Chapter 31 : Catch the Boss’s Weakness

The last frozen Skin-Painter clone let out a final, cassette-tape-like screech before it died.
It wasn’t until the ice crystals filled its mouth, completely freezing it into an ice sculpture, that it was shattered by a spinning kick from the girl.

Fortunately, Lin’an University was currently filled with the thick demonic energy released by that strange Skin-Painter.
This demonic energy could cover up the faint demonic energy released by the girl.

The girl kicked away the broken express box.
The box was soaked with the asphalt-like black liquid inside, emitting an indescribable stench.

Inside the box were several shattered glass bottles.
The residual black mucus on them was still writhing strangely, but was then frozen into a pile of ice shards by the girl.

It seemed that these guys had crawled out of these glass bottles.
In that case, the girl had probably figured out why that Skin-Painter had appeared in the dormitory building.

It was obvious that it had been hidden in an express box and brought in.

If it were just one of them, the girl could say that this guy was indeed smart.
But it was obvious that there was more than one demon individual hidden in the express box and sent to Lin’an University.

That could only mean one thing: someone had deliberately packaged them and sent them to Lin’an University.

“The world really is a giant grass-stage troupe…”

The girl sighed.
Guan Qing had praised the Demon Suppression Division so much, saying that as soon as they detected demonic energy, they would chase it all over the city.
But they had been so slow to react when someone had swaggeringly sent a demon to a densely populated area like Lin’an University.

The demonic energy gradually subsided, and the frost flowers spreading on the asphalt road gradually faded in the late summer heat.

“Attention! The core of the demonic energy reaction was just here!”

A burst of chaotic footsteps and shouts suddenly came from the corner in front.

The dull sound of dozens of pairs of tactical boots on the asphalt road told the girl that the Demon Suppression Division had arrived.

“Ah… just like in the movies, the police always arrive at the end…”

The girl kicked the residual mucus that had already turned into a pile of ice shards and complained in a low voice.

When the tactical flashlights of the Demon Suppression Division’s special operations team pierced through the night, all that was left was a pile of ice shards that had not yet melted.

The sound of flowing water drilled into her ears.
The sewage flowed over the canvas shoes she had just bought yesterday.
A soaked tissue stuck to her ankle, sticky and foul, nauseatingly so.

“Why did I think of hiding in the sewer…”

The girl held her head and whimpered.
The unique stench of the sewer almost made her pass out.

The hum of a bronze compass came from above the manhole cover.
An agent’s complaint was clearly audible.
“Why are the demons these days so good at running away?”

‘That’s right, I, a demon, should run away as soon as possible.’

The girl glanced at the moonlight shining in from the holes in the manhole cover and pouted, slowly walking along the sewer pipe.

The girl walked for a while in the sewage of the pipe.
Suddenly, she heard a huge sound like a surging sea wave from the depths of the drainpipe.
The sound was like thousands of horses rolling in asphalt.

Countless bubbles suddenly rose from the sewage at her feet.
The vibration of the huge waves came from far to near.

The girl turned her head sharply.
Her vision pierced through the damp brick wall.
Seventy meters away, a pitch-black, thick demonic energy, wrapped in the sewage of the sewer, was surging towards her.
The crest of the wave was constantly rising into a human form and then collapsing into mud.

“Give me a break…”

The girl covered her face.
This commotion was definitely the Skin-Painter from before.
It wasn’t certain if it was still a Skin-Painter now.

‘How could it still look like a Skin-Painter?’

‘Your Skin-Painter can divide by mitosis and condense into a tide?’

‘Good news, the Skin-Painter that the Demon Suppression Division had been looking for for a long time was now surging towards the girl. As long as she could kill it, the Demon Suppression Division would probably remove the formation, and this matter would be over.’

‘Bad news, the one rushing towards her wasn’t just the Skin-Painter, but also Xu Zhi, who was chasing it with a saber.’

