Upon realizing that he was also involved in, Chu Yang nearly fainted.
He cast a resentful glance at Nanli.
But could he blame his sister?
Although Chu Hanlin forbade Nanli from rising early, she still woke up at the crack of dawn the next day and went to the training ground with her elder and fourth brothers.
Chu Yan didn’t pursue a military career, but he was still a member of the Chu family.
He couldn’t afford to be unable to wield a sword when the time came.
Therefore, he was forced to rise early as well.
Fortunately, Chu Yan had decent talent.
After practicing his horse stance in the early morning, he effortlessly mastered the swordsmanship taught by Chu Ye, leaving Chu Yang impressed.
Nanli thought to herself, luckily Second Brother went to Luoyang.
Otherwise, if he had to wake up at dawn, he would surely cry himself to sleep while clutching his blanket.
However, just as they were thinking about Chu Shuo, a letter from him arrived.
It was delivered by messengers who had traveled eight hundred li, changing horses and riders along the way.
Nanli opened the letter and couldn’t help but furrow her brows.
Seeing Nanli’s serious expression, Zhi Mi leaned over to take a look and was equally shocked.
"How could there be such a demonic presence?" Zhi Mi shivered slightly.
The letter described their return to Luoyang, where a demonic entity had appeared.
This entity would abduct a young girl every ten days and take them to its lair.
The governor initially didn’t believe in such things and led his troops to the mountain to exterminate it.
However, within a short period, the sounds of screams echoed continuously.
In the end, the governor managed to escape with a few soldiers, but he remained unconscious for several days.
When he woke up, he claimed that the entity on the mountain was a demon.
However, this time, the attempt to exterminate it had angered the entity.
It massacred an entire village as a warning and demanded that the governor send a young girl to the mountain every ten days.
Helpless, the governor had no choice but to comply.
Naturally, the common people were unwilling to send their own daughters, so the girls had to be selected from the residents of Luoyang.
Just a few days ago, it happened to be the turn of the Qian family’s daughter, who was Chu Shuo’s cousin.
The Qian family, being wealthy, paid three hundred taels of silver to have an old woman’s daughter replace the girl going up the mountain.
Although Chu Shuo thought it would be easier with money, he didn’t want to be involved in such matters.
He believed that his sixth sister was capable enough to deal with the demonic entity, so he immediately sent a letter.
This letter was from three days ago. There were still three days left until the servant girl would be sent up the mountain.
Nanli and Zhi Mi were shocked, not because they couldn’t handle the demonic entity, but because according to ancient texts, there had always been a cultivation world in this world.
Demonic entities were different from ghosts and spirits; most of them gained strength by absorbing human essence.
Thousands of years ago, under the leadership of an immortal, the cultivation world had exterminated most of the demonic entities, banishing the remaining ones to the wilderness.
Since then, there had been barriers between the cultivation world, the human world, and the wilderness.
As long as the human world remained stable, the cultivation world would not interfere.
However, the demonic entities that were originally banished to the wilderness had unexpectedly appeared in the human world.
Zhi Mi speculated, "Senior Sister, could there have been a mistake a thousand years ago?"
Although the temple had many texts on exorcism, Zhi Mi had only glanced at a few of them.
Alas, how could those cultivators have made a mistake?
He only knew how to deal with ghosts and exorcise evil spirits; he had no experience with demonic entities.
"It’s also possible that someone is pretending to be a demonic entity and causing harm. I need to go and see for myself," Nanli said.
The world had been plagued by war in the last days, and there was no shortage of grievances.
Some demonic entities relied on these grievances to be reborn.
She had fought against demonic entities before, but now that she had lost her spiritual pearl, she couldn’t use her spiritual power.
If it truly was a demonic entity, she didn’t know if she could defeat it.
"I’m going too!" Zhi Mi insisted.
"You haven’t dealt with demonic entities before, so it’s better if you don’t come with me. I have another important task for you to handle," Nanli said, explaining the task to Zhi Mi.
Zhi Mi furrowed his brows; he knew that Senior Sister didn’t want him to accompany her and face danger.
Thinking of Senior Sister’s formidable skills, he decided not to hinder her.
"Please take care, Senior Sister," Zhi Mi advised.
"Don’t worry," Nanli nodded.
With Zhi Mi’s assistance, she quickly packed her belongings.
After bidding farewell to the Shen family, she used a teleportation talisman to leave.
With her current level of cultivation, the teleportation talisman could take her about five li outside the city.
From there, she would buy a good horse at the inn and continue her journey.
She traveled day and night, finally arriving in Luoyang three days later.
Due to the presence of malevolent spirits, many households have already fled.
However, those with daughters dare not venture beyond the city walls, for they are intercepted and slain along the way.
After several failed attempts, no one dares to leave Luoyang with their daughters anymore.
Some heartless parents even abandon their daughters and slip away.
When the city guards saw Nanli, a young and beautiful maiden, approaching, they were startled.
One of them rubbed his eyes in disbelief and anxiously exclaimed, "Hey! Lady, why have you come to Luoyang?"
He hadn’t mistaken her; she was indeed a young and graceful lady.
Nanli understood his concerns and smiled gently, "I have come to vanquish the malevolent spirits."
The guard stood frozen, staring at Nanli in astonishment, "Wha...what?"
"To vanquish the malevolent spirits," Nanli repeated, her voice clear and melodious, "Do you require a guide?"
The guard, observing her simple attire and a single wooden hairpin adorning her bun, saw a resemblance to an exorcist.
His eyes welled up with tears, almost spilling over, "Is it true? Divine Master, do you know that these malevolent spirits have already harmed over ten young women? Tonight, it is Qian’s turn!"
Nanli nodded, relieved that she had not arrived too late after days and nights of travel.
She inquired, "Has the magistrate not reported this matter to the imperial court?"
"He did, but for some reason, there has been no response to the memorial," the guard replied, his eyes reddened.
Nanli pondered for a moment, realizing that the delay might be due to the hunting palace incident, which had likely caused a backlog of memorials yet to be presented to Emperor Muwu.
Fortunately, her second brother had coincidentally returned to Luoyang; otherwise, who knows how long this matter would have dragged on and how many more young women would have perished.
She asked the guard to lead the way to the Qian residence.
As expected, the Qian family was the wealthiest in Luoyang, with a grand mansion adorned in opulence.
However, the main gate was tightly shut, giving an air of desolation.
Nanli knocked on the door, and soon a servant opened it.
He peered at Nanli’s face through the crack, momentarily dazed, before tremblingly asking, "Is it...is it Miss Chu?"
"It is me," Nanli nodded.
The servant hurriedly swung the door open and shouted, "Miss Chu has arrived! Miss Chu has arrived!"
As Nanli entered the Qian residence, she could hear the bustling footsteps within.
Soon, a group of people emerged in the front courtyard, and she immediately spotted Chu Shuo and Madam Qian.
The two of them were overjoyed to see Nanli arrive in time.
However, Chu Shuo noticed her fatigue and dusty appearance, and couldn’t help but feel distressed, "Have you been traveling day and night? Are you tired?"
"Second brother, I am fine," Nanli nodded slightly.
Madam Qian introduced, "Miss Chu, this is my eldest brother, the head of the Qian family."
At the same time, Chu Shuo whispered in her ear, "My uncle is wealthy and generous. If you can resolve this malevolent spirit incident, he would be willing to pay not just fifty thousand taels, but even one hundred thousand taels."