Lu Junyang and his group had been tracking these devils for several days. Tiangu was vast and sparsely populated. Trying to find someone, or a small group of people, within the area was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Moreover, the devils had special artifacts to conceal their presence, making it even harder to find them. Even with Lu Junyang personally leading the search, it took the group of disciples a long while to track down the devils’ lair, only to find this enigmatic message. Who could have resolved the issue right under their noses, and why hide it from them?
Gan Zilan and his fellow junior disciples couldn’t help but wonder if this was a ploy to make them give up the chase.
All eyes turned to Lu Junyang, their pillar of strength.
Lu Junyang frowned; he was also unsure of this development. If it were fellow cultivators who acted before them, there would be no need to conceal their identities. The Guiyuan Sect had a good reputation in the Cultivation Realm, and there would be no risk of them snatching credits from smaller sects. Furthermore, his group had been in the town for several days; if other cultivators had come, there should have been some signs.
After much thought, Lu Junyang came up with two possibilities: either the culprits were trying to mislead them and discourage their pursuit, or someone who couldn’t reveal themselves had helped to deal with the devils first.
Lu Junyang had planned to capture the devils and publicly deal with them in front of the townspeople to console the spirits of the innocently slain and alleviate the townspeople’s fears. But now, his plan was disrupted. As to why the other party didn’t reveal themselves, Lu Junyang even speculated that maybe another group of devils was involved—but that seemed very unlikely.
Lu Junyang couldn’t fathom why they left him such a message. “Let’s search the area to see if there are any clues,” he finally said.
“Understood.”
However, after nearly a day of searching in Tiangu, the group found no further traces, as if the devils had vanished into thin air.
“Could they really have been dealt with?” some began to believe.
“Eldest Senior Brother, what do we do now?” Continue the chase?
Lu Junyang pondered for a moment, “We’ll stay three more days. If nothing turns up, we’ll leave.”
“Understood.”
Lu Junyang and his group couldn’t stay in Tiangu much longer. He estimated they had at most ten days to resolve the issue until the opening of the Jitian Secret Realm. Any further delay, and they would miss it. Plus, Lu Junyang was anxious about the sect.
After three more days of fruitless searching, just when they thought they wouldn’t find anything, a disciple suddenly reported a lead.
Lu Junyang hurried to the location, a residential house in the town, only two streets away from the victims’ houses. He landed in the courtyard, where the disciple stood, sword in hand, and a plainly dressed middle-aged couple knelt on the ground, with the man protectively shielding the woman.
“Eldest Senior Brother, we’ve found the devils!” Gan Zilan and the others watched the two on the ground warily.
Lu Junyang looked down to see his instrument detecting a faint devil aura.
The woman, panicked, looked up, revealing a pair of red eyes, a hallmark of the devil race. But the man was just an ordinary, non-cultivating mortal.
“Great immortal, please see the truth. My wife is only a half-devil and has done no wrong. Please spare her life.”
Half-devil?
Gan Zilan, Zixin, and the others were surprised, scrutinizing the woman more closely. This was their first encounter with a mixed-blood. Aside from her red eyes, the woman seemed no different from a human, explaining why the devil aura on her was so faint. If they hadn’t been so thorough in their search, she might have gone unnoticed.
They knew they should eliminate devils and demons on sight, and mixed-bloods had no place in the Three Realms. All three races regarded the lives of mixed-races insignificant. Even if they disdained devils and demons, seeing the woman’s human-like appearance made the relatively inexperienced disciples hesitate. Unsure how to proceed, they looked to Lu Junyang for instructions.
Lu Junyang’s brows were deeply furrowed, “Do you know about the two murders that happened seven days ago?”
The middle-aged man, fearing the cultivators might kill his innocent wife without a word, quickly replied, “Great immortal, my wife and I didn’t know about it. Everything is unrelated to her. We just live a normal life here, never harming anyone. Please, see the truth!”
Gan Zilan said, “We will clarify whether it was you who did it.”
Lu Junyang turned to the half-devil woman.
The woman shrank back, clutching her husband tightly.
Lu Junyang asked, “What did you see that night?”
“Great immortal…” Just as the man was about to answer, Lu Junyang interrupted, “You, speak.”
The half-devil woman timidly looked at Lu Junyang and tremulously said, “Great immortal, that night I only saw three devils appear. Fearing they would discover us, we closed our doors and didn’t know what happened outside…”
It wasn’t until the next day that they learned about the slaughtering of the two families nearby. The husband wanted to leave with his wife to avoid trouble, but when cultivators arrived, they feared that leaving suddenly would draw suspicion. Hoping for the best, the couple stayed. Had he known they’d be discovered, he would have taken his wife and left as soon as possible.
