After His Demise, the Demon Lord's Doted Canary Finally Sees the Light - Chapter 85

“Ah…? Is that okay?” Jing Anwidened her eyes in surprise.

Qiu Fuxue reached out and pinched Jiufang Cangze’s arm. “Don’t be ridiculous!”

The power transitions of the mortal realm had their own rules, and they should never interfere.

Lan Shiyi’s  lips curved slightly. “Sect Leader Qiu, I heard from Zhi’er that the one next to you… seems to have some background?”

Sheng Yan knew Jiufang Cangze’s identity, so he must have told Lan Zhi when he returned.

Qiu Fuxue trusted Lan Shiyi and didn’t hide the truth. “Something happened in the demon realm, but rest assured, sir, he is no threat now.”

With that, he glanced at the person beside him, who smiled half-heartedly, his face quickly falling.

What did he mean by “no threat”? It sounded like he was introducing his own dog.

A new round of commotion sounded from the lobby downstairs. It was the street officers multiplying. The innkeeper, afraid of getting into trouble, urged the guests to quickly return to their rooms.

Qiu Fuxue stared at the situation below. He suddenly said to Lan Shiyi, “Sir, may I borrow your Lan family token?”

Lan Shiyi handed him the token without a second thought.

When they got downstairs and the onlookers had mostly dispersed, Qiu Fuxue quietly found the innkeeper.

“Boss, the officers who came to investigate just now messed up the room. The eldest young master is a little displeased.”

With that, he showed the innkeeper a glimpse of the Lan family token.

The innkeeper had been in business for many years and had some knowledge. His face immediately changed. He said with a compensatory smile, “I can’t interfere with the government’s business, sir. How about I waive your room fees, and I’ll go up to apologize to the eldest young master?”

“Are you trying to bribe a beggar?”

A familiar deep voice sounded beside him. Jiufang Cangze had walked over. He lifted his robe and sat down beside Qiu Fuxue. If it weren’t for his shabby clothes, it would have been a perfect recreation of his imposing presence on the throne of the Azure Sea Palace.

The innkeeper saw that he was not easy to deal with. He looked like he was about to cry, thinking to himself how unlucky he was to have run into someone from the Lan family. “Sirs, I’m just an innkeeper! There are some things… that I can’t decide!”

After scaring him enough, Qiu Fuxue got to the point. “Answer a few questions truthfully, and we’ll speak on your behalf to the eldest young master when we go back.”

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” The innkeeper nodded like a garlic press.

“I heard that children often go missing in this town. What’s that about?”

This question seemed unrelated to the officers’ investigation, but under the threatening gaze of those light-red eyes, the innkeeper had no choice but to answer honestly.

“Sigh, it’s all because of that gold-panning river…” He sighed again, looked around to make sure no one was there, and requested in a low voice, “Sir, this matter is not to be mentioned in our town. I’m telling you two in secret, so please don’t say it was me!”

Qiu Fuxue nodded.

“The first child to go missing in town was… about a hundred years ago! There was an outsider woman who was taken by a local bully and had a child. But not long after the child was born, that bully offended the authorities and was beaten to death in prison.”

After saying that, he lifted his neck and looked around nervously. The authorities’ overbearing actions were no different from that bully’s, but they forbade people from talking about it in private.

“After the bully died, the woman and her child could barely get by. But one day, a small earthquake happened in town. Not many people were hurt, but the gold-panning river appeared after that. However, the woman’s child mysteriously disappeared!”

At this point, the innkeeper was breaking out in a cold sweat. He looked at Qiu Fuxue and the others with terror. “After the child disappeared, the woman also vanished. We didn’t think much of it at first, but the strange thing is, on the same day as the earthquake the next year, another child went missing…”

Seeing how nervous he was, Qiu Fuxue frowned. “What if it was a human trafficker? Didn’t the authorities investigate?”

“No, no, no!” The innkeeper shook his head repeatedly. “I heard from the elders in my family that they later went to a great master for a fortune-telling. The master said that the gold-panning river was a gift from the heavens, but the price was that we had to sacrifice a full-month-old infant every year.”

Qiu Fuxue got a headache from listening. He rubbed his forehead. “The heavens are kind and love all beings. How could they do something so unreasonable?”

Besides, the only god in the world was the Primordial God, who could only stay in his celestial realm due to fighting with Jiufang Cangze.

The innkeeper saw that he didn’t believe it and tried his best to convince him. “It’s true! Every year on that day, a child in our town would disappear! We didn’t believe it at first, but the matter was too strange…”

Qiu Fuxue interrupted him. “One hundred years. You’ve lost at least a hundred children. If it weren’t for a coincidence involving a high-ranking family this time, what were the authorities doing?”

His voice was not loud, but it was not quiet either, enough for the passing guests to hear. The innkeeper was so scared he shivered. He reached out to cover Qiu Fuxue’s mouth in a panic, but his wrist was grabbed by Jiufang Cangze.

Qiu Fuxue stood up calmly. “Cangze, let’s go.”

Back in the room, Jiufang Cangze pretended to be scared and poked that fair, delicate cheek.

“That was close. Someone almost touched you.”

Qiu Fuxue rolled his eyes at his childish behavior. “This place also belongs to the Sunset City’s territory. Demon-related matters should be under the jurisdiction of the Qianshan Sect, but in the past, Yuan Li Tian acted so self-righteous, yet he couldn’t even manage the most basic defense and investigation in the local areas!”

“That’s why he doesn’t deserve to be the Sect Leader.” Jiufang Cangze put his arm around his waist. “Every time I see that old guy, I feel sick.”

Qiu Fuxue narrowed his eyes. He suddenly asked, “Then back when we used to fight, how did you feel when you saw me?”

When it came to their past, Jiufang Cangze got a little nervous, afraid that a wrong answer would make his new “wife” leave.

Seeing his eyes darting around, not knowing what tricks he was thinking of, Qiu Fuxue said in a sinister tone, “Answer truthfully.”

The arm around his waist tightened. Jiufang Cangze leaned in close to his ear and chuckled softly. “The first time I saw A-Xue, I just thought, this little beauty is so fierce when he fights. It’s such a waste of a face.”

Jiufang Cangze couldn’t distinguish between love and lust. So after the little beauty fell into his hands, he indulged in all kinds of desires. But gradually, he realized that those desires were no longer just desires.

“You’re beating around the bush.” Qiu Fuxue commented on his answer, and he wrapped his arms around Jiufang Cangze’s neck. “I’m not satisfied with that answer. I’ll punish you… to stay by my side forever.”

Jiufang Cangze chuckled. “A-Xue, you’ve become wicked too.”

With that, he leaned in to kiss him. The meaning was obvious.

Qiu Fuxue looked at the face so close to his, closed his eyes, and slowly leaned in.

“Thump, thump, thump!” A very polite knock on the door sounded.

His arms were empty again. Jiufang Cangze had a million ways to tear the door down in his mind.