Very obliging, even picking his own burial ground

Night gradually fell.

Yang Xiao sat in the room, closed his eyes, and thought about the dead people in Pinewind Town again.

Spontaneous self-immolation without fire, a burning phenomenon, has been occurring at night for over a month.

If this situation continues, then he might as well stay in Pinewind Town for one night and see what's really going on.

He took out the Qi-Gathering Bottle, tilted the opening, and drew out the wisp of residual gas from the daytime.

Yang Xiao focused intently on the details.

Too much time has passed and the energy is too subtle; there is no trace of Yao Qi left, only the pure aura of flames.

If it were a human, it would be difficult to fathom their purpose in doing so. But if it were a demon, then it must have mastered the ability to control fire, and might even possess fire-type Pill Pattern!

Thinking of this, a look of excitement appeared on Yang Xiao's face.

This is the first time I've found such a plump prey; I just hope it won't disappoint me...

As the last rays of daylight faded from the street outside the window.

Yang Xiao put the wisp of energy back into the bottle and walked to the window, looking at the gradually emptying street.

Night has fallen.

"Let's see where this fire came from."

As night fell over Pinewind Town, Yang Xiao left the inn alone.

He could have shown his badge first, allowing the town's constables to gather their men and turn the area upside down.

But as soon as the thought arose, he pressed the button.

If there really is a Demon King hiding nearby, the fact that it could remain hidden silently under the noses of the Demon Suppression Division for over a month must mean it is an extremely cautious person.

These people pose no threat to it, but it's unclear what they're thinking.

If he makes a scene, the other party might run away first.

Letting the other party escape without even gathering any information about them would be a huge loss.

Moreover, if the constables in this town were to encounter Demon King at the Pill-Pattern Realm, they probably wouldn't even be qualified to give him a second glance.

Therefore, Yang Xiao had to do it himself. He concealed his aura, and his whole being seemed to melt into the night.

It then hid on the roof of an inn, causing the Canglan Water Pattern to condense into tiny water droplets that spread throughout the town.

Then fish quietly, waiting for the other fish to take the bait.

After waiting for several hours...

The humidity in the town's air at night subtly changed.

What should have been an evenly spread area under Yang Xiao's manipulation showed a very subtle difference in the moisture of the water vapor in the streets east of the town, as perceived by the Water Pattern.

The area around most houses was calm, except for one house where the steam was slowly rising.

The heat was extremely subtle, and it had no effect on areas just a step away from the houses.

Yang Xiao opened his eyes.

He followed the warmth, turned into two alleys, and saw the house in the distance.

The door was tightly shut, and the windows were also closed tightly.

However, his perception of Water Pattern clearly told him that there were two auras in the room, one so weak that it was almost imperceptible, and the other intense and fierce.

Inside the house.

A middle-aged woman lay on the bed, her face contorted in pain, her eyes filled with terror, yet she remained motionless on the bed.

A slender figure in a black robe stood beside her bed, with only a pointed mouth and nose visible.

A thin, crimson thread of fire escaped from its mouth and nostrils, slowly moving towards the woman's body. It first burned her meridians, and when it pierced her heart, it instantly burst into flames and killed her.

It patiently waited for that Fire Essence to completely penetrate its heart meridian, from which it extracted a trace of human essence blood, which was a great tonic.

This is exactly how it has always operated.

Do not occupy the mountain, do not raise the flag, and do not disturb the Demon Suppression Division.

They remain hidden in the shadows during the day, only targeting specific individuals at night, devouring them clean, bite by bite.

If a few dozen people die in a small town, it's considered a taboo. But if a hundred people actually die, the government can only send a few constables, who can easily be dismissed.

Using this method, he has been living peacefully in a place far away from the Demon Suppression Division for several years.

It has even already figured out its next target...

Just then...

Bang!!

The door behind me was suddenly kicked open.

The Red Lizard Demon King suddenly turned around and stared in astonishment at the newcomer.

It hadn't expected that such a remote little place would suddenly have the Demon Suppression Division's hawks and hounds.

The young man remained in the position of kicking down the door, while his other hand had already reached for the hilt of his knife at his waist, seemingly ready to draw his blade at any moment.

The Red Lizard Demon King saw through the opponent's origin at a glance, and his first reaction was to "silence them."

"Die!"

A streak of crimson fire shot suddenly toward Yang Xiao.

The air it passed through was slightly distorted by the heat, and the flames grazed the wooden table in the room with a soft "hiss," instantly burning the entire wooden table to ashes.

Yang Xiao blinked slightly.

In an instant, he gathered the moisture in the room, condensing it into a blue curtain of water in front of him.

The crimson line of fire crashed into the water curtain with a hissing sound, and a large cloud of white steam rose from the water curtain, instantly dissipating the fire.

"Water Pattern!?"

For the first time, a look of surprise appeared in the eyes of the Red Lizard Demon King.

It originally thought that the other party was just Demon Suppression Guard that had accidentally stumbled upon it, at most either a Liquid Condensation or Aperture Opening.

It wasn't until the appearance of the water curtain that he realized the person before him was actually a Pill-Pattern Realm.

Aren't the Deputy General of the Pill-Pattern Realm all stationed in one region?

How could they suddenly appear in such a small place!?

The Pill-Pattern Realm was quite troublesome, and its killing intent instantly cooled down.

The Red Lizard Demon King did not linger in battle.

It didn't even glance at the woman on the bed again. It ducked down, crashed through the window with a crash, and transformed into a blur as it rushed out of the house, heading straight out of the town.

Yang Xiao did not immediately give chase.

He walked to the bedside, bent down and checked the woman's breathing, confirming that she was not in immediate danger.

He then straightened up and stepped out the window.

In the darkness, the afterimage moved with incredible speed.

Yang Xiao followed behind the other person at a leisurely pace, always maintaining a certain distance.

In that brief moment of close proximity, Yang Xiao had already extracted a wisp of aura from the Demon King. At this moment, the Demon King was like a bright flame in the night, extremely conspicuous in his perception.

With the Wind Pattern on his body, he could have closed the distance in one step, but he kept his speed under control.

If a fight really breaks out here, the power unleashed by a fire demon at the Pill-Pattern Realm would be enough to burn the entire town.

However, this Demon King is cautious. If he were to launch a sudden attack now, the other party might not be willing to take it. They would most likely run into the town and use the entire town as a shield.

Why not let it choose its own place?

The more "reluctantly" he pursued, the more daring the other party became to leave.

The Red Lizard Demon King looked back three times in a row.

It could see clearly that the person was struggling to keep up. Even when it accelerated or decelerated, it was always just a hair's breadth away from closing the distance. Several times, the other person tried to close the gap, but it managed to slip past them each time.

"I thought he was a tough nut to crack, but it turns out he's just a pretty face with no substance."

"It scared me a bit just now; it looks nice but is useless."

The Red Lizard Demon King's lips curled into a slow, bloodthirsty smirk.

Instead of hiding in the depths of the wilderness, it turned its head and scurried towards the distant Mass Burial Ground.

That place was so dark at night that even moonlight couldn't penetrate it; it was the perfect spot to kill and bury a body.

Yang Xiao watched the crimson-black afterimage turn towards the Mass Burial Ground, and paused slightly.

A slight smile played at the corners of her lips.

"Have you even chosen a burial site for yourself?"

"Very savvy."