Cool and silvery rays of moonlight cast on the streets of butterfly village, portraying the beauty of a peaceful night. Midnight had already come. Everything was absolutely quiet except for occasional noises of night-loving animals.
Despite everyone else in the village already turning in, a disciple in his snow white robe was still patrolling along the streets. The night was getting deeper and deeper already. Even so, no trace of sleepiness could be spotted in his dark black eyes. In the clutch of his left hand was a sword in its silvery scabbard. People called this sword deathly ice blade. And, of course, the disciple who was holding this legendary sword would be no other than Zhang Long Wei.
He seemed to be patrolling just in charge of the duty. But that's not it. Taking advantage of this rare moment, Zhang Long Wei was heading for a certain place which would be no other than the area of ruined brothel.
Other places had already begun being renovated. But this brothel was different. The owner seemed to have no thoughts over continuing his business here. Even so, this land, this area was still his property. Without his consent, nobody bothered to count it in their renovation.
The area was still how it was on the day of accident. Zhang Long Wei finally halted right in front of the ruined brothel. Closing his eyes, the demon made an effort to sense something. This place was already ruined completely. One couldn't even see the shape of a building in it anymore. The original grand brothel was now no more than a pile of debris and ashes.
The demon's brows got deeper and deeper, his eyes still closed. But then, in the next second, they were swapped open before a black shadow lept up and landed somewhere on top of the pile with a flash.
Getting on his knees, Zhang Long Wei dug and searched the pile underneath thoroughly. Despite his brisk actions, the demon's moves were extremely light and quiet. Not even an incense stick of time had passed before Zhang Long Wei found the object. It was a piece of burnt paper.... to be more exact, it was a piece of a burnt talisman.
Narrowing his brows, Zhang Long Wei traced the strokes on the talisman with his fingers. From a casual glance, one might think this was a talisman of soul protector. But if they were to take a closer inspection, they might recognize something off about it.
Soul protectors used intricate strokes of vermilion ink. The strokes on the talisman in Zhang Long Wei's hand also had a similar shade. But.....there was a subtle difference. Just from the touch, the demon could tell it. These strokes were not from some ink....but from..... someone's blood.
So this was what he sensed this afternoon when passing by the brothel with Wang Li Jie. There was vague evil aura which was hovering around this place. But no body else would be able to sense it just like him. The essence was just so vague and indistinct that it almost seemed to not exist at all.
This burnt talisman.....he knew it gotta have something to do with soul consuming curse. If his instincts were right, then there's a high chance that this talisman was one of necessary items to activate the curse. With a smirk, Zhang Long Wei disintegrated the talisman in his hand completely, using a small flame of blue fire coming from the tip of his finger.
This familiar evil aura...in fact, Zhang Long Wei even had a hunch as to who could be the culprit behind. He Tengfei and Xu Daiyu...there were only these two as the main suspects. Back in his old days, these two had been his arch-enemies who fought for the throne of demon realm against Zhang Long Wei. Though he managed to defeat them and seize the throne at last, those two never gave in and were always stealthily seeking for a chance to subdue him all this while.
Especially Xu Daiyu....despite being nothing more than a lady with some demonic power, she was extremely ambitious. Xu Daiyu was extremely determined in making the throne of demon realm hers. Even when he was around, that wicked lady dared to have her eyes on his throne. Now that his news of death had spread all over the three realm, there shouldn't be anyone who would be happier than Xu Daiyu.
He Tengfei was also a suspect in this case. Granted, that old man stayed all low-key during the years of his rule. Even so, who could tell that old man had no thought of seizing his throne any longer? But to consume souls of human beings and try to advance one's power, Xu Daiyu was the most possible suspect. This kind of underhanded method could only come from someone with such an overly mischievous brain of hers.
Well...that didn't come as a surprise. Now that the throne was empty, sooner or later, there's going to be a great war breaking out amidst demons to choose the next owner of the black palace. The more power they had right now, the higher the possibility of winning the war, isn't it?
Rising to his feet, Zhang Long Wei prepared to leave. He seemed all calm and relaxed at the moment. Nothing like anger or exasperation could be seen in his eyes. They were so relaxed that nothing like reactions of someone whose throne or property was about to get robbed off could be seen in him.
Of course, that's not to say Zhang Long Wei had already given up on his previous life of a great demon lord. And the reason? Well....it's simply because he just didn't feel like it. Right now, Zhang Long Wei really didn't feel like protecting his throne or whatsoever. He just wished to be an audience and see what happened next, then clap for the lucky winner.
Maybe it had something to do with him, unwilling to leave this sect at the moment. Yeah...with a disobedient disciple here to handle, his days were either troublesome or annoying half the time. Even so, he still loved it. It's not boring anymore. Everyday, he'd got something to angry or rattled about. And somehow, Zhang Long Wei even found himself looking forward to more and more days like this.....