After His Demise, the Demon Lord's Doted Canary Finally Sees the Light - Chapter 51

Wu An  kept his mouth shut, looking as if he would rather die than talk.

Qiu Fuxue waited patiently, his cold eyes fixed on him.

At that moment, the vines wrapped around Wu An’s limbs suddenly tightened. Wu An let out a horrified shriek.

Lun Ling  strolled up to him. “Governor, don’t be afraid. We haven’t even started yet.”

“However…” Demonic energy swirled at his fingertips, and tiny offshoots slowly crawled up Wu An’s neck, wrapping around it again and again. “My methods are so painful even Sect Leader Qiu couldn’t bear them. Are you sure you want to try?”

“No… no…” Wu An trembled in fear. Just then, a sudden scream from the side made him jump.

Everyone looked towards the source of the sound. Qiu Fuxue put away his sword scabbard as if nothing had happened, while Jiufang Cangze) clutched his arm, his face long.

“A-Xue, why did you hit me again?”

Qiu Fuxue gave him a dark side-eye, and the latter quickly shut up, swallowing his question.

Why did he hit him? Because he deserved it.

Wu An wasn’t terrified by Lun Ling’s threats; he was scared out of his wits by Qiu Fuxue’s dark expression.

“Sect… Sect Leader Qiu! Please… please don’t be angry! I’ll talk! I’ll talk!”

Lun Ling’s mouth twitched. Is this a case of ‘killing a chicken to scare the monkey’? He quickly took Xu Wan and stood farther away.

Wu An swallowed. “It… it was the Luoshui Sect  that told me to do this…”

“The Luoshui Sect?” The pressure around Qiu Fuxue dropped even further. “I heard you’ve long had the idea of bringing Sunset City under their banner. So, was this your way of pledging loyalty to them?”

Wu An immediately denied it, his voice filled with a sob. “No… no! Sect Leader Qiu, you know that while being a governor looks glamorous, I don’t earn much a year! So I…”

“So you used your connections to find someone you knew in the Luoshui Sect to help rich families cheat and manipulate the disciple selection process?”

Qiu Fuxue ran two fingers along the sharp edge of Zhengxin. “You would use such low-level methods and still dare to come to my Thousand Thoughts Sect… You have a lot of nerve, Wu An!”

No wonder there had been rumors of a close relationship between Sunset City and the Luoshui Sect. Gold and silver were for mortals. Immortal cultivators needed spirit stones to buy magic artifacts and medicinal herbs. Gold and silver were useless to those who dedicated themselves to cultivation.

But there were always those who were greedy, who wanted the spiritual energy of the immortal world and the money and power of the mortal one.

Jiufang Cangze pulled up his sleeve to see that the area where he was just hit was already bruised and hurt to the touch.

He pretended to be fine, plucking a leaf from the vine and twirling it. “Did the Luoshui Sect also instruct you to let a demon’s presence be known in your manor?”

Wu An was covered in cold sweat. “I didn’t know it was a demon! A few days ago, the elder from the Luoshui Sect who I often worked with suddenly came to my house. He brought a masked man and said he wanted to borrow my manor to do something.”

Qiu Fuxue frowned. “The dark brown rocks you see all over your manor. Did they tell you to place those?”

“Yes!” Wu An nodded frantically. “He also told me to put one in this room at the inn and to have people watch it. If it was ever removed, I was to replace it immediately.”

Lun Ling was shocked. “After Wanwan and I moved in, my subordinate found a traitor. That must have been when…”

“The stones have no demonic energy. If it truly was Ye Chu (夜濋), his methods are becoming more advanced.” Jiufang Cangze hid his emotions and suddenly said to Qiu Fuxue, “A-Xue, it seems the Thousand Thoughts Sect wasn’t the first immortal sect to have a demon partner.”

