Night lay deep.
Inside a leaking house without a door, several corpses lay sprawled in every direction, their faces twisted into hideous grimaces. They had clearly suffered unspeakable terror before death.
Ling Mei's corpse was among them, already severely shriveled.
Her face, little more than a layer of skin, bore intense loathing and resentment, as though some wish had remained unfulfilled even in death.
Chen Haoming sat motionless beside the bodies, refining another fellow disciple's corpse with the Essence-Devouring Demon Art. The bloody glow in his eyes grew steadily stronger.
Chi Jingchen huddled in a distant corner, using a first-rank spirit beast to restore his fighting strength. He also longed to replenish his depleted dantian with those fellow disciples' corpses, but he dared not compete with Chen Haoming.
He was at the middle Yuanqi Stage, while Chen Haoming was approaching great perfection.
After an unknown stretch of time, Chen Haoming finished refining another fellow disciple's corpse. The blood-red color in his eyes had become frighteningly intense, making Chi Jingchen afraid even to look at him.
They both cultivated the Essence-Devouring Demon Art. He knew that after refining several fellow disciples in succession, Chen Haoming had probably been consumed by the urge to slaughter and was on the verge of losing control.
Afraid Chen Haoming would truly lose control and turn his blade on him, he prepared to slip away quietly.
Just then-
"I'm going to kill Zhao Changfeng."
Chen Haoming spoke calmly, fixing him with a cold stare from his dark-red eyes. Startled, Chi Jingchen instinctively backed away.
"Senior Brother Chen, Master gave us an absolute order. Fellow disciples are strictly forbidden from killing one another before the demon spirit tide disperses."
"I know you've refined several people in a row and reached the point where you can't suppress the urge to slaughter, but you must stay calm!"
Chi Jingchen offered his well-meaning advice.
"Huff! Hah!"
Chen Haoming panted violently. Veins bulged on the hand he had pressed against the corpse, and with a crack, he crushed his long-dead fellow disciple's breastbone.
"Song Zejun and his wife colluded with demon spirits. As a member of the Lingxiao Sect, does Zhao Changfeng think he can escape responsibility?!"
Chen Haoming's voice was sinister. He kept panting as he spoke, like a vicious beast confined in a cage.
"He accused Song Zejun and his wife just to put on an act for us! As long as Zhao Changfeng lives, Tamu Town faces a terrifying threat. I must kill him!"
Eager to advance to great perfection of the Yuanqi Stage, Chen Haoming also knew he had been infected by an obsession with slaughter and needed an outlet.
Zhao Changfeng was the person he had chosen.
"You said it yourself. He could draw demon spirits from the Unordered Zone into his body and saved twenty-seven members of the City Guard Army in succession. How could someone like Zhao Changfeng possibly have that ability?"
"He must have colluded with demon spirits and obtained some secret art that let him earn everyone's trust this way!"
"If Zhao Changfeng lives, he'll secretly conspire with his master and his master's wife, and with those gathering demon spirits!"
"I've decided to kill him. If Master holds me accountable afterward, I'll bear every consequence!"
Chen Haoming laid out each suspicious point in clear, orderly fashion.
After hearing this, even Chi Jingchen began to have doubts. He no longer knew how to persuade him.
Chi Jingchen had always felt that Chen Haoming was looking for an outlet because Zhao Changfeng had not saved him, because Zhao Changfeng was close to Senior Sister Ruan, and because something had gone wrong while Chen Haoming cultivated his Demonic Cultivation Art.
Yet on closer consideration, the reasons Chen Haoming offered did hold some weight.
"Once dawn comes and I've refined all their corpses, I'll kill Zhao Changfeng. Then I'll surely advance to great perfection of the Yuanqi Stage!"
Chen Haoming had made up his mind.
Outside Tamu Town, a bonfire burned on the muddy ground facing Heavenly Shield City.
The surviving members of the City Guard Army carried over their fallen comrades' bodies and tossed them onto the bonfire one by one.
