Slaying God: I, the insane and witty god

Chapter 745: Forbidden Items Explained, Urgent Call, Mask's Disappearance Causes Concern

On the third day after the spiritual tide receded,

The forbidden object classroom on the third floor of the Demon Suppression Division's training building was filled with a faint scent of mugwort - that was the incense used by the Demon Suppression Division to suppress the residual spiritual energy of forbidden objects.

The sunlight slanted in through the screen window, and the chalk dust swirled in the beam.

Twenty or so new recruits stared at Baili Pangpang on the podium.

Pangpang was not wearing his regular clothes today. He was wearing a blue cloth shirt that had been washed so much that it looked pale. His belly was stretching the buttons so tight.

In his hand he held a black blade covered with dark red lines that looked like solidified blood.

"Everyone, listen carefully," he knocked on the podium with the butt of his knife.

"This thing is called the hilt of the Huojin Sword. The original owner is currently locked up at the bottom of the forbidden storage."

"Do you know why I singled it out for discussion?"

Li Zhenzhen in the front row raised her hand: "Because it has self-awareness?"

"You're smart."

Fatty placed the hilt of the knife on the podium, and the lines on it suddenly glowed.

"No matter how ferocious ordinary forbidden objects are, they are still dead objects."

"But this Huojin Blade is different. It can choose its own host and hide in ordinary iron for ten years, only revealing its true form when the host has murderous intentions."

"Last time we were on a mission, a young fool insisted on pulling it out, and the result was—"

He suddenly lowered his voice.

"Before I could pull out the knife, I cut my wrist first. Blood dripped onto the blade, and the veins seemed to come alive and penetrated my arm."

The recruits below gasped.

Lu Baoyou, who was sitting next to Li Zhenzhen, curled her lips and said, "That young man is too weak. If he were a truly powerful person, would he be able to be countered by the forbidden item?"

"Do you think the forbidden items are the cabbages sold in the vegetable market?"

Fatty glared at him.

"Take the Huojin Sword for example. Back then, the three God Slayers from the Demon Suppression Division worked together to seal it."

"Do you know why I only dare to lock the hilt of the sword now? The blade is still floating overseas. Who knows, it might float back with the sea fog one day—"

"Ding--"

The communicator on the podium suddenly jumped.

Fatty's words came to an abrupt halt. He bent down, picked up the communicator, glanced at the screen, and his originally smiling face suddenly darkened.

"All rise."

He shouted at the top of his voice, his hands already reaching under the podium.

"The class ended early. Put away your notes. We'll make up for it next Wednesday."

"Instructor?"

A new recruit in the back row raised his hand, "Didn't we say we were going to finish the Fujin Sword Sealing Technique?"

"I'll have An Qingyu fill in the sealing spell for you later."

Pangpang stuffed the knife handle into the wooden box. As soon as the lid was closed, a slight "click" sound was heard, which obviously triggered the soul-locking formation.

He took out a Tai Chi Bagua diagram from his arms, and the diagram suddenly glowed with golden light.

"Everyone, get out of here now. The classroom will activate the Spirit Clearing Spell in five minutes. If you come into contact with any of the forbidden objects and residual spiritual energy, you'll be in trouble."

The recruits looked at each other and packed up their things slowly.

When Li Zhenzhen was packing up her notebooks, she noticed that the tips of Pang Pang's ears were red - this was his usual problem when he was nervous.

The last time he took them for night training and encountered an evil spirit, the tips of his ears were also this red.

"What are you looking at?" Pangpang picked up the wooden box and put it in his arms.

"Have you ever seen an instructor close a class? Get out of here!"

After the last recruit reluctantly walked out of the door, Pangpang locked the classroom door, turned around and ran to the window.

Li Zhenzhen had already reached the stairs,

I heard some movement behind me, and turned around for some unknown reason - I saw the classroom window creak open.

Lin Qiye's black knife came in first, followed by his chain mail-clad shoulder.

"What are you dawdling about?"

Lin Qiye stepped into the window with one foot, and the scabbard hit the window frame.

"Headquarters urgently needs a call. The Masked Squad disappeared in Cangwu Mountain three days ago."

