Notes on Longevity

Chapter 118 The aroma of wine and meat fills the air as She Li captures the demon.

Under the moonlight, She Li opened his eyes from the rooftop. He got up and looked behind him. "What did you say his son's name was?"

"Zhao Wu." When Xiao Changgong saw She Li get up, he went from lying down to sitting up again.

He looked at She Li with a hint of doubt in his eyes and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Do you know which escort agency he's with?" She Li didn't answer Xiao Changgong's question, but instead asked again.

"The Ganshan Escort Agency is in that direction," Xiao Changgong replied, puzzled, while pointing in the direction She Li was looking.

"Let's go to the escort agency." Before Xiao Changgong could speak, She Li slid one foot backward and used the momentum to jump towards the tangled roof.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Changgong seemed to understand something as well, and quickly followed after him.

The two ran around, leaping onto the rooftops. Xiao Changgong glanced at She Li and asked, "You mean the snake demon is going to the escort agency?"

“This snake demon sucked Zhao Wu’s life essence, but he seems unharmed. He must have some doubts.”

"I think she went to Zhao Wu's room to find out if someone was helping him. If they were, he wouldn't be alive now. So you should be glad you didn't stay at his house the whole time."

She Li explained to Xiao Changgong.

Xiao Changgong frowned upon hearing this and muttered softly, "No wonder we haven't been able to find this snake demon these past few days."

Xiao Changgong's voice was very soft, and She Li couldn't hear it.

He came here solely for the snake demon; he didn't care much about the people here. All he wanted was to kill the snake demon and take its inner core.

Xiao Changgong initially saved Zhao Wu because he noticed the marks on his body from being possessed by a snake demon. He only approached Zhao Wu to find out the snake demon's whereabouts. However, Zhao Wu said he had no recollection of it, only remembering saving a girl and then being knocked unconscious by another woman.

So, before She Li arrived, he searched for the snake demon's whereabouts alone in the town.

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As the only escort agency in this town, Ganshan Escort Agency is always very busy. Almost every day, people come to them to escort goods, so everyone lives at the agency, except for Zhao Wu.

"Xiao Wu? Why are you back again?" Zhao Wu knocked on the door of the escort agency. Soon, a middle-aged man dressed as a bodyguard opened the door and looked at Zhao Wu with a puzzled expression.

Zhao Wu smiled and said, "I forgot to take something."

"Come in quickly." The middle-aged man stepped aside to let him into the escort agency.

Logically, Zhao Wu should also be living at the escort agency, but he doesn't feel comfortable leaving his elderly mother at home, so he goes back every day. When he's on an escort mission, he'll also send someone to check on his mother and help look after her.

Inside the escort agency, neatly arranged cargo boxes were placed on both sides of the entrance courtyard. From the house in front of the courtyard came the sounds of drinking and playing drinking games. Zhao Wu looked at the middle-aged man with a flushed face and laughed, "Brother Zhang, go and continue drinking with them. I'm taking my things and leaving."

"Okay. Close the door when you leave, I'll come back to close it later." Brother Zhang's eyes were slightly drunk. He turned around, scratched his head, and yawned as he walked towards the house.

As Zhao Wu watched Zhang Ge's retreating figure, a glint of purple light flashed in his black pupils.

"Brother Zhang, who is it?" Inside the room, about a dozen people, their faces flushed with alcohol, stared at Brother Zhang as he walked in.

"Xiao Wu said he forgot something." Brother Zhang returned to his seat, looked at the table full of fish and meat, then picked up his wine bowl and downed it in one gulp.

"Great drinking capacity! Come on, let's continue!"

The sounds of clinking bowls and playing rock-paper-scissors continued inside the room.

When the bodyguards are busy, they are naturally busy, but when they are not busy, they gather together to talk about which girl is pretty or has a good figure, or which brothel has a new girl, or whose sex skills are good and make people feel like they are in heaven. They also gather together to drink and eat meat after closing the door at night.

Zhao Wu stood in the middle of the courtyard, his purple eyes fixed on the bodyguards inside, who were clinking glasses and making merry. He greedily stuck out his tongue and ran it around his lips.

He slowly walked towards the house when suddenly, the sound of a door being broken open drew the attention of the people inside, who were enjoying their drinks. Startled, they put down their wine bowls and stared solemnly at Zhao Wu outside in the courtyard.

She Li and Xiao Changgong ran swiftly across the rooftops. Once they reached the center of town and the houses were more dispersed, they landed and ran again. As they approached the Ganshan Escort Agency, Xiao Changgong, while running, looked at She Li and said, "This snake demon smells pretty strong, doesn't it?"

