Chapter 1344: Chapter 675: Ji Fan Takes a Master and Learns Skills (Part 2)

Ji Fan nodded repeatedly to show he understood. If he were burdened with such a mission, he would also want to keep a low profile—exposing himself in front of the public would undoubtedly be courting death.

After the two chatted a few more words, Lin Beichen suddenly said, "I’m going back to City Z tomorrow. I’ll leave things here to you. Be careful, don’t be too reckless."

Ji Fan took Lin Beichen’s reminder to heart. He nodded again and again, then said firmly, "Master, don’t worry. I can definitely handle all the publicity work here. You just go back with peace of mind!"

It wasn’t that Lin Beichen didn’t trust Ji Fan, he just didn’t want all sorts of accidents like last time. After all, even if Ji Fan handled these matters, he might not be completely at ease. And if Lin Beichen was far away in another city, it would be hard for him to keep too tight a grip on things—that would be very disadvantageous for him.

"Alright." Lin Beichen replied crisply and forcefully.

The next day, Lin Beichen took a plane back to City Z. The people on this side were very well-informed; he had just gotten off the plane when someone drove over to pick him up.

Lin Beichen kept feeling that Lan Zihua’s words carried an extra meaning. She looked deeply worried, enough to make anyone feel concerned.

"Are you running into some kind of trouble?" Lin Beichen asked with concern. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Lan Zihua stared blankly at the torrential rain outside, dazed for a moment before coming back to herself, forcing out a smile. She was completely different from the woman who’d been in the elevator just now.

"No, you don’t need to worry about me. Just take care of your own business," Lan Zihua said softly.

Even if she didn’t say it, Lin Beichen could guess a few things—it had to be about Huo Ziyan. Lin Beichen sighed. On many matters, he really didn’t know what to do. Like now: he was clearly innocent, yet he had to explain himself over those trivial rumors. What he wanted, wasn’t it just trust and understanding? No matter how he thought about it, he really couldn’t figure it out.

But now wasn’t the time to fuss over this. Lin Beichen said calmly, "Don’t overthink it. Huo Ziyan and I are just in a partnership, nothing else. If you really want to know..."

Before Lin Beichen could finish, Lan Zihua cut him off, "I know, I don’t mean anything else by it. Maybe I’m just a bit worried. Forget it, let’s eat something first."

Lan Zihua half-believed, half-doubted Lin Beichen’s words, but she didn’t say anything more. Given the current situation, what else could she even do? She could do nothing at all. She knew deep down that if they kept talking, it would definitely turn into an unpleasant argument with Lin Beichen. Once conflict broke out, it would be bad for both of them.

"Mm, let’s go." Lin Beichen was also a bit hungry. Since she’d brought it up, he naturally wouldn’t refuse.

The two of them had just taken the elevator down and walked out. As they stepped out of the hotel and into a street, a black shadow suddenly flashed past in front of them.

"Did I just see something? Or did my eyes play tricks on me?" Lan Zihua asked, a bit puzzled.

By the time she tried to look again, that thing had completely disappeared around the corner, nowhere to be found.

"Mm, you saw wrong," Lin Beichen said, but it was just a perfunctory excuse.

Of course Lin Beichen knew Lan Zihua hadn’t seen wrong just now. If he guessed correctly, that should have been a Demon. He silently speculated in his heart, feeling rather uncomfortable. A Demon showing up at a time like this really was asking for trouble. How long had it been since he’d seen a Demon? And now, at this exact juncture, one appears, and right in front of them. This was no small matter and couldn’t be taken lightly.

Suddenly, Lin Beichen’s phone rang. It was a call from Ji Fan. The ringtone shattered the silence between the two of them.

"Master, I’m here too. I’m at your hotel right now. Where are you?" Ji Fan’s voice came from the other end.

Hearing that Ji Fan had come as well, Lin Beichen was stunned for a moment, then thought this was perfect—he could have Ji Fan come over and take Lan Zihua away. That way he could go check out the corner by himself without having to think up a way to send Lan Zihua off.

Lin Beichen simply said into the phone, "You said you’re hungry? That’s perfect. We’re on the street to the west of the hotel. Come over, I’ll take you to eat."

Ji Fan was completely baffled. When did he ever say that?

"No, Master, I’m not hungry. I just ate..." Ji Fan hadn’t finished speaking when Lin Beichen cut him off, "You can’t hold on anymore? Then get over here, and stop dawdling!"

Lin Beichen hung up right after he finished. He believed his disciple wasn’t so stupid that he couldn’t hear the meaning between the lines.

Sure enough, not even two minutes later, Ji Fan arrived almost at top speed. Lin Beichen solemnly entrusted Lan Zihua to Ji Fan and urged them to go on ahead. After confirming they had already left, he turned and walked toward the corner where the Demon had vanished. He had to see exactly what kind of monster dared show itself at a time like this to cause him trouble.

Just as he was about to step into the corner, a machete suddenly came slashing at him with the force of a gale. The blow was incredibly powerful—if it landed, he would definitely lose his life, with no chance of survival.

The other party had clearly been lurking in the dark all along, just waiting for Lin Beichen to walk right into the trap so they could finish him off cleanly. However, they never expected Lin Beichen’s reaction speed to be just as fast. With a sidestep, he dodged that fatal slash.

The blade struck nothing but air, like punching cotton with nowhere to exert force. At that moment, Lin Beichen swiftly pulled out a Talisman and pinched it in his fingers. In the next second, the Talisman spontaneously ignited, and a Eight Trigrams Array suddenly appeared around Lin Beichen’s body, its array eyes particularly numerous.

"Reveal!" Lin Beichen shouted, and the Talisman in his hand instantly turned to ash. The next second, that mass of shadow transformed before Lin Beichen’s eyes into an extremely ferocious-looking Demon. It had two heads, six eyes, and eight arms, an exceptionally horrifying sight.

Lin Beichen focused his gaze and saw that each of the monster’s eight hands was actually holding a weapon. This was the first time he’d ever seen something like this; to say he was shocked would be no exaggeration.

"What the hell are you supposed to be?" Lin Beichen asked, expression grave. Then he casually flicked a Talisman at the Demon, which landed on its body, but it didn’t cause it any harm.

"Should I say, just as expected?" Lin Beichen thought to himself. A Talisman of that power already counted as mid-level. As he’d anticipated, this monster was completely different from ordinary Demons. Its strength was probably on par with Lin Beichen’s!

In all his time driving away Demons, this was the first time Lin Beichen had really gotten serious. This monster did have some skill; it couldn’t be underestimated. He took a deep breath and drew out over a dozen Talismans in one go, holding them in his hand, then accurately flung them at the monster. The monster didn’t even try to dodge, choosing instead to take the attack head-on.

The power of more than a dozen Talismans burning at once and that of a single Talisman were worlds apart. You could only say this monster had been far too careless.

Lin Beichen never imagined he himself would be forced back again and again by the backlash of those dozens of Talismans, retreating several dozen steps. But that was as far as he retreated—he didn’t back down another inch. His brows knitted tightly, his eyes filled with resolve.

"This guy is really a handful," Lin Beichen thought to himself.

He drew a deep breath, his gaze turning razor-sharp. "Fine then, let me show you this move of mine!"

Before his voice faded, Lin Beichen somehow swiftly produced a pink Talisman. It traced a graceful arc through the air, then flew up into the sky, transforming into a massive phantom that firmly shrouded the monster within.