They knew many members of the Crippled Demon Sect were still alive, and they understood the viciousness of the Demonic Cultivation Art those people cultivated. They could not bear to let their comrades, who had died so bravely, have their blood and corpses refined.
Of nearly a hundred members of the City Guard Army, two-thirds had died. Only a handful remained alive.
Some stood in silence, while others said their final farewells to the bodies of companions who had shared their days and nights. Grief was written plainly across their faces.
"Without Zhao Changfeng's help, who knows how many would have died? Those demon spirits are truly savage."
Qin Hui kept sighing.
Mist gathered in Shen Yanrong's eyes. Gazing at her many fallen comrades, she felt such heartache that she wanted to cry.
"I've already set up a formation and reported to our superiors. The Crippled Demon Sect will learn what Zhao Changfeng did, and they'll certainly reward him handsomely afterward."
Shen Yanrong spoke softly, her spirits low.
"The Demon Sects are one thing. We're another."
Qin Hui's expression turned solemn. "Zhao Changfeng saved so many of our comrades. We can't just offer him a word of thanks."
After a pause, he added, "An apology has to come with sincerity."
Shen Yanrong looked surprised. "Brother Qin, you mean...?"
"It's too late today. Once dawn comes, everyone can chip in some spirit stones, and I'll go with you!" Even the easily embarrassed Qin Hui felt he had to do something, or his conscience would not rest.
Shen Yanrong nodded gently. "That's exactly what we should do!"
Atop the tallest tower.
After the meeting ended, Cui Pinyuan had come here to overlook the entire town. He had been watching the movements of the City Guard Army ever since.
Thud, thud, thud!
Chen Jian of the Ghost-Controlling Sect slowly climbed the tower and stood beside him.
Cui Pinyuan looked at him in puzzlement.
Chen Jian turned his head as well. When their eyes met, he suddenly asked curiously, "Senior Cui, why does your Blazing Sun Demon Art show traces of the True Yang Art?"
Cui Pinyuan's expression changed drastically.
"Don't be nervous, Senior Cui. I'm not speaking to you on behalf of the Ghost-Controlling Sect. It's just a casual question."
Chen Jian spoke in his usual indifferent tone.
Cui Pinyuan's gaze flickered unpredictably. After quickly weighing his options, he sighed with a face full of shame. "As expected of a formal disciple of the Ghost-Controlling Sect. You actually recognized the foundation of my original cultivation."
"To tell you the truth, I was indeed a disciple of the Righteous Sun Sect in my early years. Only my master and I remained in our branch."
"Later, my master died, and my cultivation path proved rather rough. So I abandoned the True Yang Art and switched to the Blazing Sun Demon Art."
"Brother Chen, please believe me. I turned away from darkness and embraced the light long ago!"
Terrified that Chen Jian would not believe him and would spread the news, Cui Pinyuan declared in a low voice, "If you don't believe me, Brother Chen, you can ask around about what I've done over the years. I've killed quite a few of those so-called Righteous Dao practitioners!"
Chen Jian neither agreed nor disagreed. "There's no need for all that. It's enough that you've turned away from darkness and embraced the light."
He seemed not to care much, but Cui Pinyuan remained deeply uneasy. "Brother Chen, did you come here to discuss something else?"
Chen Jian shook his head. "Nothing in particular. I was just curious and came to ask a couple of questions. Don't overthink it."
"That's good. That's good."
Cui Pinyuan spoke stiffly, desperately suppressing his nervousness. He had no idea what Chen Jian was truly thinking.
Chen Jian suddenly sighed softly. "I've put in both time and effort and lost quite a few yin ghosts, yet I haven't gained a single benefit."
The souls of those killed by Soul Devouring demon spirits had already become the spirits' food. He could not collect them to refine into yin ghosts.
When he added it all up, he really had labored for others for nothing on this trip, while Cui Pinyuan claimed to be the master of Tamu Town.
