13 Good Fragrance, Sincere Heart, and Proper Demeanor

Chapter 13: 13. Smells Good, Heart Sincere, and Needs to Be Strong

The two leaders of the Mountain Crashing Bears were slain on the spot, and the hidden Ghost Shadow Horse Monkey also escaped. This incident was like truly stirring up a hornet's nest. The ordinary and young Bear Demons, after a brief moment of stillness, suddenly went mad and rushed out of the cave.

Ning Xuan saw this clearly. With a flash, he arrived at the cave entrance. He swung his broken blade, using Flying Swallow Mountain Collapse, and decapitated the foremost charging Bear Demon. Then, using the demon's belly as a springboard, he bounced back, regained momentum, and with another Flying Swallow Mountain Collapse, slew the next Bear Demon that followed closely behind.

"Bear Prowess Mountain Collapse" was the Mountain Crashing Bear Demon's Innate Demonic Art, and its activation condition was "acceleration."

Whether Ning Xuan could use "Mountain Collapse" was crucial.

Being able to use it was one level.

Not being able to use it was another.

The two were fundamentally incomparable.

His physique was there, but physique was like an unsharpened knife.

And the Innate Demonic Art "Mountain Collapse" was the blade of this knife.

If he didn't use "Mountain Collapse," let alone the previous Bear Demon leaders, he wouldn't even be able to kill these young Bear Demons in one move. He would only be able to use a more brute-force method to blow them up one by one.

What a waste of time, how inefficient.

Therefore, he had to keep himself in a state of "acceleration" at all times.

And because his "acceleration" distance was very short, he had to use all his skill and burst with power in every strike.

He used the spiraling motion of the blade shaft to accelerate, he was accelerating as he rushed towards the cave entrance, he was also accelerating by using the Bear Demon's belly to rebound and then pushing off again.

He was in a state of rapid, explosive movement.

Hand rises, blade falls. Hand rises, blade falls. Hand rises, blade falls.

Soon, over a dozen Bear Demon corpses were piled up at the cave entrance, forming a small mountain. The stench filled the air, yet no wild beasts dared to approach.

Ning Xuan panted heavily. The blow the Ghost Shadow Horse Monkey had unexpectedly landed on his back and waist was starting to ache, burning intensely.

But he didn't intend to let these Bear Demon underlings escape.

With a dozen or so Bear Demons dead, there was no movement from inside the cave.

The Bear Demons stopped rushing out and instead retreated into the cave.

Ning Xuan didn't enter the cave either.

His expression shifted slightly, and he glanced at the fire starter he had discarded earlier. He took a couple of steps, then suddenly his gaze swept over the bloody corpse of a beautiful woman lying nearby. Beside the corpse, a small metal bottle had fallen, engraved with elegant script: "Butterfly Brand Rose Dew."

As the young master of the Ning family who had frequented Chenxiang Pavilion, he naturally knew "Butterfly Brand Rose Dew."

It was a high-end perfume, sold by the drop, and quite volatile. Only prostitutes of considerable wealth could afford it. Of course, this Rose Dew, more expensive than gold, had also become the dream of ordinary prostitutes; they always wanted to try it once they had saved up some money.

A thought struck him, and he changed direction, walking over and grabbing the metal bottle.

He shook it. Empty.

He pried open the stopper and looked again. Thoroughly empty.

This deceased woman was clearly not a top courtesan or a flower queen from Chenxiang Pavilion; the perfume bottle kept close to her person didn't even hold half a bottle.

That made sense. Even if those top courtesans went out for inspiration, they would have special escorts arranged by the brothel owner. Wherever they went, the escorts would scout ahead. Such bad luck wouldn't easily befall them.

Ning Xuan took the empty bottle and went to the small puddle of blood left by the Ghost Shadow Horse Monkey.

He carefully tilted the bottle low, slowly drawing the blood along with the sand and soil into the bottle, then placed it in front of him.

A line of familiar information appeared:

[Ghost Shadow Horse Monkey]

[Refine Talisman?]

Seeing that it was useful, Ning Xuan shoved the bottle into his pocket.

Then he picked up the fire starter again.

With more time, he gathered some dry branches and piled them at the cave entrance. He slowly worked at them, gradually starting a fire.

He took a sufficient amount of branches, piling them into a small mountain. The fire finally grew larger and larger. Coupled with the favorable weather, it was a south wind, blowing from the south and funneling thick smoke into the south-facing cave.

Ning Xuan grabbed his broken blade and, in a few swift moves, climbed to a vantage point outside the cave to observe if there was any smoke leaking from other areas.

If there was, it would mean the cave had a back door, and the little demons would most likely escape through it.

After observing for about half an hour, he found no other leaks of smoke.

The little demons, unable to bear the choking smoke, finally began to flee from the main entrance.

Ning Xuan swooped down from his high position.

Slash!

Slash!

Slash!

Slash!

Slash!

One by one, Bear Demons fell in pools of blood.

When another Bear Demon ran out, it had already completely given up resisting. It directly knelt before Ning Xuan with a plop, repeatedly kowtowing and begging for mercy, shouting, "Spare me. Spare me."

Seeing that it could speak, Ning Xuan tricked it, saying, "There's a chance."

