The man’s body halted, feeling his whole body rigid as if frozen, while he cried out internally, "Body-Freezing Curse! It’s actually the Body-Freezing Curse!"
His face distorted in anger as the True Qi within him surged violently, attempting to break through the spell.
Just as he was about to break through the Body-Freezing Curse and raise his hand, a blinding flash of blade appeared before him.
Within the blade’s flash, a tiger roared, and a fierce gale cut through. The next moment, he only felt a chill on his neck...
His head rolled off, and blood spurted into the sky.
"Caw—caw—caw—" A night owl was startled, circling in the air.
Lu Zheng stood leaning on his sword, his body drenched in blood, but of course, it was all from the opponent.
As for his opponent’s Divine Soul, without the protection of a physical body, it was shredded directly by Lu Zheng’s Blood Qi Blade Light, scattering like smoke.
The Mind Jade Seal trembled, and as expected, he harvested dozens of strands of the Light of Fortune once again.
"Body-Freezing Curse!" Yuan Jing was dumbfounded.
Lu Zheng hasn’t even been a disciple for a year, yet he’s already learned the Body-Freezing Curse?
Though he could only freeze a Southern Border Wizard for an instant now, that’s just a matter of cultivation; it’d inevitably grow stronger in the future. After all, the biggest difference with a spell like the Body-Freezing Curse isn’t how powerful it is, but whether one can use it at all.
Yuan Jing tried to recall how many seniors in the White Cloud Temple were proficient in the Body-Freezing Curse?
Liu Qingyan rushed to Lu Zheng’s side, unconcerned about the blood and grime on Lu Zheng, just supporting him and looking at the strands of black aura and blood light flashing over his body with a heart full of worry.
"It’s fine." Lu Zheng shook his head, waving his hand to indicate that Liu Qingyan needn’t worry. "I can dispel it."
These two spells, while sinister and strange, had already been weakened to less than thirty percent in strength due to the Golden Light Curse’s erosion, now dissipating under the True Qi within his body.
Liu Qingyan’s eyes filled with tears, but she only shook her head.
"By the way." Lu Zheng blinked, about to ask why Elder Liu and the others weren’t knocked out by the seductive fragrance, when he saw Liu Qingyan open her mouth, from which a red, thumb-sized elixir pill, emitting a medicinal aroma, floated out, stopping an inch above her hand, suspending in the air.
Yuan Jing: !!!∑(°Д°ノ)ノ
Elder Liu, Madam Liu, and the two old servants exchanged glances, not expecting Liu Qingyan to reveal such a card casually.
Liu Qingquan blinked, looking at Lu Zheng, then at Yuan Jing, before quietly slipping behind Elder Liu.
"Lu Lang, open your mouth!"
Lu Zheng instinctively opened his mouth, then that elixir pill flew into his mouth. As its medicinal powers mixed with spiritual power merged into his body, the curse marks within him rapidly dissolved.
A moment later, Lu Zheng was fully healed.
Opening his mouth, the elixir pill flew back out, returning to Liu Qingyan’s mouth.
Lu Zheng stared dumbfounded at Liu Qingyan.
Liu Qingyan blushed deeply, her expression both apprehensive and shy. When her gaze met Lu Zheng’s, she fled like a startled rabbit.
The scene was awkward for a moment, despite the blood-stained courtyard, a wave of ambiguous emotions rippled through the air.
It was Yuan Jing who broke the atmosphere, of course.
"Merit spreads around, a hundred medicines forge the Red Pill," Yuan Jing murmured, "Miss Liu, you’re quite remarkable!"
"I... Lu Lang... That... actually..."
Then Lu Zheng, in a swift motion, kissed Liu Qingyan’s soft, fair cheek. "Thank you, Qingyan, I’m better now."
Liu Qingyan’s face blushed once more, and a wave of heat arose in the air that had not yet cooled above her head.
But that light peck also relaxed the Liu Family completely.
"Let’s tidy up the courtyard first." Lu Zheng rubbed his hands, his tone very natural. "Tonight’s incident shouldn’t be reported; I’ll go find Chief Liu privately tomorrow."
"Yes, yes, yes, Liu San, Liu Wu, quickly help out!" Elder Liu nodded urgently.
The Liu family’s two old servants exchanged looks, thinking to themselves that even Elder Liu was becoming senile. With so many bodies, how were they supposed to dispose of them?
Should they grind the bones to dust or bury them deep? Besides, they didn’t eat humans...
"Wait a moment, I’ll go get some Corpse-Dissolving Powder." Lu Zheng said, then added, "It’s from those people from the Golden Extinction Hall last time."
Now that he knew the Liu Family wasn’t ordinary, Lu Zheng didn’t mind being open about it.
Leaping over the wall and returning just as swiftly, besides the Corpse-Dissolving Powder, Lu Zheng carried a bundle.
With the Corpse-Dissolving Powder, Lu Zheng dissolved the eight bodies into puddles of filthy water, while Liu San and Liu Wu rinsed it away with stored water, thoroughly washing away the blood and grime. In the end, only the man’s corpse remained.
"This guy should be the Southern Border Wizard. I’ll take his body to Chief Liu tomorrow." Lu Zheng said.
At this point, the man’s death had already undone the Painted Skin Technique. A human skin lay stretched on the ground, separated from the headless corpse, revealing the true form of an old man with white hair, a gaunt figure, and a sinister face.
"Southern Border Wizard?" The Liu Family looked bewildered. "What does he do?"
