Chapter 324: Let's Dance

The devil-subduing staff harshly scraped along the ground. As Huai Jing walked forward, the shadow dwellers around him backed away and assumed a formation that loosely surrounded him.

The middle-aged man in the lead drew a short knife from his sleeve. A hint of provocation flickered in his eyes.

"Cultivator of the Hua Republic, you are in Sakura Island territory. Stop this dangerous behavior right now! This is your final warning!"

He sounded stern and righteous, and he looked full of justice. Under his gray robe, however, he had katanas and

kunai

ready to be drawn. Moreover, his eyes burned with bloodlust that was hard to hold back. They were like vipers that had waited too long for prey and were ready to strike at the perfect moment.

"

Heh.

" The handsome monk smiled faintly and stopped at the edge of the street. Just as everyone thought he intended to offer a few polite lines, he lifted the devil-subduing staff and swung it at the middle-aged man.

At rest, he was like a Buddha in an ancient temple. In motion, he was like a dragon descending with roaring lightning!

The atmosphere had already been as tense as a drawn bowstring. Although Huai Jing had taken the initiative, the flat-topped middle-aged man was quick to retreat. He reversed his grip on the short knife in his left hand and flicked out over ten beams of dark light straight at Huai Jing with his right hand.

Around them, the ninjas threw

kunai

, talismans, and poison. They then sprang at Huai Jing with explosive speed.

With a resounding crash, the devil-subduing staff struck the middle-aged man's

ninjatō,

pushing him backward and forcing his upper body to bend. He skidded rapidly across the ground in an effort to dissipate the impact.

A dense swarm of dark light shot through the air. Half the

kunai

exploded around Huai Jing, releasing clouds of poisonous mist. Using the mist as cover, the ghostlike ninjas struck almost at the same time.

"

Ha!

" Huai Jing shouted, and Buddhist light surged around him.

Metallic clacks rang in rapid bursts. The enemy's assault came like a sudden storm. From outside, one could only see silhouettes darting in and out to attack Huai Jing. Nevertheless, Wang Sheng and the others, who were still at the hotel entrance, showed no interest in helping him.

Fwoosh!

Huai Jing deeply and heavily cut through the air with his devil-subduing staff. Wreathed in Buddhist light, his weapon pierced through the sickly green poison mist. A shadow dweller then lunged, taking the crushing blow full on the chest as if deliberately throwing his life at it. The ninja let out a strangled scream while being hurled far across the pavement.

Afterward, Huai Jing swung his staff slowly in an arc, cutting the poisonous mist almost cleanly in half.

Boom!

He knocked away another shadow dweller. His attacks looked heavy and slow, yet they seemed specifically made to counter the fast-moving shadow dwellers. In reality, his every strike was perfectly calculated against his opponent's movements, giving them no chance to dodge.

Rather than swinging weakly a thousand times, he found it better to use his full strength and cripple the enemy in a single blow. Preventing any breach of his defense was the core of his training, and finishing his opponent in one strike was his rule in combat.

Nevertheless, Huai Jing held back. After all, they were on Sakura Island; he had to consider how the situation could unfold. Those he had knocked away were seriously hurt, but whether they could still cultivate in the future was another matter.

"

Hmph!

"

The enemy leader rushed back from more than ten meters away, clearly hoping to take the brunt himself and hold Huai Jing back. He doubled back several times mid-charge, leaving afterimages in his tracks. The moment he rushed into the poison cloud, the devil-subduing staff leveled forward and dropped onto his chest. Huai Jing had been waiting for him.

Another clash of weapons rang out. The leader staggered and fell back over ten meters. As he retreated, Huai Jing unhurriedly swung his staff in wide arcs and struck diagonally. A shadow dweller was sent flying, and another was pummeled to the ground so hard that he broke through the cement slabs.

"Use the formation! Kill him!" the leader furiously roared.

The ninjas withdrew in unison. Instead of chasing them, Huai Jing stood still in the poison cloud and tapped the butt of his staff lightly on the ground.

Clang!

A wave of Buddhist light spread out, and the poison around him instantly dispersed!

"

Namo Amitabha...

" Huai Jing raised his left hand in front of his chest. "If you still choose to be stubborn, I shall stop holding back."

At the hotel doors, Shi Qianzhang stepped up and, with great care, interpreted Huai Jing's words into the Sakura Island's language. "Listen up, you idiots! The Buddhist master says that your escape arts are only scraps stolen from the Hua Republic's Daoist arts. Stop embarrassing yourselves and get lost already!"

Wang Sheng shot him a glare. The length and intonation of the interpretation were nothing like what the monk had said.

Shi Qianzhang chuckled and took out over ten black talismans. "Brother Sheng, how do we handle these guys?"

"However you want," Wang Sheng replied, then looked at the end of the street.

A barricade of police cars had blocked a dark mass of armored vehicles. It seemed there were divisions within Sakura Island. The fact that the police could hold off the Dami troops was somewhat unexpected.

