The bustling street, filled with people coming and going.
And in a quiet alley within the block, a cat scavenging for food in a trash can seemed to sense danger, instinctively arching its back, its fur standing on end.
A nimble leg landed in front of the little cat, crushing an empty can flat. The owner of the leg then appeared a dozen meters away.
Startled, the cat jumped away. By the time it calmed down, silence had returned, as if everything that had just happened was merely an illusion.
Just as the cat was about to continue its search for food, another figure appeared, this time scaring the cat into tumbling into the trash can.
In the alley, two figures were chasing each other.
Lin Zitong pursued Lu Xin, all the way to this spot. Although she and Lu Xin were separated by a hundred meters and Lu Xin couldn't be seen with the naked eye, with the three yuan in the sky reporting their location, Lin Zitong hadn't lost track of Lu Xin.
Zhu Shanzhao followed behind Lin Zitong, panting and saying furiously, "She actually… escaped… huff huff huff, girl, you're running too fast… I can't keep up!"
Lin Zitong glanced back at Zhu Shanzhao, then said, "Split up, you go block her ahead!"
"Alright!"
Zhu Shanzhao breathed a sigh of relief, then leaped forward and, at the next intersection, suddenly turned, disappearing from view.
Lu Xin's unhesitating escape from the Lu Shan Sect after releasing the ghost king precisely indicated her guilty conscience.
Lin Zitong pursued her here, but she wasn't entirely confident, as she wasn't sure if Lu Xin had any backup plans.
What if Lu Xin had accomplices in Rongcheng?
However, even with the potential dangers ahead, Lin Zitong had no intention of letting Lu Xin go.
"Weng Qianxiang said that powerful skin-changing masters, to perfectly imitate their victims, not only peel off their skin but also directly devour their souls to obtain memories. This skin-changer knows Lu Xin so well, could it be…"
As this terrifying conjecture surfaced, Lin Zitong forcefully dismissed it.
Her master, Lu Jingsheng, was already pitiful enough. If his own granddaughter were to meet with misfortune, Lin Zitong wouldn't know how to comfort the old man.
Even more frightening was that the skin-changer had obtained Lu Jingsheng's personal handwritten letter, which meant Lu Jingsheng might have already fallen into the hands of the Xin Xuan Mountain Sect.
This was precisely why Lin Zitong was determined to capture Lu Xin.
Ahead, Lu Xin, holding a whisk, moved with great speed.
Sensing Lin Zitong still close behind, Lu Xin gritted her teeth and cursed, "Damn it! What that actor said was right, no one from the Yan family is good, including the Yan family's daughter-in-law!"
There was an intersection ahead, and Lu Xin planned to create a diversion to confuse Lin Zitong's senses.
However, just as Lu Xin reached the intersection, a dark shadow suddenly charged out from the side, colliding directly with Lu Xin's waist!
"Boar's Charge!!!" Zhu Shanzhao roared.
Lu Xin, caught off guard, was sent flying by the locomotive-like charge of Zhu Shanzhao, soaring more than ten meters before crashing through a low brick wall.
"I caught that woman!" Zhu Shanzhao shouted excitedly.
Lu Xin, struggling to get up from the rubble, felt as if her spine was broken. She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and glared at Zhu Shanzhao, "A boar spirit?… No, a celestial being… Who is so idiotic as to willingly be a spirit medium for a wild boar!?"
These words dealt a massive blow to Zhu Shanzhao.
Why shouldn't a wild boar be a spirit medium?!
What makes me, a wild boar, inferior to weasels and foxes?
I'll smash you to death!
Enraged, Zhu Shanzhao ground his boar hooves fiercely on the ground and charged at Lu Xin again!
Lu Xin snorted coldly, tapped her feet lightly, and instantly leaped up.
Zhu Shanzhao missed and crashed directly into a neighboring house.
Screams erupted from within. Lu Xin took the opportunity to escape.
By the time Zhu Shanzhao emerged in a sorry state, Lu Xin had vanished.
Meanwhile, Lin Zitong, guided by the three yuan, continued her pursuit of Lu Xin. The distance between them had closed considerably, and in some narrow alleys, Lu Xin could even see Lin Zitong behind her.
"Lingering like a ghost!"
Lu Xin gritted her teeth, then let out a cold laugh.
The tighter Lin Zitong chased now, the more miserable she would be later!
Although Lu Xin was fleeing through the alleys, her destination was clear.
Junma Lane!
This was an alley scheduled for demolition. The residents were all retired soldiers who had moved out a month ago.
Lu Xin rushed into the deserted alley and suddenly stopped.
Lin Zitong followed closely, appearing at the other end of the alley the next second.
"Surrender now!" Lin Zitong said coldly, holding her red divine umbrella. "Tell me the whereabouts of Sect Leader Lu Jing and my master, and I can spare your life!"
"Spare my life?"
Lu Xin burst into mocking laughter. "Do you really think you're someone important? Lin Zitong, you only rose to your position through your connections. If you had come to the Lu Shan Sect alone today, I would have found a thousand ways to humiliate you, making you wish you were dead but unable to die!"
Lu Xin's mockery had no effect on Lin Zitong. Lin Zitong simply said, "I took your ghost king."
"...Shut up!" Lu Xin roared.
A casually spoken sentence instantly broke through Lu Xin's defenses.
After all, the art of controlling ghosts was also something she prided herself on, and that red-clad fierce ghost was a ghost king she had personally nurtured. Yet, it had so easily followed Lin Zitong.
To say Lu Xin didn't care would be an absolute lie.
Seeing Lu Xin's intense anger, Lin Zitong smiled slightly and then began to walk towards Lu Xin.
As Lin Zitong reached the middle of the alley, she suddenly sensed something was wrong.
At some point, the alley had become filled with Yin energy.
There were also lurking ghosts!
Lin Zitong suddenly looked up and saw that the top of the alley was covered by a surge of Yin energy, almost forming dark clouds, preventing even sunlight from penetrating the alley.
From the walls on both sides of the alley, dozens of heads, the size of basketballs, emerged in neat rows – all of them ghost infants!
These ghost infants were grotesquely deformed, with blood flowing from their seven orifices and eerie smiles on their faces. They all stared at Lin Zitong!
Looking down again, the ground of the alley was also covered with ghost infants, crawling like giant beetles, lifting their heads and smiling sinisterly at Lin Zitong!
"Mmm~~ You're pregnant~~" A shrill, thin voice came from behind Lin Zitong. "Such an intoxicating scent!"
Lin Zitong turned around and saw an old woman with white hair, stooped over and wearing a thick red cotton coat, emerging from behind a dilapidated courtyard wall.
The old woman's eyes were thin and long, like a fox's. When she smiled, her mouth was bare, without a single tooth. Her left hand held an iron hook, and her right hand held a large pair of scissors stained with blood.
"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Xi Po, you can also call me—Hai!"
As she spoke, a bright red character 'Hai' slowly materialized on the old woman's forehead…