"Demon-Revealing Eye?"
Looking at the new Fate Trait before him, Zhao Huai felt a flicker of delight.
This Fate Trait was simply too useful for him right now.
It could sense demons lurking in the shadows. Even if they wore human skin, he could quickly find them.
It also had a special piercing effect. As long as he found a demon's true form, he could lock onto it, leaving it nowhere to run.
It was essentially a tracking compass.
The final weakness trait was equally crucial. Once he saw through a weakness, dealing with demons and monsters would become much easier.
Fuse Fate Trait?
Fuse.
Zhao Huai murmured inwardly.
The next moment, the bright orange ball of light representing the Demon-Revealing Eye Fate Trait bloomed.
It transformed into a streak of light and entered Zhao Huai's eyes.
He only felt his eyes suddenly grow scorching hot, as though a flower of flame had blossomed within his sockets.
At the same time, a vast surge of spiritual energy poured into his eyes, making them glow faintly.
After a short while, it gradually settled down again.
On the surface, Zhao Huai's pupils and eyes did not seem to have changed much.
Yet in his own vision, an entirely different scene had appeared.
His gaze shone brightly, and everything before him had turned gray and dim. Even the vivid peonies in the vase beside the bed were no exception. Before his eyes, only wisps of black threads stood out distinctly, leading out of the room.
With this Fate Trait, he would no longer need to worry about demons and monsters lurking at his side.
Zhao Huai thought with satisfaction.
Using the Demon-Revealing Eye, he could sense faint Demonic Qi lingering nearby.
The sources of that Demonic Qi all came from Li Yanqing on the bed.
Li Yanqing was now like a furnace producing Demonic Qi, with an endless stream of it spilling from his body.
Zhao Huai guessed that the guards and steward outside had all been controlled by someone. At its root, it must have been caused by the black qi on Li Yanqing's body.
That black qi could affect the human mind, create hallucinations, and make people violent and chaotic.
But now, all of that black qi had been suppressed within his body by the talismans Zhao Huai had set down.
"Brother Zhao, thank heavens for you."
Seeing that the situation before them had stabilized, Yan Jing let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, young hero."
Li Chong also cupped his hands toward Zhao Huai, though his voice trembled slightly.
He felt as if both his legs had gone limp.
Had it not been for Zhao Huai, he would likely have fallen here today.
"Why have these demons and monsters set their sights on my son?" Li Chong sighed as he looked at his son lying on the bed, unable to stop himself from asking.
Zhao Huai did not sheathe his Treasure Sword, instead leaving it planted in the ground. He said calmly, "Has it occurred to you that the demon's original target may not have been your son, but you?"
"How did you see that, young hero?"
Li Chong asked in surprise.
"At first, I wasn't entirely certain. It wasn't until I heard the demon say that Jin Province City would be next that I understood."
Zhao Huai had just been puzzled. Li Yanqing was merely a spoiled young wastrel, so why would the Fox Demon place such an important mark on him?
A Demonic Qi mark was equivalent to a brand. It was quite difficult to create and required no small amount of effort.
It allowed a demon's spiritual imprint to descend upon a person.
There had to be a reason for placing something so important on Li Yanqing.
At present, there was only one explanation.
The person the Fox Demon wanted to kill—
Or rather, the person she wanted to control—was actually Prefect Li.
She had controlled Li Yanqing in order to get close to the Prefect's Residence.
The servants she had controlled earlier had also been trying to assassinate Li Chong.
This showed that the Fox Demon truly wanted to deal with Li Chong.
"But why would she come after me?"
Li Chong asked in confusion.
Yan Jing beside him pondered for a moment and quickly arrived at the answer. His expression turned grave as he said:
"Because the Prefect governs all of Jin Province. If you fall, or if you are controlled by demons, then all of Jin Province will be finished."
"If the government falls, there will be no one left to report to the sects. That would greatly delay the sect disciples' arrival here."
"Exactly."
Zhao Huai nodded slowly.
That was precisely what he had been thinking.
"This demon is actually so insidious?"
After hearing Yan Jing's words, Li Chong looked astonished. He clearly had not expected demons and monsters to have such a move up their sleeves.
Zhao Huai walked to the doorway and gazed into the courtyard, his expression calm as he said:
"The crisis has not yet been lifted. The Fox Demon's true body has yet to arrive, and she may still attack."
At the same time, he glanced at the Divination Sign before him. It still read, "Calamity."
In other words, unknown danger still awaited him ahead.
Zhao Huai fell into thought.
Demons and Monsters' Many-Faced Divine Eyes—what exactly did that mean? Look at eyes? Whose eyes? The demons' eyes? Or his own Demon-Revealing Eye?
The divination result had not changed, which meant he had yet to find the key.
Zhao Huai thought for a while, but still had no clue.
So he simply began drawing talismans, inscribing the new talisman he had learned in the center of the courtyard.
Black Wood Dao Thunder Talisman.
Born to guard a residence, it could block demons and monsters. As long as it was not a great demon in the Foundation Establishment Realm, a single talisman could bar its path.
With that, there was no longer any need to worry about the safety of those inside.
"Bang bang!"
Just then, someone suddenly began pounding on the vermilion gate of the residence.
The booms were deafening, the commotion immense, and the knocking frantic.
Zhao Huai came to the gate but did not open it.
There was always something fishy afoot. At this hour, the sun was about to set, hanging low over the western hills.
Who would come knocking on the Prefect's Residence gate? And knock so urgently and loudly, without the slightest courtesy?
Zhao Huai narrowed his eyes and activated the Demon-Revealing Eye Fate Trait.
Clusters of black qi threads led to the other side of the gate.
That was right—not just one cluster. At a rough count, there were seven or eight.
Naturally, Zhao Huai would not open the gate.
Not only would he not open it, he would draw a few more talismans at the entrance.
He first drew Five Elements Thunder Talismans at the gate. He drew them on the doors and on either side of them as well.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
The pounding rang out again and again without pause.
After a long stretch of silence in the air.
"Boom!"
A tremendous crash rang out as the vermilion-lacquered gate was blasted open.
Seizing the moment, Zhao Huai directly detonated the Dao talismans on the gate.
"Rumble!"
A vast blaze surged out from the entrance like waves that chose their victims before devouring them, crashing toward the outside.
With a sizzle, the sound of scorching came from the entrance. Something unknown was blasted flying.
Once all was calm, Zhao Huai probed with the Demon-Revealing Eye.
The black threads around them had already snapped.
He saw an extremely thin, wretched-looking man lying blankly on the ground, his eyes lifeless.
And he was not alone. Quite a few pale-skinned men lay silently nearby as well.
Zhao Huai looked closely and saw that they were all corpses, no longer human.
They did not even have bones. They were nothing but skins!
Withered human skins could barely move only through the demonic power of demons.
"So these are human puppets?"
Zhao Huai muttered. Only then did he realize that everything before him was a human puppet refined by the Fox Demon.
At that moment, his Demon-Revealing Eye sensed an unusual disturbance.
Wherever his gaze reached, vast amounts of black qi gathered together.
They became a person.
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