Chapter 209: …pure-hearted youths blushing with joy
Yu Guang led over thirty members of the Tianchong Class, completing a sweep of all Exorcism Bureau offices within Zhuzhou City in one day and seizing their task books.
They acted swiftly, with organization and discipline, leaving immediately after each raid. Before departing, they ensured no word leaked out, leaving each Exorcism Bureau office unprepared and vulnerable, allowing them to succeed repeatedly.
The news only spread now.
“Hahaha, Yu Guang truly knows how to pull off a big operation. Even some of the offices with cultivators couldn’t stop them. It seems this group of students not only has a plan but also strength,” laughed the head of the Divine Academy, who had also been awakened in the middle of the night.
Wang Rongqing sighed helplessly, frowning as she asked, “So where did they go after taking the task books?”
Liu Fanglin, the messenger, cleared his throat. “Many officials in the Exorcism Bureau are furious and are sending people to search for them, but so far they haven’t found them.”
“The initial guess is that they’ve gone to exterminate evil spirits, as they also took money from each Exorcism Bureau, in addition to the task books.”
Wang Rongqing: “…They took money too?” They’re really acting like bandits.
“It was the deposit—the amount taken from each place matches the deposits for the evil spirit tasks listed in the ledgers.”
The official fees for dealing with evil spirits were not very high on the surface.
Cultivators were supposed to follow regulations when charging for exorcisms, with discounts for impoverished areas, though there were many gray areas within those rules. The Exorcism Bureau wanted to profit, and each person involved wanted to skim off a little for themselves, creating a system where everyone from top to bottom sought to take their share.
In the end, it all added up, and those seeking help from the Exorcism Bureau had to pay a considerable sum.
Wang Rongqing picked up on the disciple’s subtle attempt to justify Yu Guang and his group’s actions, and after a moment of speechlessness, replied, “So according to you, they were actually following the rules?”
The old headmaster by her side tried to persuade her, “They may have gone a bit too far, but they’re young. It’s understandable—they just wanted to help with the evil spirit problem.”
Wang Rongqing wasn’t as optimistic. With a tense expression, she instructed her disciple, “Go find your senior brothers and sisters. Tell them to put aside what they’re doing and search for Yu Guang and the others. Make sure to find them before anyone else does!”
Yu Guang and his group had been too bold in their actions, angering nearly everyone in the Exorcism Bureau. If they were found by other factions, they would surely be punished.
Wang Rongqing feared that these hot-blooded youths would clash with others and end up at a disadvantage.
The old headmaster added, “Once you find them, bring them back to the academy quickly. Let’s not have them running around all over.”
With both he and Wang Rongqing overseeing things within the academy’s domain, if they could get Yu Guang and his group back, they could negotiate with the Exorcism Bureau officials rather than letting things escalate to violence.
After all, when beloved disciples caused trouble, there wasn’t much their mentors could do but try to protect them.
…
Several groups were out searching for Yu Guang and the others, but finding them was no easy task.
They had taken a large number of task books, so no one knew where they would go first.
Beyond the main city of Zhuzhou, there were hundreds of scattered towns and villages.
In this area with poor transportation and slow information flow, locating someone wasn’t simple.
…
Yu Guang took advantage of the time delay—by the time the Exorcism Bureau started to spread news of the robbery, he was already leading his Tianchong classmates straight to Lehong Town.
The evil spirit there hadn’t appeared the earliest nor was it the strongest, but Yu Guang thought it would be perfect practice for students who hadn’t yet faced an evil spirit.
There were several evil spirits near Lehong Town, close enough that once they dealt with the one in Lehong, they could quickly move to the others, ensuring everyone had the chance for some real combat experience.
On horseback, heading to Lehong Town, Pei Wenjue clutched a pile of task ledgers, feeling as if his life choices were in question. Unknowingly, he had followed everyone, gleefully raiding the Exorcism Bureau. Now, halfway there, he finally sobered up and began contemplating the potential consequences of their actions.
No matter how he looked at it, things felt bleak.
“Pei Wenjue, stop overthinking,” Ban Ying said, riding alongside him.
“Aren’t you scared?” Pei Wenjue asked.
They had spent the previous night resting at a property owned by Ban Ying, who had also provided the horses. Normally so disciplined, Ban Ying, the eldest daughter of the Ban family, now wore a bright smile as she rode:
“Of course I’m scared. But I feel so alive! I’ve never been this happy before. We’re about to go exorcise an evil spirit—I can’t wait!”
To be honest, Pei Wenjue was excited, too.
If it weren’t for the lifelong weight of his noble family responsibilities, which made him habitually cautious, he might have been grinning like the big, carefree Wu Jin.
But he only had time for these anxieties while they were still en route.
Once they arrived at Lehong Town and spotted the evil spirit lurking in the abandoned mansion on the town’s eastern side, all they felt was a mix of excitement and trepidation.
Yu Guang eyed the evil spirit, which nearly filled the courtyard, and realized he might have miscalculated.
