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"This guy actually took action..."

When Zi Yue arrived at Lyuzhou City, the city was already filled with a malignant aura. Almost half of the city’s population was discussing the matter of the tavern that had been visited by the academy being sealed in ice!

All sorts of suspicions and rumors spread rapidly, and after panic spread, there came an outlet for the dissatisfaction with their own lives. Once the malicious aura took form, it would be manipulated by the adversary, turning them into mindless walking corpses.

This... is the prowess of a heart demon!

In ancient times there was talk of Three Sky Demons, Four Land Fiends, and Five Sages, which King of Qin once assessed as the twelve most bizarre demons in the world!

And this time, the one cooperating with me is none other than the Chaos Heart Fiend from the Four Land Fiends!

This is a species that has existed since a very ancient era, reveling in instigating chaos in the world, causing people to lose themselves in malice and destroy themselves in madness. Countless small nations have perished at its hands since ancient times.

Thinking of this, Zi Yue’s expression darkened in secret, this creature... has ultimately become infatuated with its own power...

"Master, how can you still keep your cool? Ashun is frozen inside, his life or death unknown, and yet you’re still telling me to be calm? How am I supposed to stay calm?"

Zi Yue paused in her steps and looked over.

It was a middle-aged couple; the man exuded the aura of a scholar, dressed in a scholar’s robe, clearly an educated individual.

The woman was dressed simply yet elegantly, very much in the style of a scholarly family.

Judging by the tone of their conversation, their child seemed to be involved as well.

This piqued Zi Yue’s curiosity somewhat, and she began to observe them closely.

Under the influence of the heart demon, even those unrelated to this affair would be stirred up by negative emotions, leading to madness. Yet this couple, whose child was involved and should be the easiest to manipulate, somehow remained calm until now?

"Wife, please calm down. What about Lord Chen? What about Dean Chen Ying? Haven’t you met them before? How could they harm our child?"

"But that’s just the way it is!" The woman was clearly trying to suppress her emotions but could not help saying: "If they haven’t harmed our child, then why seal the tavern in ice? Why haven’t they come out to explain by now?

I just heard that even the historian from the north was tragically killed. Do you think there might be demons..."

"Nonsense, what does this have to do with demons?" The man chided softly: "With the Gate God here, what kind of demon could invade Lyuzhou?"

"But..."

"No buts, wife, you have to stay calm, trust in Dean Chen Yin. Dean Chen is a person of extraordinary ability. Even if, as you say, there is a demon invasion at the academy, if even Dean Chen can’t resolve it, what good would it do for you to rashly rush in?"

"I..."

Zi Yue watched the scene with a faint trace of surprise in her eyes. This man, with his clear logic even now, was quite remarkable.

But upon closer inspection, although the spread of panic on the streets was rapid, when compared to other cities previously invaded by heart demons that she had encountered, it was significantly better.

Perhaps even it didn’t expect it to be so difficult to create chaos in this city?

Indeed, just as she thought this, a sinister voice spoke up: "These people are quite tough to deal with; it’s been three whole hours, and not a single place has made a move!"

Zi Yue glanced over at the sound, seeing a bizarre-looking straw man. She sighed, "What are you causing now?"

"Just testing..." the straw man cackled, "If I didn’t test, wouldn’t you all just keep hiding in Daqing Mountain?

Do you really think that guy surnamed Wei is clueless?

The one called Wei Gongcheng might have already detected his issue.

According to your previous strategy, waiting for Wei Gongcheng to come up to Daqing Mountain by himself, like Shen Qi did, to hand himself over, how long would that take? Would it be timely?"

Zi Yue frowned. A god of the nether regions like Wei Gongcheng was very troublesome to deal with if he wasn’t eliminated with one strike, because he could retreat into the nether regions, and this so-called nether regions, she truly couldn’t enter.

Once the opponent submerged into the nether regions, she wouldn’t even feel secure leaving.

What if she left and Murong Yunji wasn’t able to guard Ali?

An existence that could emerge from the nether regions at any time and always had a way out—could you constantly guard against him?

"You’ve thought of it too, right?" The straw man laughed, "So as I said, take the initiative to strike, and settle it once and for all!"

"Chen Qing’s influence is strong, but like we used to do to humans, sometimes that influence is a boost, but other times it’s also a burden, isn’t it?"

Looking around, dissatisfaction flashed in the straw man’s eyes: "What’s up with the people of Lyuzhou? Are they all so calm? I’ve never encountered such ordinary people who are so difficult to sway!"

"Isn’t that normal?" Zi Yue spoke indifferently, "The people of Lyuzhou are well-fed and clothed. The key is they see hope every day. In such times, even the King of Qin couldn’t offer that, so why would they be easily swayed by you?"

"Huh..." The straw man scoffed, "You seem to admire him quite a lot. If that’s the case, why not just join him?"

"King of Qin made me realize one thing..." Zi Yue shook her head, "The human heart is unpredictable, and only self-evolution can ensure survival in the future."

"That’s what I said, right? That guy wasn’t reliable, and you didn’t believe me!

" The straw man chuckled, "Don’t worry, the populace of Lyuzhou might be a bit troublesome, but it’s just a matter of time.

That guy surnamed Wei can’t hide forever; he has to come out to solve the problem eventually.

