Zanxing (Retranslated)

Chapter 85 - Search for the Demon (2)

After listening to the king’s flattery and gratitude for a while longer, he concluded, “Since you have all decided to jointly subdue the demon, tonight you might as well stay in the palace. Moreover…” He hesitated for a moment before continuing, “If it is indeed the same demon from years ago returning for revenge, it will surely not spare anyone in the palace. That’s why…”

That’s why he was eager to have more bodyguards around.

Nie Xinghong stood up and said, “That’s only natural. Since everyone has decided to work together to subdue the demon, we should stay together. Does anyone object?”

“I have no objections,” Pu Tao said. “I’ll use a messaging charm to call my senior sisters to come to the palace.”

“I’m too lazy to go anywhere,” Tan Tianxin said. “I’ll just stay here.”

All eyes turned to Gu Baiying, with everyone guessing that someone as arrogant as Gu Baiying would probably not be very sociable.

However, to everyone’s surprise, Gu Baiying just nodded and said, “Fine, I’ll stay here.”

Men Dong was taken aback. “Senior Uncle…”

“Subduing demons and eliminating evil, as cultivators, of course, we have a duty to do so,” Gu Baiying said casually.

The young man stood up and looked at the king. “We’ll stay as well.”

The palace of Li’er Country was quite large.

Tonight, besides the disciples from Chihua Sect, Yin Feng Sect, and Xiang Ling Sect, there were also cultivators from other sects present when the inn incident occurred. The maids arranged courtyards for each group of cultivators to stay in.

Rong Yu handed Mimi back to Zanxing, who noticed the bruises on his face and asked, “Senior Rong, about the injuries on your face…”

“It’s nothing,” Rong Yu smiled. “I just explained the situation of the Liuli Sect to the king, and he has allowed me to bring my senior brother into the palace. In a few days, when we enter the secret realm, there will be people in the palace to take care of my senior brother, so I’m more at ease now.”

Zanxing nodded. The Liuli Sect was also unfortunate. They only had two spots to enter the secret realm, and now Rong Yu’s senior brother couldn’t even get out of bed, let alone enter the secret realm. Considering his mediocre cultivation level, this was a big loss for them.

Mimi let out an oink and jumped to the ground, catching the attention of a few female disciples from the Xiang Ling Sect passing by. One of them stopped and exclaimed, “Whose pig is this? It’s quite white.”

Zanxing: “…”

Pu Tao chuckled and said, “Senior Sister, that’s a spiritual beast raised by disciples from the Taiyan Sect.”

“Spiritual beast?” The female disciple was taken aback, feeling a bit embarrassed as she looked at Zanxing. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay,” Zanxing said, picking up Mimi and nodding to Rong Yu before closing the door.

Inside the room, Gu Baiying and the others were seated. Zanxing glanced at the door and whispered, “Senior uncle, what’s the conflict between the Xiang Ling Sect and our sect?”

She had been wanting to ask this question. The enmity between Chihua Sect and Taiyan Sect stemmed from issues left behind by two ascended individuals many years ago, and the competition between Yin Feng Sect and Taiyan Sect was due to their rivalry as old and new sects. But what had happened between the Xiang Ling Sect and Taiyan Sect? When she first saw Pu Tao tonight, the girl’s face was full of hostility.

“What else could it be? It’s all because of love breeding hatred,” Men Dong said.

Tian Fangfang asked, “Who harbors hatred because of love?”

Meng Ying frowned and said, “Junior Brother, don’t talk nonsense. Our sect leader once had a betrothal with the head of the Xiang Ling Sect, Lady Rongshuang. At that time, the two sects were on good terms. However, for some reason, our sect leader voluntarily broke off the engagement, which angered Lady Rongshuang. She publicly announced at the Immortal Gate Assembly that she would have nothing to do with the Taiyan Sect from then on. After that, the relationship between the Xiang Ling Sect and our sect became strained.”

“No way, the sect leader actually had a betrothal?” Tian Fangfang exclaimed.

“Shouldn’t the focus be on the sect leader breaking off the engagement?” Zanxing said. “Did he change his mind?”

“Shut up.” Gu Baiying couldn’t tolerate it any longer. “Don’t speak about things you don’t know.”

Meng Ying shook her head. “In recent years, I haven’t seen our sect leader treat any other woman differently, so it’s unlikely.”

“Then it must be that he has someone else in his heart, but others don’t know. Otherwise, for no reason, he wouldn’t suddenly break off the engagement.” Mu Cengxiao said.

Zanxing and Mu Cengxiao’s thoughts were very much in line. Could it be that the object of Shaoyang Zhenren’s affection was really his junior sister, Fairy Qinghua? If so, Shaoyang Zhenren was truly pitiful. Not only was his beloved taken away, but he also had to help raise the son of his rival. Every time she saw Gu Baiying, wouldn’t his heart ache? Thinking of this, Zanxing couldn’t help but glance at Gu Baiying a few more times.

Gu Baiying noticed Zanxing’s gaze and found it somewhat perplexing. After a moment’s pause, he said, “What are you looking at? I haven’t talked about you yet. Yang Zanxing, today at the inn, you really gave face to the Taiyan Sect.”

“Yeah!” Men Dong interjected, eager to stir up trouble. “You’re even afraid of dead people. As a cultivator, how can you be afraid of corpses?”

Zanxing sighed helplessly. “I’m not like you all, constantly fighting and killing. I’ve never seen a dead body before. What’s wrong with that? How about this,” she looked at Gu Baiying, a sudden idea coming to her, “Martial Uncle can teach me illusion techniques. Next time I see a corpse, I’ll cast an illusion to transform it into something else, then I won’t be afraid.”

