That cunning and wicked young master is truly young and reckless.

Yan Huanyue raised her hand and gently tapped her slightly aching head before swallowing a pill.

The rain was torrential, soaking our clothes and hair.

She walked along the eaves of the houses on the street, probing the decaying air hidden by the heavy rain, without wasting her spiritual energy on drying her dress in the drizzle.

Only after reaching the end of a row of rooftops did they open their umbrellas and brave the wind and rain to move forward.

She first went to the homes of those whose corpses had already been unearthed by the demons.

Today was a brief respite from the sweltering summer heat, but the wind and rain made it dark and gloomy, and perhaps to some, it was a damp and gloomy scene where the sun could not be seen.

Some families were reported, some were discovered in advance by the patrol guards of the patrol station, and some turned themselves in. Some who were suspected of harming others' lives and raising corpses due to their own selfish desires have also been arrested.

Those who surrendered themselves were fine, but the families of those who were taken away by the corpse demon against their will were filled with sorrow.

If they had simply held a proper funeral, it would have been a way to save face for the rest of their lives.

But now, after all that effort, nothing has been found, not even the body has been taken away. I wonder what kind of undignified treatment they will receive.

Most of the families Yan Huanyue visited had an extreme aversion to the people from Xuntianliao.

Although they were allowed to come into their homes for a short while, they all sat sideways, tears streaming down their faces, their eyes red and silent.

It really seems as if the Xuntianliao killed their relatives for no reason last night, and Yan Huanyue has come to apologize today.

The purpose of raising corpses was to bring the deceased back to life, but I only recently discovered that I've raised monsters instead. Who's to blame? The fortune tellers who lied to me, or my own stupidity?

Just then, the Sky Patrol arrived, shattering our illusions and taking away the Corpse Demon. Let's blame the Sky Patrol for now.

Yan Huanyue could more or less understand their emotions at this moment, so she didn't disturb them. She simply asked about the needle pricks on their foreheads, which was enough to make the silent ones turn around.

Most people would say something like, "Will this be a problem? Everyone in our family who knew about this had their foreheads pricked with needles, because that's how we let him know how much we wanted him to come back to life."

Yan Huanyue would then reply, "I've checked, there's nothing seriously wrong. Those people just want your obsessions."

What can obsession do?

"A strong will can drive a person to carve a ladder to the top of a towering mountain, or to cross a vast ocean with towering waves, without fear or regard for anything else."

One of the elderly men, who had lost his grandchildren, smashed his pipe and said viciously:

“I’ve heard from people who understand these things that there’s a set of procedures for dealing with corpse demons. They say that these resurrected people are actually good, but it’s just that you so-called righteous sects are afraid that someone will learn the secret technique of ‘the Way of Life and Death’ and surpass you, so you’re in a hurry to burn them to death!”

Yan Huanyue said helplessly, "If the 'Path of Life and Death' could be cultivated so easily, would there still be any living people left in the sects of the world?"

At noon, Yan Huanyue walked to the vicinity of Sanyang Valley, where many people were already waiting in the rain to watch.

"Why isn't it burning yet?"

"The Sky Patrol has been a huge help to us. If they hadn't come, who would have known that we had so many monsters hiding here? I even used to scold them."

"Bury them, burn them! They were pitiful people who should have been reborn long ago, and now they've been turned into these grotesque, black-faced creatures. Only these reputable families are willing to give these poor souls a dignified death. They really treat people like human beings..."

"I heard they're not actually corpse demons, they're all alive and well..."

"Nonsense, right?"

"Really? I've heard about it! It's a cultivation method, otherwise why would the Sky Patrol Office be in such a hurry to cremate corpses?"

"Bullshit! You think you can cultivate just by being nourished by blood? I'll go back and drink all your blood and see if I can become an immortal! You're already in this grotesque state, and you still want to cultivate? Who knows if you'll suddenly jump up and eat people? I'm worried even more than the Sky Patrol Office. If they don't burn it down, I'll go over and set it on fire myself in a bit!"

