Incense

Councilor He had already fainted from fright.

Having no other choice, Lian Qiao had Zhou Jiannan temporarily carry him aside to wait.

This Gu Sheng had also had his heart ripped out while alive.

The difference was, his death seemed even more painful.

One of his hands was severed, and his chest was pierced by a branch, leaving him hanging from the bough.

The crucial point was, he wore a smile, looking as if he had ripped out his own heart.

If Gu Sheng killed Miss He, then who killed Gu Sheng?

Could it be that Gu Sheng wasn’t entirely lying? That the fox demon really wasn’t dead, that she killed the people of the town, and he then imitated her to kill Miss He?

Lian Qiao’s mind was a tangled mess, so for the time being, she began to inspect the surroundings.

Just then, a roar suddenly came from the corner of the wall.

She immediately turned back, only to find it was Taotie, who had returned to his original form.

And Lu Wu Jiu was standing on the flying eaves above.

Lian Qiao was puzzled. “Why are you here? Weren’t you repairing the barrier?”

Lu Wu Jiu didn’t speak.

From the corner blocked by Taotie, a trembling and extremely weak voice emerged. “Fairy, is that you?”

That voice…

Lian Qiao moved closer. She couldn’t see the person clearly in the darkness, but she smelled a familiar fragrance.

It was a rich floral scent, but not unpleasant.

Wasn’t this the charming shopkeeper of the perfumed powder shop, Zhen Niang!

She conjured a fire-starting spell, and only then did she see Zhen Niang’s appearance clearly.

Her clothes were tattered, her hair was a mess, and several bloody scratch marks were scattered across her arms and waist, seemingly inflicted by something in a frenzy.

Although not as severe as Gu Sheng’s injuries, she looked to be quite badly hurt.

“What are you doing here?”

Zhen Niang’s expression was slightly awkward. “I… I came looking for Sir Gu.”

Lian Qiao rubbed her nose. It seemed this was a secret rendezvous.

Zhen Niang grew even more flustered. “The immortal masters have sharp eyes and have probably already seen through my little trick with the perfumed powder. I did have some dealings with Sir Gu, and he did say he would break off the engagement with Miss He, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it for a while. With the wedding date approaching, I had no other choice but to come up with this plan to expose the matter.”

‘That’s right,’ Lian Qiao thought.

‘This Zhen Niang and Gu Sheng were having an affair. She used the perfumed powder to set me up, causing Miss He and the scholar to have a falling out. With such a major incident at the He residence last night, of course she would come to see what happened.’

Lian Qiao immediately pressed her, “Since you were here, does that mean you saw how Gu Sheng died? Who killed him?”

Zhen Niang clutched her heart. “I didn’t see clearly. There was a big fire at the He residence last night, and I was scared. I wanted to come over this morning to ask what had happened. Who knew that when I reached the gate, I would see Sir Gu frantically push the door open and go in. I immediately followed, only to see Sir Gu acting as if he were possessed, suddenly going mad and digging at his own flesh.”

“He didn’t seem to be able to control himself, so he chopped off his own hand, but it still didn’t work. When one hand was gone, he used the other to dig. He even crawled over and tore at me, grabbing my arm and ripping off my outer coat. I was so scared, I immediately turned and ran back. But Gu Sheng was blocking the courtyard gate, so I didn’t dare get close. I hid in the corner, so frightened I didn’t know what to do. And then, you all arrived…”

Zhen Niang’s voice was intermittent, and she trembled as she spoke, clutching a handkerchief.

Zhou Jiannan felt his hair stand on end. “You’re saying he really ripped out his own heart while he was alive?”

Zhen Niang shivered. “Yes, it was as if he were possessed!”

Lian Qiao was also afraid, but there was one thing she couldn’t figure out. “If that’s the case, where is his heart? His chest is clearly empty.”

“The heart? I didn’t dare to look. Maybe, maybe…” Zhen Niang covered her mouth, glancing at the blood-stained corner of Gu Sheng’s lips.

Zhou Jiannan shuddered. “Don’t tell me… he ate it?”

He simply couldn’t imagine it.

Lian Qiao put a hand to her forehead. It was probably true…

Everyone present fell silent, and in the silence, they all covered their mouths.

Zhou Jiannan said with lingering fear, “Even though this Gu Sheng was no good, for the fox demon to harm him time and time again, she’s truly ruthless.”

“Fox demon?” Zhen Niang was surprised. “This demon is actually a fox demon?”

Lian Qiao narrowed her eyes slightly. “You don’t know about Gu Sheng’s relationship with the fox demon?”

Zhen Niang was confused. “What relationship?”

Lian Qiao said, “This Gu Sheng once had a wife. According to him, she was a fox demon.”

Zhen Niang shook her head. “There was such a thing? How would I know? I only moved to this town a month ago, after my husband passed away and I had nowhere else to go.”

Lian Qiao glanced at her scratched leg. “Is that so? Then forget it. Your injuries are not light. You should bandage them first.”

So she took out a tube of golden sore medicine from her portable treasure pouch and handed it over.

Zhen Niang said it wasn’t necessary, but Lian Qiao insisted, so she had to accept it.

While bandaging Zhen Niang, Lian Qiao tried using the compass again, but it seemed to be just as Zhen Niang had said.

This Gu Sheng had gone mad on his own. There were no other clues in the courtyard.

Zhou Jiannan was puzzled. “This fox demon’s skills are not shallow. To not even leave a trace of demonic energy. This way, even if we want to track her, we can’t.”

At this moment, Yan Wushuang also returned from West Mountain, panting. Unfortunately, she brought back equally useless news.

“Next to the house Gu Sheng mentioned, there is indeed a large patch of land that has been burned by intense fire. It was probably tainted by demon blood, so not even a blade of grass grows there. But I tried with the compass, and there is no more demonic energy in that mountain.”

Zhou Jiannan was even more frustrated. “We can’t find it here, and we can’t find it in the mountains. How can there be no trace of demonic energy at all? Clearly, the day we tracked it to the garden, the compass was still able to move.”

Lian Qiao sighed. “Since there’s nothing at all, it means she’s no longer a demon.”

Yan Wushuang was very confused. “What do you mean?”

Lian Qiao said, “Just like with Miss He’s death, the protective spirit bracelet didn’t move at all, which means—it wasn’t done by a demon.”

“You’re saying Gu Sheng wasn’t killed by a demon either, but by a person? But he ate his own heart. If that’s not demonic magic, what is it?”

“No, I’m not saying the one who killed him was a human. I’m saying that when she killed him, she was human.”

At this point, Taotie beside them was confused. “Hey, what are you talking about? You’re just being mysterious. A demon is a demon, a human is a human. I’ve never seen something that’s both a demon and a human.”

Lian Qiao snorted. “You’ve never seen one? If you don’t believe me… ask the person next to you.”

The person next to her, of course, was Lu Wu Jiu.

She deliberately harbored a little selfish thought, to see if Lu Wu Jiu could also guess.

Who knew that Lu Wu Jiu would also sweep a faint glance over her, his eyes clearly writing two words—’Childish.’

However, unable to withstand Taotie’s pestering, he finally spoke up. “There are. For example, some demons are no different from humans after losing their inner core. They don’t have a trace of demonic energy, but they can still use some minor spells with their residual spiritual power. They just don’t live for long.”

Lian Qiao became a little angry again. “Why did you say everything?”

Lu Wu Jiu said faintly, “What else? How much longer do you want to drag this out?”

Lian Qiao turned her head and muttered, “As expected of someone who has refined a demon core.”

The back-and-forth between the two left the others completely bewildered.