After His Demise, the Demon Lord's Doted Canary Finally Sees the Light - Chapter 67

No outsiders came and went in the town, so the inn was quite clean. However, a painting hanging in the lobby made Qiu Fuxue  uncomfortable.

The painting used a few simple strokes to outline a deep forest. A point of light in the forest was exceptionally prominent, and he didn’t know what was used to create the pigment.

Back in his room, Qiu Fuxue first summoned the tired little sword spirit and ordered it to search for any demonic energy hidden in the town.

The little sword spirit floated listlessly in the air.

Qiu Fuxue squeezed the soft little thing. “Be a good boy. When we get home, I’ll take you to the spirit spring for a bath.”

“…” He uses that line to lure me every time!

The little sword spirit, filled with exhaustion, floated away. Qiu Fuxue closed the window and sat on the bed to meditate.

Suddenly, a strange noise came from the room next to his, like a sharp scratching on the wall. Although it was very faint, it couldn’t be ignored.

At first, he didn’t pay attention, thinking it might just be a mouse, but the noise grew louder and was occasionally accompanied by the sound of something heavy hitting the wall.

His pale red eyes slowly opened. The room next door seemed to be Jiufang Cangze’s.

A heart that had been without a ripple could no longer remain calm.

Qiu Fuxue frowned as if in a fit of pique with himself. He got out of bed, went to the room next door, and kicked the door open.

He saw the person he was worried about squatting on the ground, holding a fishing net with a blank expression.

“…Chuanze, Chuanze! I caught it…!”

A low cabinet was pressed against the wall. It looked very heavy, and the space underneath was hollow and extremely narrow. Shengyan  had somehow squeezed half his body under the cabinet, with his legs kicking wildly outside. It was a very comical scene.

“What are you doing?” Qiu Fuxue narrowed his eyes and said coldly.

“We…” Jiufang Cangze was at a loss and couldn’t explain what was happening.

When Shengyan heard his voice, he wriggled and squirmed backward until he was out. He was clutching a pitch-black sooty ball in his hands.

“Wuwu…”

The black sooty ball looked like it had just crawled out of a pile of ashes. It opened its sapphire-blue eyes and whimpered pitifully.

“Sect Leader Qiu.” Half of Shengyan’s face was black. He raised his hand to wipe it, making it even dirtier.

He held up the little sooty ball for Qiu Fuxue to see. “I don’t know where this little guy came from. It ran in and hid under the cabinet. It took so much work to catch it!”

This explained why Jiufang Cangze was holding a fishing net.

The little creature was filthy, so it was impossible to tell what species it was. It was using its two front paws to try and pry itself out of Shengyan’s hands.

Qiu Fuxue had a natural weakness for fluffy things, and his love for them overflowed. He took the little creature without a word.

“Hey…!” Jiufang Cangze couldn’t stop him in time. He watched as the little troublemaker that had run into his room rubbed black soot all over the white clothes.

“It’s fine.” Qiu Fuxue squeezed the little ears. The little guy seemed to like him a lot. “I’ll go ask the innkeeper if it’s someone’s lost pet.”

With just a casual sentence, he took their hard-earned prize. Jiufang Cangze and Shengyan looked at each other.

Ruibai Town was in the north, and it snowed all year round. Later in the night, the sword spirit had not yet returned. Qiu Fuxue opened the window and found that white flakes were falling from the sky.

“Wuwu… wuwu…!”

The soft little creature anxiously used its paws to pull at his hand. It wanted to be held up to see the snow.

Qiu Fuxue’s heart immediately melted into a puddle of water. He quickly picked up the little creature.

After the sooty ball was washed clean, its fur turned out to be pure white.

He asked the innkeeper. He was told that snow wolves often roamed outside the town, but a large number of them had recently been hunted down by something. The wolf cub must have run into the town by mistake to escape.

Snow wolves were known to hurt people, so the residents of Ruibai Town hated them. Thus, they saw the mass slaughter of the snow wolves as a blessing from the heavens.

When Qiu Fuxue brought the little wolf cub with him, the innkeeper’s expression was very strange. He even said that if Qiu Fuxue couldn’t bring himself to kill the animal, he could do it for him.

Of course, this suggestion was immediately rejected.

Qiu Fuxue had always wanted a fluffy little animal, but he hadn’t found the chance. He had been so envious of the little gray creature that followed Guan Mian (古眠) around. Now, his wish had finally come true.

“How about I call you Little Sootball?”

Little Sootball lowered its tail and tilted its head, not understanding what the human in front of it was saying.

“If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it as a yes.” Qiu Fuxue poked its little nose.

From then on, the pure white wolf cub had a name that didn’t match its appearance at all.

Leaning against the window, he could see a point of light hanging in front of most homes. In the wind and snow of the night, it looked like a galaxy on the ground.

But the more beautiful, the more dangerous.

Who would have thought that such a mundane place would also hide a fiend?

The candlelight in the room had not been extinguished when there was a knock on the door.

Qiu Fuxue looked at the shadow outside and told him to come in.

Jiufang Cangze sat opposite Qiu Fuxue uncomfortably. He hadn’t said a word for a long time since he came in.

Qiu Fuxue was the first to speak. “It’s so late. Aren’t you going to sleep?”

“Aoo—!” Although Little Sootball didn’t understand, it didn’t stop it from chiming in.

Jiufang Cangze curled his fingers. “A-Xue… please don’t take what Shengyan said to heart…”

His voice grew softer and softer, until it was like a mosquito’s buzz.

Qiu Fuxue was stunned for a moment before he remembered what Shengyan had said.

He toyed with Little Sootball’s soft fur. “I don’t know where you heard those rumors, but I am not betrothed to anyone.”

Jiufang Cangze wasn’t slow. After hearing this, he suddenly looked up, his eyes wide. “But, but…”

Under the other’s threatening gaze, he swallowed the rest of his words.

The reason didn’t matter. What mattered was that Qiu Fuxue wasn’t betrothed.

In a flash, he realized that he had wasted all that wine for nothing.

“We have a life-or-death relationship. The fiends are cunning, and I didn’t plan on bringing you along on this trip. But since you’re here, you might as well provide some useful information.”

Qiu Fuxue’s eyes were sharp. “For example… in your opinion, which of the nine fiends is hidden here?”

Upon hearing this, Jiufang Cangze suddenly laughed. “A-Xue, your smooth talk is much better than before.”

When Qiu Fuxue was taken by him, he was an innocent young man who didn’t know the ways of the world. In just one short year, he had matured far beyond that.

But who could truly understand the painful price he had to pay for this growth?

Qiu Fuxue ignored the half-hearted praise. He raised his hand and shook the crimson bracelet on his wrist. “Jiufang Cangze, I don’t want to hear nonsense. You have one chance left.”

Jiufang Cangze swallowed. He honestly said, “It’s ‘Ying’ ”

“Ying?”

He nodded and continued. “When the Great Wall was first painted, half of it was covered in black mist, and half was a starry sky. Among the nine fiends, only these two have no physical form.”

The black mist was now Qiu Fuxue’s sword spirit, and the starry sky was ‘Ying,’ the fiend hidden here.

The moment he arrived in Ruibai Town, Jiufang Cangze had noticed the glass bottles hanging on every household’s door. He recognized the points of light inside at a glance.