“We’ve arrived.” She Li stopped and looked at the Ganshan Escort Agency, whose gate was closed.

"So you really did come here. If you hadn't been here today, a lot more people would probably have died." Xiao Changgong smelled the snake demon's scent in the air and a smile appeared on his lips. Let's see where you run this time. I can't deal with you, but someone else can.

She Li also sensed the snake demon's aura. He took out a bronze mirror from his cloth bag, with the mirror facing him and the back facing the escort agency.

The bronze mirror looks very antique and has a great texture. The tin-yellow mirror surface shows the scene inside the escort agency through the flying bats carved on the back of the mirror.

A group of people were sitting inside the house drinking and eating meat, having a lively time. In the center of the courtyard, a man stood with his back to the gate of the security escort agency.

The man seemed to sense something, so he turned around and looked behind him.

Xiao Changgong stared at the man in the bronze mirror and frowned, saying, "Why are his eyes purple? Is there something wrong with your demon-revealing mirror?"

She Li stared at Zhao Wu in the bronze mirror, frowning as she looked at the large snake coiled around his body, and said, "He's possessed."

"Possession." Xiao Changgong was about to say something when he saw She Li put down the bronze mirror, run towards the escort agency, and then kick open the door of the escort agency.

The loud noise attracted everyone's attention. They saw Zhao Wu in the courtyard and the kicked-open gate, and they instantly sobered up. They got up, picked up the swords and knives that were placed aside, and walked into the courtyard.

When they saw She Li standing at the door, they thought he was there to cause trouble.

Xiao Changgong was speechless. Couldn't he just use magic to get in? Why make such a fuss? Anyone who didn't know better would think he was here to cause trouble.

When they arrived in the courtyard, and by the moonlight and the bright firelight inside the house, they saw the Taoist robe on She Li's body, they immediately changed their attitude, bowed to She Li, and asked in confusion, "I wonder what brings you here at night, Taoist Master? And why are you behaving so strangely?"

It was Brother Zhang who spoke. He looked at She Li, who was staring intently at Zhao Wu, and was very puzzled. He wondered if Zhao Wu had offended the Taoist priest somehow.
“He’s possessed by a snake demon,” She Li said, pointing directly at Zhao Wu without further ado.

"Master, you jest. There have been rumors of snake demons in our town lately, but could it be a misunderstanding that I'm possessed by one?"

Brother Zhang looked at Zhao Wu, then at She Li, and smiled.

Zhao Wu stared at She Li, his eyes growing increasingly purple. I didn't explain, then turned around and instantly appeared in front of Brother Zhang, grabbed his neck, and lifted him up.

Brother Zhang was lifted up by Zhao Wu, and he looked at Zhao Wu's hands in great fear.

A thin black snake slowly slithered towards Zhang Ge from Zhao Wu's sleeve, along his skin. He struggled desperately, but Zhao Wu gripped him tighter, pinching him until he could barely breathe.

The others were also startled by this. They drew their swords and, in a panic, pointed at Zhao Wu, shouting, "Zhao Wu, what are you doing? Put Brother Zhang down right now!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Wu turned his head and stared at the speaker with his purple eyes, and a large snake coiled out from his body.

Upon seeing this, everyone was so frightened that they retreated repeatedly.

They had heard about snake demons when they were escorting goods, but they had only heard about them from others and had never seen them with their own eyes.

"Charming Palm!" Xiao Changgong stood outside the door, not wanting to make a move, but when he saw the snake demon's true form emerge from Zhao Wu's body, his eyes flashed with golden light and he disappeared from his spot. In an instant, he appeared above Zhao Wu and brought his palm down on the snake demon's head.

The snake demon was lightly touched on the head by Xiao Changgong's enchanting palm. It was just a light touch, and in theory, such a palm strike should have no effect, but the snake demon felt a splitting headache. It immediately turned out of Zhao Wu's body, and its huge snake body rolled on the ground.

Seeing this, everyone in the escort agency retreated again. She Li stared at the snake demon with a sharp gaze, as cold as a knife. Then he stretched his hand behind him, and a sword emitting golden light appeared in his hand.

He rushed towards the snake demon and swung his sword at its body. However, the snake demon's tumbling body meant that She Li only managed to strike its extremely thick scales.

The snake demon sensed the attack, endured the intense pain to steady itself, stood up and stared at She Li, then opened its blood-red maw and charged straight at him!

(End of this chapter)