Back To When The Demon Lord Was A Beggar - Chapter 27

This was something Yun Guitu had never expected. His heart clinical with a touch of astonishment; he never imagined a City Lord would be hiding among this group of immortal cultivation disciples.

Zhi Shiyi offered a faint smile. After a simple return of etiquette, he took Chu Nanzhen’s hand and led him to a side seat. For Zhi Shiyi, he and the Yunshan Sect Master were essentially strangers, having never even met before this moment.

The original intent of this banquet was simply to share a meal. As distinguished guests, they naturally had to be treated well. Chu Nanzhen wasn’t particularly hungry, so he set his chopsticks down after a few bites. Staring at the delicacies before him, he couldn’t help but click his tongue inwardly, thinking it a pity to let it all go to waste. Consequently, he surreptitiously began stuffing the smaller, portable pastries into his sleeves one by one. Only then did a flicker of “satisfaction” appear on his face.

He thought the act was seamless, but he hadn’t realized that the person sitting beside him saw everything. Seeing this, Zhi Shiyi frowned slightly, then pushed his own plate of pastries over. He leaned in and whispered, “If you like them, take some more. If it’s not enough, I’ll go down the mountain later to buy some for you.”

Chu Nanzhen froze. He looked down at the plate offered to him, hesitated for a moment, and eventually chose to accept it. Might as well eat it if it’s free, and take it if it’s offered. If he got hungry at night, he could pull them out to fill his stomach; he couldn’t just walk away empty-handed.

Just then, the Yunshan Sect Master, sitting in the seat of honor, coughed softly. He turned to ask Shen Shangli if there was an important matter bringing them here this time.

Shen Shangli looked up at the Sect Master, her lips pressed tight in silence. To be honest, she wasn’t very close to this Sect Master either. She had seen him a few times whenever she came to find Yun Guitu, but the number of times they had actually spoken could be counted on one hand.

As for the unspoken matter, she had only intended to discuss it with Yun Guitu and resolve it with the group that came along. Now that the Sect Master had asked, she felt it would be rude not to say anything, as he was, after all, an elder. While she hesitated, Yun Guitu spoke up before she could. His current carefree, roguish demeanor was a complete reversal from his previous self. He smiled and said, “Master, your health hasn’t been great these past months, so there’s no need to worry about sect affairs. Just focus on resting. I will help resolve A-Li’s matters, so you don’t have to bother. If you exhaust yourself with these messy affairs, I’m afraid even if I personally tried to snatch your life back from the God of Death, it would be difficult.”

As expected of the next Sect Leader, Chu Nanzhen thought. If it were any other disciple, they wouldn’t dare speak to the Sect Master like that even if they were given ten times the courage.

The Yunshan Sect Master glanced at him with a smile and joked, “As far as I know, you’ve helped Shangli quite a bit, and the two of you have a very good relationship. Why don’t we pick an auspicious day soon for you to marry into the Qianshan Sect as Shangli’s husband? That way, you can help her with every single problem she has in the future. How does that sound?”

“For real!?”

Upon hearing this, Yun Guitu’s eyes instantly lit up. He slammed his hand on the table and stood up so abruptly the table shook. The commotion was likely too loud, as it startled the others who were focused on their food, causing everyone to fix their gaze on him.

Sensing their stares, he sat back down and coughed lightly, unhurriedly putting on a serious front. “Master, you must be joking. If I find a girl I like, I will certainly use every means possible to pursue her. If a single marriage contract settled it and the girl was unwilling, that would be forcing someone against their will. What I want is for her to have me in her heart, not to force a marriage just for my own selfish desires.”

Despite his words, ever since the Sect Master mentioned him becoming a “matrilocal son-in-law,” the smile at the corner of his mouth couldn’t be suppressed.

The Sect Master had intended it as a joke, but he hadn’t expected his disciple to actually be considering marrying into another family.

A wave of low laughter broke out among the group upon hearing his response.

Finding it amusing, Chu Nanzhen toyed with the chopsticks in his hand and chuckled softly, “I thought he was trying to win someone’s heart, but it turns out he was just following Miss Shen’s lead.”

Shen Shangli lowered her head shyly, her ears already flushed red, yet she did not deny Chu Nanzhen’s words.

By the time the banquet ended, the sky had already grown dark. Aside from the brightly lit Yunshan Hall, most other places were pitch black, making the path difficult to see at times.

The Yunshan Sect Master arranged for them to stay in the guest rooms for VIPs, which were quite close to the disciples’ quarters. As they passed by, they could clearly hear voices coming from inside.

One disciple said, “Did you know people came to the sect today? I heard from other brothers that those people are from other sects. Could they be here to help us solve the brain-stealing incidents?”

Another disciple replied, “How could they possibly know about that, let alone solve it? Just look at how far Yunshan is from the other sects; there’s no way the news could have reached their ears. Even if they did know, there’s no way the Sect Master would let them interfere.”

“Hey! You better keep your voice down. It wouldn’t be good if the wrong person heard you and reported it to Master. We’d be the ones taking the punishment.”

