The baby, wrapped in a bundle of cloth, struggled nonstop, trying to break free, but against Su Qianqian's magic, it was all in vain.
Ning Xiu walked over to Su Qianqian and asked curiously, "My lady, what kind of Evil Spirit is this? Why have I never read about it in the Compendium of Demons and Evil Spirits?"
Su Qianqian replied, "A Grievance Yin Fetus. It's formed from a fetus that takes human shape inside a woman but never fully develops. For one to appear, the mother must die and be abandoned in a place steeped in yin energy. Even then, the odds are very low. It's an unranked Evil Spirit."
Hearing that, Ning Xiu felt puzzled. "My lady, does that mean Evil Spirits have ranks?"
"Of course. Demonic Creatures and Evil Spirits are divided into nine ranks. A formless, shapeless Grievance Yin Fetus like this is unranked. Most of the Huang Zone Evil Spirits you executed in the Demon Subduing Prison were Ninth or Eighth Rank, having completed their physical forms."
"What about the Evil Spirits in the Xuan Zone?" Ning Xiu asked.
"That place mostly holds Seventh and Sixth Rank ones. Anything above Fifth Rank has to be sent to a regional prison. Otherwise, they can't be contained."
Ning Xiu was speechless. Only then did he realize just how much of a bargain he'd gotten by working as an Executioner in the Demon Subduing Prison.
Sixth and Seventh Rank Evil Spirits had been at his mercy, like chickens and ducks waiting to be slaughtered. Outside the Demon Subduing Prison, that would have been utterly impossible.
It was a shame that the past was like smoke. Those good old days of getting Universal Proficiency for free were gone for good.
Watching the bundle of cloth roll about, Ning Xiu asked, "My lady, what are you planning to do with this Grievance Yin Fetus? Should I take care of it?"
Though the Grievance Yin Fetus was an unranked Evil Spirit, it could still give him Universal Proficiency. No matter how little, Ning Xiu didn't want to pass that up.
But Su Qianqian stopped him. "Not yet. The real threat hasn't appeared. Be ready to act."
Su Qianqian looked serious, so Ning Xiu didn't dare let his guard down. Could there be another Evil Spirit besides the Grievance Yin Fetus?
"Waaah! Waaah! Waaah!"
The Grievance Yin Fetus struggled inside the bundle, its wails so loud they could be heard clearly outside. The Yun family stared at one another in confusion, their eyes wide.
Where had the sound of a baby crying come from?
Suddenly, a gust of yin wind swept through the courtyard. The door to the room where Ning Xiu stood was shoved open from outside. The wind rushed in, filling the room with a howling roar.
The candlesticks, fruit platter, and tea set all tumbled off the table, clattering to the floor.
Ning Xiu raised his arms to shield his face. Through the gaps, he saw a woman in a white dress silently emerge from the corpse that had long been hanging from the beam. Her feet hovered three feet above the floor.
Her long hair fell to her waist, covering her entire face and concealing her features. But the sharp claws on her fingers were enough to show that she was no ordinary woman.
There really is another Evil Spirit! Ning Xiu thought in shock.
"I didn't explain this fully earlier. The odds of a Grievance Yin Fetus appearing are extremely low, but when one does, its mother—who failed to give birth to it—will also become a vengeful ghost. That's the Resentful Yin Woman. The Grievance Yin Fetus and the Resentful Yin Woman usually act together. If you see one, the other is bound to be nearby."
As the wind blew the door open, Su Qianqian immediately took three steps back and stood behind Ning Xiu. "I'll leave this Evil Spirit to you. Let me see what you're really capable of."
It had taken on a complete physical form and was visible to the naked eye. It was indeed the Ninth Rank Evil Spirit Su Qianqian had mentioned.
Ning Xiu immediately grew serious. At the same time, the Resentful Yin Woman leapt up and swung her hand down toward the crown of his head.
The Resentful Yin Woman's long hair swayed in the wind. At last, Ning Xiu saw the face hidden beneath it.
To his surprise, she was a pretty young woman with delicate features.
Thud!
