42. Luring the Tiger
◎ Rather than being "attracted," they are more like "escaping."
At first glance, this suggestion seems less appealing than letting Jiangwei stay. At least Jiangwei has the ability to protect herself. If Yingjian were to be a completely ordinary person, wouldn't she not even have a chance to call for help if she encountered a monster?
Even Jiangwei couldn't help but want to persuade him, but Ying Jianhua glanced at them and explained, "First, I'm an ordinary person, and I don't have those weird smells on me, so it's harder for me to be discovered if I hide myself."
"Secondly, I am not entirely defenseless. Have you forgotten? I still have this."
As he spoke, he pulled out the jade hairpin from his hair and showed it to them.
From the perspective of the hairpin's tip, this is an exquisite piece of jewelry. The magnolia at the end of the hairpin is so lifelike that one can almost smell its fragrance. The tip, on the other hand, shimmers with a soft, ethereal light, its translucent appearance seemingly concealing a hidden mystery.
He didn't explain it to Jiangwei, but Du Zhijin understood. A hairpin that had passed through the hands of Elder Jun was certainly not an ordinary piece of jewelry; it could amplify the original seven parts of poison to ten parts, turning a poisonous person into a poisonous demon.
Even so, she remained uneasy, her brows furrowing slightly as if struggling to find the right words. Ying Jianhua took a deep breath and uttered her final reason: "And, and you too."
Du Zhijin was stunned, his pupils widening involuntarily.
Huh? Ah Mo would actually say something like that? How strange.
Burning from her gaze, he awkwardly turned his face away, stubbornly saying, "I didn't mean anything by it. It's just that as a cultivator from Mount Dengxian, you can't possibly be unable to handle even a level C demon, can you?"
"Hmm...that's not necessarily true." She had expected a positive answer, but instead hesitated. Ying Jianhua abruptly turned her head, looking at her with disbelief.
There was no trace of a joke on Du Zhijin's face, so his breath caught in his throat.
How could that be...? "Pfft, scared?"
With a soft laugh, Ying Jianhua belatedly realized he had been tricked. His heart leaped and then plummeted, the gloom in his heart gradually dissipating. Du Zhijin leaned closer to him, carefully examining the expression on his face, and said earnestly, "No matter how strong the monster is, I can handle it, but you must protect yourself."
"I don't want any of you, whether human or demon, to get hurt."
She always regarded them as equal and important companions.
Ying Jianhua stared into her eyes, which were so close to hers, and saw her own mouth open in them. Without hesitation, she said, "I will not be a burden to you."
He wanted to be her indispensable ally, someone she could never abandon, even if the truth came out.
————
Ultimately, the two humans and one demon decided to guard the Huo residence in the order of Ying Jianhua, Jiangwei, and Du Zhijin, from closest to furthest away, to minimize the risk of their scent being detected. At this point, Jiangwei's demonic sense of smell came in handy. After repeatedly sniffing, he rubbed his aching nose and exclaimed happily, "We probably won't be detected at this distance!"
"Um... but we're already outside the city."
Du Zhijin squatted on a tall metasequoia tree by the marsh, looking down at two small dots on the ground.
The red one is Jiangwei, and the blue one is Yingjianhua. He has recently taken a liking to wearing blue clothes.
Ying Jianhua, dressed in a blue robe, gazed back into the distance. The enormous "Wanze" had completely absorbed the setting sun, and the once azure water was now ablaze with molten gold and fiery red, as if it were about to incinerate the heavens and earth. And at the edge of this blazing red flame, the silvery full moon was quietly rising, gently pressing against the bleeding throat of the setting sun, waiting for its chance to take its place.
He reminded them, "It's getting late, we should head back." They hadn't yet said goodbye to Huo Qing.
Du Zhijin nodded, summoned Xingyue, and reached out his hand to him. He was stunned for a moment, then turned his head and saw Jiangwei already standing on Zuilan, carefully urging it forward.
“He’s made great progress. I’ve only been teaching him for a few days,” she said. As usual, he was in front of her, and she was behind him to prevent him from suddenly losing his balance and falling. As she said this, Du Zhijin leaned forward a little, and a few stray strands of hair from her forehead pricked his earlobe, feeling a little prickly.
But what was even more jarring was what she said next.
"She's quite clever."
"Is that so?" Ying Jianhua's voice was flat, as calm as the still surface of Wanze Lake.
He stared at Jiangwei's stumbling figure, thinking to himself.
Actually, there's nothing wrong with being a demon.
Huo Qing was quite surprised to hear that they intended to leave: "Why so suddenly? Are you really not going to stay a few more days? Have I failed to entertain you properly? Oh dear, Ah Bai specifically told me that you are her friends, and if you need anything, just let me know. The shop has been busy these past few days, and I didn't mean to neglect you..." Jiangwei, who was in charge of communication, was caught off guard by her barrage of questions and didn't know how to react. After all, she was just a fox who hadn't been in human form for long, and didn't understand human nature. Ying Jianhua sighed softly, took the load from him, and said, "Miss Huo Qing, you're too kind. This matter has nothing to do with you. We came to Wanze City to sell our goods, and now that we've sold out, we naturally need to go back and restock."
"Yes, you have important business to attend to." Huo Qing nodded, then quickly instructed the servants to prepare some local specialties from Wanze City for them to take on the journey. Ying Jianhua couldn't refuse, so the two began, well, a long and drawn-out exchange of pleasantries.
