Chapter 81: Retiring from the Circle, 81st Day Pretending to be a Taoist Priest Fighting is Really Boring...

Duan Sui listened quietly to Sang Qiqi's analysis.

Judging from Mingxin and Pengqiu's experiences, face-to-face contact with the deity is the most important and direct factor in being bewitched. Therefore, if the entire village is under the deity's spell, then the temple fair mentioned by Sang Qiqi is undoubtedly the best choice for the Jiuyou Tongshenhui.

In order to conceal the truth, a temple fair was specially held. This Jiuyou Tongshenhui was really well-intentioned.

Unfortunately, I met them.

The man raised his lips in a slightly mocking arc and tilted his head. The dim light from the street lamp revealed Sang Qiqi's fair face. He asked, "Let's go take a look?"

Sang Qiqi folded up the map and said without hesitation, "Let's go."

The northeastern section of Beiqing Village seemed more remote than the other three directions, with only a few scattered bungalows standing there. These looked shabby and uninhabited. But strangely, the road here was perfectly smooth, flanked by ornamental red-leafed photinia trees, and bright streetlights every five meters. Sang Qiqi spotted a sign on the side of the road that read: "Building roads and lighting benefits the people. All the villagers of Beiqing Village thank Mr. Dai Jianhua."

"This Dai Jianhua seems to be a boss in Beiqing Village, and he has a good relationship with Ning Changsheng." Yesterday, Shen Wanglan sent her a file containing Ning Changsheng's social circle. It mentioned that although Dai Jianhua and Ning Changsheng were from different villages, they had known each other since childhood and later worked together in coal transportation. After making money, Ning Changsheng invested in real estate and founded a listed company. However, Dai Jianhua, due to a family illness, used his savings to save his life and was unable to keep up with Ning Changsheng's pace.

A few years ago, the two seemed to have parted ways, and Dai Jianhua even complained to others that Ning Changsheng was heartless. However, not long after, Ning Changsheng seemed to remember this good brother and took him to do a lot of business.

Dai Jianhua's evaluation of Ning Changsheng also changed from a conscienceless person to a kind-hearted person.

Sang Qiqi thought about Dai Jianhua's identity in her head and didn't plan to focus on who built the road. She was about to continue walking forward, but her wrist was suddenly grabbed by Duan Sui beside her. Their skin touched, and the touch of another person penetrated into her heart. She turned her head blankly and met Duan Sui's gaze. The latter did not speak, but pointed to the corner to the right.

Sang Qiqi looked over and vaguely saw two shadows.

She made a gesture to Duan Sui, who nodded and loosened his fingers around her wrist slightly.

Sang Qiqi and Duan Sui hid silently behind the red-leafed photinia. Within two minutes, they saw the shadows in the distance grow larger and larger, and the faces of the two people gradually appeared in Sang Qiqi and Duan Sui's sight as the distance got closer.

The streetlight Mr. Dai Jianhua had set up came in handy at this moment, allowing Sang Qiqi to clearly see the two men. Immediately, she grasped Duan Sui's sleeve and tugged, then stood on tiptoe and whispered in his ear, "The one on the left is the Taoist priest we met in Pengqiu."

The other person's horse-like face was too obvious, not to mention the extremely exaggerated black mole on his chin.

She and Duan Sui hadn't expected such good luck. They'd originally planned to go to the temple first to check things out, then spend some time finding this person. But he'd just walked right into them... She winked at Duan Sui, pointed a finger at her neck, and gently shook it, signaling, "Just go for it?"

Seeing her excitedly wanting to rush over and twist the heads of the two Taoists off immediately, Duan Sui smiled silently and shook his head at her: "Wait a little longer, they came out now, I'm afraid they have something to do."

Sang Qiqi's hot head seemed to be poured with a basin of cold water, and instantly wilted.

But if you think about it carefully, what Duan Sui said makes sense.

These two people are not sleeping in the middle of the night, it's impossible that they just want to go out for a walk, right?

He waited quietly for the two to approach. As they passed by, Sang Qiqi and Duan Sui followed silently behind them. The horse-faced Taoist priest seemed to be still half asleep, rubbing his eyes and yawning non-stop. The slightly overweight Taoist priest next to him saw this and couldn't help but sneer: "I told you I'd be going out at midnight tonight, why don't you go to bed early?"