Yan Huanyue waited in the crowd for a while.

Dozens of corpse demons who had been pierced with poison nails were dressed in clean and neat mourning clothes overnight, their hair was tied up, their faces were tidied, and they were given simple ornaments such as crowns and jade.

Even the one who suddenly attacked and was beheaded by her last night has had his head stitched up, changed into a brand new purple outfit, cleaned his face, and is wearing a black hat with a pair of jade cranes sewn on the brim.

Although most of the corpse demons have a bluish-black complexion, they look more dignified than many living people.

Because of the heavy rain and lack of sunlight, they were all moved to a thatched hut in the valley with a white banner that read "Your voice and appearance are still here" to be blown around and cleansed as is customary. It did not seem like a grand sacrificial ceremony was about to be held.

I don't know why Ji Linsong announced today's ceremony last night.

After pondering for a moment, Yan Huanyue thought about the old man's words today and the whispers in the crowd earlier. She began to suspect that the methods for dealing with the corpse demon and the words about 'life and death' were also spread by Ji Linsong.

Therefore, it is unlikely that the sacrificial ceremony will be held today.

If the event is not held, those rumors spread by who knows who will naturally fall apart. This time, believing the rumors has wronged the Xuntianliao. Who will talk about the Xuntianliao in the future when dealing with corpse demons?

Yan Huanyue felt that Ji Linsong was a man who acted without regard for means. Besides spreading two rumors, one positive and one negative, his act of collecting the deceased's remains in broad daylight was simply a psychological attack.

Now, those who know that the so-called method of resurrection is nothing more than raising corpse demons and turning their loved ones into monsters, seeing how kind the Xuntianliao treats the dead, will mostly choose to turn themselves in to the Xuntianliao, except for the murderers who brought about the deaths of others by resurrecting their loved ones.

Those who harbored resentment towards the Xuntianliao last night for digging up corpses will probably feel ashamed and grateful to the Xuntianliao for giving their loved ones a dignified death.

Yan Huanyue had a premonition that in the end, the affairs of Tingnan would surely benefit the Xuntian Division and Emperor Mingde, just like the Tianyan Sect, which had lost several generations of its members many years ago, and whose call was answered by a hundred.

She remembered that when she met Ji Linsong before Emperor Mingdezong, he was very perceptive and could be described as upright, but he did not seem to be the kind of person who would use such methods.

He was both the Director of the Punishment Department of Emperor Mingdezong and the Director of the Astronomical Bureau, which was established under the leadership of Emperor Mingdezong. Therefore, he was not absent from the public eye.

If he had acted this way in the past, people would have spread the word, but she had never heard of such a thing.

But she was actually not familiar with him at all. There was a high probability that she hadn't heard about him because she lacked experience. She didn't know exactly how he acted.

She took a pill to suppress the death energy. As of now, whether her guess about the Rejuvenation Pill is true remains to be verified.

As for how to verify this, simply dealing with the current corpse demons is not enough; we must continue to uncover the person behind it all.

She retraced her steps, and during her investigation, the descriptions of the teacher who taught the evil magic from several families were consistent.

Strangely, two families met with the gentleman separately at the same time but in different places. Could one person be divided into two?

Unless it's a group, they don't care at all about being remembered for their fake appearance, no matter how they disguise themselves.

She intended to verify this further, but on her way back she passed several other houses. She wanted to ask them about something, but all the houses were empty. They must have gone to Sanyang Valley to watch the sacrificial ceremony.

Well, after today, she should be able to get more information when she visits tomorrow.

When she walked to the back street of Xuntianliao with her umbrella, she met the young man named Meng Yao again.

He was sitting behind the stall when he saw her from afar. He hurriedly took out his umbrella, opened it, and ran over through the rain, carrying a delicate lantern.

