Qi Zhu Seeks Help

The gloomy alley was silent and deep. As Fang Mu walked through it, he could clearly hear his own breathing and footsteps.

Just then, a swift black shadow suddenly shot out from the intersection ahead and thrust a sword at him.

With a thunderous boom, the black shadow vomited blood and was sent flying backward, leaving a trail of blood behind. It then vanished into the darkness.

Fang Mu withdrew his Buddhist staff without pursuing the attacker. He was somewhat puzzled about who the newcomer was.

He had sensed it long ago: someone had been following him.

His opponent's movements were exceptionally mysterious and elusive. If Fang Mu's senses had not been so powerful, he might truly have failed to notice them.

He had suspected Tu Shan or Huihai, but judging from how severely the black shadow had been wounded by his strike, it should not have been either of them.

This left Fang Mu baffled. Aside from Tu Shan and Huihai, who else harbored killing intent toward him?

After turning into another gloomy alley, Fang Mu saw several women not far away, soliciting customers.

The women were heavily made up and looked extremely young. They wore thin black dresses that were somewhat sheer, leaving room for suggestive and alluring imaginings.

Fang Mu did not continue forward. When he reached the mouth of the alley, he turned around without hesitation and hurried away through another alley.

It was not that Fang Mu was immune to temptation or uninterested in women. He had simply caught the faintest whiff of blood.

Through his black pupils, he saw an extremely faint trace of Demonic Energy clinging to the women.

If he remembered correctly, when he had used himself as bait to lure the demon fox some time ago, he had encountered this Pink Nightclub.

Later, he had heard that the residence where the Pink Nightclub was located contained many human bones, while all the women who received customers at night had disappeared without a trace.

After Fang Mu left, the Pink Nightclub closed its doors. The men who had been ushered inside all turned into withered skeletons with smiles on their faces.

Inside a gloomy room in the courtyard of the Pink Nightclub, two black shadows stood.

"Next time, can you find somewhere else to talk? It's too bloody here. I don't like it."

"There's nothing we can do. They need blood essence to maintain their human forms. Eating these men who have sunk into lust is still better than killing indiscriminately inside the city."

"Get to the point! Have you really decided to target his sister? Aren't you afraid that once he learns the truth, he'll hate you to the bone?"

"If I had a choice, I wouldn't resort to this either."

"We've already spent far too much time, and we still haven't found it."

"To prevent the other factions from taking notice, we can only use him as bait, launch a demon attack, and destroy the Divine Wall so darkness can descend."

"Try to keep it from him as much as possible. Don't let him hate you."

Walking through the night, Fang Mu traveled through the Slums. Although he occasionally heard waves of roars and howls rising and falling outside the city,

he did not encounter a single demon along the way.

When he returned to the residence, Fang Mu did not open the door. With a light leap, he vaulted over the wall and entered the courtyard.

"Xiaojing!"

Fang Mu walked toward the inner room, knocked on the door, and called softly.

As candlelight brightened inside, the door creaked open.

Fang Mu was somewhat astonished to see Qi Zhu. Her eyes were red, as though she had been crying.

"What happened?" Fang Mu closed the door, glanced at Fang Jing inside the room, then asked Qi Zhu.

Qi Zhu suddenly threw herself into his arms and began sobbing. In a low voice, she said, "Mu, take me away! I don't want to get married!"

Fang Mu froze for a moment, wondering if something had gone wrong with Qi Zhu's head today.

"What happened? What is going on?" Seeing that Qi Zhu seemed to be losing control of her emotions, Fang Mu still asked.

"My father wants me to get married—to Tu Lang. I objected and argued with him, but he was adamant. So, in a fit of anger, I ran here."

"Who is Tu Lang?"

"Tu Shan's newly adopted son. They say he's a powerhouse of the First Rank Realm."

"Why does he want to marry you to him?"

"I don't know! Tu Shan proposed to my father, and my father actually agreed."

Fang Mu brought Qi Zhu to sit on a stool in the inner room and told her to calm down.

Then he sat alone on a bench to one side and began to ponder.

Judging from what he had observed while hiding in the dry well's cavern, Ye Tian should care deeply about Qi Zhu. He would never force her to marry.

The only possibility was that Qi Zhu's Half-Demon identity had been exposed by Tu Shan, who was using it to threaten him.

Of course, matters might not be that simple. Tu Shan might have discovered some other hidden truth that even Fang Mu knew nothing about.

Tu Shan was ambitious. Becoming in-laws with Ye Tian might merely be his first step.

Next, he would probably be thinking about how to kill Ye Tian and take his place.

Therefore, whether for Qi Zhu's sake or for the peace of Qingzhu City, Fang Mu had to stop Tu Shan.

After pondering for a long while, Fang Mu finally looked at Qi Zhu and said, "Go find your father and tell him I have a way to remove the Demonic Energy from your body."

"Ask him whether, as long as the Demonic Energy in your body is removed, he will return your freedom and stop forcing you to marry."

Qi Zhu was visibly stunned by Fang Mu's words. She asked suspiciously, "I-I have Demonic Energy in my body? How come I don't know?"

"Do you believe me?" Fang Mu did not answer Qi Zhu. Instead, he stared at her and asked in return.

"Mm!" Qi Zhu hesitated, but still nodded.

"Close your eyes!"

"W-what are you going to do?"

"Close your eyes!"

"Oh."

Fang Mu looked at Qi Zhu's bashful face, red as a monkey's backside, and felt speechless.

I only want to draw the Demonic Energy out of you. Why are you so excited?

As strands of blue-green energy were drawn out by the Vital Energy Fang Mu controlled, he was just about to use his black pupils to absorb the Demonic Energy.

Suddenly, the watermelon-shaped rune on his right hand emitted a powerful suction force and absorbed the blue-green energy.

Xixi seemed extremely interested in the Demonic Energy inside Qi Zhu, radiating a surge of excitement.

Fang Mu placed his hand on Qi Zhu's shoulder. Before he could do anything, the rune on his right hand released an enormous suction force.

That suction force frenziedly absorbed the Demonic Energy inside Qi Zhu's body.

Qi Zhu was startled when Fang Mu put his hand on her shoulder, afraid that he might do something improper.

But after some time passed without Fang Mu making another move, Qi Zhu felt a little disappointed. He had actually not done anything improper.

These conflicting emotions made Qi Zhu's face turn even redder. She could sense a hidden current of energy inside her body being drawn out.

At that moment, with the suppression of the Demonic Energy gone, Qi Zhu's cultivation actually broke through directly, advancing to the realm of a Fourth Rank Martial Artist.

Fang Mu extended his divine sense into Qi Zhu's dantian and discovered the Demonic Energy that had been drawn away.

It was merely demon energy that had accumulated in Qi Zhu's dantian over many years.

After Xixi absorbed all the Demonic Energy, wisps of it still seeped out from Qi Zhu's body.

Clearly, merely drawing the Demonic Energy out of Qi Zhu's body treated the symptoms but not the root cause.

Thus, Fang Mu thought of the Demonic Scripture. It could refine Demonic Energy for its own use—simply tailor-made for Qi Zhu.