A Demon's Path Volume 1 Chapter 19

"What do you think will happen if I let you go. You think they'll just let you walk out of here?" Ling Xiao asked the young girl.

All who saw her tear-stained face would pity her. "I-I don't know."

Ling Xiao sounded like a strange uncle who'd abducted a minor as he spoke to her in an enticing voice, "How about this? Follow Big Brother and I'll send you back home when I have the opportunity. How does that sound?"

The little girl stared at Ling Xiao with her bright, clear eyes. Eventually, she nodded. "Ok. But Big Brother Xiao you must bring me home as soon as you can. If not, my mother will be worried."

Ling Xiao unequivocally agreed to her request. "But of course. Anyway, this place is filled with bad people, so let's leave. Oh, right. My name is Ling Xiao. What's yours?"

"Tang Yingying."

After becoming a cultivator, Ling Xiao had long since reached the realm where he could sneak in and out of a place like the Floating Red Courtyard without anyone being the wiser. Zi Yun was no longer on his mind as he carried Tang Yingying on his shoulder and jumped out of the window.

Tang Yingying didn't have much strength in her. As a result, Ling Xiao could only walk through Northern Jade City at the speed of mortals.

Master favours me, Senior Brother said. At least I won't have to worry about him checking on me. I should have all night to return to the sect and hide this little girl.

The key to the success of his plan lay in the part where he slipped into the sect unnoticed.

Tang Yingying followed closely behind Ling Xiao. As she looked at the field of darkness outside Northern Jade City, she couldn't help but feel a wave of fear hit her. She subconsciously grabbed Ling Xiao's hand.

Ling Xiao held her hand in his, caressing her soft skin with his thumb. You're taking advantage of me here. You can't blame me.

Not long after they left Northern Jade City, Ling Xiao stopped as warning bells rang throughout his body.

Tang Yingying was trembling a little and attempted to withdraw from Ling Xiao as she asked, "Big Brother Xiao, why have we stopped?"

Ling Xiao didn't answer, but rather directed his attention to a patch of darkness not far off. "Come out. You can't trap me with a shitty array like the Ghostly Roundabouts."

"Kekekeke…" A sinister laugh sounded from that patch of darkness. What walked out next was an old man with a smirk on his face. "Ling Xiao, my son. I never would've thought you'd made so much progress since your disappearance 6 months ago. You can even recognise my Ghostly Roundabouts from just a glance. I originally wanted to bind you with this array and slowly kill you. Oh well, keke."

Tang Yingying borrowed the faint light from the stars to discern the silhouette in the shadows and involuntarily cried out, "It's you! Big Brother Xiao, he's a demonic beast!"

"Lord Lan, there's no need for such unpleasantries just because I'm richer than you. But to be fair, I never thought a monster like you would be hiding in Northern Jade City," Ling Xiao coldly retorted.

Red light flashed in Lord Lan's eyes as he vehemently said, "This small demonic beast actually recognised me. I originally wanted to kill you after having my fill of fun with you. But your grandfather has changed his plans!"

After he finished talking, Lord Lan's doddering body suddenly erupted with vitality. He extended his arms and pounced at Ling Xiao at the speed of lightning. "Die!"

Ling Xiao quickly pushed Tang Yingying to the side with perfect control over his strength. It was just enough for Tang Yingying to fly to the vacant space several meters away without causing her to fall on her buttocks.

Lord Lan's claws were right in front of Ling Xiao in the time it took to push Tang Yingying away. He would rip Ling Xiao's chest and stomach apart any moment now!

Ling Xiao didn't back away watching as danger closed in on him, but rather he chose to face his opponent head on. He opted to use the Strength Soul technique in the Demonic Seven Souls Chain—the Mad Demonic Fist!

After carefully observing Lord Lan's movements, Ling Xiao moved. Whoosh! He quickly struck his opponent in the chest with a straight punch.

"Lunatic!" Lord Lan treasured his life. When faced with this incomparably strange attack, he only cursed Ling Xiao before darting out of the way. Unfortunately, he sealed his fate by doing so.

Before Lord Lan could dodge, Ling Xiao landed a second earth-shattering punch. Every strike was aimed at Lord Lan's heart, throat, or crown. With every punch he dealt, Ling Xiao looked more and more like a lunatic possessed by a demon. He was solely engrossed in attacking without a care for his life, hardly defending himself.

Lord Lan had to put his full energy in defending himself from this onslaught, leaving him unable to retaliate in the slightest. He wasn't even given the time to regain his senses!

