I am a swordsman in a strange city

Chapter 76 Demon-Slaying Sword Drawing Style
Darkness is always quiet and gloomy.

But as Pei Ju stepped inside, the darkness suddenly erupted into chaos, instantly boiling over.

Pei Ju felt that countless animals had appeared in the darkness, and all sorts of dark creatures appeared in his mind.

No one can say for sure what kind of magic the people in the Underground Club possess.

However, Pei Ju had dealt with them a few times and had some insights.

Among them are abilities to drive away rats, control corpses, and a rat-like squeal. This ability makes people's scalps tingle and feel uneasy. If someone is casting a spell, it might interrupt the spell.

This is what Pei Ju learned from that 'sanitation worker' that night.

Later, after he returned home, he was summoned by someone in his sleep. Later still, in his prison cell, he was prompted by a voice that stirred his emotions and led him to despair.

There are five abilities in total, and Pei Ju is now sensing a new one. A commotion has arisen in the darkness, and the commotion makes his senses seem to see the dark creatures he has imagined.

They appeared all around and kept approaching, the commotion turning into countless low growls and strange cries.

A swarm of large rats, as big as cats, with red eyes.

The gray-spotted lynx bared its sharp teeth, staring at its neck, while another tomb guardian beast approached step by step from the darkness.

Even more numerous are those with tails, resembling monkeys, yet completely hairless, with monkey-like faces, claws like eagles, and venomous snakes crawling on the ground. They stand upright, and the patterns below their necks are actually human faces.

All sorts of strange things crawled out of the darkness. They seemed to come from the depths of some underground cave, or more like they were burrowing out from the depths of Pei Ju's mind, trying to devour his self-awareness.

Pei Ju turned sideways, took a step, landed on the stake, and bowed.

He held the sword in his left hand, pressing it against his waist, and gripped the hilt with his right hand.

His eyes were already closed.

The moment he closed his eyes, his heart sank into the depths of his soul.

"Qiang!"

The sword was drawn, and a cold light slashed through the darkness in front of Pei Ju, as if the darkness had been torn apart.

This sword strike originates from the depths of his heart, slaying both the demons within himself and breaking through external laws.

Many spells evoke thoughts in people's minds, giving rise to endless magic that permeates the very marrow, eventually turning illusion into reality, gnawing at the bones and sucking the marrow, devouring the soul, and causing people to decay.

Pei Ju, however, had already developed a new understanding of the Ghost-Slaying Sword Technique. He didn't know if his father had the intention of killing the ghost in his heart when he summarized this sword technique. Perhaps he did, perhaps he didn't, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that his sword strike originated from his heart, killing both the ghost in his heart and the ghost outside.

One sword shatters the ghost realm.

The dark alley fell silent instantly; the monsters in the darkness vanished, and all illusions were annihilated by a single sword strike.

Pei Ju stood up and said towards the depths of the dark alley, "You've come to see me time and time again. Now that I'm here, do you have something to say?"

From the darkness, the voice that had previously cursed him spoke with shock and disbelief: "You, what kind of ability is this? What kind of magic is this?"

Pei Ju couldn't help but think of those five years when, when his emotions were running high and he was having an attack, his senior sister would take him to deep caves in the mountains and some eerie, abandoned ancient buildings. These places seemed to have no idea how deep they were, what strange creatures might lurk in the darkness, and what terrifying things he could imagine.

They practiced the Demon-Slaying Sword Technique there.

My senior sister said that the essence of the Ghost-Slaying Sword Technique is not about killing external ghosts, but about killing the ghosts in your own heart. If you can kill until you are no longer afraid in the face of darkness, then you have truly mastered this sword technique.

Every so often, he had to face the terrifying, deep, and unknown darkness, and each session would last for many days.

Until he realized that killing ghosts was actually killing the ghosts in his own heart, and that if he could kill the ghosts in his heart, then killing the ghosts outside himself would become easier.

Killing ghosts is also killing fear, killing delusions, and killing mental obstacles.

My senior sister said that only by removing the evil spirits attached to one's mind can one achieve a clear mind and reflect upon the void.

“This is the Demon-Slaying Sword-Drawing Style,” Pei Ju said, taking a step forward. “You demons and monsters hiding in the darkness are getting a bit annoying.”

"You've become arrogant after acquiring just one sword technique. Darkness can bury everything. We want to kill you not only because you ruined our plans that night, but also because your name appeared in the depths of the Dark Cave. No one has ever lived for more than three years after being remembered by the Dark Cave. Today we can let you go back, but you will eventually join us on a pilgrimage to the deepest part of the Dark Cave."

