Swing the sword at the future female devil

Chapter 297: Has the witch's suspicion been cleared?
Taiqing hadn't expected her identity to be confirmed for such a reason. She had prepared a series of explanations to make Duan Huaige suspect Qin Shuangjiang and join forces with her to drive Qin Shuangjiang away.
Duan Huaige's actions were indeed quite unorthodox. Before, in the sealed fragment of the Sheji Map, he seemed to have used a very outrageous method to resolve the dilemma of choosing between two girls.
"Tsk tsk, interesting..." Taiqing dispelled the illusion, and her appearance changed to that of a young girl.

Her skin was as white as ice and as smooth as jade, her pale, bloodless complexion giving her an unnatural, sickly appearance—it didn't look like the skin of a living person at all, but rather like the thin porcelain buried deep underground for a thousand years, gleaming with a cold, eerie light. A gilded hairpin was tucked diagonally into her dark blue hair. A string of red coral beads hanging from the ends of her hair swayed gently in the night breeze.

Her left pupil was like the unmelting frost and snow atop the Kunlun Mountains, while her right eye resembled churning lava from purgatory; the heterochromatic pupils appeared exceptionally deep and dark in her eyes. Three bloody streaks were drawn at the corners of her eyes with vermilion. The rouge on her lips was eerily red, and the corners of her mouth naturally curled up in a mocking arc. When she extended her tongue to lightly lick her lips, the sudden interplay of stark white and vibrant red created a blood-red allure, like a datura flower suddenly blooming in the snow—the more poisonous, the more seductive and alluring.

Compared to the dignified little girl in the sacrificial robes when we first met, Taiqing has now regained some of her vitality, and her aura has become increasingly frenzied.

"I'm becoming more and more interested in you. You'd better not die anytime soon."

"As long as you stay away from me, I won't die." Duan Huaige said seriously, "Witch! Tell me quickly, did you kill Zhang Tianshi!"

Taiqing merely smiled wickedly, offering no answer: "You're so clever, guess why I didn't kill you?"

Is there even a need for a question? It's because you haven't gotten what you want yet!
He thought to himself, but said aloud, "Maybe it's because good triumphs over evil! Taiqing, I advise you not to be so extreme. Stop thinking about being brothers in the Heavenly Demon Banner and embrace the new era!"

"Nonsense!" Tai Qing snorted coldly, his eyes flashing with a fierce light as he stared at Duan Huaige's neck and said coldly, "I'll ask you one last time... Where did you hide the thing that old man gave you? Why didn't I find it on you?"

"Words are useless! Taiqing, if you want war, then let's fight!" Duan Huaige said, silently taking out the Mountain and River Seal and offering up the remaining blood from the inscription inside.

The surrounding nightmare energy seemed to sense the remaining energy of the inscription's blood, and it dispersed into a clear area. Tai Qing coldly stared at the military weapon in Duan Huai's hand, but his expression no longer showed the fear he had when he escaped.

Although this thing could cause her some trouble, things are different now. If she wanted to, she could still take down Duan Huaige and Qin Shuangjiang despite the effects of the remaining blood on the monument.

Her expression shifted slightly, and she summoned the Heavenly Demon Banner. The shrill ghosts within were exceptionally ferocious and terrifying, and many different human faces surged forth from the nightmare energy, as if responding to something. Upon seeing this, Qin Shuangjiang swiftly pulled out a glass bottle from her bosom, its dark blue liquid swirling within, and threw it towards Taiqing with lightning speed.

This was hardly an attack. Taiqing casually flicked a wisp of Heavenly Demon Netherworld Qi and sent it flying. Unexpectedly, the glass bottle shattered the moment it touched the glass, and the dark blue liquid inside splashed everywhere.

Like drops of water splashed into a scorching oil pan, the surrounding nightmare energy instantly erupted, becoming extremely restless and active. They all began to actively attack Taiqing.

