The Demon-Seeking Art

Chen Zhuo had been busy in the kitchen for quite a while. In the end, under the astonished gazes of the others, he managed to get the meal served.

He couldn't vouch for the taste, but it was definitely cooked through.

"Master Chen, ever since you came to the kitchen, our little lives have visibly improved."

When they were short-handed, Chen Zhuo also helped serve the food. The White-Uniform Runners didn't need his attention; the Yamen Runners were the main concern. They had meat for lunch every day.

Lately, so Master Yan could practice his dissection skills, he'd often bought a lot of old chickens from the chicken seller.

On ordinary days, even when the Yamen Runners got meat, it was usually just fatty pork. They could only get chicken or duck once every ten days or half a month at most.

Hearing the praise beside him, Chen Zhuo smiled knowingly. "Good food gives you the strength to work."

They were all working for the yamen, after all.

But speaking of work, why were there so few people here today?

Chen Zhuo glanced to the side and saw that fewer than half as many Yamen Runners had come as before.

Had they gone on some assignment and not returned?

After he'd handed out chicken soup and meat to each of them, he suddenly heard one of the Yamen Runners say:

"Hurry up and eat. We've got to go relieve the others."

Relieve them?

Since when had the yamen been so busy?

Chen Zhuo looked at the two Yamen Runners in confusion.

"It's strange, isn't it? Out of nowhere, a whole wave of people came to report cases, all saying their daughters had gone missing."

"If they can't keep an eye on their own daughters, what do they expect the yamen to do? Make them appear out of thin air?"

"Don't say that. Anyone would be frantic if their child went missing."

"Forget it. Have some chicken soup and cool your temper."

Just then, a Yamen Runner came hurrying over and said in a panic:

"Stop eating! Another wave of people just showed up. Get to the courtroom with me, or things are going to get out of hand."

The Yamen Runners hastily shoveled down a couple of mouthfuls, then jogged off after him.

The matter of the house in the Ghost Market had finally come to a head.

Chen Zhuo ladled himself some chicken soup from the big pot and gulped it down.

The trouble in the Ghost Market had been within his expectations.

It was just that the families reporting the cases seemed rather too concentrated.

It looked deliberate.

The scheme wasn't particularly clever; its traces were too obvious. But it could also be a smokescreen.

Chen Zhuo thought it over briefly, then let the matter go.

He'd focus on practicing martial arts. As for everything else, he'd help out a little if he happened to see it. If he didn't, he could only pretend it hadn't happened.

"Master Chen, give me a bowl."

As Chen Zhuo was deep in thought, a familiar voice suddenly sounded beside him.

He looked up and saw a broad, heavyset man walking toward him, the fat on his face jiggling with every step.

"Brother Sun?!"

Chen Zhuo exclaimed.

"Hahaha, Brother Chen! How have you been lately?"

Fatty Sun greeted Chen Zhuo with a hearty laugh as soon as he arrived, then ladled out two bowls of chicken soup.

He gulped one down himself and handed the other to someone behind him.

Chen Zhuo looked over in surprise and only then noticed a pretty young woman standing behind Fatty Sun.

"We haven't seen each other in days. I didn't expect you to return from your trip with a young lady in tow, Brother Sun."

Chen Zhuo teased him.

At the same time, his gaze discreetly swept over the woman.

He'd seen her before.

In that house in the Ghost Market.

Sun Fei ladled himself another bowl of chicken soup. Before drinking, he explained:

"You're joking, Brother Chen. I met this young lady on my way back. She's a poor soul who was once imprisoned and made to endure unimaginable suffering. When I heard what she'd been through, I decided to help her."

With that, Sun Fei winked hard at him.

The pretty young woman didn't say a word.

A flash of inspiration struck Chen Zhuo, and he immediately understood.

So Fatty Sun had been behind today's commotion.

This would give Huang Yuan'er quite a headache.

"I've got things to do. Let's catch up another day. Tomorrow at noon, I'll take you somewhere nice."

Sun Fei set down his bowl and turned to leave.

The pretty young woman followed close behind.

Seeing how hurried Fatty Sun was, Chen Zhuo felt that something really was different about him.

He waved over a few Dunzis and started cleaning up.

The Yamen Runners weren't going to get to eat right now, but all that chicken and soup wouldn't go to waste. They could save it for dinner and spare the kitchen from having to cook another meal.

Chen Zhuo carried the food box back to the small courtyard.

But he didn't see Yan Ming.

