Chapter 4

"Voluntary? You two were strangers who crossed paths by chance—why would it willingly give you its inner core?"

"Maybe it felt we were in the same boat. She said her inner core was mostly destroyed, and she wouldn't live much longer anyway, but it could be used to save my life."

Bai Xiuming watched A Chan with a faint smile, waiting until she finished before speaking unhurriedly: "This official has heard of benevolent demons for the first time, and you just happened to run into one."

As he spoke, he slowly circled the iron rack, the end of the whip dragging across the ground with a faint scraping sound.

A Chan could feel him come up behind her. Remembering the pain that might fall again, her body trembled slightly, but she still gritted her teeth and said: "Maybe I was just lucky."

"Entering my Mingjing Division proves your luck... isn't so good."

The words had barely fallen when the sound of tearing fabric rang out. The short jacket, already pierced by arrows, was ripped open even wider, along with the underclothes beneath.

Though charcoal fire burned in the Interrogation Room, a chill still seeped into her clothes, and A Chan's body instantly tensed.

Bai Xiuming looked at the fair, smooth back wrapped in the torn jacket, narrowing his eyes slightly. Truly, not a single scar remained.

"Now then, tell me—why does the Ji Chan this official investigated not seem like the same person?" The barbed whip brushed lightly across her spine. "This official doesn't like people who keep lying. Understand?"

A Chan sucked in a breath, the corners of her mouth twitching: "I wouldn't dare deceive you, sir. After eating her inner core, I gained some of her memories. Perhaps it was merging with those memories that changed me."

"Is that so?" Bai Xiuming walked back in front of her. "But this official feels that a fox demon seizing a human body, trying to deceive this official, sounds more reasonable."

"Sir thinks I'm the fox demon?" A Chan gave a bitter laugh, her eyes reddening.

"Aren't you?"

"Sir is just like my father, finding ways to sling mud on me. If you really want me dead, why bother finding a reason?"

As she spoke, tears fell like beads from a broken string, streaming down her sharp chin and dripping onto her body, but she only stared fixedly at Bai Xiuming.

"Anyway, even if I walk out of here alive, who knows how many more days I'd have? My mother is dead, my father wants me to die with her. I thought, better to die at your hands, sir—at least someone would bury me."

Bai Xiuming gazed darkly at the woman before him who kept insisting she wanted to die. Suddenly, he remembered someone, many years ago, who had also begged him to kill her.

She didn't want to die, but could only beg him for death.

The memory of the past made Bai Xiuming lose focus for a moment, but he quickly recovered.

He thought to himself, the person before him was still very different from the one in his memory.

It was clear she was using every means to survive, which was why she could cry so... enticingly.

His fingertips twitched, and finally he spoke: "Guards."

"Sir." Two jailers appeared outside the Interrogation Room.

"Lock her up."

"Yes."

When she was released from the iron rack, A Chan's legs gave out and she collapsed to the ground. The whip strike she'd taken had nearly cost her half her life. But at least, her life was spared.

The two jailers each took one of her arms and dragged her into a pitch-black cell, then quickly locked the door and left.

The cell had nothing—not even the straw that padded ordinary cells. A Chan curled up directly on the ground, enduring the pain in her body and the cold of the floor.

She was too weak to pay attention to anything else, and naturally didn't know that from the moment she was locked in, Bai Xiuming stood outside watching her.

He rubbed the ring on his finger, his suspicion of Ji Chan still not dispelled.

After standing for a while, he quietly gave a few instructions to the jailer waiting nearby, then turned and left.

Exiting the Town Prison, Bai Xiuming walked toward the Library Pavilion in the northwest corner of the Mingjing Division compound. On the top floor, in a small library room, he found an old man with white hair and beard who trembled as he held a brush.

When the old man saw Bai Xiuming approach, he set down his brush and tried to rise, but Bai Xiuming stopped him with a word.

"No need for formalities."

The old man sat back down, but still said: "Zhan Yi, former warden of the Library Pavilion, greets the Pacification Commissioner. May I ask what matter you wish to investigate?"

Bai Xiuming didn't waste words and asked directly: "Can a person survive after swallowing a demon core?"

Zhan Yi thought for a moment before replying: "In theory, no. The power of the Demon Race is vastly different from humans—difficult to merge."

"Difficult means possible?" Bai Xiuming seized on the uncertainty in his words.

"You see clearly, sir. My ancestor once recorded in his notes that if a demon willingly cuts out its core and gives it to a mortal, the mortal can extend their life after swallowing it. But in my hundred-plus years, I've never seen it with my own eyes."

"Do you think what your ancestor wrote in his notes is true?"

"My ancestor left behind a passed-down journal; he must have seen it himself. In my youth, I searched through strange tales from all over, and many involved demons giving their cores to their beloved. I imagine it's not entirely groundless."

Seeing Bai Xiuming frown, Zhan Yi continued unhurriedly: "I once studied a few demon cores. Besides the violent demonic power within them, they truly contain vast life force. If one could dispel the demonic power from the core, what remained would be the finest longevity medicine in the world."

