Chapter 18: The situation is still unresolved and the timing doesn't match up.
Before Heng Qichun and Nan Xu could react, Lou Yan subconsciously felt something was wrong, turned to look at Heng Qichun, and frowned, saying, "But we just heard the sound of a clapper."
Heng Qichun lowered his eyes and looked at the corpse lying on the ground, and concluded calmly: "The person just died, right after that night watchman's drum."
Nan Xu frowned slightly, took two steps forward, and casually lifted his robe to squat down and examine the area. A stream of spiritual energy flowed out, and his expression suddenly changed.
“God…” he hesitated, “He was killed by demons.”
The moment the word "demonic evil" was uttered, the surrounding people abruptly retreated several steps, their faces instantly turning to terror. "It's a demon, it really is a demon..."
"There really are evil spirits in this town!"
The sound of a child crying echoed from within the walls, talismans swayed on the walls of the alley, and crows under the eaves, eager to pounce, finally couldn't resist and swarmed in, brushing against people's faces, about to devour the watchman's corpse.
The alleyway was filled with a strange and eerie atmosphere, beyond description.
Lou Yan swiftly unleashed a burst of spiritual energy to block the attack, then abruptly raised his head, his shrewd wolf eyes scanning upwards—more and more crows were swarming over.
"Let the people leave first," Heng Qichun said.
Lou Yan responded, gathering more and more spiritual power at his fingertips to ensure the crows were kept out of the crowd. The onlookers, already terrified, didn't care about anything else and scrambled out of the alley.
The pitiful cries of the infant grew louder and louder, and the faint screams of people being pecked by crows could also be heard.
Heng Qichun looked reluctant and made a gesture to raise his hand to form a hand seal.
“Your Majesty,” Nan Xu stopped him, “You should not use your spiritual energy. Let me do it.”
Heng Qichun did not dwell on this. He released the lotus incantation in his hand, and a wisp of spiritual energy disappeared into nothingness.
Just a moment ago, I took a deep breath, and the wounds on my shoulder and back seemed to flare up all at once, my heart filled with a dense, overwhelming pain.
He forcibly withdrew his spiritual energy to suppress the pain, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his face. Fortunately, the night was deep, and Lou Yan and Nan Xu did not notice this abnormality.
Nan Xu is a medical cultivator. Although he is young, his cultivation level is above that of most people.
He raised his hand to form a seal, and a pale blue flame condensed at his fingertips, which then burned the talisman paper covering the walls of the alley.
Blue flames spread out, hundreds of talismans turned to ashes in an instant, the child's cries gradually subsided, and the courtyard gate closed—a signal that the fleeing people were returning home.
The crows, blocked by the building, lingered in fear and soon flew away far away around the courtyard wall.
The scorching wind dispersed the cumulus clouds, revealing the bright moon high in the sky; it was already past midnight.
The alley quickly returned to its initial silence, with only the watchman's gruesome corpse remaining, exuding an eerie stillness in the quiet.
"Master." Lou Yan withdrew the spiritual energy from her fingertips and rushed over in a panic. She was so surprised that she didn't even catch her breath before saying, "That night watchman smelled a bit fishy."
“It is very similar to the demonic aura on Tan Chengyi and Tan Wangshi, so it is very likely the same demon.”
Lou Yan's sense of smell is far more acute than that of ordinary people, so if he says so, he is most likely not wrong.
Heng Qichun remained silent for a moment, his gaze fixed on the night watchman's corpse, and slowly closed his eyes.
He could faintly hear the wind blowing past his ears, and he seemed to hear the sound of the clapper that had been lingering in his ears for the past few days ringing out again.
This time it should be midnight.
At midnight, all was well and nothing happened.
Heng Qichun felt as if a lively fish was swimming across his heart, clearly visible yet impossible to grasp.
He opened his eyes and said to the two men, "The night watchman's body is still abnormal. Nan Xu, take it back for examination. Lou Yan and I will go to the Tan family."
Nan Xu instinctively felt something was amiss. "The strangeness in the town is inextricably linked to Tan Chengyi's family. The Divine Lord still needs to recuperate. Perhaps I should go with Senior Brother Lou..."
"You don't need to worry about it." Lou Yan interrupted him with a look on his face, stepped forward to block Heng Qichun's path, and said arrogantly, "I will naturally take good care of Master."
Heng Qichun glanced at him meaningfully from behind.
Nan Xu didn't dare say anything more. After bowing respectfully, he took the watchman's body and left.
The moonlight was cold and hazy.
To get to Tan Chengyi's house, one must pass by the place where Xu Shengzi ambushed yesterday. The towering tree still stands there, with only the curled leaves on the ground bearing witness to yesterday's tragedy.
Heng Qichun accidentally stepped on a curled fallen leaf, and his foot suddenly stopped.
"Master?" Lou Yan noticed the person beside him had stopped, took two steps back, craned his neck, and turned his head to ask, "What's wrong?"
"Is there something strange about this tree too?"
Heng Qichun didn't rush to answer him. Instead, he squatted down and plucked the leaf, the green sap instantly staining his fingers.
