Although Yang An had braced himself, he was still incredibly nervous.
Tales of Demon Fiends were deeply etched into his predecessor's memories. When rumors of something so terrifying spread, it didn't matter if they were exaggerated—the moment of truth would make anyone as tense as he was now.
On high alert, Yang An pulled the small knife from under his pillow and held it protectively in front of him, his eyes fixed on the door without blinking.
He imagined all the ways the Demon Fiend outside might get in and how he should react. In an instant, his mind was a mess of chaotic thoughts.
Then, in the next moment, the crimson flame in the bowl on the table rippled silently.
Immediately after, right before Yang An's eyes, the bolted door slowly creaked open.
The bolt, as if controlled by an invisible hand, slid free and clattered to the floor. The door swung wide open.
Yang An shot up from the bed, his gaze locked on the doorway, only to be startled by what he saw.
In the deep darkness of the night, there was nothing outside the door. Absolutely nothing!
But before he could make another move, the crimson light from the bowl suddenly flared, bathing the entire room in a brilliant radiance.
It was then that Yang An's pupils constricted.
A distorted figure suddenly appeared in the once-empty doorway, its form seemingly revealed by the crimson light.
The Demon Fiend was dressed in gray-white Monk's robes. Its body was stooped and contorted, with limbs of varying thickness, each twisted at an unnatural angle.
On its bald head, there was no mouth or nose—only two hollow, pitch-black eye sockets that seemed to be staring straight at Yang An.
It was as if the creature was also surprised that Yang An could see it.
Separated by about ten feet, they stared at each other, both stunned for a moment.
This was the first time Yang An had ever seen what a real Demon Fiend looked like.
But upon seeing the Demon Fiend's true appearance, the first emotion that welled up inside him wasn't fear or terror, but... astonishment!
Because the attire this Demon Fiend wore was identical to that of the Monks from White Buddha Temple!
Even its head was just as bald, without a single strand of hair.
He had just returned from White Buddha Temple in disappointment earlier that day, so the memory of those greedy bald-heads was still fresh in his mind.
In an instant, Yang An snapped to his senses as a terrible thought struck him.
'White Buddha Temple... a Demon Fiend...'
'The Monks of White Buddha Temple are Demon Fiends?!'
It seemed he had inadvertently stumbled upon the truth behind the appearance of Demon Fiends in Jiunan Town.
Just then, the Monk-like Demon Fiend stepped into the room, plunging into the crimson light.
A blood-curdling shriek immediately filled the air.
The entire room was bathed in the crimson glow, which naturally fell upon the Demon Fiend's body.
Instantly, countless red spots began to appear on the Demon Fiend's body. They looked like patches of flesh seared translucent-red by intense heat, appearing one after another until they covered more than half of its form.
Yang An had no idea how the Demon Fiend could scream without a mouth or nose, but he immediately realized this was the repellent effect of the Lighting Technique at work.
He hadn't expected the effect to be so immediate and so powerful.
The Demon Fiend clearly hadn't anticipated such intense agony upon entering. It had only been in the room for a mere moment before it turned without a second thought and charged back outside.
Wreathed in a scorching red glow, the Demon Fiend's figure shot out of the house and vanished into the night in the blink of an eye, leaving no trace.
From the Demon Fiend's appearance to its frantic escape, the entire ordeal was over in a matter of moments.
Yang An was still standing on the bed, clutching the knife defensively, completely blindsided by this outcome.
Once the Demon Fiend was completely gone and the profound darkness had reclaimed the world outside, he jumped off the bed, scrambled over to shut the door, and picked up the fallen bolt to slide it back into place.
After securing the door, Yang An finally let out a sigh of relief, an inexplicable excitement surging through him.
He never imagined the Lighting Technique would be so effective; it had completely exceeded his expectations.
So this was what "repelling Demon Fiends" meant. It was so simple and brutal.
If that Demon Fiend had lingered for even another moment or two, it would have likely been incinerated on the spot by the flames erupting from within its body, turning to black ash.
'Is this Immortal Magic?'
'Powerful! So incredibly powerful!'
Having witnessed the power of the Lighting Technique, Yang An finally let out a long breath. The suffocating pressure that had been weighing on him for the past few days dissipated in an instant.
This was the confidence that came with having power.
His gaze fell upon the bowl of blood on the table. After the initial excitement, he had to consider what to do next.
Although the Lighting Technique was powerful and its effects immediate, its consumption was also immense.
The already scarce supply of blood was now nearly gone. It had been consumed rapidly when its power flared to repel the Demon Fiend, and the little that remained would not be enough to handle another one.
'What if that Demon Fiend comes back? This little bit of blood definitely won't be enough.'
'Even worse, what if there's more than one Demon Fiend in Jiunan Town?'
Yang An's heart sank. 'This is bad,' he thought grimly.
Seeing the Demon Fiend's true form had instantly made him think of White Buddha Temple. If the Demon Fiends were truly connected to the temple, then he absolutely could not stay in Jiunan Town any longer.
'It looks like the only option is to find a way to survive the night. As soon as the sun rises, I have to leave this dangerous place.'
「Meanwhile, on a rooftop somewhere outside the house.」
The brother-and-sister pair, Pan Shi and Pan Yu, had been waiting quietly for the Demon Fiend below to finish its business so they could leave quickly.
But unexpectedly, a brilliant red light erupted from the house below, followed by a blood-curdling scream. The Demon Fiend that had just entered fled in an instant, its body looking as if it were on fire.
"Senior Brother, what's happening?"
With a blood-streaked single eye resting on her forehead, a stunned Pan Yu watched the scene below before turning to Pan Shi beside her.
Pan Shi's expression was just as shocked.
He had assumed the Demon Fiend would quickly deal with the person in the house and then leave.
But the outcome was completely different from what he had imagined.
The Demon Fiend... had actually fled!
'Why did the Demon Fiend show signs of being burned as it fled? And what was that red light in the room?'
It had all happened too suddenly.
Faced with his junior sister Pan Yu's question, Pan Shi mulled it over for a moment before an answer came to him.
"It seems I misjudged. The person in that house is a fellow practitioner!"
His reasoning was simple. In all of Jiunan Town, not a single resident dared to make a sound at night for fear of attracting a Demon Fiend. Yet this house alone was lit, its light shining like a firefly in the darkness, drawing all the attention.
Previously, Pan Shi had thought the person in the house was a fool, that such behavior was no different from a death wish.
Now he realized it was all a setup.
The man was fishing, just waiting for a Demon Fiend to appear!