Chapter 53: Fierce Battle, Decisive Slay

Blood—scarlet blood was spraying everywhere!

In my world, there was no room for anything but slaughter and bloodshed.

I had only one thought: kill!

Kill these beasts, wipe out these scum!

In four rooms on the third floor, thirty-one lives vanished into nothingness beneath the Blood Fiend Blade.

At this moment, even without channeling any magic, my Blood Fiend Blade was wreathed in a murderous red aura, its savagery palpable.

Step by step, I descended the stairs toward the second floor.

There were three rooms on the second floor. In the largest one, Huo Xingyu was sleeping soundly.

A pillar stood in the room, and tied to it was a naked young woman. Her mouth was stuffed with a filthy rag, her body covered with bruises and welts, evidence of severe torment.

Click.

I twisted open the door and entered, blade in hand.

At that moment, in a room opposite, an old man sat cross-legged, eyes closed, power swirling around him.

Drip. Drip.

Suddenly, the old man’s eyes snapped open. He looked up and saw blood dripping from the ceiling, one drop after another.

A chill gripped his heart. He leapt up, rushing straight into the room opposite.

By then, my Blood Fiend Blade had become a streak of crimson lightning, stabbing directly for Huo Xingyu’s throat.

I recognized him instantly—somewhat to my surprise. I'd learned of a “Young Master Huo” from the memory fragments of Tan Quanwen, that heretic, but hadn’t expected him to be here.

The reason heretical cults are so persistent is largely because those ensnared by them are poorly educated, lack discernment, and have narrow worldviews. The Huo family, being an influential clan enjoying considerable social resources and even privileges, had no reason to be involved with a cult… or so I’d thought.

Despite my doubts, I showed no hesitation. Whatever his reasons, he could confess them in hell.

Just then, a low growl sounded behind me, and a fierce gust swept toward the back of my neck.

Every hair on my body stood on end. I twisted aside just in time.

A blade skimmed my neck, its cold biting to the marrow.

At the same moment, my Blood Fiend Blade swept past Huo Xingyu’s throat, only grazing the skin—a result that left me regretful.

Huo Xingyu awoke in terror, reaching up to touch his neck. Seeing his bloodied hand, he let out a frantic scream.

“Elder Lin! Save me!” Huo Xingyu shrieked in panic.

Elder Lin stepped in front of Huo Xingyu, eyes locked on me, saying without turning his head, “Young Master Huo, do not panic. It’s only a superficial wound.”

I narrowed my eyes, my body taut as a bowstring, hastily absorbing the energy from the Underworld Crystal I’d placed on myself earlier, rapidly replenishing my depleted power.

Yet this Elder Lin was clearly a level above me—at least a fourth-rank Yin-Yang Master.

At that moment, four others entered, each radiating considerable power, with over a dozen more surrounding the place outside.

I cursed inwardly—where was Nightingale?

“Elder Lin, kill him! He knows my identity!” Huo Xingyu cried, recognizing me.

“You four hold the formation. I’ll butcher him myself,” said Elder Lin.

The four took positions at the cardinal points, cutting off all escape.

I drew a deep breath and raised my blade, letting the killing aura of the Blood Fiend Blade rise.

My murderous intent and the blade’s bloodthirsty energy made Elder Lin and the four experts blanch in fear.

“Ha!”

Elder Lin dared not let me gather more force—such tangible killing intent had already placed him under immense pressure.

He roared, leaped up like a hawk swooping on a rabbit, and his blade shimmered with a ghostly light, one arc slashing for my neck, the other for my legs.

I employed the Ghost Step from the Great Nether Yin-Yang Art to evade the lower blow, parrying the upper strike with my Blood Fiend Blade.

Clang! My arms went numb; the power in Elder Lin’s blade was clearly superior.

But I did not retreat. Gripping my blade with both hands, I slashed forward, pressing on with unstoppable force.

My murderous intent surged, as if forming a mountain, shaking the soul.

Elder Lin’s heart quaked, and terror rose from the depths of his being. For an instant, his energy faltered, his body responding a beat too slow.

By the time he recovered, all he could see was a wash of blood-red.

Panic-stricken, he abandoned his blade and clapped his hands together, catching my Blood Fiend Blade just before it struck his forehead.

“Die!” I roared, layers of killing intent condensing into an unstoppable force.

Elder Lin’s eyes bulged. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning crackled between his hands.

My body seized up, electricity surging through me, even my heart numbed and ceasing to beat.

“Palm Lightning!”

The name flashed through my mind as my consciousness grew fuzzy.

Just then, the Nether Dragon’s Eye at my chest suddenly burned hot, drawing away the current in an instant.

My pupils, losing focus, suddenly shone with clarity. I summoned the flood dragon’s soul.

