Demon Incense

The perfume scent on Ji Xiao's human-bodied, fox-faced form vanished completely, replaced by a thick, suffocatingly fishy, rank fox stench that filled the entire cellar.

Bathed in that spiritually empowered fox stink, Xu Yi nearly suffocated. His entire body went limp and weak, unable to remain standing.

Ji Xiao came before him, cupped his face in her right hand, and spoke with endless tenderness in her voice:

"I have never seen a mortal with spiritual energy as abundant as yours."

She warily glanced at the two points of spiritual light above Xu Yi's head. Once she confirmed that neither divine light showed any reaction, a streak of ferocity rose in her affectionate gaze.

"Young husband, I have been hungry for days as well. Fulfill me, won't you..."

She leaned down over him.

As she drew closer, that indescribable smell grew ever thicker.

Xu Yi was immersed in that smell.

After that suffocatingly heavy scent reached a certain peak, mixed with extreme terror and excitement, it was transformed by the spiritual energy erupting from Xu Yi's body into a unique fragrance.

Xu Yi's pupils dilated.

"A fragrance?"

"Why is it a fragrance?"

That scent was utterly unlike fox stink—an exotic, peculiar aroma Xu Yi had never smelled before.

Xu Yi sank into that indescribable fragrance. His whole body felt light and airy, as though he lay atop clouds, as though he basked beneath the nine o'clock morning sun, as though he were flying through the sky beyond his control...

Within that strange fragrance, he embraced the entire world.

And so the whole world went mad, returning every beautiful thing it possessed to him—

Fragrance.

Xu Yi was wrapped in the fragrance, and he wrapped the fragrance in turn. He lingered within that peculiar aroma, making it his entire world. He immersed himself in it heart and soul, until they blended like water and milk, inseparable from one another...

Within that exotic fragrance, Xu Yi reached the ecstasy of life.

Amid that ecstasy, Ji Xiao in his pupils drew closer and closer.

He saw fear appear in Ji Xiao's eyes, and at the same time, he saw himself reflected in her pupils.

The him within Ji Xiao's pupils seemed to have undergone some sort of change. He was surrounded by a dense mass of smoke, hazy and indistinct, his features impossible to make out.

Spiritual energy surged out from Xu Yi's body, flowing wantonly through the cellar in an endless stream.

Xu Yi wanted to see himself clearly in Ji Xiao's pupils, so he gripped her tighter, bringing his eyes closer and closer, closer and closer...

He saw himself in Ji Xiao's pupils, then saw Ji Xiao again within the pupils of that reflected self.

The cycle repeated itself, layer upon layer, from near to far, from shallow to deep, as though sinking into the depths of the sea...

He still could not see his own appearance clearly.

To see himself more clearly, he moved even closer.

He saw countless Ji Xiaos, and countless versions of himself.

The countless selves beyond the smoke seemed vicious and grotesque. The countless pale-faced Ji Xiaos screamed in terror!

She struggled madly to escape, only to be dragged back into the smoke by an irresistible force every time she was about to get away.

The smoke rejoiced in pleasure, the smoke roared hideously, the smoke destroyed with madness, burying all pleas for mercy and wails beneath it.

The smoke relaxed and reveled, consuming spiritual energy until it descended into madness...

Xu Yi could not understand such a scene.

His head swelled painfully, and he could no longer think of anything.

At last, his consciousness completely lost control.

The two points of divine light remained three feet above Xu Yi's head. At this moment, they bounced faintly, as though cheering for Xu Yi's transformation, or perhaps celebrating the birth of some newborn thing.

When Xu Yi awoke, he felt a bitter cold wind around him. That exotic fragrance he had never smelled before was gone.

At the same time, both the unique fragrance and stench on Ji Xiao's body had disappeared.

As his senses gradually returned with consciousness, Xu Yi realized that he was tied to a chair, his hands and feet unable to move. The knots were ingeniously tied—the more he struggled, the tighter they became.

His vision remained black and white. This meant that his spiritual energy was still affecting his senses.

"You're awake."

A low female voice, carrying a faint rasp, spoke.

Xu Yi raised his head. Under the illumination of the two points of spiritual light, he saw a girl reclining sideways in a chair in the darkness not far before him, one leg crossed over the other.

School uniform, white socks, leather shoes, black round-framed glasses...

She was a student.

This student...

Why did she have such a strange scent?

After waking this time, Xu Yi felt that his sense of smell had become more acute than before. Even from so far away, he caught the fragrance coming from the girl.

That scent was faint and elusive, secluded and ethereal, as though hidden amid scattered lamplight, like a pipa still half-concealing her face. It set his heart racing.

Xu Yi's mouth went dry, and unrest churned within him. It was as though he had developed a special sense for the fragrance emanating from the girl.

He gathered his focus and forcibly cleared his mind a little. His voice became somewhat hoarse.

"You must be Miss Jing Tao."

Jing Tao made no effort to conceal her identity and said bluntly:

"I was the one who spoke to you last night outside Candied Zhang's residence."

Xu Yi's eyes widened.

So it was Red-Eyed Brother!

I had already met Miss Jing Tao last night.

Before Xu Yi could savor the wonder of fate, he looked around uneasily.

"Where is Ji Xiao?"

Jing Tao had been scrutinizing Xu Yi the entire time. Deep within her gaze lay one part fear and three parts wariness.

She pointed beneath her leather shoe.

"There."

Xu Yi followed her gesture and saw a pinkish-white stick of incense about ten centimeters long lying there.

His scalp tingled as he realized what he had done—

He had turned Ji Xiao into this stick of incense!

As Xu Yi stood there at a loss, he heard Jing Tao slowly say:

"I once heard my master say that some special people are born with powerful spiritual energy.

"If such people cannot control their spiritual energy, then when they encounter certain special circumstances, it can lose control and even run wild, causing disasters that are difficult to contain."

Xu Yi remained silent.

He understood absolutely nothing about such matters.

Seeing that Xu Yi displayed no unusual reaction and that his spiritual energy remained calm and steady, without the slightest sign of instability, Jing Tao relaxed somewhat.

From her experience, the spiritual energy on Xu Yi's body had become quite stable and had already fallen dormant. So long as he was not subjected to special external stimuli, it was almost impossible for it to lose control.

Jing Tao let out a soft breath. Her back against the chair relaxed, no longer so tense and rigid.

"If spiritual energy loses control, terrible things will happen, whether to a Night Roaming God or Hundred Night Miasma."

Then she revealed a piece of information that greatly surprised Xu Yi:

"There is a Night Roaming God lineage in Puxi City that specializes in hunting down Night Roaming Gods and Hundred Night Miasma that have lost control.

"Their methods are quite formidable. I have also heard that after they capture out-of-control Night Roaming Gods and Hundred Night Miasma, they do not kill them, but conduct experimental research on them.

"Whether they conduct drug experiments or dissection experiments, no one knows.

"I hear they most enjoy collecting out-of-control spiritual organs, refining them through ancient rites, and turning them into something called [Spirit Remains]."

Jing Tao looked at the pinkish-white stick of incense.

"Much like what you did today."