Sword Qi to the Sky

Chapter 17: A Sword Thing

"What a shameless monk." The ghost woman also cursed in a low voice. Even though she was a ghost, she still had to maintain her dignity.

But the monks in Vajra Temple are truly shameless.

"Eliminate all evil. Since they are the same kind as ghosts, they should be killed. I am acting on behalf of heaven. Reputation is just a personal obsession." Monk Kongxiang said as he continued to move forward. Under the pressure of the Buddha's light, the female ghost cultivators screamed.

"You baldy thief, you will get your retribution." The ghost woman knew that she had no chance of survival this time, but she was a ghost to begin with, so she had no reason to linger.

"Amitabha." The monk clasped his hands together, ignored the ghost woman's voice, and was about to kill them together.

Li Fan stared at the monk, a murderous thought flashed in his eyes, and a sword intent surged between his eyebrows.

"Master, since you are from the holy land of Buddhism, it is not honorable for you to bully women and young people like this." At this moment, another voice was heard, and a figure appeared on the roof of a house behind the street.

The faceless monk looked up and saw that the person who appeared was tall, wearing a loose robe, standing there quietly, but there was an invisible pressure emanating from him.

"Monster!" The faceless monk stared at the tall figure with sharp eyes. Li Fan also turned around and looked at the person who came. He also sensed the breath of a big monster.

The person who came was actually a monster, but he looked no different from a human.

The figure walked down, and his movements could not be seen clearly. He walked to this side of the battlefield, appeared in front of the ghost woman, and faced the formless monk.

"Mr. Liu."

At this time, Cao Gong came forward, looked at the other party and asked, "Sir, are you related to these ghosts?"

The man nodded.

Cao Gong smiled and said, "Mr. Liu has put me in a difficult position. I wonder if the owner of the manor knows about this."

"Of course I know." The man glanced at the other party, his eyes like a ferocious beast, making Cao Gong feel afraid, but the road to career advancement was right in front of him, so he naturally could not retreat.

"So, it is the owner of the manor who wants to protect them?" Cao Gong asked.

"Yes." the other party responded.

"Mr. Liu..." The ghost woman next to him looked at the person who came, feeling a little guilty.

"Okay, in that case, I have no choice but to report it to the court." Cao Gong was overjoyed.

Tonight's ambush indeed yielded great results and was a great achievement.

"Does County Magistrate Cao know him?" asked the formless monk.

"I know him." Cao Gong nodded and said, "Mr. Liu has been in Lin'an City for many years. He is a great demon recorded in the books. He is no different from us human practitioners. I didn't expect that today..."

"Hypocrisy." The ghost woman looked at Cao Gong with some disgust.

"Since it is a monster, I have no choice but to ask for your advice." As the monk finished speaking, there was a loud clang, and the power of the Buddhist bell spread outwards, and a terrifying pressure enveloped the area.

Mr. Liu took a step forward, and in an instant a monstrous demonic energy swept out, covering the sky and the sun, forming a terrifying barrier, confronting the brilliant Buddha's light.

The two bodies moved at some point and instantly came into contact with each other. They faced each other with their palms, and a violent gust of wind swept out. The two bodies slid back at the same time, and the bluestone under their feet all cracked.

The monk Wuxiang glanced at the other person, then walked towards the young monk next to him and said, "Brother Wuxin, let's go."

The young monk glanced at Li Fan with murderous intent in his eyes, but he still followed the formless monk and left the place, his figure disappearing into the darkness.

"Senior Liu, goodbye." Cao Gong also bowed and led his men to evacuate.

When Chen Li left, he also looked at Li Fan with a hint of resentment.

The sound of horse hooves rang out, and Cao Gong and the demon-suppressing army left together. After they left, the ghost woman looked at the tall middle-aged man and said, "Mr. Liu, have I caused trouble for the villa?"

Recently, demons have been causing chaos in Lin'an City, and the rumors from the outside world are all unfavorable to the villa, trying to frame the villa for this matter. There are even many extremely dirty and vicious news about the owner of the villa. She wanted to come out to find out the truth, but she didn't expect to be ambushed and killed, and instead implicated the villa.

"It's okay. We're here for the villa. It has nothing to do with you." Mr. Liu said indifferently.

Li Fan was listening quietly beside him. Fulong Villa?
When he attended the demon-slaying conference at the Chen family, he heard some rumors.

It now seems that the Demon-Slaying Conference has been confirmed to be a conspiracy, and those rumors were deliberately released by someone with ulterior motives.

But most people in the world do not know the truth. Once there is gossip, it will spread quickly and people will believe it to be true.

Mr. Liu looked at Li Fan and sized him up. Li Fan felt a little weird being stared at and asked, "What advice do you have, sir?"

Mr. Liu smiled and said, "Come visit the villa when you have time."

"Fulong Villa?" Li Fan asked.

"Yes." Mr. Liu nodded.

"I heard that the owner of the villa is a big demon dragon?" Li Fan asked curiously.

"Yes." Mr. Liu continued to nod.

"A hundred women serve you?" Li Fan asked again. Such treatment is enviable... Mr. Liu smiled at him and said, "Yes."

"Is it true?" Li Fan looked strange.