"You tried it?" Bai Xiuming grew somewhat interested in what he was saying.

Zhan Yi chuckled: "I didn't try, but someone already tested it for me."

He narrowed his eyes, recalling for a moment, then said: "That was still the Previous Dynasty. A Demon God Sect appeared in the Tongzhou area, following the path of attaining godhood through demon cores. Those followers buried demon cores in their bodies. Those who survived underwent demonization, causing no small trouble for the court."

"What happened then? Did the Previous Emperor send troops to destroy the Demon God Sect?"

"No." At this, Zhan Yi couldn't help but laugh. "Before the Previous Emperor could dispatch troops, the Sect Leader of the Demon God Sect died."

"How did he die?"

"This Sect Leader heard that a Mystic Tortoise Demon Core could extend life for a thousand years, so he hunted and killed a Third Realm Mystic Tortoise. He even told his followers that he had successfully dispelled the demonic power from the core, and that in the future, all members of the Demon God Sect could achieve immortality. Then he swallowed the core in public. The result? A Fourth Realm expert exploded into dust, killing all the upper echelons of the Demon God Sect along with him."

"Didn't get the demonic power cleansed?"

"I don't think so. That Sect Leader has already reached the Fourth Mirror; he wouldn't be unable to tell. I've always believed that a demon core is like a vital organ for the Demon Race—it holds their power and life force, and perhaps even their own consciousness. If they're unwilling to be devoured, of course they'll resist."

Bai Xiuming gave a slight nod, though it was unclear whether he accepted this explanation.

"If someone were lucky enough to swallow a demon core and survive, could their personality change?"

"In my view, the demon core contains more than just power and life force; being affected is inevitable. Unfortunately, these are all guesses, with no solid proof."

"If a demon possesses a human, will heavenly thunder always descend?"

"That's certain, without exception." Zhan Yi answered with absolute certainty.

Bai Xiuming rose. "Thank you for your insights today, Mister Zhan."

"Take care, sir."

Bai Xiuming left the Library Pavilion, mulling over the day's events in his mind.

Tonight, thunder rolled over Shangjing City, clearly indicating a demon attempting Soul Possession, but the thunder never struck, meaning it hadn't succeeded.

Regardless of whether the demon core Ji Chan spoke of was given by the Fox Demon out of pity or as a means to first repair her body before taking it over, she was the one who benefited in the end.

As she'd said, her luck was indeed good.

Since that night, A Chan hadn't seen Bai Xiuming again.

She remained locked in the cell, her injuries causing a fever. The jailer called for a doctor to treat her.

Later, the jailer, hearing the doctor say she was frail and couldn't withstand the cold here, even tossed her a thin blanket.

The doctor came to see her for three consecutive days, left some pills, and left without a word.

A Chan felt some gratitude toward this doctor; if not for his intervention, her body might not have lasted until she was released.

But she didn't know that the doctor, after leaving Town Prison, went straight to the inner hall of the Mingjing Division.

"How is she?" Bai Xiuming was bent over reviewing documents, not even lifting his head as he asked.

The doctor stood at the door and replied respectfully, "Reporting to the Pacification Commissioner, that young lady has extremely poor bone structure, her meridians are blocked, there's no trace of demonic energy flowing, and no signs of Demonization. Her body is very weak, even worse than an ordinary person."

"Understood. You may go."

Three more days passed since the doctor's examination. For anyone else, spending six days in Town Prison would likely have driven them to despair.

But A Chan had always been patient; otherwise, she wouldn't have waited for an opportunity under the Tianluodiwang to successfully escape to Shangjing.

This time, she waited just as patiently.

On the seventh day, she was visited by that man's subordinate, the one named Feng Yang.

Feng Yang ordered the jailer to open the cell door and release her.

After seven days in prison, A Chan looked a bit disheveled but not too haggard.

Feng Yang, on the other hand, glanced at her once and quickly averted his eyes, calling for someone to bring a black cloak and tossing it to her.

A Chan had been wrapped in the blanket for days and had nearly forgotten her clothes were torn; human women seemed to care about such things.

She fastened the cloak and tidied her hair before thanking Feng Yang: "Thank you for your consideration, sir."

"Don't thank me. It's all by order of our Pacification Commissioner. Let's go."

He led A Chan out of Town Prison and through the Mingjing Division's main gate.

Just like that, they let her go? A Chan could hardly believe it.

She stood outside the Mingjing Division's gate for a while, confirming no one called her back, then oriented herself and headed toward Changping Quarter.

Walking and resting along the way, it took her a full shichen before she finally saw Ji Chan's dwelling—that small shop with its door closed.

But not far from the shop, a carriage was parked. It bore no markings, so it likely wasn't from the Jinyang Marquis Manor. Whose was it?

As she searched her memory, she saw an old woman step down from the carriage. The woman smiled warmly and walked straight toward her.

"Is this Miss Chan? The madam heard you were taken in by the Mingjing Division for investigation and was worried for days. She's had me waiting here for you."

A Chan finally remembered who this woman was—Mama Sun, who served her aunt, Lady Xiao Lin.