“No wonder the curse on the mer-person scale didn’t work…” Qiu Fuxue gave him a sharp look, then took out his spiritual token and sent a message to Li Yun (黎雲). “A-Yun, get some men and investigate the Luoshui Sect.”

The token lit up. There was a moment of silence from Li Yun’s end, and then he said slowly, “Senior Brother, a spy just reported back. The Luoshui Sect… has been wiped out.”

“What?!”

After a sleepless night, Qiu Fuxue resolved the matter at the governor’s manor and rushed back to the Thousand Thoughts Sect. It was already dawn.

He and Jiufang Cangze walked along the stone steps of the mountain path, covered in dust, and found that Li Yun was already waiting for them at the sect gate.

“Senior Brother.”

The young man stood on the stone steps. The soft sunrise shone behind him, giving him a gentle halo.

When he saw Qiu Fuxue, he quickly walked over and hugged him tightly. “Senior Brother, A-Yun missed you.”

The hand that Jiufang Cangze had hidden in his sleeve was almost tearing through the fabric. He said grumpily, “It’s only been a few days! Your Senior Brother hasn’t slept a wink all night. Step aside!”

“It’s no trouble,” Qiu Fuxue said, as gentle as always to Li Yun. “A-Yun, let’s go to the study first. I need to see the report on the Luoshui Sect.”

“Okay.” Li Yun nodded, then turned and glared at Jiufang Cangze.

In the study, Qiu Fuxue read the report from the spies and frowned deeply.

A day ago, the Luoshui Sect was burned by Netherfire (冥火). The sect’s barrier was not opened, so outsiders could not enter. But strangely, no one inside had managed to escape either.

It was as if the very barrier that was supposed to protect them had blocked their path to survival.

“Netherfire is unique to the Demon Realm. Wu An said that an elder from the Luoshui Sect brought a demon into the governor’s manor.”

After hearing Qiu Fuxue’s account of Ye Chu, Li Yun suddenly remembered something. He looked up. “Oh, that’s right, Senior Brother. Not long after you left, the patrol disciples caught a demon down the mountain. I put him in the dungeon, and he’s been making a fuss, demanding to see you.”

“Another demon?” Qiu Fuxue was taken aback. He glanced at the figure who was still lingering outside the study.

Jiufang Cangze was leaning against the study door. A barrier had been placed on the door, and he couldn’t hear what was being said inside.

If they were talking about important secrets, that would be one thing, but what if Li Yun has some evil intentions and A-Xue, being so naive, is being deceived?

“Ow!”

The study door suddenly opened, and Jiufang Cangze let out a wail as a large bump formed on his forehead.

Qiu Fuxue walked past without even looking at him. He led Li Yun toward the dungeon.

“A-Xue!” Jiufang Cangze saw that he wasn’t being chased away and excitedly followed them.

When they arrived at the dungeon, Qiu Fuxue immediately saw the small figure curled up in a ball. It was a familiar face indeed.

The small figure had his back to them, curled into a ball. He was mumbling softly, and they couldn’t hear what he was saying.

Qiu Fuxue laughed and knocked on the dungeon door. “Yu Jian (嶼簡)?”

Yu Jian turned his head when he heard the voice. There was no look of surprise on his face, but a rather resentful one. “I can’t believe you even remember me! Are we even good friends anymore?”

Qiu Fuxue quickly let him out and explained his identity to Li Yun.

Li Yun heard that Yu Jian was a person who had helped his Senior Brother. He sincerely bowed his head and apologized to him.

Yu Jian patted his chest proudly. “I’m a big man! I won’t hold it against you!”

Qiu Fuxue poked his head. “Why did you cross the immortal-demon barrier and risk so much to come find me?”

“Oh, that’s right! I almost forgot!” Yu Jian slapped his forehead anxiously. “Qiu Fuxue, I overheard the general and the others plotting to use the excuse of ‘rescuing’ the Demon Lord to attack the Thousand Thoughts Sect. They’re also coming to capture you!”