Chapter 369: Old Ox, My Eyelids Twitching

Lu Shan-jun’s plan to escape the Underworld was simple. It was already summer, and the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, the Ghost Festival, was fast approaching. On that day, the Gate of Hell in Layang Prefecture’s Underworld would open.

On this day, if someone offered sacrifices to a specific ghost, that ghost could receive an Underworld Talisman, which would merge into its spectral body. This allowed the ghost to pass through the Gate of Hell to directly partake in the offerings and even see their family.

Even before infiltrating the Underworld, Lu Shan-jun had paid several people to offer sacrifices to Lan Ning-ke after dark on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month. Since he had paid generously, the scale of the offerings could be somewhat grander.

Indeed, on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, the people he had hired set up tables for sacrifices in their homes or in small alleys and lanes.

Thus, Lan Ning-ke managed to slip out of the Gate of Hell, albeit with a bit of a scare. As for the Underworld Talisman, Lu Shan-jun swallowed it soon after. Although the Underworld authorities sensed the disturbance and almost immediately came looking, how could ordinary underworld officers find Lu Shan-jun, who had absorbed the ghost and concealed his aura?

One day in late July, the weather was unbearably hot. Yet, the patriarch of the Dong family in Layang Prefecture, along with his wife and second son, left the city to visit their eldest son's grave.

Servants took out the offerings from several food boxes and baskets, arranging them one by one before Dong Bi-cheng's grave. Madam Dong, her hair streaked with white, personally arranged paper ingots and various kinds of joss paper with the help of her maidservants.

Once everything was nearly ready, the servants lit the candles on the candelabra, as well as the paper ingots and joss paper.

Madam Dong, her eyes slightly red, looked at her husband and nodded to him.

Patriarch Dong, with his silver hair, had a solemn expression. He took out a finely folded proclamation from his robe, unfolded it, and his lips trembled slightly before he spoke.

"Son," he said, "that 'Grass-Flying Bandit' is dead. This morning, someone claimed the two thousand taels of silver reward from our Dong family. I personally went to see the rogue, and the government coroner repeatedly verified his identity. We even invited some victims from our prefecture who had suffered directly from him. All confirmed it was indeed Grass-Flying Bandit himself. Now that you know this, you can rest in peace under the springs!"

Patriarch Dong finished speaking in a hoarse voice, then placed the proclamation he held into the burning pile of joss paper, setting it alight.

"Elder Brother," Dong Bi-wu said, "that 'Grass-Flying Bandit' had his limbs severed, turned into a 'human swine,' and was still alive when he was brought to Layang Prefecture. He seemed to have been scared senseless, but even so, he would still react when asked about certain things, confirming it was Grass-Flying Bandit undoubtedly. We looked for his whereabouts for so long with no luck; it turns out he had changed his name and was running a brothel. A dog can't change its habit of eating shit; he still resorted to despicable means..."

Dong Bi-wu clenched his fists and spoke with hatred.

"He was actually in the neighboring prefecture all this time. But this time, he finally received his deserved punishment: decapitated while confined in a 'human swine' jar. I've never seen such a thing, Elder Brother, you really should have seen it, hahahahaha..."

Dong Bi-wu smiled as he unclinched his fists, symbolizing the untying of a knot in his heart.

Today's events reminded the elderly Dong couple and their second son of the pain of losing their child. However, the death of Grass-Flying Bandit brought a sense of satisfaction. At this moment, Patriarch Dong and his wife felt both a little melancholic and somewhat relieved.

The elderly couple naturally grieved over Dong Bi-cheng's death back then. They were also very concerned about their second son, Dong Bi-wu, who was now an adult. From a young age, Dong Bi-wu had always loved to pester Dong Bi-cheng to take him out to play.

His elder brother's death not only caused immense suffering to the elderly Dong couple but also deeply motivated Dong Bi-wu. Since then, he had practiced martial arts diligently every day. Although he never explicitly said anything, the elderly Dong couple were very worried that Dong Bi-wu would try to seek revenge on Grass-Flying Bandit. If anything unfortunate were to happen, the Dong family truly could not bear a second sorrow.

