Night of Despair

Chapter 303 - 303 From 301 initially one

?Chapter 303: From 301 initially one Chapter 303: From 301 initially one A draw?

“Alright.” Yu Hong was also somewhat surprised that the opponent could match him to a draw.

Although his first Fear Shadow was the weakest, who was his opponent? Zheng Ming was merely a Disciple from a fringe school of the Taoist Sect, although elite, there were many more masters above him…

Perhaps this world could really withstand the invasion of the Black Disaster…

Seeing this, Yu Hong seemed to regain a bit of confidence.

If it truly could be withstood, he planned to bring people over to settle and live a normal life.

After all, since he arrived here, he had not had a single day of normal life.

Second round.

Zheng Ming’s hands swiftly formed seals, with his temples slightly pulsing, he pointed bare-handed at the resentful sand.

Hiss!

In an instant, a trail of silver smoke rose and coalesced into a semi-transparent, burning human shape in front of him.

The humanoid had four arms, its hair soared to the skies, its face indistinct, standing over two meters tall, floating in front of Zheng Ming.

“Go!”

Zheng Ming ordered directly, while looking up at the opposite side.

At this look, his expression suddenly paused.

In front of Yu Hong, similarly stood a humanoid figure, that was a petite and eerie woman with black hair cascading down.

The woman’s face was obscured by her flowing black hair, hard to see clearly, but from the white dress she wore and the spots of bloodstains on the hem, it was clear that this was no good entity.

Of course, what really astounded Zheng Ming was not anything else, but why Yu Hong’s Fear Shadow was again some weird vibe thing?

Was his influenced by shadow puppetry he saw as a child, but where did the other side get their influence from?

Hiss!

The four-armed humanoid and the newly appeared Withered Woman approached each other, one constantly swinging its four arms to attack rapidly.

While the other one flickered in and out of visibility, each touch making the touched area wither and darken.

A dozen breaths later.

The Withered Woman grabbed the face of the four-armed humanoid with one hand, turning it dry and shriveled until it completely dispersed.

Zheng Ming’s expression was ugly.

“It seems I was too careless… This time, I’ll use the ultimate and strongest Fear Shadow… if…”

“Senior Brother Zheng Ming, it’s enough,” Zheng Xia had appeared behind him without knowing when. “You didn’t use your true trump card, and neither did [Yu Hong]. As brethren, there’s no need to fight to the end. The highest level Fear Shadows consume too much energy and can easily backfire. Use it cautiously.”

These words suddenly silenced Zheng Ming.

Yes.

He was very clear that, in fact, the competition had already been lost to him.

Because how many years had he been cultivating? How many years had Yu Hong been cultivating? The accumulated experience between them was worlds apart.

And yet, he couldn’t suppress the other party and even slightly lost.

After a moment of silence, he forced a smile.

“I’ve lost, Junior Brother [Yu Hong]…”

“It’s just an internal competition. In a real battle, I wouldn’t be as good as you, Senior Brother,” Yu Hong sincerely said.

“…” Although he knew the other party was comforting him, hearing this made Zheng Ming’s face look slightly better.

He turned around and looked at Zheng Xia.

“What are you doing here?”

“Master received a message; the Resentful Mark Yin Qi Heavenly Pillar has erupted, causing small-scale disturbances across various places. The official team is organizing a suppression and seal, investigating the actual situation, and we need people to join,” Zheng Xia reported.

“I see, where’s Zheng Ying?”

“She’s leading a team on another mission. This time, the troubles are nearby. Master suggested we take Junior Brother [Yu Hong] with us to try it out.”

“Near Taizhou… I understand,” Zheng Ming nodded.

He also glanced at Yu Hong who nodded back.

“Then let’s set off.”

“Don’t we need to prepare anything?” Yu Hong hastily asked.

“Prepare? There won’t be anything during the day,” Zheng Ming shook his head.

During the day?

Yu Hong was a bit puzzled.

But this puzzle quickly disappeared as half an hour later, they arrived at a villa located in the woods.

The windows of the villa were tightly covered with dark curtains, and on a large white bed lay a red-haired young boy bound tightly by iron chains.

The boy had a ferocious expression, continuously howling and roaring through his gagged mouth, his limbs tied to the bed’s steel frame. Despite this, his whole body seemed like bubble gum, constantly swelling and then smashing down.

“Ever since last week, my child suddenly started secretly eating raw meat in the kitchen at night, and the nanny discovered it and was bitten on the neck. My wife and I called many doctors, but none could cure it… this time, we had no other choice but to…”

The master of the house was a cultured middle-aged successful man, wearing glasses and dressed in a dark purple robe similar to a Tang suit, holding a wooden dragon-headed cane.

“It’s tainted with Yin Energy, no… it should be the stronger Resentful Energy.”

Zheng Ming led the team, with Zheng Xia and Yu Hong following him as he spoke out.

“It’s not a big deal.”

He approached the large bed, under the gaze of everyone around, suddenly moved like lightning, and quickly slapped the forehead of the boy.