His eyes were filled with undisguised admiration, his face slightly flushed, and he respectfully handed the lamp to her under her umbrella, saying softly, "This is for you, my lady."

Yan Huanyue looked down at the exquisitely painted lantern. Her right arm, which was holding the lantern, was already mostly soaked by the rain because of the gap between the two umbrellas.

She tilted the umbrella slightly toward him and explained, "I'm not some kind of adult. My surname is Yan, and I'm just a humble cultivator. Your lantern is very exquisite and valuable, but I'm afraid I don't need it for the time being. Why don't you keep it and sell it?"

Meng Yao did not retract her hand, letting her sleeves get soaked by the heavy rain.

He had originally imagined that she would ask, "Why did you give me a lantern?" no matter what.

He would then say, "Because I admire adults and want to become as powerful as adults."

In this way, anyone who sees others admiring them so much will feel a little comforted, and the emotional distance between them will be shortened, right?

To everyone's surprise, she didn't even bother to ask and simply refused.

When refusing, he even praised him for making lanterns for most of the day, leaving the person unsure how to respond.

But I have to say she has a good eye; he really put a lot of effort into making this lantern to look good.

"I made this today to give to the young lady."

Yan Huanyue glanced at it, took the lantern, and said, "Alright then, thank you. The Qixi Festival is approaching, I wonder if I have the ability to get back to my husband as soon as possible."

While he was still confused, he slipped some money into his hand, then took the lantern and walked through the alley in the rain, climbed over the back wall, and entered the patrol shack.

What?

And a husband?

They only managed to identify her based on the young master's words in the short time last night. Who would have thought that the person the young master liked would actually be a married woman?

Or... should we just kill them and burn them?

However, there is another possibility: the husband she mentioned is actually the young master himself.

As the young master said last night, the woman surnamed Yan likes him, and the two of them are playing around with each other.

Who knows what unusual things a man as unpredictable as the young master might do when he's in love?

If she listens to Elder Hui's words, misunderstands the young master's meaning, and kills the person, then it will be difficult to turn her into a corpse demon and send her to the young master.

He was afraid he might anger the young master to the point of death, and then who would settle the accounts for his spirit stones? If the young master died of anger in Tingnan, how would the rest of them fare under the patriarch?

It wasn't that he was stupid and didn't know how to act; it was simply that the people above didn't understand the situation, leaving the subordinates to guess wildly and unable to grasp the true intentions of those above.

Even if you give it to someone extremely intelligent, if they don't think things through, they'll still make a huge mistake.

Master Hui probably doesn't know about this, and he certainly can't ask the young master. If the husband the woman is talking about is the young master, then it's fine. But if the husband she's talking about isn't the young master, wouldn't that make the young master even more wary?

Meng Yao was cautious and, sensing that something might go wrong, she walked to the main street of Xuntianliao with her umbrella.

The crowd that had gathered on the main street had all gone home during the day, and some had gone to watch the grand ceremony. At this time, apart from some passersby, there were only a few people from the patrolling shrine walking hurriedly on the street.

Meng Yao hesitated in front of the door several times, and picked out a person dressed somewhat like a disciple of Xuanjiang from among the people coming and going.

The mysterious mortals are all about profit, not righteousness; they'll agree to anything if there's something to gain.

He gave the money that Yan Huanyue had just put in his hand to the other party, who, as expected, responded with a smile.

He said somewhat embarrassedly, "I wanted to ask about the girl in the dormitory surnamed Yan, the one wearing a misty pink dress. She just told me that she has a husband. I wonder... I wonder if she was just making excuses for me?"

Lu Shenchu ​​looked down as he counted the money and said, "You mean her? She's only been here a few days. How come you've taken a liking to her? She's not trying to fool you; she really is a married woman. Have you heard of the Tianyan Sect?"

Meng Yao nodded.

