Divine Level Witch Doctor

Everyone in the room was stunned.

A flash of joy appeared on Ying Ji’s face, and she opened her mouth to cry for help, but Zhao Yuan was faster. He clamped a hand over her mouth, preventing her from making a sound.

”You have accomplices?” Zhao Yuan demanded in a low voice.

Ying Ji grunted but didn’t answer.

Lu Qing, holding a gun in one hand and an Exorcism Talisman in the other, cautiously approached the window. Along the way, the five Corpse Puppets and the Human-Catching Vine desperately wanted to attack her but dared not make a move, only watching anxiously from the side.

Soon, Lu Qing reached the window.

Peeking outside, she gasped in surprise, ”Huh? There’s no one here.”

”No one?”

A possibility suddenly struck Zhao Yuan. He spun around in alarm, only to be met with a brilliant Sword Light cleaving down with the force of a Thunderbolt, the sheer pressure making his face ache.

’She really does have an accomplice!’

Zhao Yuan snorted coldly and pulled Ying Ji in front of him to block the dazzling Sword Light.

As expected, the attacker was hesitant to harm his target’s hostage. He hastily retracted his blade, throwing his offense and movement into disarray.

This was the moment Zhao Yuan had been waiting for.

He shot out from behind Ying Ji and launched a flying kick at the uninvited guest.

The attacker clearly hadn’t expected Zhao Yuan to be so fast. A loud THUD sounded as the kick landed squarely on his chest. The powerful force sent him flying backward, CRASHING through the second-floor railing and tumbling down to the first floor.

Lu Qing rushed out, pointing her gun at the pained and humiliated attacker lying on the first floor. ”Don’t move! I’m the police!” she yelled.

”Police?” The attacker was stunned for a moment, then started cursing, ”You have the nerve to call yourself police? As officers of the law, how can you do something so vicious and cruel? You’re a disgrace to the force!”

Lu Qing replied coldly, ”If arresting criminals is a disgrace to the police, then I’m willing to disgrace myself like this every single day!” Then she added a threat, ”Stay right where you are. Don’t move, or I will shoot!”

The attacker wisely backed down. Though he was also a Cultivator, he was still in the Body Refining stage and couldn’t just ignore bullets.

Zhao Yuan’s brow twitched. The attacker’s voice sounded very familiar. After a moment of thought, he asked, ”Are you Hao Li?”

Zhao Yuan’s guess was correct. The one who had just used a feint to ambush him was none other than the owner of Lakefront House, the Tripod Cuisine School Cultivator, Hao Li.

Previously, he had only known that Hao Li’s culinary skills were amazing; he never expected his Sword Technique to be so exceptional. If he hadn’t used Ying Ji as a human shield just now, it would have been extremely difficult to dodge or block Hao Li’s Thunderbolt strike on his own!

The plump Hao Li was lying in a pile of broken wood—when Zhao Yuan had kicked him from the second floor, he had accidentally landed on and crushed the piano Ying Ji kept in her living room.

His eyes had been darting about as he tried to think of a way to escape, but upon hearing Zhao Yuan’s voice, he froze. ”Huh? You know me? Who are you? Wait, your voice is really familiar... Ah, I remember now! You’re Zhao Yuan!” he exclaimed in astonishment.

The attack had been too sudden and the defense too rushed. Both had only seen the other’s moves, not their face. It was only now, hearing each other’s voices, that they realized who the other was.

Zhao Yuan instinctively asked, ”Brother Hao, what’s your connection to this evil Witch Priest? You haven’t been helping a villain and raising Tong Moths with her, have you?”

At the same time, Hao Li also spoke up. ”Little Brother Zhao, why are you fighting with Ying Ji? Don’t tell me you’re the Evil Gu Master she’s been hunting?”

After they spoke, both men froze, then exclaimed in unison, ”How is that possible?!”

A suspicion suddenly arose in Zhao Yuan’s mind: ’Could this be a case of mistaken identity?’

’He hadn’t known Hao Li for long, but he knew the man wasn’t malicious. Otherwise, back when he’d asked for help cooking the Snake Meat and Snake Gallbladder, Hao Li wouldn’t have bothered with rules; he could have just killed him and taken his things!’

’With the sharp Sword Technique he just displayed, he definitely could have killed me back then!’

’But Hao Li hadn’t done that, because he was a man of principle and integrity! Through their later interactions, Zhao Yuan had discovered that Hao Li also possessed the chivalry and heroic spirit of the ancients!’

’A person like that couldn’t possibly be involved with dark and evil arts!’

Similar confusion arose in Ying Ji’s mind.

’She and Hao Li had been friends and fellow practitioners for years. She knew his temperament; he would never become sworn brothers with someone he didn’t respect. To earn his regard, Cultivation was secondary; character and temperament were what mattered most!’

For a moment, both of them frowned, deep in thought.

”Little Brother Zhao, what in the world is going on?” Hao Li shouted, trying to get up from the floor.

”Don’t move! Don’t make me shoot!” Lu Qing ordered.

Hao Li hurriedly said, ”Hey, Officer, please don’t be so tense. This is most likely just a misunderstanding!”

After a moment of contemplation, Zhao Yuan said, ”We are tracking and arresting the criminal who has been using Tong Moths to harm people!”

”And you suspect Ying Ji is the criminal?” Hao Li asked in astonishment.

”That’s right!” Zhao Yuan said. ”Today I treated a patient infested with a Tong Moth. I removed the Tong Moth Larva and was just about to destroy the Evil Gu when Ying Ji’s Ghost Spirit suddenly burst into the operating room. It possessed a nurse and attacked me, trying to snatch the larva! Who else would do something like that besides the criminal who raises and commands the Tong Moths?”

Ying Ji broke free from Zhao Yuan’s grasp and defended herself, ”That’s nonsense! I used Divination to find the Tong Moth Larva’s hiding place and sent my Ghost Spirit to destroy it! That vicious Evil Gu is impervious to blades, fire, and water. The only way to eliminate it is to have a Ghost Spirit enter its body and devour its soul! You said you were going to destroy the larva? What a joke! You don’t have a Ghost Spirit, so how were you going to do it?”

”Who says you need a Ghost Spirit to destroy a Tong Moth?” Zhao Yuan snorted. ”And you call yourself a Witch Priest. It seems your studies on the Dao of Gu Technique are rather lacking! The simplest and most effective way to deal with a Tong Moth is to use White Phosphorus!”

”White Phosphorus?” Ying Ji was taken aback. ”What good is that stuff?”

Zhao Yuan scoffed, ”A Tong Moth will burst into flames the moment it touches White Phosphorus! You don’t even know that, and you want to kill them?”

Ying Ji was unconvinced. ”Tong Moths are afraid of White Phosphorus? Are you serious? How come I’ve never heard of that?” she questioned.

Zhao Yuan said coldly, ”There’s a lot you don’t know. You didn’t know that the Hundred Insects Gu is vulnerable to water boiled with Willow Leaves, either, did you?”

Ever since she’d stepped onto the path of cultivation, Ying Ji had always been regarded as a genius. When had she ever suffered one setback after another like this? Zhao Yuan’s contemptuous tone, in particular, infuriated her.

But there was nothing she could do about her anger. The facts were right in front of her. This guy, Zhao Yuan, really did seem to know more than she did...

”It’s a misunderstanding, Zhao Yuan. This whole thing is definitely a misunderstanding.”

Afraid the two would start fighting again, Hao Li rushed to play peacemaker.

”I can guarantee that Ying Ji is absolutely not the master of the Tong Moths. On the contrary, she’s been dead set on finding the person responsible and bringing them to justice!”