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Chapter 237 Discussion (4000 words)
The blade was incredibly fast, seemingly covering several meters in the blink of an eye, heading straight for Zhou You's throat!

Unfortunately.

In Zhou You's eyes, this was still too slow.

He was a master of wielding a fast sword. No matter how fast this attacker was, could he be faster than Xuan Yuan Daoist or the Sumeru Sword Technique?

However, Zhou You did not reach for his sword—nor did he need to—he shifted his body slightly to the side, dodging the most deadly blade, then tucked in his chest, leaned forward slightly, palms facing up, and then thrust forward with force!
With the blessing of all his magical powers, even if that person were a lead weight, he would fly away!

Otherwise.

What he touched was not flesh, but a layer of rippling waves.

It looks like it.
Spells?
Zhou You's eyes widened in surprise—having lived in the real world for so long, this was the first time he had ever personally seen someone with magic.

However, before he could speak, the man took advantage of the momentum and jumped back several steps, widening the distance again.

Zhou You wasn't disappointed.

Judging from what we just saw, this person, even if he has magical power, doesn't have much, and he only uses some crude spells, which are incomparable to the monsters and demons in the dungeon.

But.

In that brief exchange, the attacker realized that his skills were vastly inferior to Zhou You's, so he immediately changed his tactics.

Without hesitation, he pulled a gun from his waist.

A handgun gleaming with metallic light, of an older design, but clearly with the safety off and ready to be used at any time!
Zhou You was somewhat stunned.

Damn, is this the legendary "My lord, times have changed"?

But he immediately pursed his lips and then bent his waist slightly.

Normally, no matter how far apart you are, a gun is always faster than a person.

But the problem is, we're a fantasy enthusiast, not a science writer.

A gun is fast beyond seven paces, and accurate and fast within seven paces.

But now, I'll be faster!
The next moment, the other party pulled the trigger without hesitation.

In the previous instant, Duan Xie had already taken it out of the ring and then slashed forward horizontally!
If you were to watch it in slow motion, you could see the bullet shot out of the gun barrel amidst the smoke, but it encountered the blade of the demon midway—the copper cartridge case was split in two by the evil aura. Then, the blade continued its momentum, transforming into an invisible streak of light, and slashed straight toward the man's neck!

At this point, the man still wanted to resist. He threw down his gun, grabbed a dagger in his hand, and tried to lunge into Zhou You's arms—his posture at first glance seemed as if he wanted to fight to the death!
According to this person's thinking, although the opponent's strength far exceeded his own, as long as he could engage in close combat, he would have a chance to escape.

Unfortunately, the moment he made that movement, he felt a chilling coldness on his neck.

...The sword is so fast that it is almost a divine skill.

...Those bastards actually managed to bring in such outside help; it's no wonder they lost.

but.

I won't let you have your way!

The man tilted his head, intending to charge straight at the sword's edge—

next moment.

What appeared was not the gushing blood, but just a wisp of air.

The man froze instantly.

Where's the sword? Where did that huge sword go?

However, the only response he received was a knee that suddenly rose.

He was struck hard in the abdomen and instinctively bent over—although he immediately suppressed the urge to vomit and tried to stand up, the subsequent elbow strike was the last straw, causing him to fall to the ground.

Even so, the man did not give in. Even with his entire body pinned down, he still raised his head and shouted with eyes wide open.

"You damned Ascension Sect, don't think this is the end of it. Bring on whatever torture you want, but remember this: even if I become a ghost, I won't let you go."

Someone simply asked a question.

"Han Ruiming?"

"That's your grandfather, you son of a bitch."

Unexpectedly.

The hand that was pressing down on him released itself cleanly and decisively.

"Don't misunderstand, I have no ill intentions—or rather, I myself came here for that 'Ascension to Immortality' sect."
-
In one of the rooms of the house, the two sat on opposite sides.

The stools were really old, one of them was missing a leg, and it stood crookedly on the ground, making it uncomfortable to sit on no matter how you sat on it.

Zhou You was sitting on it, carefully observing the person opposite him.

—With gray hair, a weathered face, and a not-so-clean short-sleeved shirt, he looked like an ordinary old man from the village.

Only his lips were tightly pursed into a straight line, like a sharp dagger.

The old man was also sizing up Zhou You.

Finally, he spoke first.

"Name."

"Travel around".

"age."

"...twenty-something."

Ancestral home.

"Katsumi City."