Reluctantly, the dragon soul surged forth, merging with my Blood Fiend Blade.

In a flash, the illusion of the dragon howled along the blade, its power multiplying.

The four formation holders saw disaster looming and lunged at me.

“Die!”

I ignored them altogether, roaring as my Blood Fiend Blade tore free from Elder Lin’s lightning-wreathed hands and cleaved into his forehead.

Elder Lin stared in disbelief as death froze his expression, his face turning ashen.

He would never understand how, as a fourth-rank Yin-Yang Master, he could fall to me—a full rank below him.

Attacks struck my back, but I could only twist away slightly, barely avoiding a fatal blow as cold steel slashed across my back, trailing beads of blood.

A scream rang out—the head of one assailant flew high, blood erupting from his neck like a fountain.

Nightingale appeared like a wraith, decapitating the one who’d wounded me and swiftly knocking out the remaining three.

Without hesitation, I drove my blade toward the now-deathly pale Huo Xingyu.

“Qin Feng, stay your hand!” Nightingale shouted urgently.

My Blood Fiend Blade abruptly twisted, spinning away from Huo Xingyu’s throat and slicing rapidly across his groin.

Swish.

Blood blossomed instantly, and Huo Xingyu screamed like a slaughtered pig.

“Qin Feng, didn’t I tell you to stop?” Nightingale scolded, frowning elegantly.

“You told me to spare his life—I did. But you know I’m not strong enough to control my strikes perfectly. Oops, looks like I crushed his eggs. Damn, now it’ll take days to disinfect this,” I said coolly, flicking the blood from my blade.

Nightingale sighed helplessly. “His identity is a bit complicated. This could cause trouble.”

I said nothing, busy searching Elder Lin’s body.

He was even poorer than the hall master—I found only a jade slip and a few low-level talismans.

“The rest you killed, so the spoils are yours. And there must be more prisoners here—I heard that hall master, Tan Quanwen, on the phone talking about whipping souls and collecting resentment,” I remarked.

“Take care of your wound first,” Nightingale said, pressing me down and applying medicinal powder to my wound.

Then, together, we subdued everyone else in the building and found an entrance to an underground passage.

In a large secret chamber below, we witnessed a scene of unspeakable horror.

Three to four hundred people hung from iron chains, their bodies cut and bleeding slowly, the blood flowing into a massive ritual array.

Below, dozens of Manichean cultists lashed them with double-sided barbed whips.

Over half were already dead, their souls trapped by resentment, unable to disperse. The cultists kept whipping the corpses to intensify the resentment.

Face grim, I rushed forward and killed two cultists, but Nightingale pulled me back.

“Qin Feng, you’re letting the killing consume you. If you go on, you’ll fall to the demonic path—then you’ll slaughter indiscriminately, no different from these monsters.” As she spoke, she pressed a Calming Talisman to my forehead.

A cooling energy entered my mind, and my murderous urge gradually subsided. I was deeply shocked; I truly had almost lost control.

After a moment’s silence, I said, “Thank you. I’ll leave this to you—I need to restore Xu Bao’er’s two wandering souls.”

Nightingale looked at me, reached out and touched my face. “I won’t stop you, but after you’re done, treat your wound thoroughly and visit Tranquil Heart Nunnery. Seek Abbess Jingyue—she can help you purge the baleful aura from your body. We’re acquainted; I’ll let her know you’re coming.”

I nodded, donned a coat to conceal my bloody back, and left.

After I’d gone, Nightingale murmured, “I owed Abbess Jingyue a favor—now I’ll have to use it. Ah well, maybe one day this boy’s favor will be worth more than the abbess’s.”

By the time I arrived at the Xu residence, it was nearly noon.

At my appearance, Xu Baoguo’s face turned deathly pale and he staggered backward. The two maids collapsed to the ground in terror.

The murderous aura around me was too strong. Though I tried to restrain it, to ordinary people, I must have seemed a demon.

I took a deep breath, affixed a Concealing Talisman to myself, and finally suppressed the baleful energy.

“Master Qin, what about Bao’er?” Xu Baoguo ventured.

“I’ve found her. I’ll now perform the ritual to restore her two souls. Go draw the curtains in her room—don’t let a sliver of light in,” I instructed.

Xu Baoguo hurried to comply, covering the windows with thick black drapes to ensure no light could enter.

In the pitch-black room, I lit two candles, placing them at either bedside table.

Then I produced the Soul Nurturing Artifact and released Xu Bao’er’s two drifting souls.

“Heaven and earth without bounds, soul return to flesh—attend my summons!” I chanted, driving a Soul Guiding Needle into Xu Bao’er’s celestial point.

“Xu Bao’er, return to your body at once!” I intoned.

Suddenly, the two confused wisps of soul, drawn by instinct, drifted into her body.