Demoness, Stop! - Chapter 14 - Chapter 14 – Narrow Escape from Death

In just an instant, Chen Ming’s aura changed dramatically. His originally masculine face gained a few sinister, feminine features, and a wicked, eerie smile curled at the corners of his mouth as he stared chillingly at Li Yu and Zhou Zixuan.

Li Yu and Zhou Zixuan exchanged a glance, both seeing the helplessness reflected in each other’s eyes.

Even Li Yu hadn’t expected that such a simple ghost-exorcising task would turn into such a calamity.

He had a vague feeling that the two unexpected incidents in these missions were definitely not coincidences.

But now was not the time to ponder this. The cultivation level of this ghost seemed even stronger than the female ghost they had encountered before. Li Yu felt immense pressure emanating from Chen Ming.

This fire ghost was probably equivalent to a Qi Refining stage two cultivator…

He was silently cursing—cursing the ghost.

Whether it was the previous female ghost or this one now, they were clearly more powerful than the three of them, yet so devious—first draining their spiritual energy by sending little ghosts to harass them, then possessing them when their spiritual energy was depleted, making them turn on each other…

Whether Li Yu won or the ghost-possessed Chen Ming won, at least one of the three was going to die today.

Just as he was thinking this, the sinister and wild-looking Chen Ming suddenly vanished.

Li Yu’s body hairs stood on end. His long-honed battle instincts kicked in, and without hesitation, he rolled forward on the spot. At the place where he had just stood, the sound of air tearing apart rang out.

The sinister Chen Ming appeared there, clawing at empty air, a look of surprise flashing across his face.

But quickly, his figure disappeared again.

Li Yu’s expression changed; he wanted to warn Zhou Zixuan—but it was too late.

Chen Ming, now possessed by a Qi Refining stage two female ghost, moved with absurd speed. Zhou Zixuan barely managed to dodge a fatal strike, but her shoulder was injured, instantly soaked in blood. The lingering yin energy in the wound continued to corrode her body. She could only barely summon her spiritual power to hold it back.

Chen Ming’s claw lashed again toward Zhou Zixuan’s throat but missed as Li Yu arrived just in time and slammed into him, knocking him away.

Li Yu and Zhou Zixuan—clearly, Zhou Zixuan was the weak point the ghost focused on. The ghost understood this well and frantically attacked her, hoping to take her out first before fully concentrating on Li Yu.

But Li Yu stood in front of Zhou Zixuan, protecting her thoroughly, causing the ghost’s multiple attacks to miss.

This made the ghost realize it had to deal with Li Yu first.

While blocking Chen Ming and protecting Zhou Zixuan from harm, Li Yu frantically thought of a plan.

Since the ghost chose to possess a host, it showed that it did not understand true ghost arts—it was the kind of wild, unrefined ghost Elder Sun had described. By possessing a cultivator, it could maximize its strength.

This was actually good news for Li Yu.

Choosing to fight in the physical realm meant Li Yu could at least remain undefeated. But the ghost was stronger—if the fight dragged on and Li Yu’s energy was depleted, his speed and strength would decline, making it unlikely he could dodge the ghost’s attacks—he would likely die.

The incense burner was useful, but it required physical contact with the soul body. Since the ghost had possessed Chen Ming, Li Yu couldn’t absorb it away.

His mind raced, and at a certain moment, after repelling Chen Ming again, Li Yu pointed to Zhou Zixuan and said to “Chen Ming,”

“If you let her go, I will give you my soul. Otherwise, I will sever myself here, and you won’t get anything…”

In the cultivation world, there’s one truth that runs counter to intuition: it’s actually easier for ordinary mortals to become lingering spirits after death than cultivators.

Why? Because cultivators are powerful. They rarely die of natural causes—more often, they’re destroyed by stronger foes. When mortals die, it’s just the body that perishes. But a cultivator’s spells can obliterate the soul entirely, leaving nothing behind to linger.

“Chen Ming” froze mid-attack. The man before him was a cultivator—if he took his own life using a spell, his soul would truly be annihilated. That went against the ghost’s entire purpose.

After all, the souls of cultivators were a great boon to ghosts like him.

Zhou Zixuan trembled, forgetting her own injury, and shouted, “Li Yu, no! I won’t let you do this. If you die, we die together!”

“Chen Ming” fell silent instead, the sinister expression fading from his face. His red eyes stared deeply at Li Yu as he said hoarsely, “If only he had been like you back then…”

He said no more and slowly drifted out of Chen Ming’s body, who then collapsed.

Only then did Li Yu see clearly that this was a female ghost dressed in red.

