I Can Strengthen Infinitely-Chapter 87 - 80: The Waterside Manor

Bai Hao has been a member of the Seven Star Bureau for many years; his ability to read expressions is indeed first-rate.

He said directly: "I won’t force you. This operation is entirely voluntary."

Suddenly, several people exchanged glances and stood up one after another, apologetically saying, "Lord Bai, my abilities are limited, and I fear I cannot be of much help to you. I won’t be participating in this operation."

Bai Hao nodded: "No worries, those who wish may leave first. Are there any others who do not wish to participate? Please make it quick, or I’ll take silence as consent."

After these words, one or two more stood up and left, leaving only four people, including Qin Yuesheng.

An old man, a young woman, a young man, and a strong man.

Bai Hao said: "This operation isn’t particularly dangerous. I have entered that water manor several times, and apart from the Fox Demon, I encountered nothing. This time, you will accompany me and help hold back the Fox Demon’s followers; I will personally deal with it. Once successful, you may all enter the Seven Star Bureau."

Bai Hao paused, then looked at Qin Yuesheng and said: "You are already in the Seven Star Bureau. I’ll personally grant you two hundred negative energy points. How does that sound?"

Upon hearing this, the other three were shocked, completely unsuspecting that the youngest-looking Qin Yuesheng had already joined the Seven Star Bureau.

Does this young man have something special about him?

Two hundred negative energy points are quite a lot for Qin Yuesheng; even when he dealt with the Ghost Embryo in Cyan Yang City, he hadn’t earned that much.

So he nodded and replied: "Good."

"Then there’s no time to lose; as the sun rises, we should depart immediately."

"Yes." Qin Yuesheng and the other four responded simultaneously.

...

The water manor isn’t far from Cyan Yang City; with Qin Yuesheng’s speed, he can reach there within an hour at full pace.

Bai Hao’s speed is even faster; being a master of Inner Power Realm, the support of inner strength is something outer refining martial artists cannot compete with.

But the other three appeared somewhat uneasy. Although they were outer refining martial artists, they couldn’t match Bai Hao, nor could they compare with Qin Yuesheng, who possessed boosted agility and physique.

To accommodate the three, Qin Yuesheng and Bai Hao intentionally controlled their speed, eventually taking more than two hours before reaching the manor.

In broad daylight, anyone would deem this a normal dwelling, but as night falls, it transforms into a haunt for demons.

The manor’s gate was tightly shut. Bai Hao glanced at Qin Yuesheng and the others, silently nodding, then struck the gate with a palm.

Though still a yard away, the manor’s gate suddenly swung open as if hit by massive force, the latch breaking in two.

Qin Yuesheng watched, secretly amazed; is this the power of the Inner Power Realm?

Capable of wounding enemies beyond a yard?

At that moment, Qin Yuesheng became even more intrigued by the Inner Power Realm.

The gate was blasted open, but there was no reaction inside the manor— utterly silent.

Bai Hao boldly strode in first, Qin Yuesheng close behind, his right hand quietly drawing the Evil-Subduing Saber.

The three accompanying him were Fang Tong, an old man skilled in rare weapons, utilizing two four-foot iron hooks, from the outer refining Bone Forging Realm.

The young lady, Zhao Zijin, from the outer refining Skin Refining Realm, wears a sheathed sword, indicating her as a swordsman.

The strong man named Huo Bang, carries two axes on his back, though in the outer refining Bone Forging Realm, his Lightweight Skill is exceptionally poor. The two-hour trip was largely due to him.

The four formed a cornered stance to guard each other, each watching a direction to prevent monster attacks.

Thus, until venturing deeper into the manor, they saw no living beings, prompting Bai Hao to frown, sensing something amiss.

"Lord Bai, we saw nothing along the way, and the manor is so vast, acting together may miss thorough searching. Shall we split into groups, each responsible for an area?" Fang Tong suggested.

"Not advisable, Lord Bai mentioned a Fox Demon whose strength matches his. If we split up, barring Lord Bai, everyone else faces the risk of dying," Qin Yuesheng instantly rejected.

Coming was mainly to follow Bai Hao; splitting into groups means facing those monsters alone, drastically raising the danger level.

This is an undertaking for the suicidal; Qin Yuesheng certainly won’t do it.

"Makes sense." Zhao Zijin and Huo Bang both nodded in agreement with Qin Yuesheng’s view.

"Continue forward." Bai Hao said.

Inside the manor is a peculiar sight; colorful blossoms and lush greenery abound, yet neither the floor nor the roof shows a single fallen leaf, petal, or broken branch.

Qin Yuesheng brushed a windowsill in a room, finding it completely clean, devoid of dust and ash.

