Chapter 25

"Hm?"

When Luo Qingchen was patrolling past a second-floor window, he suddenly caught the scent of blood drifting through the air outside.

At the same time, the Blood Sucking Skill in the second Blood Bar inside him stirred restlessly.

"Someone died?"

His heart tightened, and he turned his gaze toward the darkness outside.

But everything beyond was pitch-black. He could make out the faint outlines of a few trees and houses, but nothing else.

Without hesitation, he immediately went downstairs.

Chen Ju was at the corner of the first-floor corridor, flirting with a woman named Huang Li. Whatever he said made her giggle coquettishly without stopping.

Seeing Luo Qingchen come downstairs, Chen Ju called out, "Brother Luo, something wrong?"

Luo Qingchen replied, "Nothing upstairs. I'm going outside to take a look."

Chen Ju grinned. "You really are conscientious, Brother Luo. Go patrol the courtyard first. I'll take my turn in the second half of the night."

Luo Qingchen gave an agreeing sound and left at an unhurried pace.

He didn't linger in the courtyard. After glancing around, he went straight out the gate.

Perhaps because of the Blood Sucking Skill inside him, his sense of smell for blood was extraordinarily keen. The moment he stepped outside, he caught a much stronger stench of blood.

At the same time, the Blood Sucking Skill inside him grew even more restless.

He fixed his attention on a large tree a hundred meters ahead. First, he cautiously surveyed the area. Seeing nothing amiss, he hurried over.

Before long, he spotted a corpse beneath the tree.

The corpse's head was missing, and there was a bloody hole in its chest. Its heart was gone, too.

Blood stained the ground all around it.

Judging by the man's clothes, shoes, and build, it was Zhao Laosan, who had just left the building not long ago!

Luo Qingchen's pupils contracted. Following the bloodstains on the ground, he looked toward the Black Forest on the left side of the road and held his breath.

The Black Forest was utterly silent. He couldn't see a thing.

Without hesitation, he immediately approached the corpse and held out his palm, activating the Blood Sucking Skill.

If he wanted to survive here, he naturally couldn't waste a drop of blood.

That was why he had risked coming out alone just now.

In an instant, the blood in the second Blood Bar inside him rose from 30% to 50%!

At that moment, the corpse began to change.

He immediately withdrew his hand and stopped.

Too much blood had already flowed from the severed neck and the chest. There hadn't been much left inside to begin with.

If he sucked it dry, he feared it would arouse suspicion.

Just then, he suddenly sensed the faint sound of footsteps behind him.

"Someone died!"

He immediately shouted and pretended to stumble backward in a panic. Then he turned and ran toward the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion.

After only a few steps, he collided with someone.

Chen Ju emerged from the darkness, his expression changing. "What? Someone else died?"

As he spoke, he hurried forward. At a glance, he saw the headless corpse lying in a pool of blood and cried out in shock, "It's that Heart-Plucking Monster again! This time, it even ate the victim's head!"

Luo Qingchen said, "I'll go get help!"

He was about to leave when Chen Ju suddenly grabbed him. A glint flashed in his eyes as he lowered his voice. "Junior Brother Luo, don't you want to get some blood for your cultivation?"

Luo Qingchen stared at him blankly, as if he didn't understand.

Chen Ju nodded toward the corpse on the ground, his tone tempting. "There's fresh blood right here. It'd be a waste not to use it. For now, only the two of us have found the body. We can each take a little back for a medicinal bath and cultivation. No one will know."

Luo Qingchen pretended to think it over, then nodded in agreement.

Chen Ju smiled with satisfaction and patted him on the shoulder. "That's what I'm talking about, brother!"

As he spoke, he immediately pulled a porcelain bottle from his robes and prepared to step forward and collect the blood.

Luo Qingchen went with him.

Just then, a sudden commotion of footsteps came from the nearby street.

The people moved in orderly formation, carrying lanterns and hurrying along.

Chen Ju cursed under his breath and hastily put away the porcelain bottle.

When the group hurried up to them, Chen Ju immediately went to meet them, his face full of alarm. "Captain Zhou, someone's been killed here again! I was just about to notify you!"

The leader was tall and wore a black robe. He looked to be about thirty, and his gaze was exceptionally sharp. At Chen Ju's words, he immediately went to the corpse and examined it closely.

His name was Zhou Qingyang. He was a squad captain at the Medicine Man Town Guard Bureau and a formal disciple of the Demon Controlling Sect.

"When did you find him?"

After observing the body for a moment, Zhou Qingyang turned to the two men, his expression stern.