The Northern Jade Sect cultivated the Strength Soul which focused on strengthening the cultivator's corporeal body. Added on to the fact that Ling Xiao was an anomaly who cultivated the twin soul, the structure of his body was far stronger than Lord Lan's who didn't seem to be an especially strong demonic beast.

Lord Lan only lasted a minute under this barrage of all-out attacks. Since his physical strength couldn't endure the constant assault, Ling Xiao managed to strike the vital parts of his body unimpeded. Blood-curdling screeches erupted from his throat until Ling Xiao finally struck him with a kick and sent him flying.

Ling Xiao felt confident in the outcome of this battle. His last kick landed squarely on Lord Lan's heart. He wouldn't be surprised if it had kicked the life out of his opponent.

"Let's go." Ling Xiao dusted his hands off and stretched it out to Tang Yingying.

Tang Yingying had a frightened look on her face as she stuttered, "B-big Brother Xiao!"

Ling Xiao thought the fight between him and Lord Lan had frightened Tang Yingying. He laughed. "It's alright. Everything's alright now."

"B-behind you!" When Ling Xiao heard Tang Yingying utter these words, he immediately understood what was wrong and cursed under his breath, "Fuck!"

Even though he dashed to the side at the speed of light, he was still a second too late.

A massive whip knocked Ling Xiao off his feet and sent him flying through the air.

Bang!

"Urgh…" Ling Xiao felt a painful burn on his back as the energy in his body was thrown into disarray. The taste of iron filled his mouth as blood spilled from the corners of his lips.

A mouse two to three times taller than the average adult stood before Ling Xiao. A long and thick tail was loudly thumping on the ground. This was the tail that'd sent Ling Xiao flying just now.

"Damned brat! You're no match for me when I reveal my true form!" the huge mouse fiercely said, a red glint shining in its eyes.

This was Lord Lan's true form—a huge mouse with a blue skin.

"This girl is perfect for me! With her primary Yin beastforce I can finally regain my power and step back into the yellow rank. If it wasn't for your meddling, my plan would've been perfect!" the mouse viciously said as it walked toward Ling Xiao a step at a time. "Then again, I suppose sucking your celestial soulforce dry isn't a poor choice either."

"Hehe!" A hollow laugh sounded from Ling Xiao's mouth. After which a violent burst of pain washed over his lungs as he coughed out more blood. "I can guarantee you'll explode and die if you take three more steps forwards. Do you believe me?"

The huge mouse blinked its red eyes, "Are you trying to scare me?"

An evil smile spread across Ling Xiao's face. "It's fine. You don't have to believe me. Just a few more steps and you'll see for yourself."

"Humph! I'm not stupid enough to fall for such a lousy trick!" The huge mouse took another two steps. Although he said he didn't believe Ling Xiao, his steps were much slower than before.

Seeing as there was nothing unusual about his body, the mouse couldn't help but fly into a fit of rage. He felt humiliated! "You're lying to me, you damned brat!"

Ling Xiao burst out laughing. "That's right! It's not my fault you're stupid!"

"Die!" The huge mouse squeaked in anger and took the third step.

Once its paw hit the ground, Ling Xiao coldly spat out the number three and the mouse came to a standstill.

Tang Yingying was surprised to see the huge mouse motionless, frozen stiff like a statue. She was shocked speechless, but eventually managed to utter, "W-what's happening?"

Filthy blood seeped out of the corner of the mouse's mouth, a matchless stench filling the air. "You! How… how? How?!"

"There's highly toxic poison hidden under my fingernails. I used my thumb to scratch your damaged skin when we were fighting. I knew you'd die, no doubt about that. But I never expected that your true form would actually be so sturdy. It delayed the activation of the poison by quite some time."

There was an abundance of poisons in the Demonic Seven Souls Chain.

Corpse Blood Poison had its own means of refinement, but Ling Xiao couldn't do so with his current strength. Luckily, there was an ample amount of it stored within the Demonic Seven Souls Chain.

"You're heartless!" Lord Lan just finished what he wanted to say when his body exploded with a bang, turning into a filthy pile of blood.

Ling Xiao resisted the pain from his injury as he quickly sprinkled some medicinal powder on the blood to cover up the smell. Only then did he hold Tang Yingying's hand. The poor girl was still shaking in fear, unable to do much of anything. "Let's go."

Just after the scene was cleared, a dark silhouette arrived. A yellow hue emitted from the soul chain strung around his neck. It was Li Yuanhuan!

Li Yuanhuan frowned as he looked at the mess on the ground. "I clearly sensed a burst of beastforce here only a moment ago. How did it disappear? Was I mistaken?"

Chapter end