Chapter 174 The Robbery of the City God Temple

The night was deep, and Yunmeng was silent as the grave.

Chen Mu sat cross-legged on his bed, eyes closed and regulating his breath. Outside the window, the night watchman had just struck the clapper for the Hour of the Bo; there was still one hour left until the Hour of the Rat.

Suddenly, the small black dog in the courtyard pricked up its ears, emitting a low whimper from its throat. At the same time, light footsteps sounded outside the courtyard.

The courtyard gate was pushed open, and a figure flashed in, heading straight for the room. Breathing slightly heavily, it was none other than Qi Huan.

"Chen Mu, you cannot go tonight."

His face bore a look of anxiety as he strode over to stand before Chen Mu.

Chen Mu slowly opened his eyes, a flicker of dark golden light passing through his pupils.

"You already know?"

Qi Huan nodded and lowered his voice.

"I just received news from Liu Ziming. The City God Temple is a death trap tonight. Xu Changze has gathered quite a few experts, determined to kill you. Liu Ziming told us to avoid it if we can."

"Avoid it?"

Chen Mu stood up and shook his head.

"We can avoid it for a moment, but not for a lifetime. Since Xu Changze has already torn off his mask, if we don't go tonight, he will have an excuse to hunt us down throughout the city tomorrow. We will be even more passive then."

Qi Huan gritted his teeth. "That's a dragon's pool and a tiger's den!"

Chen Mu scoffed, his tone flat yet filled with determination.

"If it's a dragon's pool and a tiger's den, we'll just break through it. Besides, I promised him I would go."

"You!"

Qi Huan was speechless with anger. Looking into Chen Mu's eyes, he knew further persuasion was useless. After a moment of thought, he stamped his foot.

"Fine, I'll go with you. I can't just let you go to your death alone!"

Chen Mu glanced at him.

"Your injuries have only just healed; there is no need to risk yourself."

Hearing him say this, Qi Huan immediately lost his temper and let out a low roar.

"Bullshit! My life was saved by you; returning it tonight is only fair. Besides, we are grasshoppers on the same string; if you die, I won't survive either."

Chen Mu looked at him for a long moment, then finally nodded.

The two men said nothing more, pushed the door open, and stepped out, blending into the night in the blink of an eye.

Inside the City God Temple, the vermilion doors were wide open, and the hall was brightly lit.

Chen Mu and Qi Huan stepped into the temple gate side by side, their pupils constricting slightly at the sight before them.

The usually solemn and dignified great hall was now filled with an aura of slaughter, crowded with people.

Xu Changze sat squarely in the main seat, dressed in crimson official robes and wearing a black gauze cap, his expression shifting between light and shadow. Sitting to his left was an old man in green robes, none other than Old Wang the Lame, who was currently acting as the City God. He kept his head lowered, hands gripping the corners of his clothes tightly, not daring to meet anyone's gaze.

Figures stood on both sides of the great hall.

On the left, Liu Ziming and a burly man with a thick beard stood at the lead.

Behind Liu Ziming stood more than a dozen constables, all looking nervous with their hands on their sword hilts. They were all constables from the Yunmeng Demon Suppression Division, but they had been forced to come here tonight, caught in a dilemma.

Liu Ziming stood at the very front, his face pale, fine beads of sweat seeping from his forehead. His gaze frequently swept toward the outside of the hall, his brows furrowed tightly.

Beside him, the bearded man held a thick-backed broadsword in his arms, followed by four men. Each of them had a heavy, focused aura and sharp eyes, dressed in various constable uniforms; they were likely elites borrowed by Xu Changze from neighboring counties.

On the right were the original Yin retainers of the City God Temple. The Day Patrol God and Night Patrol God each led four black-robed ghost soldiers, while Ox-Head and Horse-Face stood on either side, their faces blurred and surrounded by swirling Yin Qi.

The most eye-catching figure was a woman in a crimson brocade robe, leaning lazily against the incense table on the stone steps before the hall. She was stunningly beautiful with seductive, languid eyes, a faint curve playing on the corners of her lips, and five fox tails swaying gently behind her.

As soon as the two arrived, the already murderous atmosphere suddenly tightened.

"Chief Chen is punctual indeed."

Xu Changze spoke slowly, his voice echoing through the great hall.

