Chapter 3

A Chan opened her eyes, her lashes trembling. Amid the rustling snowfall, a pair of black leather boots appeared in her line of sight.

Before she could make a sound, an unsheathed long blade pressed against her neck. The scales on the scabbard, not fully polished away, barely grazed her skin before drawing blood from the side of her throat.

"Name?" The voice above was gentle and mellow. If that blade weren't at her neck, A Chan might have thought him a tender man.

"A... Ji Chan."

"Why are you here?"

"My home is in Changping Quarter. I was just passing through on my way back."

The memories belonging to Ji Chan had been poured directly into A Chan's mind after the possession—a complete, brief lifetime of another person, and the key to her surviving as Ji Chan's replacement.

A Chan quickly seized tonight's memories to deal with the man before her.

"Tell me, what happened?"

Being pinned to the ground and interrogated wasn't pleasant, but the man beside her showed no sign of moving his blade. She could only maintain this position and answer his questions obediently.

"On my way back, I ran into someone catching ghosts nearby. When that ghost rushed at me, an arrow flew over... and injured me."

The wound had already healed. She shouldn't have said anything extra, but this white robe was too conspicuous, with a large bloodstain seeping through the chest. There was no way to gloss it over.

Bai Xiuming's gaze followed her words, dropping to her heart, then shifting to the arrow nearby. It was official issue, the design seeming to come from the Ministry of Justice.

"Go on."

"I crawled into the alley and saw her."

"You spoke with it?"

"I thought I was about to die, and I thought she might eat me, so I said something. Who knew she'd answer me?"

"What did you say?"

"She said she didn't eat people, and asked my name. Then she went silent."

A scoff sounded from above. The blade that had threatened her life finally withdrew. The standing man crouched before her, his black overcoat trailing on the ground, dusted with snow.

A Chan took the moment to think—it looked really warm.

Back then, she'd never felt cold. Her fur had been not only beautiful but also insulating. Now, she was shivering from the chill.

Being human was no easy thing.

"Quite bold, daring to lie to This Official." The words carried a hint of a smile as they reached her ears. The next moment, a hand clamped around her neck like an iron vise, forcing her face up. A Chan had no choice but to meet his gaze.

What entered her sight was an exceptionally handsome face, as if carved by heaven's finest hand. Among the demons and humans she knew well, it would rank at least in the top three.

She was a picky one, always drawn to good looks, and it had cost her dearly. This one before her was likely no easy mark.

The man had a pair of gentle eyes. When he looked down at her, it seemed as if a tender light glimmered within them. Yet his hand was anything but light. In moments, A Chan's vision darkened, and she could barely breathe.

She clawed desperately at his hand, trying to break free, but couldn't budge him an inch.

Bai Xiuming watched her like this, only loosening his grip when her struggles weakened. He spoke again: "This Official will ask once more—what did it say to you?"

"She asked me for a title, but failed. She also said she was an Eight-Tailed Fox."

"Eight-Tailed Fox?" A flicker passed through Bai Xiuming's eyes. He suddenly called out, "Feng Yang."

"Your subordinate is here."

The man named Feng Yang appeared from nowhere, kneeling on one knee, head bowed, waiting for his master's orders.

"Have someone come examine the corpse."

"Yes."

Soon, two men approached and began inspecting A Chan's original body. In just a few moments, they finished and stood at attention, hands at their sides.

"Well?" Bai Xiuming asked.

"Reporting to you, sir. This demon is indeed an Eight-Tailed Fox, and not old. The wounds on its body reach the bone, as if it was hunted down by a group. We found no demon core inside it."

Bai Xiuming seemed uninterested in their findings. He only asked, "Is it thoroughly dead?"

"Thoroughly dead."

"Carry it back to the Mingjing Division."

"Yes."

"As for this one..." He stood, accepting a plain handkerchief from Feng Yang to wipe his hands, "...take her back too."

With that, the handkerchief fell to the ground.

"Yes."

A Chan was taken to the Mingjing Division—more precisely, she was brought into the Town Prison beneath it.

She had heard of the Town Prison. It was said to hold many Great Demons, a place that could scare young demon cubs into tears when told in stories.

In Ji Chan's memories, many people had said that once you entered the Mingjing Division's Town Prison, few ever walked out alive.

At the entrance to the Town Prison, Mingjing Division Guards in black armor stood watch day and night. On the two pitch-black iron gates, the form of Bi'an, the Dragon's Ninth Son, faintly emerged.

As the Mingjing Division Guard led A Chan closer, the Bi'an on the gates grew clearer, its eyes slowly tracking her steps. When the black iron doors swung open, A Chan was shoved inside.

As A Chan stepped through the gates of Town Prison, she thought: that man truly suspects her.

The world knew that Bi'an could distinguish right from wrong and judge criminal cases, but they did not know that his True Dragon Eyes could also see whether a body and soul were compatible.

If she forcibly seized Ji Chan's body tonight, even if she managed to escape Heaven's punishment, she would not escape that person.

But even if she passed this test, could she truly walk out alive today?

