“A-Lian, reveal yourselves!”

Ji Xiang activated the Great Ming National Authority, shouting with a thunderous voice. The two palace maids immediately clutched their heads and wailed!

The flames erupting from their seven orifices suddenly rose several feet higher, then swayed and separated from the palace maids' bodies. The maids screamed as they rolled on the ground amidst the flames, but soon the fire on their bodies gradually extinguished.

The fire spirits were only forcefully occupying their bodies; they couldn't seize their three souls. The human body’s three souls and seven spirits were both separate and interconnected.

The seven spirits were the source of physical action. The fire spirits seized control of the seven spirits, using their own monstrous forms to replace them. Thus, the three souls of the person could only helplessly watch their bodies become puppets, beyond their control.

The two A-Lians were forced out, tumbling as they tried to escape, transforming into fiery children. However, Ji Xiang quickly stepped out of the palace gate, pointing his finger forward while simultaneously activating the Great Ming National Authority, unleashing a voice of deterrence!

“Don’t move!”

*Buzz!* The two A-Lians felt as if their heads had been struck by a massive hammer. It was as if a force of a thousand tons pressed down on their shoulders. Like players in the game "Red Light, Green Light", the two fiery figures stood perfectly still!

“Ha!”

Seeing the Great Ming National Authority was so effective, Ji Xiang narrowed his eyes, revealing his white teeth in a sinister smile.

It seemed his National Authority directly impacted the opponent, and its method and power differed from the divine beasts derived from the National Authority carried by civil and military officials.

Previously, the Qilin on Luo Sigong, the Southern Governor, had shown no reaction to these fire spirits and fire gods.

Ji Xiang pondered for a moment, analyzing with his mind, and instantly understood.

The divine beasts were blind, but he wasn't.

That was the logic. Dealing with these canonized deities, this should be an active skill.

The two Imperial Guards also recovered from their shock, looking at Ji Xiang and then at the two little fire figures who were frozen in place. Their expressions were quite interesting. They quickly said to Ji Xiang, "Thank you, Daoist Priest, for saving us!"

Ji Xiang nodded to them: "You two need not panic. In my eyes, these little fire spirits are but straw targets for sale."

The two Imperial Guards immediately breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

The last one the Daoist Priest described as a straw target was now utterly annihilated.

When the Daoist Priest takes action, they are straw targets; when the Daoist Priest makes a move, there is no escape from death.

The two little fire figures were also stiff all over, not knowing why they had stopped, unable to move.

“Why are we standing still?”

“I don’t know, I can’t move!”

The two little fire figures were rarely scared. One of them even let out a strange child's cry:

“Not fun, not fun! The Forbidden City is not fun at all! This person is so fierce!”

Before the other little fire figure could answer, Ji Xiang had already heard their conversation and grunted heavily!

“Monstrous creatures!”

This sound made the two little fire figures even more uncomfortable, and they screamed.

Ji Xiang scolded, “You seize the palace maids' seven spirits, slaughtering the living, just for fun!”

“You monstrous creatures! You actually take pleasure in killing, and can even steal the power of righteous gods, causing trouble in this Forbidden City!”

Ji Xiang scolded repeatedly:

“Stand up straight!”

“Be honest!”

“Squat down!”

“Hands on your head!”

The two little fire figures involuntarily began to act according to Ji Xiang's commands. They first stood up straight, then, unable to speak, slowly squatted down, putting their hands on their heads!

Ji Xiang walked over, while the two Imperial Guards dragged the two palace maids to the side. Zhuo Deyuan, one of the Imperial Guards, felt the palace maids' noses, discovering they were still breathing. Although they were burned, they still had a life.

However, the other Imperial Guard, Shi Xiang, showed a look of regret:

“Having become like this, they are better off dead. It would have been better if they had been burned to death just now.”

The Imperial Guards never had much sympathy for others, but because they almost suffered the same disaster just now, they now felt somewhat empathetic.

Ji Xiang asked the two Imperial Guards, “Do you have bows and arrows?”

The two Imperial Guards looked at each other. Shi Xiang took out a crossbow from his body and said to Ji Xiang, "We only have crossbows, and the range is not accurate, only twenty steps, with three arrows."

Zhuo Yuande added, somewhat embarrassed, "Because searching Longde Hall was not a major matter, although the crossbow is our equipment, but..."

Ji Xiang expressed his understanding: “I understand, I understand, because I am a young Daoist priest without the strength to truss a chicken, so I don't need to bring a crossbow. With so many of you, holding a red court staff, you can beat me until I howl for my mother."

The two Imperial Guards chuckled dryly.

Who would dare say now that they could beat this Daoist priest with a court staff until he howled for his mother?

"Daoist Priest, we are just smelly soldiers, we don't understand magic, but we can also see that even knives can't hurt these monsters, so what use are crossbow arrows? Moreover, the range of this crossbow is only twenty steps..."

Ji Xiang smiled: “No, don’t say twenty steps, ten steps is enough!”

“Some monsters have specific ways to be killed. The things that subdue monsters, gods, and ghosts, for道具(dàojù, props) that can be used without magic power, are not just firearms.”

“As long as you master the specific methods, dealing with certain specific gods, ghosts, and monsters is still useful.”

The two Imperial Guards showed curious expressions and handed the crossbow to Ji Xiang, but Ji Xiang didn't take it. Instead, he told them, "Hold the crossbow, but don't load the arrows. It will be useful later."

Then he said to the two little fire figures who were squatting with their hands on their heads, "Confess who is behind you, or I will kill you."

