Two fierce battles, fought to the last.

Lang Jiuchuan lay flat on the ground, motionless, staring up at the sky above, where the faintest pale light was beginning to creep in. Her gaze was unfocused, her mind a complete blank. She felt, in that moment, like a dead fish — anyone who came along could do whatever they pleased with her.

“Mother…”

Beside her, the half-demon — not yet gone cold — called out in a fading voice.

Lang Jiuchuan slowly turned her head. She saw its eyes fixed on the bone bell hovering above her, its breathing faint, its fingertips barely stirring. The bone bell drifted gently toward it.

The half-demon’s slit pupils brightened for just a moment, drinking greedily in the living, fluid energy the bell transmitted — as though drawing on something from long ago, from when it was still in the womb. But it had been too long — so long that it had already forgotten what that feeling was.

Now, wreathed in karmic sin, its very soul was shrouded in black, the purest filth of accumulated consequence. The instinct of a mother-and-child bond was all but gone. Only a single thread of blood-and-fate connection remained, pulling at it from somewhere.

Lang Jiuchuan watched it, nearly lifeless, and wanted to speak — but the moment she opened her mouth, dark blood came pouring out in great gushes. Her heart tightened.

It’s dying!

It couldn’t die — not now. It was evidence of being kept and controlled. If this was the Rong Family’s doing, she needed it alive. A living half-demon was the most powerful weapon against the Rong Family she could hope for.

The more urgent she felt, the more blood she expelled. Her breathing grew shallow and weak, her vital energy spent. She had nowhere near enough spiritual power left to sustain even this dying half-demon.

Just then — someone arrived.

Lang Jiuchuan looked up, and the tension in her expression eased. It was Gong Qi and Yice. Both of them were in a wretched state — soaked through, hair loose and tangled, faces deathly pale, Daoist robes in tatters. And most telling of all was their vital energy — no better than Lang Jiuchuan’s.

They were all utterly spent.

Following behind the two of them was a larger group — the surviving Daoists, along with Shen Qinghe and the others. When they saw Lang Jiuchuan lying on the ground drenched in blood, barely breathing, all of them were struck with shock.

Lang Jiuchuan allowed herself a quiet breath of relief. Good — reinforcements.

But before she could speak, another arrival cut in. This one was a stranger — an elderly Daoist wearing a purple robe. Everyone who saw him responded with respectful deference, addressing him as Daoist Master Ruoxu.

“Truly, a demonic abomination has appeared in this world — and heaven will not suffer it.” He looked at the half-demon lying beside Lang Jiuchuan. With a flick of his wrist, seven black talismans flew from between his fingers and landed on the half-demon’s body. A ghostly green fire bloomed instantly.

“No!”

From the moment he appeared, Lang Jiuchuan had sensed something was wrong. She lunged toward the half-demon, forming a hand seal in an attempt to smother the ghostly fire. This person had arrived, said nothing, and immediately made his move — but not in a way that served her.

Destroying the evidence.

“Young fellow Daoist has already exhausted yourself fighting this demon alone — you should rest. Allow us to lend our effort for the sake of the people.”

A hand seal struck her at the elbow. Lang Jiuchuan felt her entire arm go numb, the limb falling limp and useless at her side. She could only watch helplessly as the ghostly green fire consumed the half-demon — sizzling as it burned, until the body had dissolved into a pool of foul liquid that seeped into the earth. Only the rank, putrid odor lingered in the air.

Lang Jiuchuan was incensed. She whipped her head around to look at the elderly Daoist with his sinister expression, a fresh surge of vital blood burning in her chest and spilling from her lips. She reached out and closed her fingers around the bone bell — feeling the surge of spiritual energy it transmitted — and found enough strength to speak. “Destroying evidence — how very convenient for you.”

Daoist Master Ruoxu glanced at the bone bell in her hand, and a fleeting, strange look passed through those deep-set eyes. Then he knitted his brows and regarded Lang Jiuchuan. “Young fellow Daoist, what is that supposed to mean? This old Daoist does not understand.”

Lang Jiuchuan braced one hand on the ground and tried to rise — only to find herself too weak to manage it. Shen Qinghe jogged over and pulled her upright, then had his subordinates produce a cape and drape it around her entire person.

Lang Jiuchuan leaned against him, not sparing Daoist Master Ruoxu another glance. She looked directly at Gong Qi. “This half-demon had entered into a blood contract with someone from the Rong Family. Someone within the Rong Family has been privately harboring a half-demon for their own use, practicing the arts of demonic evil. I request the Xuan Clan and the Surveillance Division conduct a full investigation.”