"Am I not packing up the forbidden items?"

Fatty stuffed the wooden box into Lin Qiye's arms, and took out a bronze mask from under the podium.

"Where's that kid Wu Hen? He's not with you?"

"It's at the back," Lin Qiye hung the wooden box on his waist.

"He said he wanted to go to the cafeteria and grab a couple of buns."

"Shun Baozi?" Pangpang almost choked on his own saliva.

"It's already this late and you're still thinking about eating?"

"He said Lingchao was so thin from hunger at that time."

Lin Qiye touched the old jade in his pocket and glanced at the stairs where Li Zhenzhen was standing.

"Hurry up, the Liuyun car is waiting at the training ground—"

"report!"

Wu Hen's voice came from the stairs.

Li Zhenzhen stepped aside and saw that he was holding a bun in his mouth and a short knife hanging at his waist, the blade still shone with a hint of blue.

"I just ran into Fang Mo in the cafeteria. She said the new recruits were watching downstairs."

"Just watch it,"

Fatty put the bronze mask on his face.

"Let these little guys see what the elite of the Demon Suppression Division are like."

Lin Qiye jumped out of the window first, and Wu Hen followed him out.

Pangpang was the last one, and he winked at Li Zhenzhen before jumping.

Li Zhenzhen quickly hid to the side, and saw three white clouds rising from under the window.

Seven figures floated up into the sky on the clouds - in addition to Lin Qiye, Wu Hen, and Pang Pang, there were also An Qingyu, Cao Yuan, Shen Qingzhu, and Jia Lan. Each of them wore a mask of a different style.

"Wow--"

The exclamations of the recruits could be heard from downstairs.

Li Zhenzhen leaned over the railing and looked down, and saw the Liuyun Car shining silver in the sunlight.

The seven figures quickly turned into small dots and disappeared into the blue sky.

"What catches your eyes?"

Lu Baoyou's voice came from behind.

"Isn't it just the ability to walk on clouds? When I become a God Slayer, I can fly myself."

"Do you think walking on clouds is an acrobatic act?" Fang Mo gave him a blank look.

"That's the Night Squad's exclusive spiritual skill. Without ten years of accumulated spiritual energy, it wouldn't be possible to condense it into a cloud."

"Last time, I heard from Deputy Captain Kong Shang that Captain Lin's Flowing Cloud Cart could withstand the claw attacks of a third-level monster—"

"A strong man doesn't need these fancy tricks." Lu Baoyou slammed the training knife into the ground.

"If I were strong enough, I could crush a monster's head with one hand. Why would I need companions or spiritual skills?"

Li Zhenzhen touched the bluestone in his pocket, and the little girl's face was vaguely visible on the stone.

She recalled the warmth of An Qingyu's palm when he dragged her underground that day.

Thinking of the blood that splashed on her shoes when Pangpang rushed over to grab the soul-nourishing bottle,

Suddenly he said, "But if Sister An hadn't pulled me back that day, I would have been choked by the blood mist."

Lu Baoyou stiffened his neck and was about to say something, but Fang Mo tugged at his sleeve: "Look at Li Zhenzhen's bluestone slab. How close is Jin Lingzi to her?"

"I heard from the instructor that cultivators who have spiritual creatures recognize their masters understand the importance of companions the most—"

Li Zhenzhen's communicator vibrated.

She opened it and saw a message from An Qingyu: [The spiritual tide has dissipated. If the little girl on the bluestone slab makes a fuss, use soul-nourishing incense for half an hour. By the way, don't learn Lu Baoyou's bad temper. Companions are more precious than anything else.]

When Li Zhenzhen looked up, the Liuyun car had already disappeared.

The wind blew her bangs up, and she heard a vague sound in the distance.

Like a fat man with a loud voice: "I caught a fire fox in Cangwu Mountain last time. Its fur was——"

The sound was carried away by the wind.

Li Zhenzhen touched the little girl on the bluestone slab and suddenly smiled.

She knew that when the Night Squad came back, they would have a lot of stories to tell.

The somersault cloud made people dizzy in the wind. Wu Hen held the last half of the bun in his mouth.