Ning Xiu caught her hand, yanked her toward him, and slammed a palm against the back of her head, driving her face-first into the floor.
He gave the Evil Spirit no time to react. Channeling all his Internal Energy into his palm, Ning Xiu unleashed a rapid flurry of punches against her body.
Within seconds, the floor was covered in cracks, and a crater had been pounded into the ground beneath the Resentful Yin Woman.
The sight of this jackhammer-like assault left Su Qianqian dumbfounded. In her more than four years with the Demon Subduing Bureau, she had never seen a newcomer deal with an Evil Spirit like this.
Weren't you supposed to be practicing martial arts?
Where were the fist techniques? The leg techniques? The weapons?
After taking dozens of punches from Ning Xiu, the Resentful Yin Woman was on her last breath. As she hovered at death's door, she turned her head and looked at the Grievance Yin Fetus, still wailing inside the bundle of cloth. A tear inexplicably rolled from the corner of her eye.
The moment it hit the floor, it transformed into a white pearl.
The instant the pearl took shape, Su Qianqian exclaimed, "A Ghost Tear!"
With Ning Xiu's final punch, the Resentful Yin Woman went completely still.
Slaying Evil Spirit, Universal Proficiency +700
"My lady, what's a Ghost Tear?" Ning Xiu asked, picking up the pearl.
Su Qianqian looked astonished. "Evil Spirits are heartless, so they rarely shed tears. Seeing one even once is a stroke of incredible luck. When an Evil Spirit cries, its tear turns into an extremely rare treasure. Add a Ghost Tear to the crafting of a weapon or Magic Treasure, and its power will increase significantly. I've been a Demon Subduing Captain for four years, and I've never seen a Ghost Tear form. You really are lucky."
"I see." Ning Xiu nodded, then handed the Ghost Tear to Su Qianqian. "Then you can have this treasure, my lady. If you hadn't brought me here today, I'd never have encountered this."
Su Qianqian was tempted, but Ning Xiu was the newcomer she had personally chosen, and the Ghost Tear had appeared because he had fought the Resentful Yin Woman.
As his superior, how could she accept his good fortune without a second thought?
No, I should at least be polite and refuse his offer first. If he offers again, I'll accept graciously. Su Qianqian had already planned the entire sequence of modest refusals in her head.
"My lady?" Ning Xiu asked, puzzled when Su Qianqian didn't respond.
"No need. The Ghost Tear appeared thanks to you. If I'd fought the Resentful Yin Woman myself, things might have turned out very differently. Keep it for yourself." After saying this, Su Qianqian secretly rejoiced. She had cemented her image as a good superior. Now all she had to do was wait for Ning Xiu to offer it one more time, and the ending would be perfect.
"All right, thank you, my lady." Ning Xiu tucked the Ghost Tear into his clothes and patted them, looking quite pleased.
"Mm... Huh?" Su Qianqian froze. How could he thank her so readily?
The commotion in the room abruptly stopped. The Yun family, who had been waiting outside, finally gathered their courage and came in.
"My lords, what exactly caused my son's death?"
"Ah! It's a Demon Person!"
"How could there be a Demon Person in our home? It must have killed my younger brother!"
The family erupted into a tumult as they saw the Resentful Yin Woman lying dead on the floor where Ning Xiu had beaten her.
"Quiet!" Ning Xiu shouted.
The Yun family fell silent at once, not daring to say another word.
"Tell me, have you seen this woman before?" Ning Xiu asked, brushing the Resentful Yin Woman's long hair away to reveal her delicate face.
A woman standing beside Yun Heng's expression changed dramatically. "Isn't this the..."
Before she could finish, Yun Heng's wife hurriedly clapped a hand over her mouth, unwilling to let her say more.
Yun Heng wiped his forehead nervously. "My lord, we don't know her."
"Ha!" Ning Xiu burst out laughing. Did they think he was an idiot? Yun Heng had one daughter and two sons, and the woman was his eldest son's wife. From her reaction, she clearly recognized the Resentful Yin Woman.
Yet Yun Heng was deliberately hiding the truth. There had to be some dirty business behind it.