The sound came from the darkness, somewhat elusive, making it impossible to pinpoint its origin.

"How inexplicable." Pei Ju finished speaking coldly, and with a back-sword flourish, he turned his hand and slashed through the air. The sword made a soft humming sound. His sword was like a veil being cut through the darkness, and then several figures appeared in his eyes.

They were standing in the corner of the alley, clinging to the alley wall, and half of their bodies were hidden in the soil.

There was one person at the front and one at the back of the alley, one person clinging to each side of the wall, and two people hiding underground.

Six people in total.

At this moment, everything was revealed to Pei Ju.

He looked at these people and none of them seemed normal. They were all filthy, as if they had been lying on the ground for who knows how long, and they were covered in dirt and smelled of decay.

Pei Ju didn't speak. After he slashed through the dark veil that covered them with his sword, they were suddenly exposed to the sunlight and became somewhat panicked.

But what alarmed them even more was the flash of sword light.

Pei Ju, who had just been standing there, suddenly took a step forward, and the sword light pierced a bright white line in the darkness. The white line fell downward, like a falling white meteor. It was the person closest to him, half of his body underground, trying to sneak up from underground and drag Pei Ju into the ground.

However, the person underground, facing the falling sword light, tried to burrow back into the ground, only to find that he was too slow. He had only sunk a little bit when a sword pierced his brow, and his world was shattered by the sword light.

The person underground behind Pei Ju wanted to burrow underground to hide, but the person standing at the end of the alley suddenly spoke a series of strange words.

The words sounded like a niche dialect, completely incomprehensible, yet also like a special language, possessing a certain magic.

The others were somewhat alarmed when they saw Pei Ju kill someone with a single step, but their alarm vanished immediately after he spoke, and they became fierce all at once.

The two people hanging on the wall suddenly raised their hands and pointed at Pei Ju, and the darkness around Pei Ju seemed to turn into an invisible swamp.

He had experienced this feeling before, five years ago in the world of that temple.

This time, however, the two of them were using the ability together, and he felt himself rapidly sinking into the depths of darkness.

However, even though two people were using this ability on him this time, he didn't feel it as strongly as he had back then.

He sheathed his sword, then swung it outwards like two arms, instantly dispelling the feeling of being bound and plunged into darkness. However, at that moment, a hand on the ground grabbed his ankle.

He thrust his sword into the ground, and blood gushed out quickly from the wound.

The two people hanging on the wall panicked again, but Pei Ju had already moved. He leaped onto the left wall, his sword slicing through the person on the wall, sending him crashing to the ground. Then, he pushed off the wall and leaped towards the right wall, his body as swift as a wild goose.

The person on the wall crawled swiftly along the wall using both hands and feet, while Pei Ju also ran along the wall. In just a few steps, he caught up with him and plunged his sword into the back of the neck. The person immediately screamed and fell off the wall.

He didn't stop, but instead lunged towards the person who had been standing deep in the alley.

Soaring through the air like a gliding goose, he pierced half a narrow alley with a single sword strike. However, the person standing there suddenly seemed to go mad, leaping up to meet the sword light piercing from the sky.

The moment that person looked up, Pei Ju knew that it was not a person, but a hairy zombie.

The zombie let out a roar and lunged into the sky, but the descending sword light suddenly became faster, changed course, and became more agile, bypassing the zombie's hands and stabbing at its brow. Meanwhile, the zombie nimbly twisted and turned in mid-air to avoid the zombie's hands.

Pei Ju landed, his sword already sheathed, while the zombie behind him collapsed to the ground.

He turned back to look at the alley entrance, where the person who had been standing was gone. He realized that he had been deceived after all. The person inside was fake, a zombie controlled by the other party, while the real person was standing at the alley entrance.

With one stride, he climbed several steps along the wall, reaching the rooftop at the edge of the alley.

Looking down from here, it's still an urban village surrounded by high-rise buildings. Some of these buildings even have windows letting in light, making it seem like a dark world with a window to the light, allowing outsiders to peek inside.

He took out his phone and dialed Jin Fengyue's number.

Not long after, an owl flew down from the sky. As the owl landed on the roof opposite where Pei Ju was, a cloud of smoke burst from its body, and a person landed on the roof beam within the smoke.

The man was dressed in clothes that looked like they were woven from bird feathers. He was barefoot with long toes that hooked onto the roof. His eyes were like those of an owl, staring at Pei Ju.

Pei Ju recognized him. This person was actually the night patrol owl that appeared when he and Ye Youruo were attacked all those years ago. He was still patrolling all night.

