Way of the Devil

Panda Novel

Northeast of the town, the hilly forest formed a kind of thick carpet. The entire area was entirely covered in dense and dark shades of the trees for a thousand meters.

Currently, on a slope hundreds of meters from the valley in the middle of the forest, there were two men in short-sleeved light blue clothes, walking speedily among the trees. They swept their hands at the spider webs that were in their way.

“We should be there soon. The legendary Haunted House… It’s said that no one who has gone in ever came back out.”

Su Ran and Qin Shijun walked past a patch of dense faintly red weeds. From the spaces between the branches, they could faintly make out an old-looking, grayish-white stone building.

Su Ran looked at this stone house from afar. His heart was filled with anticipation.

Qin Shijun and he did not merely join the operation to rescue Mei Youjiang. They were more interested in investigating.

“This place…” Qin Shijun slowly unsheathed his long sword from his back. He brandished it and walked on the small path, treading upon the weeds as he advanced toward the small building.

“Be careful.” Su Ran followed behind him. “It’s certainly not a coincidence that this Haunted House was able to stand to this day.”

“I know. Stand back a little,” said Qin Shijun with a nod. “The Evil Spirit might not differentiate between a battleground and a non-battleground.”

Su Ran nodded, and quickly did as he was told.

There was a distance of a dozen paces between them. Slowly, they made their way to the two-storied building.

The two of them had spent a long time dealing with the second-grade Evil Spirits outside the Four Guardian Families. They had built a great synchronization between them.

Su Ran scattered a bunch of yellow pea-like objects around them. Qin Shijun produced a small vial of ointment, and started applying it onto his blade.

“This will only last an hour. We must be quick,” he said simply and crisply as he turned toward Su Ran.

Su Ran grunted in agreement.

The two of them walked slowly up to the stone house. They went up the moss-covered stone stairs, and stood in front of the door.

“Clang.”

Qin Shijun broke open the wooden door reinforced with iron easily. He dashed into the house out of habit. His long sword unleashed a gleam of silver inside the house with a swoosh. It fanned out in front of him, covering the entire area.

“Pccht.”

The blade slowly came to a stop, and rested on the floor beside Qin Shijun. It did not cut anything.

“Nobody’s here.” He knitted his brows together. He turned and looked outside. “Su Ran, light a fire.”

No reply came.

Qin Shijun’s face twitched. He slowly retreated out of the house, and looked around in a circle. The dark forest in his surroundings was silent. The skies grew darker by the minute. He wondered if this was a sign of impending rain.

Su Ran was right behind him just moments ago. How did he mysteriously disappear without making a sound?

“Su Ran?” Qin Shijun was not flustered. Throughout their many a cooperation, they were frequently separated from each other like this. The only thing they had to do now was to trust in each other.

It was dark outside the door. The knot between Qin Shijun’s brows tightened. He raised his sword and went back into the house.

‘Is this the Evil Spirit’s space?’ He gave it some thought. Then, he slowly made his way toward the stairs to the second floor.

The interior of the house was exceptionally dark. It was no different from night.

He took a few steps, and suddenly heard footsteps behind him. He quickly paused and stopped.

He turned his head to look back.

There was nothing.

‘Was it just me?’ Qin Shijun tossed a crumpled paper talisman with green lines drawn on it. He let it fall onto the floor.

‘Nobody’s behind me.’ When he saw that the paper talisman did not react, Qin Shijun immediately felt at ease. He turned and continued walking upward. However, he suddenly saw a dash of dark red on the right handrail. It looked fresh.

‘There’s blood?!’ A chill ran down Qin Shijun’s heart. Pity Su Ran was not here; otherwise, he could have determined the time when this patch of blood was smeared here and the species it belonged to with his partner’s abilities.

With lingering concern in his heart, Qin Shijun decided to wait until Su Ran reappeared. He would then meet up with him and discuss the next course of action together.

When he thought of this, he turned around and made to go down the stairs.

“Qin Shijun.”

Su Ran’s voice came suddenly from the upper floor. Qin Shijun looked up and saw his partner carrying a lantern at the top of the dark stairs. His partner was looking at him from above; he was even smiling.

“Come up, quickly. I’ve found something good,” said Su Ran calmly. The light of the lantern cast a ghastly shadow across his face. The mixture of dark and light set his features off in a peculiar light.

“Something good?” Qin Shijun was startled. He knew Su Ran’s personality. If it was not something really good, he would not be that obvious.

With his trust in his companion, he grunted and walked up the stairs again, sword in hand.

However, when he arrived on the upper floor, he noticed that his partner was already at the door of one of the rooms. He was looking at him from afar, still smiling.

“Come with me. It’s in here.” Su Ran beckoned him on.

Qin Shijun immediately grew wary. However, the Evil Spirit talisman on him did not detect any hint of an Evil Spirit’s presence. Also, he did not think that Su Ran would have been done in that easily.

After he calmed his nerves somewhat, Qin Shijun followed Su Ran and walked toward the room. He followed the lantern’s light slowly and walked through the door.

“Bam!”

The door slammed close right after he walked in. Shortly after, a series of violent vibrations, sounds of collision, and muffled grunts were heard. In less than ten seconds, everything returned to normal.

***

“Ah Jun?” Su Ran walked past the stone house’s door slowly. He heard Qin Shijun calling his name from afar a few moments ago. He had quickly run over, but he did not see anyone after he entered.

Now, he was back at the house’s door. The door was wide open and swaying in the wind. The wood occasionally complained with loud creaks.

When Su Ran went into the house, the first thing he felt was that it was cold. He could not see Qin Shijun, but a clear set of human footprints was left on the floor. The footprints seemed to continue all the way up to the second floor.

