Chapter 26: Covering the Shift

A vast and pure power, like a bursting dam, surged through every inch of Su Qinghan’s body.

This power was utterly different from the qi she had cultivated before; it felt lighter, and more… untamed.

As it coursed through her, her meridians were forcibly widened, and her bones emitted faint, cracking sounds.

An azure radiance spilled from within her, enveloping her completely.

In the darkness, her pupils turned a pure, flawless azure.

An itch pricked the top of her head, and a pair of fluffy white fox ears sprouted from amidst her dark hair.

Then, an even stranger sensation arose behind her.

Su Qinghan subconsciously glanced back.

A fluffy, snow-white fox tail was restlessly swaying from side to side.

“What the hell is this?!”

Su Qinghan froze completely.

“Ahem…”

In her mind, Jiu Li’s voice was laced with an unmistakable guilt.

“This is… ah, right… it’s a special effect from the abundant spiritual power. Yes, a special effect! It’s temporary, it’ll disappear once the power is used up!”

Su Qinghan’s mouth twitched.

‘Forget it.’

‘I’ll look into these minor issues later.’

She could feel the pure spiritual power frantically pouring into the meridians of her long-paralyzed legs.

A long-lost tingling sensation finally returned to her once-numb legs.

She tried wiggling her toes.

‘They’re moving!’

Time was of the essence.

Without further hesitation, Su Qinghan channeled the potent spiritual power into her legs and pushed off lightly with her feet.

She became a white blur, darting weightlessly through the mountain forest as she raced back toward the city wall.

The wind howled past her ears; her speed was incredible.

Soon, the towering city wall appeared before her once more.

Su Qinghan didn’t pause for a second, taking a running start and launching herself forward!

Her body defied gravity, soaring upwards as her feet raced up the vertical face of the wall.

One step, two steps, three…

But just as she was about to reach the top, a feeling of emptiness washed over her as her momentum gave out.

Losing her balance, she plummeted straight down.

“Damn it all!”

In mid-air, Su Qinghan twisted at the waist, forcing her body to turn.

She spread her arms and executed a graceful flip, dispersing most of the downward force.

She landed on her feet, sliding several meters across the ground before she managed to regain her balance.

She looked up at the wall’s edge, so close yet so far, and fell into thought.

‘Damn it, I can’t make it up.’

“I told you so!” Jiu Li’s voice gloated in her mind. “We shouldn’t have gotten involved in this mess. We could have just run for it. ‘The sky is vast for birds to fly, the sea is wide for fish to leap.’ Wouldn’t that have been great!”

Su Qinghan ignored her.

Just then, a figure hurried out from the nearby woods.

“My lady! There you are!”

It was Miao Beisang.

Her face was etched with the relief of someone who had just survived an ordeal.

“I was just worried that something terrible had happened to you in the city…”

Behind her, a spectral figure floated out and bowed respectfully to Su Qinghan.

“Thank you, benefactor, for granting me this new form.”

Luo Li’s soul-form was much more substantial than before.

Su Qinghan looked at them, a little surprised.

“Didn’t I leave a note telling you to go?”

Miao Beisang scratched her head sheepishly.

“I’m ashamed to say, I cannot read the characters you wrote.”

Realization dawned on Su Qinghan.

‘Right, simplified characters.’

She waved her hand.

“It doesn’t matter. Your timing is perfect. Help me get inside.”

At her words, Miao Beisang looked toward Bluestone Town, now shrouded in a bloody light, and unease crept onto her face.

“My lady, something is… very wrong in there. It’s giving off an aura that makes me extremely uneasy.”

“It’s fine.”

Su Qinghan flexed her wrists.

“There’s an overconfident demon exorcist who decided to stick their nose in this mess. A pity they’re all ambition and no skill.”

“I’m here to cover their shift.”

Her words were brief, leaving Miao Beisang no room for further questions.

“We’ll talk after this is handled. Let’s go!”

Su Qinghan took the lead with Miao Beisang behind her, and the two of them charged toward the city wall.

Su Qinghan ran up the wall again. Just as her momentum was about to fail, Miao Beisang’s figure silently appeared beneath her.

Miao Beisang crossed her hands before her chest.

Without hesitation, Su Qinghan pushed off from Miao Beisang’s hands with the tips of her toes!

