A dark shadow sweeps through the wind, revealing natural and man-made disasters.

Since they were going to travel together, Huaiwen thought it would be better to find out Jiang Liyan's intentions. For example, setting aside the debts owed by the Jiang family, Jiang Liyan didn't need to reveal his identity and travel with him.

Jiang Liyan replied to Huaiwen that after leaving the Jiang family, he wanted to seek immortality and ask questions. Although he had not studied in a so-called orthodox immortal sect, and was born into a shady school, he was good at being flexible and comprehension, and his skills were not bad.

Huaiwen then asked him if his only pursuit was to attain immortality.

Jiang Liyan laughed and said, "Isn't it good? Everyone says that once you become an immortal, you will live forever and have no worries about food and clothing."

"Is that all?" Huaiwen pressed. She too was a seeker of immortality and had long wanted to find a like-minded friend. Now that she saw Jiang Liyan openly expressing the same thoughts as her, she was naturally concerned.

She naturally wanted to know if the other person shared the same thoughts as her.

Jiang Liyan thought for a moment and then smiled and said, "Are you thinking that after you attain immortality, you'll become a god and save all living beings? Isn't that natural? Once you become a god, you'll naturally have to do good deeds."

Hearing the answer she wanted, Huaiwen finally smiled. If they weren't the same kind of people, she wouldn't need to travel with them.

The two exchanged glances, then looked at Xuan Ye beside them, both breaking into sheepish smiles. Xuan Ye's eyes swept back and forth between the two, he pursed his lips, and sighed deeply.

Since that was the case, Huaiwen took the opportunity to tell Xuan Ye that Jiang Liyan wanted to travel with them. She was somewhat worried that Xuan Ye wouldn't agree. But to her surprise, Xuan Ye simply glanced at Jiang Liyan and nodded in agreement.

This delighted Jiang Liyan, who praised Xuan Ye for his good judgment.

However, this surprised Huaiwen somewhat, as he hadn't liked Jiang Liyan before. Why did he agree so quickly? Huaiwen narrowed his eyes, his expression a mixture of disbelief and doubt: "You really agreed?"

Xuan Ye uttered a curt "no".

Huaiwen froze, his eyes widening as he asked, "Then you... agreed to go together?"

Xuan Ye crossed his arms and said meaningfully, "Hmm...we need a laborer."

Huaiwen: "..."

Jiang Liyan gritted his teeth, but his strength did not allow him to resist, so he could only huff a few times in anger.

Suddenly, the crowd started making a fuss. Huaiwen and the others looked over and saw that the soldiers had arrived. They surrounded the pit and prevented anyone from getting close.

Two more Taoist priests dressed in blue went down to investigate and performed a ritual. They chanted, "All calamities have been eliminated, all calamities have been eliminated."

Seeing this, Huaiwen moved closer. Her cultivation was limited, and she couldn't discern anything on the stone tablet. She turned to Xuan Ye beside her and asked if the tablet still held any of the unpleasant things from yesterday.

Xuan Ye shook his head: "There's nothing there."

Overnight, Yong'an was at peace?

Huaiwen repeated the words to herself, "If that's the case," and then the meaning of her seeking immortality seemed to become concrete at that moment. Huaiwen was deeply moved and remained so for a long time.

Xuan Ye, taking all of this in, seemed to see the Ruan Shiyun of the past. She was just like her; they both had a heart that longed to attain immortality.

This forced Xuan Ye to ponder deeply.

As the crowd dispersed, it was time for them to leave as well.

Before leaving Yong'an City, Huaiwen sent Onikiri back to the City of Demons and Humans. After all, she had been away for over a month, taking two helpers with her, and she was worried about leaving her master alone there. Besides, if anything happened, Onikiri could come and tell her.

Demon Slayer, his voice slightly choked with emotion, said, "Young Master Huaiwen has grown up!"

Onikiri was moved to tears: "Yes. With the two of you here, we no longer need to worry about who will collect Young Master Huaiwen's body if he dies."

Huaiwen: "..."

Xuan Ye: "..."

Jiang Liyan suppressed a laugh: "You guys are... quite thoughtful."

Before Onikiri left, Huaiwen secretly gave him all the money the Qian family had paid to take back to Liu Xi. After all, the Demon Slayer Institute had fallen into disrepair and there were too many expenses involved!

So, on her way to the next place, she continued to hang a fortune-telling sign and sell small magical items, such as demon-revealing mirrors. Jiang Liyan was quite sensible and took the initiative to help.

