Chapter 3 Are you really Ji Chan?
Achan opened her eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly. Amidst the rustling snow, a pair of black leather boots came into her view.
Before she could utter a sound, a long, unsheathed sword was pressed against her neck. The scales on the scabbard, which hadn't been completely polished off, barely touched her before slicing her neck and drawing blood.
"Name?" The voice above her was gentle and low. If the knife hadn't been pressed against her neck, Achan would have thought it was a gentle man.
"Ah... Ji Chan."
Why are you here?
“My home is in Changpingfang. I was just passing through here on my way home.”
After the possession, Ji Chan's memories were directly poured into A Chan's mind. It was a complete and short life belonging to another person, and it was also the key to her being able to live in place of Ji Chan.
Ah Chan quickly gathered the memories of the night to use in dealing with the person in front of her.
"Tell me, what happened?"
Lying on the ground being interrogated was an unpleasant experience, but the man beside her showed no intention of removing the knife, so she could only maintain that position and obediently answer his questions.
"On my way back, I encountered some people catching ghosts nearby. When the ghost rushed towards me, an arrow flew by and injured me."
Her wounds had healed, and she shouldn't have said these unnecessary things, but her white coat was too conspicuous, and there were still large bloodstains on her chest, so she couldn't just try to cover it up.
Bai Xiuming's gaze followed her words, landing on her heart, and then looked at the arrows beside her. They were official-issue, and judging from their design, they seemed to come from the Ministry of Justice.
“Go on.”
“I climbed into the alley and saw her.”
"You talked to it?"
"I thought I was going to die, and I thought she was going to eat me, so I said something, and to my surprise, she responded to me."
"What did you say?"
"She said she didn't eat people, asked for my name, and then fell silent."
A sneer sounded overhead, and the knife that had been threatening her life was finally moved away. The man who had been standing was now half-squatting in front of her, his black cloak hanging to the ground, covered in snow.
Achan thought to herself, "It looks so warm."
She never used to feel cold; her fur was not only beautiful but also very warm. Now, however, she was shivering with cold.
Being a person is really not easy.
"You've got some nerve, daring to deceive me." The moment those words, still carrying a hint of a smile, rang in her ears, a hand gripped her neck like an iron clamp, forcing her to lift her face. Achan had no choice but to meet his gaze.
What caught her eye was an exceptionally handsome face, as if it had been meticulously sculpted by the heavens. Among the demons and humans she knew, he was at least in the top three.
She's extremely picky and has always preferred good-looking people, which has caused her a lot of trouble. This guy in front of her is probably not someone to mess with either.
The man had a pair of gentle eyes. When he looked down at her, there seemed to be a tender light in his eyes. However, his movements were not gentle at all. In just a moment, Ah Chan's vision went black and she could hardly breathe.
She desperately tried to break free from his hand, but she couldn't budge him at all.
Bai Xiuming just stared at her until her struggles weakened, then loosened his grip slightly and spoke again: "I'll ask you one more time, what did it say to you?"
"She asked me for a title, but failed. She also said she was an eight-tailed fox."
"An eight-tailed fox?" Bai Xiuming's eyes flashed, and he suddenly spoke up, "Feng Yang."
"Your subordinate is here."
A man named Feng Yang appeared out of nowhere, kneeling on the ground with his head bowed, waiting to hear his master's orders.
"Send someone over to perform an autopsy."
"yes."
Soon, two people came up and began to examine Achan's original form. After a short while, the two people finished their examination and stood aside with their hands at their sides.
"How is it?" Bai Xiu asked.
"Reporting to Your Excellency, this demon is indeed an eight-tailed fox, and it is not very old. Its body is covered with deep wounds, as if it had been surrounded and attacked. We did not find a demon core in its body."
Bai Xiuming seemed uninterested in their examination, only asking, "Completely dead?"
"Completely dead."
“Take him back to the Mingjing Division.”
"yes."
“This…” He stood up, took the plain handkerchief Feng Yang handed him, and wiped his hands. “Take this back with you too.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the white handkerchief fell to the ground.
"yes."
Achan was taken to the Mingjing Division, or more accurately, she was taken to the underground prison of the Mingjing Division.
She had heard of Zhenyu, a place where many powerful demons were supposedly imprisoned, a place where telling stories to young demons could scare them to tears.
In Ji Chan's memory, many people had said that once someone entered the Mingjing Division's prison, very few people could leave alive.
At the entrance to the prison, guards from the Mingjing Guard, clad in black armor, stand watch day and night, and the figures of Bixi, the nine sons of the dragon, are faintly visible on the two pitch-black iron doors.
As the guards of the Mingjing Guards led Achan closer, the Bixie on the door became clearer, its eyes slowly moving with her steps, until the black iron gate opened and Achan was pushed inside.
As Achan stepped through the prison gates, she thought to herself, "That man really does suspect me."
Everyone knows that Bi'an can distinguish right from wrong and judge criminal cases, but few know that its pair of true dragon eyes can also see whether a person's body and soul are in harmony.
If she forcibly takes over Ji Chan's body tonight, even if she manages to escape divine punishment, she will not be able to escape that person.
Even if she gets through this, will she really be able to walk out alive today?
