"Fire has broken out!"
"Fire has broken out! A huge fire!"
In the dead of night, a sudden, devastating fire at the Xu Residence drew countless people's attention.
Several streaks of sword light shot into the sky, followed continuously by Water Control Talismans and Fire Extinguishing Array Patterns—
By the time Xu Jing, who was on nighttime patrol duty, heard the news, the fire had already been extinguished.
The Xu Residence had burned to the ground.
Xu Jing stepped into the residence, removed the giant stones from the collapsed buildings, and saw only the charred remains of a woman's body, unrecognizable as human.
"Shen Yan..."
He dropped to his knees with a thud, supporting himself with his hands on the ground, unable to believe the sudden tragedy.
Xu Jing took a long time to recover.
How could this be!
He had only been away for a moment—how could the Xu Residence have turned into this!
A stream of sword light gently fell down.
"This is Demon Fire, the embers here are still tinged with traces of Phoenix Fire's aura."
Above the sword light, stood a figure draped in yellow robes.
Xu Jing looked up, his eyes red, and gritted his teeth as he said, "City Lord, are you saying… there were Demon Cultivators setting fires in Tai'an City?"
"...Yes."
The City Lord of Tai'an City sighed softly, comforting him in a gentle voice, "Who would have thought that someone would be so audacious, to set fire to the Xu Residence? That person came without a trace and left without a trace. I've already locked down the city gates immediately, but we couldn't capture any relevant energy. I've reported tonight's incident to higher authorities, and now Qing State has stringent checks, the Primordial Instrument's net should catch some clues. It's just that I do not know when the Imperial City will respond... Mr. Xu, my condolences."
"Wait, what about my adoptive father?"
Xu Jing suddenly recalled another important matter.
The City Lord of Tai'an City sighed again.
A moment later.
Xu Jing was taken outside Tai'an City, where he saw a small pile of ashes before him.
"This is your adoptive father."
The statement seemed somewhat ironic, absurd.
The City Lord of Tai'an City whispered regretfully, "Xu You met a similar fate to Shen Yan, incinerated to ashes, not even his complete skeleton remains... Judging from the residual aura of the Demon Fire here, this atrocity was likely committed by the same Demon Cultivator."
Qing State is sealed off, strictly investigating Demon Cultivators!
Now these Demon Cultivators are brazenly killing in Tai'an City, completely disregarding the laws of Da Chu!
"Demon Cultivators... Demon Cultivators..."
Xu Jing suddenly raised his head.
He sprinted towards Tai'an City, heading straight to the residence where Xie Zhen was staying.
But from a distance away, he saw the rising flames and thick smoke, pushing open the door to find that it had already been burned to ashes.
"Who was residing in this estate?"
The City Lord of Tai'an City, following on his sword, frowned upon seeing this scene and asked.
"My adoptive father had a few guests over tonight; they were staying here…"
Seeing this scene, Xu Jing felt despondent, "I thought that the Demon Cultivator you mentioned was related to them."
"What's going on here?"
The City Lord of Tai'an City promptly asked.
Xu Jing briefly recounted the night's events.
The City Lord of Tai'an City listened silently, then asked, "You said this Xie Zhen has no Primordial Energy in his body, yet he is skilled in talismanic techniques?"
"Yes."
Xu Jing laughed self-mockingly, "Thinking about it, he's unlikely the culprit, a mere Qi Refining Master even if skilled in talisman techniques. Could he actually rival my adoptive father?"
"That makes sense. However, tonight in Tai'an City, not only one place caught fire... from the City Lord's office to the city gate guard stations, all had traces of Demon Fire."
The City Lord furrowed his brows, finding the affair extremely strange, as everything suggested an odd sensation.
The City Lord's office, the guard stations, although someone set them on fire, there were hardly any casualties.
Only several stationed soldiers fell unconscious, still not awakened.
And while the Xu Residence seemed to suffer great losses, only Shen Yan died.
Should it truly be a Demon Cultivator seeking revenge, why attack just the Xu Residence?
The estate where the guests of Xu Jing stayed, however, had been thoroughly burned down... These mortals were not resistant to the erosion of the Demon Fire; flesh and bone were incinerated into nothingness. There were absolutely no clues left at the scene.
"Strange, too strange."
The City Lord of Tai'an City pondered deeply.
The one thing he could not understand.
Was about Xu You.