Just as Ning Xiu was about to threaten the family into telling the truth, Su Qianqian finally recovered from her disappointment over the Ghost Tear.
"The Resentful Yin Woman can possess a woman's body. Once she has taken shape, she'll try any means necessary to avenge herself on the person who killed her. If I'm not mistaken, this woman was killed by your younger son while she was alive."
Su Qianqian lifted the bundle containing the Grievance Yin Fetus. "You'd better tell me the truth now. I need to go back and record the details of this case. If you refuse to talk, the authorities will come and ask you to take a seat at the local government office."
The Demon Subduing Bureau only dealt with slaying demons and exorcising Evil Spirits. Fraud, murder, robbery, kidnapping, and rape were outside its jurisdiction. Other officials would handle those matters.
Whether they came gently or harshly, Su Qianqian had no idea.
At the mention of the government office, Yun Heng shuddered and finally broke. He dropped to his knees and kowtowed. "My lord, it was my fault. I indulged my good-for-nothing son too much, and that's how he ended up taking a life. If someone has to be punished, punish me alone. Please don't implicate my family."
Under Ning Xiu and Su Qianqian's gaze, Yun Heng confessed everything he knew.
Huang Lu had been a weaver at the Yun Family Cloth Shop. Because she was pretty and charming, Yun Heng's younger son, Yun Hao, had taken a liking to her. Before they were formally married, Yun Hao had used both force and persuasion to take her virtue.
But Yun Hao already had a childhood betrothal to a girl from a family of equal standing with the Yun family. Huang Lu could never become his official wife.
Several months later, Huang Lu, already pregnant, learned of this by chance. One night, she got into a terrible argument with Yun Hao. In the heat of their quarrel, Yun Hao accidentally killed her.
With help from the entire family, they dumped Huang Lu's body in the barren mountains outside Chaotian Capital and kept the unspeakable secret hidden.
"The death of humanity. The collapse of morality." Ning Xiu shook his head.
"My lords, I was the one who orchestrated this. If someone must be sentenced, please punish me alone."
Su Qianqian tossed the bundle to Ning Xiu and headed straight for the courtyard gate without looking back. "Go to the local government office and confess. Accept whatever punishment they give you. Your sentence has nothing to do with me. Just don't even think about running, or your crime will be compounded."
Yun Heng's face fell into despair.
Watching Su Qianqian stride away, Ning Xiu immediately followed with the bundle in hand. "My lady, we're leaving just like that? Shouldn't we stay and keep an eye on them?"
"The Demon Subduing Bureau is swamped with work. I don't have time. Aside from this case, I still have four or five others waiting to be handled. But don't worry. I'll send someone to alert the local authorities to keep an eye on this place. The Yun family won't get away."
"All right. What should we do with the Grievance Yin Fetus?" Ning Xiu asked, shaking the bundle in his hand.
"Take it to the Demon Subduing Prison. They have people there who handle the bodies of Evil Spirits. Also, don't forget to tell them to come to the Yun Family Cloth Shop and collect the Resentful Yin Woman."
Su Qianqian patted Ning Xiu's shoulder, pleased. "I thought all newcomers needed a period of training before they could be put to work, but you're an exception. You did well today. I had a case I planned to assign to you after a while, but there's no need to test you further. I'll give it to you early."
Taking a letter from her waist, Su Qianqian handed it to Ning Xiu. "You can rest for two more days. After that, you must set out for the location written in the letter."
Though he didn't know what the letter contained, Ning Xiu figured it was probably related to an Evil Spirit.
Ever since the Three-Faced Demon had injured him with its techniques the previous night, Ning Xiu had realized that his Golden Bell Shield wasn't nearly as sturdy as he'd thought. It still wasn't enough to face a Demon Person.
If he wanted to improve his safety and ability to stay alive, he had to raise the levels of the martial arts he already knew.
So Ning Xiu asked, "My lady, could you arrange for me to return to the Demon Subduing Prison and work as an Executioner for the next two days?"
Su Qianqian: ?
What a strange request. In her entire life, she had never heard of one like it.
Before you continue