but the culprit was never found, and they died horribly."

"Over ten years ago, the ’life-buying money’ was bound with the original branches of Liu Venerate, sealed with Spirit Talismans, and stored within Liu Branch Night Lamps before being sent to Qifeng Prefecture City," explained the Twelve Temple Priests with an uneasy expression. "Those who escorted the ’life-buying money’ included six incense burners from the temple, six guard army members, twelve guard soldiers from the City Guard Mansion, and one garrison commander from the Observatory. Due to consecutive days of heavy rain, their journey was delayed, and on the sixth day, they failed to enter the Pure Land before nightfall."

"And then?"

"Wiped out."

"..."

There was a moment of silence.

Then Mr. Lu was heard frowning, saying, "At that time, it was my Direct Disciple who was responsible for receiving this ’life-buying money’ to purify and dispel the Evil Qi."

"However, I heard that in the end, all those who were escorting the ’life-buying money’ perished, and since then, its whereabouts became unknown."

"This matter was ultimately taken over by the Observatory of Qifeng Prefecture City."

"Back then, I did not handle this matter, and hearing that the Observatory took full control, I stopped inquiring further."

"Yet today’s ’life-buying money’ has reappeared, which is truly bizarre."

Mr. Lu asked, "Do you know the ins and outs of this matter and what the final outcome was?"