"Sleeping is not as fun as playing cards." The horse-faced Taoist priest muttered, "Hurry up, let's go back to sleep after we're done."

"Okay."

The two quickened their pace, skirting the temple in the center of the village from the northwest. The horse-faced Taoist priest paused for a few seconds at the temple entrance, looking rather envious. "The feng shui here is still good. It's a pity that the higher-ups don't agree to enshrine our gods here."

"There will be plenty of opportunities in the future." The fat Taoist chuckled. "Wait until the deity we worship takes shape. When the people gather together, we can persuade the higher-ups to tear down the temple and then worship our deity in its place, right?"

As they were talking, the two Taoists each pasted a piece of talisman paper on their bodies. The fat Taoist's originally slightly bloated body became extremely agile. Under Sang Qiqi's gaze, he jumped to the second floor a hundred meters away from the temple, and then the horse-faced Taoist followed him in.

Sang Qiqi and Duan Sui followed closely behind.

After reaching the second floor and sneaking through the window, Sang Qiqi was shocked to realize that this was the owner's bedroom. Lying in the bedroom was a man who looked to be in his fifties. He seemed to be trapped in a nightmare. Even in his sleep, his brows were furrowed, and his mouth opened and closed silently, as if he was mumbling something.

The horse-faced Taoist priest rummaged through his arms and suddenly stopped.

Seeing this, the fat Taoist priest seemed to have guessed something and was speechless: "You didn't bring the gods with you?"

The horse-faced Taoist priest smiled awkwardly, "I was a little confused after sleeping. I'll go back and get it right away. It won't delay anything. It's still early."

The fat Taoist priest looked at the sky and found that it was indeed the case.

He didn't say much, just waved his hand at the horse-faced Taoist priest and said, "Go quickly and come back soon."

The horse-faced Taoist priest hurriedly leaped from the second floor and scurried off into the night. Sang Qiqi withdrew her gaze from him and turned to Duan Sui, who gave a barely perceptible nod. Sang Qiqi raised the corners of her lips and flashed behind the fat Taoist priest. A wisp of ghostly energy emanated from her fingertips, piercing the fat Taoist priest's back while he was off guard, piercing his heart.

When a bad premonition arose along with a strange but intense pain deep in his heart, the fat Taoist priest turned his head abruptly and met Sang Qiqi's smiling face.

He obviously knew Sang Qiqi. His pupils constricted in an instant and he pointed at Sang Qiqi in astonishment, "You...why are you here?"

"Good question, but I also want to ask you, why are you here?" She raised her chin towards the man on the bed and asked him, "What do you want to do?"

The fat Taoist priest naturally would not answer.

His hand quickly reached for his Qiankun bag, attempting to pull out talismans and magical instruments. But he was no match for Sang Qiqi and Duan Sui. With a flick of their fingertips, the latter instantly enveloped his wrist in a black mist that spread from all directions. The mist transformed into sharp thorns, their tips pressing against the fat Taoist's skin, eager to pierce downwards.

Sang Qiqi: "I'll give you a chance to answer. If you don't... you'll be pricked like a hedgehog."

The fat Taoist looked at her coldly and sneered, "Dream on! I'm not the only one in Beiqing Village. If you kill me, it will definitely attract the attention of my companions. Then you won't be able to leave Beiqing Village at all!"

"Then give it a try."

The second after the words fell, the needles covering the fat Taoist priest were pressed down. Instantly, a scream of pain pierced the eardrums, but miraculously, the owner of the house, who was already sleeping restlessly, was unaware of it.

Sang Qiqi leaned against the wall, looking at the fat Taoist priest's sweaty face. She thought to herself, "It really hurts. Not only has his face turned pale, but even the flesh on his face is trembling." But the fat Taoist priest still had some nerve. Even though he was in so much pain that he could barely stand, he still gritted his teeth and said nothing.

"Just peel his soul out directly." Sang Qiqi suggested.

"That's exactly what I meant."

The black mist emanating from Duan Sui quickly invaded the fat Taoist's body, enveloping him in an instant. As the black mist filled his pupils, the fat Taoist suddenly regretted his actions. He practically watched helplessly as his soul was ripped from his body—first his head, then his neck, arms, legs, waist, and abdomen. The pain intensified with each part ripped out. He opened his mouth, begging for mercy, but Duan Sui gave him no chance. The black mist enveloped his mouth, silencing his sobs and blocking out the fresh air.

