Chapter 74

Chapter 74: Eerie Parasitism

They ran hard, the wind tearing at their sleeves. The closer they got to the signal, the heavier the air became.

“There’s devil qi,” Bai Meng Jin said, voice low.

Her heart sank. “Did a Devil Creature appear?”

Ling Bu Fei’s shock broke through his calm. “How could there be a Devil Creature here? This is so close to the Limitless Sect!”

Bai Meng Jin didn’t answer. She felt the devil qi inside her own body stir, restless as if waking.

That meant the Devil Creature’s cultivation was higher than hers.

Nascent Soul Stage?

Flowing Moon City was just a small city that grew flowers and plants. It likely had no one above Nascent Soul guarding it—and perhaps not even many Golden Core cultivators.

Where was Venerable Ku Mu?

He had been protecting Ling Bu Fei in secret. Was he nearby?

The thought rose, tempting as a hand offered in darkness.

Bai Meng Jin crushed it immediately.

Don’t place hope on uncertain things. Rely on yourself first.

They reached the scene.

Their escape-light faded, and Liu Dan Qing spotted them at once, hurrying over. “Young Sect Master, Junior Sister Bai!”

“What happened?” Bai Meng Jin asked, eyes already sweeping the street.

Devil qi leaked from a shop ahead, thick and roiling. The mortals had been cleared from the area. Disciples stood guard at the edges, faces tight, movements fast and practiced.

“They were doing a flower contest,” Liu Dan Qing said quickly. “This shop’s boss raised an extremely rare variety and no one could beat it. Then a small-time seller brought in a pot of flowers, and the boss… went crazy. Devil qi burst out of him.”

Ling Bu Fei frowned. “What kind of flower drives someone into devilhood?”

Liu Dan Qing didn’t know enough about flowers to answer. Another disciple leaned in and said, “Young Sect Master, the boss’s flower is called the Su Guan He Ding Orchid. The seller’s… people called it the Ghost Orchid.”

Ghost Orchid.

The name was yin-heavy and wrong on the tongue. More than one disciple shivered.

Bai Meng Jin stared at the shop entrance. “No,” she said quietly. “The boss didn’t fall into devilhood.”

Her voice hardened. “His obsession was too deep. It birthed a nightmare—and a Devil Creature parasitized him.”

Cold air seemed to tighten around them.

“It can already parasitize?” someone whispered.

“Then that Devil Creature is strong…”

If it had been only a newly devilized mortal, there might have been a chance to subdue him without killing him.

Parasitism meant the Devil Creature had already matured.

Bai Meng Jin didn’t waste time. “Set up a formation. Now. Surround this entire block.”

She looked at the nearest disciples. “Do you know the Devil-Sealing Barrier?”

The greatest Devil-Sealing Barrier in the world lay at the Ming River. The major sects had adapted it into a simplified version. Every disciple learned it after entering.

“We do,” they answered at once.

The more senior disciples took command immediately.

“Form up!”

“Seal the devils!”

Disciples sprinted to their assigned positions. Others, drawn by the signal talisman, arrived and joined without hesitation.

Flowing Moon City’s flower festival was famous; disciples from other sects had come to play. When they saw the Limitless Sect acting first, they fell into line and coordinated, unwilling to be bystanders.

“I haven’t learned the Devil-Sealing Barrier yet,” Bai Meng Lian said, voice tight. “What do I do?”

“It’s fine.” Bai Meng Jin pointed at the leading disciples. “Those four are the formation cores. Feed them spiritual power.”

Bai Meng Lian swallowed and nodded. “All right.”

Bai Meng Jin pressed a handful of spirit talismans into her hands. “Use these if anything goes wrong. Protect yourself first. Don’t forget.”

“I won’t.”

Bai Meng Lian tugged Bai Meng Xing toward position.

Bai Meng Xing’s face was pale. He clutched his elder sister’s sleeve. “Elder Sister… we’re not going to die, are we?”