Current residence

"Sir, are you interrogating a criminal? Are you going to ask me about my hobbies, work location, and stuff afterward?"

Zhou You crossed his legs and said with a hint of dissatisfaction—since he couldn't find a comfortable position after trying several different ones, he simply used the three-legged stool as a rocking chair and started rocking back and forth.

The little ghost girl lay on his head, looking at the old man cautiously and somewhat timidly.

"Sorry, it's just a professional habit."

Although he said he was sorry, the old man didn't seem embarrassed at all. He held a serrated dagger in one hand and had his other hand on the trigger of a pistol, as if he was ready to strike again at any moment.

"But to be honest, you have to be careful when you get old, especially since I've offended too many people. Don't you think so, Mr. 'Reporter'?"

He emphasized the word "reporter" with a sarcastic tone.

Even though his lie was exposed, Zhou You didn't look embarrassed at all. He continued to enjoy the rocking chair while speaking sincerely.

"I didn't expect that you, Master Han, who lives in such a remote place, would be so well-informed. Yes, that identity was indeed something I made up, but I didn't lie to you about anything else. I came here to ask you about that so-called Ascension Sect."

Unexpectedly, his words were interrupted by Han Ruiming.

Why are you inquiring about this sect?

Zhou You casually remarked.

"Well, I've recently been targeted by this sect. Although it's not too dangerous, it's still quite troublesome. So I'm seeing if we can find a way to eliminate it once and for all, like wiping out the whole family."

Ignoring Zhou You's ambiguous joke, Han Ruiming suddenly spoke.

"Is your girlfriend very beautiful?"

Wait a minute, what's this problem?

"I've been single for over twenty years and have never even seen what a girlfriend looks like."

"So your little sister is very pretty?"

"The only son in the family."

"Could it be that your mother is very beautiful?" "My parents died early, and I've forgotten what my mother looks like."

Upon hearing this, Han Ruiming suddenly laughed.

"You have neither a pretty girlfriend, nor a pretty younger sister, nor a pretty mother, so why did the Ascension Sect target you?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou You was not annoyed at all; instead, his smile became even brighter.

—It seems I've found the right place.

Just as he was about to say something, there was a knock on the door of the old house.

The old man's first thought was to pull the trigger of the pistol.

"your people?"

However, Zhou You was happily rocking back and forth, and answered casually.

"What do you mean, 'my people'? I only came into the village today—oh wait, I mean, alone. All the villagers can be witnesses. Are you sure this isn't looking for you?"

The old man stared at the face for a long time, but still couldn't see anything unusual, before standing up and walking towards the door.

As Zhou You watched the departing figure, his eyes lowered somewhat.

Now it seems there are two suspicious points about Han Ruiming.

First, considering the age he retired back then, he would be at most fifty or sixty years old now. How could he look so old, like an old man over seventy?

Second, aside from the trap in the archives, this is the first modern person I've ever seen who can use magic, although it's extremely rudimentary and crude. Where did he learn it from?

However, Zhou You didn't rush to ask. He simply called to the little female ghost sitting on his shoulder, telling her to quickly shrink back to the corner of the table when she saw something was wrong. Then he took out the Evil-Slaying Blade from his ring and continued to shake it.

You know what, it's actually quite fun.

A few minutes later, a loud argument broke out, and the noise outside suddenly subsided.

Han Ruiming quickly returned.

Zhou You raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"Captain Han, this is definitely not one of the people I brought, is it?"

Han Ruiming's old face was icy cold. He ignored Zhou You and instead took out a hand-rolled cigarette from his shirt pocket, put it in his mouth, and lit it.

He inhaled the coarse smoke into his lungs and then exhaled it, but halfway through, he suddenly coughed again—but he quickly managed to suppress it with his willpower and then extinguished the cigarette butt on the side.

"I've deliberately made enemies with them all these years, why are there still people blind enough to come along? Forget it, stop shaking it, the creaking is annoying—and what's your name again?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou You stopped sitting up and then laughed.

"Captain Han, you look like you're several generations older than me. If you don't mind, you can call me Young Friend Zhou."

The other party's attitude remained unchanged, showing no signs of softening and remaining stubbornly defiant.

"Zhou You, right? Judging from your appearance, you're not one of those cult members—not to mention, if you had wanted to, I would have already killed you here. It's easy to get disturbed here. Come with me first."

After saying this, Han Ruiming ignored Zhou You's reaction and dragged his somewhat heavy steps into the room.

