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Chapter 544 Borrowing a Life (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day!)
Tian Hui, carrying a hidden dagger, moved silently through the darkness.

He was skilled at sharpening knives, and this pocket blade could easily pierce the skin of a third-rate martial artist.

Upon arriving at the inn, he did not go in directly. Instead, he inserted his paper-thin dagger through the crack in the inn's door and gently pressed it down. The bolt behind the door was cut off as easily as tofu.

Tian Hui gently pushed the door open a crack with his toes.

Then he flashed to the side, hugged the blade, curled up into a ball, and completely disappeared into the darkness.

Before long, a large number of small evil spirits began to sneak in from the surrounding streets.

Even from a distance, they could smell the aroma of living people wafting from the cracks in the inn's door!

Once the gate is open, the door gods become useless.

The little evil spirits, their eyes gleaming with malice, crept in, preparing to devour their prey.

But when he reached the crack in the door, he suddenly jumped back as if startled!
But the aroma wafting from inside made their mouths water.

The drops fell steadily onto the stone slab in front of the door, corroding small pits.

After much hesitation, one of the evil spirits, a large-headed ghost with thin legs, couldn't resist stretching out a long, thin foot and stepping through the crack in the door.

Then its body followed and darted inside.

But after only half of it went in, it felt as if it was under tremendous pressure, its whole body trembled uncontrollably, and it quickly withdrew.

"Squeak—" it screeched and fled quickly, disappearing into the dark street!
Tian Hui frowned inwardly: What's going on?

Xu Yuan opened his eyes.

"Ruling the World" shines brightly.

Xu Yuan silently got up and tapped the wall twice with his fingers.

Zang Tianlan lives over there.

A moment later, the two appeared together in the hallway outside the door.

Then, the doors to both Miao Yan Zhenren and Wenren Luo's rooms opened.

The four exchanged only one glance, and three of them understood each other, then walked outside together.

Wenren Luo pulled Xu Yuan, who was passing by, and asked in a low voice, "What do you mean by this...?"

"Follow me." Xu Yuan rolled his eyes helplessly.

Miao Yan Zhenren raised her hand and wiped in front of the three people.

With each wipe, a portion of the figures disappeared into the void, eventually "wiping" all four of them away, making them invisible.

Moreover, this trick has another ingenious aspect: the four people can see each other.

Once outside, everyone saw that the inn's door was slightly ajar.

Yu Yunhang is the one closing the door tonight.

If it were Lang Xiaoba or Zhou Leizi, they might have forgotten, but Yu Yunhang has always been steady and reliable.

Xu Yuan made several hand gestures and then walked towards the gate.

Zang Tianlan and Miao Yan Zhenren followed, while Wenren Luo was the last to realize what was happening and quickly caught up—only to be stopped by Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan glared at him and pointed forcefully at the roof.

Wenren Luo pointed blankly at his own nose.

Xu Yuan nodded vigorously, then pointed to the roof, his eyes filled with reproach and disdain.

Wenren Luo pouted and muttered to herself as she went up to the roof.

You don't say anything, you just give me glances and gestures, and you blame me for not understanding?

I'm not mute.

Xu Yuan went outside and opened "Looking at Fate".

Although all three of them were invisible, Teruyuki Ota could still clearly sense that something had come out.

This was his intuition as a Seven-Star Genin.

He was skilled at assassinations in the shadows, and naturally he was very sensitive to things like air currents and scents.

Furthermore, there is even clearer evidence: the hesitant little evil spirits in front of the door scattered in all directions like a pot boiling over.

Xu Yuan had already seen a life, and at first glance he almost thought he was seeing things. It was a third-rate life!

Xu Yuan instinctively shielded his senior brother Zang Tianlan in front of him!

Then I took another closer look, and yes, it was third-rate!
He pointed in the direction of Teruyuki Ota, then held up three fingers.

From his vantage point on the rooftop, Wenren Luo asked curiously, "What kind of opponent would require all three of you to work together?"

Zang Tianlan nodded, becoming serious.

We need to go all out against a third-rate opponent!

Then, Xu Yuan saw Zang Tianlan open his horizontal eye for the first time!
The eyes are cloudy white with dark yellow pupils; they are not human eyes!

The yin energy, like a storm, erupted from Zang Tianlan's center.

Teruyuki Ota sensed that he was enveloped by a terrible danger!
That feeling... reminded him of a time when he was young, when he and his father encountered a bear in the mountains of their hometown!

