Chapter 35
The cemetery outside Jianye Town.
Looking at the pitted and uneven ground, even though they had seen their share of storms, the crowd couldn't calm down. So much had happened in such a small town; the human heart truly couldn't be explained in just a few words.
The exorcists had only heard about the situation here from Zhou Xuanzhi before. Seeing so many potholes today, they realized how many families had suffered the pain of losing their daughters over the years. After observing for a while, Su Liyue took a deep breath and said, "Let's begin!"
So the group split into pairs and began searching for any trace of the monster.
Zhou Xuanzhi and Shi Yunzhou walked together and gradually moved away from the others, and no one noticed them for a long time.
As they walked, Zhou Xuanzhi voiced his thoughts, "It seems a bit illogical for a demon to help a few wronged souls kill someone." Putting himself in the demon's shoes, he realized that all he wanted to do was cultivate and stay away from people. How could he possibly go out and cause trouble? But that's exactly what happened; a powerful demon did indeed kill someone.
It is indeed somewhat illogical for a monster to kill the enemies of those wronged souls.
Shi Yunzhou couldn't figure out the reason either. After thinking for a moment, he said, "It must be a transaction! It absorbs the resentment of wronged souls in return for killing their enemies."
Could... really be like this?
Seeing the person with a furrowed brow, Shi Yunzhou said irritably, "You'd better not think about these things. I don't even want you to come out today."
Zhou Xuanzhi's injuries hadn't healed yet, and he could only move around a little. He smiled ingratiatingly, "Alright, I'll rely on my junior brother for protection today."
It's the same thing again, something he learned from his master. But what could he do? Shi Yunzhou's lips twitched a few times. "Does everyone know you're doing this?"
The two continued searching as they walked, and somehow they came to a grove of trees. The chill inside made them shiver several times. Usually, in this kind of situation, there should be something in the grove.
Shi Yunzhou rubbed his nose. Actually, apart from the cold, everything else was fine.
The deeper they went, the colder the chill became. Zhou Xuanzhi finally couldn't help but touch his arm, "I don't feel like a demon."
If it's not a demon, then what is it? Before Shi Yunzhou could even ask, he slipped, but luckily Zhou Xuanzhi caught him in time, preventing him from falling flat on his face.
The two looked down at the ground and saw a large patch of ice.
How could there be ice at this time of year? The two exchanged a glance, already prepared for a fight. As the saying goes, "Where there's smoke, there's fire," and the eerie phenomena in this forest were certainly enough to attract attention.
The deeper they went, the lower the temperature became, and the more ice appeared on the ground; even the trees were covered in frost. The two exchanged a glance and summoned their swords, the tips pointing straight ahead.
A sound came from ahead, and the two stopped. The sound indicated the person making the footsteps was cautious. However, since they could hear each other's footsteps, it meant the other person could hear them too…
In an instant, the two drew their swords simultaneously, so fast that only their voices could be heard but their figures could not be seen.
Zhou Xuanzhi was quickly defeated; his painstakingly healed wounds were torn open again, and blood stained his clothes. Shi Yunzhou and that person were still fighting, and the clanging sounds of sword energy accompanied the clash of weapons.
The opponents were very strong; Zhou Xuanzhi had been defeated, and Shi Yunzhou hadn't lasted long either. Just as Zhou Xuanzhi was about to step forward to help, he saw both of them stop.
Shi Yunzhou stepped back and helped the swaying Zhou Xuanzhi to his feet, making sure he didn't stumble too far back. Looking up, he realized the person opposite him was also an acquaintance.
"From Tianyu Mountain?"
"From Cold Maple Valley?"
Shi Yunzhou and the person opposite him asked at the same time. The man, somewhat embarrassed by the situation, scratched his head and said, "Sorry, are you two alright?"
Shi Yunzhou is alright, there's nothing seriously wrong. Zhou Xuanzhi's previous injuries haven't fully healed, some of his wounds have reopened, and he's also somewhat exhausted.
"We are fine. How shall we address you, sir?" Zhou Xuanzhi asked, bowing respectfully.
"Cold Maple Valley, Denglan".
“Tianyu Mountain, Zhou Xuanzhi.”
"Illusory Sea, Master Yunzhou."
"I'm so sorry, I..." Deng Lan spread his hands, not knowing what to say. "It's really a case of the flood washing away the Dragon King's temple. I was tracking a monster, and I even fought with him in this forest. I was about to catch him, but he got away."
Now I know why this forest is so cold. It's the unique skill of Cold Maple Valley—Frostbite Breaks Clothes. I'd only ever heard about it before, but today I guess I've finally witnessed it firsthand! It's practically frozen the entire forest.
"I was looking everywhere when the two of you happened to arrive." Deng Lan was quite embarrassed.
“We are also looking for a powerful demon,” Zhou Xuanzhi explained. “Something happened in Jianye Town.”
At this point, Xiao Mu and Deng Lan's eyes lit up. There couldn't be that many coincidences!
“The one we’re looking for…” Zhou Xuanzhi tried to say.
"It can't be the same..." Deng Lan was interrupted by Zhou Xuanzhi before he could finish speaking. Zhou Xuanzhi asked, "Does Senior Brother Deng have any information about this monster he's looking for?"
Let's confirm first to avoid any awkwardness.
Deng Lan also agreed with Zhou Xuanzhi's approach, saying, "This monster escaped from our Cold Maple Valley, and we want to bring it back now."
Compared to other immortal sects, Cold Maple Valley does indeed follow an unconventional path. Among so many cultivation sects, only Cold Maple Valley takes demons as disciples.