Lu Shenchu ​​stuffed a wad of money into his pocket, patted Meng Yao on the shoulder, and said earnestly:

"That is the wife of the son of the Tianyan Sect's leader. Brother, if I weren't kind-hearted, I wouldn't have said this to you and offended you. Take my advice: you can't handle women in the spiritual cultivation world. They can silence you without you even noticing. You should find someone to settle down with and live a stable life with."

He then moved closer to Meng Yao and said mysteriously, "I have talismans here to protect your home and attract romance. They were drawn by the great immortal I worship. The quantity is limited. Do you want one? I'll give you a discount."

Meng Yao glanced at him sideways.

There are many evil spells and demonic arts, which are difficult to guard against and have a bad reputation. Moreover, most of them have poor spiritual roots and talents, and they only appear to be capable by relying on Taoist and Xuan techniques and borrowing the power of demon immortals.

Aside from deceiving the ignorant or arranging marriages between disciples of the Mystic Sect, most people, regardless of gender, remain single because they are neither good enough for high-class nor good enough for low-class partners.

Even in his current situation, he still dares to sell charms to attract romance. It turns out that it's not just the young master's men who are shameless, greedy, and disregard morality.

And those demons and immortals' subordinates.

Not making money is losing money, and the Millennium Snow Crystal that he planned to keep yesterday was taken away before he could even smell it, so Lu Shenchu ​​couldn't help but feel a little sad.

Looking at the people walking very fast in the distance, he sighed with melancholy, "Alas, vulgar people, they don't recognize treasures. If the treasure were placed in front of me, I would definitely recognize it, but unfortunately, I am not given it."

After saying that, he turned and went back to the Patrol Hall. As soon as he turned into the second gate, he saw several people who had been sent to investigate the matter of the strange infants a few days ago standing in the courtyard.

It wouldn't have been a problem if there were only a few people, but there happened to be an old man with a big belly standing there.

Lu Shenchu ​​rubbed his eyes, thinking he was seeing things.

Beside the guest room, Ning Wuyang pulled Yan Huanyue out of the room, pointed at the old man, and asked, "Was this your doing?"

Yan Huanyue glanced at Uncle Ge, whose limbs were withered, his belly round, and who looked lifeless, then looked at Ning Wuyang and said, "I don't know anything about that bug. Didn't I specifically mention that he has a house where women are kept..."

Ning Wuyang frowned and said, "I heard that last night you locked two living people together with a cellar of rotting, maggot-infested corpses all night long, and they were scared silly."

Yan Huanyue sneered, "The corpses were all killed by that couple for the purpose of raising corpses. Even if they were scared to death, that was probably what the deceased wished for in life. Did I lock them up wrongly?"

"I didn't say you were wrong."

Ning Wuyang looked at his fellow disciple in front of him. When she was little, she was a soft and chubby little snowball. She always had crescent-shaped eyes when she talked to anyone. When she was wronged, she would just stay in a corner and shed tears with red eyes.

Others may not know, but he knows best that when Yu Zhao was a child, if she was unhappy, he would control her and not allow her to eat. When she grew up a little and knew how to complain, he had gone with Han Shuangying to negotiate with Yu Zhao.

Yu Zhao's first reaction was not guilt, but rather not wanting them to report the matter further. She said she would no longer pay attention to her and that they didn't need to bother correcting her mistakes.

This kind of argument is extremely self-centered, which is why he has never liked Yu Zhao.

Ning Wuyang always thought she was a gentle person with no temper, and she was kind to people. Yu Zhao wasn't very good to her, but she was still able to save Yu Zhao once in the Suihan Secret Realm after breaking off the engagement.

Since their parting during the Mingde Sect trial, Ning Wuyang hadn't seen her again. Without realizing it, she had suddenly become different...

Yan Huanyue looked at Uncle Ge in the courtyard and said in a deep voice, "Since Senior Brother doesn't think I'm wrong, then these people deserve it. If I knew the method of removing the placenta, I would wrap one around this old man's belly so he could experience it."

