Chapter 37: Phoenix Tail Flower ( VII)

Ningning quickly asked, “You said that children were lost inside the city; what happened?”

The little boy wiped away his tears and looked up at her with some fear on his face. “About two years ago, many children were lost inside the city, mostly around my age. Our village also lost two children. The people in the village said it was my bad luck that caused it.”

Ningning was startled and looked at Xie Changzhou.

So the reason why the people in the city close their doors at night is because of the lost children?

But it doesn’t make sense. Not every family has children, and yet the whole city of Yong’an is so fearful.

It means that there is something that scares all of them.

Ningning bent down and looked at the little boy, speaking softly, “Little friend, do you know why the people in the city close their doors during the night watch? The curfew in the city shouldn’t be so early.”

She tried to keep her voice low so as not to scare him.

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

Jwv vbl csu’p qynl tayewyzzu clnyxl rydknjle, bkp czynj lulp okeldle, yde bkp zkrp xshle yp kq bl oydvle vs prlyj cwv nswzed’v.

Mydt Mydt yzps cldv esod yde yrrasynble bkx, vyjkdt swv psxlvbkdt oayrrle kd skz ryrla qasx bla Ckydjwd cyt yde bydekdt kv vs vbl zkvvzl csu. “Nkvvzl qaklde, obyv’p uswa dyxl?”

Mbl zkvvzl csu alrzkle vkxkezu, “Tw Ey.”

Mydt Mydt pxkzle tldvzu yde pyke psqvzu, “Twoyoy, esd’v cl yqayke. Fkpvla kp tkhkdt usw nydeu. Uyd usw vlzz wp obyv byrrldle kdpkel vbl nkvu? El nyxl vs lmsankpl elxsdp.”

Gp pssd yp pbl prsjl, Tw Ey’p lulp zkv wr: “Slyzzu? Gal usw alyzzu blal vs nyvnb vbl Qalld-Wynle Qbspv?”

Mblal oyp y bkdv sq eyajdlpp kd Mydt Mydt’p lulp yp pbl zssjle wr pzktbvzu yde lmnbydtle y nsze tzydnl okvb Dkl Ubydtgbsw yde Fwk Lkdt. Gzz vball sq vblx osal y pkxkzya lmralppksd.

Ebyv kp vbl Qalld-Wynle Qbspv?

Mydt Mydt piwyvvle esod yde zssjle yv Twoyoy, pvwqqkdt y rklnl sq nydeu kdvs bkp byde. “Zlp, ol yal blal vs nyvnb xsdpvlap. Uyd usw vlzz wp ycswv kv?”

She tilted her head and pretended to be hesitant. “No one in the city is willing to tell us. If we don’t know who the monster is, how can we catch it?”

Huwawa held the candy and stared at Tang Tang and the others, finally making up his mind. He looked resolute. “Okay, I’ll tell you.”

Sui Ning and the others patiently listened to him for a while and finally understood the whole situation.

A few children went missing in the Yong’an City area two years ago. The parents reported it to the authorities, but there was no news. The children were stolen in the middle of the night while they were sleeping, so no one knew what was happening.

Some speculated that it was human traffickers selling children, while others suspected it was a monster that preyed on children.

Despite the townspeople’s efforts to prevent it, even hiring monks to set up barriers, they could not prevent children from being stolen.

Moreover, these stolen children had no common characteristics. There were infants in swaddling clothes as well as ten-year-old children, both boys and girls, with no apparent similarities in their birth dates.

The people in the city were anxious, afraid that the next child to be stolen would be their own.

It wasn’t until a year ago that a family saw the evil spirit that was stealing children in the middle of the night.

Green-faced and snaggle-toothed, with a mass of disheveled white hair, the tall and lean figure appeared in a flash, holding a child in his arms before disappearing into thin air in front of the witness.

Six months ago, the village also lost two children, who happened to be with Hu Wa when they went missing. But despite being children, Hu Wa was not taken.

Rumors started to spread around the village, speculating that the mysterious coffin child was responsible for the disappearance of the children and that the green-faced ghost was involved.

Hu Wa lowered his head, tears streaming down his face, and soaked the oil paper wrapped around the candy in his hand.

Sui Ning let out a sigh, gently crouching down to wipe away his tears with a handkerchief. “Hu Wa, it’s not your fault. Don’t worry about what others say; all this talk about the coffin child and his unknown identity is nonsense.”

She rubbed his head and looked him in the eye. “We will catch the green-faced ghost, so don’t be afraid.”

