A Good-for-Nothing

293. Man Up and Kick Them in the Balls

Translator: Dragon Rider

A few moments ago Zhang Jingqiu had been unprepared, but now, having sensed danger, he was on full alert. As He Zheng let out a yell, Zhang Jingqiu reacted almost immediately.

A couple of unquiet spirits came out of nowhere, surrounding the vehicle. It seemed that those people had invested a lot in this operation, because apart from common ghosts, they had also sent a cacodemon here.

Those specters, following instructions from someone, were closing in on them with the intention to dispose of them all at one fell swoop.

He Zheng had not touched Shadow, his sword, for quite a while, but it felt as friendly in his hand as always. He lazily leaned against the car door as he did a brief swordplay routine one-handed.

“What a bunch of sneaky cowards. Everybody stay put. I’ll take care of them with lightning spells.”

He Zheng smiled a bland smile and cast a yellow Fu (Fu is a piece of rectangular paper on which magical figures are drawn by Chinese Taoist priests to invoke or expel spirits and bring good or ill fortune), which ignited spontaneously in mid-air as he started incanting a spell. What with the fog, it did not fly very high, but it still turned into a trickle of smoke floating upwards.

But strangely enough, several minutes after the smoke slowly wafted into the sky, there was still no sign of lightning coming.

“What’s going on?” asked He Zheng as he perceived that something was wrong.

A voice chuckled beside his ear, “I’ve long since heard that Childe He’s Qingwei lightning spells are uncommonly powerful. Thunderbolts and these babies of mine are mortal enemies. This fog is really doing me a great favor. We might have been struck to death by lightning some time ago were it not for this fog.”

It turned out that the mist was not only blocking their views but also keeping He Zheng’s lightning spells from serving their purposes.

He Zheng, pissed off, was just about to charge at the ghosts to slash at them when a hand closed around his and with that Li Zong’s reassuring voice was heard.

“I’ll handle it.”

With a snap of Li Zong’s fingers, a circle of blazing flames rose out of nowhere around him. Ghosts were extremely Yin, while karma flames were the opposite. Li Zong’s karma flames were natural enemies to those ghosts as well. Despairing screeches were heard one after another.

The Necromancy Streamer was still expanding as it flew, and the jingles were getting progressively urgent.

Li Zong apathetically eyed those souls being engulfed by the inferno amid shrieks of despair, apparitions flying out of the Necromancy Streamer non-stop.

Zhang Jingqiu watched, his eyes full of jealousy. Did Li Zong really have to do it with such great panache? Why did this guy get to have such badass skills?

Jealous as Zhang Jingqiu was, he had long since resigned himself to being overshadowed. He tossed a glance at his useless little brother only to find that Zhang Shi was sweating buckets as though he had just been pulled out of water, but he was still mouthing “It’s so hot” repeatedly.

Zhang Jingqiu, connecting Zhang Shi’s reaction and the fact that Li Zong was incinerating those ghosts, immediately came to realize what was going on and shouted, “Li Zong! Stop it! Zhang Shi is in there!”

Li Zong impassively furrowed his brows and, with a single motion of his hand, the karma flames vanished into thin air and all the squawking phantoms sank to the ground, looked much the worse for wear.

“What’s going on?”

A sneer emanated from the side. “Humph. If the fire had lasted a few minutes longer, this fellow Taoist of yours would’ve been reduced to nothingness.”

“Fuck. Could they stoop any lower?!” Zhang Jingqiu cursed resentfully. However, though the enemies had made a watertight plan, they seemed to have failed to take into consideration the fact that Zhang Jingqiu used to be a top disciple in the Tigers and Dragons Mountain, one favored by all elders, and he had learned how to cast a Soul-Binding Spell, albeit not very proficient in it.

Zhang Jingqiu, murmuring an incantation, performed a quick succession of complex hand movements and with that the Necromancy Streamer was suddenly immobilized in mid-air. “I’ll teach you guys a lesson and have you know I’m not ornamental,” sneered Zhang Jingqiu.

Arms outstretched, fingers splayed, he shouted, “OPEN UP!”

The Necromancy Streamer started rotating counterclockwise. The man standing on the side clearly panicked. “Shit! It’s going counterclockwise. What should we do?”

“Withdraw it! Hurry!”

Li Zong’s lips curved in a smile and with that he said to He Zheng, “Do you want to see what my Phoenix Flames look like?”

He Zheng, having no worries about things going awry, said, “Of course I do!”

Li Zong held up a finger, ran it through the air as though striking a match and with that, as if the air were ignited, Phoenix Flames burst out of Li Zong’s fingertip, shooting into mid-air, drying the whole place out.

The jingle abruptly stopped. Remarkably, amid the scorching heat of the Phoenix Flame, the Necromantic Bell began to melt, liquid copper dripping down!

The one hiding in the shadows was horrified. Zhang Jingqiu was still mumbling some kind of incantation. Without warning, Zhang Shi’s body started to convulse at irregular intervals. He Zheng, having observed this, was taken aback. “Slap the top of his head! I’ll draw his soul over!” said Zhang Jingqiu aloud.

He Zheng promptly caught on and hit Zhang Shi in the head. He Zheng, who had never done this to anybody before, was not experienced enough to control his exertion of strength. Zhang Shi instantly fell forward, his face smacking the ground.

He Zheng, having overdone it, put his hands behind him and smirked.

When hit by that slap, Zhang Shi splayed his limbs out and with that Zhang Jingqiu made a movement like pulling cotton out of a quilt. Zhang Shi’s soul was forced into his body again, squeezing the female ghost out of it.

