Li 3, the bewildered madman in the mountain village
With innocent eyes, Demon Slayer asked, "Lord A-Yun, are all the people in this village crazy?"
Huaiwen said coldly, "I don't know, we need to investigate."
"So how should we investigate?" Onikiri asked.
Huaiwen felt that everything that had happened was very sudden, and she hadn't yet come up with a good solution. She didn't have any useful information at the moment.
Mo Heng was worried about Rong Yun's hand; what if he couldn't save it? Rong Yun thought he talked too much and told him not to cry so much, that a priest shouldn't be so weak. Meanwhile, Shi Yuluo and Cang Lun discussed going to knock on the villagers' doors first and ask them one by one.
Amidst their chatter, Xuan Ye suddenly blurted out, "I'm hungry."
The four officials stared in disbelief at Xuan Ye. How could he still eat under such circumstances?! It was a matter of life and death!
Shi Yulu coldly questioned him: "Isn't finding out the truth the most important thing right now?"
Xuan Ye waved his hand dismissively, then turned to Huai Wen and asked, "Are you going or not?"
The question, though seemingly posed, carried a hint of inquiry. Huaiwen had no idea what Xuan Ye was thinking. She needed to speak with him alone.
Helpless, Huaiwen nodded and said apologetically to the four priests, "I know you priests have a noble cause to save the people, but it's only natural that we should eat something at this time. Otherwise, we won't have the strength to keep up. Why don't you priests eat something with us first, and then we can make our plans?"
The four priests found the two before them absurd, but they also agreed that Huaiwen was right; eating, drinking, and relieving oneself were basic human instincts. Their tolerance as priests was different from that of mortals.
Finally, they reluctantly compromised and went to eat together.
However, the biggest problem they faced was that the villagers were staying indoors and no one answered their doors when they knocked. They couldn't get any food, not to mention that they wanted to talk to the villagers about the crazy old man, Li.
Huaiwen did bring some dry rations, but with so many people, dry rations alone wouldn't be enough...
Finally, Canglun laughed and said that during his patrol he had discovered a small river nearby, and they could go into the river to fish for some food. So he went to the riverbank.
When they arrived at the riverbank, Canglun and Moheng volunteered to roll up their sleeves and go into the river to fish for fish, while Rongyun directed from the bank. Only Shi Yulu was extremely frustrated—there was no one else around, was it really that hard to catch a fish with magic?
But Cang Lun seemed to understand Shi Yulu's heart, and he smiled and said that this was what made it fun.
Onikiri, on the other hand, acted as a cheerleader, encouraging and shouting from the riverbank. Judging from the scene, the group seemed more like they were there for leisure than to conduct business.
Taking this opportunity, Huaiwen whispered a few words to Xuan Ye. She first secretly turned around, cleared her throat, and looked sincerely at Xuan Ye with her large eyes: "Lord City Lord... let's talk."
Xuan Ye glanced at her and nodded. Huai Wen continued, "Since you want to get involved in this, can you promise me that we'll prioritize collective action... What I mean is, investigating the truth might indeed be more important..."
“I am not part of their group.”
Huaiwen gritted his teeth and asked, "Then why did you tell me you'd fight to the bitter end?"
Xuan Ye replied casually, "I'm in the same group as you."
After Huaiwen was defeated, she couldn't do anything about this demon. Was the demon king really that difficult to deal with? After a while, Huaiwen said mischievously, "So now you're my little follower, right?"
Xuan Ye remained silent, while Huai Wen chuckled, "Then listen to me. Our important task next is to catch the bad guys."
"They're so stupid, they can't catch them."
"But you and I are smart, we're sure we can find a way."
"..."
"Got it! Got it!" Canglun shouted from afar, holding up the fish he had just caught. "Luckily, my technique is still as good as ever!"
The aroma of smoke and grilled fish wafted out, and Cang Lun's grilling technique was very skillful. Mo Heng squatted on the ground, his eyes darting around, almost drooling.