Hu Wa nodded blankly, wanting to say thank you, but his throat felt choked up, and he couldn’t speak.

Sui Ning smiled helplessly, wiping the dirt off his face, revealing a cute and round little face.

“Hu Wa, Hu Wa!”

In the distance, a feeble and aged voice could be heard calling out, sounding particularly weak.

 “Grandpa!”

Hu Wa’s face lit up with joy, and he quickly turned his head and ran in the direction of the sound. A hunched, thin figure appeared, leaning on a cane, with white hair and a weathered face full of deep wrinkles and cloudy eyes. He walked unsteadily and slowly, and his pace was slow.

Hu Wa ran up to him and helped him, slowly walking towards Sui Ning and the others. “Sister, this is my grandpa!” Hu Wa introduced his grandpa excitedly, turning to his own grandfather and saying, “Grandpa, earlier, the third child and others bullied me, but they helped me, and that sister even gave me candy!” Hu Wa smiled and held up the candy wrapped in oil paper in his arms.

The old man smiled and touched his head, squinting and thanking Sui Ning and the others, “Thank you all. Hu Wa is an honest child who has been bullied a lot.” He sighed and looked at Hu Wa with a sad expression, saying, “Hu Wa is unlucky. I don’t know how long I can take care of him with these old bones.”

Hu Wa was a bit angry and said, “Grandpa, don’t always say these things!”

“Alright, grandpa won’t say it anymore.” The old man nodded, looking at Sui Ning and the others hesitantly, and said, “Are you here to catch that green-faced ghost?”

Sui Ning nodded slightly and said, “Yes, old man. If you know anything, can you tell us?”

The old man looked down at his grandson and sighed heavily. “Yong’an City has lost children intermittently for the past two years. Recently, not only have children been lost, but several young people have also disappeared, all after the Year of the Dog.”

“So, someone said that the green-faced ghost had had enough of children and was coming for adults now. They only hunted after the “xu” hour, so our Yong’an city closes its gates, and everyone turns off their lights and stops working after that time. It has been several months now, and there haven’t been any more young people missing.”

“But… more and more children are being lost…”

Sui Ning frowned and looked at Xie Changzhou, who also had a furrowed brow.

As their eyes met, they both understood.

The green-faced ghost probably went out during the “xu” hour (7 p.m.–9 p.m.) to scare the people in the city, and his real purpose was to keep these people from going out. After the “xu” hour, it would not be difficult for him to avoid being noticed by the crowd if he took action.

So, since he couldn’t avoid them, the people in the city had to hide from him.

Scaring people not to go out was undoubtedly the best method.

The old man caressed Hu Wa’s head and whispered, “As someone halfway into the earth, I am not afraid of anything. My Hu Wa is still so young. I just hope that the green-faced ghost doesn’t come to catch him. If he wants to catch someone, he can come to catch this old bone of mine.”

“Grandpa!”

The old man looked at his grandson with a loving and tender gaze. His old, withered hand lightly patted Hu Wa’s shoulder.

Tang Tang stood up straight with clear and bright eyes, his voice ringing out powerfully, “Grandpa, rest assured, we will definitely catch the green-faced ghost!”

The Sword Saint had come, so a mere green-faced ghost was nothing. It couldn’t stir up any waves in front of Xie Changzhou.

With these thoughts in mind, Tang Tang felt more confident in herself. The old man smiled kindly at him and said, “Very well then, I will leave it to you few.”

He looked at Ah Yan, who was holding Sui Ning’s sleeve and swinging it back and forth, and said slowly, “This child looks so young. Take care of him and don’t let the Green-Faced Ghost catch him.”

Ah Yan looked disdainful and said in a childish voice, “If the Green-Faced Ghost dares to come, I’m not afraid of him!”

He quickly glanced at Xie Changzhou beside him and saw that his master’s expression was gentle and calm, which relieved him.

Fortunately, his master didn’t hear what he said just now.

“Good, you’re a brave child. Grandpa hopes you’ll be safe and sound.” The old man reached out and stroked his gray beard with a smile on his face.

“I’ll take my grandson back first. Thank you all.”

He trembled and wanted to bow to Sui Ning and the others, but Sui Ning quickly supported him, saying, “No, no, don’t do that. Take care, old man.”

“Okay.” He smiled and responded, holding his grandson’s hand and walking back shakily. His back was thin and hunched, and when he bent over, his whole body looked even more hunched.

Sui Ning’s gaze fell on the crutch he was leaning on, and she lowered her head in contemplation.