The feeling of suffocation became gradually stronger.

His body twisted wildly, but after twisting for a long time, he suddenly heard a loud "click".

He turned his head with difficulty and saw that it was his own body that had fallen to the ground because of the lack of soul to support it!

“Hmm!”

He struggled even harder, but Sang Qiqi had already expertly pulled out her Qiankun sack and stuffed the fat Taoist's soul into it. As the fat Taoist's soul departed, the thick fog around them vanished completely in an instant, and the entire bedroom returned to its original silence. The only difference was a body lying on the floor.

Sang Qiqi's ears twitched, and she whispered, "The horse-faced Taoist priest is back."

Immediately, she turned her gaze to the corpse on the ground and pointed. After Duan Sui nodded, her figure merged into the fat Taoist priest's body. After two seconds of adjusting, she supported herself with this unfamiliar body and stood up.

There was a soft thud as it landed on the ground.

The horse-faced Taoist priest hurriedly pushed open the door, holding an object wrapped in black cloth in his arms. He placed the object on the bedside and peeled off the black cloth. With his back to the fat Taoist priest, he said, "When I just got back, I saw Peng Xiao watching videos. There's even some clueless internet celebrity Taoist priest who wants to come to Beiqing Village to check on the situation, saying that Pengqiu and Mingxin are just empty names. It's hilarious. Pengqiu and Mingxin fell for it easily. What's the point of him coming here?"

When he finished speaking, the black cloth had been completely removed.

Sang Qiqi did not look away, but looked straight through the fat Taoist's eyes at the true appearance of the object under the black cloth.

It is exactly the golden statue that Mingxin and Pengqiu mentioned!

Sang Qiqi narrowed her eyes, her gaze sharp as a blade. The statue seemed to possess self-awareness, its solemn expression originally fixed on the man on the bed. But when Sang Qiqi's tangible gaze fell on it, it shifted strangely on the tabletop, slowly turning towards her.

Pop.

The two eyes collided.

Dark ink filled the statue's golden pupils, and the corners of its mouth curled, its appearance becoming eerie. However, as time passed, the imagined scene of anyone who met its gaze fainting did not occur. Instead, its expression faltered in a humanlike manner, as if it had sensed something was amiss, and it began to retreat, but Sang Qiqi revealed a sinister smile.

boom!

The black mist shot into the statue's inky pupils like sharp arrows, and a fishy liquid instantly splashed out, directly splashing the face of the unsuspecting horse-faced Taoist priest.

"W-what's going on?"

He looked up in shock and bewilderment, only to see the statue's golden skin peeling away, revealing its fetid, rotten interior. Finally realizing something was amiss, he whipped his head around, only to be met with Duan Sui's cold features. Just as he had done with the fat Taoist priest, a thick fog enveloped the horse-faced Taoist priest, then tore his soul from his body and tossed it into Sang Qiqi's sack.

The whole process lasted no more than five seconds.

Duan Sui entered the body of the horse-faced Taoist priest and wanted to bend down to pick up the statue that had become limp, but when he saw the black liquid flowing out of the other's body, he put his hand down in disgust.

Sang Qiqi took a closer look and was so overwhelmed by the stench that she stepped back. She frowned and said, "This is similar to what I encountered at Tongxuan's place."

"Tongxuan?"

"Well, he also offered sacrifices to an evil spirit in the same way, but the evil spirit seems to prefer eating fragrant oil, and of course, humans as well." Sang Qiqi pondered, "What do you think, should we first arrest these two Taoists and question them about the details, or burn down the temple first?"

"Burn the temple."

According to Pengqiu and Mingxin, the numerous deaths in Beiqing Village were likely the work of evil spirits. Judging from the actions of the horse-faced and fat Taoist priests, they likely intended for the evil spirit to absorb the soul or flesh of the man in the bed to expand its own body. The evil spirit within the golden statue was not very powerful; it was definitely not its true form.

"The evil spirit may have realized that something is wrong. We must hurry and get rid of him."

"Then let's go."

Sang Qiqi casually wiped the black liquid from the table with a black cloth, then, using the fat Taoist priest's body, nimbly escaped through the window. The two of them walked quickly, and soon returned to the road they had originally taken. Before continuing on to the newly built temple, she pulled Duan Sui to her side, drew her dagger, and slashed the horse-faced Taoist priest's body with blood.