“That’s different. We’re looking for a monster that has killed several people,” Shi Yunzhou said.
The monsters in Cold Maple Valley are at least fellow disciples; their only problem is some unresolved conflicts among themselves. But our side is in a completely different situation—we don't even know if that monster is male or female; we have absolutely no information.
This piqued Deng Lan's curiosity, as he had learned a bit about the area over the past two days. The surrounding area was full of villages and towns; how could a monster that had killed several people have caused no disturbance?
"It's a long story. This monster only kills people in this town." Zhou Xuanzhi pointed to the town behind him.
A monster that only commits crimes in one place—he's incredibly audacious. And don't the people in this town know to call for a cultivator?
Seeing Deng Lan's confusion, Shi Yunzhou explained, "They did something wrong, so they dare not ask anyone to deal with it."
And so, Deng Lan was taken back to Jianye Town by the two men. After hearing what had happened there, he looked at the town with a hint of hostility.
When the exorcists returned in the evening, they saw Deng Lan talking to Zhou Xuan's master, Yunzhou.
"This is Senior Brother Deng Lan from Cold Maple Valley," Zhou Xuanzhi introduced. "This is Senior Sister Su Liyue from the Exorcism Division. And this is Senior Brother Fu Junmo."
Deng Lan stood up, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "I've heard so much about you all before me."
Seeing that Deng Lan had already integrated into the Exorcism Division, Zhou Xuanzhi poured himself a glass of water and drank it while watching. Su Liyue didn't stop their playful banter, but instead came to Zhou Xuanzhi's side and whispered, "How did you meet this Senior Brother Deng from Cold Maple Valley?"
"In a forest, he said he was tracking down a traitor from Cold Maple Valley." While there was nothing wrong with this statement, Deng Lan's overall behavior seemed somewhat abnormal.
Recalling Deng Lan's recent interaction with him, he had a feeling that the man was trying to extract information. When people went down the mountain for training, they would often encounter disciples from other immortal sects, but interactions usually ended up like those with the Exorcism Division.
"You suspect..." suspect his identity?
Zhou Xuanzhi shook his head: "No, there is no problem with his identity. We saw that his frost-covered robe was torn."
Shi Yunzhou had been by Zhou Xuanzhi's side the whole time. Hearing his senior brother say this, he shook his head: "To be precise, we saw that forest being frozen. We didn't see him make a move." His tone was as cold and hard as ever.
Su Liyue also looked at Deng Lan. Actually, they had been out of the capital for a while now. Could something have happened during this time? Impossible. If something had happened, news would have come through.
Su Liyue was older, and if someone chose to keep something a secret, it meant they didn't want others to know. Since that was the case, it was best to pretend they didn't know. "Let's just pretend nothing happened! I'll have someone keeping an eye on him."
That's fine too; maybe it will expose their true colors.
It was at this moment that Xiao Mu returned, with Fei Xiang following behind him.
"I'm exhausted, but we've finally gotten rid of those monsters." Xiao Mu said as he sat down opposite Zhou Xuanzhi, poured himself a glass of water, and gulped it down.
"You've all had a hard time." Zhou Xuanzhi poured Fei Xiang a glass of water as well.
Fei Xiang accepted the tea and thanked him, saying, "This is my duty. How are things on your end?"
Zhou Xuanzhi shook his head: "No progress at all."
"But no matter what, it's really... incomprehensible that a monster could cooperate with a vengeful spirit." Shi Yunzhou considered himself to be quite knowledgeable and had seen all sorts of strange things, but he had never encountered anything like this.
Zhou Xuanzhi was also puzzled, but they had witnessed it with their own eyes before, so there couldn't be any problem. "Could it really be a transaction as you say?"
Huanhai had not recorded such a thing, nor had he encountered it during his training.
"I also experienced the chaos of over a hundred years ago. There were indeed some demons near the battlefield that were feeding on the resentment of the dead." Those demons did not reach any agreement with the wronged souls, so naturally they did not help them do anything.
These words seemed to remind Zhou Xuanzhi of something. He pondered for a long time before saying, "Hearing Master's words, I am reminded of a story my master once told me."
"The story is about two women who worked together to kill a man." It's been a while, and he doesn't remember some of the details of the story, only the general outline: "My master said that when she was young, she was experiencing life in the mortal world. She passed through a city where a case occurred. The story is about two women who worked together to kill a man, who was also the husband of one of the women."
“This man was a scholar who relied on his wife to work everywhere to support his studies. Later, he passed the imperial examination and became a scholar. Because he was young and had a decent appearance, he was taken in by a courtesan.” Zhou Xuanzhi really didn’t understand what these people were thinking. “Actually, he didn’t have a very good temper. He used to beat and scold his wife when he was at home. Later, this courtesan followed him and was also often beaten and scolded by him.”
"The two women couldn't bear the beating any longer, so they joined forces to kill him." Not to mention my master, I've encountered many similar situations over the years.
After a long silence, Su Liyue spoke first, "You suspect this monster because those wronged souls suffered misery in their lives and were murdered, and he couldn't stand it, so he took action?"
Shi Yunzhou had heard this story before; he had encountered many men like this before he went up the mountain.
"If I were that demon, I could completely ignore those wronged souls. But after learning about their plight, I felt heartbroken for them, and under those circumstances, I would indeed intervene." Su Liyue seemed to understand something.
He didn't ask, "Why?"
“Because they are all women,” Zhou Xuanzhi said. “My master said that life is not easy for most women in the world, even female demons. They can understand each other and help each other.”
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