That time, they were only two zhang away from the giant beast.

The father shoved him aside, telling him to run, then raised his wood-chopping knife and charged forward, howling.

He died instantly under the bear's claws.

He was rescued by a fourth-star genin from the "Hidden Dragon Society" and brought to the Ming Dynasty.

He had been working hard to improve himself, and after he became a fifth-rate cultivator, he thought that he would never again experience that feeling of helplessness, of being targeted and certain to die.

But at this moment, the fear from back then struck again!
boom!
A fist suddenly appeared in front of him.

The fist was enormous, a dark gold color! The power it carried stirred up a gale, blowing his hair and clothes backward.

He thrust out the blade in his hand.

Ping!
The blade broke on the spot.

The fist was still terrifying in its force, relentlessly slamming into him.

Boom!
Teruyuki Ota screamed and rolled away.

Their "lower-level ninjutsu" is not good at direct combat; they are good at sneak attacks and assassinations.

Ota Teruyu cursed inwardly: Wasn't that third-rate guy supposed to be in Quyang Prefecture?!

But the person who made the move was clearly a third-rate martial artist!
He didn't care about anything else; he rolled on the spot and sank into the ground.

But the ferocious, third-rate martial artist had already caught up and stomped heavily on the ground.

The massive earthquake forced Teruyuki Ota to leave the ground, and he was thrown out with a thud.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, then suddenly accelerated, leaving a trail of afterimages in the darkness.

Since there's no way to hide, then escape as fast as you can.

But Zang Tianlan's horizontal eye on his forehead locked onto him tightly.

Zang Tianlan followed closely, though his speed was slightly slower than his, he still couldn't shake him off.

In his mind, Teruyuki Ota had already cursed that three-star chunin to the bone.

If your intelligence hadn't been wrong, I wouldn't have ended up in this dangerous situation.

In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the city wall after a chase.

Without hesitation, Teruyuki Ota passed through the wall.

Even the walls of a small, dilapidated county like Changxian were far too thick for the "wall-penetrating trick" of the lower ninja arts.

If he weren't a third-rate guy, he would have been stuck in the wall.

After passing through the wall, Teruyuki Ota coughed up another mouthful of blood.

He prayed in his heart that the city wall could slow down the martial arts practitioners pursuing him from behind.

However, Zang Tianlan stopped with both feet and jumped over the city wall, which was more than ten feet high, with great ease!
Boom!
Zang Tianlan's massive body landed with a loud thud, creating a large crater in the ground.

Teruyuki Ota cursed angrily and continued to accelerate his escape.

When Zang Tianlan chased after him, Xu Yuan and Miao Yan Zhenren immediately followed.

Wenren Luo was about to follow, but Xu Yuan shouted at him, "You stay here, don't fall for their trick of luring the tiger away from the mountain."

Wenren Luo stopped, constantly fiddling with the teapot in his hands on the rooftop.

Xu Yuan understood; he had to be direct with Wenren Luo.

This guy can't understand eye contact and gestures.

Wenren Luo is full of wicked ideas, but he just can't understand these things.

Xu Yuan was riding on fire wheels, making him far faster than the two third-rate guys in front of him.

But Xu Yuan kept his speed down, making sure he didn't surpass Zang Tianlan.

If they chase too closely, what if the assassin turns around and stabs them instead...?

Upon reaching the foot of the city wall, Xu Yuan leaped up, and his fiery wheel roared into the air—Xu Yuan then thought of his junior aunt, and looking back, he saw a bolt of lightning erupt from beneath Miao Yan Zhenren's feet. With a crack, Miao Yan Zhenren was propelled into the air by her own lightning, soaring high over the city wall...

Once outside the city, Zang Tianlan had no more scruples and acted completely unrestrained.

Xu Yuan also witnessed the terrifying destructive power of a third-rate martial artist!
Zang Tianlan threw a punch in mid-air, missing the assassin in front of him, but it blasted a crater more than three zhang (approximately 10 meters) deep into the ground!

Outside the city walls, there were also large groups of evil spirits.

These evil spirits gaze at the city walls every night.

They dare not go in, but they always have wild ideas: what if a living person suddenly falls down from the city wall and falls right into our mouths?