Chen Ju hurriedly replied, "We just found him. The two of us were out on patrol when we caught a whiff of blood. We came over to investigate and saw the corpse."

Zhou Qingyang looked them over a few more times, then crouched beside the body and placed two fingers against its chest.

There was still warmth there. The man had indeed died only recently.

But...

He suddenly stood and fixed the two men with a sharp gaze. "Almost all the blood in this corpse has been drained. Did you two just tamper with him?"

An immensely powerful aura instantly pressed down on them.

Chen Ju's face changed, and he hurriedly shouted in protest, "We just got here! Even if you gave us a hundred times the nerve, we wouldn't dare drain blood from this corpse without permission. Besides, we don't even know what kind of monster killed him. Who knows if there's poison in his blood? I beg you to investigate this fairly, Captain Zhou."

Zhou Qingyang stared at them sharply for a while longer, then ordered, "Search them."

"Yes, sir!"

Two men from behind him immediately stepped forward and began searching Chen Ju and Luo Qingchen.

Any container used to hold blood would be easy to find by touch.

Luo Qingchen had nothing on him, while two porcelain bottles were found on Chen Ju.

Zhou Qingyang took the bottles, removed their stoppers, and inspected them. Finding them completely clean and empty, he returned them to Chen Ju.

Chen Ju smiled obsequiously. "Captain Zhou, should I take off my clothes, too?"

Zhou Qingyang ignored him. He took a red stone from his robes and rubbed it against Chen Ju's chest a few times, then held it to his forehead.

Chen Ju's face turned grave. "Captain Zhou, do you suspect a Demonic Beast killed this man?"

This Demon Detecting Stone was only used when checking for Demonic Beasts.

Zhou Qingyang held the red stone to Luo Qingchen's chest and forehead as well, pausing for several breaths before explaining mildly, "The Heart-Plucking Monster is elusive. It's killed quite a few people lately. It's either a demon or a Demonic Beast. Everyone in town will be checked over the next few days."

Fear showed on Chen Ju's face. "If it really is a Demonic Beast, that's terrifying."

Zhou Qingyang put away the red stone and warned them, "Don't tell anyone about what happened tonight, or you'll cause a panic."

With that, he waved them off. "You can go back. I'll find you if I need anything."

The two men answered respectfully and headed toward the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion.

Once they were back inside, Chen Ju muttered a curse under his breath. "He's nothing but a bully with power! He's only just entered the Blood Changing Realm, and he's already that arrogant!"

Luo Qingchen didn't respond. He went straight upstairs.

Chen Ju watched his back, his expression gradually darkening.

He hadn't had a medicinal bath in ages, and his cultivation had stalled. He was in desperate need of blood now.

Unfortunately, he'd been just one step away.

"Such a fool. Fresh blood was right there, and he wouldn't take it. If that kid hadn't shouted just now, the Town Guard Bureau wouldn't have arrived so quickly..."

He ground out the words through clenched teeth, turned away, and continued patrolling the rooms on the first floor.

Luo Qingchen reached the corner of the second-floor corridor and looked at the first room ahead, his face revealing a complicated mix of emotions.

From inside the room came the suppressed sound of a girl sobbing.

Her father had treated him that way. He wondered how she would feel when she learned of his death tomorrow.

Would she feel liberated, or would she be sad?

Outside the window, the night grew deeper.

Luo Qingchen closed his eyes and looked at the blood in the second Blood Bar inside him. In a few days, Tian Feng will come down to draw blood. I hope he won't notice anything unusual.

There was still plenty of medicinal energy inside him. Over the next two days, he would have to refine it as quickly as possible.

After Tian Feng left, he would find another chance to take a medicinal bath.

Only by breaking through to the Blood Changing Realm as soon as possible could he leave this gloomy, dangerous place.

"Creak..."

As he stood there with his eyes closed, thinking, the door to the room at the very end of the corridor opened.

The woman named Qingmei poked her head out and beckoned to him. "Guard Luo, come here a moment."

Luo Qingchen's expression shifted. He walked over and stopped at the doorway. "What is it, Miss Qingmei?"

Seeing how tense he seemed, Qingmei covered her mouth and giggled. "It's nothing. I don't have to receive guests tonight, and I can't sleep yet, so I thought I'd invite Guard Luo in for a chat."

She wore only a thin veil, her fragrant shoulders bare and the fair swell of her breasts faintly visible.

At the same time, her long nails, painted a vivid red, slowly traced from her chin down her neck, then continued lower. Her eyes brimmed with a bewitching, seductive smile.

"About A-Yun..."

She blinked and whispered.