The Mingjing Division guard did not take her to a cell. Instead, they led her through a deep, dark passageway, at the end of which lay a stone chamber lit by fire.

Once inside, A Chan realized this was an interrogation room.

The red glow she had seen came from burning charcoal, upon which lay branding irons of various sizes.

The Mingjing Division guard swiftly and silently hung A Chan on an iron rack in the corner of the room, locking her limbs and neck with iron chains, then left without a sound.

The interrogation room was left with only A Chan.

Only now, as things had come to this point, did A Chan suddenly realize what kind of mistake she had made.

A woman raised delicately in a marquis manor, faced with such a terrifying situation, should not be this calm.

When she had answered that person's questions with clear logic, she had already fallen into his trap.

She was frustrated with herself, but it was useless.

If she could not give that person a reasonable explanation today, they would rather kill the wrong person than let her go.

While A Chan was still worrying about her life, Bai Xiuming sat in the Yamen Inner Hall listening to Feng Yang's report.

"Sir, Ji Chan's identity has been verified."

"Speak." Bai Xiuming had already removed his overcoat, and his Vermilion Official Robe embroidered with the Dragon-Fish Gold Pattern made his figure appear especially tall and slender.

"Ji Chan was originally the eldest legitimate daughter of Ji Heng, the Marquis of Jinyang, but she was recently expelled from the clan. It is said that the Marquis suddenly discovered that this Ji Chan is not his biological daughter."

"Suddenly discovered?" Bai Xiuming curled his lips, as if he found the phrase somewhat ridiculous.

"Your subordinate believes that the Marquis's actions are likely related to the disgraced Lin Family. The former Marchioness of Jinyang was precisely the Lin Family's legitimate daughter."

"Mm, anything else?" Bai Xiuming picked up his teacup and took a sip.

"Also, the person who injured Ji Chan tonight should be Xue Mingtang, the Assistant Minister of Justice. His older sister recently married the Marquis of Jinyang and brought along a pair of children."

"That's all?"

Feng Yang nodded: "That's all."

As for his analysis, he assumed the sir did not need to hear it. The filthy affairs of the Jinyang Marquis Manor could hardly be hidden from their sir.

"What kind of person is Ji Chan?"

Feng Yang paused, trying hard to recall the information he had gathered, and finally could only describe her with four words: "A Proper Lady."

Bai Xiuming let out a cold laugh: "A fine Proper Lady indeed."

Feng Yang also realized that Ji Chan had been acting strangely earlier, but he dared not say more.

"And that fox demon?"

"The fox demon's corpse has been sent for examination. No Soul Remnant was found; it may have already dissipated."

"Dissipated? The Demon Race has always been cunning and treacherous. If there was a chance to live, would it be willing to die?"

"But Ji Chan walked under Bi'an's gaze without any abnormality."

Bai Xiuming rose and walked out: "This official is also curious about that."

Being hung on the iron rack was not a pleasant feeling, especially since A Chan's body was exceptionally weak.

At first, she thought it was because of the possession—a Soul-Body Mismatch—and that she just needed time to adapt.

But after so long, with no sign of recovery, she vaguely guessed that this weakness might not come from the soul-body mismatch.

Just then, she heard footsteps outside. Before long, a tall figure appeared outside the interrogation room.

A Chan watched as that person walked in. This time, he did not carry a blade, but this stone chamber held things far more dangerous than a blade.

As if knowing what she was thinking, Bai Xiuming stopped before a table and picked out a whip from the array of torture instruments laid out on it.

He carried the whip and strolled over to A Chan.

"Name."

This was the second time Bai Xiuming had asked her name.

"Ji Chan."

"Ji Chan?" His voice was low, and when he spoke those two syllables, it was as if he were murmuring a lover's name, carrying a suffocating tenderness.

"A very nice name. But are you truly Ji Chan?"

"Does the sir think I am not?" A Chan looked at Bai Xiuming defiantly.

The rough whip slid gently across her cheek. Bai Xiuming's emotions showed no fluctuation; he simply stared fixedly at A Chan: "The legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Jinyang is not a bold person."

"If the sir had died once, perhaps you would not think that way. My boldness is far greater than you imagine."

"Oh? How big?"

A Chan smiled. "You want to know where that fox's inner core went, don't you, sir? I know."

"You know?"

"Come closer, sir, and I'll tell you."

Bai Xiuming drew near to A Chan until their breaths nearly tangled together. Her eyes reflected his gentle, affectionate gaze.

A Chan whispered, "I ate it."

The next moment, a scream tore from her throat.

Bai Xiuming stood a few paces away, the whip in his hand having left a long, bloody gash across A Chan's body.

As the whip lashed out, its barbs fully spread, capable of scraping off flesh and blood—vicious in the extreme.

A Chan trembled all over from the pain, yet she held onto her wits and taunted him: "Beating me won't help. I ate it."

"A human who eats a demon's inner core will die."

"Not if the demon gives it willingly." A Chan gasped for breath. "It didn't want to live anymore, so it gave me its core willingly. If I hadn't eaten it, that arrow would have killed me long ago."

It sounded like a perfectly reasonable explanation.