The demoness frowned slightly. This strange nightmare energy usually seemed quiet, but once activated, it went berserk and began to attack on its own.

Taiqing cultivated the Dao of Cause and Effect. She knew in her heart that if she were to fully display her strength now, she would probably end up like that big, dumb Zhao Tieying before, interfering with cause and effect and having her traces erased by the formation.

Because in this causal chain, the highest level of combat power is Zhang Tianshi, and she cannot surpass Zhang Tianshi, otherwise she will suffer a backlash. Taking advantage of the moment when Taiqing was entangled by the nightmare energy, Duan Huaige quickly tightened the reins, turned the horse around, and urged the old horse toward the City God Temple.

When the Nightmare Qi invaded before, the City God Temple was not affected, which must have been because Zhang Tianshi had set up some kind of barrier... Although the Nightmare Qi was activated by Qin Shuangjiang, this thing doesn't have eyes and doesn't distinguish between good and bad.

Despite being blindfolded, Old Ma did not lose his way in the nightmare energy; instead, he moved with incredible speed and quickly left Taiqing behind.

The two traveled along and soon arrived at the City God Temple. Just as Duan Huaige had expected, the City God Temple emitted a faint golden light amidst the nightmare energy, as if a person were performing a golden light spell.

Duan Huaige and Qin Shuangjiang tied up their horses and entered the house hand in hand. The first thing they saw was Zhang Tianshi leaning against the wall, his body severed from his head. Upon closer inspection, they could see bluish-gray slime wriggling at the joint of the severed heads, making it look extremely gruesome.

Is he really dead? Duan Huaige's heart sank. In his mind, Zhang Tianshi shouldn't have died so easily... Now that's bad. The strongest fighter was given away so easily. How are we supposed to fight now?
Let alone starting a group, even sealing the strange entity in Qingyang Town according to the causal line would be problematic—according to the old celestial master outside, this causal array is not a simple illusionary trial. If they do not seal the strange entity according to the original plan and cause serious consequences, then everyone in the array will suffer severe backlash.

“We might be in big trouble.” Duan Huaige pondered for a moment and said, “Shuangjiang, how did you meet me before? What happened when we went to Qingyang Town with Zhang Tianshi?”

Qin Shuangjiang nodded: "I came here as a wandering knight-errant. You and I met at the City God Temple. At that time, you two were going to Qingyang Town and invited me to go with you."

"Master Zhang said that Qingyang Town was originally a place where dragons slept, with a magnificent aura. Now, it is filled with nightmare energy, which is probably caused by some living beings drawing dragon energy from the earth's veins and causing chaos. The only way now is to find the four guardian objects to suppress the chaotic dragon energy."

"So you actually left the city to find the Four Directions Town artifact?" Duan Huaige asked.

“That’s right.” Qin Shuangjiang took out a feather burning with an eerie crimson flame from her bosom: “The Vermilion Bird Feather is outside Qingyang Town. Master Zhang calculated the location and told me to ride a horse to find it.”

"Any clues about the other items used to suppress evil spirits?"

Qin Shuangjiang shook her head: "All I know is that you and Zhang Tianshi went to the dry well in the south of the town. Zhang Tianshi said that the source of the nightmare energy might be at the bottom of the well."

Duan Huaige lowered his head to sort out the information at hand: he, Zhang Tianshi, and Qin Shuangjiang decided to suppress evil spirits and search for the four directions of protective objects. They had already obtained the Vermilion Bird Feather, while Zhang Tianshi took him to the dry well in the town to find the source of the nightmare energy.

In the original causal chain, someone was likely drawing earth vein dragon energy for the incomplete map of the Jiangshan Sheji Tu (Map of Mountains and Rivers). Taiqing couldn't possibly influence earth vein dragon energy at this time. In other words, it wasn't Taiqing who killed Zhang Tianshi, but the mastermind behind the original causal chain!
(End of this chapter)