The Bear Demon kowtowed again.

Ning Xuan said, "Answer what I ask."

He thought for a moment and asked, "Are there any other bears in the cave?"

The Bear Demon replied, "I-I am the Third King. The First King and Second King are dead. I-I just drove the little demons to rush out first, then deliberately waited for a while. I didn't expect you to still be outside. There are no more bears in the cave."

Ning Xuan asked, "Are there any treasures?"

The Bear Demon repeatedly said, "Yes, there is. It's that Brocade Kasaya. That kasaya was originally used by the First King. When the First King died, the Second King used it. When the Second King died, I wanted to use it, but-but it didn't work."

Ning Xuan asked curiously, "How did it not work?"

The Bear Demon explained, "Treasures must be invited. You need to burn good incense to invite them. If your heart is sincere and your body is strong, it will work, and the treasure will come. Perhaps I am not strong enough, and my heart is not sincere enough."

After speaking, it kowtowed again, "Spare me."

Ning Xuan kicked it and said, "Take it out."

The Bear Demon quickly reached into its thick fur and pulled out a palm-sized Buddha statue, handing it over respectfully with both hands.

Ning Xuan took it with a grasp and glanced at it. The Buddha statue was crystal clear like pure water. Its coiled hair was like a green lotus, its face was like a full moon, with a white mark between its brows. Its eyes looked down, and its lips held a smile. It was truly both majestic and compassionate.

Ning Xuan asked, "Burning incense is enough?"

The Bear Demon nodded repeatedly and added, "Good incense, a sincere heart, and a strong body are also needed."

Ning Xuan tucked the Buddha statue into his pocket and then continued to ask, "Where did you come from?"

The Bear Demon was stunned for a moment and replied, "Of course, Black Wind Mountain."

"Black Wind Mountain?"

"Black Wind Mountain is Black Wind Mountain."

"Then where is this place?"

"This is also Black Wind Mountain. It's a secret place discovered by Hei Bo'er, who was under the Second King."

"And who is Hei Bo'er?"

"Killed by you."

Ning Xuan asked a few more questions and found that the questions were a waste of time. So, he changed the subject and asked, "How were you able to detect me from such a far distance?"

The Bear Demon said anxiously, "Aura, it's aura. After we occupied this land, we left auras everywhere. If any other demons intrude, the aura will become chaotic.

We can easily sense where the aura is chaotic and thus detect where the demons are coming from. The stronger the demon, the clearer the perception.

However, if it's not within our territory, then-then it won't work.

You. You'll spare me, won't you? We're all demons."

Ning Xuan asked, "What about humans? Can you sense humans?"

The Bear Demon replied, "Not from that far away, but when they get close, we can clearly smell human scent. We have a natural sensitivity to human scent, but for other demons, we can only sense them if we've set up an aura zone in advance."

Ning Xuan nodded.

He understood.

Aura was a unique method of detection for demons.

For humans, it was more direct, but the distance was shorter.

For demons, they needed preparation, but the distance was longer.

The reason why the little Bear Demon could sense him the whole time was because he had been within the other party's aura zone. This was, after all, the lair of the Mountain Crashing Bear Demons.

Just then, the kneeling Bear Demon suddenly sniffed its nose, as it suddenly smelled human scent.

It looked in the distance in surprise and said, "Someone's coming."

Ning Xuan tilted his head slightly.

He smelled it too.

Not only did he smell it, but he also recognized it.

The human scent this time was the same as the one he had smelled before, which meant the person coming was Han Ba and the others.

At this point, he finally understood completely.

Before, when he could smell human scent in the waterfall area, he had thought it was his keen senses. Now, it seemed that after he used the Heavenly Demon Scroll, he had gained demonic aura and characteristics, and thus a special perception of human scent.

Ning Xuan's mind stirred, and he suddenly said, "Go kill them."

He estimated that Han Ba and the others were likely following the smoke.

However, he still needed to explore the cave and couldn't be discovered by Han Ba and the others.

Besides, since Han Ba and the others dared to walk here, he naturally wanted to witness their "extraordinary abilities."

The Bear Demon was taken aback by his words, a hint of joy appearing in its eyes.

Ning Xuan had given it a safety net, and continued, "I don't take in trash."

The Bear Demon's mind formed a "logical loop." It seemed to have found a lifeline, and quickly got up, then headed in the direction where the human scent was strongest. It wanted to prove itself.

Ning Xuan watched its retreating back, then suddenly turned and slipped into the cave.

As soon as he entered, he saw scattered bones, rotting flesh, and half-eaten skulls on the ground.

Moving further in, he saw seven or eight corpses hanging from the cave's natural rock spikes. They had been skinned and disemboweled, their muscles exposed, long dead, swaying back and forth in the air.

It was clear that the number of actual deaths far exceeded the number of disappearances.

Deep within the cave, a Human Skin mat covered a stone platform.

To the side, a conspicuous shrine was set up. The shrine was empty. Ning Xuan guessed that the Buddha statue in his pocket had originally been placed there.

He scanned the ground again, seeing only the belongings of the dead. He didn't pick anything up. After a quick look around, he quickly exited the bear cave.

In the distance, the sounds of fighting could be heard faintly.