How Do I Look Like a Demon?

Shen Ji understood Xie Lingchuan's meaning. Silently calculating the distance for his strike and controlling his strength, he sent the sword in his hand flying out.

The next second, sure enough, came the sound of a wing being pierced.

At the same time, Xie Lingchuan shot straight toward the moth yaoguai's face at an uncanny speed.

The moth yaoguai tried to repeat its old trick, spreading its wings in an attempt to wrap Xie Lingchuan up entirely.

But its right wing had already been completely shattered by Shen Ji's sword strike.

Standing within the area covered by its wings, Xie Lingchuan did not even dodge. He thrust his sword straight out and sliced off the moth yaoguai's head in a single stroke.

In that instant, all the spinning patterns in the cave stopped. The moth yaoguai's head hit the ground first, and then its body spiraled down like a withered leaf.

When she landed on the ground, her wings were still fluttering as though in their death throes.

Xie Lingchuan landed back on the ground and glanced at it in disgust.

He conjured a fire talisman in his hand, then turned and walked toward Shen Ji and the others.

Shen Ji helped his three dizzy junior brothers and sisters up from the ground.

"How embarrassing. We've made fools of ourselves in front of you, Senior Brother Xie. And thank you, Eldest Senior Brother, for arriving in time."

Xie Lingchuan brushed it off. "As long as everyone is all right."

Holding her head and suppressing the urge to vomit from dizziness, Jiang Tingxue asked dejectedly, "Eldest Senior Brother, did we not only fail to help, but also hold you back?"

"Yes, Eldest Senior Brother. If I'd known, I would have told Master I wasn't going down the mountain with you and the others."

Shen Ji smiled gently to reassure them. "Of course not. You've only been disciples for a year or two and learned some basic skills. Doing this well is already very good. Master must have his reasons for sending you down the mountain. Besides, without you just now, we wouldn't have known that moth yaoguai could shrink."

After their eldest senior brother's words of comfort, the others were clearly feeling much better.

"Can I open my eyes now?"

"Yes."

When Song Wensheng opened his eyes, he found that the patterns inside the cold-storage cavern had not faded, but they had stopped changing and spinning. Looking at them still gave him goosebumps all over.

Clapping came from the cavern entrance. They looked toward the sound and saw Zhu Lianqing standing leisurely at the entrance, applauding.

She surveyed the patterns inside the cavern, clicking her tongue in wonder. "This atmosphere would be perfect for clubbing. Even more blinding than the lights in a bar."

"Senior, what are clubbing and bars?"

Zhu Lianqing waved a hand. "Children shouldn't ask so many questions. Hurry out of there. Breathe in too much of that stuff inside, and you'll die."

They headed out of the cavern to join Zhu Lianqing.

"Senior, Senior Brother Xie, have you cleared out all the Ghouls?" Shen Ji asked.

Xie Lingchuan opened his palm. The Demon-Detecting Needle on the compass was turning only slightly.

"We followed its directions all the way here. There shouldn't be any fish that slipped through the net."

Song Wensheng looked curiously at the object in Xie Lingchuan's hand. "Senior Brother Xie, what is that?"

Xie Lingchuan said, "This is a Demon-Detecting Needle. It's used to track down demonic creatures."

Jiang Tingxue's keen eyes spotted the lower-left corner of the compass at once, and she exclaimed excitedly, "It has the Luoyu Sword Sect's emblem on it! So the sect issued this? Do we get one too?"

This time, Xie Lingchuan pressed his lips together and said nothing for a moment.

Beside him, Shen Ji explained, "If you'd joined three years earlier, perhaps you would have. This was made by Martial Aunt Zhu."

Jiang Tingxue immediately fell silent and even stole a glance at Xie Lingchuan. Fortunately, he was not angry at her for digging to the root of the matter.

During the silence, the Demon-Detecting Needle suddenly clicked and began swinging widely again.

Everyone's gaze immediately shifted to the compass.

"Looks like there really is a fish that slipped through the net! Just the chance for us to see what a Ghoul looks like."

Shen Ji shook his head as he recalled what he had read. "According to the Record of Ten Thousand Yaoguai, Ghouls look extremely disgusting."

Jiang Tingxue immediately lost her nerve. Better not to see one, then.

After all, nothing had ever made her senior brother use the word "disgusting" before.

They concentrated on watching the compass's movements.

One turn... two turns...

The needle slowed more and more, then finally stopped.

But unexpectedly, the needle did not point toward the thousands of caverns ahead of them. Instead, it pointed through a gap between them, toward their backs.

"Behind us? But there's only one cavern back there, and we just came out of it. How could there be a corpse-eating-"

Jiang Tingxue stopped halfway through.

Because she had turned around with everyone else and seen Zhu Lianqing standing behind them, backlit.

The needle on the compass pointed squarely at her.

Zhu Lianqing had been following behind them so unperturbed that she was beginning to doze off. She had not expected everyone ahead to suddenly turn around in unison.

As Zhu Lianqing wondered what was going on, her gaze fell on the object in Xie Lingchuan's hand.

Oh, a Demon-Detecting Needle.

Wait, a Demon-Detecting Needle pointing at me?

Zhu Lianqing moved two steps, thinking she was blocking the cavern behind her.

To her surprise, when she moved two steps left, the needle moved with her.

Unwilling to accept it, she moved right, but the needle still followed her.

Fine, fine, fine. Something I made, screwing over its own mother like this, huh?

"Senior, do you have anything to say?"

Zhu Lianqing looked up at his voice. Xie Lingchuan's eyes were fixed sharply on her, and Shen Ji and the others behind him were on guard as well.

Zhu Lianqing found this utterly absurd. "I have nothing to say. Obviously, that thing of yours isn't working."

"Mind your words!"

Xie Lingchuan's sharp rebuke startled Zhu Lianqing, leaving her utterly bewildered. "What's going on?"

Shen Ji explained from the side, "You may not know this, Senior, but this was personally made by Immortal Master Zhu, Perfected Lord Nanhua. How could it not work?"

"Exactly, Senior. If there's a misunderstanding, you can tell us outright. How can you start by saying something Immortal Master Zhu made doesn't work?"

Zhu Lianqing digested their words and finally caught on.

All right. These junior martial nephews of mine seem to be brain-dead fans of my main account.

So Zhu Lianqing considered her tone, trying to be as tactful and polite as possible.

"Ah, is it possible that I didn't mean something Immortal Master Zhu made doesn't work, but rather that it's malfunctioned because it's so old?"

"Of course, something Immortal Master Zhu made must have an excellent shelf life, too, but nothing can be perfect in every way, right?"

Even she thought it was perfectly normal for this thing to malfunction after so long.

Xie Lingchuan snorted coldly. "You should think about how to explain why the Demon-Detecting Needle is pointing at you, Senior, rather than blaming everything on a problem with the needle. As for malfunctioning, I'd say it's working very well indeed."

Holding the compass, Xie Lingchuan circled around Zhu Lianqing, passing in front of her, behind her, and to either side. No matter where he stood, the needle on the compass always swung responsively to point at her.

Zhu Lianqing could practically have cried, but had no tears.

"You suspect me? How do I look like a demon?"

"Instead of relying on that thing to accuse me, why not think about what I've done along the way? If I were a demon, why would I have followed you all the way here? I would have found an opportunity to strike long ago."

"Besides, Xie Lingchuan, you've been watching me the whole way. Have you seen me do anything that defies heaven and harms the innocent?"