“Absurd!” Gu Baiying retorted coldly, his gaze sharp. “Using illusions to obscure the corpse deceives yourself, not others. How will you find clues from the corpse next time, or catch the evil monster?”

Regardless of how lazy and unreliable this young man usually appeared, he was always strict on serious matters, so Zanxing dared not speak again. However, she muttered to herself inwardly, It’s impossible to look at a corpse. I can’t look at it, not in this lifetime.

“Tomorrow, people from other sects will follow Tan Tianxin to hunt down the monster,” Mu Cengxiao spoke, breaking the silence in the room. “He has the Thousand-Mile Demon Toad, so he should be able to track down the enemy with its ability to sense demonic energy. Martial uncle, shall we go together?”

“No,” Gu Baiying replied.

The people in the room stared at him with confusion.

“It seems that the Li’er Country’s monarch has hidden some information. If it’s just the shark demon causing harm, even if it’s the shark demon from forty years ago coming back for revenge, there’s no need to issue a gag order and prohibit people from discussing this matter,” Gu Baiying said. “There’s something fishy about this.”

“What does Martial Uncle mean?”

“Most of the relatives of those who died forty years ago are probably no longer around, but it shouldn’t be difficult to find the relatives of those who have been killed in the past two months. Tian Fangfang, you’ll go with Men Dong tomorrow to inquire about the families of the victims in the past two months. Find out what these victims were doing recently and what their situation was before they died. The rest of you will go with Tan Tianxin tomorrow to capture the monster.”

“What about you?” Zanxing asked.

“I’ll stay in the palace. There are records of the shark demon case from forty years ago in the palace’s archives, and I need to clarify some things,” Gu Baiying said.

Zanxing’s heart skipped a beat and she quickly said, “I’ll stay in the palace too, and help Martial Uncle with the investigation.”

Gu Baiying looked at her suspiciously. “What do you want to do?”

“I-I’m afraid of dead bodies,” Zanxing found an excuse. “If, in the middle of the journey, more people are killed by the monster, and I lose control when I see the bodies, it would be embarrassing for our Taiyan Sect if other disciples from different sects see me. Besides, I read quickly and can focus on key points. Maybe I can be of some help.”

Gu Baiying remained very cold. “No, thank you.”

Men Dong quietly cast a voice transmission spell to Gu Baiying’s ear. “Master Uncle, this is a great opportunity! If Zanxing and Brother Mu go out together and encounter danger, Brother Mu might rescue her like a hero. This kind of shared hardship could lead to genuine affection. One day Zanxing might be so moved that would she agree to be with him.”

“But considering your intentions, I agree,” Gu Baiying changed his mind.

Zanxing thought to herself, Men are so fickle.

“Tomorrow, you and I will stay in the palace to examine the records. Mu Cengxiao and Meng Ying will follow Tan Tianxin to find the monster, while Tian Fangfang and Men Dong will inquire about the recent deaths,” Gu Baiying said. “If anything changes, remember to inform us using voice transmission spells.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Since the schedule for tomorrow had been decided and it was getting late, Tian Fangfang stretched lazily, yawning. “Well, if there’s nothing else, let’s go back to our rooms and rest. We don’t know when Tan Tianxin’s toad will wake up tomorrow morning. If it crows like a rooster, we won’t get much sleep.”

“Right,” Meng Ying also stood up. “Martial Uncle should rest early too.”

Once outside Gu Baiying’s room, the Li’er Country’s palace was vast, with each sect assigned to a separate courtyard, and each person given their own room. Zanxing entered her room and closed the door behind her.

The flame in the oil lamp on the table flickered, and she sat down at the table, finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

So much had happened today since arriving in Li’er Country, and none of it was written in the original story. It was unsettling.

Zanxing looked down at the red mark in the palm of her hand. No one could see it – not Tian Fangfang, not Xuan Lingzi, not anyone, except herself. It was like a warning, cautioning her not to disrupt the main storyline and not to steal Mu Cengxiao’s spotlight. So she had to avoid some of the pitfalls set by the original story as much as possible within a safe range.

She did indeed fear seeing dead bodies, but her decision to stay in the palace and examine the records with Gu Baiying wasn’t solely based on that. In the original story, Meng Ying was Mu Cengxiao’s wife, and their relationship gradually deepened through numerous adventures. If she accidentally messed something up tomorrow while accompanying them, and their relationship line didn’t progress as intended, how would she deal with the blame being placed on her again?

She had no intention of carrying that burden again.

Zanxing washed up and climbed into bed, deciding not to worry about it. Since the red mark in her palm hadn’t warned her, she would just go along with the current storyline. After all, there shouldn’t be any trouble.

The oil lamp was extinguished, and the night in Li’er Country fell silent. The cicadas in the courtyard had stopped chirping, and the palace was quiet. Only the lanterns hanging from the eaves swayed slightly in the wind, and the yellow talisman papers posted at the door made faint rustling sounds.

A slender black shadow swept over the wall like flowing water, gradually spreading across the ground before coalescing into the shape of a person, standing stiffly by the window.

Creak—

A very light sound broke the silence of the night as the window was pushed open a crack. The black shadow approached, and an eye peered through the gap, fixating on the figure on the bed.

The cat at the head of the bed bristled, arching its back and letting out a low growl.

The person on the bed rolled over.

The gap in the window revealed nothing but the cold night breeze blowing in through the crack.

***

The genre suddenly changed to Horror.