Chapter Fifteen: The Plot Revealed

The gray figure moved swiftly, a slender sword in hand, thrusting straight at Wang Yi. Shen Chang’an remained impassive; though his hand rested on the hilt of his Yanling Blade, he showed no intention of drawing it.

Wang Yi’s expression did not change. As the thin sword approached, he merely turned his hand and pressed down, astonishingly subduing the sword with his bare palms.

“Heh, you escaped yesterday, yet today you dare return to kill. Daoist Lingxiao, this is the demon you sought,” Wang Yi declared.

Shen Chang’an raised his brows slightly—he had already recognized the assailant in the gray robe as the very person he encountered on his descent from the mountain.

“Demon?” Shen Chang’an frowned but did not act.

Wang Yi abruptly overturned the tables and chairs, grabbing a nearby stool and hurling it at the gray-robed figure.

Bang!

Caught off guard, the figure could only shield their head with both hands, but the gust from the thrown stool swept back their hood, revealing—not his, but her—face.

Beneath the hood was a visage capable of enchanting all living things: delicate, alluring, dignified—a myriad of disparate qualities coalesced in this single face. When she wished to be seductive, she was the most captivating creature in the world; when innocent, she could soften the hardest of hearts.

“Ah!” Startled by the falling hood, the young woman gasped, her beautiful eyes trembling slightly. Even Shen Chang’an could not help but feel a pang of sympathy at the sight.

If only… she did not have those large fox ears atop her head.

“See, Daoist Lingxiao? She’s a fox demon!” Wang Yi cried triumphantly, his face alight with self-assured pride as he stared at the little fox demon in the gray robe.

The little fox demon watched Shen Chang’an warily. From her first encounter with him today, she had sensed a vague pressure—this Daoist was by no means easy to deal with.

Shen Chang’an rose, hand gripping the hilt of the Yanling Blade, slowly drawing the blade named Autumn Water from his waist.

“So that’s how it is…”

Shen Chang’an spoke coldly, his eyes devoid of warmth, and said in a detached voice, “I believe I now understand the situation. The time has come. Demons and monsters, return to the heavens.”

As his words fell, several talismans swiftly adhered to the blade. With a swift motion, the blade shimmered with an autumnal, watery light.

“May you rest in peace along the way!”

As soon as he finished, Shen Chang’an’s figure flickered; the blade swept out in a wide arc, and in an instant, three heads tumbled from their shoulders!

Thud, thud, thud—

The massive heads hit the ground, blue blood spurting forth. Shen Chang’an, blade in hand, murmured, “Just as I thought…”

Wang Yi and the others paled. Shen Chang’an’s strike had not been aimed at the little fox demon, but at the three elders of the Wang family seated beside him!

“Daoist Lingxiao, what is the meaning of this?” Wang Yi demanded.

Shen Chang’an’s expression did not change; his face remained cold. “As I said, I slay demons and eradicate evil.”

“Heh, so you’re saying we’re demons?” Wang Yi rubbed his palms together, the sound ringing like clashing metal. His sinister eyes fixed on Shen Chang’an, brimming with bloodlust.

Shen Chang’an exhaled slowly, his voice steady: “You consumed the flesh and blood of demon beasts, and in turn, were corrupted by demonic energy—falling into this state, neither man nor ghost. Calling you demons flatters you; you are but beasts.”

“Hahahaha…” Wang Yi’s laughter was harsh and grating. “These demons were our food before they gained sentience—why should we not eat them now that they have?”

Shen Chang’an shook his head with a sigh. “The demonic energy has reached your minds, and you’ve eaten humans as well. There is no saving you now.”

The effect of the Jade Talisman had lasted all day; Shen Chang’an had not rested. From his first encounter with the little fox demon, he’d known she was otherworldly, but he hadn’t smelled blood on her, so he left her be.

But once he entered the depths of the Wang estate, he detected the strongest source of corruption—not elsewhere, but in Wang Yi’s cellar.

Following the scent, he picked up traces of other foods as well, realizing the cellar was the Wang family’s larder. The people of Wang Village had been consuming that corrupting presence as food!

This reminded him of the plate of smoked meat overturned that morning.

It seemed that everyone in Wang Village had tasted the flesh of monsters.

Yet one question remained: if the villagers had slain the demon he’d been tasked to pursue, why was his mission incomplete? Why could he not find the blue-faced, fanged specter?

It wasn’t until the little fox demon appeared that the answer dawned on him—the specter he sought had been right before his eyes all along.

The little fox demon had not eaten humans; her attack on Wang Yi was clearly not driven by hunger. If she sought to feed, she could have picked off a solitary traveler outside; instead, she came straight for Wang Yi—there could be only one explanation: she sought vengeance.

Following this logic, many other mysteries fell into place. The little fox demon was avenging a loved one, and the target was Wang Village—so the villagers must have wronged a monster.

Considering the scent in the larder, the pervasive corruption in the village, the death and burning of Wang Sheng, and Wang Yi’s many lies, Shen Chang’an drew his conclusion.

Wang Yi had lured a great demon here by some means, and under his machinations, the demon perished in agony. Its flesh was then eaten by all in Wang Village. Wang Sheng, however, did not partake; and the method Wang Yi used to lure the demon likely involved Wang Sheng—thus Wang Sheng was killed by Wang Yi.

Afterward, when Shen Chang’an arrived, Wang Yi tried to deceive him by burning Wang Sheng’s house, destroying the bones with it.

But with the Jade Talisman in hand, Shen Chang’an had never trusted Wang Yi from the start. To him, everyone in Wang Village was clearly tainted.

“No saving us? Hahahaha, Daoist, at this point you still cling to compassion and the desire to save others? Perhaps you should worry about your own life first!”

Wang Yi let out a piercing shriek. His once-refined appearance suddenly split open, revealing his true form.

A blue face, savage fangs, a visage twisted and terrifying, wrists thick and tipped with claws!

Just as the records in Shen Chang’an’s books described!