"It's just that this official did not expect Officer Qi to come as well."

Qi Huan gripped his saber, his eyes sharp and his Protective Aura faintly circulating; he was already on high alert. Hearing this, he sneered, his gaze sweeping over the various groups before stopping on the fox demon, his pupils constricting slightly.

He could feel that the aura of this fox demon was far more terrifying than the three from Qinglin Town combined; she was at least at the Middle Stage of the Heart-Awakening Realm, if not higher.

"Lord Xu has set up such a formation; if I, Qi, did not come, wouldn't I be wasting your kind intentions?"

Xu Changze chuckled. "To deal with extraordinary people, one naturally needs extraordinary means. You two have successively slain the City God Nie Feng; if I were not careful, wouldn't I be seeking my own death?"

He paused, his tone suddenly turning cold.

"Since you are here, let's settle this. Tonight, either you two submit to this official and conspire in great matters, or you shall sleep here forever, keeping company with the ghosts and gods in this hall."

As soon as his voice fell, everyone in the hall drew their swords and blades in unison, their Killing Intent soaring to the heavens.

The fox demon chuckled, walked to Xu Changze's side, placed her hand on the armrest of the grand master's chair, and licked her lips.

"Magistrate Xu, why waste your breath on the dying?"

After speaking, she turned her gaze to Chen Mu.

"You are Chen Mu? The three pieces of trash from Qinglin Town were defeated by your hands?"

Chen Mu did not speak, merely fixing his gaze on the fox's five tails.

The fox clan used the number of tails to represent cultivation. Considering the three fox demons in Qinglin Town had only three tails, the one before him had already reached five, clearly far superior in Realm to the others. Since she mentioned Qinglin Town, it seemed this demon also belonged to the Beimang Sect.

Seeing that he did not speak, the fox demon tilted her head.

"It seems so. Those three useless things, it's just as well they died. However, they were ultimately of my Beimang Sect; this debt must be settled."

Xu Changze stood up at this moment, pacing forward two steps, his voice calm yet every word heart-piercing.

"Chen Mu, Qi Huan, tonight the City God Temple shall be your burial ground. After killing you, I will naturally report to the Prefecture that Chief Chen of the Demon Suppression Division colluded with evil demons, murdered the City God, and attacked the superior's guards. After failing, he and his accomplice Qi Huan resisted stubbornly and were killed on the spot by me."

He paused, a cruel smile curling the corner of his lips.

"Kill!"

At Xu Changze's command, the Killing Intent in the hall erupted suddenly.

The bearded man was the first to act, letting out a violent shout as his thick-backed broadsword cleaved through the air, aiming straight for Qi Huan's head.

One picks the soft persimmon first; after all, in their eyes, this Qi Huan, whose injuries had only just healed, was much easier to deal with than Chen Mu.

A fierce look flashed in Qi Huan's eyes. He did not dodge or evade; as his palms flew, five-colored clouds of Qi rose up. He unleashed the Five Cloud Hands with full force, combining hardness and softness, and actually struck the side of the blade with his bare palm.

"Clang!"

The bearded man felt a force of vibration travel from the blade, his arm going numb. He retreated three steps. Looking at Qi Huan again, although he was also shaken with surging blood and Qi, he hadn't retreated a single step, and a jade-like color faintly swirled in his palms.

That was the Medicinal Pill gifted by Jiang Xiong and the Hunyuan Astral Qi infused by Chen Mu when helping him heal, which had already raised his Five Cloud Hands to a higher level.

"Interesting."

The bearded man licked his lips, his eyes filled with fierce light. Just as he was about to attack again, several of his colleagues beside him had already rushed toward Qi Huan with their weapons drawn.

Almost simultaneously, Chen Mu also moved.

Stepping with the Divine Void Step, his figure transformed into several afterimages, rushing straight toward the line of Yin retainers on the right. He cut into their midst like a ghost.

The soul-slaying blade was unsheathed.

There was no flash of blades or swords, only a single black line of the blade. Wherever the line passed, the figures of two black-robed ghost soldiers suddenly stiffened, then transformed into two wisps of black smoke without even a scream.

[Slew a Dao Entry Realm Yin retainer, plundered Martial Dao Lifespan: 84 years.]

[Slew a Dao Entry Realm Yin retainer, plundered Martial Dao Lifespan: 79 years.]