Chapter 21 Liu Longting is Hurt

“Didn’t Huang Sanniang say earlier that Zhu Dagui’s family worshipped a pig sage? How could it be demonic?” I asked Liu Longting. After all, Huang Sanniang had been cultivating for so long? How could she not be able to tell demons and sage apart? Furthermore, I have been dealing with sages and fairies all this time; now there’s suddenly a demon. I could not help but be curious.

“Mortals are very courteous to animals that cultivate. As long as they do no evil, they would be called sages, no matter how deep their cultivation. Fairies that have a profession, such as guardian fairies and shamanic animal spirits, are all considered proper sages. All sages need to be righteous and have virtuous intentions to preserve their clear and bright aura. If a sage falls and commits evil, they will permeate the stench of demonic energy. However, this also ties into their animal instincts. You’re now a practitioner within this field, which is why you can smell it. Normal people are unable to smell it.”

So, it was like that. However, when Liu Longting mentioned animal instincts, I could not help but think, if pigs were not always in their pigsties, how clean could they be!

We went into the village to look for Zhu Dagui’s home. There was a thick layer of snow outside, so everyone was hiding in their homes, unwilling to go outside. The stench got heavier as we went deeper into the village, so I used my scarf to block my nose.

We walked past a house with a red roof and earthen walls when Liu Longting suddenly stopped, saying this was the house.

This house was extremely run down. It looked abandoned. However, not long after we stood in front of the house, we could hear a strong slew of northeastern vulgarities from the house. Following that, a lady who looked about 30 years of age ran out of the house, frantically holding her head. Behind her stood a fierce-looking man who looked like a butcher. I guessed he was Zhu Dagui. He waved a butcher’s knife on top of his head, shouting at the woman, “You damn b*tch, hurry up and get me some booze! Don’t even think about coming back if you don’t have any!”

The woman caressed her face that was full of slap marks. With blood dripping out of the corner of her mouth, she slowly got up from the floor, sobbing. Without even sparing us a glance, she walked away slowly, hand still on her face. In the white snow, her feet left a trail of tiny footprints.

Zhu Dagui still held the butcher’s knife when he saw the two of us standing in front of his house. He arrogantly yelled at us, “What’re ye lookin’ at?! I’ll cut you up too!”

“I’m here to kill you,” Liu Longting said bluntly.

“Huh!” Zhu Dagui was surprised. He placed the knife on his shoulder and swaggered out of the house. “Kill me? Why don’t ye go ask around? Who would dare lay a hand on me in this entire area?”

The woman who had gone out scurried back. She had probably heard the conversation between Liu Longting and Zhu Dagui. She pulled on Liu Longting’s hand and asked him to leave immediately. She said to not provoke Zhu Dagui. He was an animal who only knew how to humiliate her every night, like a pig. He would be punished, someday, by the heavens!

I saw her frightened expression and told her to not be scared. Liu Longting had been sent here by the heavens to take care of Zhu Dagui.

The lady did not believe me at first, but she saw Liu Longting’s elegant appearance and his awe-inspiring aura. He definitely looked like a sage. It was unlikely that such a person belonged to the mortal realm. After all, humans were different from fairies. A human could at most live a hundred odd years while Liu Longting had lived for several hundred. The gap in experience was too great. His unnatural expression was to be expected, but even his gaze was different from a normal person.

When Zhu Dagui heard what I had said, he slowed down and took a good look at Liu Longting, finally seeing his real body. Zhu Dagui had a cocky smile, “Here I was thinking you were something. You spoke so arrogantly to me, and yet, you’re but a worm who’s cultivated for only a few hundred years.”

D*mn! I felt some discontent in my heart when Zhu Dagui called Liu Longting a worm, and I wanted to retort. However, Liu Longting gave me a look to shut me up. He brushed aside what Zhu Dagui said and replied, “Why don’t we have a little contest then?”

“Oh, bring it on! I, Zhu Dagui, am not scared of you!” Zhu Dagui flicked the knife in his hand and walked back into his house, probably to get the pig spirit.

When the lady saw Zhu Dagui walking into the house, she got scared and asked us to go. She said the pig sage in Zhu Dagui’s house was very powerful. Back when Zhu Dagui did all sorts of evil acts, all the sages that were asked to help get rid of him were killed.

I started to get a bit worried for Liu Longting. I asked him why no one cared that a pig demon was here killing other sages.

“Usually, no one bothers with those that have cultivated for more than 2000 years. Furthermore, Mount Changbai is very chaotic with a lot of different factions fighting for power. Even if there was some Supreme Fairy who wanted to get rid of him, they probably had no way to do it.”

“Then are you confident you can beat him?” Even though I knew that it was not good to cast doubt on a man’s ability, I was worried for Liu Longting. After all, if he were to run into any trouble, I would not be able to run away from it either.

Liu Longting did not answer my question, all he did was ask me to stand further away and watch the show.

In a few minutes, Zhu Dagui rushed out of the house holding a huge bucket of dirty water. The moment he stepped out, he immediately poured the dirty water into his mouth, taking big gulps. Pig noises began to erupt from his throat.

“Bam!” He threw the bucket in his hands away forcefully. The whole bucket shattered into pieces. At that moment, he looked like a robust pig, fiercely rushing toward Liu Longting!

Liu Longting maintained his composure. As Zhu Dagui rushed at him, he raised his and held down Zhu Dagui’s head. With his other hand, he stabbed a few silver needles, which were more than ten centimeters in length, into Zhu Dagui’s head. Zhu Dagui suddenly let out a cry of pain and quickly pushed Liu Longting away. Liu Longting was thrown five meters away, falling heavily into the snow. His whole body was covered in snow!

“Liu Longting!” I shouted his name, wanting to run toward him. However, at that moment, Zhu Dagui, burdened with pain, transformed into a huge black pig. Then, as if unleashing his final attack, he charged toward Liu Longting!

Oh sh*t! My heart jumped into my throat. I did not dare imagine what would happen if Liu Longting was rammed by this pig!

Snow was flying everywhere. Just as Liu Longting was about to get hit, he shifted into his original form and used the black pig’s attack to wrap himself tightly around it. They struggled against each other on the snow-covered floor.

This was the first time I had seen Liu Longting fight as if his life depended on it, but I did not dare go nearer. There was a lot of fresh blood on the ground as they fought, but I could not tell if it was Liu Longting’s or the pig’s. The only thing I could do was worry for Liu Longting, afraid something would happen to him.

Their struggle lasted for almost an hour before it slowly stopped. No one who had witnessed the fight dared venture outside for a look—apart from the lady and I.

When Liu Longting turned back to his human form and lied on the ground, I immediately rushed to his side. There were two sets of bones that did not have flesh or skin on them next to me. One set was the pig’s; the other was half of Zhu Dagui, with only half his bloodied skull remaining. A yellow weasel about the size of a small dog suddenly appeared out of nowhere and bowed in front of Liu Longting a few times before taking Zhu Dagui’s skull and scurrying back to the mountains.

Looking at Liu Longting lying down there, unmoving, with blood on his face and his eyes closed, I was filled with worry and fear. I quickly lifted his head to wipe away the blood and listened to his chest. His heart was still beating, and he was still breathing. Frantically, I asked him how he was, and if he was okay.

Liu Longting did not say anything for a long time. Looking at how weak he was, my heart ached greatly. Hugging him tightly, I gently scolded him. I had half a mind to call an ambulance, but suddenly, Liu Longting lifted his hand with some difficulty and grabbed my wrist, weakly smiling at me. “I’m okay. If you’re worried for me, we can look for a nice place tonight for you to properly comfort me.”