Chapter 38: The Mystery of the Broken Wood, The Sudden Transformation of the Pig Demon

“Of course I am serious. Does Senior Brother Zhao have any instructions on when we should depart?”

Jiang Youling’s decision to go to Sangyu Town was driven by another consideration.

Exorcising demons was a major undertaking. Although she did not know why Senior Sister Zhu, the original participant, was not going, it was impossible for a single new disciple to be tasked with such a mission.

Therefore, others must be traveling on this trip, and perhaps Zhao Cheng was among them.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, even if he intended to make things difficult for her, he would not do so too overtly.

Ruan Ziqin’s expression turned complex for a moment. “The original time was the beginning of the Si hour, gathering at Jieyin Peak.”

The beginning of the Si hour—it was already the first quarter of the Si hour!

Jiang Youling’s expression shifted slightly, and she hurriedly rushed toward Jieyin Peak.

By the time she arrived in a frantic rush, it was already the third quarter of the Si hour!

The group heading to Sangyu Town to exorcise the demon consisted of six people. Among them, three were white-robed disciples with cultivation, and they were led by a yellow-robed True Disciple Senior Brother.

As for the gray-robed laborers who lacked significant combat strength, they were responsible for all logistical chores, such as transporting supplies, setting up camps, providing meals, and handling demon corpses.

Seeing that the last laborer disciple had not arrived after a long wait, the two white-robed women—other than Zhao Cheng—were already extremely impatient.

“What is wrong with Junior Sister Zhu? She is usually such a steady person; why is she dropping the ball at such a critical moment?”

“Could she have forgotten today’s exorcism trip?”

“Wait another quarter of an hour. If she still doesn't show, there's no need to wait any longer!”

As they were complaining, they saw a gray-robed woman rushing toward them from a distance, and they breathed a slight sigh of relief; she had finally arrived.

But upon closer inspection, they saw that the woman’s features were unfamiliar and her cultivation was shallow. She was not Junior Sister Zhu at all!

While the group was filled with suspicion and uncertainty, the woman steadied her breathing and bowed to everyone.

“My apologies. I received an emergency command two quarters of an hour ago, which caused my delay. I have kept you all waiting.”

An emergency command?

The expressions of the group shifted slightly as they realized this junior sister had been set up by someone.

For a moment, it was awkward to vent their anger, so they merely let out cold snorts. “Since everyone is here, let us depart immediately.”

Xie Jingxing, who had remained silent throughout, glanced at Jiang Youling. A flash of surprise crossed his eyes, and he suddenly spoke.

“Your cultivation is too shallow, and you have no experience with the affairs of exorcism. You need not come on this trip.”

Before Jiang Youling could state her position, Zhao Cheng grew anxious and hurriedly spoke up.

“Senior Brother, please be discerning! For this exorcism, only two laborer disciples were sent in total. If one is missing, relying solely on Junior Brother Qian to handle all those trivial chores will be difficult—”

Seeing Xie Jingxing’s indifferent expression, Zhao Cheng lowered his voice and added, “Regardless, with you presiding over the group, nothing is likely to go wrong. Although Junior Sister Jiang’s cultivation is shallow, laborer disciples aren't required to have much Daoist prowess; she only needs to be able to carry heavy objects and lend Junior Brother Qian a hand.”

Upon hearing Zhao Cheng’s words, before Xie Jingxing could speak, the other two white-robed disciples caught the implication.

This junior sister had likely offended Senior Brother Zhao.

Beside them, Qian Zefei, receiving the hint in Zhao Cheng’s eyes, gritted his teeth and spoke up.

“Senior Brother Xie, if I am alone without anyone to assist me, I fear I may lack the strength. I do not mind working harder, but I fear I might delay the time for you seniors to exorcise the demon.”

Hearing this, Xie Jingxing finally relented. “Fine, then we shall all go together.”

Zhao Cheng breathed a sigh of relief and quickly took paper whistles from his storage bag to distribute to everyone.

This storage bag did not belong to him; it was issued by the sect for this specific mission and had to be returned once the task was completed.

