After leaving the residence, Yan Qige walked left to the street corner, turned around the corner into the back alley, found the wall of the county yamen’s rear courtyard, and leaped over with a bound, landing in the purple bamboo grove within the residence. Yan Qige had collected Lu Shi’s soul in the residence and bid farewell to Magistrate Wang, but now he was secretly climbing back over the wall. Yusang immediately realized something was amiss and, following by jumping over the wall, discovered Yan Qige chanting incantations at the lantern. Where Lu Shi’s soul had been bound earlier, a red glowing barrier was forming, within which a small snake was gradually taking clear shape.

Yan Qige brought the lantern closer, and the light within it immediately brightened considerably. Then a wisp of soul floated out from the lantern and settled on the snake’s body. After a moment, the snake grew several times larger, emanating cold energy around its body. When Yan Qige moved the lantern away, after a flash of brilliant light, a living woman was already standing there – it was Lu Shi.

“She… she isn’t…” Yusang pointed at Lu Shi, too surprised to finish her words.

“This is called body cultivation – growing a false physical body. Interesting, isn’t it?” Huayi, who had been hiding in the bamboo, suddenly appeared.

“When did you become so kindhearted?” Yusang looked at Huayi with displeasure.

Huayi smiled and smoothed the hair on her shoulder, pointing at Yan Qige with a laugh: “Ever since I met this handsome young master. He’s so good-looking that when he comes asking for help, I always feel too embarrassed to refuse.”

“How pathetic. He’s just a bit good-looking, what’s so special about that?” Yusang muttered.

Though Yusang had tried to keep her voice as low as possible, Yan Qige still heard her. He turned his head to look at Yusang. She expected Yan Qige to retort with some nasty remark, but he only blinked calmly, then looked toward Lu Shi.

“Though you were willing to have your soul collected by me to bring peace to the world, you are not the real culprit. Would you be willing to tell me why you want to take the blame for that murderer?”

“You say I’m taking the blame – what evidence do you have?” Lu Shi lowered her head somewhat uneasily.

…

…

“You admitted it quite quickly, a bit too eager, which makes it seem premeditated. You say you killed those people – then I must ask, their vital blood was completely drained. What did you use this vital blood for?”

“When demons absorb mortal blood energy, it’s naturally for cultivation…” She answered without thinking, but halfway through realized she had fallen into Yan Qige’s trap and stopped talking.

“If you had absorbed those people’s blood energy, why don’t you even have protective magical power to resist sunlight? You and Master Wang staged this performance simply to make me stop pursuing the matter and protect the real culprit.”

“I cannot say, and I will not say. In any case, I now have only a breath of soul remaining. Do with me as you will.”

“You were originally human, but your soul was confined in a demon body. Had I not destroyed that snake’s body, I would have almost been deceived by you. When a mortal soul dies in a demon body, the accumulated resentment over the years is too heavy. Now that the snake’s body is destroyed, you are just a wisp of soul. If this resentment is not resolved, you can neither enter the cycle of human reincarnation nor pass into the demon afterlife. Is this worth it?”

Though Lu Shi understood that Yan Qige should already know most of the circumstances, she still shook her head and pressed her lips together, refusing to speak further.

Seeing Lu Shi so stubborn, Yan Qige was somewhat helpless but not too surprised. He then put away the lantern and curved his finger to cast a spell on Lu Shi. The color around her entire body deepened somewhat, making her look no different from a living person.

“This false body can allow your soul to temporarily attach for twelve hours. Go then.”

Lu Shi was stunned to hear this, touching her arm. After confirming it truly existed, she lifted her skirt to kneel and bow in gratitude to Yan Qige. Just as she raised her head to speak words of thanks, she discovered Yan Qige had already taken the lantern and leaped over the wall. Seeing Yusang still standing nearby, she smiled and bowed to Yusang as well, saying thanks before leaving the bamboo grove toward the front courtyard. Only then did Yusang notice she had no shadow – though she had a false body for her soul to depend on, she was still dead after all.

Hearing no more sound from Yan Qige outside the wall, Yusang thought he had gone far away. She quickly leaped onto the wall top, and just as she was about to jump down, she discovered Yan Qige hadn’t left at all.

