Yan Dan grabbed the unsharpened longsword, rose swiftly, and without brushing the dust from her clothes, ran past Nan Zhao and Shui Xing, shouting, “Lend me this sword!”
She hurried through the village entrance, racing along the path to Fuyun Temple. Only when she reached the place where corpse beetles had surrounded them earlier did she stop to catch her breath. Her hand trembled slightly with excitement as she gripped the sword.
The forest whispered with faint rustling. The sound grew louder, swelling into a chorus that echoed through the trees.
Yan Dan exhaled sharply, scanning the shadows. From the bushes, swarms of corpse beetles crawled forth, their hard shells glinting in the sunlight.
Just as she had expected.
She sheathed the longsword, turned, and soared into the air with demonic energy, gliding above the swarm. Behind her, light footsteps approached. She turned instinctively—Liu Weiyang was coming, his sleeves fluttering.
The corpse beetles froze at his presence. They wanted to swarm him, yet fear rooted them in place.
Liu Weiyang walked calmly down the path, gaze unwavering, leaving the beetles motionless. His eyes fell on the sword in Yan Dan’s hand. “So you thought of that too.”
Yan Dan’s agitation eased. She thought carefully, then frowned. “I got this sword from Nan Zhao and Shui Xing. It smells of blood. That’s why we were surrounded by corpse beetles this morning when we returned from Fuyun Temple. But Shui Xing and Nan Zhao don’t seem like murderers. I feel it wasn’t them.”
Liu Weiyang’s expression was calm as still water. “A feeling?”
Yan Dan nodded. “Not to mention they couldn’t kill anyone with this unsharpened sword. Moreover, I was with them, and I felt… they’re all very kind.”
He flicked his sleeve, walking slowly. “Even what you see with your own eyes might not be true, let alone a feeling. Without concrete evidence, I won’t conclude they’re involved.”
Yan Dan muttered, “I’ve known them for so long, I know this has nothing to do with them.”
Liu Weiyang stopped. “Yan Dan, do you remember how you saw through their tricks so quickly at the Shen family in Qing Shi Town?”
“Those two were full of loopholes, clues everywhere. If I couldn’t see through them, wouldn’t all these years of my life have been wasted?”
“Back then, you were looking from an outsider’s perspective.” His voice softened. “Here, you’re in the wrong place. This is a demonic realm. Everything here may have existed before, but it has nothing to do with us. Don’t let your emotions get the better of you.”
Yan Dan was stunned. “Have you never let your emotions get the better of you?” She forgot he couldn’t even remember who she was.
Liu Weiyang smiled gently. “Of course I have, and I still do now.”
Days passed quietly in Luo Yue Village. The mysterious villain seemed to vanish. The unsharpened swords were traced back to the clan’s storeroom—practice weapons for children. The lead was cut off.
With Nan Zhao’s birthday approaching, Shui Xing grew excited, even suggesting stealing wine from her father’s room. Boldly, she dragged Yan Dan and Nan Zhao along.
Yan Dan leaned against the door, listening for footsteps, while Shui Xing rummaged through drawers. Nan Zhao protested, “If it’s not there, then forget it. It’s just a birthday celebration.”
Shui Xing insisted. “There’s a hidden compartment. I saw my mother put things there.” She tapped the bedside. A click sounded—the mechanism released, loosening a wooden board.
Yan Dan straightened, curious. Shui Xing’s mother had been the first to die suddenly. Could this be connected?
Shui Xing recoiled. “What’s in there? Why is it so greasy?”
Yan Dan’s heart skipped. She stepped forward, blocking their view. “Turn your heads away.”
Nan Zhao obeyed. Shui Xing hesitated. “Why do we have to turn our heads?”
Yan Dan’s face hardened. “Turn your heads away!” Startled, Shui Xing complied.
Yan Dan removed the board. A greasy black liquid oozed out. Wrapping her hand in a curtain, she reached inside—then withdrew quickly, stepping back.
The liquid surged. With a soft plop, a severed limb fell out. Yan Dan’s breath caught. “How could this be?”
A round object rolled to her feet—a man’s head, refined features, lips curved in a faint smile, eyes half‑open, lifelike.
Yan Dan froze.
Behind her, a crash. Nan Zhao’s face was deathly pale, eyes red, choking sounds in his throat. Shui Xing asked curiously, “Nan Zhao, what’s wrong?” She moved to turn back.
Yan Dan blocked her. “Shui Xing, don’t turn around!”
Nan Zhao’s vacant eyes met hers. “That’s… my father…”
Yan Dan remembered his words: My father is indeed a mortal, but he’s a good person, that’s why my mother fell in love with him.
She covered his eyes. “Nan Zhao, don’t look, don’t look anymore…”
He gripped her hand, voice rising. “This is my father! This is my father! How could he become like this?! Tell me why?!”
Yan Dan let him hold her hand. “Nan Zhao, if you want to cry, just cry out loud.”
Tears fell silently from his eyes, but he didn’t cry out. Yan Dan worried—he was choking back grief. Her own mind was chaos.
Footsteps approached. Nong Cui’s voice called, “Shui Xing, what are you doing here?”