He was coughing from the wind: "Fat Master, please keep your voice down. If you keep bragging about how you caught the fire fox, I'll be thrown to Cangwu Mountain to feed the foxes."

"Hey kid," Baili Pangpang patted Wu Hen's back, and his head trembled.

"Last time at Cangwu Mountain, that fire fox had fur as red as fire. I chased it for three days and three nights—"

"Three days of chasing?"

An Qingyu folded his arms and smiled,

"I remember you were chasing me with half a bag of roasted sweet potatoes on your shoulder, taking a bite every two steps."

"Finally, the fox squatted on a rock, watching you eat, and said, 'Sir, could you take a break?'"

"Go! Go! Go,"

Fatty's ears turned red, "That was my strategy to lure the enemy!"

Lin Qiye touched the black knife at his waist and suddenly said:

"Headquarters urgently summoned you, just because Mask is missing?"

The laughter stopped abruptly.

Shen Qingzhu tucked her drooping hair behind her ears: "The Masked Squad is an A-level combat force, and the three captains are all at the peak of the second level. How could they just disappear like that?"

"Is there any movement in Cangwu Mountain recently?"

Cao Yuan stroked the bronze ring on his fingertips, which was a magic weapon passed down from his family to ward off evil.

"When I was on patrol last night, the star Tan Lang on the astronomical disk dimmed for three quarters of an hour—"

"The wolf is the master of killing,"

Jia Lan suddenly interrupted, glanced at Cao Yuan with reddened ears, then quickly lowered his head to stare at his embroidered gloves.

"Maybe... maybe it's just the weather."

"weather?"

Wu Hen threw the bun wrapper away.

"Last month, when Tan Lang was dark, didn't we kill a six-tailed demon fox in Qingqiu Mountain? Jia Lan, don't lie to yourself. You know the most about astrology—"

"We're here." Lin Qiye suddenly raised his hand.

The somersault cloud sank down with a "whoosh". When everyone stepped on the bluestone slabs of the headquarters, Wu Hen staggered two steps and almost bumped into the vermilion doorpost.

Looking up, the eaves of the Demon Suppression Division headquarters shone coldly in the sunlight.

The two guards who usually guarded the door were new faces today.

He had a poisoned soul-chasing nail on his waist, and his eyes were like knives stabbing into people.

"The atmosphere is not right today," Pangpang muttered while touching his belly.

"Old Zhang usually offers me a cigarette when he sees me."

An Qingyu sniffed: "It smells of blood."

Everyone paused.

The smell was very faint, mixed with the scent of grass after the rain, but it was like a thin needle drilling into the nostrils.

Lin Qiye pressed the hilt of the knife and pushed open the door of the commander's office first.

Zuo Qing sat behind his desk, his white shirt sleeves rolled up to his forearms, a fresh bloodstain on his wrist.

Putting a red flag on the map.

Hearing the noise, he looked up and glanced at everyone, his voice as if soaked in ice: "Sit down."

"Commander Zuo," Shen Qingzhu moved a chair and sat down, "Masked Squad—"

"The Masked Team disappeared three days ago. It was just a lead-in."

Zuo Qing placed the last flag at the location of Ningchang County.

"The real trouble is that there's a traitor within the Night's Watch."

"traitor?"

Wu Hen sat down on the windowsill and asked, "Is there anyone who is disloyal among the Night Watchmen?"

"Yesterday morning, the training camp was raided." Zuo Qing knocked on the table with his knuckles.

"Twenty-seven students and five instructors, all were given the Soul Sealing Powder."

"If the patrol hadn't just happened to pass by, the Demon Suppression Division would be short of fresh blood."

An Qingyu's pupils shrank. "Soul Sealing Powder? That stuff sells for 100,000 yuan a penny on the black market. Who can get so much?"

"What's even more amazing is,"

Zuo Qing tugged at his collar.

"Among the raiders there was a man wearing a bronze mask, and his accent was exactly like mine."

"The Masked Squad was on vacation when that traitor called pretending to be me, saying there was a Level 3 demon beast in Ningchang County and asked them to go provide support."

"So they went?" Fatty's face darkened.