A farmer who was returning home early happened to pass by. He looked at the group of people in front of him, hesitated for a long time, and then stepped forward. He advised them to find a house to hide in before dark.
Ask why.
The man stammered and finally said that it was because a demon was causing trouble.
He spoke very sincerely, first urging Huaiwen and his group to run away quickly, as he was a villager and would eventually have to return to his village. However, he would be very grateful if Huaiwen and his group could find a way to save his entire village.
Huaiwen then invited him to eat fish together, saying that they were Taoist priests who had come down from the mountain to cultivate and could help resolve the ghostly situation.
Upon hearing this, the man immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed, begging the group to help him rid himself of the evil spirit! Canglun then took the opportunity to have him lead them over, saying that they were going to perform a spell.
The man kowtowed several more times, then said that Old Man Li no longer lived in the village; everyone had driven him outside to a small house outside the village. He then led Huaiwen and his group toward that house.
When they arrived at the dilapidated house, its exterior clearly showed it had been battered by yesterday's torrential rain. The man, worried about not making it home before dark, gave a few words of advice and left.
Rong Yun took the lead, going around to the window to peek inside, but it was pitch black and he couldn't see anything. His only option was to push the door open. Of course, it was Rong Yun again who pushed the door open. A foul odor wafted from inside, and the others instinctively pinched their noses.
The sky outside wasn't too dark yet, but inside, there wasn't a single ray of light.
That can only mean that there is a ghost in the house.
Rong Yun paused for a moment, but finally went inside, with the others following closely behind. Once inside, they groped around in the dark. Huai Wen took out his small nightlight, and as soon as the light came on, they found Old Man Li lying on the bed asleep.
Mo Heng seemed to step on something soft. He squatted down and, in the dim light, saw a masked, dead face—it was Jing Ze!
He shouldn't be here at all!
Mo Heng's screams drew the attention of others, but before they could even crouch down to see what was going on, Old Man Li suddenly went mad. He jumped off the bed, grabbed the Oni-Slayer Sword with lightning speed, and bit it twice.
After being hit by Huaiwen, he retaliated against Huaiwen.
Seeing that he couldn't defeat Huaiwen, Old Man Li tried to bite Shi Yulu and the others, but this time he was also immobilized. Just when they thought the matter was over, they unexpectedly heard the voice of a strange man outside the house. It was Old Man Li's second son, Li Fu.
He thought they were going to kill Old Man Li, so he shouted at the door and lunged forward without caring that he was still lame. Luckily, Cang Lun reacted quickly and caught him, making him faint.
Even more terrifying was that Jing Ze, who had been lying on the ground, had been resurrected and "come back to life." She grabbed Mo Heng by the neck and bit him hard from behind. Shi Yulu reacted quickly, but there seemed to be a barrier between Jing Ze and Mo Heng that she couldn't break through.
With the help of Rong Yun and Cang Lun, they barely managed to break through the barrier. Jing Ze then threw Mo Heng, who had bitten him, aside, broke through the dilapidated house, and flew out from the top.
Shi Yuluo and Canglun chased after him without a word. Rong Yun went up to check on Mo Heng's injuries, but Huaiwen grabbed her arm. Huaiwen stopped her, saying, "He's about to undergo a mutation, don't touch him!"
"Then what should we do?"
"Get out of here first!"
Once outside, it was already dark. Huaiwen's nightlight wasn't bright enough at this point, but it soon became much brighter. Huaiwen recognized the familiar color; she knew it was Xuan Ye.
Before they could think too much, Mo Heng was struggling in agony, and Onikiri was also crying out. Huaiwen was still unclear about the situation; she could only channel some magic to force them to repel the torment from the inside out.
The operation was clearly effective; Mo Heng and Onikiri both calmed down, but their wounds didn't heal. They drifted off to sleep, and Rong Yun asked Huaiwen worriedly what to do.