"Seems this place is regularly cleaned; otherwise, it couldn’t be this spotless." Qin Yuesheng glanced at the tightly closed house doors: "Lord Bai, these houses remain unchecked; should we look inside?"

"

Bai Hao directly waved a palm, and the door automatically opened, revealing the scene inside.

In sight were men and women of all ages, standing straight as if they were zombies struck by a paralysis spell. Their eyes were tightly closed, legs together, and hands placed at the sides of their thighs in the exact same eerie posture.

"Hiss!" Zhao Zijin and Huo Bang couldn’t help but gasp; although they were both martial artists in the Outer Skin Refining realm, they had never seen such a scene before.

"You all wait here, don’t move. I’ll go inside and take a look." Bai Hao, being skilled and courageous, walked directly into the room.

Qin Yuesheng, though possessing the Evil-Subduing Saber as an instrument against evil, wouldn’t act recklessly in such a situation, so he obediently stood in place and continuously looked around to guard against any unexpected events.

There were sixteen people in the room altogether. Bai Hao checked their breath one by one; they were all alive.

But for some unknown reason, they showed no intention of moving.

In the martial world, there’s a kind of martial art that attacks the acupoints on a person’s body to produce various effects, generally known among martial artists as ’acupoint striking’.

Bai Hao knew a bit about acupoint striking and tried it out on a woman standing in front of him, wanting to see if it was related to this.

But when Bai Hao’s finger just touched the woman’s body, she suddenly opened her eyes wide and reached out to strangle Bai Hao’s neck.

Pa!

Bai Hao countered with a backhand slap, sending the woman flying into the wall, with a heavy thud.

This sudden commotion triggered a domino effect.

All around, those with closed eyes opened them one after another, attacking Bai Hao like mindless beasts.

These were the guests Bai Hao had seen at the wedding feast at night. Though they seemed like ordinary people, each one was as strong as a bull, with tough skin, showing no signs of fatigue or pain.

It was for this reason that Bai Hao found himself at a disadvantage when fighting against the Fox Demon, unable to gain any upper hand.

Thunderbolt Palm! 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Suddenly, amidst the crowd, Bai Hao’s palms glowed with two streams of light, one cyan, the other purple, as he attacked like a thunderbolt. His palm speed was like lightning, and in just a breath’s time, more than ten palms were struck in succession. The cyan and purple lights streaked through the air, and the palms were so fast they left afterimages, dizzying to behold.

Bang, bang, bang!

The powerful palm strikes hit the foreheads of those living dead, directly cracking their skulls. One after another, bodies slid away, leaving no one alive around Bai Hao.

The strikes were fast and decisive, without any hesitation.

Qin Yuesheng silently compared Bai Hao’s performance with his own strength.

In terms of speed, he was currently slower than Bai Hao, but he was confident that if he used all his strength, he could smash an ordinary person’s skull with one palm too, though not as effortlessly as Bai Hao.

Of course, the most important factor was the cyan and purple hues that appeared on Bai Hao’s palms when he attacked, which Qin Yuesheng suspected to be Bai Hao’s Inner Strength.

Exiting the room, Bai Hao solemnly said, "On our way here, we didn’t encounter a single person. It seems the guests attending the wedding are all like these people, waiting in various rooms at the moment."

Huo Bang asked, "Then should we go and kill them?"

"No need; these living dead seem unable to move during the day. We don’t need to bother with them; we just need to find that Fox Demon."

Qin Yuesheng suddenly asked, "Sir, when you were alone before, didn’t you sneak into this water lodge during the day to take a look?"

Bai Hao replied, "Of course, I did, but previously, I didn’t find these people in the rooms; instead, I encountered the Fox Demon’s subordinates."

Zhao Zijin curiously asked, "Who are the Fox Demon’s subordinates?"

"Naturally, they are also Fox Demons," Bai Hao cautioned. "Those small Fox Demons, while not as powerful as the big Fox Demon, also possess demon techniques that easily ensnare people; you must be cautious. Demons and spirits are extremely dangerous beings, and any carelessness could easily result in death."

"Da... sir, what is that?" Suddenly, Fang Tong, who had been calm all along, showed a change in expression, pointing behind Bai Hao in disbelief.

Everyone looked up quickly, immediately showing the same expression as Fang Tong.

"How, how is this possible?!"

"My God..."

In the sky, the sun was plummeting toward the western horizon at a speed visible to the naked eye, quickly swallowing half the round sun with the horizon, then a third, sunset, dusk.

Until... it completely set.

In just a few blinks, the sky, which was ablaze with sunlight a moment ago, suddenly turned pitch black, with a new moon rising to take over the sky from the sun.

Night had fallen.