"Masked Captain Chen Beichuan has worked with you for ten years, how come he can't even recognize your voice?"

"Because that phone call involved a spirit puppet." Zuo Qing took out a charred wooden sign from the drawer.

"I had someone find it in Chen Beichuan's communicator.

The words "listen to the voice" are engraved on it - it can imitate the speaker's voice, tone, and even breathing rate exactly."

The office was so quiet that you could hear your heartbeat.

Wu Hen jumped down from the windowsill and kicked the table leg: "What now? What's in Ningchang County?"

"Nothing at all."

Zuo Qing pushed the wooden sign over.

"I sent three teams to search the mountain, but we didn't even find any monster hair."

"The Masked Squad's Liuyun car is parked at the foot of the mountain. There's a half-empty bottle of water in the car, and the map is open on page three—"

"The third page is the secret passage to the back peak of Cangwu Mountain." Lin Qiye suddenly said.

Zuo Qing nodded: "They entered the secret passage."

Jia Lan clenched his gloves. "I've looked up ancient texts about that secret passage. They say it was the dungeon of the Demon Suppression Palace of the previous dynasty, where twelve great demons were imprisoned."

"But then it collapsed in an earthquake, and the entrance was buried—"

"The entrance is not buried." Zuo Qing pointed to the red circle of Ningchang County on the map.

"Someone dug it up recently."

Everyone looked at each other.

Fatty suddenly slapped his thigh and said, "So that traitor led Masked Man there to serve as a scout?"

"It's possible."

Zuo Qing stood up, the bloodstains on his shirt shone dark brown under the light.

"Now I want you to—"

"and many more."

Lin Qiye interrupted him,

"Where's Shen Changqing? Isn't he an apprentice in the Forbidden Items Library?"

"he?"

Zuo Qing pulled the corner of his mouth.

"I asked him to investigate the origins of the spirit puppet. That thing uses Southern Xinjiang Gu magic. There's a copy of 'The Record of One Hundred Puppets' in the forbidden object library. He said he'd need three days and three nights to look through it."

Wu Hen was amused: "Well, we are on the edge of a knife and licking blood, while that kid is squatting in a pile of books and eating insects."

"okay."

Zuo Qing slammed his gun on the table.

"We'll set off for Ningchang County in three hours. An Qingyu will lead Cao Yuan to investigate the entrance to the secret passage. Pang Pang and Qing Zhu will guard the perimeter. Wu Hen and I will search the mountain—"

"What about me?" Galan raised his hand.

Zuo Qing glanced at her and said, "You go with Lin Qiye. He's a fast swordsman and will protect you."

The tips of Jialan's ears turned red again, and he lowered his head and replied "Okay".

Lin Qiye touched the black knife at his waist without saying a word, but his gaze stayed on Galanfa for no more than two seconds.

"correct,"

Zuo Qing suddenly remembered something and threw a bag out of the drawer.

"Wu Hen, the old man Wang from the cafeteria is chasing me to pay for the buns you stole this morning."

Wu Hen took the bag, which contained three greasy meat buns, still steaming.

He scratched his head and said, "Okay, when I come back from Ningchang County, I'll carry two bags of flour for him to make amends."

The wind outside the window blew a few sycamore leaves onto the glass.

Lin Qiye walked to the window and looked at the eaves of the forbidden warehouse in the distance.

There was a light still on there - Shen Changqing was probably still flipping through the book.

He touched the old jade in his pocket and suddenly felt that the stuffy atmosphere before the rain was more uncomfortable than the bloody mouth of a monster.

"Gather at the training ground in three hours."

Zuo Qing's voice brought people back to reality.

"Let's go get ready."

Everyone filed out.

Wu Hen took a bite of the meat bun and said vaguely, "Fat Master, what could be in that secret passage? Could it be—"

"Shut up."

Lin Qiye slammed the door and said, "Stop being such a pessimist."

The voice-controlled lights in the corridor lit up one after another, stretching their shadows very long.

No one noticed that in the trash can in Zuo Qing's office, there was half a piece of burnt paper.

Written crookedly on it were a few words: "Be careful... Red Moon..."