Hey, guess what? What you keep in mind will eventually come to pass!
Tonight, one of his men actually jumped out of the city!
Zang Tianlan ran wildly out, the invisibility spell on his body being dispelled by his violent power.

A large horde of evil spirits swarmed in, skimming along the ground...

Then Zang Tianlan punched the assassin in front of him, but it also scared away all the evil spirits on the spot.

Such a powerful punch was merely a casual flick of the wrist by Zang Tianlan.

Then, Zang Tianlan threw a series of punches, each one more powerful than the exploding shells of the Shenji Camp's crafted cannons.

In the darkness of night, deafening roars echoed continuously, leaving the area outside Changxian County in a state of utter devastation!
Zang Tianlan landed over a hundred punches without batting an eye.

The group had already traveled more than 20 li (approximately 10 kilometers) from Chang County.

Evil spirits within a 20-mile radius all retreated.

Not a single one of the hundreds of punches landed directly on Teruyuki Ota; he was simply too agile.

But it's impossible for him to be completely unharmed; several punches grazed his body, and the aftershocks of a few punches also affected him.

Teruyuki Ohta could no longer maintain his stealth technique, and his figure was exposed in front of him.

Miao Yan Zhenren, who was steadily following behind, suddenly sped up.

Xu Yuan hurriedly followed.

When Master Miaoyan caught up with Zang Tianlan and was only a dozen feet away from the assassin, she suddenly pointed her finger forward!
There are words in his mouth.

Xu Yuan's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, "They're here!"

"Click——"

A blinding bolt of lightning tore through the darkness in the sky!

The extremely powerful and yang thunder magic startled all the evil spirits within a radius of dozens of miles, causing them to lie dormant on the ground, trembling and afraid to move.

The lightning strike accurately hit the frantically fleeing assassin in front.

The assassin's entire body shone with light, making it seem as if his bones were clearly visible...

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zang Tianlan leaped forward, opened his hand, and grabbed the assassin. *Snap!*

The assassin's neck was snapped.

Zang Tianlan immediately sensed something was wrong, and with a flick of his hand, a scabbard-like corpse fell to the side.

Zang Tianlan pushed his Horizontal Eye to its limit, searching everywhere in the night, but he could no longer find any trace of the assassin!
As Xu Yuan caught up, he flicked his wrist and released the "Ten Thousand Souls Cloth".

The handkerchief flew up and kept growing larger, covering an area of ​​hundreds of feet. Below, yin energy rolled in, and ghostly soldiers attacked from all directions.

But in the end, Xu Yuan shook his head: "They ran away."

Although the third-rate "low-level ninjutsu" was no match for Zang Tianlan, he still managed to let him escape through strange means.

Xu Yuan flicked out the animal sinew rope, wrapped it around the leather corpse beside him, and lifted it up.

"It wasn't entirely fruitless."

The body did indeed belong to the assassin; only the soul escaped.

Moreover, this treacherous technique of his must also cause him great harm.

Xu Yuan controlled the animal sinew rope and shook the corpse vigorously, causing several valuable items to fall down. Master Xu immediately beamed with joy.

……

Teruyuki Ota's knife-sharpening stand was kept in the room.

One of the items was a small copper basin, which was used to wet the whetstone and clean it when sharpening knives and scissors.

Before leaving the house, Teruyuki Ota had already filled a small copper basin with water and placed it under the bed.

The surface of the water in the copper basin suddenly rippled, and the clear water made a gurgling sound. Suddenly, something emerged from the water!
It crawled out from under the bed, all wet, then climbed over to the carrying pole and burrowed into the box.

"Creak, creak, creak—"

Strange noises came from the box, then the lid was pushed open, and a paper figure stiffly stood up from inside.

Ohta Teruyu was very careful; he couldn't tear the paper figure, otherwise even if he pasted it back on, it would still leak out yin energy.

Every bit of leakage weakens his soul.

If too much leakage occurs, he will be unable to possess another body and will become a lonely, wandering ghost.

He unleashed a string of vicious curses in Japanese, all directed at that three-star Chunin!
Even if he could find a suitable body to possess in the shortest amount of time, his level would definitely drop.

Moreover, during tonight's operation, apart from the copper basin and the paper figure, all his other artifacts, which he had brought with him, were left on that body, essentially giving them to the enemy!
If he had known there was a third-rate martial artist present, he would never have acted rashly.

"They'll probably start searching the city first thing tomorrow morning. We can't stay here." Ōta Teruyuki made his decision: "We'll leave at dawn!"

