The Puppet Avatar

"Hmm?!"

Seeing this bizarre sight, Ning Xiu couldn't help but widen his eyes.

As the man crumbled apart like a clay figure, the Demon Person went completely still, without a trace of life. Anyone who hadn't known better would never have guessed that only moments earlier, he had been speaking at the doorway.

For the moment, Ning Xiu didn't have time to worry about anything else. He could only head toward the Scaled Demon first.

The two of them were accomplices, so the Scaled Demon ought to know something about the other Demon Person.

But the Scaled Demon wasn't about to sit around and wait for death. As the other Demon Person's body crumbled, the one Ning Xiu had punched to the ground scrambled back to his feet.

A great cloud of purple smoke immediately poured from the gaps between the scales covering his body, spreading throughout the room.

Ning Xiu hurriedly held his breath in case the purple smoke was poisonous.

The purple smoke not only forced Ning Xiu to split his attention and stay on guard, but also greatly obstructed his vision.

Before long, the Scaled Demon disappeared from sight.

"I don't know where you came from, Martial Dao Eighth Rank, but since you dared to meddle, you'd better be ready to die here."

The Scaled Demon's voice slowly rang out from within the smoke.

It shifted from side to side, now in front, now behind—sometimes near, sometimes far, utterly elusive.

Even by listening for the sound, Ning Xiu couldn't make out the Scaled Demon's exact position.

Ning Xiu could only cross his arms in front of his face, guarding against an attack on his head.

At the same time, he quietly activated the Spiritual Eye Qi Observation Technique. An outline appeared before his eyes.

Whoosh!

A black shadow shot toward him and stabbed into his abdomen. It was the Scaled Demon's hand.

An ordinary person would likely have been impaled by that strike, but Ning Xiu's Golden Bell Shield had reached the ninth layer. He took the blow head-on without suffering any harm.

"Huh?" The Demon Person exclaimed in surprise, then quickly vanished again.

Faced with the Scaled Demon's uncanny ability to appear and disappear, Ning Xiu stayed perfectly calm. He stood as steady as a mountain, silently waiting for his chance.

With the Spiritual Eye Qi Observation Technique, he could clearly see a hazy human silhouette in the purple smoke: the Demon Person hiding within it.

The Scaled Demon thought he was concealed flawlessly in the purple smoke, never realizing he had already been exposed to Ning Xiu.

One strike!

As long as Ning Xiu could grab hold of the Scaled Demon, the outcome would be settled in an instant.

"Your Hardening Skill is pretty impressive. Too bad all you can do now is take a beating. Let's see how many of my attacks your body can withstand." The Demon Person spoke ominously from within the purple smoke.

Ning Xiu didn't answer. His entire body was taut, ready to react at a moment's notice.

A gust of wind suddenly whistled past his ear. The Demon Person was moving—he was kicking toward Ning Xiu's left cheek.

Ning Xiu's eyes lit up. He abruptly reached out with both hands and grabbed to his left.

Bang!

He had seized the Demon Person's ankle in a firm grip. It couldn't budge.

"What?!" The Scaled Demon was shocked. He couldn't believe Ning Xiu had managed to grab his leg so precisely.

By all rights, Ning Xiu shouldn't have been able to see a thing in the purple smoke.

But he had no time to think it over. Having caught his opponent, Ning Xiu didn't hesitate. He poured Internal Energy into both arms and swung the Scaled Demon up, slamming him viciously into the ground.

Boom!

A deafening crash erupted inside the room, and the floor shook. It was clear just how ferocious Ning Xiu's strike had been.

"Pfft!" The Scaled Demon couldn't withstand such an assault. He spat out a great cloud of blood, and in the blink of an eye, he was on the verge of death.

Dragging the Demon Person's body outside, Ning Xiu could finally see just how wretched he looked.

Several bones throughout his body were grotesquely twisted, and his entire face was a mangled mess of blood and flesh. He was barely clinging to life.

With his Internal Energy, Ning Xiu could easily wield the 320-jin Drum Beating Golden Hammer.

When he unleashed his full strength, his force could nearly triple. With close to a thousand jin of power bearing down on the Scaled Demon, if he could still remain completely unharmed, Ning Xia might as well go back to the Champion Camp and start over.

"Tell me. What was going on with your accomplice?" Ning Xiu threw the Demon Person's body onto the ground and grabbed him by the throat, demanding an answer.

"You... you must be a Demon Subduing Captain..." The Scaled Demon looked at Ning Xiu. "I thought I'd hidden myself well enough in Wendeng County. Never expected you'd still find me. Cough!"

The Demon Person spat up blood, his words becoming halting and broken.

Even so, Ning Xiu could still make out a strange smile on his face.

"It's no use, even if you found us today. The moment you chose to attack, you gave yourself away. That fellow's on guard now. You'll never catch him. All you can do is watch as people in Wendeng County keep dying."

Ning Xiu frowned. "Wendeng County is so close to Chaotian Capital. How did you Demon People get the nerve to commit crimes here? Is someone else giving you orders?"

"You'll never know." The Scaled Demon let out those final words, then died completely.

Killed a Demon Person, Universal Proficiency +800

These Demon People, fallen from the path halfway through, were stubborn as mules. Ning Xiu had already prepared himself for the possibility that he wouldn't get any clues out of the Scaled Demon, but it was still worth trying.

Now that he had killed one of the Demon People, he knew from the two of them talking inside the room that they were behind the Drowned Ghost's attacks.

