I Slay Gods and Demons in the Deceit Night

Inside the High Liu City.

The Observatory Tower.

This structure, grand and imposing, soars majestically into the sky.

Rumors say it was constructed atop the very essence of Liu Venerate, expanding in all directions to form this magnificent tower, with its carved balustrades and resplendent with gold and jade.

The tower reaches a hundred levels high and took eighty years to build, during which innumerable craftsmen were employed, many of whom died or were injured.

At the very top, the Eight-Sided Divine Mirror is installed, responsible for reflecting all directions.

In the middle, there is a repository for documents, staffed by sixty-four chief accountants who are always recording all movements and compiling reports.

"The outer city's northern wall, at the one hundred and sixtieth mark, the Liu branch Night Lamp has been extinguished!"

"The outer city's northwest wall, at the fourth, sixth, twenty-fourth, and ninety-second marks, have all sent up distress flares!"

"The outer city's eastern wall, at the seventy-second mark, a patrol team has filled the breach and re-lit the Liu branch Night Lamp."

"In the twelfth district of the outer city's east side, a small demon and three roaming evil spirits that had intruded into the city have all been vanquished!"

"The Liu branch Night Lamp at the one hundred and twentieth mark of the outer city's southern part has been reignited, and patrol teams have filled the gaps."

Reports from all sides came in one after another.

Everyone's writing speed was extremely fast.

Among them sat a man, roughly past fifty, with jet-black whiskers, mildly closing his eyes as if resting.

In Liu Zun Temple, there are twelve temple priests.

And in the Observatory Tower, one temple priest comes to preside over the overall situation.

Every three months, the post rotates.

Today's priest is the seventh from Liu Zun Temple, known to all as Mr. Liu Qi.

He had just returned from the sacrificial platform, taking his seat in the Observatory Tower.

"Seems like there's a problem on the outer city's southern wall, from sixty-first to seventy-second marks?"

"That particular defensive segment falls under the jurisdiction of the Observatory's branch located in the southern outer city's Linjiang Square."

The young man reporting spoke softly, "The new Flag Commander has taken charge, but he cleared his subordinates and is defending the wall alone."

"Any anomalies so far?"

"Thus far, the twelve Liu branch Night Lamps haven't gone out, and there has been no sign of evil or demons breaking into the city."

"Oh?" Liu Qi's brows relaxed, "It seems this person is quite capable!"

"No, that's not right!"

Just then, a middle-aged man burst in.

He was responsible for observing the Divine Mirror that faced due south, among a total of sixteen people.

At this moment, he looked panicked and said, "Mr. Qi, starting from the fifty-fourth mark to the sixtieth, the flames of the Liu branch Night Lamps... they're fake!"

"What?"

Liu Qi stood up abruptly, his face turning grave.

The middle-aged man spoke rapidly, "The lights are still on, but the lamp oil inside the Liu branch Night Lamps has been swapped for ordinary oil..."

Only when combined with the lamp oil from Liu Zun Temple, the Night Lamp possesses the power to deter the darkness.

Each is indispensable!

"Earlier, the Divine Mirror reflected that the Liu branch Night Lamps seemed normal, which is why we didn't notice anything amiss! But just now, as if defying the light, a demon broke into the city!"

Liu Qi's eyes suddenly turned icy cold.

His first thought was that someone had lined their own pockets by substituting the Liu branch Night Lamps along this stretch of the wall, making a profit from the silver taels.

But immediately, he sensed something was amiss and spoke gravely, "It must have been the recent switch! Surely someone has drained the temple's lamp oil and replaced it with regular oil..."

Because if they were fake from the start, then demons would have already flooded into the city!

But now that demons were gradually breaking in, it was evident that the previous Liu branch Night Lamps had been genuine!

Someone had extinguished the Liu branch Night Lamps and replaced them with ordinary flames, deceiving the Observatory Tower!

But they could never deceive the demons lurking in the darkness!

Another person then stumbled in, exclaiming, "Demons have infiltrated the southern outer zone, near the outermost Linjiang Square! Six evil spirits and three demons, including a bear demon!"

"The bear demon has already torn apart the two patrol squads that went to intercept it!"

"There are no Martial Artists nearby capable of matching the bear demon, the outer southern district of the Outer City... I'm afraid it's going to fall!"

The person's face was pale, and he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

Mr. Liu Qi stood up and said solemnly, "Immediately notify the City Guard Mansion, send a message to the Observatory, dispatch personnel, reinforce Qingshan Square, and build a new line of defense!"

"What about Linjiang Square?"

"Linjiang Square is finished!"

Mr. Liu Qi's tone was grim as he coldly said, "It's too late for rescue, we must immediately reinforce Qingshan Square! Otherwise... if the demons continue to advance, even Qingshan Square will become the Evil's inferno! Go quickly!"

——

Lin Yan had advanced six hundred steps forward.

He slew demons and exorcised evil spirits all the way!

Wherever he passed, he reignited the Liu Zun Temple's Night Lamps.

And he left behind a bunch of papers, with a wave of his hand, they transformed into silhouettes holding swords, identical to himself!

In this darkness, he had built a formidable reputation for ferocity!

Moving forward, he saw that the lights were still on ahead, but there were also evil spirits and demons in the darkness, crossing over the city walls!

"Fakes!"

Lin Yan's heart sank slightly, thinking, "Using ordinary lamp oil, filling the Night Lamp, deceiving the Observatory Tower?"

He quickened his pace, refilled the lamp oil, and continued to leave behind paper cut-outs of horses as his decoys.

——

"Grandpa, which one is he?"

The naive voice in the darkness asked, astonished, "They all seem completely the same!"

The silhouettes holding swords, reflected by the Liu Zun Temple's Night Lamps, could not be clearly seen by the evil spirits.

They just knew the person stood there with a sword.

Every one of them seemed to be him!

All demons and evil spirits that had previously attempted to cross the city wall were uniformly cut down by the sword.

As a result, the evil spirits in the darkness now shied away, dispersing to both sides, attempting to attack the city from other wall locations.

"None of them is him."

The aged voice spoke slowly, "But no one knows where his real body is!"

"After all, you've also seen that anyone who tried to cross the city walls has been cut down..."

"This man truly has a fearsome ferocity; even I, grandpa, am somewhat afraid of his formidable Evil Qi."

Having said that, the aged voice laughed, "Evil spirits and minor demons may not be exceptionally smart, but even ants have the instinct to survive, to avoid places of danger."

The naive voice suddenly realized and said, "So, by scaring off the evil spirits and minor demons, he managed to defend these three hundred and sixty steps."

"It should..."

The aged voice suddenly became surprised, "No, that's not right! Look to the left, why has his thirteenth silhouette appeared there?"

The aged great demon seemed to shift his gaze towards the left, continuing to look.

"Not just... fourteen, fifteen, sixteen..."

"He left behind so many silhouettes?"

"Does that mean the city wall over there has completely fallen?"

"He's left his own defensive position... no, that's not right, it should be said... he's expanded his defensive territory?"

The aged voice grew more and more grave.

The naive voice also seemed to be frightened.

After a long while, it finally said, "So, the position this person is currently defending exceeds a thousand steps?"

"Perhaps even more!"

"Alone, to hold such a long section of the city wall, if he runs back and forth, won't he be exhausted to death?"

"But it seems... he's holding it?"