Chapter 72: Did A-Ke Change His Name?
By the time Ning Xiaoxiao finished speaking, Zhuang Yusheng and the others had also arrived.
They all bore injuries of varying degrees. Liu Li was the most severely hurt, requiring Zhuang Yusheng’s support just to keep from falling off her flying artifact.
Ning Xiaoxiao’s gaze fell upon Zhuang Yusheng’s hand as it supported Liu Li.
She paused for a moment before looking away.
“Xiaoxiao, you actually killed that demon despite the gap in cultivation?” Zhuang Yusheng was shocked by this fact.
“Mhm,” Ning Xiaoxiao nodded, then glanced at the small snake coiled on her shoulder. “Of course, it was also thanks to Little Snake’s help.”
Hearing this, the shrunken python proudly straightened its upper body, not forgetting to look toward Ning Ke. Seeing the latter nod at it in approval, the snake grew even more arrogant.
The tip of its tail wagged frantically.
One wouldn’t know any better and might mistake it for a rattlesnake.
Zhuang Yusheng’s sharp eyes noticed Ning Xiaoxiao’s bleeding left hand.
Frowning, he pushed Liu Li toward Wu Gou. “Fellow Daoist Wu Gou, help me look after Liu Li.”
Then, riding his artifact, he moved to Ning Xiaoxiao’s side.
He asked in a voice only the two of them could hear, “Your left hand… can you still use it?”
He knew that Ning Xiaoxiao had a streak of pride deep in her bones. She didn’t want others to see her in a vulnerable state.
“I can’t move it,” Ning Xiaoxiao lowered her eyes and said softly. “But an injury like this won’t kill me.”
Zhuang Yusheng didn’t say anything. He simply pressed a healing pill into Ning Xiaoxiao’s other hand.
Standing in front of her, he said softly, “You’ve already done very well.”
“Better than all of us.”
“If Fellow Daoist A-Ke were here, he would surely be proud of you.”
Ning Xiaoxiao’s pupils trembled as she subconsciously tightened her grip on the pill bottle.
After a long silence, she finally replied, “Mhm.”
“Impossible!”
The four demons denied it almost in unison. “Even if we are turned into mincemeat, we can merge into the earth. How could Old Fifth possibly die?!”
Wu Gou looked at Ning Xiaoxiao and asked, “Benefactor Ning, how did you achieve this?”
“The Demon-Sealing Talisman,” Ning Xiaoxiao said. “In the end, I used the Demon-Sealing Talisman my brother taught me to thoroughly destroy him.”
Ning Ke’s eyes widened.
It was unbelievable—Ning Xiaoxiao had actually managed to learn the final talisman from the wooden tablet in such a short time.
Not only had she learned it, but she had also successfully used it to kill a demon!
Could it be… was the side mission issued by the system to help Ning Xiaoxiao learn the talismans on the tablet all for this moment?
“Mouse, what’s wrong?” Lou Yunxiao tightened his grip on Ning Ke’s waist, leaning into his ear to whisper, “Is it because I didn’t completely kill that demon that you’re unhappy?”
“No.” Ning Ke stiffened from the embrace and hurriedly said, “Also, I am not a mouse. My Buddhist name is Ming Xin. You can call me Ming Xin.”
Lou Yunxiao tilted his head, looking almost cute. “Did A-Ke change his name?”
Ning Ke was startled and quickly covered Lou Yunxiao’s mouth.
“Call me Ming Xin! Do not call me A-Ke!”
Ning Ke no longer cared that his A-Ke persona was being unmasked. He only thought about coaxing the childish guy in front of him first. Once Lou Yunxiao’s blackened state ended, he would simply deny everything to the death.
Lou Yunxiao’s eyes crinkled into crescents as he suddenly kissed Ning Ke’s palm.
!
A tingle ran down Ning Ke’s spine.
Frightened, he immediately withdrew his hand and glared at Lou Yunxiao in anger.
The latter, however, showed a pleased expression and nodded.
“Fine, then I’ll call you Ming Xin.”
“I listen to everything my Mouse says.”
Seeing that he was being relatively obedient, Ning Ke breathed a sigh of relief.
But in the next second, he realized he was still being held tightly in Lou Yunxiao’s arms.
He was a monk.
A six-foot-tall monk.
A monk who had chanted scriptures for three months, been strictly bound by Buddhist precepts, and hadn’t even eaten fish or chicken for that reason.
And he was currently being held ambiguously in a man’s arms…
Realizing this, Ning Ke quickly pushed Lou Yunxiao away.
He summoned his own flying artifact and stood firmly.
Fortunately, the others’ attention was on Ning Xiaoxiao. They weren’t paying much attention to them.
“The Demon-Sealing Talisman…” The remaining demons looked horrified.
Something that hadn’t appeared for ten thousand years—how could a young girl use it?!
By now, the demoness had transformed from a meatball back into a head. Her face was hideous as she said, “That girl knows the Demon-Sealing Talisman. We must merge! Quick, give your power to me!”
They were originally clones of the Great Demon, so they had no objections now.
They placed their hands on the demoness’s head, and their bodies began to dissolve.
They flowed into the ground.
The corpses impaled on the Youhun Grass also melted completely and were absorbed by her.
In just a few breaths, the earth around the demoness loosened.
A hand burst through the soil.
The demoness, now possessing a complete body once more, reappeared.
Her aura had surged from the early Integration stage to the peak of the Integration stage!
The contempt she previously felt for Lou Yunxiao and the others had completely vanished after the experience of being chopped into mincemeat.
She said coldly, “Today, the six of you must die here!”
With that, she looked at Lou Yunxiao. “I’ll start with you!”
But just as she was about to approach Lou Yunxiao, she suddenly veered off!
She lunged toward Ning Xiaoxiao, who was behind Zhuang Yusheng!
Zhuang Yusheng summoned his ancient zither at top speed, blocking Ning Xiaoxiao.
The demoness’s strike instantly shook his internal organs.
Blood trickled from the corner of his lips. Zhuang Yusheng was already significantly injured, and this strike made his vision swim. He tried to extend his other hand, but he could no longer stop the demoness’s hand from reaching for Ning Xiaoxiao.
The speed of a peak Integration stage demoness was simply too fast.
It was so fast that Liu Li, Wu Gou, and Ning Xiaoxiao couldn’t even see her clearly, let alone react.
Just as tragedy was about to strike…
In the next moment, the demoness’s back collar and the hand reaching for Ning Xiaoxiao were suddenly grabbed by the two men who had rushed over!
Two handsome yet freezing cold faces appeared within her field of vision.
The two asked almost in unison:
“What do you think you’re doing to my (Junior Sister) Sister?”
Translator’s Note:
小学鸡 (Xiǎoxué jī – Little Schoolboy): This is slang for someone who acts childish or petty, like a primary school student. Ning Ke uses it to describe Lou Yunxiao’s current “blackened” but strangely clingy personality.
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