Li 2, the bewildered madman in the mountain village

"Go after them now?" Mo Heng asked, bewildered.

Rong Yun scolded him for being stupid, saying that the demon had probably escaped to who-knows-where! How could they possibly chase after it!

Huaiwen gestured for them to quiet down and asked them what they were doing here after coming down from the divine realm. He told them to tell him everything they knew.

The four priests were still somewhat worried. How could they know if Huaiwen was a bad person and if they wanted to pry useful information out of him to sabotage his passage through the test?

Onikiri and Onimei angrily argued for Huaiwen, saying that their Lord Ajun could not possibly be such a person! So they asked the four priests if they knew that the young man had slain the rat demon.

The priests nodded, and Onikiri arrogantly pointed at Huaiwen and said, "Look, she's the one who killed the rat demon."

The priests were astonished, and then Onikiri asked them if they knew about the extermination of demons at Mount Qimin. The priests obediently nodded again.

Demon Slayer, increasingly pleased and proud, said, "That person is still her."

Their Lord Ajun can kill the rat demon, slay the scorpion demon, and destroy Mount Qimin!

Amidst the worship and praise of the four priests, Huaiwen heard Shi Yulu's question: "Then why haven't you ascended to become a priest yet?"

The atmosphere suddenly turned cold, but Huaiwen didn't let it linger. With a gentle expression, she replied playfully, "Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed."

The renowned Huaiwen was someone these four junior priests would mention in their casual conversations. But when they learned that the important figure was right in front of them, all their suspicions vanished, and they instantly turned to trust and affection.

Huaiwen steered the conversation back on track, saying, "Wait, wait, first tell me why you came here."

Only then did the four junior priests recount the whole story.

The four of them were newly appointed priests, here to undergo their priestly examination. The villagers in this area had been greatly troubled lately; they burned incense and prayed at the temple, saying there were demons in the area and begging the gods to help them.

Their assessment task was to resolve the villagers' problems. They had been down there for several days, traveling through two or three villages without finding the so-called demon.

I had just arrived at this village when it started pouring rain, so I came in to take shelter. Then what happened next...

Huaiwen asked the four priests what evil deeds the demon had committed.

The four priests exchanged glances and spoke slowly.

This area has been quite unsettled lately; it's said that someone in the village has been cursed by a demon. And this story begins with the two sons and daughter of the Li family.

The eldest son was named Li Tie, the youngest son was named Li Fu, and the daughter was named Li Feng. The three siblings and Old Man Li were living a good life, but one day, the eldest son, Li Tie, said that he had taken a fancy to a girl in the next village and wanted to marry her.

But the family was poor, and getting a daughter was not easy. So what could they do? Old Man Li wanted to sell the family's ox for plowing the fields. But Li Fu and Li Feng disagreed; it was the family's only ox.

Without it, how can we grow crops? Will the family still have food to eat?

Although Li Tie knew that if he sold the family's only cow, the family would go hungry, he was old enough to get married! He couldn't go looking for a wife empty-handed.

What could he do? Old Li was so worried that he couldn't sleep day or night. Just then, a passerby gave him an idea.

The passerby said there was a cat demon three miles south, and that the demon could grant your wish if you agreed to one thing.

Old Man Li had never liked dealing with demons, but for the sake of his eldest son's marriage, he had no choice but to go find the cat demon.

Just as the passerby had said, Old Man Li did what the cat demon had asked him to do. He received the money and then married off his eldest son in a grand and lavish manner.

They thought happiness was about to begin, but who could have imagined that less than two months later, Old Man Li's youngest son, Li Fu, suddenly became lame, his daughter, Li Feng, disappeared, and he himself went insane.

From then on, when Old Man Li went mad, he would run into the street and bite people, and those he bit would turn into him. Everyone was terrified. At first, they tried to hit him with things, but they didn't expect Old Man Li to be so strong. He wasn't afraid of being hit at all, and he could even knock down the young men.

After much deliberation, the villagers concluded that Old Man Li was under the spell of the cat demon and needed to be freed. However, their small village couldn't afford to hire a renowned Taoist priest, and their location was too far from the government offices to report the matter in time, so they had no choice but to hide.

