Zanxing (Retranslated)

Chapter 98 - Aftermath (2)

The king of Li’er Country was delighted.

Upon returning to the palace, Tan Tianxin and his group couldn’t wait to boast to the king about catching the Bixi spirit. In the great hall, several cultivators from the Chihua Sect took out fragments of the Bixi stone carving from a box, and it was said that they also brought back several corpses found in the cave. However, the condition of the bodies was gruesome, so they were shown to the guards first to avoid frightening the king.

“Esteemed cultivators, your profound cultivation has saved Li’er Country from trouble. The people of Li’er Country thank you for capturing the demon causing harm. It is late today, so please rest well, and tomorrow night, I will host a grand banquet in the palace to express our gratitude. Consider it an early celebration for your upcoming journey into the secret realm,” the king said with a smile.

“Is it time to celebrate already?” Tian Fangfang couldn’t help but speak up. “We’ve only just caught a Bixi. The matter is far from over, and who knows if it’s even the right culprit. What’s the rush?”

“What do you mean by that, Brother Fangfang?” Nie Xinghong from the Yin Feng Sect asked, fanning himself.

Tian Fangfang hated it when others called him “Brother Fangfang,” so he frowned and said, “Do you have any evidence proving that this demon is the one causing chaos and killing people in the city? Li’er Country is so vast, there must be more than one hiding demon. You just randomly caught a demon and claimed it was the culprit. Now that the demon is dead, there’s no evidence. Naturally, you can say whatever you want.”

“Nonsense!” Pu Tao from the Xiang Ling Sect furrowed her brows, angrily retorting, “We followed the Thousand-Mile Demon Toad and traced the demonic energy to find the Bixi spirit. Moreover, there were other corpses in the cave drained of blood. If not for this, how could we be certain that the Bixi spirit was the culprit?” She then added sarcastically, “You cowards didn’t dare to join us in catching demons but stayed idle in the palace. Now that the demons are caught, you come looking for trouble. Truly difficult to deal with!”

Tian Fangfang looked at her. “You, little girl, look so pretty. So why do you speak so unpleasantly? Did we really stay idle? We went to investigate the details of the shark demon cases! Do you think it’s not tiring to run around outside in the scorching heat?”

“And what have you found then?” Pu Tao pressed on aggressively.

“I…” Tian Fangfang wanted to mention something about Emperor Shengning, but this was an embarrassing matter within the royal family. With the legitimate king present and representatives from various sects in the hall, it wasn’t appropriate to mention it.

“Speechless, aren’t you?” Pu Tao sneered. “You were indeed idling away. No need for so many excuses. It only makes you look more contemptible.”

“My senior brother suspects that the Bixi spirit is not the real culprit, and it’s not just baseless speculation,” Zanxing couldn’t bear it any longer and spoke up. “We examined the bodies from before, and the female corpses only had faint traces of demonic energy. However, the fragments of the Bixi stone carving you brought back just now exuded strong demonic energy. It’s indeed suspicious.”

“Making a fuss over nothing.” Huang Fan from the Chihua Sect, who had clashed with Zanxing last time, cast a sidelong glance at her. “The demons are cunning. Most likely, they used some spell to conceal their demonic energy. When we were in the cave, with so many people around, the demon got frightened, seeing us disciples with profound cultivation, which caused its demonic energy to leak. Is it that difficult to guess?”

Suddenly, someone chuckled in the hall.

Everyone turned to look, and Gu Baiying raised an eyebrow, sweeping a glance at Huang Fan, with a smirk. “Frightened when they saw you? That’s interesting.” He sat up straight, picked up a fruit from the basket, and played with it in his hand, his tone dripping with disdain. “The people of the Chihua Sect are indeed confident, to the point of envy.”

Gu Baiying never held back when mocking others, but unfortunately, no one could match his wit. As they watched Tan Tianxin’s face gradually turn green with anger, the atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

Seeing the awkward atmosphere, the king chuckled. “Esteemed cultivators, I am deeply moved by your dedication to the people of Li’er Country. However, the shark demon case is indeed complex, and there is no need to rush to a conclusion with differing opinions among you. Now that the Bixi spirit has been dealt with, it’s a positive development. After tomorrow night’s banquet, you will enter the secret realm. Your stay there will take several dozen days, and if during this time, no further incidents occur in Li’er Country, it will indicate that the real culprit has been dealt with, and the people will have no more worries. If there are still casualties, I will discuss further plans with you after you return from the secret realm.”

The king probably didn’t want to offend either side, but Zanxing couldn’t help feeling uneasy. After all, during the several dozen days in the secret realm, it was highly likely that innocent girls would be harmed again. However, the king didn’t seem to care much about the lives of these girls, perhaps because of the inherent coldness that comes with being in a position of power. Maybe it was also because the king of Li’er Country believed that the palace was covered with talismans, and no harmful demon could possibly harm them, so they didn’t pay much attention to it.

But who knew that the demon had already infiltrated the palace without leaving a trace of demonic energy, even evading Gu Baiying’s pursuit?

However, at present, the ‘talented’ individuals from various sects all believed that the matter was resolved, feeling self-righteous about punishing evil and promoting good, as if they had played the role of saviors. Of course, they wouldn’t want to ruin their own reputations. The king ordered servants to send a considerable number of rewards, distributed to the disciples of various sects.

When Zanxing and the others returned to their courtyard, once inside, Men Dong closed the door and asked, “Martial Uncle, what should we do now?”

Despite knowing that Tan Tianxin and his group had most likely captured the wrong culprit, other sects were eager to put an end to the matter quickly. After all, once they left the secret realm, everyone would return to their respective sects, and in the following years, even decades or centuries, they wouldn’t come back to Li’er Country. Who would want to get involved in such trivial matters?

“I think we should start by revealing what happened forty years ago,” Tian Fangfang said, stroking his chin. “After all, back then, Emperor Shengning killed for immortality, and now this demon’s methods of killing are exactly the same as those in the shark demon case. It’s likely closely related to past events. We should start from there.”

Meng Ying and Mu Cengxiao were already informed about the incident involving Emperor Shengning. Meng Ying spoke calmly, “This matter involves a scandal of the royal family. Even if you lay out the truth, the royal family of Li’er Country will not admit to it.”

“That’s right,” Mu Cengxiao agreed. “They might even designate the Bixi as the true culprit in order to cover up the truth.”

Zanxing hesitated for a moment. “But should we just let them continue with this mistake? It’s too unjust for the shark demon from back then.”

“If you do something wrong, you have to pay the price,” Gu Baiying said, curling his lip. “Both the king and the demon race are the same in this regard. But there’s something I don’t quite understand.”

Zanxing asked, “What is it?”

“I examined the female corpses that were killed over the past few months. Some have already been buried, but there’s still residual demonic energy at their gravesites, indicating that the demonic energy was strong at the beginning. However, later on, the demonic energy gradually diminished, until the day we arrived in Li’er Country, and the female victim killed that day had very weak demonic energy on her body. ‘The thing’ that sneaked into your room last night had no trace of demonic energy at all.”