Seeing Lu Junyang nod, Gan Zilan couldn’t help interjecting, “Eldest Senior Brother, you believe them?”
Lu Junyang affirmed, “They are not the murderers.” The couple’s aura was clean, and it didn’t match the devil aura left at the scene.
“But she is a devil’s descendant…” Are they just going to let them go? The disciple felt indignant.
Lu Junyang signaled for his juniors to sheathe their swords. “At the border of the realms, some towns have mixed-race residents.” Although humans might disdain mixed-races, they still had human blood flowing in their veins. Except for those who did evil, Lu Junyang, seeing no wrongdoing on their part, didn’t want to direct his sword at them. After all, these people were pitiable beings.
“Let’s go.” Just as Lu Junyang and the others were about to leave, a kid stealthily climbed onto the wall and accidentally caught sight of the red eyes. Terrified, he fell, screaming in a cracking voice, “Devil! There’s devil!”
This piercing scream alarmed the neighbors within several hundred meters, causing chaos. Women and children cried and fled, while the able-bodied men grabbed sticks and axes as weapons.
As soon as the scream erupted, Lu Junyang knew the situation had gone out of control. He leaped onto the roof and, using his spiritual aura to amplify his voice, loudly said, “Everyone, stay calm and do not panic!”
Hearing this voice, like a sobering slap, the crowd’s fear and confusion settled. Some courageous young men approached, thinking this might be the safest place in the presence of the cultivators.
“Hey, isn’t that Uncle Fang and Aunt Fang?”
“Aunt Fang is a devil!”
“A devil has infiltrated us!”
People started to notice the couple supporting each other, leading to panic and speculation.
“The murderer is among us!”
“Aunt Fang is the murderer!”
If it weren’t for the presence of Lu Junyang and the others, and the situation where it seemed like the devils had already been caught, and the crowd might have fled long ago.
Lu Junyang’s expression changed as he explained, “You are mistaken; they are not the murderers.”
However, no one listened to him. Someone threw a stone, hitting the couple.
“Murderers!”
The crowd, enraged yet too scared to approach, began throwing their makeshift weapons at the couple. In order to protect his wife, the man was hit several times and was quickly covered with wounds.
“Husband…!!!”
Seeing the situation, Lu Junyang waved his hand, sweeping away the weapons, “Everyone, hear me out.”
The authority of a cultivator quickly quieted the crowd down.
“This lady is only a half-devil, not a full devil, and they have no relation to the recent murders.” Lu Junyang stated the facts, trying to clear the couple’s name. However, without bringing the real culprits before the people, his words lacked convincing power. The crowd was skeptical, but their inherent obedience to cultivators prevented them from voicing their dissent.
Half-devil… But that’s still a devil! The townspeople’s faces showed various emotions.
Seeing this, Lu Junyang understood that even if he cleared the couple’s names, they couldn’t continue living here. He felt a sudden pang of regret. Had they not accidentally exposed the woman’s identity, the couple wouldn’t have faced such suspicion.
Lu Junyang used his authority to disperse the crowd and approached the couple.
The man looked at him warily.
“It is not my intention to disturb your peaceful life. I apologize for what has transpired,” Lu Junyang offered several high-grade spiritual stones. With these, the couple would have enough money to start anew elsewhere.
Gan Zilan and the others hesitated, but ultimately respected Lu Junyang’s decision.
Seeing Lu Junyang’s sincerity, the man hesitantly accepted the apology.
With that, Lu Junyang led his juniors away.
“Eldest Senior Brother…” The disciple who had used the instrument given by Lu Junyang to expose the couple looked downcast, “Did I do wrong?” He was stunned by the intense malice directed at the couple and was completely overwhelmed.
Lu Junyang patted his shoulder, “It was my oversight.”
Another disciple frowned, “Even if she isn’t the culprit, we did right in revealing her. People should know who they’re living next to. What if she kept hiding her identity and committed crimes one day? Half-devils still carry devil blood in them.” Even if they aren’t acknowledged.
The others remained silent, likely harboring similar thoughts.
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The poor couple couldn’t even continue their peaceful lives. Considering the boy even referenced her name, it’s obvious she was a gentle person to others, but it’s shame no one would think anything of it once her race wasn’t fully human. It’ll be interesting to see what the disciples’ reactions will be when they return to the sect and learn of Lu Yuandao’s views.
Thanks for the chapter! 😀