We can't go out now, or Xu Yuan might catch us!

……

Xu Yuan did indeed return to the city immediately, flying through the night sky on his fiery wheels.

The assassin's soul escaped, but a soul cannot be without a place to reside.

In other words, the thing that protects his soul must be in the county town.

But after a long inspection, nothing suspicious was found.

It scared the little evil spirits in the city half to death.

Chang County is not far from Beidu, and there are no large uncivilized areas nearby. The evil spirits in the city all infiltrated from the turbid world.

The great evil spirits are all hiding in the turbid realm.

Suddenly, a fourth-rate alchemist appeared, flying through the sky on the fire within his abdomen—they mistook him for someone coming to annihilate them.

Xu Yuan didn't bother returning to the inn. Instead, he waited until dawn and then landed directly at the entrance of the county government office.

At daybreak, he pounded on the gates of the county government office and woke up the county magistrate: "Seal off all four gates and search!"

The task of finding the assassin will be handled by the county government.

Wenren Luo examined the items found on the corpse last night and confirmed that they were remnants of the Fusang sect, likely members of the Qianlong Society.

The assassin carried three crafted items, all of which were of fourth-rate quality.

Even the blade that Zang Tianlan broke with a single punch was only a fourth-rate weapon.

Zang Tianlan looked down on them and didn't like using these strange and unusual artifacts; he had more faith in his own abilities.

So Xu Yuan, Miao Yan Zhenren, and Wenren Luo each received one of the three crafted items.

Xu Yuan chose a wooden ghost mask.

Three small swords were embedded in the back of the demon mask.

Wearing this mask allows one to transform into a fourth-rate demon and wield those three swords.

Each of the three swords possesses its own power.

However, this artifact has a major problem: once you wear it, you will feel that your name is "Ōtakemaru".

You can't use it for too long, more than 15 minutes, or you'll completely lose yourself and really turn into "Ootakemaru"!
But those three swords were indeed very powerful.

The three swords can slay humans, ghosts, and weapons respectively!

The so-called "tools" naturally refer to various crafts, treasures, and auspicious objects.

Anyone below the fourth rank can be killed with a single blow!
Those of the fourth rank or above cannot be harmed in the slightest.

Xu Yuan chose this item because "Dreams Come True" was nearby, rubbing against him with its carriage body, and then the carriage shaft touched this crafted object.

Xu Yuan chose it and casually hung it on the car window.

Afterwards, Xu Yuan went to the Li residence, but instead of Li Ken, he went to see Lei's old woman.

When Lei's mother heard that Mr. Lin had identified her son as having been married to Consort Yi, she was completely stunned.

"Absolutely not, how could I not know whether my son is married or not..."

She began to doubt Xu Yuan again: "You're not trying to trick this old woman, are you? Mr. Lin has been dead for almost seven years..."

Xu Yuan didn't say a word more, and immediately unrolled the scroll, releasing Mr. Lin's soul.

With a gurgling sound, Granny Lei's eyes rolled back and she fainted.

Lord Xu was secretly pleased, feeling that he had gained some experience in dealing with this kind of shrew.

Although evil spirits are everywhere, ordinary people are still terrified when they see ghosts.

After a while, Granny Lei slowly woke up, and Xu Yuan pointed at Mr. Lin's spirit: "Mr. Lin has come to confront you..."

Old Lady Lei trembled and almost fainted again from fright.

Fortunately, Lord Xu's final words were "confrontation" rather than "taking a life."

But as the confrontation progressed, Lei's old woman's fierce temper returned, suppressing her fear of ghosts.

With one hand on her lower back and the other poking Mr. Lin’s nose, she said in a voice that could lift the roof off: “You old geezer, you’re dead and you still have to come out and harm people.”

My son is your own student, how could you harm him like this?

He and that lowly...that imperial concubine from the Li family, they only ever talked on a daily basis!

You said we were all there at the time? I'll call everyone here for you right now, they can all testify for my son!

If I prove you're lying, I'll smear your face with menstrual pads! I'll make sure you never get to be reborn!

I knew you were no good from the start. I don't know what kind of spell you cast on my son, but he insisted on following your example.

Other teachers only charge two taels of silver a year for tuition, but you charge five taels. I said right then and there that you were a swindler!
"Every month I'll give you a piece of meat and two jugs of wine. Are you a starving ghost reincarnated? You're short of a bite of meat!"