Cui Pinyuan caught his meaning and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. "That can easily be arranged," he said with a smile.
The dark clouds dispersed, and the sun reappeared after its long absence.
As the first ray of morning sunlight shone down, the rogue cultivators, who had already formed groups, left town together, unwilling to delay even a moment.
Sect disciples and the City Guard Army had a duty to defend Tamu Town. Rogue cultivators had no such obligation, and they slipped away early once the situation looked bad.
They might encounter demon spirits on the road, but if they stayed in Tamu Town, they were certain to encounter them again.
They could still weigh which danger was greater.
Shi Yue had deliberately moved his temporary lodgings between Zhao Changfeng and Chen Haoming to make it easier to watch them both. Last night, he had heard Chen Haoming's conversation with Chi Jingchen, filling him with boundless anticipation.
So he began checking on both sides first thing in the morning.
Chen Haoming said he'd act at dawn. Zhao Changfeng might drag his feet a little, so I'll watch Chen Haoming first.
Shi Yue kept his attention on Chen Haoming's side.
"Huh!"
When he took a moment to glance at Zhao Changfeng's stone house, he saw Zhao Changfeng step outside first and head straight toward Chen Haoming with Ruan Meizhen.
So decisive? That spirit jade really wasn't wasted!
Shi Yue perked up.
A moment later, Chen Haoming also emerged from his dilapidated hut, his eyes red as though he had not slept all night.
"Zhao Changfeng!"
Though somewhat surprised, Chen Haoming shouted from afar, invoking righteousness the moment he opened his mouth.
"Not one of you in the Lingxiao Sect is any good! Your master and his wife are involved with demon spirits, and you're certainly not clean either!"
"You accused Song Zejun and his wife just to win our trust, then hide among us and secretly collude with demon spirits!"
"Otherwise, with your paltry cultivation, how could you draw twenty-seven demon spirits into your body without dying?"
Before he even reached Zhao Changfeng, he had already splashed him with filthy accusations, declaring outright that he was a spy for the demon spirits.
Zhao Changfeng could not help laughing.
He had been worried about finding an excuse to kill Chen Haoming, and had paid a hefty extra sum to get Ruan Meizhen to play along. He had never expected Chen Haoming's desire to kill him to be so intense.
"Hahahaha!"
Zhao Changfeng roared with laughter. With mockery written all over his face, he wrapped an arm around Ruan Meizhen's soft waist and sneered, "Senior Brother Chen, are you so jealous that I won the beauty that you've gone mad and started biting like a rabid dog?"
Held around the waist in public, Ruan Meizhen, with her utterly alluring figure, secretly seethed with resentment.
Yet at the thought of the demon cores and spirit jade he had promised, Ruan Meizhen could only endure it for now.
Her last attempt to break through had exhausted all her savings. The remaining venom could only restore her cultivation to great perfection. If she wanted to attempt another breakthrough, she would have to gather spirit materials anew.
The demon cores and spirit jade would form her reserves for her next breakthrough attempt. With her hopes rekindled, she had no choice but to cooperate.
"You... you and... you and Ruan Meizhen?!"
Chen Haoming looked as though he had suffered a heavy blow. He was so provoked that he no longer even called her Senior Sister Ruan.
"How do you think I survived that deadly poison?"
"How do you think I made it to Tamu Town alive?"
Zhao Changfeng grinned, wearing a smile that said, You should understand. "I'm damn good in bed! I showed Senior Sister Ruan a good time, and now she obediently does as I say."
"Women, you know how it is."
Ruan Meizhen sucked in a breath. Suddenly, the hand Zhao Changfeng had around her waist felt as unpleasant as a slippery venomous snake.
She had agreed to play along with Zhao Changfeng's act to force Chen Haoming to attack him, but she had never imagined he would say anything so utterly obscene.
"Demon spirit spy! You deserve ten thousand deaths!"
Chen Haoming instantly went berserk. Without stopping to consider Zhao Changfeng's nonsense, he charged in to kill him.