Don't Cause Trouble Chapter 102: Huicheng

"There are a hundred demons inside Huicheng. Slay the demons to pass the trial," the brown-haired elder added.

"Grand Elder, what if I kill more than one demon myself?" a disciple from Kunlun suddenly raised his hand and asked.

Everyone turned to look. It was a tall, handsome young man, wearing a sly smile on his face.

Ye Su saw his signature white hair and immediately recognized who he was.

—Hong Yongye, the personal disciple of Elder Hong Liu from Kunlun’s Shangqing Peak.

Hong Liu was the great-grandson of Daoist Fengchen, the Sect Master of Kunlun. After entering the sect, he often coveted the position of Sect Master himself.

In the original story, Hong Liu and Hong Yongye were the ones who conspired to injure the male lead. Later, both were killed by Lu Chenhan’s sword.

"I’ve already said, only those who slay demons will pass the trial," the brown-haired elder replied. "There is no limit to how many can advance to the next round."

"Then it’s allowed," Hong Yongye glanced around at disciples from the other sects. His intent was clear.

"One more thing," the elder added coldly. "If you kill the wrong person, you’ll be disqualified immediately."

On the field, Lu Jiu whispered to Zhou Yun, "Are there really demons in this trial?"

"No," Zhou Yun shook his head and answered quietly, "Huicheng was destroyed twenty years ago in a single night. Back then, the Sect Masters of Wanfo Sect and the Wuxing Sect worked together to set up a reversal formation to trace what happened that night. After many investigations, they discovered that a hundred demons had been hiding in the city. What we’re doing now is searching for them within those lingering shadows."

"Then why did they give us the option to forfeit ahead of time?" Lu Jiu was puzzled.

"Because once we enter the formation, the sect masters won’t be able to help us. If you run into a demon and you’re not strong enough, you could die," Ma Congqiu chimed in. "When the formation was first created, several elders entered but failed to eliminate all the demons within a month. After the night of the massacre passed, they also died inside."

"The shadows can hurt us?" Lu Jiu was startled.

Xu Chengyu explained, "Because we and the shadows all exist within the reversal formation. We can interact with the shadows inside and the harm they cause is real."

"In short, be careful," Zhou Yun looked over to the Kunlun side. "Looks like they want to hog all the demons."

There were only a hundred demons. If one person killed too many, the others would have fewer chances to pass.

……

The second trial was jointly activated by the Sect Masters of Wanfo Sect and Wuxing Sect. The two stepped down from the platform, standing on opposite sides of the arena.

"Reverse the flow of time, break through the sealing arts—rise!" The Wanfo Sect Master struck the ground forcefully with his staff. With the staff as the center, a golden formation lit up beneath the disciples’ feet.

At the same time, the Wuxing Sect Master summoned nine blood-red talismans that flew to the edges of the formation. A large flow of spiritual energy from the sky was absorbed into the array. "Activate!"

The reversal formation was fully activated. All the disciples vanished from the arena.

The five major sect masters stared at the now-empty field, each deep in thought.

……

The disciples saw a flash of light and suddenly found themselves in an unfamiliar place.

"Is that Huicheng?" someone asked, pointing to a city in the distance.

Huicheng was quite large and held a special status because it was located at the border between the mortal world and the cultivation world, half the population were mortals, the other half cultivators.

"Since the massacre in Huicheng twenty years ago, the border has been sealed off," Xu Chengyu said, gazing at the city in the distance. "Mortals can no longer enter the cultivation world unless guided by a cultivator. Cultivators can’t leave without an official letter from one of the five major sects."

Some mortals still lived within the cultivation world, most had entered before Huicheng’s destruction, while a few were brought in by cultivators afterward.

While they were speaking, disciples from other sects had already started heading toward Huicheng.

"Do you want to go with us?" Xu Chengyu asked Ye Su. "We don’t know yet if the demons are scattered or all gathered in one place."

Among all the disciples, only Lu Chenhan had ever slain a demon. The others hadn’t even seen one before.

Ye Su glanced at Yi Xuan. "Alright."

He had demon blood in his veins. This time, going inside, he wasn’t sure if he’d be affected by encountering the demons there.

At the city gates of Huicheng, the guards were made up of both soldiers and cultivators. Seeing more than a thousand disciples enter the city at once, they were curious but not surprised. After all, this was a border city, and cultivators often came and went.

"Why are there so many cultivators today?" a gate guard on the left asked one of the disciples entering the city. "Are you here for fun?"

