The deep blue flames flickered bewitchingly between his hands.

The next moment, a fleshy whip lashed toward Beichuan Si!

It even made a crisp snapping sound in the air.

In response, Beichuan Si simply moved his left hand, and Jian Ding sped off, ruthlessly slicing it into several segments in mid-air!

Spiritual Dagger Technique!

The threads of death energy in his hands tightened even more, nearly slicing the flesh mountain into small chunks.

He rolled with ease, landed on his feet, and dodged the unknown flesh blocks with the simplest of movements, all the while the threads of death energy growing increasingly tight—

On the other side, Master Yutian and Master Onodera, who had completely escaped danger, were stunned.

They watched Beichuan Si deftly dodge atop the massive body of the flesh mountain, even sometimes pulling out a large hammer to smash down on the flesh mountain's surface, their eyes wide with amazement.

They had initially planned to go assist Beichuan Si.

But...

Now if they went to help, they would surely be getting in Beichuan Si's way.

The most crucial point was...

Master Yutian and Master Onodera exchanged looks.

After a long while, they shifted their gaze from Beichuan Si and murmured in a voice only audible to the two of them, "Was Beichuan Master always this formidable?"

They previously thought that Beichuan Si's normal attacks were the extent of his strength... but now it seemed... completely different.

Every move of his was a powerful technique; a mere swing of his hammer could make the giant flesh mountain cry out in pain.

To think that they couldn't do anything to it even with the help of spiritual tools...

This highlighted the fundamental difference in levels between them and Beichuan Si.

To be honest, both of their emotions were quite complex.

Extremely complex.

How should they put it...

On one hand, they felt gratitude toward Beichuan Si, after all, he had saved them.

On the other hand, they felt somewhat unworthy of the twenty million.

These mixed emotions created their current feelings.

Master Yutian and Master Onodera didn't know what to say and could only look at each other.

It was during their speechless moment that Four Directions Huixue also spoke.

Her words were straightforward.

Just one sentence—

"It's about to end."

It's about to end?

Master Yutian and Master Onodera's expressions shifted, turning to look back in the direction they had just come from.

They saw Beichuan Si kick the surface of an unidentified flesh block, pulling on the threads of death energy and violently retreating to the limit.

Simultaneously, the threads of death energy tightened completely!

Krak!!!

Plop plop plop plop...

Rain of flesh chunks fell from the sky.

Irregular chunks of flesh, imbued with the deep blue bewitching flames, fell, accompanied by a ground full of foul, dark liquid.

Amidst this, Beichuan Si retracted the majority of the death energy that had formed the threads back into his body, then stepped forward calmly.

His expression remained serene, showing no change whatsoever.

"I had just received the signal flare to regroup and came over, then saw this thing..."

Beichuan Si pointed to the chunks of flesh beside him and asked, "What is this?"

He already had a vague answer in mind, but he wanted to hear it from Four Directions Huixue.

Upon hearing Beichuan Si's question, Four Directions Huixue began to explain:

"A monstrosity of desolation, it grows by absorbing the pieces of human corpses and malice. Such creatures generally don't survive long in the outside world due to the lack of pervasive malice to sustain them, but it's different in the spiritual realm."

Four Directions Huixue straightened the Moon Obscuring Mirror once more, her gaze scanning the monstrously transformed being that was now just rotten flesh: "It seems our actions startled the monstrosity of desolation, causing it to awaken... and the result is what we see before us now."

The Main Hall was completely damaged, the courtyard floor was a mess.

Such a gigantic 'monstrosity'... to be honest, even with her life's experiences, Four Directions Huixue had never seen anything like it before.

But this 'monstrosity' that had caused so much destruction was resolved by Beichuan Si alone.

A shiver welled up in Four Directions Huixue's heart.

What exactly were those dark, cold black lines...?

There was also that luminescent white blade-shaped spiritual tool emitting a scent of blood...

Originally, it had been thought that the formation of the barrier was completely finished, but now it seemed...

