Sniffer

Combining this with the abilities his divinity had manifested, Xu Yi immediately understood that he was now a [Sniffer].

"But I've already found a lead."

As he spoke, Yan Luo pulled a crumpled newspaper clipping from his pocket.

He unfolded the clipping, which carried a faintly humorous air, and showed Xu Yi a news item printed on it—

<Young Woman Found Dead in Street, Body Dehydrated; Suspected Cruel Gang Tactics!>

A photograph accompanied the article. It showed a strange corpse lying in a reed bed, half submerged in water, yet not swollen into a bloated giant.

The black-and-white cameras of this era produced low-resolution photographs. On top of that, Yan Luo had kept the clipping in his pocket and crumpled it, so the image in the paper was already quite blurry.

Xu Yi's right eyelid twitched.

He quickly scanned the text:

<On the day of the End of Heat, the Constabulary at the Twenty-Third Shop discovered a female corpse in a reed bed beside open fields near Yangjing Creek.

Investigations revealed that the deceased had been about twenty years old and was originally from Guangling City. She had come to Puxi City half a month ago to stay with relatives, then found work at the Guangxing Textile Factory. She disappeared after finishing a night shift.

According to the coroner, the woman's body was coated in beeswax. Before killing the victim, the murderer had covered her body with beeswax and used a special method to soak and preserve it, ultimately extracting beeswax from three private parts.

A large number of migrants have recently arrived in Puxi City, and public disorder is on the rise. Constabularies across the shops are recruiting new officers. Residents are advised to remain vigilant and avoid going to deserted places at night...>

Xu Yi finished reading the article, and Yan Luo's explanation followed:

"Preserving living beings in beeswax is a typical method of using spiritual energy to make fragrance."

Xu Yi felt a prickling sensation sweep over his back again and again.

"Does your predecessor's inheritance also involve perfumery?"

Yan Luo answered frankly:

"Of course. Incense is a common ritual implement, a medium through which people communicate with spiritual energy.

"For our inheritance, incense imbued with spiritual energy is also an important medium for communicating between the netherworld and the mortal realm."

"However..."

Yan Luo gazed at the newspaper clipping, his voice turning somber.

"This method was once used only on animals.

"Animals have fur, and some even have horns, so they're well suited to this method of extracting oils and making perfume.

"Certain insects often roam both above and below ground. Some even live deep underground for long periods, very close to the Yellow Springs. They're rich in spiritual energy and make good mediums for communicating with spirits."

Yan Luo collected himself.

"From what I know, some Night Roaming God's spiritual energy must have run out of control this time, driving them mad and making them use a method meant for livestock on a human being.

"I'm worried."

Though Yan Luo said he was worried, his voice and expression remained steady. There was no trace of gloom or other negative emotion.

"When spiritual energy goes out of control, it affects the mind. To commit such a heinous act, that Night Roaming God must already be nearly insane."

As Xu Yi stared at the newspaper and listened to Yan Luo's explanation, he felt his scalp go numb.

"Are they really insane?

"Could it be that... the Night Roaming God who made the perfume was a pervert to begin with, and that's why they used this method to extract the fragrance?

"Is everyone in my branch of the Night Roaming God inheritance...

"a pervert?!"

Too nervous, too ashamed to mention his own fondness for smelling fragrances, and too aware that this particular hobby could invite all sorts of unpleasant assumptions, Xu Yi ultimately kept those thoughts to himself.

Yan Luo spoke earnestly:

"Spiritual energy is purely innate in nature, and it differs from person to person.

"And its nature cannot be changed later in life.

"Your spiritual energy is connected to fragrance, so you can only accept this inheritance.

"But this inheritance has been shattered beyond recognition. Nobody knows whether there are still any successors among the common folk.

"Even with all my connections, I've only seen this person mentioned in the newspapers. And even then, they're only a suspect; we don't know for certain whether they belong to the Night Roaming God inheritance.

"If we can find them, we might learn something about your branch of the inheritance."

Xu Yi asked in a low voice:

"Can't a Night Roaming God figure out their abilities on their own?"

At that, both Yan Luo and Jing Tao grew serious.

"The process of turning spiritual energy into divinity is dangerous.

"Just like when you used that [Shadow Wood] incense burner to turn spiritual energy into divinity—you could have been doomed for good if anything went wrong!"

Xu Yi recalled what had happened when he used the incense burner and shuddered.

He understood all too well. The memory still made his heart pound!

One slip, and he could become a perverted serial killer.

Who could tolerate that kind of risk?!

Xu Yi certainly couldn't.

Whenever he thought of the perverted serial killer version of himself inside the [Shadow Wood] incense burner, he shuddered.

He wasn't afraid of dying, but he was truly afraid of turning into a pervert!

Yan Luo explained:

"The Night Roaming God predecessors in the inheritance already paid a heavy price in trial and error to figure out how to turn spiritual energy into divinity.

"That's one of the reasons an inheritance is necessary—

"With an inheritance, you don't have to risk losing control of your spiritual energy at any moment or make life-threatening experiments.

"Even if there's danger, it's limited. It won't become something you can't bear—

"Your predecessors already risked their lives to test it for you. You only need to follow the path they laid out and move forward steadily, and you'll avoid most fatal dangers."

Xu Yi showed that he understood. He said nothing, only clasping his fists toward Yan Luo.

Yan Luo was pleased to see him so receptive.

It paid to listen to advice. The worst thing for someone in the Night Roaming God inheritance was to be a so-called genius, looking down on everyone and casually training their divinity just because their spiritual energy was strong. People like that usually died without even knowing how.

If they simply died, that would be the end of it.

The real horror was dying without fully dying. The little spiritual energy left in their ruined body could attract the Hundred Night Miasma, which would merge with and devour it, twisting their consciousness and turning them into perverted monsters that were neither human nor ghost. That was true suffering.

Only by being steady, extremely cautious, and taking one step at a time could they climb higher on the Ascension Staircase!

"I've already found a lead on the beeswax murderer."

As he spoke, Yan Luo took a folded piece of black cloth from his pocket.

Xu Yi had a vague sense that something was off.

Yan Luo unfolded the black cloth. Inside was a small piece of dull-colored beeswax.

It had been exposed to the air for far too long. The pale yellow wax it had once been had oxidized to orange-yellow. Its surface wasn't smooth, and something resembling hair could faintly be seen embedded within it.

As soon as the beeswax appeared, a faint fragrance followed.

The scent wasn't pure. Along with a very faint pine scent, a trace of corpse stench clung to it.

Xu Yi quietly swallowed.

His mouth had gone a little dry.

The fragrance had stirred his spiritual energy.

This scent...

His body really liked it.