Zhou You shrugged, then picked up the Broken Blade and followed the other person.
-
The old house was much larger than it appeared from the outside.

Han Ruiming led the way through a maze of turns, with Zhou You following closely behind. As they ventured deeper into the area, the surrounding light grew increasingly dim.

It felt as if I had personally walked into a den of demons.

Zhou You remained relatively calm.

Not only did he never sense any evil aura from the old man, but the Demon Slayer also failed to issue any warning after it was taken out.

He even felt a vague sense of closeness to him—a feeling he had only ever seen in a handful of people, including Zhengde, Xuanyuan Zhenren, and Lu Ping.

This is really interesting.

A few minutes later, Han Ruiping walked to an unremarkable hall.

He knocked around a few times, then exerted force on a certain edge, actually lifting up a section of the floorboards and revealing a very well-hidden hole.

"Alright, that's enough. Let's talk about it downstairs."

Zhou You peered inside, and his expression immediately became quite interesting.

"Holy crap, old man, you've got guts! You actually dug out an underground base in this middle of nowhere?"

Han Ruiming said casually.

"After all, I've always been fighting against many enemies, and the enemy is in the dark while I'm in the light. If I'm not prepared, it's easy for something to go wrong."

After fumbling to turn on the lights, the old man went down the stairs.

Zhou You followed suit.

however.

The moment he entered, his brows suddenly furrowed.

There was a faint smell of blood in the room, though it had been masked, but it couldn't escape his heightened senses.

However, Duan Xie began to tremble with interest at the smell, as if he wanted to punish the source of the problem.

This old man must have killed someone recently, but it was probably a villain.

Forget it, what's it to me? I'm not a policeman. If he were to indiscriminately kill innocent Taoist priests, I would definitely have to intervene. Why should I meddle in matters of justice and eliminating evil?

Zhou You walked into the underground area with a clear conscience, then looked around.

It was a very simple and rudimentary settlement, with only the bare necessities for survival, but two things stood out conspicuously.

One was a delivery table that had been moved from somewhere, and it seemed the old man was using it as a torture device. The other was a very conspicuous photograph hanging on the wall.

One of the strikingly beautiful women was dressed in a police uniform, with a vibrant sea of ​​flowers behind her. She stood tall and smiled sweetly.

Before the photo, a clean spot was specially cleared out, where several freshly picked, still delicate flowers were placed.

Based on the information we have gathered so far, the reasons behind it are quite clear.

"Cough cough cough cough, please sit down first."

The old man struggled to pull down the gate, then, suppressing a cough, pointed to the only chair in the room.

"Let's start from the beginning—how did you learn about me?"

Zhou You thought for a moment, then took out the file that showed no signs of abnormality from his bag and casually tossed it over.

"This is Ali's previous investigation file? You actually managed to break the sacrificial ritual of the Corpse Blood Desolate God on it!?"

Hearing Han Ruiming's astonished words, Zhou You was also somewhat surprised.

Is that thing really that awesome?

However, after glancing at the Duanxie in Zhou You's hand and recalling the lightning-fast exchange just now, Han Ruiming seemed to understand something. He nodded, his tone finally softening slightly.

"This case file was transferred from the General Administration to the Archives some time ago. I wanted to retrieve it as soon as I heard the news, but unfortunately, after sneaking in, I found it was a trap, so I had no choice but to return it. Thank you very much."

The old man seemed very uncomfortable with thanking people. After struggling for a long time to barely manage to utter this sentence, he spoke again.

"By the way, didn't you want me to ask about this sect? No problem, since we're partners, I can tell you anything."

"This so-called 'Gate of Ascension' is not actually called that. Its original name is Salammosh, which is a language from a small place. It translates to: the path to the sky, which is also known as becoming a god."

"But their path to godhood is filled with utterly disgusting bloodshed—I can tell you definitively that the serial murders in this city recently, and even the disappearances a few days ago, were all orchestrated by them."

"—And as you probably guessed, the writer of this file is my daughter. And she, too, died tragically at the hands of this sect."

　Damn, I just saw someone else get warned. This suspense is really something – you can't write about the bizarre or the police. To avoid getting into trouble myself, I have to change the plot again. Tomorrow's update might be an hour or two late, but I won't skip it. Please forgive me.

　　Let's get straight to the point with the second volume, and move directly into the genre of supernatural tales and chivalrous adventures. That way we can avoid getting censored again.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)