As for Xuan Ye, he sat there arrogantly, watching Huai Wen and Jiang Liyan busy themselves. Jiang Liyan was indignant that Xuan Ye wouldn't help, so he went to reason with him. But Xuan Ye's words, "I don't lack money, and I'm not using your money," choked him up.

Xuan Ye indeed didn't spend a single penny of Huai Wen's money along the way. It was just tough on Huai Wen and Jiang Liyan themselves; traveling the martial world without money was truly difficult!

In the past, the ladyboy guild wouldn't even need to set up a stall; people would come to them to do business. But things are different now; even if they shouted themselves hoarse on the street, no one would come.

Without money, you'll only starve to death!

But she couldn't die yet, and Huaiwen felt she needed to find a new way to make money. A brilliant idea struck her, and she ran to the bulletin board of the Zhiyang City government office to see if there were any criminal suspects wanted to be arrested, hoping to earn some reward money.

And indeed, she found some "good news".

Huaiwen ran back to the inn, pushed open the door, and told Jiang Liyan the "good news"! Jiang Liyan scratched his head and asked, "Are you really sure you want to catch the thief?"

"certainly!"

Jiang Liyan grabbed a piece of persimmon cake and took a bite: "You have a way to catch it?"

Huaiwen readily replied, "There are always more solutions than problems!"

Jiang Liyan retorted leisurely, "That's the same as not saying anything at all."

Regardless, the task of catching the thief began. Huaiwen and Jiang Liyan first inquired about the thief's misdeeds.

They learned that this thief had stolen most of the wealthy family's treasures in a single month. He always stole at night, but made no sound whatsoever, and even when the authorities sent troops, they couldn't catch him.

No one knows what skills this thief has, always managing to steal things without anyone noticing. In this situation, everyone suspects it might be the work of a demon. They've been planning to invite a Taoist priest to perform a ritual to exorcise the demon these past few days.

Having gathered this information, Huaiwen and Jiang Liyan exchanged a glance. This job, they realized, was a lucky accident, a perfect match for their expertise. Huaiwen and Jiang Liyan planned to visit the family whose property had been robbed, but the wealthy and powerful officials refused to let them into their homes.

During this period, many people claiming to be expert investigators or even Taoist priests came and went from the mansion, but to no avail. This infuriated the high-ranking officials, but they were powerless to do anything about it. Fortunately, they managed to drive all the so-called expert investigators out.

For the next seven or eight days, the thieves did not return, and the wealthy and powerful families hired more servants to prevent another theft.

Therefore, they ignored people like Huaiwen who claimed they were there to solve a case and wanted to go in and take a look.

With their plan to enter the mansion temporarily shelved, the two had to find another way.

The two first went to the market, hoping to get some reliable information from the vendors. But the vendors there were full of tricks; they said they wouldn't sell information without money.

This infuriated Huaiwen and Jiang Liyan. This was outrageous! Neither of them were short of money and naturally couldn't pay. Seeing that the other party had many tricks up their sleeve, Huaiwen improvised, suggesting they exchange information using fortune-telling.

The vendors simply waved their hands, saying they didn't tell fortunes. When you don't have money to support yourself, having enough to eat is the most important thing; fortune telling is useless. This small setback began to make Huaiwen doubt himself.

Fortunately, Jiang Liyan, who was standing next to him, was also a very clever person.

Since the other party is someone who doesn't pay or sell information, they don't care whether you want to listen to your fate or not. They'll just offer to tell your fortune for free, but they won't understand your suffering.

Sure enough, after the divination, the merchants became curious. Anyone who heard they were in for a bloody disaster would have their heart skip a beat! Moreover, since Huaiwen and Jiang Liyan's predictions were accurate, the merchants felt even more uncertain.

Left with no other option, the two sides began negotiations, sincerely trying to resolve the issue for each other.

The vendor told the two that the thieves mostly came in the middle of the night, and no one had ever seen what they looked like at night. Some people said that these thieves seemed to have the ability to become invisible, which was why they couldn't be seen.

But some people say that the night watchman saw them and that the thieves were not human, but more like demons.

Only demons can flee quickly at the sight of a night watchman; only demons can slip away silently. It is said that the demon is very powerful, capable of transforming into human form and possessing demonic magic; ordinary people are no match for him.

Huaiwen asked the vendors if they had any portraits.

The vendors then began to describe the demon, one after another: she was strangely shaped; they said she wasn't pretty, but she had a nose and eyes, like a human. However, she also had scales on her face, and her cheeks were bulging, like a small fish.

Jiang Liyan sighed, "Could it be a fish demon?"