Jiangwei had been feeling dejected because she was tongue-tied and couldn't answer, her ears drooping listlessly. But seeing Ying Jianhua speaking so fluently, she twitched her ears enviously: "Young Master Amo is so amazing, unlike me..."
Du Zhijin patted his shoulder and comforted him, "Everyone has their own expertise. You're a demon, he's a human, so you speak fox language and he speaks human language."
"Really? Then, my benefactor, are you as talkative as Young Master Amo? Can you teach me?"
She choked, her gaze wandering suspiciously before finally settling on her two swords. Suddenly, an idea struck her: "Ahem, I'm a sword cultivator. The language of the sword is very concise, understand?"
Jiangwei nodded as if she understood, and Du Zhijin breathed a sigh of relief.
Maintaining a good image is exhausting—but come to think of it, didn't Dr. Ying's image also last long back then? Are all "benefactors" like this?
As she inexplicably fell into thought, Ying Jianhua and Huo Qing finally finished their pleasantries, nodded to them, and indicated that they could leave. The Huo family servants began carrying many things onto their carriage; gifts took up half the space.
Jiangwei sighed, "Miss Huo Qing truly loves her younger sister, and by extension, she loves us too."
Ying Jianhua glanced at him.
Even a demon could see the deep affection between the Huo sisters. Huo Bai spared no expense to hire someone to exorcise the demon, but Huo Qing refused to reveal her own story; Huo Bai only learned about her encounter with the demon from others.
Was Huo Qing doing this out of fear of worrying his sister, or was there another reason?
Whatever the reason, it will all come to light tonight.
He looked up to see what time it was, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Du Zhijin also gazing at the moon.
Suddenly, he remembered a word that Du Zhijin and Jiang Wei had mentioned together.
Full moon night.
————
"These are special fireworks tubes and talismans. If you notice anything amiss with Huo Qing, immediately crush the talisman and light the fireworks tube, understand?"
Ying Jianhua looked at the somewhat familiar-looking firework tube in her arms and asked, "Isn't there one in Red Flower too?"
Du Zhijin shook his head: "There are differences. Hers has a wider range, while yours is colorless and odorless, so people and demons with low cultivation levels can't see it."
Once the red flower is lit, it will spread outwards, and any cultivator can see the cry for help within it.
Ying Jianhua was unaware that Wuling Village contained the remains of a powerful demon, and she didn't want him to know for the time being. Upon hearing this, he pinched a corner of the talisman and nodded at her.
Jiangwei was already on the carriage, ready to depart at any moment. But Du Zhijin remained where he was, talking to him incessantly.
He used to tell her things like to run to places without moonlight, and that talismans could be used for self-defense in addition to starting fires... Now that the roles were reversed, Ying Jianhua found it a little funny.
"What are you laughing at?" she asked nervously.
He suppressed a smile, feigning modesty: "No, you're mistaken."
He smiled; she still cared more about him, as expected.
"Well... I've said what I needed to say, I'm leaving now." She moved slowly, knowing she couldn't delay any longer, and with a light step, her figure disappeared into the night.
Ying Jianhua watched them leave.
Wanze City has mountains and rivers, and correspondingly many buildings and pavilions. At this moment, he was standing on a high building not far from the Huo family, looking down at the courtyard where the lights were gradually going out and sinking into darkness.
He was draped in that robe, blending seamlessly into the darkness, as if he had been transported back to the night he infiltrated the Prince's mansion.
But the difference is that this time he will be facing not humans, but demons.
The jade hairpin is there. The firework tube and the talisman are also there.
After confirming that everything was correct, he took a deep breath and then turned his gaze to the Huo family.
He wanted to prove his worth.
————
According to the plan, Jiangwei stayed in Xifang to provide support, while only Du Zhijin went out of the city.
Sword energy can also be leaked, so this time she didn't use her sword. She moved like a swallow, arriving silently near Wanze.
Wanze is quieter at night than during the day; you can only hear the sporadic chirping of cicadas if you listen carefully. It's the height of summer, and these creatures should be singing loudly at night, but tonight they are silent, as if they never existed.
Only the newly hatched cicadas diligently perform their duties, chirping one after another, seemingly calling for their companions to join them in a chorus, or perhaps asking them why they are silent.
Du Zhijin knew.
The moonlight was like water. In a daze, the bright light turned scarlet, and a huge, unknown creature skimmed across the water, moving clumsily and slowly.
She quickly made a judgment in her mind.
Cave demons are harmless to humans and rarely leave their original caves... So, what is attracting it?
The earth continued to tremble, and with the heavy steps of the cave demon, the surface of Wanze was no longer calm. The thick, inky water suddenly boiled and surged, indicating that this night was extraordinary.
Du Zhijin frowned.
Not only the cave demons, but also the bloodthirsty, man-eating monsters were on their way, but their destination was not the densely populated Wanze City, but the deserted wilderness.
Why?
Rather than being "attracted," they are more like "escaping."
A single raindrop falls onto the surface of the marsh, and the splash it creates is so tiny that it is quickly swept away by the enormous waves and disappears without a trace.
But Du Zhijin still saw it.
She suddenly remembered that one day, Ying Jianhua said it would rain at night and that she must wear a straw hat.
not good!
Beneath the deep rain curtain, a flash of sword light streaked past, startling the migrating cave demons.
It stopped and looked in the direction of the sword light.
Wanze City.
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