Chapter Thirty-Six: Taken Away?

Damn it, I couldn’t resist and pushed the Breath-Absorbing Technique all the way to the twenty-third layer, refining too much Nether Yin energy. In the end, the ghosts detected it.

Sure enough, they crawled over following the web.

Thankfully, He Chang’an acted decisively at the critical moment, intensifying his efforts to completely refine the Nether mark deep within Li Yishan’s soul...

“What do we do now? There’s something ghostly watching from above, and a crowd guarding the door. We can’t slip out.” Li Yishan peered nervously from behind the statue of the Supreme Sage, muttering under his breath.

He was an old scholar, having once served in the Tang Dynasty’s Astronomical Bureau, so his understanding of the Night God Sect was naturally quite deep;

Thus, his heart raced all the more.

“Old man, why are you always thinking about running? It’s so dangerous outside—why not hunker down beneath the statue of the Supreme Sage where it’s safe?” He Chang’an was genuinely puzzled.

From what he could tell, within a yard of the Supreme Sage’s stone effigy, the aura of righteousness protected them, blocking all forms of divination and scheming. It ought to be the safest place in Weiyang County...

“You know nothing!” Li Yishan snapped. “Listen, young man, a tree that stands out in the forest gets blown down by the wind. Do you understand this principle?”

“Uh, yes, I do.” He Chang’an nodded slightly.

“But where could we possibly go? It’s so dangerous outside...” He Chang’an shrank his neck, frustrated.

“Isn’t it obvious? We should return to Chang’an city,” Li Yishan replied without hesitation.

“Chang’an city... Weren’t you running away from Chang’an? Why go back?” He Chang’an was perplexed.

This Li Yishan, with his mysterious airs, was starting to seem a bit unreliable...

“I know, he ran away to dodge debts,” the little nun squatting nearby—her eyes glowing green with hunger—suddenly interjected. “He owes too much silver and couldn’t pay it back, so he quietly slipped out of Chang’an city...”

“A scholar’s troubles aren’t just about dodging debts,” Li Yishan said, unfazed, shaking his head and sighing, “Ah, the world’s morals are falling! Only petty men and women are hard to nurture...”

He Chang’an ignored Li Yishan’s lament.

Li Yishan was born in the wrong era. Back on Blue Star, old men like him usually lived well—spending their days in pleasure, and their last wife probably still in kindergarten...

Thick-skinned, cultured, and tough—a real talent.

“Running is fine, but how do we do it?” He Chang’an was uneasy, so he turned to the little nun.

He’d noticed that she spoke little, but was more reliable than Li Yishan.

“Let yourself get caught,” the little nun replied casually, once more licking her fingers...

He Chang’an’s eyes brightened, then darkened with confusion. The outside was fraught with danger; the ghost-faced idol had its sights fixed on Weiyang Academy, and those twelve eunuchs could barely protect themselves. How could they possibly take him to Chang’an city?

The little nun seemed to read his mind, pursed her lips disdainfully, and mumbled, “Soon, some powerful ones will arrive.”

‘Is this Master Ding Ding’s plan—letting us get caught and taken to Chang’an city—really trustworthy?’

‘My old man is still out there...’

...

At the gates of Weiyang Academy, the “battle” had lasted half an hour.

The ghost-faced apparition couldn’t break the scholars’ aura shield, nor could the scholars subdue it. The confrontation had entered a stalemate from the start.

The twelve eunuchs had quieted down.

They knew full well that if they angered the scholars and got kicked out of the shield, their only fate would be death.

It was the county officials who seemed a bit excited.

Except for the magistrate, deputy, and secretary—three officials with rank, who wore sour faces and cowered silently among the crowd—the constables, seeing such grand spectacle for the first time, thought they were witnessing gods at war...

To them, perhaps it really was a battle of immortals.

They watched the scholars—gentle and frail—tear a page from a book and fling it, which would turn into a ball of fire or a pen;

Sometimes, a scholar’s phantom in flowing robes would appear, wielding ruler, inkstone, or carving knife as weapons, soaring into the sky and plunging into the black clouds above.

“Damn, scholars are so fierce? How come we never knew?”

“Hold it! You’ve got some nerve—last time I said not to bully scholars, but you insisted on breaking Scholar Liu’s legs in the north of the city...”

“Never again will I dare to bully a scholar.”

“I heard Quick-Hand He Chang’an has become a scholar too—no justice! That scoundrel...”

With a loud thud, Hu Lao Si, who had slandered He Chang’an, got punched in the eye. Then, his belly and flank took a dozen more hits in quick succession.

Stunned, he spun in circles before he regained his senses and shouted angrily, “Damn it, who hit me?”

“It was me, so what?” An old cook with a cleaver in his belt and graying hair panted heavily, wiping sweat from his brow. “Damn you, insult my son again and I’ll beat you to death next time!”

“...”

Hu Lao Si dared not utter another word.

He Chang’an was notorious in Weiyang County as a troublemaker and scoundrel, mainly because he had a powerful backer—his father, who had been even more unruly in his youth...

Rumor had it, the old man served as a frontier soldier for ten years, let battlefield gloom seep into his body, lost his vitality and couldn’t become a ranked martial artist, so he returned to Weiyang County and became a cook for the county office.

Put simply: he feared nothing.

“My son became a scholar, and I’m furious!” His father spat angrily, “I wanted him to learn martial arts, but that rascal ended up mixing with scholars...”

No one dared reply.

The He father and son were infamous in Weiyang County—barefoot and fearless, always ready for a fight...

And now, they were protected by scholars.

...

The “battle” dragged on for another half hour. The rooster had crowed, but the ghost-faced idol’s apparition showed no signs of weakening, much to the scholars’ frustration.

This war of attrition had been arduous from the start; the scholars’ righteous aura, like the martial artists’ spiritual energy, needed years of cultivation to accumulate even a few drops.

In the short term, every drop spent was one less.

Thus, very few—like Du Shisan—would unleash grand attacks, hurling over a hundred bolts of righteous energy in an instant, unless there was immediate effect...

But the ghost creature before them seemed to have a limitless supply, enduring the night’s consumption without concern.

Moreover, as the scholars’ righteous aura thinned and dimmed, the ghost seemed to grow stronger, its icy claws striking suddenly, nearly tearing through the shield several times.

If not for the inherent power of righteous aura against evil spirits, it would have broken through long ago...

It was an awkward situation.

The dean’s expression darkened, several times reaching into his robe to retrieve something, but holding back.

‘Du Shisan: Dean, we’re about to lose it—what now?’

‘Wen Taiyuan: Even if we can’t hold on, we must. A scholar can never admit defeat.’

‘Zhao Zheng: Taiyuan is right!’

‘Du Shisan: So, my words don’t count?’

‘Zhao Zheng: Old rascal, itching for a fight?’

‘Du Shisan: Come on, don’t be fooled by my display of righteous aura—a single hand is enough to beat you, old rascal!’

‘Ma Dai: Master, Deputy Deans, is this the time to argue...’

‘Zhao Zheng: My apprentice, let me teach you a great Confucian technique—rage that makes one stand tall...’

‘He Chang’an: Rage, my ass. We’re getting trampled here, and you still talk about teaching and being a role model? Let’s just go back to Chang’an and drown ourselves in a brothel...’

‘Zhao Zheng, Du Shisan, Wen Taiyuan, Ma Dai: Damn you, He Chang’an!’

With a thunderous boom, the scholars’ shield suddenly exploded.