Demon Fire

"Fire!"

"Fire! A huge fire!"

In the dead of night, the sudden, raging fire at the Xu residence drew the attention of countless people.

Several sword lights soared into the sky, followed by a continuous stream of water control talismans and fire extinguishing array patterns—

By the time Xu Jing, the adopted son, who was on night patrol duty, heard the news, the fire had already been extinguished.

The Xu residence was completely burnt to the ground.

Xu Jing stepped into the ruins of the mansion, moving aside the massive stones from the collapsed buildings, only to find the charred, unrecognizable remains of a woman.

"Shen... Sister Shen..."

He collapsed to his knees with a thud, his hands on the ground, unable to believe the sudden, devastating news.

Xu Jing couldn't recover for a long time.

How could this be!

He had only been gone for a short while, how could the Xu residence have become like this!

A strand of Sword Qi slowly descended.

"This is demon fire. The remaining sparks contain traces of Phoenix Fire."

A figure in yellow robes stood above the Sword Qi.

Xu Jing looked up, his eyes bloodshot, and gritted his teeth, "Lord City Lord, are you saying... a demon cultivator set fire in Taian City?"

"...Yes."

The City Lord of Taian City sighed softly and comforted him, "Who would have thought that someone would be so audacious as to set fire to the Xu residence? That person came and went without a trace. I immediately sealed the city gates, but I couldn't detect any corresponding aura. I have already reported tonight's events to the higher authorities. Qing Province is under strict surveillance, and the Primal Chaos Monitor is tracking the secrets of heaven. Hopefully, there will be some clues. I just don't know when the Imperial City Bureau will respond... Young Master Xu, please accept my condolences."

"Wait, where's my adoptive father?"

Xu Jing suddenly remembered another important matter.

The City Lord of Taian City sighed again.

A moment later.

Xu Jing was led to the outskirts of Taian City, where he looked at the small pile of ashes in front of him.

"This is your adoptive father."

The words sounded somewhat ironic and absurd.

The City Lord of Taian City sighed softly, "Xu You's death was similar to Shen Yan's, burned to ashes, leaving no complete bones... Judging from the remaining demon fire aura, this atrocity was probably committed by the same demon cultivator."

Qing Province is under lockdown, strictly investigating demon cultivators!

Now this demon cultivator is recklessly killing people in Taian City, completely disregarding the laws of Great Chu!

"Demon cultivator... demon cultivator..."

Xu Jing suddenly looked up.

He ran madly towards Taian City, heading straight for the residence where Xie Zhen was staying.

But from several miles away, he saw the rising flames and thick smoke. He kicked open the door, only to find the place already burned to ashes.

"Who was living in this residence?"

The City Lord of Taian City followed on his sword, frowning as he saw this scene.

"My adoptive father was entertaining some guests tonight, they were staying here..."

Xu Jing looked dejected as he saw this scene, "I thought, the demon cultivator you mentioned, was related to them."

"What's going on?"

The City Lord of Taian City quickly asked.

Xu Jing briefly recounted what had happened that night.

The City Lord of Taian City listened silently, then asked, "You said that Xie Zhen, has no Primordial Qi in his body, but is skilled in the art of talismans?"

"Yes."

Xu Jing gave a self-deprecating smile, "Come to think of it, he's unlikely to be the culprit. How could a mere Qi Refiner, even if he knows some talisman techniques, be a match for my adoptive father?"

"That makes sense. But tonight, there were multiple fires in Taian City... From the City Lord's mansion to the city gate guard post, all had traces of demon fire."

The City Lord frowned, finding the whole thing very strange, with a peculiar feeling in every aspect.

The City Lord's mansion and the guard post, although set on fire, had few casualties.

Only a few garrison soldiers fell into a coma and have not yet woken up.

And the Xu residence, which seemed to have suffered heavy losses, only had Shen Yan's death.

If it was truly a demon cultivator deliberately seeking revenge, why only attack the Xu residence?

The residence where those guests of Xu Jing were staying was completely burned down... These mortals could not withstand the erosion of demon fire, and were burned to nothing, leaving not a single clue at the scene.

"Strange, too strange."

The Taian City Lord pondered in his heart.

