novelraw Chapter 92 : Crossdressing—I'm a Professional, Says a Certain Unnamed Senior Brother
Chapter 92 : Crossdressing—I'm a Professional, Says a Certain Unnamed Senior Brother
"Are you cultivators from a righteous sect?"
The man asked, breaking out in a cold sweat. Seeing their sect robes and sensing no ill intent from the three, he finally relaxed and asked respectfully.
"Yes, we were on our way to Xianping City and passed through your town. But we found all the doors tightly shut, without even a place to stay. And just now, you were about to run away as soon as you saw us. Why is that?" Tantai Ming released the man, his hands resting on his sword.
The man collapsed to the ground, his legs still weak. "Please forgive this lowly one, esteemed immortals. I... I was remiss... It's just that the town has been unsettled recently, and I feared for my life."
"What exactly has happened in the town?" Mu Chihuai told him not to rush and to explain slowly.
"It's not something that can be explained in a few words. The night city is dangerous. Why don't you immortals follow me to a resting place, and I'll explain the matter in detail?" The man was the owner of a tavern. He led them there, first looking left and right before unlocking the layers of iron chains on the door and opening it.
"If you immortals don't mind, please rest at my humble abode tonight. The town has been especially unsafe recently. Do not move about freely after nightfall."
The owner served tea, sat down with a sigh, and finally revealed the truth under the inquiring gazes of the three. "Not long ago, people in the town suddenly started disappearing mysteriously. Most disappeared at night, all young men and women of exceptional beauty."
"When they were found the next day, those poor souls had all turned into corpses, as if their vital essence had been completely drained."
"The town was instantly gripped by fear, suspecting that evil cultivators had entered. So every household keeps their doors tightly shut, fearing misfortune."
"I risked going out just now to look for my good-for-nothing brother. We ran out of ingredients at the shop during the day, and I asked him to go buy some. But he hasn't returned since leaving in the evening. I'm afraid..." The owner's body swayed as he spoke, seemingly devastated.
Tantai Ming quickly steadied him. "Don't worry, we'll do our best to help you!"
"Draining people's vital essence for cultivation does indeed sound like the work of evil cultivators," Chu Sang said, standing up. "As disciples of righteous sects, we naturally can't stand by and do nothing! Rest assured, leave this matter to us. That evil cultivator probably hasn't acted so quickly."
"Evil cultivators are always cunning and treacherous. It won't be easy to lure them out," Mu Chihuai said, looking at her.
Those evil cultivators were more adept at hiding than rats in a sewer. When encountering orthodox cultivators, they generally wouldn't confront them directly to avoid trouble.
"If they won't come out on their own, then we'll use a plan to lure them out," Chu Sang said, slapping her sword on the table. A meaningful smile spread across her face as she pointed at her two somewhat bewildered senior brothers. "Doesn't that evil cultivator specifically target handsome men and beautiful women? Well, we have both right here."
Su Chen'an had gone into seclusion to refine tools, while Ling Yu, Wen Renyue, and Changsheng had gone to help inspect the three new branches of Treasure Pavilion. So on this trip, only Chu Sang, Mu Chihuai, and Tantai Ming had come. However, the three of them were more than enough to make up a pair of handsome men and beautiful women.
"That makes sense!" Tantai Ming agreed enthusiastically. Although their sect wasn't particularly impressive, they were indeed all handsome men and beautiful women, with unquestionable good looks.
Most importantly, he really wanted to see his Little Junior Sister properly dressed up in a beautiful gown!
Half an hour later, Tantai Ming and Mu Chihuai, now dressed as women, walked side by side on the main street. The latter was quite composed, while the former had a dark expression on his handsome face, carefully holding up his skirt to avoid tripping and falling.
"Damn, why am I the one crossdressing again? Shouldn't Little Junior Sister be doing this?" he complained with a frown.
"You want to put Little Junior Sister in danger? Such a dangerous task as luring out evil cultivators should naturally be done by us two," Mu Chihuai said matter-of-factly, intensely brainwashing him.
Tantai Ming glared at him and protested, "So why aren't you the one crossdressing?"
"I'm afraid you'd fall in love with me."
"Go to hell."
"Shh, keep your voice down. I think someone's coming," Mu Chihuai told him to shut up quickly.
The two stopped their banter and became alert.
Only the two of them walked aimlessly down the empty street. They both had concealment talismans on them, hiding their cultivation levels. To outsiders, they appeared to be nothing more than two exceptionally good-looking mortals.
The evil cultivators hiding in the shadows naturally couldn't resist.
In the night, two figures appeared on the path ahead, one tall and one short. The tall one was a slender, seductive man, while the other was a voluptuous, alluring woman.
Both were dressed in very revealing, seductive clothing, with flowers in their hair. Their expressions were effeminate and coquettish, looking like... practitioners of some unspeakable dao.