At this moment, Yan Qige held the lantern in one hand with the other behind his back. Hearing the sound from the rooftop, he looked up at Yusang. The rising bright moonlight spilled onto his face, sword-like brows, and starry eyes, jade nose and thin lips; those carved features were truly captivatingly handsome. Yusang stood dazed on the wall top, secretly staring at Yan Qige in a trance. Suddenly, her feet went soft, and she fell from the wall with a scream.

A moment later, confirming she hadn’t hit the ground, Yusang carefully squinted one eye open. What met her gaze was a handsome face under the moon, with the word “disgust” clearly written on those handsome features. Looking more carefully, she found herself caught perfectly in Yan Qige’s embrace, immediately breaking out in a cold sweat.

“I… I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Ah!” Yan Qige released his hands, and this time, Yusang did fall to the ground, her bottom aching terribly.

“Neither did I do it on purpose.” Yan Qige elegantly brushed his sleeves, speaking frankly.

“Petty, truly petty. I only looked at you once more – it didn’t cost you any flesh.”

“The flesh wasn’t diminished, but your gaze was too ferocious. I’m reminding you so you’ll remember to restrain yourself in the future.”

“Hmph, even if you let me look in the future, I might not bother to look.” Yusang snorted with displeasure.

“Look at your pathetic state. Come on, let’s go.” Yan Qige extended his hand toward the scowling Yusang. Though Yusang spoke angry words, she still couldn’t refuse Yan Qige’s outstretched hand, grasping it to borrow his strength to stand up.

“Fine, taking pity on your pain, I’ll allow you to ask me some questions.” Yan Qige walked forward carrying the lantern.

Yusang had more than three questions in her mind, so she thought for a moment before asking: “When did you discover these things?”

“Which things?” Yan Qige asked as he walked without looking sideways.

“That Lu Shi wasn’t the culprit and such.”

“Naturally, when you hadn’t discovered it yet.”

“Who is she protecting?”

“Don’t know.”

“Can I ask three new questions?”

“No.”

This time Yusang didn’t angrily grit her teeth, just puffed out her cheeks without speaking, feeling somewhat defeated that she had wasted all three question opportunities.

Catching sight of Yusang’s small gesture from the corner of his eye, Yan Qige inexplicably felt some reluctance, unconsciously softening his tone: “That day when I first entered the residence, it happened to be when Magistrate Wang returned home. I saw worry and helplessness in his expression and found it somewhat strange. When taking leave of him, I deliberately moved closer to him and caught a whiff of demon energy mixed with powder fragrance from his shoulder.”

“So what?”

“If you could avoid interrupting, you would know.” Yan Qige glanced at Yusang.

Yusang was just about to speak in rebuttal when she saw Yan Qige’s unfriendly expression and wisely stopped talking.

“That day his clothes were very clean – he should have changed them early in the morning before going out.”

“It was picked up at Huakui Tower…” A flash of inspiration struck Yusang’s mind and she couldn’t help saying it out loud, then remembering Yan Qige’s earlier words, she quickly stopped talking to avoid interrupting.

Yesterday, I used the excuse of staying overnight in the residence because I wanted to investigate the matter. You probably also noticed some clues, which is why you followed him all the way. After he left the residence, you couldn’t follow, but I did. He indeed went to Huakui Tower, where he met a woman called Ranqing, and the woman killed by the demon that day was precisely her maid.”

“If I’m not mistaken, this Ranqing should be the one who was supposed to die, so that means…” Thinking of this, Yusang suddenly understood some things, turning her head to look toward the county yamen: “So Magistrate Wang and Lu Shi were willing to take the blame to protect her?”

“Not necessarily. That Ranqing seemed somewhat strange.”

“So the affair between Master Wang and Lu Shi was fake?”

“Demons and mortals are different – they should have long anticipated some karmic consequences.”

Thinking of their mutual cherishing and pity in the grove earlier, and that love story that ignored the distinction between demon and mortal, Yusang felt like something was stuck in her throat after learning this corner of the truth.