Bai Meng Lian shot him a look sharp enough to cut. “What nonsense are you spewing?”

Her voice dropped, cold and steady. “When we faced Great-Uncle, wasn’t that even more dangerous?”

Bai Meng Xing still felt it was different. Back then, he had been ignorant and fearless. These past two months, his elder sister had forced Dao Arts knowledge into his head until he finally understood how close to death they’d been.

And today—so many disciples, a barrier rising, devil qi spilling like poison smoke—the atmosphere pressed down on him until his lungs felt too small.

Bai Meng Lian’s tone softened, just a little. “Now you understand how ridiculous you used to be, don’t you?”

“This world is dangerous,” she said. “You’re living fine because people protect you.”

Her fingers tightened on his wrist. “Watch. Learn. From now on, cultivate properly.”

Bai Meng Xing wiped his face and nodded. “Mm.”

The devil qi leaking from the shop thickened with every breath.

Bai Meng Jin’s mood sank with it.

Her own devil qi churned, reacting. That told her the Devil Creature’s cultivation was higher than hers.

Nascent Soul Stage…

“Young Sect Master!”

Bai Li Xu arrived at a run.

Ying Shao Guang and his two companions came right after.

The Treasure Convergence Tower, sensing danger, had closed the Myriad Flowers Formation and forced everyone out. Even Ying Shao Guang had been released—whether he liked it or not.

When he saw the devil qi boiling above the shop, Ying Shao Guang sucked in a breath. “Nascent Soul Stage. That Devil Creature is already Nascent Soul Stage.”

Flowing Moon City didn’t have Nascent Soul cultivators. It likely didn’t even have many Golden Core cultivators.

This would be ugly.

Ying Shao Guang didn’t hesitate. “Bai Li—let’s go in together.”

Bai Li Xu answered immediately, then glanced back at Ling Bu Fei. “Young Sect Master, stay in the back. The devil qi is too thick. Be careful it triggers the devil qi inside you.”

Ling Bu Fei nodded, expression obedient—but his eyes flashed with unwillingness he couldn’t fully hide.

He didn’t want to stand behind people forever.

But he had to.

“Raise the formation!”

The disciple in charge shouted. Golden light rose and sealed the entire block beneath a shimmering barrier.

Farther away, mortals watched from behind makeshift lines and corners, hands clasped, mouths whispering prayers they weren’t sure the heavens still heard.

Ying Shao Guang charged in first, Bai Li Xu close behind.

Inside, the shop was large, packed with flowers and plants. Under devil qi, most of them withered into blackened husks. Yet some strange breeds bloomed brighter, their vitality twisted and unnatural.

A devil-tainted branch whipped toward Bai Li Xu.

“Watch out!” Ying Shao Guang shouted.

Before the words fully left his mouth, a streak of light cut in from the side, slicing the branch apart.

Ying Shao Guang turned—only to see Bai Meng Jin stepping forward, the Yin-Yang Umbrella in her hand.

His brows knitted. “Junior Sister Bai, get out. This isn’t a game.”

Bai Meng Jin shook her head. “Senior Brother Ying, there’s no need to worry.”

Ying Shao Guang opened his mouth to argue—then Bai Li Xu’s gaze snapped toward the back. “The Devil Creature is in the courtyard!”

He moved first.

Ying Shao Guang had no choice but to follow. Bai Meng Jin was at least Golden Core. If she truly couldn’t handle it, she could retreat later.

They pushed through a corridor crawling with vines. The space opened.

At a glance, they saw a “person” pacing along a stone path.

He wore a plain cloth shirt, sleeves rolled to the elbows like a man who spent his days watering pots and pruning leaves. He cradled a pot of flowers to his chest, muttering nonstop.

His eyes were unfocused.

Thick devil qi coated his body, leaking outward without pause.

He stopped abruptly.

Those eyes, glinting with dark light, turned toward them.

“Who’s there?”