‘How could I run into Xu Zhi even in the sewer?’

‘Do I have some kind of destined connection with him or something?’

‘Why is he everywhere?’

‘Now, there’s no way to hide and no way to run…’

‘Then I might as well take the initiative…’

“Rip!”

A crimson blade light split the turbid current.
The hem of Xu Zhi’s shirt fluttered.
The blade cut through three pouncing claws.

The limbs that were shattered by the chilling blade light were wrapped in cinnabar-colored flames and had already turned into a pile of ashes before they could land.

“Why are you so good at running!”

Xu Zhi shouted while chasing and shaking off the mucus on his blade.

His house slippers were nowhere to be found.

This was an unexpected situation.
Xu Zhi, who had just returned to the school, hadn’t even had time to change into a pair of tactical boots before he had grabbed his long saber and run to the girls’ dormitory.

Who knew how these guys had managed to get into Lin’an University right under the nose of the Demon Suppression Division.

The tide was surging at an extremely fast speed.
From time to time, black shadows would drill out from it to block Xu Zhi’s pursuit.
It seemed like it was about to escape completely.

“Boom!”

The side wall in front suddenly collapsed, and the girl’s figure, wrapped in rubble, rushed out!

She swung her long saber and cut through the viscous black liquid.
The blade just barely grazed the core of the demonic energy, and a screech like metal scraping was heard.

In the split wave, a crimson core throbbed like a heart, its surface covered with a dense relief of human faces.

‘It’s her!’

‘I thought she had abandoned me and run away. So she was also chasing this guy!’

It was obvious that Xu Zhi had misunderstood.

“You’re a big help!”

The girl’s sudden appearance successfully blocked the surging tide.
Xu Zhi rushed forward like lightning, throwing out a talisman that left a crimson tail flame in mid-air.
The incantations on the yellow paper ignited in the wind.

The moment the talisman stuck to the core, the tide let out a piercing scream.
Along with the sudden appearance of a red light, it exploded, dyeing the entire sewer the color of blood.

“Boom!”

The violent explosion of the demonic energy core shattered the asphalt road.
The shockwave from the explosion sent countless rubble flying.
Asphalt fragments and foul-smelling mucus turned into a downpour, piercing the leaves of the roadside trees into a sieve.

Two figures rushed out of the breach along with the explosion.

“This kid’s talisman, drawn with Lao Gan Ma, is really useful.”

In the downpour of mucus and sewage, Xu Zhi stood with his saber.

(TL NOTE : Laoganma, also called Lao Gan Ma or Old Godmother, is a brand of chili sauces made in China. The sauce is produced by Laoganma Special Flavour Foodstuffs Company, which was established in 1997.)

“Is your Demon Suppression Division so poor that you have to draw talismans with Lao Gan Ma?”

The mucus that landed on the ground instantly condensed into a tentacle and shot towards her, but was kicked away by the girl with a spin.
It landed on a roadside tree on the side, and the already riddled roadside tree was snapped in half.

“Lao Gan Ma contains 99 kinds of additives, which are more conductive than cinnabar.”

Xu Zhi dodged the attacking mucus.
The mucus splashed onto a lamppost, and the metal iron rod was instantly corroded.

“That’s what the kid on my team said.”

he added.

In the rain of mucus from the explosion of the black tide, the remains of the Skin-Painter twitched and reassembled.
The mucus twisted into slender lines, strangely contorting to outline a slender figure, stretching its body in the moonlight.

“Is this the third phase?”

The girl shook her blade, shaking off the mucus on it.

“When the phase changes, you have to target the weakness and launch a special attack.”
Xu Zhi threw a small red block.
“This thing is obviously weak to fire.”

‘I’m also quite weak to fire…’

The girl thought, and imitated Xu Zhi by opening the catch of her hilt and changing the cinnabar cartridge.
Amidst the sound of metal clashing, the white blade hummed and turned crimson.