Duan Sui pointed to his stomach and said, "You can stab me here."

Just stab it when you say it.

Sang Qiqi moved swiftly, the white knife going in and the red knife coming out.

Sang Qiqi didn't shy away from the blood splattering. A thick layer of liquid coated her arms, cheeks, and neck. A drop or two even seeped into her eyes, staining the whites red. She looked like a murderous maniac. After nodding to Duan Sui, he clutched the bleeding wound on his stomach and ran toward the temple at a rapid pace. Sang Qiqi kept a distance from him.

A few seconds later, just as Duan Sui approached the gate and tried to pounce on it, the door was pushed open from the inside.

The young Taoist priest, half asleep, half-closed his eyes, his fingers nimbly untying his belt, and walked to a corner while cursing: "Why are you not sleeping in the middle of the night? I don't know what's so good about that crappy video—"

Before he could finish his words, his nose suddenly moved.

The moment the scent of blood filled his nostrils, all the sleepiness and fatigue vanished instantly. His half-open eyes suddenly widened like bells. The young Taoist stared in amazement at the horse-faced Taoist who stumbled over. He untied his belt as he frantically tried to support the man, his voice filled with astonishment. "What's going on? Didn't you go with Li Quan to pick up today's offerings? How did you get injured like this? And where's Li Quan?"

The horse-faced Taoist priest struggled to grab the man's arm with his hands, blood gushing from his mouth. He mumbled incoherently, "Li, Li Quan, kill me!"

What? !

"How is that possible!" The young Taoist priest raised his voice in shock, his face filled with astonishment and disbelief, "Why would Li Quan kill you for no reason?"

"Jing, Jingbei..." The horse-faced Taoist priest struggled to utter a few words from his throat, shocking the young Taoist priest's face and instantly changed color. "Rebellion."

Jingbei? Rebellion?

A big drama flashed through the young Taoist's mind.

Could it be that Li Quan has hooked up with someone from Jingbei? Jingbei's progress in raising and worshipping the spirits has been slow, and I heard that someone named Sang Qiqi has ruined their plans recently, ruining even the chance to build a temple. The leader of the Jingbei Jiuyou Tongshen Society is furious, and just a few days ago, the leader from Yuantie Province made a special trip to Jingbei to taunt them... So, are they holding a grudge and trying to incite Li Quan to revolt? But what good would that do? In Beiqing Village alone, there are at least five Taoists more powerful than Li Quan, not to mention the spirits to protect them.

Even though the god hasn't formed yet, it should be more than enough to kill Li Quan, right?!

Strange and puzzling doubts filled his mind, and the young Taoist decided to help his companion into the temple first. However, the horse-faced Taoist in his arms seemed to have seen something extremely terrifying. His eyes looked in a certain direction and his body trembled uncontrollably.

Follow his gaze.

The fat Taoist priest, half his face covered in blood, stood suspended in mid-air, less than ten meters away from them! But when did Li Quan come over?! Why didn't he hear anything?

The young Taoist's face darkened. He pretended to be calm as he looked at Li Quan in front of him and said in a deep voice, "Li Quan, what do you want to do? I warn you, there is no Taoist here who is not more powerful than you. You'd better not—"

puff.

The severe pain interrupted the young Taoist's angry roar. He slowly lowered his head and saw that his left waist was pierced by a peach wood sword!

"How, how is this possible!?"

Li Quan was shocked by the incredulous tone. The corners of his mouth twitched and his voice became hoarse. "You still think I'm the same Li Quan as before?"

As if to prove that he was no longer the same person he was before, he suddenly threw out a lightning talisman in front of the young Taoist priest. The talisman hung in the air. After a series of incantations, countless dark clouds suddenly gathered. Then, rumbling thunder began to resound throughout the sky, and silver-white lightning was rapidly approaching from afar.

Bang!

After a crisp sound, the upper left corner of the temple exploded.

A mixture of burnt odor and smoke filled the young Taoist's nostrils. As his eyes shone with rage, countless silver-white lightning bolts descended one after another, pounding frantically into every corner of the temple. The tremendous movement finally caught the attention of the temple's guards. Figures, hurriedly scrambling, barely had time to put on their clothes before being blasted black by the lightning bolts that fell from the sky.