Fortunately, Heaven had eyes; Grass-Flying Bandit was finally dead.

However, the elderly Dong couple and Dong Bi-wu probably didn't realize that Dong Bi-cheng had already known about Grass-Flying Bandit's death long before they offered their sacrifices.

There was nothing to be done; Dong Bi-cheng was now an apprentice underworld officer. Thanks to Ji Yuan's influence, the Underworld immediately brought him out of Ghost City.

As it turned out, when Grass-Flying Bandit died and was brought to the Underworld, he ran directly into Dong Bi-cheng. It was truly a case of enemies meeting on a narrow road...

At this very moment, Lu Shan-jun was already on his way to the northern reaches of Great Zhen.

Although killing Grass-Flying Bandit was a request initiated by Lan Ning-ke, Lu Shan-jun was quite happy to do it. Furthermore, there was a reward of two thousand taels of silver, which was certainly not a small sum—enough for an ordinary person to live comfortably for several lifetimes.

However, for someone like Lu Shan-jun, who was never short of money, two thousand taels was merely icing on the cake. If it were given to Ji Yuan, even with his current temperament, he would probably be happy for a while.

Luoqing City, a prosperous city in the northwestern part of the Ancestral Yue Kingdom, was an extremely important urban center. Its prosperity surpassed even that of the Ancestral Yue capital, earning it the reputation of "Western Luoqing, Eastern Yue Center."

Historically, dynasties that emerged in the Ancestral Yue region frequently designated Luoqing as a secondary capital or even the primary capital.

Yan Fei and Niu Ba-tian were currently residing in a small manor outside this bustling Luoqing City.

The manor wasn't large, consisting of only four or five rooms. Outside, in the garden, various vegetables and fruits were grown, along with fruit trees like grapevines and jujube trees. Apart from the existing fruit trees, the vegetables and fruits were grown in a laissez-faire manner, with seeds simply scattered and left to grow or die on their own; weeding wasn't even done. If there was something to pick, they picked it; otherwise, they bought it.

The manor was very close to Luoqing City. If they wished, even an ordinary person could reach the city in less than half an hour from that distance, let alone Yan Fei and Niu Ba-tian.

Over the years, the two had traveled to many places in the Ancestral Yue region, but they had stayed the longest in Luoqing. Not only was it comfortable to live there, but the main reason was that Niu Ba-tian insisted on staying, dragging Yan Fei along.

In Niu Ba-tian's own words, he had developed feelings for the girls in the city's pleasure houses.

As for Yan Fei, besides consistently practicing martial arts, he would occasionally trouble Niu Ba-tian to take him to find ghosts and even minor demons for sparring. Sparring solely with other martial arts masters no longer satisfied Yan Fei.

It was difficult for ordinary people to find such beings with their mortal eyes, but Niu Ba-tian, being a demon with profound cultivation, had no trouble finding them.

As for why Niu Ba-tian had always associated with Yan Fei, the martial artist, one reason was that they had been sworn brothers for a long time, and their relationship had grown stronger. Another reason was that he had initially decided to help Yan Fei avert a calamity, so he naturally stayed by his side.

After all, even if Yan Fei could reach the Xiantian realm, the lifespan of a mortal martial artist was still only a few decades. That tiger demon named Lu would surely arrive before Yan Fei died. For Niu Ba-tian, waiting a few decades was perfectly fine, especially since wandering around with Yan Fei was quite enjoyable.

One morning, Niu Ba-tian awoke from his bed with a yawn.

"Ah... hmph... that was a comfortable sleep..."

Old Niu straightened up, rubbed his face, and twitched his ears. He could hear the rustle of clothes and the sharp whistle of a long sword cutting through the air in the garden, knowing that Yan Fei had already risen to practice martial arts.

However, at that moment, his right eyelid began to twitch. Old Niu blinked hard, but it wouldn't stop. He then rubbed his face again, and only then did it subside.

Twisting his body, he got out of bed and, still yawning, walked to the stone table in front of the house, where Yan Fei had already prepared tea.