If Ning Xiu's guess was right, the other Demon Person was still alive, somewhere in Wendeng County.

The man who had spoken with the Scaled Demon was likely just an avatar created from that Demon Person's puppet.

Ning Xiu had heard of techniques like this while he was at Champion Camp.

For instance, those people from the Puppet Path could use secret methods to transform puppets they had made into avatars outside their bodies, then control them to investigate dangerous places.

They could see what the puppets saw and hear what they heard. It was an incredibly wondrous technique.

The Great Dao had three thousand paths, and each had its own unique features. Those who didn't know better could easily be caught off guard.

Now that the remaining Demon Person had discovered his presence, the situation had instantly turned into the enemy lurking in the shadows while he stood in the open. Ning Xiu couldn't help feeling helpless; all he could do was take his time and plan his next move.

He returned to the room, grabbed a tablecloth, and wrapped the Scaled Demon's corpse in it. Then he hoisted the body onto his shoulder and quickly returned to the county government office.

Dong Fu was efficient. In barely half a day, he had already had someone investigate the matter Ning Xiu had asked him to look into the night before.

When Ning Xiu returned to the county government office carrying the Demon Person's corpse, Dong Fu immediately handed him a thick list.

"Lord Ning, the information you wanted is all recorded here," Dong Fu said.

Wendeng County lay at the intersection of four post roads. Travelers and merchants came from north and south, and the flow of people was enormous.

It was naturally difficult to investigate everyone, but looking into outsiders who had been staying in Wendeng County for at least half a month narrowed the field considerably and made the task much simpler.

The list Dong Fu gave Ning Xiu recorded the outsiders who had stayed in Wendeng County throughout the past half month.

Yesterday, Ning Xiu had thought this approach might work. But after discovering that the mysterious Demon Person could use a puppet avatar, he felt the odds of finding him this way were slim.

Who could say that the Demon Person hadn't killed a local and then used a puppet avatar to impersonate them?

But slim odds were still odds. Ning Xiu set the Demon Person's corpse on the ground and carefully went through the list, page by page.

Just then, one name among the many caught his attention.

Wendeng County Deputy Magistrate, Lu Dengke.

Because of Huang You, Ning Xiu had some recollection of this new deputy magistrate.

According to the records, he had been transferred from another town to Wendeng County half a month ago. To make room for him, they had even pushed out the old deputy magistrate—the county magistrate Huang You's father.

Huang You had been complaining about it ever since.

"By the way, Lord Dong, this new deputy magistrate has been in Wendeng County for half a month. Why haven't I seen him at the county office?" Ning Xiu asked, puzzled.

Dong Fu immediately shook his head. "Speaking of this new deputy magistrate, he's a strange one. He came to report to the county office on his first day, but I haven't seen him since. I can't understand why the higher-ups would send someone like that to Wendeng County. As for diligence and responsibility, County Deputy Magistrate Huang did a much better job."

"He hasn't shown his face in half a month..." Ning Xiu thought it over. It seemed this man was highly suspicious.

"Lord Dong, I'm going to check out this new deputy magistrate's residence. Please find a constable to show me the way."

Dong Fu nodded. "A small matter. I'll have Constable Fang, the one who went with you last time, accompany you."

"This is the Demon Person I just captured outside. Please take care of him, Lord Dong. Have him cremated." Ning Xiu pointed at the corpse wrapped in the tablecloth on the ground.

Dong Fu couldn't help feeling secretly shocked. Ning Xiu had only been out for a short while, yet he had already killed a Demon Person?

Was this how efficient a Demon Subduing Captain was? He'd certainly learned something new.

"Lord Ning, your methods are extraordinary. I truly admire you," Dong Fu said sincerely.

Fang Ping was one of the few people Ning Xiu knew at the county government office. With him leading the way, Ning Xiu soon arrived at the Lu residence in the county.

It was the residence of County Deputy Magistrate Lu.

"Lord Ning, what happened to your clothes?" Fang Ping couldn't help asking when he saw the damage around Ning Xiu's abdomen.

Ning Xiu looked down. The damage had been left by the Scaled Demon's attack on his abdomen.

Although his Golden Bell Shield had kept his body unharmed, his clothes weren't nearly as durable. Once again, they had taken the brunt of the damage.

Ning Xiu was exasperated. In less than half a month, he had already gone through no fewer than five sets of clothes—more than he had changed in an entire year at Champion Camp.

"It's nothing, just a little tear," Ning Xiu replied.

After Fang Ping announced them, the Lu residence's gatekeeper quickly fetched the old steward to receive them.

"Please, come in. My master hasn't been feeling well lately and may not be able to meet with you. If you have business with the county office, you can tell me, and I'll pass it along to him later."

Fang Ping asked, "What kind of illness takes half a month to cure?"

"My master has always been in poor health. Sigh." The old steward let out a sigh.

Ning Xiu spoke up. "Take me to see County Deputy Magistrate Lu."

"This..." The old steward hesitated.

Fang Ping immediately barked, "The county magistrate has said this lord's orders represent his own. Why haven't you shown him the way yet?"

"In that case, please follow me." Hearing Fang Ping say this, the old steward had no choice but to agree.

He was sure that even if his master got angry, he wouldn't blame him.

The three of them passed through a maze of corridors and pavilions, soon nearing the rear courtyard. The area was eerily quiet. Ning Xiu quietly activated the Spiritual Eye Qi Observation Technique.

But everything before him looked normal. There was no trace of Evil Qi.

Before long, the three of them arrived outside a side room.