Judging by their cultivation, both were surprisingly at the early Nascent Soul stage, with an obvious aura of demonic energy around them.
Chu Sang, observing from the shadows, felt her heart sink slightly.
Tch, these demon cultivators were really persistent, popping up from time to time.
"Oh my, what little sister do we have here? You look so fresh and lovely. Aren't you afraid of running into bad people out at night? Why don't you let big brother play with you for a while?" The effeminate, lecherous male demon cultivator reached out with his greasy hand to touch.
Tantai Ming: "Play? I'll send you to play with your great-grandfather!" With that, he tore open his skirt, pulled out his large sword, and fiercely slashed at the demon.
Do you know how shocking it is when a young girl suddenly turns into a fierce man?
"It's actually a stinking man!" The demon cultivator's face instantly twisted into a grim expression, his arm injured by the sword energy. He shrieked in a high-pitched voice.
The female demon cultivator on the other side wasn't faring any better. She had intended to flirt with the delicate and beautiful young man, but instead found her hand gently grasped by him, his phoenix eyes filled with affection. "Sister, I don't like others touching me casually."
An intense burning sensation quickly spread from her arm to her entire body, accompanied by excruciating pain as if her flesh was being torn apart. The female demon cultivator's face immediately changed as she realized the other party had used poison. Enraged, she shouted, "You're seeking death!"
As she gathered demonic power in her palm, intending to kill him to vent her anger, over a dozen Golden Armor Talismans flew over, blocking her attack.
This was followed by hundreds of silver needles, directly targeting her vital points. The female demon cultivator was caught off guard and was hit by several needles, instantly losing feeling in half of her arm.
"Who else is hiding in the shadows?!"
The two turned to see Chu Sang leisurely walking out from the darkness, their faces turning gloomy. "Well well, so you're all in this together."
Even if they were slow, the two had figured it out by now. These three cultivators had deliberately disguised themselves to lure them out!
Although both were at the early Nascent Soul stage in strength, they had cultivated using some unspeakable evil techniques, making them somewhat weaker than true Nascent Soul cultivators.
Moreover, this was after all the territory of the orthodox cultivation world. Evil cultivators only dared to act stealthily and were unwilling to directly confront these orthodox disciples, lest they invite sect investigations and cause more trouble.
The two's first reaction was to retreat from this place, but before they could take two steps, they found that both the front and back paths were tightly sealed.
A binding formation had been laid out early on without their knowledge, trapping the two inside. It would be difficult for them to escape in a short time.
"Since you're in such a hurry to die, we'll kill you first!" The female demon cultivator was furious. She laughed coldly, and her fingertips transformed the demonic energy into thousands of flower petals, which shot towards the three.
Those seemingly soft petals were like the sharpest blades, capable of severely wounding cultivators when they cut into the skin, and they also carried the corrosive nature of demonic energy.
The other male demon cultivator was also quite formidable. More terrifyingly, he could summon two Nascent Soul stage demon beasts that matched his strength.
Although Tantai Ming was only at the peak of middle Golden Core stage, his foundation was solid. Combined with the domineering sword intent in his hand, he could barely hold his own against the male demon cultivator. But with the addition of two Nascent Soul stage demon beasts, he was temporarily at a disadvantage. Chu Sang summoned Hong Niang to help him.
She herself blocked the female demon cultivator.
The attacks of countless flower petals and the crimson whip from her sleeve were hard to defend against. Previously, Chu Sang might have been knocked down after just two moves, but after Elder Dong Liyan's hellish training, her dodging ability and endurance had skyrocketed.
It was not enough to pose a real challenge.
The beautiful female demon cultivator was fighting breathlessly, but found that her opponent seemed barely injured and even gave her the middle finger, further enraging her.
A mere Golden Core cultivator dares to be so arrogant?!
"Are you done? Then it's my turn now." Chu Sang stopped running and switched from defense to offense.
The female demon cultivator laughed coldly. She's actually daring to come at me herself? Seeking death!
A full-force sword intent was swung out. The female demon cultivator was so arrogant that she didn't take Chu Sang seriously at all and directly met the attack head-on.
The female demon cultivator had thought that an attack from a mere Golden Core cultivator couldn't harm her, not even breaking through her protective demonic energy. However, reality gave her a heavy blow.
"Bang!" The sword intent directly shattered her protective demonic energy. Accompanied by a scream, she was sent flying several meters.
How... how is this possible?!
This person is just a Golden Core cultivator.
Even other Nascent Soul cultivators couldn't cause her such great damage!
What trick did this damned cultivator use?!
The female demon cultivator was going crazy.
"I know you're eager, but don't be hasty."
Chu Sang's initial spirit root purity was 5, and for every 1 point increase in aptitude, her spirit root purity would increase by 1. After her aptitude reached 5, her spirit root purity was saturated and could no longer continue to increase.
If she continued to add points to aptitude, the reward became something else.