Sang Qiqi, watching this scene from Li Quan's body, smiled. She pulled talismans from her pocket one by one, as if they were free. She tossed three or four fire-accumulating talismans into the temple, and when they landed, they resembled an exploding fireball, sending flames flying everywhere. She tapped a wind-inducing talisman, and wind rose from the center of the fireball, carrying the fire snake to every corner of the temple.

In an instant, screams and curses filled the entire space.

Sang Qiqi took out a puppet from the Qiankun sack and attached the transformation symbol to the puppet. The puppet hanging in the air instantly turned into a huge stone.

Shrouded in the huge shadow of the stone, the Taoist priests in the temple were panicked and at a loss. They could only take out their magic tools and talismans to try to turn the stone into other creatures. However, Duan Sui had already crawled out of the body of the horse-faced Taoist priest, and his figure turned into thick black fog and disappeared in the darkness, quietly plundering the lives of these Taoist priests.

"I have—"

The Taoist priest's expression of surprise when he took out the talisman paper suddenly froze.

The talisman in his hand flew away in the wind as his fingers lost their grip, and the blood spurting out of his neck knocked him to the ground with a plop.

As the Taoists' heads slowly moved down from their necks, the huge rocks above also fell down with a bang!

The huge rock smashed the interior of the temple and crushed several Taoists into pieces.

"Four." Sang Qiqi counted the number of Taoist priests and quickly searched the remaining corners of the temple. Soon, she saw a figure running wildly in the corridor holding a statue of a god.

Sang Qiqi used Li Quan's body to fly forward quickly and landed in front of him unexpectedly.

She raised her eyelids and nodded: "Give me the spirit."

"You wish!" The Taoist stared at Li Quan in front of him with red eyes and shouted angrily, "You are really crazy, do you know what you are doing?!"

"I know. If I kill you and destroy the gods, the higher-ups will blame you for your incompetence." Sang Qiqi shrugged. "Then... well, let me think about it. You'll die pitifully, and as for me, I'll be able to become a popular figure favored by the masters in Jingbei."

"You're talking nonsense! All the Taoist priests stationed in Beiqing Village are dead, and you're the only one left. Do you think you can survive? Anyone with a brain knows that you are definitely involved in this."

"You're really stupid, aren't you? Don't you know there's something called a Soul Changing Talisman? That gentleman gave me a lot of talisman paper, and the Soul Changing Talisman is one of them. Then, I just need to change my body, and who will know I'm Li Quan?"

The Taoist turned pale after hearing her words.

He looked at the statue in his hand and gritted his teeth, saying, "Although you haven't taken shape yet, you have absorbed the flesh and blood of so many villagers in Beiqing Village. I think you shouldn't be that weak..."

Bang!

The Taoist priest suddenly threw the statue out, and the latter roared, "Kill him!"

Sharp screams echoed from all directions, vibrating Sang Qiqi's eardrums crazily. She reached out and touched something, finding her palm filled with a sticky red liquid.

She tore her sight away from the blood and looked at the statue in front of her.

Countless black air emerged from different corners of the temple like snakes and fell onto the statue. Then, the color of the statue turned pitch black and its body expanded rapidly.

In two seconds, it became as tall as a two-story building.

Its giant, dark eyes stared intently at Sang Qiqi, and it opened its mouth awkwardly: "You... are looking for..."

Bang!

The peach wood sword transformed from the talisman paper suddenly pierced its mouth, which kept opening and closing. At the same time, the lightning above it gathered strength and poured down again, crackling and pouring all over the evil spirit. But to Sang Qiqi's surprise, the evil spirit was not injured at all, only the surface of its body was choked and smoke was rising.

Sang Qiqi clicked her tongue silently.

It's really boring to pretend to be a Taoist priest and fight. After fighting for a long time, the posture is very impressive, but it is of no use at all.

Glancing at the Taoist priest in the corner who was looking delighted because he had a slight advantage over the evil spirit, Sang Qiqi smiled and moved her fingertips. The other person was like being strangled by the neck and began to roll his eyes wildly. He gasped and tried to struggle, but to no avail.

Consciousness began to fade rapidly, and there was a crisp clicking sound. The cervical vertebrae broke, and the head that was pressing on the neck lost its support and fell heavily to the ground.

With a swift movement, he pulled out the opponent's soul and threw it to Duan Sui. Sang Qiqi crawled out of Li Quan's body, clenched her fist and rushed towards the evil spirit's face!