Chapter 28 says it well

  Zhang Lingsheng walked around the village and came back, although he was now completely on Wang Zixinyu's side, but the inn was still his responsibility, in case something irreparable happened, he would have no way to explain it to his superiors. "Just a beating will do," he said to himself, "that little kid is still useful."

  With this idea, Zhang Lingsheng's mood was quite relaxed, and when he greeted the villagers, he was more affectionate than usual. When he returned to the inn, he found that the door was tightly closed, and he knew that things inside had not ended yet. In order to let Wang Zixintao have a good time, he waited for a while longer. Then, his voice was a bit abnormal, with faint explosive sounds and screams, as if many people were fighting at the same time.

  Zhang Lingsheng felt a slight unease, perked up his ears to listen carefully. He had opened the seven apertures after all and needed exceptional hearing at times. Upon listening, he indeed detected something unusual. Two steps later, he sprang up the stairs, pushed open the door, and was shocked by what he saw in an instant. "My heavens!"

  Twenty or so children were fighting in the courtyard, shouting, punching, kicking, biting and scratching, using every trick in the book. They looked like two gangs of monkeys fighting over territory. In the midst of the chaos, Wang Zixin was trampled somewhere, while others hid in the surrounding houses, peeking out through the cracks in the doors.

  "Stop!" Zhang Ling shouted angrily, rushing into the crowd to separate the entangled children. Many of the kids were already fired up, their bodies agile and quick, and they were now fighting with abandon, ignoring all relationships. Zhang Ling shouted and pulled them apart, finally ending the melee after taking a few punches himself.

  One thing that surprised Zhang Ling was that although Xin Yutao and Mu Xingqiu were competing, the ones who fought the most fiercely on the scene were actually Wang Zi and Shen Hao.

  Shen Hao had completely transformed into a different person, his narrow eyes staring like bronze bells, with bloodshot eyes, the twelve-year-old boy had a ferocious appearance like a tiger, his whole body tense like a bowstring, ready to pounce at any moment. Zhang Lingsheng had to hold onto his arm tightly to prevent him from making another move. Wang Zixin Yutao also changed his expression, his clothes were tattered, his hair was disheveled, the gemstone-encrusted forehead ornament was nowhere to be seen, his face was a mess of bruises and burns, with red being blood and black seemingly charred by fire.

  "What's going on here?" Zhang Lingsheng had known beforehand that Xin Youtao had a winning move, but he hadn't expected it to be the Fire Burning Technique.

  Xin Youtao tried to put on a fearless appearance, but he was beaten by Shen Hua until he was dizzy and had no chance to release another fireball. Zhang Lingsheng arrived just in time to save his life. Wang's whole body was trembling, and for a while, he couldn't even speak. He didn't faint on the spot, which was already quite impressive.

  The other kids on the scene were divided into two groups, with more than a dozen in Xinyu Tao's group and nine teenagers from Yelin Town in the other, including Fangfang, who had rosy cheeks, was panting heavily, but looked as determined as Mr. Qin lecturing.

  Xiao Qiu separated from the fight with a sturdy young man, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his hand, and stood at the forefront of the Wild Forest Town's youths.

  "What's going on?" Zhang Lingsheng asked again, his voice becoming stern. "Is there still some discipline? This is Pangshan, you can't be so presumptuous! Xin Youtao, you speak first."

  "He......" Shen Hao just spat out a word and was stopped by Zhang Lingsheng, "It's not your turn yet, let's see how you explain it to your uncle later."

  "I've cut ties with my uncle!" Shen Hao shouted loudly.

  Zhang Lingsheng glared at him and turned to look at Xin Yutao.

  "They... they... " Xin Youtao was still in shock, swallowed his saliva, took two steps back, and calmed down a bit before continuing to speak. "They bullied me with their numbers, nine against one. My friend came up to help."

  "That's not right!" Shen Hao loudly refuted, he had endured for too long and suddenly burst out, already reaching the point of disregarding everything, even Zhang Lingsheng couldn't calm him down, "It was them who bullied Xia Qiu because they outnumbered her, I came to help..."

  "I will investigate this matter clearly." Zhang Lingshen looked at Xia Qiu with a dark face, "If either side harbors hatred and waits for an opportunity to retaliate, I will report it to Yangshen Peak and let the elders know what kind of people you are!"

  Zhang Lingsheng used Yangshen Peak as a threat, and it was indeed effective. Shen Hao didn't make a sound anymore, but the vicious intent on his face still lingered, staring fiercely at Xin Youtao.

  Xiao Qiu stepped forward, "The ones fighting are me and Xin Youtao, it has nothing to do with others, they came up to stop the fight."

  This statement is only partially correct. Firstly, Xin Yutao and his gang were the ones who started the fight. Secondly, the young people of Ye Lin Town are not all the same, Er Liang Shen Xiuwei was one of the earliest participants in the war, and he himself was beaten until his nose was blue and his face was swollen. Others started by trying to stop the fight, but were eventually drawn into the battle.

  "I can't be bothered with so much." Zhang Lingsheng was also furious, "I've been in the temple for ten years, which batch of new disciples wasn't sent to Yangshen Peak by me? And I've never seen children as disobedient as you, no way, I must..."

  Zhang Lingsheng was about to take out the Ling Peak's teachings to intimidate the young men of Ye Lin Town, when Erliang Shen You jumped out and pointed at Xin Youtao, saying: "Then let's tell the masters about his misuse of magic."

  Zhang Lingsheng was slightly stunned, he didn't expect Shen Xiuyi to know this rule as well.