It seemed this creature had been feeding well recently—it was much bigger than the size reported in the task book.
Still, no big deal.
“So this is the evil spirit? How ugly! Why is it so much bigger than I’ve seen before?”
“Didn’t you pay attention in class? Evil spirits grow larger when they’ve eaten a lot of people!”
“Ugh, it stinks! I think I’m gonna be sick!”
Yu Guang interrupted everyone’s chatter. “Alright, let’s stick to the groups I assigned earlier. Give it a try and face the evil spirit.”
Wu Jin and Ming Yu stepped forward with two others, while the remaining eight also took their positions, nervously eyeing the evil spirit.
Standing behind them, Yu Guang encouraged, “Don’t worry. If things go wrong, I’m here.”
With those reassuring words from their “Big Brother”, everyone felt somewhat more at ease, though some couldn’t help but tremble slightly.
After all, facing such a massive and grotesque evil spirit up close was terrifying, especially for first-timers.
Seeing their hesitation, a boy waiting in the back shouted, “What’s there to be afraid of? No evil spirit can be scarier than Yu Yin!”
Over by himself, where he’d hoped to find a quiet place to sit, Yu Yin’s face darkened like a stormy sky.
Hearing the boy’s comment, the hesitant students immediately steadied themselves, their limbs miraculously no longer shaking, and they charged forward with Wu Jin and Ming Yu toward the evil spirit.
The mere mention of “Yu Yin” worked like magic.
Yu Yin: “…”
Back when he was “Silk Nest,” he had been the Exorcism Bureau’s number one enemy, making many cultivators shudder at his name.
It was common knowledge that “Silk Nest” was more terrifying than any evil spirit.
Once, Yu Yin took pride in that. But now, he didn’t feel the least bit amused—in fact, he was tempted to get angry.
The gray-eyed cat perched above on the wall, eyeing the crowd, immediately pinpointed the boy who’d spoken and remembered him with a vengeance.
Yu Yin made a mental note to hang that boy from a tree at the earliest opportunity.
But his gaze quickly returned to Yu Guang’s back, and he set aside those thoughts for now. There was something more important at hand.
Wherever there were evil spirits, there was bound to be despair and suffering. Dark spider silk unfurled from within him, discreetly absorbing the nearby “nourishment” to restore his strength.
To avoid alerting Yu Guang and being stopped, Yu Yin quietly put some distance between himself and the group, making his actions as inconspicuous as possible.
Yu Guang didn’t seem to notice Yu Yin’s subtle actions. His full attention was on the group of young students, occasionally giving instructions, calling some forward to fill gaps and having others step back if they couldn’t handle the pressure.
With over thirty of them, they had a solid numbers advantage. Most of them were top students, so as long as they overcame their initial fear and applied what they had learned, defeating the evil spirit together was certainly within reach.
There were plenty of mishaps along the way.
Some rushed too far ahead and nearly got swallowed whole by the spirit, others slipped and fell into its foul-smelling slime, choking on the stench, and a few accidentally hurt their classmates in the chaos. But despite it all, they managed to take down the evil spirit.
After spending quite a while whittling it down, the Tianchong Class finally succeeded. They looked around at each other’s disheveled, battle-worn appearances, then burst into cheers.
This was their first time truly killing an evil spirit!
“It wasn’t as hard as I thought, hahaha!”
“Yeah, I got in several strikes on that thing!”
“Gross! You’ve still got evil spirit goo on your face!”
“It died so fast—I didn’t even get much of a chance to join in.”
The sense of accomplishment from slaying an evil spirit was exhilarating. Emboldened by their victory, the students started to brag.
Yu Guang chuckled, “If that wasn’t enough for you, then let’s head to the next village—there’s another evil spirit roaming there.”
The student who had just been bragging fell silent.
Yu Guang gave each of them a pat on the shoulder, his eyes sparkling with the same lively spirit as always, and encouraged them, “Come on, let’s move on to the next one.”
This time, with more experience under their belts, they were less clumsy and more coordinated.
While his older brother and the others were busy fighting the evil spirit, Yu Yin quietly absorbed the despair radiating around it. Sitting nearby, he was gaining experience faster than the dirt-smeared students battling on the front lines.
When they killed the first evil spirit, they were exhilarated.
After killing the second one, they were panting for breath.
By the time they took down the third, they collapsed on the spot, the stench of evil spirit residue on them filling them with despair.
And by the fourth, they flat-out refused to move.
“Get up. There’s another evil spirit nearby we need to handle,” Yu Guang urged.
The group sprawled around his feet, whining, “Big Brother, we’re exhausted. Just let us rest a bit!”
“Big Brother, I can’t take it anymore. Can’t we find a place to clean up?”
“Please, Big Brother, I’m starving. Can we eat something?”
With the boys clinging to his legs, Yu Guang glanced over to Yu Yin, who was sitting by the wall.
“Hey, Youngest, are you hungry too?”
After a day spent absorbing plenty of despair, Yu Yin was in a good mood. Seeing the hopeful expressions of his classmates, he flashed a mischievous smile and shook his head at his brother, indicating he wasn’t hungry.