The vendors immediately chimed in, saying it was a fish demon. Otherwise, how could they have searched the entire city and not found the stolen goods! Now that things had come to this, the two could only follow this lead.

Having finally found the lake, the two exchanged ideas on how to summon the fish demon. Ultimately, however, they decided that the lake was too large, and unless they hit it with a single blow, the fish demon would surely escape. The best solution was to lure it out!

Just as Jiang Taigong once fished, so too does Jiang Liyan today fry fish.

He somehow obtained sulfur, mixed it with sawdust, and made it into explosives. He lit it and threw it into the lake. Huaiwen didn't even have time to stop him. With a loud bang, the explosives detonated in the water, turning the lake water into rain, which poured down on the two of them.

Two people were soaked to the bone.

Just as the two were dumbfounded, a figure appeared on the lake. They looked up and saw an angry fish demon. She was standing with her hands on her hips, demanding to know why Huaiwen and Jiang Liyan had blown up her fishpond!

Jiang Liyan wiped the lake water from his face and asked through gritted teeth, "Are you a thief?"

The fish demon snorted, flew from the lake to the shore, and pointed at Jiang Liyan's nose: "You're the thief! Where did the magistrate find this person? How can he be so stupid in solving cases!"

"You, you, you—" Jiang Liyan shouted, "What do you mean I'm stupid? It's you who did something wrong and I caught you doing it."

The fish demon stuck its tongue out at him, blew several bubbles, and hit Jiang Liyan in the face. The two started arguing. Fortunately, Huaiwen remained rational. He quickly separated the two, said a few words of advice to Jiang Liyan, apologized to the fish demon, and asked, "I'm sorry, young lady. We were a bit rash. But judging from what you've said, are you a thief in the city who steals things?"

"Yes, that's right." The fish demon puffed out its cheeks, looking arrogant and proud.

"Then tell me quickly, what do you know?" Jiang Liyan asked impatiently.

The fish demon rolled its eyes at him, then said to Huaiwen that they had almost blown up their own home and that the two of them should apologize.

Jiang Liyan asked, "So how do you plan to compensate me?"

"Give me the silver!"

Jiang Liyan and Huaiwen exchanged a glance; both were short of money. Seeing this, the fish demon naturally wouldn't let them off the hook. Reluctantly, Huaiwen suggested using something else instead of silver.

The fish demon asked what it was.

Huaiwen pulled out his treasure pouch and frantically rummaged through it. In a flash, the fish demon, with her sharp eyes, spotted something familiar. She picked it up and asked, "How do you have this?"

Huaiwen was taken aback; she didn't know when this thing had appeared in her treasure pouch. She picked it up and examined it closely. It was a small fox charm, exquisitely carved. Turning it over, she saw two characters written on it: "Luo Fu."

But she remembered not seeing this when she left Luofu, nor had she taken it. Could it be that someone deliberately put it in her bag?

Jiang Liyan asked Huaiwen curiously what it was.

The fish demon replied faster than Huaiwen: "You don't know this? It's because I've been in Luofu for a long time and have become trustworthy that Sister Qingye gave me this little fox charm."

Jiang Liyan was shocked; Huaiwen had actually been to Luofu. He pressed Huaiwen for details, but Huaiwen brushed it off with only a few words.

Huaiwen asked, "Then how do you know this? Did you also live in Luofudai?"

The fish demon shook its head: "I have never stayed in Luofu. But Sister Qingye was kind to me. Later, she asked me to find someone here. Fearing that others would bully me, she gave me this little fox talisman."

Huaiwen asked curiously, "Then who did she tell you to find?"

The fish demon puffed out its cheeks and pondered for a moment: "I don't know her name, but we tracked her by scent, it's just that I've never smelled her before."

"So you didn't go out last night to steal anything, you went to find someone?" Jiang Liyan said thoughtfully.

"You even accused me of stealing! I didn't go to steal anything last night! I went to see..." The fish demon stopped abruptly, cleared her throat, and continued, "Anyway, I didn't steal anything. I'm not talking to you anymore. You're lucky to know Sister Qingye. I won't hold it against you."

"Do you know who the thief is?" Huaiwen asked, changing the subject.

"I don't know. But I remember that around midnight, they passed by here, making a lot of noise, like they were dividing up the spoils, which woke me up. I peeked out and saw that they were wearing blue Taoist robes, so they looked like Taoist priests. But there are no Taoist temples around here."

The three looked at each other in bewilderment, and in the end, it all turned into a misunderstanding.

At this moment, Huaiwen was filled with confusion. The fish demon knew Qingye and had said last night that it was looking for someone. Could it be looking for Xuan Ye?