Just as she was lost in thought, a fragrant smell wafted over and a cheerful voice sounded in her ear: “What are you doing?”

Sui Ning was startled and quickly regained her composure. Her white and tender face was slightly red with emotion.

Tang Tang laughed and pinched her face. “Sui Ning, what are you thinking about that makes you so absent-minded?”

Sui Ning felt a bit embarrassed and brushed away her hand, saying, “Nothing; I wasn’t thinking about anything. I was just thinking about what Grandpa Hu Wa said earlier.”

She turned to Xie Changzhou and said softly, “The hunting during the Xu Hour is probably just a cover-up. The Green-Faced Ghost is probably planning something; that’s why he deliberately kidnapped those adults.”

“And it’s possible that the green-faced Ghost is related to the restlessness of the beast.”

Not long after the appearance of the Green-Faced Ghost, the beast in the void started to become restless. In the past few months, the beast has been particularly agitated, almost breaking through the void. The number of missing children has increased significantly recently.

There are too many coincidences. It’s hard for Sui Ning not to suspect that the actions of the Green-Faced Ghost are related to the agitation of the beast.

Xie Changzhou curled his lips, and his glassy eyes were full of admiration. “Ningning, you’re clever. It aligns with what I was thinking.”

The two of them locked eyes and suddenly burst into laughter.

Tang Tang looked bewildered and asked, “Jianzun, Ningning, what are you talking about?”

What beast? What restlessness?

Sui Ning patiently explained it to her, and Tang Tang listened in a daze as she recounted their experiences along the way.

In the end, Tang Tang seemed a bit dazed, her eyes vacant as she looked at Sui Ning and Xie Changzhou, and she asked uncertainly, “The beast is an ancient demonic beast, and it’s now in Yong’an City?”

Sui Ning nodded. “Yes.”

“The beast is restless and about to break through the void?”

“Yes.”

“This time, only you, Ah Yan, and Jianzun came?”

“Okay.”

Tang Tang was on the verge of laughing out of frustration, her expression collapsing. “Then why are we still wasting time here? Hurry back and call for reinforcements!”

With the emergence of an ancient demonic beast, even the Sword Saint himself said that he might not be able to escape unscathed. With so many people in Yong’an City, if they couldn’t stop the beast when it appeared, the casualties would be severe.

As Tang Tang was about to send a message back, Sui Ning stopped her helplessly.

She held Tang Tang’s shoulder and said, “No, you can’t.”

Tang Tang was puzzled: “Why not? Do you know how serious it is when the beast appears?”

“We know,” Xie Changzhou spoke up, his gentle face turning cold. “But this matter cannot be made public. The demon clan and the devil clan are eyeing us. Do you want to tell them that the ancient demonic beast is not dead and is in Yong’an City?”

Tang Tang was stunned.

Xie Changzhou continued: “Tang Tang, you should also know about the Xianyou Secret Realm and the Nanjing City incident.”

Tang Tang nodded. Her master was the head of Lingjian Peak, and as an inner disciple, she was qualified to know about these things.

“Then you should understand what the consequences would be if the demon clan knew about the beast.”

Tang Tang clenched her sword tightly, her heart sinking.

What would happen if the demon race found out about the beast?

Shen Jie will lead a group of demons to take away the beast. They will try their best to prevent Xie Changzhou from removing the beast, and the city of Yong’an will face a double attack from the beast and the demons.

If Xie Changzhou cannot stop Shen Jie and the others and let the beast escape, chaos will ensue.

In ancient times, when the demonic beasts appeared, there were corpses everywhere and the people suffered.

Tang Tang’s mind was filled with miserable and bloody scenes, causing her hair to stand on end and her spine to tingle.

She panicked and said, “What should we do? How can we stop the beast and protect the people in this city?”

Sui Ning held Tang Tang’s trembling hand and comforted her in a gentle voice, “We have invited Master Dingyuan to come, don’t worry.”

Tang Tang was still worried and her beautiful eyes were full of concern. “Can we protect the people? The beast is an ancient demonic beast that has been practicing for tens of thousands of years!”

Xie Changzhou’s face remained calm, his expression distant and calm, with a slight pursing of his thin lips. “The beast has been sealed for a thousand years, and its cultivation is not as strong as it used to be.”

“I and Master Dingyuan will definitely protect the people in the city.”

Tang Tang looked up at him. Xie Changzhou stood tall and slim, with a refined temperament and gentle features, his eyes calm.

He slightly opened his lips and said, “Even if I die, I will kill the beast.”

Tang Tang’s panicked heart suddenly sank.