"But..." Mo Heng sighed regretfully.

“Just what?” Huaiwen asked.

Mo Heng hung his head: "But lately, Old Man Li has gone even further. I heard that he's not just biting people now. They say he's even killed people."

Rong Yun kept cursing that demon, saying he was incredibly audacious to dare kill a god today!

“Jing Ze died so unjustly, she was killed by a demon for doing nothing! But I can’t understand how she killed Jing Ze?” Rong Yun wondered. Before he turned over and got up, he clearly heard Jing Ze grinding her teeth in her sleep.

“Who among those who died at her hands was not wronged?” Huaiwen thought to himself, feeling deeply saddened.

Rong Yun gave a muffled groan but did not reply.

Cang Lun, standing to the side, glanced back and forth between Huai Wen and Xuan Ye, and tentatively asked, "We've said so much, but neither of you has introduced yourselves yet?"

Huaiwen coughed twice and introduced himself as coming from the Transgender City's Transgender Affairs Bureau. He said he knew some magic and could be of some help.

The four priests nodded thoughtfully, and Mo Heng even praised Huai Wen in a very friendly manner, saying, "You must be very capable, otherwise you wouldn't have a little follower."

Xuan Ye's expression turned even uglier.

Huaiwen was terrified and refused to look at Xuan Ye again. She had intended to play a joke on him, to tease him. Now, the teasing was ruined, and Xuan Ye might even hold a grudge against her.

"So what are your names?" Mo Heng asked happily.

Huaiwen opened her mouth as if to say her name was Huaiwen, but then she remembered that Xuanye had called her Ruan Shiyun, so she gave up. She simply told the four priests to call her A-Jun.

"Where's that silent little follower in the back?"

Huaiwen looked helplessly at Mo Heng, who had no sense of propriety. Mo Heng's repeated remarks were challenging the Demon King's patience.

Never mind, it was Huaiwen who started it all. She needs to resolve this before the Demon King loses his temper.

Huaiwen moved closer to Xuan Ye to avoid him getting angry and hurting people later. She could stand in front of him and protect everyone.

Having made this plan, Huaiwen answered lightly for Xuan Ye: "His name is A-Ling."

As the light dimmed, Xuan Ye's upper body was almost completely hidden in the darkness, and Huai Wen couldn't see the emotions in his eyes. But seeing that he remained silent and unperturbed, Huai Wen could only conclude that he was "indifferent" to the matter, or perhaps "waiting to act."

After introducing themselves, the four priests decided to find a place to bury Jingze. They discussed whether to bury him in the village or take him back to the divine realm.

Huaiwen finally managed to deduce Xuan Ye's thoughts during this brief moment. She decided that she needed to appease the Demon King first and not let him ruin her plans.

"Um...you're...not angry, are you?"

Xuan Ye finally reacted. He raised his head and met Huai Wen's gaze, their eyes rapidly exchanging emotions. Huai Wen sighed inwardly; at least for this moment, there was no murderous intent in Xuan Ye's eyes.

Huaiwen explained softly, "I think you changed your face because you didn't want people to know your true identity... so you took matters into your own hands beforehand."

"Hmm—" Xuan Ye lowered his voice in evaluation, "You are strategic in your actions, very good."

Huaiwen was taken aback. He realized that these words meant they hadn't let her go yet and wanted to take her back. She had no choice but to change the subject: "Isn't your Drunken Dream Pavilion very busy? Shouldn't you go back?"

Xuan Ye closed the distance between them, leaning his body down until he was almost touching Huai Wen's face. He turned his head and whispered in Huai Wen's ear, "If you want to play, I'll play with you to the very end."

Huaiwen's voice was a little hoarse, and he finally retorted in a deep voice, "I'm not playing around, I'm doing serious business!"

"Alright, then let me see what you're capable of."

Huaiwen stared at Xuan Ye, her mind racing. Why didn't she take this opportunity to probe him, just like Xuan Ye had?

