You Still Say You're Not a Demonic Cultivator?

"Jingle, jingle—"

As he hesitated, the copper bells outside the courtyard rang out. Luo Fanchen froze, his expression turning grave.

The Awakening Bells he had placed around the residence had been triggered. Simple to make, they were cheap consumables: one speck of Spirit Dust could produce more than fifty, and they rang when touched by spiritual power.

"They're here already."

Luo Fanchen murmured. From the corner of his eye, he saw Ling Moxue scurry beneath the bed like a frightened animal, her thin shoulders trembling.

He seized her by the collar and retreated several steps. As he neared the tunnel entrance, he ignored the pleading look in her eyes and held her in front of him.

A cold flash split the air. Three poisoned silver needles shot through the window toward Luo Fanchen's dantian, only to brake and veer away at the last instant, as though their wielder feared killing Ling Moxue.

"Heh... so you're one of us."

The voice was dry and hoarse. The wooden door creaked, then burst inward of its own accord. A scrawny, hunched old man stepped through the moonlight, leaving two trails of bloody footprints behind him.

The moment he crossed the threshold, the cramped room filled with the reek of blood and rot. Luo Fanchen frowned. One glance was enough to recognize him.

Withered features, a gaoler's ragged clothes stained with blood—he was the old gaoler Luo Fanchen had briefly encountered in the dungeon.

His eyes were hollow, his aged face devoid of life. His Three Souls and Seven Spirits had scattered. Someone had refined him alive into a Blood Puppet.

This puppet-refining method was vicious. It required someone with a weak soul to be driven into slaughtering their closest kin. Once their mind collapsed, their Three Souls and Seven Spirits were forcibly refined into their flesh, turning an ordinary mortal into a puppet with the strength of a Qi Refinement First Layer cultivator, controlled by its master.

Whoever stood behind such a poisonous act had to be a Demonic Cultivator.

"Would you be Cloudmist City's County Magistrate?"

Luo Fanchen's gaze was cold. Behind Ling Moxue's back, several crude fireball Talismans lay ready in his hand.

Ling Moxue's face twisted bitterly. Her frail body shook like a sieve as she glared at Luo Fanchen from the corner of her eye.

And you still say you're not a Demonic Cultivator?

"I am Ling Youdao, County Magistrate of this city. May I ask your honored name, fellow cultivator?"

The Blood Puppet withdrew the silver needles from between his fingers, though wariness lingered in his blood-red eyes.

Luo Fanchen remained composed. He made no attempt to deny being a Demonic Cultivator, deliberately letting the Blood Puppet mistake his identity.

Demonic Cultivators were far more dangerous than ordinary Rogue Cultivators. He wanted the other man to hesitate for fear of hurting Ling Moxue.

"My surname is Cao, given name Mengde. I'm merely an obscure Rogue Cultivator. You assassinated a city lord under Luo Shen Pavilion's authority and took his place. You have quite the nerve."

"Brother Mengde, your eyes are as keen as torches. I'm impressed. But we Demonic Cultivators must snatch chestnuts from the fire and wrest our lives from heaven."

The Blood Puppet sneered, killing intent swelling in his eyes. The folds of his old face bunched together, looking especially hideous in the flickering candlelight.

"If we followed every rule, what would be the point of cultivating the demonic path? Isn't that right, Brother Mengde?"

"You came uninvited, County Magistrate. What do you want?"

Luo Fanchen gave a cold snort. He kept the initiative firmly in his hands and offered not a trace of courtesy.

Cloudmist City was one of thirty-six mortal cities beneath Flying Cloud Market. It fell under the Clear River Sect, a vassal of Luo Shen Pavilion, which was one of the Eight Great Daoist Sects.

Its County Magistrate was appointed directly by the Clear River Sect from among Rogue Cultivators. The appointee had to have an unblemished background. A Demonic Cultivator could never hold the post.

Ling Youdao was probably not this monster's real name. He had either killed the original County Magistrate and taken his place or seized the man's body outright.

The monster's audacity knew no bounds. If an administrator at Flying Cloud Market found out, he would have his soul torn out and his bones refined, leaving him begging for death.

"Since Brother Mengde found this girl, I imagine you were a close friend of my elder brother. As we both walk the demonic path, I'll speak plainly."

"The girl's constitution is precious, but you share no blood with her, so she's of no use to you. If Brother Mengde returns my niece safely, I'll offer five Spirit Stones and ten Qi Gathering Pills in thanks for protecting her."

Ling Youdao sounded sincere. Luo Fanchen looked down at him and sneered.

"Do you take me for a fool, County Magistrate? A Heavenly Demon Spirit Puppet is valuable demonic material in its own right. It could fetch over a hundred Spirit Stones on the black market."

Children with Three-Element Spirit Roots or better were rare to begin with. The conditions needed to raise one were exacting, and the process took a long time.

