Chapter 4 She's lucky
"Voluntarily? You two are complete strangers, why would it voluntarily give you its inner core?"
"Perhaps she felt we were in the same boat, she said that most of her inner core had been destroyed and she wouldn't live much longer anyway, but it could be used to save my life."
Bai Xiuming looked at A Chan with a smile, and only after she finished speaking did he slowly say, "This is the first time I've heard of such a kind-hearted demon, and you just happened to meet her."
As he spoke, he walked slowly around the iron frame, the whip dangling to the ground, making a slight scraping sound.
Achan could feel him coming up behind her. The thought of that pain possibly returning made her tremble slightly, but she still gritted her teeth and said, "Maybe I'm just lucky."
"The fact that you've entered my Mingjing Division proves that your luck... isn't very good."
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of tearing fabric rang out. The short jacket that had been pierced by the arrow was torn open even wider, along with the inner garment.
Although there was a charcoal fire burning in the interrogation room, a chill still seeped into her clothes, and Achan's body tensed instantly.
Bai Xiuming looked at the fair and smooth back wrapped in the tattered coat, narrowed his eyes, and indeed there wasn't a single scar left.
"Now tell me, why do the Ji Chan I've investigated seem to be the same person as you?" The barbed whip lightly swept across her back. "I dislike people who lie repeatedly, understand?"
Achan took a breath and her lips twitched slightly: "I dare not deceive you, sir. After consuming her inner core, I gained a portion of her memories. Perhaps it was by merging with these memories that I changed."
"Is that so?" Bai Xiuming walked back to her. "But I think the explanation that the fox demon possessed a human body in an attempt to deceive me sounds more reasonable."
"Does Your Excellency think I am the fox demon?" Achan gave a bitter laugh, her eyes reddening.
"do not you?"
"You're just like my father, always trying to find ways to smear me. If you really wanted me dead, why would you need to find a reason?"
As she spoke, tears streamed down her face like beads from a broken string, dripping from her pointed chin onto her body, but she just stared intently at Bai Xiuming.
"Even if I manage to get out of here alive, I don't know how many more days I'll live. My mother is dead, and my father wants me to die with him. I thought it would be better to die at the hands of an adult, at least someone will collect my body."
Bai Xiuming stared intently at the woman before him who kept begging for death, and suddenly remembered that many years ago, someone had also begged him to kill her in the same way.
She clearly didn't want to die, but she could only beg him for death.
The memories of the past momentarily distracted Bai Xiuming, but he quickly returned to normal.
He thought to himself that the person in front of him was quite different from the person in his memory.
It's clear she tried everything to survive, which is why she could cry so... movingly.
His fingertips twitched, and he finally spoke: "Someone come here."
"Sir." Two jailers appeared outside the interrogation room.
"Lock her up."
"yes."
After being taken down from the iron frame, Ah Chan's legs gave way and she collapsed to the ground. The whip she had been struck had almost killed her. But thankfully, she survived.
Two jailers, each holding one of her arms, carried her into a dark cell, then quickly locked the cell door and left.
There was nothing in the cell, not even a single straw that would be used as a cushion in a regular cell. Ah Chan simply curled up on the ground, enduring the pain in her body and the coldness of the ground.
She was too weak to pay attention to anything else, and naturally she didn't know that Bai Xiuming had been standing outside watching her ever since she was locked in the cell.
He stroked the ring on his hand, his suspicions about Ji Chan still unresolved.
After standing there for a while, he whispered a few words to the jailer waiting beside him before turning and leaving.
After leaving the town prison, Bai Xiuming headed towards the library in the northwest corner of the Mingjing Division's office. In a small library room on the top floor, he found an old man with white hair and beard who trembled as he held a pen.
When the old man saw Bai Xiuming approaching, he put down his pen and tried to get up, but Bai Xiuming stopped him.
"No need for such formalities."
The old man sat back down in his chair and spoke again: "Zhan Yi, the former garrison commander of the library, greets Your Excellency, the garrison commander. May I ask what business Your Excellency wishes to investigate?"
Bai Xiuming didn't waste any words with him and asked directly, "Can a person survive after consuming a demon core?"
After a moment's thought, Zhan Yi said, "Theoretically, it's impossible. The power of the demon race is far inferior to that of the human race, making it difficult for them to merge."
"Is it possible if it's difficult?" Bai Xiuming seized on the uncertainty in his words.
"My lord, my ancestors recorded in their notes that if a demon were to willingly give its demon core to a mortal, the mortal could prolong its life by consuming it. However, in all my more than a hundred years of life, I have never seen such a thing with my own eyes."
Do you think what's recorded in your ancestor's notes is true?
"Our ancestors left behind a handwritten note, which must have been seen with their own eyes. When I was young, I searched for strange tales from all over the country, and many of them involved the story of a demon general giving his demon core to his beloved. So it is not entirely unfounded."
Seeing Bai Xiuming frown, Zhan Yi continued unhurriedly, "I have studied a few demon cores before. In addition to the violent demonic power, they do contain a huge amount of life force. If we can dispel the demonic power in the demon core, what remains is the best medicine for prolonging life in this world."