Huaiwen pondered for a moment and said, "The problem between Old Man Li and the cat demon can only be solved by finding the cat demon. But if the cat demon is powerful enough to bring the dead back to life, then this matter will be very troublesome. I can only guess that this matter is not as simple as it seems on the surface."
Rong Yun shouted anxiously and angrily, "I know things aren't simple, but are we just going to stand here and wait for someone to come and kill us?"
“She will come—to kill me,” Huaiwen answered Rongyun with a firm expression.
This time, it was Rong Yun's turn to be stunned. It took him a while to process what Huai Wen was saying. But Shi Yuluo and Cang Lun weren't around, and his arm hadn't fully recovered yet. Who could protect her?
But it was fleeting. She could kill the rat demon, so dealing with the cat demon shouldn't be a problem. Finally, Rong Yun said, "Then... that little follower behind, protect your master well. Don't make any mistakes. My hand is injured right now, so I can't be of much help."
Xuan Ye glanced at him blankly, then remained silent.
Huaiwen saw this and secretly smiled.
To protect Rong Yun, Mo Heng, and the others from attack, Huai Wen took out a demon-revealing mirror and several magical artifacts, handing them to Rong Yun for any eventuality.
Rong Yun initially didn't want it; how could a human-made magical artifact possibly be as good as one made by a priest? But then he realized he hadn't brought it with him, and Master Yu Luo, who carried magical artifacts, wasn't here either. So he had no choice but to accept it.
At Huaiwen's instruction, Rongyun led Moheng and Onikiri to find a place to hide. She then told Xuanye to extinguish the fire and returned to the original house.
The moonlight is bright tonight, enough to make people see each other. Huaiwen thought to herself, and lay down. Xuanye followed suit. The two faced each other, their presence creating a slightly ambiguous atmosphere.
Huaiwen gestured for him to turn around, but the other person pretended not to see it. Helpless, Huaiwen turned around himself.
"Ah-Jun, how can you be so bold?"
Huaiwen was stunned at first, her mind went blank. When she heard Xuan Ye call her A-Jun, she was somewhat surprised and had a kind of indescribable feeling.
As she regained her composure, she answered, "This is doing a good deed, so there's nothing to fear."
Xuan Ye stared at Huai Wen's back, puzzled: "But this matter originally had nothing to do with you."
Huaiwen unconsciously turned over, her eyes sincere and firm. She answered in a light yet powerful voice, "Perhaps you think that the priests are doing this out of their professional instincts, while I am not. But Lord City Lord, I am. Although I am not a priest, but just an ordinary cultivator, I cultivate to do good and bring peace to the world. Although one person's strength is weak, it will definitely have an effect."
"Whether it's a place for people to meet or a place for people to meet, the prerequisite for doing business is that there must be peace between the two worlds. And what promotes such a relationship is you and me, all of us. I used to think that all demons were bad, but later my grandfather said that this was not the case. He said that what is bad is the heart, not people or demons."
"In that case, I want to protect this world, and I want it to be peaceful and prosperous, with many descendants."
Moonlight streamed into the room, and a cool breeze blew in, causing their skirts to flutter in the wind. Their eyes, hidden in the darkness, probed, but she couldn't see them in the darkness.
But Xuan Ye could see it; he was a demon. He could see the bright eyes in Huai Wen's eyes when he spoke those words. He had seen those bright eyes before, aspiring to become a god in the hearts of all people, but later that person wanted to kill him.
The man said that he only needed one more demon to achieve fame and success.
But the man did not kill him, because he had already died at the hands of God.
Thinking of this, Xuan Ye looked at Huai Wen again, only to find her already asleep with her eyes closed. He listened to his own heartbeat, rising and falling, before settling back down.
He realized why he had come to find Huaiwen: he wanted to know if the person with the same clear eyes would pick up a knife and stab him again.
Even if she says now that the bad thing is the heart, not the person or the demon.
But who could have predicted the outcome?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com