Chapter 45: Who Do You Think You Are?

"Strike!"

The people hidden outside the courtyard shouted as they all made their move.

Dozens of talismans, along with several Dharma artifacts, were hurled by those individuals.

The evil spirit possessing Zhou Shunzi didn't even have a chance to escape. It was instantly suppressed on the spot, its soul scattered into nothingness.

This rapid sequence of actions startled both the old man and me.

These people might not be good for much else, but they were exceptionally precise at delivering the finishing blow.

On the other side, the woman had already been afflicted by the yin energy, and now, with the yin energy surging directly into her body at close range after seeing Zhou Shunzi swarmed and attacked by countless people, she fainted.

The phony surnamed Zhou who had traveled with the old man wanted to say something when he saw so many people present, but he lost his nerve and shut his mouth sheepishly.

"Before you've even figured out what's going on, you recklessly attempt a soul-calling ritual. Do you want to die?"

Elder Zhang, the most prestigious figure among the crowd, rebuked the charlatan surnamed Chen.

Those among them with genuine cultivation despised such fraudulent tricksters the most.

The reputation of the entire profession was essentially ruined by these charlatans.

Consequently, whenever many people saw those engaged in the work of subduing demons and devils, they subconsciously assumed they were frauds.

The phony surnamed Chen did not dare to talk back, as dozens of eyes around him were glaring fiercely in his direction.

"If you ever dare to engage in fraud and deception within the borders of the ancient capital again, I will deal with you every single time I see you," Elder Zhang scolded the charlatan surnamed Chen.

Following that, the crowd directly expelled him from the town.

This was equivalent to a total industry-wide ban in the ancient capital; this fellow would undoubtedly find it impossible to survive anywhere within the region from then on.

Witnessing this scene, the old man also felt a lingering wave of fear deep inside.

Had he not teamed up with me, he might well have met the same fate in the future.

...

Li Sanshui arrived at noon on the third day, accompanied by nearly twenty members of Agency 749.

Those individuals were well-trained, naturally forming an exclusive circle of their own.

As for the leader of the team, I was unsure who he was; it wasn't the old fellow named Lao Qin whom I had met previously.

From the occasional snippets of information revealed by Li Yiran, this man was called Xu Wei. He was the deputy director of the operations department and concurrently the leader of the first special service squad, a middle-ranking figure within Agency 749.

The rest of the contingent were all ordinary squad members.

Upon arrival, these people immediately seized the right to speak and gathered everyone together.

Xu Wei, who led the group, directly issued orders to the crowd: "There are too many people here; it will only drag us down. I will select ten more individuals to join us in entering the yin territory to eradicate those evil entities."

"As for the rest of you, your responsibility is to evacuate the people from the town. In case the evil entities riot and break out, it could easily trigger emergencies."

Unlike Lao Qin, this Xu Wei was rather overbearing.

He had a sturdy, muscular build and a scar across his face, making him look like someone not to be trifled with.

Even Li Sanshui did not dare to make any aggressive moves in front of this special service squad leader.

This was ample proof of how domineering the people of Agency 749 truly were.

"The list of selected personnel will be drawn up by Li Sanshui. Everyone will set out with me in one hour. We will push forward during daylight and complete the mission before twelve midnight," Xu Wei commanded once more.

Li Sanshui nodded assent and went off to pick the candidates.

Before long, Li Sanshui walked over to me. "You and Zhang Yuxun have also been put on my list. You will act alongside us when the time comes."

You've got to be kidding me!

Barely a day had passed, and I had to go mountain climbing again.

I had thought that in the inner circle of the ancient capital, I was merely a novice and wouldn't be chosen, yet after all the selection process, the old man and I were included.

Aside from the two of us, there were also Li Yiran, the three Ding brothers, Elder Zhang, and several middle-aged practitioners.

Thus, the team was formed.

Those who were not selected seemed somewhat displeased.

After all, the people Li Sanshui picked this time were all elite experts of the ancient capital's circle, and not being chosen proved that their skills were somewhat inferior.

On this point, my thoughts were the exact opposite of theirs.

I really couldn't be bothered to go through this ordeal again.

A round trip took at least six hours, requiring a grueling hike across mountain trails.

Counting this time, I had already made three long-distance raids.

"Get some rest quickly and replenish your physical strength by the way," Li Yiran said, handing me a piece of bread and a bottle of water.

These past few days, I had been surviving entirely on dry bread.

There were some proper meals at the agritainment guesthouse, but who knew they would be completely monopolized by these people? There was no chance of grabbing any food at all.

"Thank you!"

Today, Li Yiran unusually refrained from putting on the airs of a spoiled young miss, which made me feel somewhat unaccustomed to it. I took the dry bread and gnawed on it for a couple of bites.

Just like that, an hour flashed by in the blink of an eye.

Over thirty people were fully geared up and ready to go. It was only then that I noticed they were wearing special equipment—green outfits covering their entire bodies, densely inscribed with intricate runic symbols.

Not only that, but such runes were also present on their weapons.

Judging by the appearance of those runes, they looked somewhat different from the inscriptions on my runic greatsword. It felt as though their runes were rather crude, far inferior in sophistication to the ones on my weapon.

The team began to move out, and unsurprisingly, I was once again assigned to lead the way.

I even suspected that Li Sanshui had chosen me this time precisely to act as their guide; surely he couldn't be expected to lead the way himself as the big boss?

Marching at a swift pace, we arrived near the mountain cave around three or four in the afternoon.

The sun in the sky was slanting westward.

Li Sanshui said to Xu Wei, "This is the place. The yin energy is very strong. I tried to guide it once with a formation yesterday, but it ultimately failed."

"That just means you are completely useless." Xu Wei cast a cold glance at Li Sanshui before shouting to his subordinates, "A few of you, set up a major formation."

Xu Wei stood in the center while five men dispersed around him.

A moment later, a pale yellow beam of light appeared, connecting to form a pentagon centered on Xu Wei.

"All illusions, shatter!"

Xu Wei shouted in a deep voice, and within the pentagonal array, that mountain cave flickered into view once again.

Yet it seemed still a bit short!

"Break!"

Xu Wei shouted fiercely once more. He drew a longsword and thrust it straight into the ground.

"Rumble..."

The massive mountain shook for a few moments, and a cavern slowly materialized before everyone's eyes.

Without saying another word, Xu Wei led his men straight inside.

The old man Zhang Yuxun and I walked at the very rear, with Li Yiran right by my side.

"What's with that arrogant attitude?"

Li Yiran muttered discontentedly at Xu Wei's back.

Hearing this, I almost laughed out loud. Li Yiran's own arrogance was on par with Xu Wei's; they were two of a kind.
That just goes to show that there is always someone worse to deal with the arrogant.
No matter how domineering Li Yiran was, she only acted that way in front of the old man and me. In front of Xu Wei, she didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
This was society; this damn thing was reality!

"My third uncle is much more capable than him. He alone almost made the mountain cave appear, yet here they need a full six people," Li Yiran continued in dissatisfaction.

"Alright, young miss, stop fighting your third uncle's battles. We're about to go in, so you'd better be careful," I reminded her.