Yan Qing’an hesitated for a moment before deciding to explain to the soldier that he and his grandmother had come to the city for medical treatment. The old lady fell seriously ill, delaying their journey. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have entered the city so early in the morning.
With Yan Qing’an’s persuasive efforts and the fatigue from the morning patrol, the soldier didn’t think much and allowed them to enter.
Once inside the city, they parked the ox cart on the side, preparing to explore on foot the recent unusual occurrences in this rural town.
Similar to most ancient towns, the streets inside the city gate were planned in a neat grid pattern. All the areas were crammed into these small squares, extending from the northern city gate to the southern gate, spanning several dozen kilometers.
Unexpectedly, the scale of this rural town was quite large, undoubtedly increasing the complexity of their search mission.
Therefore, He Heng suggested that they split up to cover more ground, believing it would be more efficient.
Yan Qing’an didn’t object to the idea of splitting up, but he couldn’t help but glance at the large ears and tail concealed beneath the black hat of the other. He still had some concerns.
Considering He Heng’s current appearance, it seemed suspicious to him. Would it really be okay for him to go alone?
With this in mind, he couldn’t help but ask, “Is it really okay for you to go alone like this?”
“What could go wrong?” He Heng seemed completely unconcerned. If people mistook him for a supernatural being, he could simply run away. After all, could those people catch up to him with his sword-flying speed?
“Besides, Master, there’s this bracelet,” he continued, lifting the sleeve to reveal the bracelet embedded with special enchantments that Master Nie Zong had asked him to wear. “You can sense my position and energy fluctuations through this. If anything happens, you can find me using it.”
“Okay,” Yan Qing’an thought for a moment and found the idea reasonable, so he nodded in agreement.
Despite He Heng’s occasional lack of “steadiness” in his actions, every time he heard the other’s solemn promises, Yan Qing’an’s instinctive reaction was to trust him.
After reaching an agreement, the two of them parted ways, using the town square as the boundary, heading in opposite directions—north and south.
He Heng chose to venture alone towards the south. He noticed that this area was filled with lively establishments such as rice shops, meat markets, breakfast stalls, and taverns.
As it was just past dawn, the breakfast stalls along the street began setting up. Smoke rose on both sides of the road as the masters prepared dough while loudly calling out to passersby. At first glance, this scene appeared to be a warm and ordinary daily occurrence, seemingly no different from an ordinary town.
Observing the freshly baked buns with an appealing appearance and the tempting aroma wafting through the air, He Heng realized he hadn’t had breakfast. He decided to buy a couple of buns as breakfast and perhaps strike up a conversation with the owner.
After paying, He Heng took a bite of the meat bun and subtly brought up the recent strict security measures in the town with the breakfast stall owner. He smoothly transitioned to asking if things had been unsettled lately and if there were any truth to the rumors of supernatural creatures appearing.
As soon as the words “supernatural creatures” were mentioned, the owner’s expression indeed turned a bit unpleasant, with his eyebrows furrowing.
Seeing that there was no one nearby, the owner leaned in and lowered his voice to He Heng:
“Let me tell you, this matter is very ominous. The authorities privately forbid us from spreading it…”
“You mean this ‘supernatural chaos,’ ‘supernatural chaos’. But what are they finding every day?”
“Corpses with missing inner core!”
“Nowadays, more and more demon hunters are coming to the city to hunt and kill the monsters in the nearby mountain villages. Yet, people are still disappearing every day in the city. The authorities insist that it’s all the doing of the Golden Eagle demon. They claim that once it’s hunted and killed, everything will calm down. But do I really believe that? I don’t buy it! The Golden Eagle is just a fierce bird that flies in the sky during the day. It’s not that eerie…”
The owner continued to mutter on, sharing a lot of information with He Heng while he ate his bun, nodding thoughtfully.
In reality, he believed that sometimes the voices of the common people were the most revealing when it came to understanding a problem. They were the ones on the front lines, just like this owner. Rough but not lacking in insight.
As He Heng continued to listen to the owner’s ramblings, hoping to extract some key information, suddenly, “Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!”
