"But why would a demon possess Bai Guanyu?"
"It's hard to say but I'm sure this is definitely the case." Hua Tianshu paused as he took a deep breath in and calmly continued, "A demon possessed Bai Guanyu's body, and Bai Yaling who knew the real Bai Guanyu the best, saw right through it. She didn't discuss this with anyone so she was probably not sure. It might have been just her suspicion. When the demon noticed it, he decided to kill her in order to make sure that she keeps her mouth shut."
"But why marry Bai BaoShi?"
"I'm not too sure but If I were to guess, I would say it's because of her life energy. Only the demon King can hide his demonic blood completely. Other demons, who are far weaker in nature, depend upon the life energy of humans. Consuming life energy helps them mask their demonic blood and hence, in order to live among humans, it becomes the only way for them to hide their real identity."
"You're right but also wrong about one thing."
"Huh?"
"Even the demon King can't hide his demonic blood completely. After all, If I could, Elder Tai Ho wouldn't have found out."
"That's because he is Elder Tai Ho and you aren't exactly the demon King. You only hid your demonic blood, but if it were the Demon King, he would've sealed away his demonic blood. Sealing away one's demonic blood is a method that only the demon king can use and it's the only way to completely hide one's true identity."
"How do you know that?"
"I looked into it a lot."
"Why?"
"Because of you."
"Eh?"
Hua Tianshu looked back at Jie Fu Lian with an expression that seemed to be lacking emotions but at the same time, couldn't be called expressionless, "Everyone said you are a half-demon. So I wanted to know more about you."
"..." For some reason, Jie Fu Lian felt oddly touched as he heard this.
"Jie Ming, do you wanna know how your demonic blood was always hidden away and never detected by anyone?"
"How?"
With a sharp breath, Hua Tianshu spoke, "It was sealed away."
Jie Fu Lian's eyes slightly widened and his lips curled down in a frown as he looked at Hua Tianshu with a hint of disbelief and shock.
"Jie Ming, possessing the body of the demon king... It might not have been a coincidence."
Jie Fu Lian gulped but said nothing.
Ever since he could remember, he had been the son of Jie Yang Zan and Jie AiJuan. There were rumors about him being adopted but he never paid any mind to those rumors. Even if he were adopted, it didn't matter to him much since the only parents he knew were the ones that had raised him. Even if he were born to somebody else, that person would be nothing more than a stranger to him. A stranger whom he held no feelings for.
He had always been unaware of his own origins. He had never met the Demon King before this. To suddenly hear that he had connections with the demon king and that the demon king was the one who had sealed away his demonic blood... It was truly a shock.
"The demon king never had any kids, right?"
"En."
Jie Fu Lian sighed in relief, "Then the worst-case scenario is out of the question."
Hua Tianshu gave a thin smile as he spoke, "In order for the possession to be successful, the soul inside the body has to be destroyed and there needs to be some connection between the body and the new soul that possesses the body."
"..."
It seemed that the worst-case scenario was still a possibility.
"This rule also applies to Bai Guanyu and the demon that possessed his body," Hua Tianshu added.
"How can they be connected?"
"Many think the connection needs to be that of blood relation but in reality, blood relation isn't confined to family blood relations. It can also be blood connection or debt. In Bai Guanyu's case, it was probably because the demon had killed the real Bai Guanyu. Hence, a blood relation of debt."
Jie Fu Lian gulped as he heard this and hesitantly asked, "Can the same connection be applied between me and the demon king?"
"You didn't kill the demon king nor did the demon king kill you but such a connection can be applied in your relationship as well. For example, if the demon king killed your blood parents."
Jie Fu Lian had never been that curious about his own birth. Even after hearing the fact that he was adopted and a half-demon, he was still just as disinterested in his own birth and origin as he was when he was oblivious to the truth.
However, now that the demon king was also involved in this story, he couldn't help but feel a little curious to know more, but at the same time, he was also afraid to know more.
Even if the demon king had killed his birth parents, he wouldn't hate the demon king for it nor would he feel any sort of grief. It really didn't matter what type of connection he had with the demon king.
In fact, his curiosity could be compared to that of a bystander who came to hear an interesting story.
"I have a question," Jie Fu Lian suddenly spoke up as he asked, "In order to possess Bai Guanyu's body, the demon destroyed his soul and killed him, isn't that right?"
Hua Tianshu nodded his head.
"Then how is he still alive when the demon had already left his body?"
"His body at the moment is like an empty shell with no soul. It isn't alive but can't die either."
"Ah...!" Jie Fu Lian exclaimed, suddenly understanding the situation.
Hua Tianshu nodded his head once again, confirming it.
"But I don't think the Jin Sect would be of any help," Jie Fu Lian added with a sigh.
"They won't try to help us but we can definitely get some information from them," Hua Tianshu confidently replied.
"What do you mean? Are you going to sneak around and steal information from them or something?" Jie Fu Lian scoffed as he teasingly asked, but the reaction he got was certainly a bit surprising.
"I won't be the one sneaking around, it would be you and Duan Luoyang."
"..." Jie Fu Lian blinked twice as he looked at the man, wondering if he was joking or being serious.
"Sneaking around and stealing information is nothing to be proud of. As the main guest, you can't expect me to do such shameful deeds, can you?" Hua Tianshu tilted his head and slightly raised his eyebrows as he innocently asked.
Jie Fu Lian suddenly felt the urge to punch the man as he thought, 'If you can't do it then why should we?! Are we your lackeys or something?!'
"If you don't want to then we can just let Duan Luoyang do it," Hua Tianshu added with a sigh, noticing Jie Fu Lian's reluctance, "But I'm afraid Duan Luoyang might get caught. After all, it's not something that he has done before and he's quite the careless type."
The man was tricking Jie Fu Lian into agreeing and Jie Fu Lian could see right through it.
"Brother Hua, are you saying I'm practiced at this sort of stuff?"
Hua Tianshu innocently smiled as he questioned back, "Aren't you?"
Jie Fu Lian was once again reminded of the days when he hated Hua Tianshu to the core. Now, it seemed that there was clearly a reason behind his hatred.
"Hua Tianshu, when did I sneak around and steal?! You are clearly blaming an innocent man!"
Hua Tianshu laughed as he asked, "Didn't you steal something from Elder Tai Ho? If I remember correctly, you also stole from HuiXue Sect's library. You once snuck into the phoenix sect as well, didn't you? You can't even deny that accusation because you clearly carved your name into one of their pillars and got caught."
"..." Jie Fu Lian's face turned red.
"Jie Ming, I'm not accusing you or blaming you. I'm just acknowledging your talents and giving you this task since I feel like you'll be the best at it."
"Hua Tianshu, in these last eight years, you've certainly changed."
"Hmm?"
"You now know how to flatter people."
Hua Tianshu chuckled as he asked, "Does that mean you'll agree?"
Jie Fu Lian turned his head away with a frown, showing that he didn't like the idea at all, but at the end of the day, he still agreed as he spoke, "Okay."
"I'm glad you agreed because if you didn't, my next request would have come off as too weird."
"Next request?"
Hua Tianshu smiled as he looked at Jie Fu Lian and spoke, "Jie Ming, can you turn into a Dog?"
"..."
"It's all for the sake of the investigation."
"..."
"I'll let you choose which type of dog you want to be."
"..." Jie Fu Lian closed his eyes, took a sharp breath in, and gritted out, "Hua Tianshu, do you wanna die...?!"