Propelled by the force, she soared upwards like a bird and landed lightly atop the wall.

Immediately after, Miao Beisang’s form blurred. She transformed into a nimble tabby cat and scrambled up the cracks in the wall in a few quick movements.

She leaped onto the wall, changed back into her human form, and elegantly licked the back of her hand.

Su Qinghan glanced at her.

“You didn’t have to follow me in.”

“Well… I came to repay you for saving my life,” Miao Beisang said, her voice soft and her cheeks slightly flushed. “And for granting Luo Li this new form…”

“Suit yourself. Do as you will.”

Su Qinghan said no more and leaped down from the top of the wall.

The streets of Bluestone Town had become a veritable hell on earth.

Countless illusory, twisted wraiths were emerging from the ground, from the corners of walls, and from the shadows, pouncing on the panicked townspeople.

“Aaaah—!”

Piercing screams rose and fell, one after another.

“Everyone, get back in your homes! Lock your doors and windows! Don’t come out!”

Liu Ruyan, along with a few disciples from the Demon Exorcism Division, was struggling to hold her ground on the street.

Their longswords slashed through the wraiths as if through empty air, only creating faint ripples without inflicting any real damage.

Pfft!

Gritting her teeth, Liu Ruyan sliced open her palm and smeared her own searing, vital blood onto the blade of her sword.

Sizzle—

As she swung her sword again, it finally burned a large hole in a wraith, which shrieked and recoiled.

But this was only a temporary solution.

More wraiths swarmed in from all directions, surrounding them completely.

They could only continue their desperate struggle by resorting to this self-injurious method.

Just as despair began to wash over Liu Ruyan…

A figure in white descended from the sky like a phantom.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Several yellow talismans sliced through the air, precisely striking the most ferocious wraiths.

Zzzzap—

A brilliant golden light flared, and the wraiths were instantly reduced to ash before they could even scream.

Liu Ruyan was stunned.

‘An expert has intervened!’

She was about to offer her thanks when she got a clear look at the newcomer.

An exquisitely beautiful face, a white gown, a swaying, fluffy fox tail, and a pair of conspicuous fox ears atop her head.

Liu Ruyan’s brows furrowed instantly.

“You’re… a demon?”

“I’m not.”

Su Qinghan’s voice was cold.

“This is no time to get bogged down in details. Time is short, and the task is heavy.”

With a flick of her wrist, she produced a thick stack of talismans from thin air and shoved them into Liu Ruyan’s arms.

“Take these and stick them on all the townspeople’s doors and windows!”

A young disciple named Xiao Qing beside her cried out anxiously, “But there are so many households in town, this isn’t nearly enough talismans!”

Su Qinghan did not answer.

She produced another stack, this time of blank talisman paper, and threw it forcefully into the air.

Hundreds of yellow papers scattered like a celestial maiden strewing flowers.

Forming a sword seal with her fingers, she unhesitatingly pricked her middle finger.

Blood welled up.

With her finger as a brush and her blood as ink, she rapidly drew in the air.

A profound and complex rune flashed in the air and vanished.

The hundreds of blank talismans in the sky, as if drawn by some unseen force, simultaneously manifested the exact same blood-red rune on their surfaces!

Having done this, Su Qinghan’s face visibly paled, and her body swayed.

Drawing talismans with her vital essence placed an immense strain on her current body.

She beckoned with her hand.

The talismans fluttering in the air returned like weary birds to their roost, flying back in perfect unison to land neatly in her hand.

She handed the thick stack of talismans to the dumbfounded Liu Ruyan.

Liu Ruyan took the talismans, which were still warm to the touch. She opened her mouth, managing to force out a single question.

“You… Why are you doing this?”

She paused, then asked again.

“And what about Lu Hongzhuang? Where is she at a time like this?”

“I’m covering her shift.”

Su Qinghan shook her slightly numb hand.

“She’s injured. Consider it sick leave.”

“At a time like this…”

Liu Ruyan wanted to ask more.

“Focus on the task!”

Su Qinghan cut her off directly, her tone leaving no room for argument.

With that, she paid the Demon Exorcism Division members no more mind. Her figure flickered, and she sped off toward the Town Magistrate’s Manor.

‘That grand array is the root of the problem.’

‘I have to stop that person’s casting first!’

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