In an instant, a silver flying bird condensed behind him, pouncing on the young boy, pecking a faint grayish-black breath from his shoulder.

As soon as the breath was released, the boy calmed down immediately, his eyes rolled back, and then he fainted and lay motionless.

“It’s done,” Zheng Ming said in a deep voice.

“That’s it?” The man was somewhat taken aback. He had invited countless doctors and sorcerers, all of whom admitted defeat, before someone recommended Qingchen Temple locally.

And so…

“Yes, it was just a touch of breath, the fee is two hundred thousand, just transfer it to the person following you,” Zheng Ming said indifferently.

“Uh… okay, alright,” the man nodded repeatedly. He planned to observe and confirm everything was fine before paying.

Yu Hong saw everything clearly from behind.

That wisp of breath, invisible to ordinary people, as was the silver flying bird.

He hadn’t expected that the silver flying birds he easily defeated would be so useful.

“You would find it just as easy. But definitely not as effortless and convenient as Senior Brother Zheng Ming’s technique,” Zheng Xia whispered. “His Silver Sparrow Technique can be split into many small techniques to be used individually, with very little consumption, just a fraction of what we use in our techniques.”

“I see,” Yu Hong nodded.

Soon, the three of them left for the next household.

The second place was a somewhat old apartment building.

The issue involved a young office woman, who looked haggard with deeply sunken eyes.

Every night she struggled to sleep, and once she did, she felt as though a large rock pressed on her chest, suffocating her.

Zheng Ming gave her a talisman he drew himself, instructed her to burn it and mix the ashes in water to drink, and that was that.

The sinister hint of yin energy in the apartment dissipated swiftly.

Then, Yu Hong followed Zheng Ming on four other cases—some in cooperation with the police, some requested by temple pilgrims, and others where wealthy people paid them to visit their homes.

However, in these cases, without exception, they never saw an actual resentful mark, let alone one congealing into solid form like the Black Disaster, even not as apparent as the chubby man from Huangsong Island.

The more Yu Hong followed, the more puzzled he became, and finally, as it got dark, he couldn’t help but ask.

“The resentful marks are too weak??” Zheng Xia was taken aback. Sitting in the car on the way back, she looked at the genuinely puzzled Yu Hong, suddenly showing a deep sense of powerlessness in her eyes.

“Is this the world of top geniuses?” she muttered softly, feeling suddenly as if she and he were never in the same world from the start.

“Not weak? It’s all just removing yin energy and resentment. Finally, when encountering something slightly active, it got scattered by a Senior Brother’s silver flying bird,” Yu Hong said earnestly.

“Did you ever consider that maybe they are not weak…” Zheng Xia looked at Yu Hong, and seeing Zheng Ming’s helpless head shaking, she had to explain.

“You mean, we are too strong?” Yu Hong continued.

“That’s right… if this world had resentful marks of the degree you speak of every day, the folk would’ve been in chaos long ago. A place like Huangsong Island is a legendary land of extreme misfortune, not commonly encountered.”

Zheng Xia helplessly explained.

“Ordinarily, it’s all about these small cases of dispelling yin energy and minor resentful marks… otherwise, how would those ordinary disciples make a living?”

Yu Hong nodded, understanding.

“So it is. I’ve learned something.”

“Once you have more experience, you’ll understand. This world is not as dangerous as you imagine,” Zheng Xia said weakly.

“Understood,” Yu Hong nodded again.

For the next few days, he tried handling cases on his own.

*
*
*
In a villa by the sea, flanked by yellow walls.

In the white bedroom.

Zheng Ming, Zheng Xia, and Yu Hong were all present.

Yu Hong stood by the right wall, looking at a child’s drawing hanging there.

The drawing depicted a ghastly figure, pitch black with bloody red eyes and blood also dripping from its mouth.

The ghastly figure had no hair, standing in front of a two-story villa, looking back out of the drawing.

“Although I know it’s drawn by a girl under ten… I must say…” Yu Hong reached out and gently touched the canvas. “It’s quite well drawn.”

“Now, how should I handle it?” he looked back at the others.

“Operate your Daoist Skills, sense the aura, then find the focal point, and have your Fear Shadow strike to capture it,” Zheng Ming instructed solemnly.

“Understood,” Yu Hong nodded, withdrew his hand, blinked, and formed the Handprint of Service Damage.

Hiss!

The weakest shadow, a figure in white, appeared behind him, raising its hand with him, touching the face of the ghastly figure on the canvas.

Hiss!

Instantly, a smell of charred flesh wafted from the canvas.

Yu Hong’s fingertips, sticky like adhesive tape, pulled out a wisp of grayish-black smoke.

The smoke furiously writhed and struggled on his hand, trying to break free.

Pop.

Yu Hong clenched his hand into a fist, and the shadow did the same, crushing the wisp of smoke completely.

“What follows is for others to handle; they need to investigate where this resentment comes from. We only need to show up at the end to resolve the trouble,” Zheng Xia explained.

“That quick and it’s two hundred thousand… It’s my first time feeling that making money is really simple,” Yu Hong exclaimed.