After the four outside finished their discussion, they decided to take Jing Ze back to the realm of the gods. The death of a god is different from that of a human. They will transform into nourishment for nature and return to nature. However, until their examiner, Lady Zhen Li, arrives, they need to preserve Jing Ze's body.

However, none of the four of them currently possess this ability.

Huaiwen first went over to examine Jingze's body, but there were no marks left on it, only no breath. Thinking about it this way, this ghost was too powerful.

A person can be killed silently, without the victim even realizing they are being murdered. This method is often the most brutal.

Huaiwen took a deep breath, slowly took out a light veil from his treasure bag, covered Jingze's body with it, and cast a spell. He then told the four junior priests that this would prevent the corpse from rotting and smelling bad.

The four junior priests couldn't help but admire Huaiwen once again; they had witnessed so many firsts on this trip. The first time they had seen a priest die, and the first time they had seen someone preserve a priest's body.

Shi Yulu asked Huaiwen curiously what that light gauze was.

Huaiwen said it was a sac to isolate the body from the outside world, preventing Jingze's corpse from coming into contact with the outside world and thus preventing it from turning into a zombie.

As dawn broke, Huaiwen, no longer sleepy, said he wanted to go out and explore. The others, not wanting to wait idly, went out with him.

Before setting off, Huaiwen told the others that the demon's face was not the pale, ghostly appearance that people usually described. Instead, it was heavily made up, with a rosy complexion, making it look just like a living, breathing person.

The people in the nearby villages are mostly dressed simply, so they can be ruled out. But we must also be wary of the ghost, which might imitate us and disguise itself as a villager to mislead us. Therefore, we must not overlook anything suspicious.

When they returned to the village, the villagers were gradually leaving to get to work early. As they passed by, they observed the expressions on the villagers' faces.

But these people showed no abnormalities.

Shi Yulu said with a worried expression, "Could it be that this demon is going to another village?"

Cang Lun shook his head and pondered, "I don't think so yet. That demon killed Jing Ze last night, so she probably hasn't gone far. I think she must—"

"We'll be back!" Rong Yun and Mo Heng shouted in unison.

Cang Lun looked at Huai Wen thoughtfully: "You said you saw her last night, so that means she was going to kill you too, but she failed... so she'll probably come back tonight to kill you..."

Everyone turned to look at Huaiwen. Onikiri floated up, shouting things like, "Master A-Yun, don't die!" Huaiwen, however, remained calm, saying she would be careful.

Mo Heng took small steps over, his eyes shining, and gently coaxed Huaiwen, "Don't be afraid, we will protect you."

Rong Yun rolled her eyes and spat, "Who will protect whom is still uncertain!"

Huaiwen smiled brightly. She thought it was good that these four officials each had their own personality and that they brought blessings to the Three Realms.

"Oh no! Oh no! That old man from the Li family has gone mad again!"

The group turned around and saw a villager running hurriedly on the road. His words spread, and the villagers who were walking on the street ran back into their houses and locked the doors without saying a word.

The group quickened their pace and headed in that direction. Soon they saw the old man Li that the villagers had been calling out to—he was dressed in tattered clothes, his eyes were lifeless, and he was muttering something, but it was too soft for them to hear clearly.

The crazed old man Li became even more excited when he saw Huaiwen and his group. He rushed over, but Shi Yulu immediately stopped him.

"ah--"

Everyone turned to look at Rong Yun, only to see bite marks on his arm! Rong Yun cursed, "Who launched this sneak attack? Show yourself!"

There was no response.

Before they could find out what was going on, Rong Yun's arm rapidly turned black. He cried out in terror, "My hand! What happened to it! How did I lose all feeling in it?"

Without a word, Mo Heng pulled out a bottle of medicine from his pocket and sprinkled the white powder on his arm, which stopped it from turning black. Rong Yun clutched his arm, crying out in pain and asking who had attacked him.

Cang Lun and Shi Yulu reacted quickly. They cast a transformation spell on their surroundings, but nothing was transformed.

Instead, it was old man Li who broke free from Shi Yulu's immobilization technique, laughing loudly as he ran off again. But this time he ran in the opposite direction... and disappeared from everyone's sight.