Thus, she gained an additional special physique.
[Buddha's Light Favor (Small Success): Has a restraining effect on ghosts and demons]
It was similar to Tantai Ming's Innate Spirit Body, a special physique favored by the Heavenly Dao, but its uses were different and not as powerful. The description only mentioned it had a restraining effect on evil ways like ghosts and demons, without any other additional effects.
It had been a long time since she encountered demons, so this was a good chance to test it out.
Sure enough, when facing demon cultivators, the Buddha's Light greatly enhanced her attacks.
The female demon cultivator's Nascent Soul stage was already weak to begin with, and after dozens of exchanges, she was defeated.
In desperation, she took out a peculiar spiritual tool, neither a knife nor a sword, but something similar to an ancient musical instrument.
Her red fingertips danced across the strings, playing an eerie demonic melody that seemed to carry a power that shook people's hearts. Even the air rippled with it.
Mu Chihuai: "Not good, it's an illusion sound attack!"
The movements of all three present froze for a moment, slowing down several times. The situation reversed in an instant.
"My nose... is bleeding," Tantai Ming covered his nose.
The demonic sound had a devastating effect on the cultivators' bodies. Blood began to seep from the corners of their eyes, noses, and ears, creating a terrifying sight.
Even covering their ears to block out the sound was useless. The demonic melody lingered persistently, not only making it difficult for them to move their bodies but also creating illusions.
The surrounding scenery became dreamy and blurry as if they had eaten poisonous mushrooms. The two demon cultivators disappeared from sight, making it hard to track their movements.
The demon beasts were even more affected. Chu Sang recalled Hong Niang, her small face turning slightly cold.
The three's mobility and perception were greatly limited. The two demon cultivators found it incredibly easy to attack them, with bursts of demonic energy attacks coming out of nowhere, making it impossible to defend. They were hit several times.
When they tried to counterattack, the demon cultivators' figures would disappear again.
It was like a cat playing with mice, being toyed with at will.
...This feeling was really unpleasant.
Chu Sang narrowed her eyes. She had always disliked being at the mercy of others, and the violent intent in her heart grew stronger. Just as she was about to use a trump card that would harm the enemy at great cost to herself, a melodious zither sound came from nearby, disrupting the rhythm of the demonic sound. The illusion showed a flaw in that instant.
Chu Sang and Tantai Ming seized the opportunity to combine their sword intents, completely shattering the illusion.
The two demon cultivators were just outside the illusion and were caught off guard.
With their final trick exposed, the outcome was predictable.
After dealing with these two demon cultivators, Chu Sang turned and said, "Someone just helped us."
That zither sound...
Not far away, a slender and beautiful female figure gracefully walked towards them.
The woman was dressed in white with a veiled face, holding a jade zither. The ornaments at her waist jingled as she moved, giving her an otherworldly air.
Even though half of her face was hidden by a semi-transparent white gauze, the beauty's calm and gentle eyes were like a tranquil, rippling pool, tempting one to sink into them.
Chu Sang was dumbstruck.
Gulp.
What a beauty!
"Second Senior Sister, Second Senior Sister!" Tantai Ming ran over and said, "We were just thinking about going to find you. How did you get here?"
So this was Lingqing Sect's Second Senior Sister Tang Yanling.
Chu Sang had seen this name in the original story. She also had an extreme-grade Heaven Water Spirit Root, which only appears once in a hundred years.
Although both were extreme-grade Heaven Spirit Roots, the reputation of the Water Spirit Root was quite different from other Spirit Roots, polarizing to say the least. This was because the Heaven Water Spirit Root was naturally suited for dual cultivation, making it extremely suitable for essence absorption.
Tang Yanling was already stunningly beautiful, and with this added factor, she was very easily targeted by ill-intentioned male cultivators, making her the cultivation world's version of a scumbag magnet.
"I heard that evil cultivators were active in Pingfeng Town, causing casualties among the common people. I was worried you might pass through here on your journey, so I came to check. I didn't expect you to actually encounter them," Tang Yanling said.
She truly felt the three were quite unlucky. After saying this, she looked at Chu Sang and smiled slightly, "Little Junior Sister of our sect, we should have met earlier, but I was tied up with other matters at that time and couldn't get away."
Chu Sang: "I understand, I understand, Second Senior Sister. Third Senior Sister said you were busy chasing down scumbags."
"...That's all in the past, let's not mention it again."
Tang Yanling coughed lightly, changing the subject. She looked at the corpses of the two demon cultivators.
With a wave of her fingertips across the zither strings, the two bodies turned into a wisp of ash and scattered. "These two were disciples of the Harmonious Union Sect. You three were quite bold to directly kill their direct disciples. Those higher-ups in the demon sects probably won't let you off easily."
"..." To be honest, she had even engaged in friendly dialogue with a Demon Lord, let alone mere demon sect disciples.
She was wild and fearless.