"Senior Brother, it's time to eat."

He called several times, but no one answered. In the end, he knocked on Yan Ming's door a few times.

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Senior Brother, are you in there?"

Chen Zhuo's nostrils flared, and he frowned.

He could smell the pungent scent of medicine coming from inside, but Yan Ming still didn't answer.

Chen Zhuo shook his head and went alone into the courtyard, eating chicken and drinking soup absentmindedly.

At this time of day, just a few days ago, the blazing sun had nearly baked the courtyard tables and chairs. He didn't want to be scorched outside in the middle of the day.

But today, a sudden coolness had entered the air, refreshing the mind and spirit.

The sun wasn't nearly as fierce anymore, either.

There were more withered leaves on the ground, and the cicadas in the trees were gradually falling silent.

Summer had passed, and autumn had come.

The Autumn Hunt on Dangyun Mountain was also drawing near.

After eating his fill, Chen Zhuo took out the Inheritance Manual he'd kept hidden against his chest.

Senior Brother Yan's warning from back then still rang in his ears. With the Autumn Hunt approaching, it was about time he finished reading the rest.

He began to read.

He skimmed the first two pages, focusing on the third.

Blade-Catchers caught demons, refined demons, and ate demons.

Refining and eating demons went without saying. This third page recorded the method of catching demons.

It was called the Demon-Seeking Art.

"To seek demons, first bathe in demon blood, then perceive them through qi..."

After going over it a few times, Chen Zhuo felt a warm current flow into his mind.

At the same time, a line of tiny, mosquito-like characters appeared before his eyes.

[Technique: Demon-Seeking Art: 2/10 (Beginner)]

"I've already reached the beginner level?"

After thinking it over, Chen Zhuo understood.

The Demon-Seeking Art was founded on bathing in demon blood. Before this, he'd already bathed in True Blood twice and False Blood once.

No wonder he'd faintly sensed the aura of Demon Blood on Zhou Sheng back in the Ghost Market.

"For me, improving is simple and straightforward. I only need to bathe in demon blood; I don't have to practice deliberately."

"But for other people, it really is a hellishly difficult task."

Chen Zhuo sighed softly.

For an ordinary person to cultivate this art, they'd need not only to bathe in demon blood but also to constantly sense the aura of each kind of demon blood.

The aura of False Blood was relatively weak, so True Blood was preferable.

"That's a real drain on the purse."

Chen Zhuo shook his head to himself, then suddenly remembered Yan Ming's warning.

"No wonder Senior Brother Yan didn't recommend that I read the third page back then. If I'd finished the manual earlier, I might have thrown myself wholeheartedly into this art and those demon beasts, with no benefit to my martial arts at all."

By his reckoning, the Autumn Hunt was at most ten days away.

If he bathed in all the demon blood he had on him, the Demon-Seeking Art could advance further.

"I just don't know what the key to Aperture Opening is. Senior Brother Yan isn't here, either."

Chen Zhuo shook his head to himself and continued turning the pages.

The fourth page recorded a secret technique.

"Grind a Spirit Turtle's shell into powder, and it can seal demon blood..."

After reading the secret technique, Chen Zhuo's eyes lit up.

He'd always thought False Blood was easy to obtain, while True Blood was hard to come by.

That was probably because living demon beasts were extremely difficult to catch.

With powder made from a Spirit Turtle's shell, he could seal a demon beast's wound after killing it.

As his thoughts raced, Chen Zhuo continued flipping through the manual.

The fifth page, the sixth page...

The rest contained no secret techniques or spells, just descriptions of various demon beasts.

Tiger Demons, Snake Demons, Dog Demons, Monkey Demons...

Their appearances, habits, weaknesses... everything was recorded in remarkable detail.

"With this, I'll have a much better chance at the Autumn Hunt."

Soon, Chen Zhuo reached the final page.

The instant his gaze landed on it, his pupils suddenly contracted.

"This is... written in Master's own hand?"

"The Nine Chapters of Heaven Gate. This is the first chapter. This manual only records some First-Tier Demon Beasts. To learn about them in full, one must visit the Demon Prison of the Northern Suppressing Faction."

"The Northern Suppressing Faction?"

Chen Zhuo silently turned the four characters over in his mind.

The purpose of this Autumn Hunt also happened to coincide with those four characters.

As his thoughts whirled, a gaunt old man with a cold expression silently appeared before him.

Chen Zhuo stared at him, his long fingers gradually clenching until they turned white.