  Er Lang stirred up the wound, gritting his teeth in pain, "Don't think we don't know that in Jinghu Village, it's not allowed to use magic casually, unless... unless..."

  "Unless allowed by Du Jiao." Fang Fang continued on his behalf, reciting the rule she had found in a book to Shen Xiuyi.

  Zhang Lingsheng was momentarily speechless, saying that reporting to Yangshen Peak was just an empty threat, but unexpectedly it made himself and Wangzi embarrassed, so he had to ask in a low voice: "You don't have an inner elixir yet, how can you cast spells?"

  Xin Yutao did not deny it, pointing at Xiao Qiu, "He also cast a spell, causing the fireball to explode and burning many people."

  Zhang Lingshen's expression suddenly disappeared, his face stern and rigid, "Did Mu Xiuqiu cast a spell?"

  "This mantra was learned from Mei Fengzi." One of Xin's trusted followers interjected.

  "Xin Yutao sent out a fireball, and Xiao Qiu had no choice..." Fangfang explained.

  Zhang Lingsheng was completely indifferent to all of this, and instead stared at Xiao Qiu, "Did you really cast a spell? What kind of spell?"

  Xiao Qiu felt a sense of unease and thought that Zhang Lingsheng's question was a trap, so she remained silent. Xin Youtao smiled triumphantly and said loudly: "He recited an incantation, fixed my fireball in mid-air, and even made it explode."

  "Is that so?" Zhang Lingsheng still stared at Xia Qiu without letting go.

  "Hmm, I did recite the incantation, but I didn't feel like it worked." Xia Qiu was telling the truth, when the fireball stabilized he really didn't have any special feeling, "Maybe it's just a mistake on Xin Yu Tao's part."

  Zhang Lingsheng didn't answer, turned around and hastily walked towards the gate, after a dozen steps he turned back pointing at Xia Qiu, "The Head of the Secret Department's guess was indeed correct, just wait for it."

  Zhang Lingsheng quickened his pace and ran out of the gate without telling Xiao Qiu to wait.

  The two groups of young men were still standing in the courtyard, but the atmosphere of fighting had dissipated. They began to slowly realize that things had gotten out of hand. The children who hadn't participated in the fight started coming out of their rooms one by one, their eyes filled with shock and fear.

  "You'll all be driven out of Mount Pong soon." Xīn Yòutáo felt safe now, earlier it was just a sudden event, that's why Shěn Hào got the upper hand. Now he had his hands free, with people protecting him in front, and it wouldn't happen again. "Mount Pong shouldn't have accepted people like you, the demon breed must have left marks on your bodies back then, waiting for the day to emerge. Mù Xíng Qiū didn't cast a spell, it was the demon breed helping him. No mistake, the demon breed appeared on his body, so Zhang Dào Shì has to report to the Head of the Sect immediately, and also to the First Seat, and the Master..."

  The children's gaze towards the young man from Yelin Town became increasingly strange, as if these nine people had changed in broad daylight.

  Xiao Qiu knew that with his current status, he shouldn't be too stubborn, and also knew that many rules should still be followed. When he grew up a bit more, he would have a deeper understanding of this, but now he was just a twelve-year-old boy, and the fight he had just been in made him lose some of his caution.

  "What's the big deal about the Devil's Spawn?" He took a step towards Xin Yu Tao, "I'm not afraid of it. If I encounter it again, I'll still go up and destroy it. Since everyone knows that the Devil's Spawn is sinister and cruel, doing all sorts of evil deeds, then we should be even less afraid of it. We should walk right up to it and kick it down with a single foot. Xin Yu Tao, are you going to run away again?"

  Xiao Qiu took another step forward, but Xin Yu Tao didn't fear him and retreated two steps along with the protectors. "I'd rather not get close to a demon breed. Those who have been touched by a demon breed either end up dead or kill themselves, without exception. You all will be no different."

  "Well said." A hoarse and harsh voice came from the doorway, like two pieces of rough metal rubbing against each other.

  A short and thin Taoist priest stood there, no one knew when he appeared. Seeing that face, everyone's heart skipped a beat: the entire left half seemed to have been burned by fire, soaked in water, and chopped by knives, so that his face was completely disfigured. Yet he didn't cover it up at all, and when he smiled with a crooked mouth, half of his teeth were exposed, making him look even more ominous and frightening.

  He is more like a demon than Xia Qiu.

  The Taoist pointed at Xin Youtao and said, "You're wrong. People who have been in contact with the demon seed, apart from being killed or committing suicide, there are other possibilities, like this." He pointed to his own face.

  "Where did this madman come from?" Xīn Yòutáo suddenly realized that this person was the same as Méi Chuán'ān he had heard of, both were madmen who had their inner elixir stolen.

  The Taoist ignored him and pointed at Xiao Qiu, "You're right, the demon is very powerful, it's the archenemy of cultivators. That's why we can't be afraid of it, but instead charge forward, not just kick it once, but destroy its form and intent, eradicate it completely. Cultivation must guard against demons, cultivation is to kill demons, every single one of the nine major sects, even if you're just beginners, you must always be prepared to kill demons at any moment."

  "What kind of person are you?" asked Xin Youtao.

  "Yangshen Peak will teach Meng Yuanhou soon, and then I will pass on the heavenly defying method to you."

  "Are you invited by Zhang Daoshi?" Xīn Yòutáo hoped that the other party would be more biased towards himself.

  "I have been ordered to take you two to Laozu Peak." Meng Yuanhou pointed at Xiao Qiu and Xin Youtao, "You've stirred up trouble."

  (Collection needed, recommendation needed)