Besides, not every Demonic Cultivator could bring themselves to harm their own flesh and blood.

A Spirit Puppet like Ling Moxue, with a Superior-Grade Spiritual Root and years of accumulated anguish, was priceless. She could even serve as one of the supplementary ingredients for a Foundation-Building Pill.

"Brother Mengde, your knowledge is impressive. Perhaps you'd come to the County Office to discuss this? In my early years, I happened upon several pill formulas and talisman techniques. I'd be willing to share them."

Ling Youdao took several Jade Slips from his robes and tossed them to Luo Fanchen. Rather than touch them, Luo Fanchen caught them with spiritual power and had Ling Moxue take them.

After examining them from a distance, he confirmed that they contained some kind of low-level pill formulas and talisman techniques.

Unfortunately, restrictions were engraved on the Jade Slips, concealing the details.

Luo Fanchen ordered Ling Moxue to put them away. His expression softened slightly. "Discuss it? You won't kill me to keep me quiet, will you, County Magistrate?"

At that, Ling Youdao's lips stretched almost to his ears, baring a mouthful of yellow teeth. A knowing look crossed his old face.

If he knew what this man was capable of and had no reason to fear a Demonic Cultivator's underhanded methods, why would he go to all this trouble?

"Since you've invited me so warmly, County Magistrate, it would be rude to refuse. I'll bring your niece to visit at midnight tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Heh. Very well. I'll await your arrival, Brother Mengde."

Ling Youdao nodded darkly. He had already left something on Ling Moxue that let him track her by bloodline.

Cloudmist City was now full of his eyes and ears. He was not worried that Luo Fanchen would escape. The extra time would let him gather information and prepare more measures, ensuring that this Demonic Cultivator never left.

"I heard this human puppet once offended Brother Mengde. Consider it a gift, and compensation for my abrupt visit."

Killing intent flashed through Ling Youdao's eyes. He shaped his withered hand into a blade and drove it straight through his own chest.

Blood poured from all seven of his facial orifices. He grinned wickedly, and when he looked at Luo Fanchen again, a mangled heart was clenched in his hand.

"Sorry for the trouble, fellow cultivator. You'll have to collect it yourself."

"I'll dispose of this filthy thing for you, County Magistrate."

Disgust flickered in Luo Fanchen's eyes. In the blink of an eye, his figure dissolved into a wisp of rising smoke. It had been a duplicate.

By the time Ling Youdao realized it, Luo Fanchen had somehow slipped behind him.

They stood back to back. Luo Fanchen gave a light swing of his First-Rank Low-Grade sword, and the human puppet's head parted from its body.

"Such swift movement... Smoke Cloud Escape? With that level of mastery, you're... Late Qi Refining?"

The cut was clean, and blood gushed like a spring. Shock froze Ling Youdao's features as the world spun before his eyes. His head rolled to Luo Fanchen's feet, and soon the light faded from his blood-red eyes.

Good. The bluff worked.

Luo Fanchen's eyes flickered, the pressure in his chest easing a little.

The mysteries of Eight Desolations, Ten Thousand Laws had been broadly divided by generations of great cultivators into four levels: Mystic Methods, Law Scrolls, Dao Scriptures, and Arcane Canons.

As a Rogue Cultivator, his aptitude was poor, and he lacked both weapons and offensive techniques.

To stay alive, he had devoted himself to movement techniques. Even though Smoke Cloud Escape was beneath any formal rank, he practiced and studied it every day until he mastered it.

In mastery of Smoke Cloud Escape alone, he was no worse than a Late Qi Refining cultivator. Of course, a cultivator at that level would have no interest in such a lousy technique.

"Clean this up, then come see me."

Ling Moxue stood before him, still panting. She kicked the head on the floor in anger, but at Luo Fanchen's order, her shoulders slumped and she dragged the corpse away.

Her little face was numb, her movements practiced. Plainly, this was not the first corpse she had cleaned up.

After a while, Ling Moxue dragged the body into the back courtyard, exhaustion showing in her eyes.

Her face fell, as though she had resigned herself to her fate. Was this man really going to hand her over to a Demonic Cultivator?

"Even if you hand me over... you won't get anything. I can wash clothes... cook, and do some farmwork. I can learn needlework, too."

Ling Moxue lowered her head, her ears burning red as she made one last attempt.

Playing along might buy her a few days to maneuver. If she was handed over to the Demonic Cultivator, she would certainly die.

"I can serve you as a maid. Could you let me stay?"

Ling Moxue stared at her toes. Her voice caught and broke, but she kept speaking until she had offered everything she could. Only then did it fade to the faintest sobs.

"I have my own plans."

Luo Fanchen drained the tea on the table, then stepped outside to set up new Awakening Bells.

Ling Moxue watched her hope leave. She stood motionless in the pool of blood, her bruised little hands clenched white. In the wavering candlelight, her thin figure looked frailer than ever.