Ahead, the shadow dwellers lined up in a Five Elements formation. They crossed and shifted, unleashing metal, wood, water, fire, and earth arts in turn. Though their arts looked impressive, they weren't that strong.

Huai Jing shook his head and sighed. "Why cling to delusion?"

He leveled the devil-subduing staff and finally lunged forward.

Before an angry arhat, even dragons and tigers would be subdued!

***

"Captain! It's Akiu Masayo. I need you to hear me out about the situation and the consequences of every option we have! I won't take up much of your time; I swear I'll keep it brief! We shouldn't end the night with an attack on the Hua Republic's cultivators! I—"

Beep!

The call was cut off so fast that Akiu Masayo was caught off guard. His expression fell flat. He scrolled through his contacts, only to realize that he had reached the very end of the list.

Sirens wailed in the distance. Akiu Masayo stood up and ran for the broken windows at the end of the corridor. Following the sound, he saw the police of Sakura Island blocking the armored convoy. He deeply sighed in relief, but he didn't stop. He created a group chat with trusted subordinates and friends to mobilize them.

A tremor rose from below. Looking down, he saw thick Buddhist light. Several figures had already been sent flying out of it.

He cursed, sprinted for the elevator, and fished out his short knife and

kunai

. His gaze faltered for a moment. He put the weapons back, steadied his breathing, and forced himself to calm down.

"You can do it. You can do it. Stop them. Protect your country. You've got this!"

Ding!

The elevator doors opened, and Akiu Masayo rushed in. As it descended floor by floor, he wished he could strap jet thrusters onto it. Soon, his steady heart tensed up once more. He kept telling himself that he shouldn't collapse, no matter the situation.

I have to endure even if my teacher and all of our other experts are killed. I can't let that young cultivator vent his anger on the city! I can't break down now. Absolutely not.

Ding!

The elevator had reached the ground floor. Before the doors even opened a crack, Akiu Masayo pried them wide open and pushed his way into the empty hotel lobby. It seemed the staff had taken shelter due to the battle.

He had only taken two steps when he heard music from beyond the glass doors, along with a familiar and rather hateful voice issuing instructions to the beat in the Sakura language.

"Yes, follow the rhythm. Five, six, seven, eight, follow my moves... Keep your waist loose. Move gently. There we go! That is it! You're doing great, baby! You there, Uncle! Don't be shy. Twist that healthy, sexy belly. Yes, move it. Come on, come on!"

Akiu Masayo took two more steps and then looked up, following the voice. His legs gave out, dropping him to his knees. His hands shook wildly as he slapped himself twice across the face.

What am I seeing?!

On the drop-off platform in front of the hotel, over a dozen ninjas swayed with the music in perfect formation. Among them was his venerable teacher, who moved in rhythm with surprising grace.

Middle-rank and upper-rank shadow dwellers, trained killers with ice-cold discipline, are now dancing in unison. They're... uncannily graceful...

The sight was so unbearable and offensive that Akiu Masayo nearly wished to gouge his eyes out.

In Sakura Island's language, someone once again instructed, "That's right, move your body! How can fighting compare to dancing? Dancing is love, dancing is peace! I proudly declare that you are only one cheap speaker set away from becoming aunties of the Hua Republic's square dances! Come on, one more time! Five, six, seven, eight! Do not rush the beat! Mind your expressions!"

Soon, Akiu Masayo noticed something odd. Each dancer had a black, faintly glowing talisman strapped to them. They were binding the ninjas and forcing them to move.

Orchestrating this spectacle in front of them all was the man reviled across Sakura Island as an enemy of the nation: Shi Qianzhang, cultivator of the Hua Republic.

That damn bastard! How dare he humiliate them!

Clenching his teeth, Akiu Masayo staggered to his feet and stormed toward the glass doors. He drew in a breath to unleash a furious roar, but as he reached the entrance, he noticed three people standing quietly to the side, gazing into the distance.

Among them was a young cultivator in casual clothes. He had a sword case strapped to his back.

The rage in Akiu Masayo's chest was instantly extinguished. He lowered his head and pushed through the glass doors. Slipping past the line of dancing cultivators, he stood behind Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan.

He quickly realized that the Sakura Island cultivators were unconscious; they moved only under the talismans' compulsion. Their wounds varied, some light, some grievous. One looked as though he'd collapse and die mid-dance.

Akiu Masayo also saw Huai Jing holding a mooncake-shaped phone, calmly recording the entire scene. His mouth twitched. He could already imagine the uproar the video would cause if released online. As the saying in the Hua Republic went: killing was one thing, but humiliation of this sort was excessive beyond all measure.

At that moment, though, this humiliation wasn't his main concern. He lowered his head again. "Esteemed ones, please follow me. I will take you to your new accommodations."

Wang Sheng raised his chin slightly. "We don't want to cause trouble, but to protect our scientists, we have to eliminate threats."

Akiu Masayo followed his gaze. At the end of the street, the line of police cars that had blocked the armored convoy was slowly retreating.

His face turned deathly pale.