"Alright," Ning Wuyang said, "How's your injury?"

Yan Huanyue said, "The medicine is good, I'm fully recovered, the wounds have all healed. Have all the women in that village been properly settled?"

"Yes, the Zhou family lives nearby, so they were all sent to the Zhou family to deliver the people. The head of the charity hall and this old man were brought over for questioning."

With someone in charge directing them from behind the scenes, they probably just follow orders without knowing who's behind them. All they probably know is that those families bought the children.

So she asked, "Have you found the ledger for selling the children?"

"We found it, but we're afraid there might be a mistake, so we need to perform a soul search to verify it. Director Ji suspects that the people behind this incident are the same group as those involved in the Tingnan disaster."

Yan Huanyue nodded and said, "You found out from the soul of that 'cloth-wearer'?"

Ning Wuyang said, "Actually, the 'cloth-wearer' is just a pawn and doesn't know much either."

Yan Huanyue said, "I found out that these people who raise corpse demons were all pricked in the forehead by the person who taught them how to raise corpse demons. The person behind them made a double profit, both by increasing the number of corpse demons and by absorbing the obsessions of the living."

Yan Huanyue pulled him into the room and whispered, "Senior Brother Ning, there have been a few strange things since last night. I have a guess that we might be able to find the trail of the person behind it all, but I can't be completely sure if it's related to him. I don't know if you'd be willing to listen to something that's uncertain, or if Director Ji would be willing to listen."

Ning Wuyang said, "You can say whatever you want to your senior brother. As for Ji Linsong, he's been listening to even the Xuanjiang Demon Immortal lately, so why wouldn't he listen to you?"

Yan Huanyue asked curiously, "What did that demon fairy say?"

Ning Wuyang blinked and said, "There are many. This demon immortal is an ancient demon that has existed for countless years. It is both cunning and wicked."

"It was its idea to spread the word in advance that a batch of corpse demons would be collected and burned to ashes the next day at noon. It was also its idea to make Ji Linsong spend a lot of money to collect the corpse demons' remains. So the funeral clothes and other such things were prepared in advance."

Yan Huanyue asked, "What about those rumors outside about the 'Path of Life and Death' and such?"

Ning Wuyang clicked his tongue and said, "This kind of talk has been circulating here for a while. It was said by those evil cultivators when they were deceiving people into raising corpse demons. We just added fuel to the fire. It's a lie to begin with, so it's normal that it can't stand the test of time and people see through it in advance."

.

Meng Yao returned to the Dark Residence and reported to Elder Hui, saying, "Elder Hui, I have inquired and found that the woman is married. Her father-in-law is Pei Hanzhou."

In Meng Yao's account, who she is is unimportant, who her father-in-law is is extremely important, and who her husband is is so insignificant that it doesn't even need to be mentioned.

Elder Hui's expression shifted slightly. "Pei Hanzhou of the Tianyan Sect? I know he found a son... Young master, you are truly young and naive."

Meng Yao asked, "So what do we do now?"

After thinking for a moment, Elder Hui said, "There is still no sign of the Xuntianliao searching for the young master. They are busy with many things and short-handed. Without evidence, Ji Linsong will not arrange for people to be under her command. We should capture her as soon as possible. If we cannot capture her, we should kill her."

Meng Yao wanted to nod, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

He hesitated before saying that in the past, he was sent to deal with a young female cultivator, which was a piece of cake. Now, he was sent to deal with Pei Hanzhou's daughter-in-law, and the pressure was immense.

Master Hui understood his thoughts, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Don't worry, I won't let you be the only one to show up. Since that's the case, the amount of spirit stones and precious medicines will naturally be twice as much as previously agreed, and you'll also get an extra month's supply of the antidote. I will put in a good word for you with the patriarch."

That's exactly what we want: do as much as you're given in benefits.

Meng Yao nodded readily, intending to take action immediately.