Li Fan and Li Hongyi stood silently, watching as the grandfather and grandson walked away.
*Perhaps, for them, this was the best conclusion. Both no longer had to endure suffering.*
*Sometimes, living was far harder than dying. They were holding on to this world for each other's sake.*
*Li Hongyi felt conflicted. This was a side of Lin'an County she had never seen before.*
"Let's go," Li Fan said as he turned to leave.
"What about the old man's body?" Li Hongyi asked, catching up.
"When a person dies, the light of their lamp extinguishes. Look at Lin'an County; things like this must be happening all the time," Li Fan responded.
"Why is your heart so cold again?" Li Hongyi followed behind him, her tone questioning.
"If we have the time, we should use it to slay a few more demons. At least we'd save a few living souls," Li Fan leapt forward and rushed through Lin'an County.
Li Hongyi followed suit. Under the night sky, sword light and spear gleams flickered across the darkness of Lin'an. Horrified screams of demons echoed periodically as their bodies were savagely sliced open to extract their Demon Cores after they perished.
*Humans were far more 'cruel' than demons.*
...
At the break of dawn, the sky turned pale, and the city awoke.
The people of Lin'an County had endured yet another night of terror and dread.
By morning, many came to the City God Temple to offer incense and prayers.
*The less hope there was, the more fervently people clung to their faith in gods.*
*Yet those gods, aside from being a source of fleeting emotional solace, brought no real hope. Instead, they often dragged their believers deeper into unending despair.*
Outside the City God Temple stood a young man and woman. The man was strikingly handsome, his snowy white robes immaculate. The woman, clad in brilliant red, looked ethereal, like a figure out of a dream.
This time, Li Hongyi didn't wear her customary veiled face mask. She faced the world boldly, her natural beauty laid bare, dressed in the red garments she favored.
Their appearance was so captivating, it inevitably drew quite a few curious glances. Some thought the man looked vaguely familiar, as if they'd seen him somewhere before.
The stunning woman resembled someone well-known in Lin'an County: Li Hongyi.
"Looks like the face I saw on an official wanted poster," someone muttered quietly. That striking young man—could he be a wanted convict?
"It does look like him. Come on, let's go report to the authorities."
Li Fan overheard the murmurs, but he didn't react.
"Miss Li, the incense offerings here are so abundant. This City God must be powerful. What if we can't beat him?" Li Fan asked. Ghost Cultivators relied on incense and faith for cultivation—greater devotions meant faster cultivation progress.
This City God garnered fervent worship from Lin'an County's residents. With continuous offerings, his strength was likely formidable.
"And now you think of that?" Li Hongyi shot him an annoyed glance.
*We're already here. Retreating now—wouldn't that be embarrassing?*
"I'm young and tend to act impulsively," Li Fan admitted.
Li Hongyi gave him a side-eye.
*Ha!*
"Let's go," Li Fan said as they approached the entrance to the City God Temple, their eyes fixed on the kindly sculpted statue of an elderly man. Li Hongyi felt an unsettling wave of nausea.
*This is the god Lin'an County worships? The revered elder of Lin'an?*
*She began to doubt everything she thought she knew.*
The Chen family's Demon Slaying Summit had been nothing more than a mask hiding their collaboration with demons, sacrificing women and Martial Artists for rituals. The government, tasked with protecting the people, was equally enmeshed in this corruption. The City God, supposedly a ghost guardian keeping residents safe, was just another Evil God committing atrocities.
*All these factions—they were undoubtedly connected.*
Fulong Manor was infamous for its cruelty, yet it sheltered a pitiful ghost girl.
*What was truth? What was deception?*
*Black had become white, white had become black. Everything reversed. And the people suffered for it.*
"Why are you two standing here?" a temple guard questioned Li Fan and Li Hongyi at the entrance.
"Naturally, to observe the City God," Li Fan replied.
"If you came to see the City God," the guard retorted, "why aren't you kneeling?"
Nearby worshippers turned their heads to scrutinize Li Fan and Li Hongyi.
Yes—if they were here to see the City God, why wouldn't they kneel?
Li Fan stared at the guard but asked, "And who might you be?"
"I asked you a question!" the guard snapped arrogantly, ignoring Li Fan's inquiry altogether.
"The City God Temple here was constructed by Lin'an's prominent families and is managed by their representatives. He must be one of their lackeys," Li Hongyi surmised.
Local aristocrats colluding with ghost gods, propped up by government officials—a power so overwhelming it could blot out the skies.
"Then killing him won't be unjust," Li Fan said coldly. As his words fell, a single streak of Sword Aura tore through the guard's throat. The man's complexion turned pale as he clutched at his gushing neck, blood spilling uncontrollably, staining both his hands.
"You…you dare…" he stammered in terror before falling backward, his body trembling once just before going lifeless.
"Murder!"
Chaos erupted among the crowd. No one expected this striking young man to kill someone right in front of the City God himself.
Numerous figures rushed out from within the temple, weapons in hand, charging toward Li Fan.
Li Fan willed his Mana, and immediately swords appeared in the air above him. The sword light crackled like lightning, tearing through the temple's attackers. Bodies collapsed into pools of blood one after another.
Li Fan stepped over the corpses, his gaze fixed on the temple's inner sanctum, where the richly carved statue of the elderly City God watched him.
"Come out," Li Fan commanded as his sword light and Li Hongyi's spear surged forth, smashing into the statue. It exploded into ruins, collapsing in a thunderous crash.
The combined forces of sword and spear laid waste to everything in the City God Temple.
"They've lost their minds!"
"Stop this madness!" someone sobbed hysterically. These two lunatics had demolished the shrine of the City God, and who could say what vengeance the deity would exact in retaliation?
Within moments, the two had razed the main hall into rubble. As Li Fan and Li Hongyi moved forward, intent on discovering the prison beneath, a chilling wind suddenly howled. Darkness swallowed the rising dawn, eclipsing the sunlight completely.
The two looked upward. The area surrounding the City God Temple was blanketed in dense Yin Energy; an overpowering malevolence began to seep through, as villagers dropped to their knees and began kowtowing toward the temple.
[CONTINUES -- NOTE: Due to constraints, please submit any additional request to continue the segment you'd like to align.]