The red-clad female ghost looked at Li Yu and said, “I don’t know if my master will spare her, but I will persuade him. Are you ready to die?”

Li Yu closed his eyes, stretched out his arms, and resolutely said, “Come.”

Tears blurred Zhou Zixuan’s eyes as she shouted hoarsely, “Li Yu, don’t!”

The red female ghost transformed into a streak of red light and flew into Li Yu’s body. Overcome with grief, Zhou Zixuan lost focus, her vision darkened, and she fainted.

Li Yu stood there calmly. The ghost entered his body like a drop of water into the sea—without causing a ripple.

Without wasting a moment, he quickly stepped forward two strides, his left hand around Zhou Zixuan’s waist, right hand grabbing Chen Ming’s leg, channeling all his spiritual power, and flew toward Fengzhou City.

At this moment, he burst forth with unprecedented speed.

That female ghost was so powerful—and she even had a master. If they didn’t run now, they’d all be trapped here for sure.

Meanwhile, several miles away on a desolate mountain, another figure streaked quickly across the sky, fleeing in the opposite direction from Li Yu.

He had only recently cultivated two spirit ghosts. A few days ago, the water ghost’s soul talisman had shattered, and just now, the fire ghost’s soul talisman broke as well.

Frustrated and regretful, he thought, “What’s going on with Baiyun Temple? The new disciples are so strong. Without those two spirit ghosts, my power is down to less than 30%. If I get found out, it’s a dead end…”

A moment later, in Fengzhou City.

At a temporary inn, Li Yu threw Chen Ming into his room, then went to Zhou Zixuan’s room. Chen Ming was possessed by the female ghost, which only harmed his vital energy. But Zhou Zixuan was seriously injured by the ghost.

Her shoulder was already soaked in blood, with fresh blood continuously seeping from the wound.

Injuries caused by ghosts leave behind residual yin energy that keeps corroding the body. If nothing was done, her life would be in danger.

Li Yu could only say, “The situation is urgent, Senior Sister Zhou. Sorry for this.”

Rip!

Li Yu tore the clothing on her shoulder and placed his right hand over the wound. The residual yin energy at the injury was drawn by the incense burner, rushing into Li Yu’s body and disappearing.

The woman on the bed let out a painful cry as the wound was affected, then slowly opened her eyes.

Seeing Li Yu beside her, she said sadly, “Junior Brother Li, are we already dead?”

Li Yu focused on healing her and said, “No, we’re not dead. That female ghost has already been killed by me. Senior Sister Zhou, I’m treating your wound. Don’t move or speak.”

“We’re not dead?”

A joyful expression appeared on Zhou Zixuan’s face. Li Yu’s hand slowly left her body, and he gently covered her exposed body with a blanket, saying, “It was an emergency just now. I had no choice but to tear off your clothes. Please forgive me, Senior Sister Zhou.”

Zhou Zixuan felt the emptiness at her chest and finally realized what had happened. A faint blush appeared on her pale face as she whispered, “How could I blame you? If it weren’t for you, we would both be dead by now…”

Li Yu said, “Your wound is no longer serious. You should rest well. We’ll return to the mountain tomorrow morning.”

The sticky blood on her body was uncomfortable, and the smell of blood lingered. Zhou Zixuan furrowed her brows slightly and said, “Can you help me get some water? I want to clean the wound.”

“Okay, wait a moment.”

Li Yu fetched hot water, dampened a towel, and handed it to Zhou Zixuan. She reached under the blanket and tried a few times before helplessly saying, “I can’t mobilize my spiritual power now, and I don’t have any strength…”

Then she looked at Li Yu with a pleading expression and asked, “Junior Brother Li, could you help me?”

Although her injury was in a sensitive spot, Zhou Zixuan didn’t care, so Li Yu didn’t hesitate. He nodded and said, “Senior Sister Zhou, please forgive me.”

A thin film of water appeared on his palm. When he gently touched Zhou Zixuan’s skin, the water film attracted and enveloped the blood stains, and her skin became clean and fair.

The skin felt cool and carried a special sensation. Zhou Zixuan closed her eyes, her heartbeat quickened, and a visible blush spread across her face.

Soon, she asked again, “Junior Brother Li, how’s my wound?”

Her injury had been covered in blood, and she didn’t know the exact condition, worried about leaving a difficult-to-heal scar.

Li Yu instinctively replied, “Very white…”

“…”

Li Yu looked away and cleared his throat, saying, “I mean, don’t worry. Your external injury isn’t that severe. After returning to the sect, you can use spirit coins to exchange for some healing pills. You probably won’t be left with a scar…”