"It's true." said Mr. Liu.

"I must go and see it if I have the chance." Li Fan responded.

"Anytime." Mr. Liu said.

"One more question." Li Fan looked at the other party and asked, "Is the villa related to Lishan?"

Mr. Liu looked at Li Fan meaningfully and nodded.

It's not only about Lishan, it's also about you!
Of course, he didn't say it.

"It's chaotic outside, go back and rest early." Mr. Liu advised.

"Okay." The ghost woman nodded, and then Mr. Liu turned and left.

After he left, the ghost woman said to Li Fan: "Thank you for your help, sir."

"You're welcome, fairy." Li Fan said, "It's not entirely because of the fairy."

"Sir, there is no need to be so polite. If you don't mind, just call me Sister Xiu." said the ghost woman.

"Okay." Li Fan nodded. He looked over to Ah Qi, only to see that she was still guarding her father's body. The ghost woman also looked over there and said, "This kind of situation has been happening all the time in Lin'an City recently."

"Sister Xiu said before that she was investigating the truth. Have you found out anything?" Li Fan asked.

“Do we still need to investigate?” The ghost woman’s voice became colder, and her eyes were cold. She said, “The people of Lin’an City are suffering, but the government is not hunting down the demons, but is keeping an eye on Fulong Villa. This incident itself is aimed at Fulong Villa, and the mastermind behind this is probably the government.”

"The government?" Li Fan said. It sounds unbelievable that the government is the mastermind behind the demons causing chaos and harming the people, but Li Fan feels that this should be the truth.

From the rumors he had heard before, it seemed that this time the target was not just Fulong Villa.

But, leave the mountain, otherwise, the Chen family and Cao Gong would not have such courage.

"Well." The ghost woman said angrily: "The government's duty is to protect the area and arrest demons, but now it is colluding with demons to cause trouble. Poor people in Lin'an City."

Li Fan thought of the Chen family's demon-slaying conference. If the government and the Chen family were in collusion with the demons, then those who participated in the demon-slaying conference would actually be the sacrifices... and the women who were abducted.

So that's why the old Taoist called him pitiful?
Those who practiced martial arts originally wanted to curry favor with the aristocratic families, but ended up becoming their death warrant?
"Why does Sister Xiu know the owner of Fulong Villa?" Li Fan asked.

"My real name is Han Xiu, and I am from Lin'an County. My family of three ran a small business in the county town, but we were spotted by someone from the Wang family of Lin'an County. I refused to comply, and they ruined my business. My husband went to the county government to file a complaint, but he ended up being a troublemaker. He was arrested and imprisoned, and later died unjustly in prison. I was also defiled by someone from the Wang family, and what's even more hateful is that they didn't even let my child go."

The ghost woman spoke with great resentment, and continued: "After I died, I became a ghost because of my heavy resentment, but I still couldn't escape being hunted down by the other party. It was not until I mistakenly entered Fulong Villa that the other party dared not enter without permission."

"After Mr. Liu understood what happened, he let me stay in the villa and gave me the method of ghost cultivation. Later, I learned that Fulong Villa was a famous forbidden place in Lin'an County. The government dared not enter there, and many people took refuge there."

Li Fan looked at the living female ghost cultivators around him and was somewhat surprised. Has Fulong Villa become a place to shelter ghosts?
People are divided into good and evil, and the same seems to be true for demons and ghosts.

So, it is said that there are a hundred women serving in Fulong Villa. Could they all be female ghosts?

"I've always heard that the owner of Fulong Villa is a big demon dragon. He is lustful and has abducted many women in the villa. No one dares to stop him." Li Hongyi beside him sighed.

"The word 'official' has two mouths. The owner of the manor never asks about the outside world, so he naturally doesn't bother to explain. Those women are all poor people rescued by the owner of the manor." The ghost woman responded: "The people in Lin'an City have never even seen the owner of the manor, and even if they have seen him, they would not recognize him."

"During the previous Chen family demon-slaying meeting, all the women were abducted. Where were they taken?" Li Hongyi asked.

"You can go to the City God Temple and have a look." said the ghost woman.

"City God Temple?" Li Hongyi looked surprised.

Li Fan looked at Li Hongyi, who said, "The imperial court of the Dali Dynasty conferred titles on ghosts and gods, and built temples for ghosts and gods in various places for the people to worship them. There was once a highly respected person in Lin'an City. After his death, several major families in Lin'an City requested the imperial court to confer titles on him. He was the current City God."

Li Fan was speechless after hearing this. If all this was true, the people of Lin'an City were so miserable.

In broad daylight, there are countless dirty deals hidden behind the scenes.

He looked towards Ah Qi and said to Li Hongyi, "Take care of Ah Qi. I'll be away for a while."

"Where are you going?" Li Hongyi asked Li Fan with bright eyes.

"Murder." Li Fan said and turned away.

"But you are injured." Li Hongyi looked at Li Fan and saw a sharp look and murderous intent in his back.

"It's okay. It's just a matter of one sword. I'll be back soon." Li Fan's voice came, and his figure ran into the darkness and disappeared without a trace.

Li Hongyi looked at the figure in white, which was like a sharp sword drawn from its sheath.

(End of this chapter)