She didn’t bother to argue, not even for a moment. She simply named the Rong Family outright. Slander won’t get you killed — I’m implicating you, so what of it?

What—?

The crowd’s expressions changed dramatically. The Rong Family had harbored this half-demon?

“Lies! Don’t you dare spit your venom at us!” A member of the Rong Family’s faction jumped forward, pointing at Lang Jiuchuan and erupting in furious denunciation.

Yice said with cool indifference: “What are you so agitated about? There’s no smoke without fire. Let’s hear what Fellow Daoist Lang has to say.”

“Young fellow Daoist — one can eat recklessly, but one cannot speak recklessly. The Rong Family is of the Xuan Clan — generation after generation, they have taken slaying evil and upholding the Dao as their duty. You are not in a position to make baseless accusations against them.” Daoist Master Ruoxu hadn’t expected Lang Jiuchuan to act so wildly — naming the Rong Family with not a shred of evidence.

Lang Jiuchuan gave a cold laugh. “And who exactly are you, speaking up for the Rong Family so eagerly? You appear out of nowhere and move immediately to destroy the evidence — are you their accomplice? Then you’re no better than they are.”

Her gaze dropped to the human-bone abacus beads hanging at his waist, and her expression showed open revulsion.

“Impudence!” Daoist Master Ruoxu’s face hardened, and a palm wind struck toward her.

Gong Qi stepped forward and met it, dispersing the blow. He said: “What is Daoist Master Ruoxu doing? Fellow Daoist Lang has just slain the water demon and then slain a half-demon — immeasurable merit. Are you going against heaven, or is it simply that someone has struck a nerve and you cannot bear to hear it?”

Daoist Master Ruoxu’s expression darkened. “Is this how the Gong Family treats its elders?”

Gong Qi let out a short, cold laugh. “Scold me, if you like — leave the Gong Family out of it. Who doesn’t know I’m a good-for-nothing troublemaker, a reckless, unruly thorn in everyone’s side? Scold all you want — it rolls right off me. But Fellow Daoist Lang just accumulated immense merit, and you respond to two words from her by turning aggressive and seeking to do harm — I strongly suspect she touched a nerve and that’s why you panicked. And another thing — Fellow Daoist Lang was invited here by our Surveillance Division. You make a move against her right under our noses, and I cannot let that stand. Isn’t that right, Director Shen? A meritorious colleague who gave everything — not yet praised, already being wronged. After this, what fellow cultivator would dare throw themselves wholeheartedly into slaying evil and upholding the Dao? Who has vital energy and spiritual power to spare, if not earned through years of painstaking cultivation? And now look at Fellow Daoist Lang…”

Shen Qinghe glared at Ruoxu, his expression openly hostile. “To harbor malicious intent toward a true cultivator who walks the righteous path — that is to walk in opposition to the righteous path. That is itself the way of evil. This official will report this matter to His Majesty for a ruling.”

Everyone’s eyes turned instinctively to Lang Jiuchuan. Anyone with eyes could see she was holding herself upright through sheer willpower, on the verge of losing consciousness. Her vital energy had been devastated — and no one could say how long it would take for her to recover through cultivation.

She had given everything — and then some.

And furthermore, she had faced evil creature after evil creature in combat, and had come out victorious each time. Even utterly spent, she hadn’t fallen. That was proof enough of the sheer strength of her abilities — surpassing many of those gathered here.

A person like this — better not to make an enemy of her.

“Fellow Daoist Gong speaks truly.” Nobody wanted to exhaust themselves only to come away wronged for it. That was far too disheartening.

Daoist Master Ruoxu looked at Gong Qi. Suddenly, he smiled. “My error. Let this old Daoist offer his apologies to young Fellow Daoist Lang.”

He gave Lang Jiuchuan a Daoist bow — whether the heart was in it was plain for anyone to see.

Lang Jiuchuan’s cold laugh cut through the air. “The half-demon is dead, the blood contract dissolved — but that person entered a contract with the half-demon, and this demon was steeped to the bone in karmic sin. Now that it has died, the karmic backlash will settle on that person as well. Whether I have been slandering anyone — simply find out which member of the Rong Family has been struck by karmic backlash and hit by lightning. Whether they’re dead or merely half-peeled won’t matter. Heaven’s law is impartial. Those who assist evil do not escape without consequence — it simply hasn’t reached them yet. The time will come.”