Suddenly, a piercing scream that seemed to tear through the lungs echoed from a street corner, sending shivers down everyone’s spine. People within several miles stopped their activities, looking panicked as they rushed towards the source of the sound.
Seeing the commotion, He Heng turned around and saw a pile of moldy rice bags from the rice shop at the street corner slowly oozing a pool of fresh blood. The onlookers stood a few meters away, whispering to each other anxiously:
“Even with the recent strict security measures, how did a demon still manage to get in?”
“It seems like the city is not as secure as we thought!”
As they continued discussing the “demon”, He Heng didn’t hesitate. With a bun in his mouth, he swiftly walked over, clearing a path through the panicked crowd. He calmly crouched in front of the corpse in the corner, carefully examining it. It was almost identical to the previous one – the body of a rabbit demon with its elixir pellets missing and a distorted face.
Adhering to the principle of not overlooking any details, he turned the rabbit demon’s body to inspect every angle. His eyes darkened when he noticed something unusual about its palm.
Meanwhile, most of the onlookers stood at a distance, covering their mouths and noses, watching in amazement. They were unsure of what to say when they saw this young man casually eating while examining the bloody corpse.
However, at a corner unnoticed by the crowd, a young man dressed like a scholar was crouched, observing the scene intently.
They were all dressed in ivory-white long robes, with white cloud-patterned dark embroidery on the belts and cuffs. The gold badge at their waists was engraved with the words “Yunjian”. Their attire was particularly eye-catching and distinctive.
The youngest among them kept his gaze fixed on the crowd at the street corner.
At first glance, it seemed like he was observing the rabbit demon, but in reality, he was sizing up He Heng.
“Senior Zhou, are you sure there’s something wrong with that person?”
The one addressed as “Senior Zhou” was Zhou Yue, the chief disciple of the Yunjian Academy under the South Mountain Sect.
Being an elite demon hunter, he was exceptionally gifted. His parents claimed that he had possessed dual Yin-Yang eyes since childhood, making him particularly sensitive to the presence of supernatural entities and demons.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yue looked at his junior with certainty.
“Something wrong? I can sense the demonic aura emanating from him even from several streets away. Besides, it’s broad daylight. Who wears a black hat like that?”
“Wait here; I’ll go apprehend him on the spot.”
With that, Zhou Yue utilized his lightness technique, gracefully descending from the eaves.
Meanwhile, at the street corner, He Heng was still engrossed in studying the unusual features on the back of the rabbit demon’s hand when suddenly, behind him, a disturbance erupted. It sounded like someone had kicked over a few wooden barrels.
The next moment, He Heng felt a cool breeze on his head as two large ears were suddenly fully exposed in the open air. It seemed like someone had lifted the hat from behind him.
Reacting swiftly, he turned around to find the person behind him now holding onto his tail, wearing a mischievous smile, and nonchalantly saying,
“Caught you.”
As the person saw He Heng’s “true face” beneath the hat,
“Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!”
The onlookers on both sides of the street erupted in gasps, backing away with hands over their mouths, shocked by the unexpected revelation.
Some middle-aged women were still quietly gossiping. They had just praised the young man’s handsome face, but now, with his true appearance revealed, they were shocked to find him quite different from what they had initially thought.
Zhou Yue, having uncovered the demon’s disguise and grabbed its tail, was surprised that the demon didn’t show a hint of panic. Instead, it calmly swallowed the last bite of the bun.
Observing this, Zhou Yue couldn’t help but question, “Demon, what are you waiting for?”
As Zhou Yue’s words fell, He Heng finally finished swallowing the last bite of his bun. He stood up from the ground, his face covered in dark lines. He yanked the tail still in Zhou Yue’s hand, and faint veins started to appear on his forehead.
In the next moment, in front of the gathered crowd, He Heng threw a punch at Zhou Yue without saying a word.
Immediately after, the onlookers heard a loud “bang!”
“Wait until I’ve swallowed everything, then I can hit you!”
As the punch landed, Zhou Yue staggered backward, his hand clutching the side of his face in pain.
“Damn! How dare you hit my face when you’re hitting someone?”
Really, how dare this demon hit his face?
How could he dare?!
With this punch, who knows how many younger students in the academy were now in distress?
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