Niu Ba-tian picked up a teacup, lifted the teapot, and poured a cup. Without caring if it was hot, he gulped it down, leaves and all. He drank several cups before stopping, then rubbed his right cheek and eyebrow again.

Yan Fei finished a set of moves, wiped his sweat, and walked towards Niu Ba-tian.

"Brother Niu, are you awake?"

Niu Ba-tian frowned, rubbing his right cheek, making a continuous "tsk, tsk" sound. When Yan Fei sat down to pour himself tea, he looked at him and said,

"Brother Yan, Old Niu here is wondering if something bad is about to happen to me lately. This eyelid just keeps twitching. What do you think, should I lay low for a bit, so I don't get you involved?"

Niu Ba-tian's words were actually quite reasonable. No matter how little his mental state developed, he was still a cultivator, and his spiritual perception far surpassed that of ordinary people. An unexplained eyelid twitch was highly unusual.

Yan Fei shook his head.

"Brother Niu, there's no need. You already said you would help me fend off the tiger demon. If you're in trouble, should I simply hide? That makes no sense. Although I, Yan, am just a mortal with meager martial arts, precisely because of that, I'm easily overlooked. Who knows, I might be able to help. Besides, an eyelid twitch isn't necessarily a bad omen..."

As Yan Fei spoke, he glanced at the unwashed red marks at the corners of Niu Ba-tian's eyes.

"Perhaps Brother Niu indulged too much and is a bit weak, or maybe it's a sign that your money is running out?"

Niu Ba-tian was stunned for a moment, then pulled out a silk pouch from his robe. Shaking it, he could only hear the clink of a few copper coins. This money pouch wasn't his; it was Yan Fei's.

"Uh... ha ha ha... Brother Yan, there's some truth to what you say. Money is external to us; it'll come back quickly. We'll just go kill some more clueless creatures, and we'll have more."

Niu Ba-tian chuckled awkwardly and placed Yan Fei's money pouch on the table. As for his own, it had long been empty.

"Oh, by the way, Brother Yan, what should we eat today? The roasted lamb you cooked last time was excellent. How about we have it again today? Roast more this time!"

For Old Niu, living in the human world meant adhering to the four principles of "eating, drinking, playing, and enjoying," besides not neglecting his necessary cultivation. Only then was life truly colorful.

"Heh heh, Brother Niu, a fat lamb costs 150 *wen*..."

"Alright, never mind what I said, never mind."

Old Niu cut Yan Fei off. Just as he was about to change the subject, he suddenly frowned deeply again. He looked around the manor, twitched his ears, and sniffed with his nose.

"Brother Niu, what's wrong?"

"Brother Yan, someone's coming. No, it's not a person. Although it's very faint, that scorching smell isn't something a human could have. It can't escape my nose, Old Niu. I just don't know if they're looking for you or me!"

Niu Ba-tian said with a sneer, already standing up from his seat. Yan Fei also instinctively rose and looked into the distance, following Old Niu's gaze.

Vaguely, a figure appeared at the end of the small path outside the manor, slowly approaching. In no time, it was already near the vegetable patch outside the manor.

"Brother Niu, do you know them?"

Old Niu shook his head slightly.

"No, I don't. But creatures like that stinking hag are skilled at transformation, so it might be one of our enemies. Or, it could be the one you're expecting has arrived."

Neither of them made a move, watching Lu Shan-jun walk all the way to the outer side of the inner fence. He stopped there without crossing the fence and inquired,

"Gentlemen, does Flying Sword Yan Fei reside here?"

Yan Fei squinted, looking at Lu Shan-jun.

"I do live here, but no one knows I am Yan Fei. Who are you, sir?"

The man standing outside the fence gate politely bowed and smiled.

"My name is Lu Shan-jun. After nearly twenty years, I have come specifically to fulfill a long-standing appointment."

"Well, well, are you that tiger demon?"

Before Yan Fei could speak, Niu Ba-tian interjected, his body radiating a powerful demonic aura.

(End of Chapter)