Four Directions Huixue fell silent.

At this point, sending Beichuan Si back to find another exorcist had become an impossibility.

After all, both Master Yutian and Master Onodera were no fools.

Such a sudden insistence on asking Beichuan Si to return would obviously raise suspicions for anyone.

After all, Beichuan Si was regarded as the most powerful mage at this stage.

Social niceties wouldn't allow it, and that thing had already been activated...

If they gave up this time, they would have to wait another year.

Four Directions Huixue took a deep breath.

But there was no problem.

As long as they found the Moon Gazing Mirror, the threat from Beichuan Si would be greatly reduced...

Yet she couldn't help but glance again at the puddle of rotten flesh on the ground.

In the end, she inserted a 'should' into 'the threat from Beichuan Si would be greatly reduced.'

....

With the abomination dealt with, Four Directions Huixue no longer hesitated and, lifting the Moon Obscuring Mirror, opened the barrier.

Everyone else followed out of the barrier looking very exhausted.

They had to rush back to the rooms they had booked in the inn, which was another hour's journey; this caused Master Yutian, Master Onodera, and the others, who were already running on empty, to become even more fatigued.

The reason they didn't just rest on the spot near Four Directions Village was that there might be abominations or vengeful spirits that had escaped from the barrier lurking in the area; camping out there at night wasn't a wise choice.

It was for this reason that they decided to return to the inn.

After greeting each other, Beichuan Si brushed his teeth, washed up, and lay down in bed.

Today, he didn't fall asleep as quickly as he usually did after his usual routine, but instead picked up his phone and opened LINE to skim through the messages.

Shen Gu Mirai (9:24AM): Mr. Temple! Mr. Temple! Where are you, Mr. Temple? I got up this morning and went to class as usual! But I found that I've lost my favorite Mr. Temple! This shocking truth! I completely can't accept it!

Beichuan Si blinked.

He hadn't notified Shen Gu Mirai before coming to Nara today; he had just come over on his own, so it was natural for her not to know.

Beichuan Si scrolled further down.

Shen Gu Mirai's nighttime avatar caught his eye.

Shen Gu Mirai (10:15AM): I heard it from Hui Li! Mr. Temple has gone off to handle matters alone again! It must be related to ghost stories and the supernatural, right? It definitely must have something to do with ghost stories and the supernatural, right? It certainly must be connected to ghost stories and the supernatural, right? Where are you, Mr. Temple! Reply to me quickly —

At the end, Shen Gu Mirai even attached a picture of the loyal dog Hachiko's statue.

"..." Beichuan Si.

The messages didn't stop there.

Shen Gu Mirai (14:07PM): I'm going to get angry! You still haven't replied to me!

Shen Gu Mirai had more to say:

Mr. Temple, I understand now, you're not replying because you must be in the spiritual realm, right? Absolutely, definitely in the spiritual realm, right? I'll reluctantly forgive Mr. Temple then!

Shen Gu Mirai (18:36PM): So lonely...

Beichuan Si shook his head at the miscellaneous messages.

He temporarily exited LINE and saw that it was already past three in the morning.

Even if Shen Gu Mirai were patient, she probably wouldn't wait any longer.

Beichuan Si mused for a moment, then raised his hand to send the photo he had taken of the spiritual realm to Shen Gu Mirai.

"This is where I went today, I'll continue the investigation tomorrow, and it might take a few more days before I can return. I'm near Nara, let me know what souvenir you'd like, and I'll bring it back for you."

Message edited!

Sent!

After doing all this, Beichuan Si plugged in his phone to charge, then closed his eyes, planning to rest.

But then—

Ding-dong!

The crisp notification sound came again.

Beichuan Si, lying in bed, opened his eyes and reached for his phone.

Shen Gu Mirai (3:17AM): Hehe! Mr. Temple! Bet you didn't expect this! I'm still up!

"..." Beichuan Si.

That was indeed unexpected...

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.