Just now Zhang Shi had almost been scared to death. It took him ten seconds or so to recover himself. Having been possessed by a female ghost was a huge humiliation for him. Recalling the femininity he had just comported himself with, he went berserk and instantly joined the fray. But he did not go to Zhang Jingqiu’s or Li Zong’s help. Instead, he rushed in the direction of the shadows and quickly restrained the two men hiding there.

Zhang Shi was good at both long-distance attacks and close-quarters fights. As the heir of the Head Taoist, he naturally was pretty powerful. Though he was a little conceited, his skills were undoubtedly good.

“You dare mess with me! Let me see how many rounds you can last!” railed Zhang Shi, throwing a punch at one of the targets. He kept attacking with his fists and legs. Even if he attacked them with spells, the two opponents would not be able to defend against him. Neither of them had bargained on being faced with such concentrated blows. They were no match for Zhang Shi and were forced onto the defensive.

Zhang Shi was going all out. His opponents were wailing and begging all the time, their pleading voices making the scene uproarious.

Zhang Shi kept sneering. Li Zong and Zhang Jingqiu had finished the job. Li Zong took the Necromancy Streamer and folded it. The Necromantic Bell, however, had been melted and was beyond repair.

“I’m confiscating this. Do any of you have a problem with it?”

Huang Youcai, face covered with bruises, cast a plaintive look at Li Zong and smiled, “Supt. Li, I didn’t recognize you. It’s a misunderstanding.”

“We’ll look into it and find out whether the whole Huang family have sided with the Demon King and been covertly acting as his informers in Jiangxi or the two of you are the only Demon’s Attendants in the family,” said Zhang Jingqiu coldly with a snort.

Li Zong glanced at the two of them, who bowed their heads. Huang Youcai exchanged a look with his accomplice, feeling that as things stood, there was no way they could escape, that they needed to figure out a way to clear themselves of suspicions.

Huang Youcai played dumb. “Ha ha, what are you talking about, Supt. Li? Why can’t I understand you? What Demon’s Attendants? My brother and I just got the wrong person. A couple of days ago, some thieves stole something from us, and we’ve been trying to track them down. They drove the same car as yours, which was why … we mistook you guys for them.”

Arms folded over his chest, leaning against the car door, He Zheng sneered, “It’s been many years since the last time someone told such lies in front of me. You two are filled to the brim with black gas, and yet you’re still trying to deny it? Go on. I’d like to see how much further you can go before you give yourselves away.”

The two men were startled. Huang Youcai, who was more composed, still refused to admit to it. “What are you talking about, bro? Ha ha, there’s no black gas. I think it’s the dirt we failed to wash off ourselves.”

Li Zong winked at Zhang Jingqiu, who produced his cellphone, made a phone call to the Jiangxi detachment of the sub-bureau in Star City and told them to send some men to the scene to handle this matter.

After the Necromancy Streamer and the Necromantic Bell stopped working, the impenetrable fog gradually lifted. He Zheng and the others were now waiting on the side of an off-ramp. Although those supernatural things could not be recorded, all the weird actions of Li Zong and the others had been caught by a camera.

But Zhang Jingqiu had informed some colleagues and SMB had intervened. What with this, news about Li Zong’s and He Zheng’s survival soon reached Zong Xian’s and some others’ ears.

The remainder of the journey was not really uneventful either. Families of Demon’s Attendants like the Huang family showed up one after another to attack them, having no misgivings about blowing their cover. But the four of them had become vigilant, so the assailants did not cause any long delays. Eventually they reached Coastal City safe and sound.

They had just exited the airport when a black stretch limousine came to a halt a short way off. At the sight of the license plate, Zhang Jingqiu’s eyelids twitched and he had a sense of foreboding.

“Why did Elder Zhou come here in person?”

The seven chairpersons of the Counter-demon Committee were all held in high esteem, especially Elder Zhou and Elder Chen. Though the two of them had long since stopped participating in the management of SMB, their words carried a lot of weight. All of them used to be in executive positions and were quite influential. At least Zhang Jingqiu did not dare cross any of them for the time being.

Li Zong lifted his eyes. “We’ll have to play it by ear. Give Elder Chen a call and tell him about this.”

Zhang Jingqiu nodded.

However, Zhang Jingqiu had just produced his cellphone when a man dressed like a bodyguard got out of the car and said deferentially to them, “Supt. Li, Group Leader Zhang, Childe He, my master would like a word. You may make your call in the car.”

If they got into the car, it would be tantamount to putting themselves at the mercy of the one sitting inside.

Zhang Jingqiu subconsciously looked at Li Zong, who inclined his head almost imperceptibly.

He Zheng had an inkling that there was something queer going on but did not say anything. Li Zong holding He Zheng’s hand, the three of them filed into the car.

Inside the car sat the old man wearing a mandarin jacket and a skullcap, who was still resting his mind with his eyes closed. Though in a vehicle, he still had his shades on his nose.

“Elder Zhou.”

Zhang Jingqiu and Li Zong greeted Zhou Yang.

It was only then that Zhou Yang opened his eyes and smiled, “Just sit. There’s no need for formalities.”

The car was pretty roomy, with two pairs of seats opposite each other. Elder Zhou, hands on top of his walking stick, suddenly let out an odd chuckle and then, looking at Li Zong, said, “You’ve been doing an amazing job concealing your true identity, Supt. Li. I’ve been kept completely in the dark for so many years. It’s really impressive.”

He Zheng, having a hunch that this geriatric was a nasty piece of work, edged closer to Li Zong, so that he would not be separated from Li Zong if fighting broke out.

Li Zong, with a bland face, said, “I’m afraid I don’t quite understand you, Elder Zhou.”