"Have you tried it?" Bai Xiuming became somewhat interested in what he said.
Zhan Yi chuckled: "I haven't tried it, but someone has already tried it for me beforehand."
He squinted and recalled for a moment before saying, "That was back in the previous dynasty. A demon god cult appeared in the Tongzhou area, and it followed the path of becoming a god through demon cores. Those cult members buried demon cores in their bodies, and those who survived became demonized, causing a lot of trouble for the court."
"And then? The late emperor sent people to destroy the Demon God Cult?"
"No." At this point, Zhan Yi couldn't help but laugh. "Before the late emperor could send troops, the leader of the Demon God Sect died."
"How did he die?"
"When the sect leader heard that the Xuan Turtle Demon Core could prolong life for a thousand years, he hunted down a third-realm Xuan Turtle. He even told his followers that he had successfully dispelled the demonic power in the demon core, and that all members of the Demon God Sect would be able to live forever in the future. Then he swallowed the demon core in public, and as a result, a fourth-realm expert was directly blown to dust, which also killed all the upper echelons of the Demon God Sect."
"The demonic energy wasn't completely dispelled?"
“I don’t think so. The sect leader has already reached the fourth level, so he shouldn’t be unable to distinguish them. I’ve always believed that the demon core is like an important organ of the demon race, containing their power and vitality, and perhaps even their own consciousness. If they don’t want to be devoured by humans, of course they will resist.”
Bai Xiuming nodded slightly, it was unclear whether he accepted this explanation.
"If someone were lucky enough to swallow a demon core and survive, could their personality change?"
"If we follow my thinking, the demon core contains something beyond power and life force, so it's certain that it would be affected. Unfortunately, these are all speculations, and there is no concrete evidence."
"If a demon possesses a human's body, will it always unleash heavenly lightning?"
"That's for sure, without exception," Zhan Yi replied with absolute certainty.
Bai Xiuming stood up: "Thank you very much, Mr. Zhan, for clearing up my doubts today."
"Please take care, sir."
Bai Xiuming left the library and pondered the events of the day.
Thunder rumbled in the sky above the capital tonight, clearly indicating that a demon attempted to possess someone's body, but the thunder did not fall, meaning it had failed.
Regardless of whether the demon core Ji Chan mentioned was given to her by the fox demon out of pity, or because the fox demon wanted to repair her body before possessing her, she ultimately benefited from it.
Indeed, as she said, she was lucky.
After that night, Achan never saw Bai Xiuming again.
She had been imprisoned, and her injuries caused her to develop a fever. The jailer summoned a doctor to treat her.
Later, when the jailer heard from the doctor that she was weak and couldn't withstand the cold here, he threw her a thin blanket.
The doctor came to examine her for three consecutive days, leaving her some pills and then leaving without saying much.
Achan felt grateful to the doctor. If he hadn't spoken up, she might not have made it to the end.
Little did she know that the doctor went straight to the inner hall of the Mingjing Division after leaving the town prison.
"How is it?" Bai Xiuming asked without even looking up from his down-to-earth state as he was reviewing official documents.
The doctor stood at the door and respectfully replied, "Reporting to the Commander, that young lady has extremely poor physical constitution, her meridians are blocked, there is no flow of demonic energy, nor any signs of demonic transformation. Her body is very weak, even weaker than an ordinary person."
"Okay, you can go now."
Three more days had passed since the doctor's consultation. If it were anyone else, they would probably have given up hope after six days in the town's prison.
But Ah Chan has always been very patient; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to wait for an opportunity under such a tight net and successfully escape to the capital.
This time, she waited patiently as always.
On the seventh day, she waited for the man's subordinate named Feng Yang.
Feng Yang ordered the jailer to open the cell door and release her.
During the seven days that Achan spent in prison, apart from looking a bit disheveled, she didn't appear too haggard.
Feng Yang, on the other hand, only glanced at her before quickly averting his gaze and calling for a black cloak, which he then tossed to her.
Achan has been wrapped in a blanket for the past few days, almost forgetting that her clothes are torn, something a human woman should care about.
She fastened her cloak, tidied her hair, and then thanked Feng Yang, saying, "Thank you for your consideration, sir."
"No need to thank me, it was all ordered by our Commander. Let's go."
He led Achan out of the town prison and then escorted her out of the Mingjing Division.
They just let her go like that? Ah Chan was still incredulous.
She stood outside the Mingjing Division's office for a while, making sure no one was calling her back, before getting her bearings and heading towards Changping Ward.
She walked and rested along the way, taking a full hour before finally seeing Ji Chan's place of residence, a small shop that was closed.
However, there was a carriage parked not far from the shop. The carriage had no markings and should not belong to the Marquis of Jinyang's residence. So whose was it?
As she was still searching her memory, an old woman stepped down from the carriage and greeted her with a warm smile.
"Is this Miss Chan? Madam heard that you were taken back to the Mingjing Division for investigation, and she was worried for several days. She has been having this old servant wait for you here."
Achan finally remembered who the person in front of her was: it was Granny Sun, who served her aunt, Madam Lin.
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