Senior Sister Bai Yueguang is incredibly strong.

Chapter 8: Eliminating Evil (2)

After finalizing the plan with the other sects, the group packed their bags and set off.

Xie Jing watched their departing figures, a bittersweet feeling welling up inside him.

The sect leader sighed, "The children have all grown up. It's time for us old folks to pack up and step down."

"Senior Brother Sect Leader, only you feel that you are old. Xie Jing and I are still young and want to accomplish great things."

Xie Jing chimed in, "These kids haven't even reached the Nascent Soul stage yet, and they're already saying they're old. By the time they reach the Nascent Soul stage, you can just go straight to the grave."

"Hey, you never say a nice thing."

"Speaking of which, how long has Senior Brother Ji been in seclusion? He should be coming out soon, shouldn't he?" Xie Jing looked at the mountain peak not far away, a vague unease creeping into his heart.

"That's because he doesn't want to come out. He has to get through this hurdle himself."

“After all these years, Junior Brother Ji should let go. If he continues to be so pessimistic, then all his talent will be wasted.”

The sect leader suddenly sighed, "Those who cultivate the Tao must sever ties with the mortal world and eliminate the six desires. But humans are born with emotions, and it's not so easy to sever them."

Xie Jing tapped his forehead with his folding fan: "If he can successfully break through, our Xianyun Peak will have one more Nascent Soul cultivator."

The sect leader slapped him on the forehead: "Relying on your Senior Brother Ji is not as good as hoping that you go into seclusion and suddenly break through, so that Xianyun Peak will have another Nascent Soul cultivator."

Xie Jing smiled and said, "Sect Leader is right. Desire is not something that can be cut off so easily. I should also go and ponder it. I'll be going now."

The sect leader wanted to call him back to discuss the matter further, but Lu Da stopped him.

“His cultivation level stagnated when he was brought back to the water, so let’s not force him.”

The sect leader was furious: "He dares to mock his senior brother Ji like that. Just wait, if he gets into trouble in the water one day, I bet it will take him hundreds of years to recover."

Lu Da slapped him without any politeness: "Can't you hope for something good for the child? If it weren't for the water, he wouldn't have survived until now. He would have gone straight to fight the Wen family."

Knowing he was in the wrong, the sect leader remained silent.

"Let's go, there's still a lot of things to do in the sect."

……

Luo Zai Shui and his group arrived at Luoxia Town in one day.

"Senior Brother Shi, Senior Sister Luo, you've come too. We're short-handed, so Senior Brother Xue has come to help as well."

Unexpectedly, Xianyun Peak was among the first to arrive, with the disciples of Huayu Sect being the first to arrive.

"Junior Sister Qiao, it's been a long time."

Luo Zai Shui greeted her while wearing a gauze hat to shield her from the wind.

Qiao An, the junior sister of Huayu Sect, was also an acquaintance. They had teamed up to hunt monsters together in the past. The girl was popular and could chat with the disciples of various sects.

"What's wrong, Senior Sister Luo?"

Qiao An couldn't help but be curious about Luo Zai Shui's attire. She was the kind of person who couldn't keep things to herself, so she asked directly.

"Having just recovered from a serious illness, I'm afraid I might have caught a cold, but it's nothing serious."

"Senior Sister Luo's health is still as poor as ever. Would you like me to examine your pulse for you?" With that, she stepped forward and tried to grab Luo Zai Shui's hand.

Luo Zai Shui calmly withdrew her hand and smiled, "No need, I'm almost fully recovered. I'm just worried about a relapse if I get chilled. Thank you for your concern."

Qiao An frowned upon hearing this: "Senior Sister Luo, you can't ignore your illness and refuse to see a doctor. If you don't trust me, you can let my senior sister take a look at you. You are weak but you still came all this way to help. You are much better than those arrogant guys from other sects."

"Who are you calling arrogant?"

"Of course..."

Qiao An snapped out of her daze and immediately shut up: "I think I heard my senior sister calling me. I'll go help her now."

After saying that, she slunk away, taking Xue Xin with her.

If the junior sister of Huayu Sect has the best interpersonal relationships among all the direct disciples, then the one with the worst interpersonal relationships is Chu Yeli, the senior brother of Linghai Sect.

"You're here quickly."

His mouth always had that sarcastic, irritating tone.

Jian Muyi was already itching to hit him. Last time he hit him on the left cheek, this time he should hit him on the right cheek.

Shi Ming ignored his sarcastic remarks: "If you didn't set off before us, why are you arriving after us? If you have difficulty walking, you don't have to come."

"Oh, we met an old lady on the road and helped her to the city to run some errands. We were delayed on the way."

"puff."

Luo Zai Shui couldn't help but laugh out loud. This Chu Ye Li couldn't even be bothered to come up with a better excuse.

Seeing her dressed like this, Chu Yeli said sarcastically, "Junior Sister Luo, if you're not feeling well, don't run around like this."

Luo Zai Shui laughed until her body trembled: "There's no other way. When my junior brother sets up an array, he tends to blow up half a mountain. When you set up an array, you tend to trap yourselves. I really can't rest easy if I don't come."

Luo Zai Shui was referring to the embarrassing incident where the senior disciple of Linghai Sect accidentally trapped himself in a formation during their last hunt for the troublesome tiger demon.

"It's better than your junior brother falling into a hunter's trap and not being able to climb out."

Chu Yeli was referring to the time before last when Jian Muyi went out with them for the first time to train, but accidentally fell into someone's trap. In his panic, he forgot that he knew magic.

"Alright, alright." Shi Ming stepped in at the right moment to break up the fight. If they continued, the people from Xianyun Peak and Linghai Peak would definitely start fighting.

Luo Zai Shui seemed to have thought of something, and laughed until her body trembled.