The thing he couldn't understand the most was Xu You.

How could the dignified Deputy City Lord of Taian City die silently outside Taian City?

"Let's rest here."

After rushing all the way without looking back, Deng Baiyi chose to stop the group at the foot of a desolate mountain to rest, confirming that there were no pursuers behind them.

She held Jiang Huang in her arms, the little one still sleeping soundly... completely unaware of what had happened.

Apart from Jiang Huang, no one could sleep.

"Young Master Xie wouldn't have gone to fight that City Lord Xu, would he?"

Deng Chicheng was a little anxious.

He knew that Xu You was not a good person.

But this was still a big shot, surely he wouldn't be so impatient as to kill someone for a few pills, right?

"..."

Deng Baiyi said unhappily, "What City Lord? He's just a deputy!"

"To be appointed by Great Chu to guard a city, whether it's the main or deputy... is that something we can afford to provoke?"

Deng Chicheng clutched the silver notes in his arms uneasily, and said with some regret, "Maybe I should return this money; it's too hot to hold."

Deng Baiyi looked at her eccentric father helplessly.

"No need to return it."

Just then, a light and airy voice echoed at the foot of the desolate mountain.

"Xu You is already dead; if you really want to return it, just burn it for him."

Hearing this, Deng Chicheng's face turned pale.

A blood-stained white robe slowly came into view.

Earlier, Deng Chicheng thought that Xie Zhen looked refined, gentle, innocent, and childlike, but now, the more he looked at him, the more wrong he felt! This was clearly an extremely dangerous, blood-soaked killer!

The great demons of Jade Pearl Town were killed!

The ghost cultivator leader who manipulated the great demons was killed!

Now... even the city official appointed by Great Chu was killed!

"You're back?"

Seeing that reassuring, familiar face, Deng Baiyi finally put down the worry in her heart.

As for Xu You's death, she didn't have too many emotional fluctuations.

Traveling east all the way.

Everyone's life and death were in Xie Zhen's hands.

She believed that every thing Xie Zhen did had a reason.

"Mm..."

Xie Xuanyi, who never had the habit of explaining in the past, thought for a moment and said softly, "Xu You and Shen Yan are both demon cultivators; if we didn't kill them, we would all die."

"Demon cultivators?"

Deng Chicheng was stunned.

Xie Xuanyi chuckled, "This Miss Shen is quite a ruthless person... for the sake of the Demon Realm, she killed her own family members righteously, personally wiping out the entire Lingluo Mountain."

Deng Chicheng's face was pale.

Personally wipe out the entire Lingluo Mountain? Was this woman so ruthless?

Although this Shen Yan didn't seem like a good person...

But he never expected that Shen Yan could be so crazy!

Recalling the previous trip to Qing Province, he and Shen Yan were riding in the same carriage all the way!

Deng Chicheng was filled with lingering fear, and a large patch of cold sweat seeped from his back, wetting his entire shirt.

Deng Baiyi asked in confusion, "Shen Yan is one thing, but Xu You is the Deputy City Lord of Taian City... is he also a demon cultivator?"

Her expression was quite complicated.

The news Xie Zhen brought was really explosive.

No wonder he had told her earlier not to rest, but to hurry on the road overnight.

"Though they have human bodies, they harbor demonic hearts. Such people are even more terrifying than pure demons," Xie Xuanyi said 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 descendant of a prominent family from Lingluo Mountain.

Xu You was the deputy city lord of Taian City.

Both of these were people with status and position... especially the latter. The death of such an officially appointed city official would definitely attract attention.

Deng Chicheng subconsciously said, "Of course, we report them, expose them."

After he finished speaking, he looked at Xie Xuanyi.

The latter's expression was blank.

"Hey, hey, hey... no way, right?" A very bad premonition rose in Deng Chicheng's heart.

"I'm sorry, the next step is to run."

Xie Xuanyi said indifferently, "The identities of these two demon cultivators cannot be resolved by simply reporting them. I've cleaned up the clues in Taian City, so there won't be any problems in the short term... Before the Imperial City Bureau comes knocking, I will change everyone's identity to a safe one that won't attract trouble."

Squeak, squeak, squeak~