How could the City Lord of Tai'an City die so quietly outside of the city?
...
...
"Let's rest here."
Without looking back, they hastened along the way and confirmed that there were no pursuers behind them.
Deng Baiyi chose to stop the team at the foot of a desolate mountain for a rest.
She was holding Jiang Huang, the little one still asleep, sleeping very sweetly… completely unaware of what had happened.
Apart from Jiang Huang, no one could sleep.
"Could Young Master Xie have gone to fight with that Mr. Xu, the City Lord?"
Deng Baiyi was somewhat anxious.
He knew that Xu You was not a good person.
But he was still an important figure; surely he wouldn't be so eager to kill over just a few elixirs, right?
"..."
Deng Baiyi said irritably, "What City Lord, he is the deputy!"
"To be appointed by Da Chu, to guard a city, whether he's the primary or the deputy... is he someone we can afford to provoke?"
With a sense of regret, Deng Baiyi gripped the silver note tightly in his hand and said, "I shouldn't have taken this silver; it's just too hot to handle."
Deng Baiyi watched helplessly as her peculiar father spoke.
"No need to return it."
Just then, a light and fluttering voice filtered through the air at the foot of the desolate mountain.
"Xu You is already dead, if you really want to return it, burn it for him."
Upon hearing this, Deng Baiyi's face suddenly turned pale.
A figure in blood-stained white clothes slowly came into view.
Earlier, Deng Baiyi thought that Xie Zhen appeared refined and gentle, innocent and harmless, but now the more she looked, the wronger it seemed! He was clearly a highly dangerous blood-stained murderer!
Those Great Demons of Yuzhu Town, murdered!
The head of the Ghost Cultivators who manipulated the Great Demons, murdered!
And now… even the city official appointed by Da Chu, murdered!
"You're back?"
Seeing that familiar and reassuring face, Deng Baiyi finally felt at ease.
Regarding the death of Xu You, she didn't feel much disturbance inside.
The group continued to head east.
The lives of everyone relied on Xie Zhen's single thought.
She believed that everything Xie Zhen did had a reason.
"Mmm…"
Xie Xuanyi, who had never been in the habit of explaining himself in the past, now after a moment of thought, softly began, "Xu You and Shen Yan are both Demon Cultivators, we would all have died if we hadn't killed them."
"Demon Cultivators?"
Deng Baiyi was stunned.
Xie Xuanyi chuckled, "This Miss Shen is quite ruthless… for the sake of Demon Country, she obliterated her own kin and personally wiped out the entire Lingluo Mountain."
Deng Baiyi turned pale.
She personally destroyed Lingluo Mountain's entire line? Was this woman that ruthless?
Although Shen Yan didn't seem like a good person...
But he had never expected Shen Yan to be this insane!
Recalling the previous journey to Qing State, he and Shen Yan had been on the same carriage!
Deng Baiyi felt a chill down his spine as his back broke out in a large patch of cold sweat, soaking his clothes.
Deng Baiyi confusedly said, "It's one thing for Shen Yan, but Xu You was the Deputy City Lord of Tai'an City… Was he also a Demon Cultivator?"
Her expression was quite complex.
The news brought by Xie Zhen was truly explosive.
No wonder he had previously instructed her to not rest and to travel through the night.
"Though in human form, harboring a demon's heart. Such people are more terrifying than pure demons," Xie Xuanyi stated calmly.
Deng Baiyi sighed softly.
She suddenly realized a very serious problem.
"Wait, you killed them… what do we do next?"
Shen Yan was a scion of the distinguished Lingluo Mountain.
Xu You was the Deputy City Lord of Tai'an City.
Both were individuals of status and rank... especially the latter, with such an official enshrined by the emperor dead and gone, it was bound to draw attention.
Deng Baiyi instinctively spoke, "Of course we should expose and reveal it."
After speaking, he looked toward Xie Xuanyi.
The latter's expression remained impassive.
"Hey, hey, hey... you can't be serious?" Deng Baiyi felt a very bad premonition rising inside him.
"I'm sorry, but the next step is to flee," Xie Xuanyi uttered lightly. "The identities of these two Demon Cultivators are not something that can be resolved with a simple exposure. I've cleared the trails in Tai'an City, there won't be any problems for a while… Before the authorities from Imperial City find us, I will change everyone's identity to a safe one, one that won't attract trouble."