The interior is furnished in a pleasingly irregular manner, displaying exquisite porcelain pieces and paintings and calligraphy by renowned masters. The landscape paintings on them seem to possess a certain magic; when you gaze at them intently, the lines involuntarily twist, and in a trance, you seem to see all the myriad aspects of the world.

"You can stay here for now. I'll have someone bring some food over later." Teng Laoqi had other things to do, so after giving brief instructions, he didn't linger and turned to leave.

Once Su Yuxi was sure the person had left, she jumped down from Xuan Yin's arms, slowly paced around, carefully examining everything in the room. Finally, she ran outside to take a look, and finding no one there, she ran up to Xuan Yin and deliberately lowered her voice to ask, "Grandpa, what are we doing here?"

"This place is a demon capital..."

She frowned, unsure how to describe it; these demons seemed both pitiful and inexplicably frightening.

Xuan Yin walked to the tea table and sat down cross-legged. In front of him was a cup of tea that had already been brewed. He poured himself a cup, took a small sip, and directly saw through her little scheme: "They are ugly, aren't they?"

"Mmm." Su Yuxi nodded shyly.

From a young age, everyone around her was physically healthy, the women were beautiful, and the men were exceptionally handsome. But these demons were not only physically disabled, but also incredibly ugly, and they emitted a foul stench. If they came out at night, they would scare people out of their wits.

Although it's impolite to think this way, that's the truth.

Xuan Yin slightly raised his eyelids to look outside, his eyes filled with a sense of bewilderment and deep thought: "Xi Xi, have you ever thought about why they have become like this?"

"They were originally healthy demons, and their downfall was not of their own volition."

Su Yuxi nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite: "Perhaps."

"But what does that have to do with me?" It's not like she's the one who turned those people into this.

Xuan Yin paused slightly, raised his knuckles and tapped her head twice. Looking into her pure and innocent eyes, he let out a long and helpless sigh, feeling a sense of powerlessness and disappointment: "Think again, does this have anything to do with you?"

After leaving those words, he walked away, his figure gradually disappearing into a bamboo grove ahead.

Su Yuxi rubbed her head, which had been throbbing from the knock, and found Azu's words nonsensical. What did those demons with missing limbs have to do with her?

She grumbled indignantly, walked to the windowsill, jumped up, and looked at the scenery outside, recalling what Ah Zu had just told her.

No matter how she thought about it, she didn't feel that these demons had anything to do with her. At most, she felt a little pity for them, but what else could it be?

Forget it, I'm not going to think about it anymore. I'm going to sleep. With her limited brain capacity, she'll never be able to figure it out.

She had barely closed her eyes when she heard a rustling sound. Half-asleep, she opened one eye and glanced sideways, only to see a small black cat hiding under the bamboo grove not far away.

The black cat was unusual; it was missing one paw and the other claw. Its two dark eyes were timidly peeking at her, wanting to get closer but hesitant to take a step.

Su Yuxi was fully awake. She raised her head and looked up, which startled the little black cat, who retreated backward repeatedly.

Upon seeing this, she got up and ran over. When she got closer, she discovered that the little black cat's two legs were gone. Instead, metal wheels were tied around its waist to support its body as it wobbled forward.

"My God, how did you become like this?"

The little black cat meowed twice, and realizing that the fox in front of it wouldn't do anything to it, it mustered up its courage to look back at her. Looking at her intact body, beautiful fur, and unapproachable aura, its eyes were full of envy: "Sister, you are so beautiful."

Su Yuxi wagged her tail, and after comparing the two, she nodded uncomfortably.

"I'm...I'm alright."

"Can I ask you something? It might be a bit presumptuous, but if you feel you can't answer, you don't have to."

The little black cat tilted its head, its eyes flashing with confusion. It was unclear what she wanted to ask. She was a guest brought by the Ancestor, so her questions shouldn't be too difficult.

"you say."

Su Yuxi moved a little closer to the little black cat, her lips slightly parted, feeling that there were some things she found difficult to say. After carefully considering her words, she pointed to its arm and asked tactfully, "Did you accidentally hurt your hands and feet like this? And why do all the people here end up like that?"

Although these words were spoken in a tactful manner, they inevitably touched upon her sensitive wounds. To understand the meaning of Azu's last words, she needed to know why these demons had become like this.

"Don't you know?" The little black cat's eyes were filled with a heavy gloom, and its aura became oppressive. No one here would talk about this issue, because they were all victims, and no one would recall that hellish life.

When it recalled that the fox spirit in front of it had come into the world, she was in the arms of the ancestor. She had obviously been carefully raised and had innocent and pure eyes that showed no signs of the world. It didn't know whether it should tell her these things.

Seeing its hesitation, Su Yuxi didn't want to make things difficult for it: "I don't know. If you don't want to say, that's fine."

She doesn't necessarily want to reopen old wounds.

The little black cat lay down, lowered its head and thought for a long time before saying, "No, the reason we became like this is because we were captured by humans for research. It was the Ancestor who saved us and placed us here."

“Research?” When she heard the word “research,” the first person she thought of was Fu Huaijin.

He was also one of those arrested for research, but she didn't delve into why Fu Huaijin was arrested for research.

"Why are those people studying you? Aren't you demons who have taken human form? Can't you defeat them?"

In her eyes, the world of demons is peaceful and powerful. It is already an extremely difficult thing for them to cultivate into demons, and it is an even rarer opportunity to transform into humans. They already have a certain ability to protect themselves.

Why would they be surrounded and hunted by mere humans? If they couldn't win, they could just run away and hide.

"Fight?" The little black cat shook its head slightly.

"If you really don't know, I hope you never do."

Without experiencing such horror firsthand, one cannot comprehend how terrifying human greed can be.

When they are wealthy and powerful, what they crave is immortality, and they will try every means to hold onto their wealth and prosperity forever.

They couldn't find the legendary gods, but the demons that roamed the human world became their targets.

All the incomplete demons in this village are the ideal "experimental subjects" in the eyes of those anthropologists. They want to research the results of victory for the big shots standing at the top of the pyramid.

But researching something that goes against the natural order is incredibly difficult.