The disciple seemed stunned for a moment, probably not expecting someone from twenty years ago to speak to him.

"Yes," Ye Su stepped forward from behind. "We’re just visiting. Which sect are you from?"

"You probably haven’t heard of it, Liding Sect," the gate cultivator replied.

"I know it. A body cultivation sect," Ye Su smiled. "Founded eighty years ago."

The gate cultivator lit up with surprise. "You know our Liding Sect? Which sect are you from?"

Ye Su pointed at her robe. "Qianji Sect."

"Oh, the one that’s always freel—" the gate cultivator quickly changed the subject. "Since you’re here to visit Huicheng, want me to recommend a few good places?"

"Thanks, I’d appreciate that."

The two of them stood at the gate chatting cheerfully.

Behind them, Ma Congqiu leaned toward Xu Chengyu and whispered, "Senior Brother, how does she know about Liding Sect?"

Xu Chengyu glanced at his junior brother. "It’s in the complete cultivation sect directory that our Sword Sect distributed."

He had seen Ye Su flipping through it at the training grounds before.

"It is?" Ma Congqiu tried to recall. "How come I’ve never read it?"

"Because it’s not tested in our sect’s exams, so you never bothered," Xu Chengyu replied. He himself only remembered the name.

Ye Su turned around. "Let’s go."

Yi Xuan looked at her. "What did you find out?"

"The biggest inn in Huicheng is called Guifu. Most cultivators stay there," Ye Su said. "It’s in the best location, right on the busiest street. There’s even a Guifu Restaurant across from it. The food’s supposed to be pretty good."

By the time they arrived, the Kunlun disciples had already taken all the top rooms. Some independent cultivators had booked the rest.

"What about them?" Xu Chengyu came out to inform the others there were no rooms left, only to find the four from Qianji Sect were gone.

Zhou Yun pointed to a nearby alley beside the Guifu Restaurant. "They went in there."

"There are rooms in the back," Lu Jiu walked out from the alley and spoke to the Sword Sect disciples. "Come on."

The group walked through the alley and discovered a small gate leading into a courtyard.

"The gate cultivator just told me his friend has a large house that’s empty, we can rent it," Ye Su opened the small gate from inside. "It’s perfect for us disciples from Sword Sect, with enough space for two hundred people."

They all entered. The courtyard was fairly clean, though there weren’t enough rooms, so they’d have to squeeze in. But since they weren’t here to rest, no one minded much.

Once they sorted out their lodgings, they began spreading out to gather information.

Xu Chengyu and a few others went to the Guifu Restaurant with Ye Su. They chose a table in the corner of the main hall to watch the people coming and going.

"What should we eat?" Ye Su asked You Fushi as she looked through the menu.

You Fushi glanced at it. "You decide."

Ye Su ordered a few signature dishes and a pot of spirit tea.

"You guys aren’t eating?" she asked the others.

Xu Chengyu: "…"

He thought they came here to gather intel, but judging by those two, it looked like they were actually just out for a meal.

Once the food arrived, Ye Su asked Xu Chengyu, "How much do you know about what happened in Huicheng?"

They set up a sound barrier so others nearby couldn’t hear.

"Not a lot," Xu Chengyu replied. "There were many cultivators in Huicheng, and some powerful ones passed through from time to time. But no one ever found any trace of demons. All that’s known is that the city was wiped out overnight and among those hundred demons, some might have been Sky Demons."

"Sky Demons?" Lu Jiu said instinctively. "If any of the disciples run into a Sky Demon, wouldn’t that be a death sentence?"

Sky Demons were as strong as Nascent Soul stage cultivators, while most of the participants were at the Golden Core stage at best.

"If the sects put this in as part of the trial, I’m sure they’ve taken that into account," Xu Chengyu said. "Also, our Sword Sect disciples are traveling in groups. That should reduce risk, and if needed, we might even be able to put up a fight."

Lu Jiu let out a breath of relief. She had never seen a demon, only heard about them but she knew how brutal they were.

"The only problem is, we don’t know if the demons in Huicheng are Human Demons or Sky Demons," Xu Chengyu said with a bit of frustration. "Once someone turns into a demon, their blood becomes corrosive and chaotic. If most of them are Human Demons, it might actually be easier to handle."

Human Demons referred to cultivators who succumbed to inner demons and fully fell into demonic ways. They were usually at the late Golden Core stage, and weaker than Sky Demons.