He always arrived late, and I don't know if he was sleeping somewhere.

"Are you Pei Ju?" the man who was actually an owl asked.

Pei Ju nodded slightly.

"Have I seen you before?" the man who was actually an owl asked again.

Pei Ju nodded again.

"Jin Fengyue notified me to come. My name is Liu Xiangyu. You can notify me directly in the future. That way, there will be no need for a middleman to relay messages, and I will not be given a low score in the assessment."

Pei Ju didn't know what criteria were used to evaluate him, or perhaps it was because he didn't foresee some events during his night patrol that his evaluation was low.

“Okay.” Under normal circumstances, although Pei Ju was less talkative, he was never one to make things difficult for others.

Just then, Liu Xiangyu suddenly let out a soft "Eh" and leaped down into another alley. He spread his arms and hooked his feet as he jumped down, just like a bird. A gust of wind rose around him, lifting him up.

In the wind, he slid down to the door of a house and peered into the house through the crack in the door.

Pei Ju leaped from one rooftop to another, landing in the alley.

Liu Xiangyu immediately said, "I was the one who discovered the situation here first."

“Hmm.” Pei Ju nodded. The other party laughed and said, “Haha, don’t blame me for being too sensitive. You don’t know, five years ago, a murder occurred in the area I was patrolling at night, and I failed to discover it in time. I was punished by my superiors, and I’m still trying to make amends.”

Pei Ju didn't know if he was referring to the time that happened between him and Ye Youruo.

After he finished speaking, without waiting for Pei Ju's reply, he somehow managed to unlock the door from the inside by fiddled with it a few times. He pushed the door open, but then quickly dodged backward, clearly to prevent any unexpected danger from inside.

At this moment, Pei Ju also heard what sounded like something coming from inside.

The voice came faintly from the darkness.

It sounded like teeth grinding; there was no light in the darkness.

Suddenly, Liu Xiangyu raised his hand to his forehead, his fingers slowly clenching, while he murmured, "The light is in my hand, the light is in my hand, the light is in my hand."

Just as he was about to clench his fist, he suddenly exerted force and gripped it tightly. Pei Ju then saw light shining through his fingers.

In that instant, he threw it into the room like a stone or a bomb. A ball of light flew out of his hand and exploded inside the room.

The light was silent, yet dazzling and blinding, especially in the darkness, even with one's head turned to the side.

The light flashed briefly but did not dissipate; instead, it filled the entire room. The two people entered one after the other, and what came into Pei Ju's eyes were four large holes in the ground.

The cave was surrounded by piles of earth, and Pei Ju noticed that the cave itself was filled with a dark and eerie atmosphere.

In the middle of the cave, near the back, you could vaguely see a person huddled up, trembling all over.

After seeing these circumstances clearly, Pei Ju also clearly felt that apart from a mysterious aura, there was nothing else.

At this moment, Liu Xiangyu stepped forward, bent down, and grabbed the person in the cave.

He actually lifted this person up with just one hand.

Pei Ju saw her; she was a thin woman with messy hair and clothes covered in dirt.

"Look what I found, a little ground squirrel! I've done a great job! I'm sure this is the ground squirrels' communication center here."

Liu Xiangyu said happily, while Pei Ju watched this scene and he could clearly see the woman's teeth chattering, and the clicking sound was the sound of her teeth hitting each other.

"Why do you think they had to ambush me in this area?" Pei Ju suddenly asked.

"Who knows? These gophers are all a bit crazy. Sometimes they're even more timid than mice, and other times they seem to have a brain fart and do some weird things," Liu Xiangyu said happily.

Pei Ju turned around and saw some notes in one of the holes. He picked them up and read them. One of the paper cranes had the words "I want to kill you" written on it, and he couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

He picked up the other slips of paper and looked at them. Most of the slips of paper contained sentences that sounded like those written by a first-grade elementary school student. However, one of them gave him a strange feeling.

"Those who like to look in the mirror say they need to find a clean person to experiment on..."

Pei Ju pondered for a moment, then suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He remembered something, or rather, he remembered a person, or perhaps it wasn't just one person.

In Pei Clan's Demon-Slaying Sword Hall, he once had the feeling of being spied on. Later, when he was on the second floor, he saw someone peeking at him from outside. Although he could only see the eyebrows and eyes, he had a strange feeling that was both familiar and unfamiliar.

Now he remembered that familiar yet strange feeling—it was seeing himself, and specifically, seeing himself five years ago.

(End of this chapter)