"Cough cough cough..."

Su Wusi hurriedly stepped forward and gently patted her back: "Senior Sister..."

Luo Zai Shui waved her hand to indicate that she was fine. She wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes, feeling lighthearted for the first time in a long time.

Chu Yeli raised an eyebrow when he saw Su Wusi, then looked at Shi Ming: "Your new junior sister? She has good talent, but at this crucial juncture..."

Shi Ming was too lazy to even spare a glance for him: "Just keep your Linghai Sect in check."

"Tch~" Chu Yeli didn't care. "Let's each mind our own business first. Let's go find a place to stay."

After saying that, he left with his junior brothers and sisters.

Seeing that Luo had recovered from the water, Shi Ming looked at the sunset on the horizon and said, "Let's go find a place to stay first."

"Wait, what about Xue Xin?" Ji Tinghan hadn't forgotten his senior brother who had been dragged away and enslaved.

Without turning his head, Shi Ming said, "We'll send him our location via telepathy later. He can come find us when he's done with his work."

"According to my senior uncle, the sect leader, the water monster has injured over a hundred people, and the fate of dozens more is unknown; they are presumed dead." Luo Zai Shui felt a vague unease in his heart.

"It's been a long time since I've seen such a ferocious water monster. How come it's only being discovered now?" Shi Ming also had doubts in his heart. Under normal circumstances, if a water monster is discovered, it will be dealt with immediately, and there would never be a situation where so many people are injured.

Luo Zai Shui suddenly stopped in her tracks, a thought in her mind sending a chill down her spine.

"What's wrong?"

"Senior Brother, what circumstances would cause a water spirit to develop into a ferocious monster?"

The word "nurture" itself is quite intriguing.

Upon hearing the words "evil spirit," everyone present broke out in a cold sweat. If it really was an evil spirit, then they would be in big trouble.

Unlike the water spirits that lack intelligence and only rampage and devour people, the fierce spirits are evil spirits that have opened their spiritual apertures. They are not only extremely fierce, but also cunning and difficult to catch. Encountering a fierce spirit can cost at least a dozen Golden Core stage cultivators their lives.

Jian Muyi swallowed hard: "Don't water spirits usually not develop into malevolent spirits?"

Shi Ming reassured him, "It's just a guess. We'll go and investigate in person tomorrow. If it really is a malevolent spirit, then we'll have to send a message to Master and the others."

In an instant, no one wore a smile anymore. The town of Luoxia in front of them was gradually swallowed by the red glow of the setting sun, like a lurking beast about to tear apart and devour those who set foot there.

Luoxia Town was originally an ordinary water town in Jiangnan, with quite a few tourists coming and going on weekdays. But now, almost every household is staying indoors, and there are few pedestrians on the streets. The entire town of Luoxia is unusually quiet.

Looking at the tightly closed door, Jian Muyi couldn't help but wonder, "Have they all moved away?"

Ji Tinghan said, "It's not that easy to move away. They're probably hiding at home, thinking that things will calm down in a few days, and then they can come out and make a living again."

There was a hint of self-deprecation in his tone.

Su Wusi remained silent, simply watching Ji Tinghan, trying to glean some secrets from him.

Jian Muyi didn't understand: "Since it's so dangerous here, why don't you move away?"

Su Wusi explained, "Because they have no money, leaving here would mean losing their shelter and their means of making a living, so naturally they don't want to leave."

"But...but..."

Jian Muyi couldn't come up with a solution even after a long time.

Luo Zai Shui understood Jian Mu Yi's doubts. A child who had never seen any great storms since birth was thinking too simply.

"careful!"

As they were talking, a bloated, foul-smelling corpse suddenly emerged from the river.

Shi Ming pinned it to the ground with his sword, and Luo Zai Shui slapped it with a fire talisman. Only when the thing turned to ashes did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

"How did this thing climb out of the water?"

Generally speaking, water spirits, these kinds of evil spirits, only attack passing ships and would never climb ashore to attack pedestrians. Their origins are definitely not simple.

Are you alright?

Looking towards the sound, one could see a person in a long blue dress, her face covered with a white veil, her posture as pure as a lotus, as if a gentle breeze had swept by, bringing peace to the heart.

That person was none other than Nie Xushuang, the senior disciple of the Huayu Sect.

"Hello, Senior Sister Nie..."

There aren't many people who can make Ji Tinghan and Jian Muyi greet each other respectfully, and Nie Xushuang is one of them. There's no other reason than that once Nie Xushuang takes their pulse, the two of them will have no secrets left. A terrifying woman, a terrifying medicine cultivator...

"It's alright. Why did Senior Sister Nie come?" Shi Ming looked at her, his eyes asking why.

Qiao An, who was following behind Nie Xushuang, playfully stuck out her tongue.

Nie Xushuang sighed and rubbed her forehead: "It's all because of my unreliable junior sister. I told her to warn you to be careful of the water monsters here, as floating corpses could appear at any time. But instead of delivering the message, she dragged Xue Xin back. If Chu Yeli hadn't brought her junior brother, who was scratched by a floating corpse, to heal, she wouldn't have remembered this. Fearing you might encounter danger on the way, she came looking for you."

Luo Zai Shui frowned: "Chu Ye Li and the others have fallen for it?"

Logically speaking, Linghai Sect shouldn't be so weak that it can't even deal with a floating corpse.

"The floating corpse was hiding in the shadows and ambushed us. It just so happened that the junior brother had only recently joined the sect, and he was caught off guard and fell victim to it."

Luo, expressionless on the water's surface, reminded Jian Muyi and Ji Tinghan, who were letting their teeth bask in the sun: "Don't provoke the Linghai Sect later, I'm too lazy to break them up."

Shi Ming frowned slightly: "It seems that this water monster is more troublesome than we imagined."