“…”

Every word was overheard by the group. Chu Nanzhen slowed his pace, wanting to hear more. During the banquet, the Sect Master had indeed made no mention of the disciples being killed. He had initially assumed the Master didn’t want to revisit painful memories since the victims were his own disciples, but now it seemed that wasn’t the case.

Among the group of disciples, someone else added, “But, but our lives are lives too! If that thing comes back, one of us might be the next to lose our life!”

“What are you worrying about? That thing has been quiet lately. Maybe it’s already gone. Tomorrow we have to get up early to bring offerings to the Mountain God Temple anyway. Better get some sleep, it’ll be bad if we miss the hour.”

The voices gradually faded into silence.

Yun Guitu led the group to a courtyard surrounded by many trees. If the tall, lush trees hadn’t withered, this place would have been considered extremely secluded.

The courtyard was quite large, with several guest rooms tightly packed together. Only after closing the courtyard gate did Yun Guitu breathe a long sigh of relief. He said to them, “I have something to tell you all tonight. Please, come with me.”

Inside the guest room, everyone sat around a square table. Yun Guitu looked at everyone with a face full of sorrow. After a long pause, he finally spoke, “You all heard what my junior brothers were saying just now. The trouble I want you to help me with is catching the culprit behind the brain-stealing incidents.”

As if afraid they would back out, he hurriedly added before they could speak, “You all agreed to this earlier. To go back on your word now would be a breach of trust.”

They had never intended to back out from the start. Zhi Shiyi smiled faintly and said, “Naturally.”

Chu Nanzhen felt that everything, starting from the Foggy Forest, was connected. The demonic mist in the forest targeted eyes, so it consumed eyes. Then there was the human skin in the Mid-City, and now the human brains. Based on the six array points he had seen that day, it was possible this was one of them.

Seeing him lost in thought, Zhi Shiyi lightly patted his arm and asked, “What are you thinking about, Xiao Chu? Why not share it?”

Chu Nanzhen thought for a moment, then said to Wu Xiang, “Take out the human skin.”

Wu Xiang gave an “ow” of acknowledgment and pulled the half-charred human skin from his robe, placing it on the table. Yun Guitu was clearly stunned when he saw the skin. He pointed a finger at it and asked in confusion, “Where did this come from…?”

“Where else could it come from? I pulled it out of my robe!” Wu Xiang snapped. If Chu Nanzhen hadn’t mentioned it, he would have forgotten he even had the thing.

“I meant, where did you obtain this skin?”

Shen Shangli replied, “Mid-City. This was the reason I came to find you.”

She gave a brief account of everything that had happened. With every sentence she spoke, Yun Guitu’s expression darkened. After listening, Yun Guitu stared at the skin and huffed coldly, cursing, “The culprit is so malicious, not even hesitating to use someone else’s skin as a catalyst to create a wicked demon!”

Chu Nanzhen’s fingers lightly tapped the tabletop. “I just feel like the mastermind behind all of this is the same person. Of course, this is just my guess.”

Zhi Shiyi nodded in agreement. “I have the same thought as you.”

While contemplating, Yun Guitu lightly touched the human skin and suddenly frowned. “This isn’t your senior brother’s skin.”

That single sentence left everyone present stunned.

Shen Shangli didn’t believe it. She had seen with her own eyes that her senior brother was that skin; how could it not be him?

He continued, “Although parts of this skin are charred, it feels very smooth to the touch. Your senior brother was thick-skinned and rough; this isn’t his skin at all. You must have brought the wrong one.”

“I previously came across an ancient book that recorded a case similar to this. Human-skin demons don’t eat the skin, they eat the flesh and blood of the body. Only then can the demon transform into the likeness of the person consumed.”

Hearing this, Shen Shangli’s heart suddenly sank, and an ominous feeling flooded her mind. She reached out and lightly touched the skin. It really wasn’t her senior brother’s skin. Aside from drinking and refining pills, her brother spent his time playing down the mountain; no matter how much he pampered himself, it was impossible for him to be this soft-skinned.

If she went back to Mid-City to look now, finding him among so many skins would be like searching for a needle in a haystack… Not to mention, the city had already collapsed the day they left. The skins might have already vanished. At that thought, her heart ached, and the light in her eyes dimmed.

Seeing this, Yun Guitu quickly tried to comfort her. “Of course, I’m just saying that. It might not be true. Maybe Senior Brother is just playing around somewhere else.”

Shen Shangli gave a faint “mm” in response, clearly not comforted. After a while, she looked up again, her face dark as she said word by word, “If that’s the case, we’ll prepare for the worst. We’ll catch the culprit and avenge the innocent people, my senior brother, and the disciples who lost their lives in Yunshan.”

“By the way, which Mountain God are you providing offerings to tomorrow?” Chu Nanzhen suddenly asked. Thinking about how both the village girls and the Yunshan disciples had mentioned it, he couldn’t help but be curious.

“There’s a Mountain God Temple in town. It’s been there for a very long time. Every half-month, the people living nearby have to go and give offerings. We are just like the commoners, praying for peace, wealth, and for the weather around Yunshan to be favorable for the crops.”

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