Capítulo 377: What Demons Fear (I)
It was the jiangshi!
There was no doubt about it!
"Master!" Qin Yan shouted, horrified.
"I got it!" Lin Qingcheng responded in a flurry.
Her spiritual energy surged, blowing away the overcoat she had on. She was left in a set of summer-yellow battle robes, her customary colors. Her face mask appeared, hiding all features except her eyes. This was followed by a flash of gold as she put on a pair of slender metal gauntlets, weapons at the peak of the Spirit Initiate Realm. And as always, the Golden Serpent Robe remained hidden underneath, ready to come to her defense at any moment.
"Master, hurry!" Qin Yan shouted, wrenching open the door at the back of the room.
Lin Qingcheng didn't reply as she was too focused on the scene unfolding on the other side through the one-way mirror.
The demon had once again stuck its head between the woman's legs. It looked like it was ready to take a bite of flesh with its teeth that looked like a forest of needles. Its long, blood-red tongue flicked out wildly, desperate to taste virgin blood. The woman had probably fallen unconscious as she was making no effort to run or protect herself.
There was no time.
It would take too long to rush to the door in the back, go through the hallway and around the corner, and finally break down the door to the other room.
The jiangshi was ready to strike. If it took a successful bite, that woman's vitality would be permanently damaged. She would forever be robbed a part of her life force and she would suffer an early death.
Lin Qingcheng moved by instinct.
She rushed forward several steps and faced the wall that separated the two rooms. She reared her fist back, and with a mighty shout, slammed it against the wall.
"Ha!"
Crash!
Bricks crumbled and wood splintered. Plaster disintegrated and flew everywhere. All the paper talismans within the vicinity of her strike were blasted away and multiple cracks appeared on the wall from the floor to the ceiling.
The jiangshi jerked up in surprise and stared at the source of the commotion. Lin Qingcheng's golden gauntlet made it through completely, forming a neat hole.
"Who?" It snarled, distracted from its prey momentarily.
Lin Qingcheng pulled back her fist and leaped into in air. Spinning her body around, she launched a powerful kick.
"Hyah!"
Bang! Crash!
The already crumbling wall collapsed completely. Debris went flying, spilling out onto the floor of the room on the other side. The gaping hole that was leftover was just enough for her to dive through.
She did just that and rolled to a kneeling position, ready to fight.
"Who are you?" The demon demanded. "What are you doing? Is this how you people conduct business around here?"
It had changed its face back into the human Dong Yi.
Lin Qingcheng didn't bother to respond. She swept her spiritual sense through the room. The woman was indeed unconscious but seemed otherwise fine. The Zhou Clan fighters and city guards were no doubt on their way. What she needed to do now was protect the victim and prevent the demon from escaping.
She rushed at the bed and tackled the astonished demon, sending them both tumbling.
"You crazy bitch! Do you know who I am?" Dong Yi bellowed, leaping back up with fists raised.
It was still trying to put up an act, pretending to be a human. If it turned back into a demon, then the entire city would descend upon it. Jiangshi had several powerful abilities but none that allowed it to meld into the darkness and sneak away like a shadow fox.
Lin Qingcheng stood up and put herself between the demon and the bed. "I am the Golden Madam, owner of this brothel. You have broken one of our cardinal rules. Therefore, you are under arrest!"
"You?" Dong Yi eyed her up and down before realizing something. His eyes flashed dangerously with a slight tinge of yellow, "What did you see?"
Lin Qingcheng smirked under her mask, "I saw… everything. Demon!"
With that, she leaped towards her foe.
Nineteen Demon Subduing Palms, First Palm, Demon Subjugation!
Her palm crashed ahead, cloaked in an invisible layer of spiritual energy that contained a mysterious attribute capable of subduing demons. Although she was at the 7th Level of the Spirit Initiate Realm and three levels lower than it, the demon shrank back and dodged towards the door. It wasn't prepared for a fight during its feeding time and sought to flee. It also felt an unnatural sense of crisis and primal fear, something that shouldn't have been possible, even when facing an immortal or certain death.
Her attack landed on thin air, sending her out of balance. The demon took advantage with a swift kick, sending her flying into the nearby furniture.
"Master!"
"Mistress Lin!"
Overlapping shouts drowned out the noise of Lin Qingcheng's impact. her disciple Qin Yan spilled into the room, along with several Zhou Clan experts at the upper levels of the Spirit Initiate Realm, the name of their clan emblazoned on their uniform.
"Crap! Master's going to scold me again…" Lin Qingcheng muttered as she extricated herself from the broken pile of wood.
The jiangshi spun its head around from the new arrivals to the surprisingly sturdy masked opponent. When it realized the truth, it let out an unnatural snarl.
"I see… I see… Zhou Clan, Ten Thousand Flower Valley." It then faced Lin Qingcheng, "And you are Lin Qingcheng, the first disciple of that immortal."
"You are correct," She replied slowly, "And you... are a demon!"
The jiangshi gave a harsh laugh and transformed. Its pupils turned an unnatural shade of orange-yellow. Its mouth gaped open, enough bite off a small human head with its sharp fangs. At the same time, its skin turned skeleton white and its hands transformed into claws.
"Demon!" Someone shouted.
"It's a demon!"
Several people recoiled in fear while others stood their ground with conflicted expressions. Nobody seemed sure of what to do. Nobody wanted to be the first one to fight a foe they weren't expecting.
Lin Qingcheng took the lead and charged at the demon. Her palm shot out once more towards its chest. The jiangshi recoiled its body and then made a powerful leap into the air. Her strike once again missed while the demon collided with the ceiling, forcibly tearing open an escape path with its body.
She slapped the floor in frustration and scrambled back up. She leaped through the hole in the ceiling and landed on the clay-tiled roof of the brothel.
Seeing the demon dashing away, she sprinted after it.
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