Then Lu Zheng briefly explained the matter regarding the Southern Border Wizard.
Elder Liu smacked his lips and shook his head, saying, "Healing and saving people, doing good deeds could make you a target, life just can’t go on ."
These words were tough to respond to, mainly because there were no official personnel present, and there was no need to save face for the Great Jing Dynasty. Rather than regretting why they were targeted, it was better to see what spoils were gained.
Lu Zheng first picked up the bracelet that had fallen on the ground. It was a wooden bracelet, with a total of twenty-two beads, each engraved with the same style of rune curse seal. Lu Zheng activated it with White Cloud True Qi, but there was no reaction.
"It should be a unique dharma artifact, only usable with the True Qi of their lineage." Yuan Jing explained.
"So it’s useless?" Lu Zheng frowned.
"Of course not, this bracelet has been nurtured for decades, its material is innately spiritual. As long as we erase their spell seal and engrave it with our White Cloud Temple’s talisman, after nurturing and refining it with True Qi for a period, it will naturally become our dharma artifact." Yuan Jing chuckled, "From the spell he cast earlier, this bracelet is most suited to engrave with the Golden Light Curse."
Lu Zheng’s eyes brightened, "Let’s see if there’s anything else valuable."
A moment later, they found a bone fragment, seven Treasure Leaf Talismans, and three bags of medicinal powder, with their specific uses unknown.
Lu Zheng regretted not finding any cultivation techniques or spells, which left the Light of Fortune in his mind with nothing to leverage.
Having finished rummaging the corpse, Lu Zheng placed the old man’s body and head together, drew a dog skin from his bundle, and as he performed hand seals, he draped the dog skin over the corpse.
In the next moment, the dog skin shrouded and tightened around the corpse, and after three breaths, it transformed into a seemingly genuine... dead dog.
"Beast Creation Technique?" Yuan Jing raised an eyebrow.
Lu Zheng nodded, "A few days ago, I caught a child trafficker and confiscated a book on the Beast Creation Technique. Since I had nothing to do these past few days, I learned it by the way."
Although the Beast Creation Technique isn’t a particularly high-end spell, Lu Zheng’s tone was really a bit...
With everything cleaned up, now it was the matter between the Liu Family and Lu Zheng.
Looking at Liu Qingyan, then at Lu Zheng, Yuan Jing rubbed his nose, chuckled, reached for the dead dog and the bundle, "You two chat, I’ll go back and rest first."
And without waiting for the others to speak, he jumped over the wall, followed by the sound of tossing the dead dog, then the sound of opening and closing the door.
Liu Family’s backyard.
Liu San and Liu Wu exchanged a glance, "We’re going to rest too."
Before the words settled, they had already transformed into two fading shadows darting back to the front courtyard’s wing room.
Lu Zheng grinned, good fellows, they sure didn’t bother to hide anything.
Elder Liu also bared his teeth, then turned to Lu Zheng, coughing twice, "Lu Lang..."
"Father." Liu Qingyan interrupted Elder Liu, "Let me speak with Lu Lang."
"Lu Lang, let’s go to the study."
In the study, the two sat facing each other.
Liu Qingyan’s gaze wandered, her breathing was quickened, her jade-like face flushed pink, her fingers twisting together. She opened her mouth several times, yet didn’t know what to say.
Lu Zheng remained silent, sitting there with a smile, watching Liu Qingyan with interest.
The more he looked, the redder Liu Qingyan’s face became.
The more he looked, the more flustered Liu Qingyan became.
"What are you looking at~"
"Just admiring your beauty~"
"Lu Lang~" Liu Qingyan playfully scolded, almost melting Lu Zheng with her charm.
Lu Zheng chuckled, then seriously inquired, "Did dispelling the spell seal on me take a toll on you?"
Liu Qingyan shook her head, "Not much, Qingyan’s Red Pill is best at treating various internal and external injuries, dispelling curses, restoring after two days, it doesn’t affect Qingyan."
Lu Zheng felt relieved at her words, smiled knowingly, straightened the oil lamp on the table, took the chessboard from the shelf behind him, picked up the two boxes of chess pieces, and said lightly, "Let’s chat while playing chess."
"Alright." Liu Qingyan smiled brightly, her eyebrows relaxed, her eyes twinkled, her lips curled up, bringing a slight lift to her nose, revealing a pair of small dimples, making her seem even more pure and lovely.
As they dropped their chess pieces casually, the atmosphere quickly eased.
"Back in the day, father was injured and saved by a physician with cultivation, who cared for him attentively. Hence, he followed the physician, learning medical skills, serving him closely, and even adopted the Liu surname from him."
"Later, when the physician passed away, father practiced medicine and treated patients under the guise of being the physician’s disciple, using the merit gained from saving lives to conceal his own presence."
"Then he met my mother, and that’s how he had me and Qingqun."
"Third Uncle Liu and Fifth Uncle Liu are actually my mother’s relatives."
"Father shared the Merit Qi among us, allowing us not to reveal demon qi at night, thus not being easily seen through by masters. However, in doing so, we couldn’t freely show our cultivation; doing so would pierce through the Merit Qi’s concealment."
"Since father and mother are originally from Wanfu County, our identities are known to the oddities around Wanfu County."
Liu Qingyan lightly bit her lip and dropped another chess piece, "One day, a demon wanted to marry me, I didn’t want that, father felt sympathy for me, so he moved us to Tonglin County."