Nong Cui and Liu Weiyang entered. Nong Cui pulled Shui Xing out, scolding lightly, “Who told you to rummage through your parents’ room?”
Yan Dan thought: Nong Cui knew. She must have known Nan Zhao’s father’s body was hidden here. This obsession began here.
Demonic appearance, demons arise from the heart.
Nong Cui ignored the corpses, giggling to Liu Weiyang. “I wanted to invite you to try the fine wine Father just brought back, but I didn’t expect this.”
Yan Dan clenched her fists, demonic energy swirling. Kill her, kill her immediately!
But before she could act, her neck tightened, wrists gripped. Indifferent eyes met hers. Suddenly, her face plunged into cold water.
She jolted awake, choking. Liu Weiyang had shoved her into the fire‑prepared water tank.
He looked calmly. “Are you awake now?”
Yan Dan wiped her face angrily. “I’m perfectly awake! I saw a head roll out of the hidden compartment with my own eyes. Was I dreaming?!”
“It’s real.”
“Okay, then you and Nong Cui appeared at the door. If an ordinary person saw severed limbs, they’d be shocked. But she wasn’t. She knew all along! Am I wrong?”
“You’re absolutely right.”
“Then why did you put me in the water?”
“Everything in the Demonic Realm has nothing to do with you. Once you get involved, you’ll become possessed. You were close.”
Yan Dan turned away, pouting.
Liu Weiyang pressed Nan Zhao’s sleeping acupoint, carried him on his shoulder. Nong Cui called, “You’re leaving already? It’s rare for you to come in…”
“I came specifically for this matter,” he said calmly.
Yan Dan thought: He had seen through it all. His timing was perfect. His honey trap was despicable.
Sure enough, a stool flew at them as they left.
Back at their residence, Tang Zhou and Yu Mo looked surprised.
Liu Weiyang placed Nan Zhao on the bed. “I’ve investigated. The three sudden deaths share a similarity: they were familiar with Nan Zhao’s parents. Fayun became a nun the year Nan Zhao’s mother passed. Yan Dan, you should know the Rebirth Mantra, right?”
Yan Dan was taken aback. The spell revealed memories. Was he asking her to use it on Nan Zhao? She had no interest in prying.
“This spell… I don’t really know it…”
Expressionless, Liu Weiyang said, “Is that so? I thought you were a fairy from the Nine Heavens, at least you’d learned it.”
Tang Zhou glanced up. Yu Mo didn’t react.
Yan Dan’s voice trembled. “We had already agreed, why did you still say it out loud…”
She guessed that if she didn’t agree, Liu Weiyang would expose other embarrassing things about her. Cornered, she had no choice but to sit down on the edge of the bed. “Alright, alright, I’ll try it and see, I don’t know if it will work.”
The room was heavy with silence. Nan Zhao lay unconscious, his face pale, his body curled in the corner. Tang Zhou’s teacup steamed faintly, Yu Mo’s expression remained unreadable, and Liu Weiyang’s gaze was steady, unyielding.
Yan Dan pressed her palms together, forcing herself to focus. The Rebirth Mantra was not a spell she had ever mastered, but she had heard of its power—an incantation that could peel back the layers of memory, exposing truths buried deep within the soul.
Her heart pounded. She was reluctant, almost resentful, but she closed her eyes and began to chant softly, syllables rising like threads of mist.
The air shifted. A faint ripple spread across the room, as if unseen water had been disturbed. Nan Zhao’s body twitched, his breath shallow, and then his mind opened like a door creaking on its hinges.
Yan Dan felt herself drawn inward, into the fragments of his memory.
She saw flashes—his mother’s gentle smile, her hands weaving silver ornaments under the lamplight. His father’s laughter, warm and mortal, echoing in the courtyard. Then shadows fell, and the warmth turned to grief. His mother’s sudden death, his father’s disappearance, the hidden compartment beneath the bed.
The images blurred, twisted, and Yan Dan’s chest tightened. She wanted to pull back, but Liu Weiyang’s voice cut through the haze, calm and commanding. “Don’t stop. Go deeper.”
Yan Dan gritted her teeth, pressing forward.
The memory shifted again. Nan Zhao’s father, bound and broken, sealed beneath the bed. The greasy black liquid, the severed limb, the smiling head. And behind it all—Nong Cui’s shadow, lingering, watching, her eyes filled with obsession.
Yan Dan gasped, her body trembling. She opened her eyes abruptly, sweat beading on her forehead.
Tang Zhou leaned forward, his voice low. “What did you see?”
Yan Dan swallowed hard. “It’s true. Nan Zhao’s father… he was hidden there. And Nong Cui knew. She knew all along.”
Yu Mo finally lifted his gaze, his tone calm but edged with steel. “Then the demonic appearance has already taken root. Obsession breeds demons, and once it festers, it consumes everything.”
Liu Weiyang’s expression remained unreadable, but his words were firm. “This is only the beginning. If we don’t unravel it, the Demonic Realm will devour us all.”
Yan Dan sat frozen, her heart pounding, the echo of Nan Zhao’s grief still ringing in her ears. She had touched the truth, but it was jagged, cruel, and far from complete.
Next
.jpeg)
Comments
Post a Comment