As everyone blew their paper whistles, the sound of cranes crying rose in unison. Six cranes broke through the clouds and descended to the sides of the group in short order.

Xie Jingxing was the first to mount a crane and soared into the sky.

The three white-robed disciples followed closely behind, with Jiang Youling and the other gray-robed disciple following in turn.

After flying for approximately two hours, the leader, Xie Jingxing, guided his crane to descend slowly.

The others landed one after another, surveying the unfamiliar surroundings.

“Is Sangyu Town ahead?”

“Not yet, but we shouldn't be far. Senior Brother Xie stopped so suddenly—could he have discovered something?”

“Eh, look at that forest over there—”

Following the sound, they looked ahead to see that not far away, over a dozen ancient trees, thick enough to require multiple men to encircle, had been snapped in half like stalks of wheat. The broken ends were jagged and raw, clearly forced by some immense power.

Even more astonishingly, the soil at the roots was overturned like waves, exposing the tangled root systems beneath.

A certain dark green slime was clinging to those roots, "hissing" as it corroded the soil and sending up wisps of pungent green smoke.

Senior Brother Xie must have noticed the abnormality here to stop ahead of schedule.

“To cause such a commotion, the size of this demon beast must be quite large.”

The group's hearts sank slightly. Someone suddenly asked, “Could it be the Thousand-Foot Rot Dragon?”

The Thousand-Foot Rot Dragon resembled a giant centipede and indeed possessed the immense strength to snap ancient trees, and its saliva was corrosive, which was quite similar to the slime clinging to the roots.

“It doesn't look like it. If a Thousand-Foot Rot Dragon had passed through, how could it leave no footprints? In my view, this looks like the aftermath of two beasts fighting.”

“A Poisonous Miasma Ancient Toad could also cause such a commotion, but there is no water source nearby, so the possibility of a toad demon appearing here is low.”

As they were analyzing, they heard the leader, Xie Jingxing, say, “I received word that the demon calamity here was caused by a Stone-Skin Pig Demon.”

The group was startled, and someone instinctively countered, “Impossible! Although the Stone-Skin Pig Demon is thick-skinned and tough, it is ultimately a low-grade Mortal-rank demon. It shouldn't be able to break through such thick ancient trees.”

“But the cultivators stationed here saw it with their own eyes; there can be no falsehood. It is highly likely that a nearby Stone-Skin Pig Demon has undergone some unknown mutation.”

Xie Jingxing walked forward, carefully inspected the broken ends of the trees, and used a special container to collect a small bottle of the dark green slime before giving orders.

“Let us go. We will head to Sangyu Town first to rendezvous with the local cultivators.”

Half an hour later, the group of six arrived hurriedly at Sangyu Town.

The Town Warden who came out to greet them saw that the leader was a yellow-robed Qi Refinement disciple, and the joy on his face immediately faded. However, due to the Taixuan Sect's reputation, he did not lash out on the spot.

Instead, he said with suppressed anxiety, “Did I not send a message to your esteemed sect stating that the Stone-Skin Pig Demon here has undergone some mutation, its strength skyrocketing beyond the reach of ordinary Qi Refiners, and requesting that your sect dispatch a Foundation Establishment Master to exorcise it? Besides the six of you, are there any other cultivators from your sect coming here?”

Before Xie Jingxing could speak, the two white-robed senior sisters frowned and spoke indignantly.

“A mere Stone-Skin Pig Demon—even if it has mutated, how strong could it possibly be?”

“Exactly. All our Foundation Establishment Uncles in Taixuan have important duties. To have them come to deal with a mere Stone-Skin Pig Demon would be a waste of talent, wouldn't it?”

Zhao Cheng took a step forward, his expression solemn and his tone righteous.

“Open your eyes and look clearly! This is the thirty-seventh generation True Disciple of our Taixuan, Senior Brother Xie. He is a disciple of Perfected Xuanjun and has mastered the 'Purple Cloud Tribulation Sword Scripture.' How can he be compared to an ordinary Qi Refiner?”

(End of Chapter)