Since the second trial had been changed last-minute, many were completely unprepared and didn’t have any magic artifacts that could detect demonic energy.

"Who was the city lord of Huicheng back then?" Ye Su asked.

"Li Yaoming," Xu Chengyu explained. "The Li family had guarded Huicheng for generations. But after the massacre twenty years ago, the entire bloodline was wiped out."

"A cultivator?" Ye Su asked.

Xu Chengyu shook his head. "The Li family may govern Hui City, but they’re just ordinary people. They rely on hiring cultivators to protect the city."

"Hiring cultivators…" Ye Su’s gaze fell on a few tables in the main hall where some cultivators were chatting. "It’s worth a try."

Before Xu Chengyu could react, Ye Su had already gotten up and walked to one of the tables.

He looked back and saw Ye Su saying a few words to the people at the table. After they exchanged respectful gestures, someone across from her handed her a red slip of paper.

Ye Su came back holding the red paper. "The City Lord’s Mansion happens to be recruiting cultivators today, twenty spots. Want to go?"

"You mean… the City Lord’s Mansion?" Xu Chengyu asked.

"Demons mostly show up in cultivators," Ye Su said, pointing to the recruitment notice. "The City Lord controls the largest number of cultivators. They’re stationed in Hui City permanently. Besides, wasn’t it said the demons first appeared in the City Lord’s Mansion?"

The group immediately got up and left.

The City Lord’s Mansion was at the very center of Hui City. Surrounding it was a defensive moat, and further in were tall city walls with guards stationed atop them.

Ye Su and the others could clearly see the guards, each of them was a cultivator.

"Senior Brother, look, Kunlun people," Zhou Yun pointed toward the bridge leading to the city gate. Quite a few Kunlun disciples were lined up there, led by none other than Lu Chenhan.

"There are also people from the Five Elements Sect," Ma Congqiu spotted Lian Lian, Cheng Huaian, and others.

As the line moved forward, everyone who signed up was given a token and told to challenge the top city guard.

They had to last five moves against that guard to qualify.

"He’s in the Integration Stage," Xu Chengyu turned to Ye Su and the others. "That person used to be a Kunlun steward. Later, he volunteered to return to Hui City and became a city guard."

Ye Su looked at the woman above, who held a sword. "She was the first one to fall the night the city was slaughtered?"

"Yes," Xu Chengyu nodded. "As soon as her soul lamp went out, the entire city fell not long after."

Surviving five moves against a cultivator in the Integration Stage wasn’t easy, especially since she didn’t seem to be holding back. Nearly everyone who went up lost by the second move.

Then Lu Chenhan stepped up.

Xu Chengyu and the others kept their eyes fixed on the duel between Lu Chenhan and the city guard, but Ye Su’s attention was drawn elsewhere.

She turned her head toward the side gate of the city wall. Two personal disciples from Shangque Palace had just walked in.

And not just them...

Ye Su also saw Yan Hao and Mei Chouren from the Hehuan Sect stroll out through the side gate, wearing different clothes.

Perhaps sensing someone’s gaze, Yan Hao turned and spotted Ye Su, then gave her a wink.

"How did you get in?" Ye Su stepped out of line and asked her. Their speed was far too fast.

"We’re dancers," Yan Hao pointed back at the Shangque Sect disciples who had just entered. "They’re musicians."

"They still need more dancers. You guys could try out too," Mei Chouren added enthusiastically. "You two junior brothers can just shake your hips a bit!"

Ye Su glanced at Mei Chouren’s dress and politely declined on behalf of Yi Xuan and You Fushi. "No thanks."

"It’s such a hassle to fight the city guard," Yan Hao tried to persuade them. "You’re still waiting here, but we’ve already made contact with people inside the City Lord’s Mansion. Join us as dancers, you can even use the excuse of gathering local stories to come and go."

Ye Su saw right through the ‘devious intentions’ of the two Hehuan Sect disciples. "We’re better suited to fighting the city guard."

As she walked back, Mei Chouren looked disappointed. "Being a dancer is so easy. Just wear a dress and twirl a bit."

Yan Hao imagined it dreamily. "The two junior brothers in dance dresses would look amazing."

Back in line, Ye Su asked Xu Chengyu, "The City Lord’s Mansion is recruiting dancers and musicians. Was there some kind of big celebration before the city was destroyed?"

Xu Chengyu froze. "I haven’t heard anything about that."

He had only heard about Hui City from his master a long time ago. He didn’t know any detailed history.