He’d be even happier if they were pushed to the point of exhaustion.
“No! Little brother can’t do this to us!”
“Big Brother, Yu Yin’s just being polite! He’s got to be starving too, but he won’t say it!”
“Big Brother, we should take a break—for Yu Yin’s sake! He’s not as strong as we are!”
Everyone knew that Yu Guang doted on his younger brother more than anyone. If he wasn’t holding Yu Yin’s hand, he was carrying him on his back, and he always made sure they ate on time together.
If he wouldn’t take pity on them, he’d at least take pity on Yu Yin, right?
“Alright,” Yu Guang said, just as everyone’s faces lit up with smiles, before he continued, “we’ll rest once we’ve finished off the last evil spirit.”
“What? That’s not fair!”
As soon as their smiles fell, Yu Guang added, “But since you’re all so tired, I’ll take care of the last evil spirit on my own.”
Suddenly, the boys who had been lying on the ground in defeat felt a surge of energy.
Up until now, Yu Guang had mostly been guiding them from the sidelines and hadn’t directly taken part in fighting. They had yet to see him in action against an evil spirit.
“Oh! Go, big brother! Show us what you can do!”
But after they truly saw Yu Guang eliminate an evil spirit, they were speechless.
The evil spirit lingering in the deserted village wasn’t huge, but it was over two meters tall, with a body like a soft, leech-like creature that left a slimy trail wherever it moved. The sight was more than a little disgusting.
All it took was for Yu Guang to pick up a random stick from the ground—and he smashed the evil spirit to pieces.
Right as they were cheering excitedly, “How will Big Brother slay it? Will he use a divine technique?”—the evil spirit was already dealt with.
No divine techniques, not even a consecrated weapon; he had taken care of the evil spirit with ease.
Compared to the hours they’d spent struggling, Yu Guang’s straightforward approach made them feel like amateurs.
Yu Guang tossed the stick aside, looked around the desolate village, and smiled at his dumbfounded little brothers, “Alright, let’s go.”
They followed him in a daze, a newfound respect—and a bit of distance—growing between them.
Even though they knew their big brother was powerful, he still managed to astonish them every time.
After a long moment, Ming Yu, usually quiet, couldn’t help but ask, “Big Brother, did you really just kill that evil spirit with a single stick?”
“But… how is that possible? Without a consecrated weapon, how could it be so easy?”
Having been held back from his “meal” by Yu Guang, Yu Yin thought to himself that these kids were truly clueless.
For them, killing an evil spirit required consecrated weapons, divine blessings, or even their own spiritual energy—all essentially relying on “merit.”
Yu Guang was a strange one; despite his youth, his entire being radiated with powerful golden light and profound merit.
Yu Guang himself was practically like the revered master these students prayed to—why would he need any external aid? Naturally, he could slay evil spirits with anything at hand.
“There’s nothing impossible in this world,” he told the group, his eyes shining brightly. “One day, you all can do this too.”
“R-really?”
“Of course! Every one of you is exceptional—I believe in you!” Yu Guang said without hesitation, praising each one of them.
His words had the pure-hearted youths blushing with joy.
Yu Yin, listening to their exchange, sneered internally: Weaklings.
“Our youngest is the best of us and will be even stronger than big brother someday!” Yu Guang said, ruffling Yu Yin’s hair, his warm hand tousling the porcelain doll-like boy until he swayed slightly.
Unlike the other youths, Yu Yin wasn’t so easily charmed and didn’t even change his expression. The gray-eyed cat suddenly sprang from the shadows and swiped at Yu Guang’s leg in a small show of protest.
Yu Guang chuckled, scooping up the cat and giving it a fair turn with his ruffling hand. Then, tucking both his brother and the cat under his arm, he cheerfully announced, “Alright, let’s head back to Lehong Town for a meal.”
*
Meanwhile, the first squad sent by the Exorcism Bureau was closing in on them. They had tracked Yu Guang and his group to Lehong Town, only to hear that they’d already moved on to a nearby village after slaying the town’s evil spirit.
They chased after them from one place to the next, but each time, they only found villagers nervously reporting that Yu Guang’s group had just left after dealing with the evil spirits.
By the time the squad reached the abandoned village, they once again arrived to find nothing but the slowly dissipating traces of the defeated evil spirit’s remains, with no witnesses left to ask for directions. They had, once again, lost Yu Guang’s trail.
“I saw them tirelessly slaying evil spirits, so they should be heading to other nearby places where evil spirits are lurking.”
“That’s right; wherever there are more evil spirits nearby, we’ll go there to find them!”
“These audacious kids sure know how to run! They’re keeping us from any rest. When we catch up to them, we should break their legs and drag them back!”
“Enough talking; let’s hurry up. The officials at the Exorcism Bureau are still waiting on us.”
They took a detour to another location, but didn’t realize that Yu Guang and his group had actually returned to Lehong Town to rest, and so the two groups perfectly missed each other.