The more she talked, the angrier she became. With a howl, Old Lady Lei pounced on Mr. Hua Lin, trying to scratch his face, completely forgetting that he had no body.

Even as a ghost, Mr. Lin trembled with rage: "You, you, you...you've disgraced scholars!"

Xu Yuan observed coldly, and it seemed that the old woman from the Lei family was not lying.

Although she was feisty, she seemed genuinely angry.

That's strange. Whether someone is married or not should be something they would never forget...

Xu Yuan also thought of something else, which Lei's wife had just mentioned: Mr. Lin had been dead for seven years—seven years ago, right after he died, someone sent his soul into a painting.

It seems that this was all for the purpose of releasing him now as a witness?
Wasn't that person far too scheming back then?

Regardless of what the old woman from the Lei family said, Xu Yuan still went to the elders of the Lei and Li families to confirm it one by one.

Moreover, in Mr. Lin's memory, all the elders from both sides who were present, except for two who had passed away, were present.

If these people conspire to lie, Xu Yuan believes he will eventually see through them.

But not a single person revealed a flaw!

These people were all furious, stating that they had never attended Lei Chengyuan and Li's second sister's wedding.

Xu Yuan felt that, given the current situation, the most likely explanation was...

Like Imperial Censor Dai, Mr. Lin's soul had his memories altered!
Logically speaking, since Xu Yuan had already examined Mr. Lin's soul, if his memories had been altered, Xu Yuan should have been able to discern some clues.

But Mr. Lin died seven years ago, a full seven years, enough time for the person behind the scenes to do it flawlessly!
After checking the elders of both families, Xu Yuan returned to the county government office, where he ran into the county magistrate.

The entire city was searched but no one was caught. However, the county magistrate had something else to report to Lord Xu: "Your Excellency previously ordered me to investigate the whereabouts of Imperial Censor Dai in Chang County. There were some strange things that I need to report to Your Excellency."

Xu Yuan immediately stopped in his tracks: "Speak."

“Censor Dai lives in the backyard of the county government office; otherwise, it would be really difficult to investigate,” the county magistrate explained, then added, “After Censor Dai arrived, he never left again…”

Xu Yuan frowned: "He came to Chang County to investigate the auspicious event, but he hasn't left?"

"That's right. The bailiffs at the front and back gates of the county government office have never seen him leave the county government office."

"How did he conduct the investigation?"

“He had a personal attendant named Dai Zhong who was always coming and going, bringing people to be questioned by the Censor.”

Xu Yuan: "When Imperial Censor Dai came to Chang County, how many people accompanied him?"

"Only this Dai Zhong."

Xu Yuan immediately turned and headed towards the inn. Once inside, he said to Zang Tianlan, "Senior brother, accompany me on another trip to Quyang Prefecture!"

"it is good."

Chang County is normally half a day's journey from Quyang Prefecture, but the two traveled at full speed and arrived in just one hour.

It was lunchtime.

Xu Yuan went straight to the branch office and found Imperial Censor Dai.

"Could we please bring out Dai Zhong, the close attendant of the lord, for a question?"

Censor Dai was puzzled: "I have never had a servant named Dai Zhong by my side."

Xu Yuan said, "Just as I thought!"

It's not simply a matter of erasing Dai Zhong's memories from Imperial Censor Dai's mind.

It's likely that Imperial Censor Dai was caught in the trap from the very beginning.

This "Dai Zhong" was not Dai Yushi's follower at all.

It is likely that everything that Imperial Censor Dai did in Chang County was controlled by this "Dai Zhong".

Zang Tianlan said, "Go back and ask a highly skilled scholar to work with the constables to draw a portrait of Dai Zhong and issue a warrant for his arrest!"

Xu Yuan gently shook his head: "He may not actually be using his appearance."

Imperial Censor Dai also felt helpless: "Then what do we do now?"

Xu Yuan glanced at Imperial Censor Dai and suddenly said, "It seems that I have no choice but to borrow Imperial Censor Dai's life."

The mastermind behind this has a far-reaching plan, but now the key evidence of "Mr. Lin's soul" is in the hands of Imperial Censor Dai, who is also a crucial "witness".

If Imperial Censor Dai were to suddenly die, would the people behind the scenes worry that their scheme would come to nothing and take some action?

(End of this chapter)