“Here. I’m here.” Qin Shijun’s voice came from the top of the stairs.

Su Ran knitted his brows together. He produced a dainty Ruby Chimera from his pocket, and held it between his teeth. At the same time, he took out a sharp knife and drew it across the chimera’s foot.

“Pccht!” Blood and water trickled out from the chimera’s foot.

Su Ran took some of it, and flicked it onto the floor. Blood spread everywhere and fell on the stairs beside the talking Qin Shijun.

There was no reaction from the chimera’s blood. Su Ran’s expression calmed down.

“When did you get up there?” he asked with a frown.

Qin Shijun stood at the top of the stairs. He appeared to have a ghastly complexion.

“Just now, I’ve discovered something. I thought it was best to wait for you to check it out.”

Su Ran’s expression grew panicked. He put the chimera away and walked up the stairs quickly. “Don’t tell me that appeared again?” His chest tightened as he quickly went up to his partner.

When he went up to the second floor, he saw that Qin Shijun was standing on the left side of the corridor. One of the room’s doors was opened. Qin Shijun was standing at the door and beckoning him in. Then, he said nothing and went into the room.

Su Ran hesitated slightly, but he still proceeded with quick footsteps toward the room.

***

“Is this the place?” Lu Sheng followed behind the able-bodied man. He stood on the hilltop and looked at the faintly showing old-looking stone house located within the dense forest far away.

The small two-storied building sat quietly among the trees. Vines and moss covered its walls. It appeared very ancient.

Green waves undulated all around them. The wind was slightly chilly.

The able-bodied man was called Chen Ziang. He was a man whose body suffered torment from countless scars. Some years ago, he was set up by someone else, his wife left him for another man, and his children went missing. He had nowhere to turn to for all the injustices he endured.

Then, Mei Youjiang learned of his circumstances. She pleaded to the Mei Family’s head, Mei Yuanqing, who was still in the prefecture’s magistrate office. Mei Yuanqing gave the order to investigate this matter thoroughly, and Chen Ziang got his due recompense.

Some time later, when he had a grudge for which had to exact revenge, he was also indebted to the Mei Family. Because of this, the Mei Family crossed some powerful underground families. Then, Mei Yuanqing passed away, and the Mei Family’s strength withered quickly. It was currently in a state where it could only be supported by a few women. This was also one of the reasons that contributed to the Mei Family’s decline.

Because of this, Chen Ziang had always felt partially responsible for Mei Family’s decline. Hence, he had come on this mission with the determination to sacrifice his life in order to rescue Mei Youjiang.

“These are low-lying grounds. The reason why nobody made it out of the Haunted House after they entered is partly because of the dangers that lurk within. However, I’m sure that the dense sea of trees around here is also a contributor,” said Chen Ziang with a low voice. “Brethren, I plan to scout the surroundings for a bit. Please act according to your own preferences.”

“By all means, go ahead,” Lu Sheng responded casually. Since he found the rumored Haunted House, he no longer had any intention of keeping the man here.

Chen Ziang folded his hands in a salute, and went down the steps nimbly. He sprinted wildly toward the area of the forest beside the Haunted House. He quickly vanished in the cover of the dense foliage like a drop of water which merged into the ocean.

“My Lord, what do we do now?” Bie Feihe asked in a low, muffled voice.

A dash of platinum flashed across Lu Sheng’s eyes. “I’ve told you how to utilize your Spiritual Power. Go, then. Open up a path for me. Your current strength is no longer comparable to your strength before this.”

Bie Feihe felt helpless. However, if Lu Sheng requested her to do this, she had no other choice. She walked to the front and drew a deep breath. Then, remembering the method to erupt with Spiritual Power which Lu Sheng had taught her, she willed her body to do something.

Her body did not contain her own Spiritual Power only—a large part was Lu Sheng’s. Basically, Lu Sheng treated her as a Spiritual Power battery. He stored a vast amount of Spiritual Power in the huge amount of fat in her body.

The Spiritual Power would slowly dissipate over time since it was not eternal to begin with. However, before it dissipated, it would accumulate inside her body. The explosive might of the sum of this accumulated Spiritual Power was enough to strike the witnesses dumb.

“Psst.”

The fat in Bie Feihe’s body quickly expanded and enlarged. Her original two-meter height increased to more than two-and-a-half meters. The fat which widened her body reached more immense size. It even appeared slightly greenish, and looked exceptionally terrifying.

“Go.” Lu Sheng walked behind her, his eyes set on the Haunted House down the hill.

Bie Feihe nodded. With heavy footsteps, she walked toward the Haunted House.

Currently, she could be described as impregnable to blades and spears. Even her eyes and ears were squeezed shut by the large chunks of fat. She had to focus on keeping her eyes open to ensure that she was not straying off the intended path.

As he looked at Bie Feihe’s receding back, Lu Sheng exhaled. He looked at the Deep Blue interface which hovered in front of him.

His Spiritual Power had already surpassed the Dragon Level. He was now in an unprecedented, brand-new tier.

A strange purple seed that resembled a heart appeared in his body. This seed was half solid and half illusory, and there seemed to be a special force hidden within it. It kept on pulsing and actively attempted to communicate with some special powers somewhere in the world.

Lu Sheng had the feeling that if he released his spirit’s spiritual suppression, this seed might just bring him along with it and communicate with another dimension.

With the other concerns and ideas he had in mind, the current moment was not the best timing for Lu Sheng. He planned to completely settle the matter with the Haunted House before tending to this other matter.

He followed closely behind Bie Feihe. Lu Sheng quickly made his way to the main door of this two-storied stone house. Bie Feihe had already gone in before him, but no sound could be heard coming from the inside even until now.

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