The Mingjing Guard did not take her to the prison, but instead led her through a deep, dark passageway, at the end of which was a stone chamber with a fire burning inside.
Once inside, Achan realized that it was a torture chamber.
The red flames she had just seen came from burning charcoal, on which were placed branding irons of various sizes.
The Mingjing Guard swiftly and silently hung Achan on an iron rack in the corner of the room, secured her limbs and neck with iron chains, and then left without a sound.
Inside the torture chamber, only Achan remained.
Only when things had developed to this point did Asan suddenly realize what kind of mistake she had made.
A woman who has been pampered in the noble family since childhood should not be so calm when faced with such a terrible thing.
When she answered the man's question in a clear and logical manner, she had already fallen into his trap.
She was frustrated, but there was nothing she could do.
If she can't give that person a reasonable explanation today, they'd rather kill the innocent than let her go.
While Achan was still worried about her life, Bai Xiuming was sitting in the inner hall of the yamen listening to Feng Yang's report.
"My lord, Ji Chan's identity has been confirmed."
"Speak." At this moment, Bai Xiuming had already taken off his cloak, and his vermilion official robe embroidered with dragon and fish patterns made his figure look exceptionally slender.
"Ji Chan was originally the eldest daughter of Marquis Ji Heng of Jinyang, but she was expelled from the clan not long ago. It is said that Marquis Ji Heng suddenly discovered that Ji Chan was not his biological daughter."
"Suddenly discovered?" Bai Xiuming raised the corners of his lips, seemingly finding the statement somewhat laughable.
"I think that the Marquis of Jinyang's move is probably related to the Lin family, which was demoted. The former Marquis of Jinyang's wife was the eldest daughter of the Lin family."
"Hmm, is there any more?" Bai Xiuming picked up his teacup and took a sip of tea.
"Then there is the person who injured Ji Chan tonight, who should be Xue Mingtang, the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice. Xue Mingtang's sister recently married the Marquis of Jinyang, and she brought her two children with her."
That's all?
Feng Yang nodded: "That's all."
As for his analysis, I suppose the lord doesn't need to hear it. How could the lord possibly be kept in the dark about the sordid affairs of the Marquis of Jinyang's mansion?
What kind of person is Ji Chan?
Feng Yang was stunned for a moment, trying hard to recall the information he had gathered, and finally could only describe her with four words: "a lady from a prominent family".
Bai Xiuming sneered: "What a fine young lady from a prominent family."
Feng Yang also realized that Ji Chan was acting strangely earlier, but he didn't dare to say anything.
"Where is that fox demon?"
"The fox demon's corpse has been sent for examination, and no remnants of its soul were found, so it may have already dissipated."
"Disperse? The demon race has always been treacherous and cunning. If they have a chance to live, will they willingly wait to die?"
"But Ji Chan walked past Bi'an without any abnormality."
Bai Xiuming got up and walked outside: "I'm also curious about this."
Being hung on the iron frame was not a pleasant experience, especially since Achan's body was extremely weak.
At first, she thought it was because of possession, that the soul and body were not compatible, and that she would get used to it after a period of time.
But after so long, there was still no sign of recovery. She vaguely guessed that this feeling of weakness might not be due to a disconnect between her mind and soul.
Just then, she heard footsteps outside. A short while later, a tall figure appeared outside the interrogation room.
Achan watched helplessly as the man walked in. This time, he didn't carry a sword, but there were things in this stone chamber that were more dangerous than a sword.
As if knowing what she was thinking, Bai Xiuming stopped in front of a table and picked out a whip from a pile of torture instruments on it.
He carried the whip and strolled over to Achan.
"name."
This was the second time Bai Xiuming had asked her name.
"Ji Chan".
"Ji Chan?" His voice was deep, and when he uttered those two words, it was as if he were whispering the name of a lover, with a tenderness that was suffocating.
"It's a very nice name, but are you really Ji Chan?"
"Does Your Excellency think I am not?" Achan looked at Bai Xiuming provocatively.
The rough whip slid lightly across her cheek, but Bai Xiuming's emotions remained unchanged. He simply stared at A Chan and said, "The eldest daughter of the Marquis of Jinyang is not a bold person."
“If you had died once, you probably wouldn’t think that way. I’m much braver than you can imagine.”
"Oh? How big is it?"
Achan smiled: "Didn't you want to know where the fox's inner core went, sir? I know."
You know?
"Come closer, sir, I'll tell you."
Bai Xiuming moved closer to A Chan, their breaths almost mingling, and his tender, affectionate eyes met hers.
Ah Chan breathed softly, "I ate it."
The next moment, she screamed in agony.
Bai Xiuming stood a few steps away, his whip leaving a long, bloody welt on A Chan's body.
When the whip is swung, all the barbs on it spread out, capable of scraping away flesh and blood; it is extremely vicious.
Achan was trembling with pain, but she still maintained her rationality and provoked him: "It's no use hitting me, I'll just eat you."
"A person who eats a demon's inner core will die."
“As long as the demon did it willingly, it won’t.” Achan gasped for breath. “It didn’t want to live anymore, so it willingly gave me its inner core. If I hadn’t eaten its inner core, that arrow would have killed me long ago.”
That sounds like a very reasonable explanation.
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