His handsome brows furrowed again, his expression shifting several times. He rubbed the small amount of greenish-blue liquid between his fingertips and asked, "What time did we leave this place yesterday?"
Lou Yan tilted his head and thought for a moment before answering truthfully: "Evening, when the sun hadn't set yet."
"Evening." Heng Qichun paused for a moment. "I don't remember clearly what happened after that. After we left, did Xu Shengzi also leave?"
At that time, Heng Qichun was seriously injured and unconscious. Lou Yan was worried about whether his master would die. In his panic, he didn't care about Xu Shengzi.
He shook his head sheepishly, but couldn't help asking, "What's wrong, Master?"
Heng Qichun stood up and handed the half-leaf that remained on his fingertip to Lou Yan. “This ancient tree has intertwined branches, and there was no strong wind or rain last night, so the leaves wouldn’t have fallen for no reason. If they fell during yesterday’s fight, they are still fresh and tender now, not like several hours have passed.”
He pondered for a moment and said, "So it doesn't match."
Lou Yan still only half understood, blinked and asked, "What doesn't match?"
"time."
The timing doesn't match.
That slippery fish seemed to be eagerly poking its head out of the water, following the word.
As they spoke, Tan Chengyi's residence came into view.
The moonlight was obscured by clouds, making a mansion appear eerie and terrifying. The gates were wide open, and two vermilion lanterns in front of the gates swayed in the wind, filling the courtyard with an aura of death.
Lou Yan sniffed keenly; his intuition told him that the demonic aura in the mansion had become even stronger than before.
He remembered that he had told Nanxu that he would take care of his master, so the filial son said, "Master is waiting here. I'll go in and take a look first."
Before Heng Qichun could answer, a series of footsteps approached from afar, adding to the eeriness of the already quiet atmosphere.
Lou Yan pricked up his ears and darted in front of Heng Qichun, then bent over and craned his neck toward the open courtyard gate. If he were in wolf form at this moment, his fur would probably stand on end.
This is a defensive stance.
The strange footsteps approached from afar, the soles of the shoes constantly rubbing against the ground, becoming increasingly unpleasant and jarring the closer they got.
Just as Lou Yan was about to raise his hand to form a hand seal, Heng Qichun pulled him up from behind by the back of his collar, saying, "Don't be violent."
Lou Yan grunted in response, calming down after being reassured. He shook his head and followed the footsteps to the person approaching. His gaze fell on a pair of coarse cloth shoes, then moved upwards, and his spiritual energy dissipated from his fingertips.
The newcomer was old and looked flustered. He almost tripped and fell as he ran down the steps, but was caught by Lou Yan.
—It was that old servant surnamed Li from the Tan family.
"Why is it you?"
"Immortal Lord?" The old servant was stunned for a moment, but after seeing that the person in front of him was indeed an Immortal Lord of the Eighteen Realms, his panicked expression quickly relaxed.
Overjoyed, he tightly grasped Lou Yan's hand and cried out, "This old servant knew that the Immortal Lord was magnanimous and would never stand by and watch someone die!"
Lou Yan rarely gets touched so closely, so she couldn't help but wrinkle her nose, let go of the old servant's hand, and took two steps back to hide behind Heng Qichun.
A hint of a smile played in Heng Qichun's eyes, but she didn't expose Lou Yan's true intentions. Instead, she asked the old servant, "Has your master not returned yet?"
Without hesitation, the old servant shook his head almost instinctively and said, "My lord has never been found."
Heng Qichun frowned and whispered to Lou Yan, "It seems he is still in Xu Shengzi's hands."
Yesterday, Tan Chengyi was clearly turned into a puppet by Xu Shengzi. Unless the puppetry technique is broken, he will not be able to return home safely.
The old servant sighed, "Strange things have been happening frequently in the house... The two immortal lords left and returned, could there be something else going on?"
“There is indeed one more thing I need to do to see your master again,” Lou Yan said.
There was nothing wrong with this explanation, and given the old servant's temperament, he would probably go and invite Old Man Tan right away.
But he didn't.
Lou Yan's pupils twitched slightly, and he clearly saw the old servant clench his fingertips, the panicked expression from not long ago resurfacing.
“Master…” the old servant said in a trembling voice, “he…”
Heng Qichun immediately straightened his expression and asked in a cold voice, "What's wrong with him?"
"Thump—"
The old servant knelt down straight down, his old robe pressing down on the stone platform in front of the door, stirring up a cloud of dust.
He pleaded, "My master is also in trouble! Please, Immortal Lord, save my master!"
!!
Heng Qichun frowned and gave Lou Yan a look. Lou Yan understood and went out to help the old servant up from the ground.
He particularly disliked the two-faced old man, Tan, so his tone was rather unpleasant as he asked, raising his chin, "What happened to him?"
The old servant's lips twitched, and he remained silent for a long time without uttering a word. Suddenly, a shrill scream rang out from the mansion behind him. He simply closed his eyes and stepped aside to clear the path leading to the courtyard.
Lou Yan craned his neck to look over.
Old Man Tan, disheveled and with his hair loose, ran out of there, laughing maniacally.
The demonic energy surged, completely taking him under its control.
A note from the author:
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Catching cicada nymphs, will update quickly with another chapter~
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