Saviour Hall.
The place was thick with the pungent smell of herbs, with twine-bound paper packets scattered across the tables.
"Enough, enough, Brother Zhao. What was so important that you couldn't say it outside and had to drag me in here?"
Yan Jing had been pulled into the medicine compounding room by Zhao Huai. Helplessly, he dusted off his sleeves.
"Brother Yan, what you said came true."
Zhao Huai looked at Yan Jing, his eyes utterly serious.
"What did I say?"
Yan Jing felt that he had said quite a lot. After all, countless pieces of news, great and small, circulated through the underworld every day. His mind was full of such things.
"Your bet on cuju came true?"
"Or that business where you were questioned by the constables?"
Zhao Huai shook his head. "Neither. The matter with the constables is already over."
"Did you forget? The demons."
Yan Jing looked at Zhao Huai, realization dawning in his eyes as he finally remembered.
"Do you know Jingyang Town?"
Zhao Huai asked solemnly.
Yan Jing nodded. "Of course. It was because of what happened there that I warned you."
"Tell me the details?"
Zhao Huai raised a brow.
"Well, it's fairly simple, but rather strange." Yan Jing pondered for a moment.
"A few nights ago, many people suddenly vanished from Jingyang Town. Everyone thought demons were causing trouble, so they reported it directly to the authorities."
"But the next day, most of those missing returned. They said they had been swept away by a demonic wind and woke up in the forest. As for whether that wind was truly caused by demons, and what happened to the others in the end, I don't know."
"Why is that different?"
After hearing Yan Jing's explanation, Zhao Huai could not help muttering to himself.
"What's different? Did you hear some other news somewhere?"
Yan Jing asked outright. His sources were undeniably well informed, though their accuracy occasionally left something to be desired. He did not believe anyone could receive news faster than him.
Zhao Huai said, "Your version really is different from what I heard. Mine said demons ran rampant and many people died."
"Who told you that?" Yan Jing frowned. "The people who came back were all normal, and no one died."
"A disciple from a sect told me."
"That disciple truly said that?"
Zhao Huai directly recounted everything that had happened during his conversation with the woman in the blue-green dress.
"A sect disciple in a long blue-green dress told you that demons killed many people in Jingyang Town?"
Yan Jing stroked his chin as he thought.
"Why would they say that?"
"Could it be that everyone who returned was dead, and all of them had been transformed by demons?" Zhao Huai voiced the thought in his heart.
Yan Jing pursed his lips. "That possibility is very small. Demons have never done anything like that. Their purpose is mainly to eat people; even disguising themselves and going undercover is for the sake of eating people. Your theory has no meaning at all. More importantly, there were no flaws in the people who returned, and they have remained safe and sound."
After thinking for a moment, he reassured him, "Jin Province is still safe for now. Since sect disciples have descended the mountain, there should be no need to worry."
Zhao Huai considered it. "Could there be a situation where an enormous number of demons invade a town?"
Yan Jing laughed dumbly and denied it. "There basically aren't that many demons anymore. Forces led by the immortal sects have vigorously purged countless demons, so they are no longer as rampant as before."
"Even the Black Wind Cave, that infamous demon lair from a hundred years ago, was said to have been destroyed by a mighty expert from a sect."
"Black Wind Cave?"
Zhao Huai found the new term rather curious.
"Yes, it was an old demon lair too. It housed all kinds of great demons and evil fiends, and countless people were eaten there. Yet it was still flattened by a single sword."
Just as Yan Jing and Zhao Huai were speaking,
a hurried servant ran to the entrance of Saviour Hall and shouted,
"Doctor Yan! Doctor Yan!"
"Please save my young master!"
"What happened?"
Yan Jing looked up and immediately saw that this servant was clearly a retainer from some Lineage.
"My young master was arguing with the master when he suddenly fainted!"
"No matter how we call him, he won't wake up. Pinching the philtrum is useless too. His face is bloodless, like he's been possessed by evil."
The servant looked as though he were about to cry.
"Which household are you from? Who is your young master?"
The servant was so frantic that he had not even given their names or background. Yan Jing did not blame him; he was long used to it.
People were always like this when they panicked.
"My master is the Jin Province Governor. My young master is naturally Li Yanqing of the Li family."
As soon as the servant spoke, Zhao Huai was slightly stunned by the news.
What was going on? He had seen Li Yanqing just earlier.
Wasn't he perfectly fine? How long had it been before something happened? "So it's Governor Li's son."
After hearing this, Yan Jing slowly nodded. He then asked, "Tell me all the other symptoms too, so I can bring some medicine with me."
"He's just unconscious and keeps muttering in his sleep. His expression is very pained."
"It sounds like he's been drugged with a hallucinogen." Yan Jing reached a preliminary conclusion, but from the corner of his eye, he saw that Zhao Huai no longer looked as calm as before. Testingly, he asked, "What, you know him?"
His tone was full of curiosity.
"I know him. He once took me as his master."
Zhao Huai frowned, still unable to understand how Li Yanqing could suddenly come to harm when he had been perfectly fine.
Seeing Zhao Huai's expression, Yan Jing figured he knew something. He said to the servant beside them, "Wait here for a moment."
"Yes!"
Though the servant was anxious, there was nothing he could do.
"Do you know what illness he has?"
Yan Jing pressed Zhao Huai.
Zhao Huai explained, "I only discovered it today. Demonic Qi had entered his body, but I already suppressed it. There shouldn't have been any serious problem."
"Could it have failed in such a short time?"
Yan Jing curled his lips in a smile. "Demonic Qi is not so easily suppressed. Looks like you've got another skill I haven't seen before, kid."
"Come with me?"
He did not dare make the servant wait too long. After all, a human life was at stake, so he directly asked Zhao Huai.
Zhao Huai nodded.
"Let's go take a look."
Li Yanqing had helped him, after all. He could not simply stand by and watch him die.
Of course, as they traveled, Zhao Huai habitually began tossing the Golden Coin.
Misfortune and fortune depended on each other. For now, watch and see. Fortune could become misfortune. Misfortune could become fortune; after weighing it again and again, it all lay within one's own heart. Divination Sign One: A bewitching fragrance drew in a soul-sucking demon; the master acted without intent, yet another lost his life. If you followed it, the guidance you received was: "Misfortune." Retrospective guidance: The demonic wind gradually rose, and ominous events multiplied. Divination Sign Two: The demonic wind drifted alone, cutting down the one in your heart. If you stayed where you were, the guidance you received was: "Misfortune." Retrospective guidance: A calamity of great omen, a campaign of great omen.
"What is going on?"
Seeing the result in his hand, Zhao Huai could not help freezing.
Whether he went or not, it was all great misfortune! All calamity! Today's Divination Signs were a little too sinister.
"Change the outcome of misfortune and fortune."
Faced with such a situation, Zhao Huai had experience. He intended to use Great Luck Overhead's special effect first.
Misfortune is where fortune leans; fortune is where misfortune hides. Divination Sign Three
Before you continue