And as long as they stay in my environment for a while, they naturally become mere puppets! "

"That would be nice if it were so smooth..." Zi Yue shook her head, "But I always feel like you’re in a rush. Oh right..." Zi Yue looked at the straw man’s form and suddenly frowned, "Why does your incarnation look so much like the Junior Lord of the Judicial Court named Wang Ye?"

"Well..." The straw man’s eyes turned cold, "That’s not convenient to discuss..."

"Not convenient to discuss?" Zi Yue scoffed, "I just heard from others that the target you attacked is the direct line of the Priestly family from Wolf Country, the Murong Family’s child?"

"What’s the problem with that?"

"What seems to be the problem?" Zi Yue’s gaze was cold and stern as she addressed the other party, "Although Murong Yunji was invaded by the Ancient Worm, the worm has also inherited most of her emotions.

Murong Bingyun is the most cherished child of the Murong family.

Do you really think Murong Yunji would feel nothing if you killed him? What exactly are you trying to do?"

The Straw Man fell silent for a moment and eventually shook his head, "I have my reasons."

"Then let me take a guess..." Zi Yue said with a cold laugh, "The Priests of the Murong family worship the Wolf God.

I heard that when the Murong child was very young, he was marked by a follower of a Wolf God.

Outsiders do not know which of the Seven Wolf Gods it was, but I suspect, to make someone like you disregard even your allies, it must be the Fear Wolf, right? "

Straw Man: "....."

"So that’s how it is..." Zi Yue nodded, "Rumor has it that the Fear Wolf can devour others based on their fear, without any distance, which pairs perfectly with your ability to spread panic.

Looking at it this way..." Zi Yue’s eyes returned to the Straw Man, "Wang Ye... Xixiang, so that’s how it is! "

"Do you really have to be so clever?" Straw Man said helplessly, "We’re friends. Aren’t you afraid of ruining the friendship by exposing one’s secrets?"

"You’re becoming less and less like the friend you once were," replied Zi Yue indifferently.

"The friend I once was..." The Straw Man kept scoffing, "Of our group, who can keep being who they once were... How many are left?"

Zi Yue hesitated upon hearing this, then looked towards the increasingly chaotic Lyuzhou and sighed, "Indeed..."

-----------------------------------

"What do we do now?"

Chen Ying, from a high seat in the tavern, stared at the increasingly chaotic Lyuzhou, obviously flustered.

Wei Gongcheng also remained silent. He had weathered many storms—having mingled on the battlefield with the Weichi Clan’s Family Head at just nine years old and having encountered no shortage of strange demons.

Moreover, in the previous major incidents, the Thousand-Faced Fox, Mister Origami, Mister Hua Pi, these were all bizarre beings that he had never even heard of before.

Sometimes he really wondered, where did these ghostly things come from? As if they were made just to perplex people...

Even with all his experience and encounters with the bizarre, when facing something completely new, all his past knowledge was of no use!

At that moment, Wei Gongcheng suddenly envied his lord, who seemed to have a strategy for every eerie demon, no matter what!

While he was thinking, his arm suddenly grew warm. Wei Gongcheng immediately closed his eyes; he could feel that his lord was sending a message.

Just now, he had tried his best to describe the current situation to his lord in very brief words, using no more than fifty characters. Even so, this consumed nearly half a month’s accumulation of his power. It had to be said that this method of long-distance communication was extremely draining.

Seeing Wei Gongcheng close his eyes, Chen Ying grew nervous. Sometimes she envied clergy like him who could contact Chen Qing at any moment.

"What did our lord say?" Chen Ying asked anxiously as soon as Wei Gongcheng opened his eyes.

"The source!"

"The source?"

Chen Ying was taken aback. Was the lord’s reply that simple?

"Do you still remember who were the main ones spreading panic at that time?"

"It felt like everyone was!" Chen Ying said promptly.

"But who were the first few?"

"This..." Chen Ying frowned and thought for a moment, "I don’t fully remember. My emotions were also quite chaotic at that time..."

"So it can affect you too?" Wei Gongcheng nodded. It seemed that the monster’s ability also depended on the rank—the higher the rank, the less the influence.

Chen Ying managed to keep her emotions, but she was not totally unaffected, whereas he.

.. after observing for so long from the outside, was almost unaffected.

"Is there any Mirror Jade in the tavern?"

"Yes!" Chen Ying’s eyes suddenly lit up. "The Observing Stars Tower explicitly stated that Mirror Jade was not installed due to privacy issues, but the tavern does have it."

Upon hearing this, Wei Gongcheng nodded; that was good. Mirror Jade was recently researched by a group at the Judicial Court, able to record a segment of visual history. It was a peacekeeping marvel.

The reason it wasn’t publicized or widely sold was that it wasn’t quite suitable for immediate civilian use yet.

"If that’s the case, let’s retrieve the Mirror Jade and have a look first."

"Okay... I’ll get it!" Chen Ying hurriedly led the way downstairs.

Wei Gongcheng watched her, his eyebrows knotted tightly—his lord’s power of faith was running low!

He could tell from the brevity of the reply that his lord had decided to reserve all available faith power for use in the Dragon Palace Secret Realm, even after receiving his message. This essentially meant that his lord truly didn’t have sufficient faith power left to support him.

The two-word reply was crystal clear: one, the power of faith was insufficient; and two... it was signifying that he had to take full responsibility for the matter!