“I have a way to kill you! You can try it if you don’t believe me!”

Activating the National Authority, he shouted again, "Speak!"

The two little fire figures were suddenly able to speak, and they were extremely afraid, but they still bargained:

"We'll talk, we'll talk, although the adults said we can't talk, but if you don't kill us, we'll really talk!"

Ji Xiang angrily said, "How dare you bargain with me!"

“A monk does not tell lies. As long as you speak, ‘I’ will not kill you, speak quickly!”

The two little fire figures looked at each other and immediately sold out their teammates like pouring beans.

Of course, they didn't know the relationship between Song Wuji and Zhu Changluo. This was also why Song Wuji told Zhu Changluo at the time that as long as Zhu Changluo carried Song Wuji's incense aura, the fire monsters in the fire field would not be able to approach him. These fire monsters referred to the A-Lians.

"When the Emperor goes to the West Sixth Palace, he will be locked inside!"

"The A-Lians are ready, and the Red-Clad and White-Clad brothers are also waiting there!"

"We came here to find Lord Song, to tell him that the Emperor has entered the trap!"

"The Fire Lord is also coming soon! She appears from the Fire God Temple in Shichahai, but we don't know where she will enter from. A-Lian only knows that she will go to find the Emperor. The A-Lians will soon not be able to play! The Fire Lord said that we are righteous gods now, and we will be worshiped by the people, and we can no longer do whatever we want!"

"The Fire Lord said that in the Ming Dynasty's palace, there is the Avidyā Fire (ignorance fire), A-Lian doesn't know what it is, but only knows that it is very powerful, very powerful!"

Ji Xiang grabbed a few keywords: "Fire Lord? What is your Fire Lord's name! What is her identity?"

“What does the Avidyā Fire refer to?”

“Very powerful? How powerful?”

The two little fire figures couldn’t answer the questions. Seeing that Ji Xiang's face was becoming more angry, one of the A-Lians quickly said:

"A-Lian only knows that the Avidyā Fire is very powerful. The Fire Lord only said that it can make the people of the entire Shuntian Prefecture live a good life. If Shuntian has a good life, the whole world will have a good life!"

"At that time, we will all be worshiped by people in various places!"

"We don't know anything else, really don't know! The A-Lians are too weak. If it were Brother Chi Zhi, they would know!"

This little fire figure said Chi Zhi's name, and was immediately scolded by the other little fire figure, "You idiot, how can you say Brother Chi Zhi's name!"

That little fire figure immediately closed his mouth, and said aggrievedly, "Oops, I said Brother Chi Zhi's name!"

“Alright, I’ve already seen Red Banner (Chi Zhi) Child.”

Ji Xiang narrowed his eyes and continued to ask a few more questions. Seeing that these two little fire figures couldn't say anything true, he waved to the two Imperial Guards.

"I promised them that I wouldn't kill them, so you guys do it."

That being said, Ji Xiang actually had no way to do it.

He didn't have blood.

As soon as Ji Xiang said this, the two little fire figures were terrified and hurriedly said, "You're lying! You're lying!"

Ji Xiang turned his head halfway, his eyes with a hint of indifference:

"You are not human."

“And I didn’t lie to you, I won’t kill you, but I will tell others how to kill you.”

“Now I want you to lead the way, you all know the way from the inner palace to the West Sixth Palace, right!”

Although Ji Xiang was one with the National Authority, he could grasp the movements of everyone in the Forbidden City, but the Emperor's location could not be spied on.

After all, in terms of subordinate relationships, the Emperor was the one with the highest level of National Authority. Just like these fire gods who possessed National Authority, their spells could not harm the Emperor, and they could only rely on mortals setting fires to assassinate him.

Low-end game operations are often simpler and more effective than high-end fancy moves, making them unpredictable.

How could a low-level National Authority be able to grasp the movements of a high-level National Authority?

The two little fire figures were terrified, and one of them said in shock and anger, "We can't take you there. If we take you there, and Brother Chi Zhi sees us, we will also die!"

Ji Xiang threatened, "Take me there, and I will guarantee you won't die! I even killed Song Wuji, you can completely trust me! Otherwise, I will kill you now!"

The two little fire figures muttered, and at the same time, one of them cheered himself up, saying to his companion, "He knows our true names, but he may not really know how to kill us. Maybe he's just scaring us!"

The other little fire figure also responded in fear, "Yes, yes! He can't kill us, hehe... Only the Tang people know the way to kill A-Lian..."

“Oh, only the Tang people know?”

Ji Xiang's voice was like that of a death-summoning ghost!

“Gentlemen, you can apply the blood to the arrows now. After my next sentence, no matter what I say, you shoot the arrows directly!”

The two Imperial Guards immediately smeared their blood on the arrowheads. Amidst the terrified cries of the two little fire figures, Ji Xiang spoke!

“Shoot their A-Lian heads!”

With a *buzz*, an arrow flew out, directly killing one fire spirit. The other little fire figure was stunned with fear, and Ji Xiang slowly said at this time, "If I wanted to kill you, I would need to use talismans, which would be quite unworthy. I said, there are many ways to kill you!"

“You fire spirits and monsters possess people to kill, and dare to call yourselves righteous gods? Some deserve to die, some are innocent, but there are laws, divine punishments, and karma to manage it all! What right do you have to commit such killings?”

“The Three Heavens Righteous Gods do not possess the bodies of the living. If there are any who descend, they must be demons!”

“What kind of righteous gods are you? In the end, you are all demons!”