Chapter 47: What's the Point of Explaining to a Dead Man

Chen Ye heard Su Chunyi's words and smiled, saying, "He probably thinks the most dangerous place is the safest."

This approach was indeed correct; Chen Ye had searched for a long time without finding the person, thinking he had long since fled, completely unaware he still dared to stay in the same spot.

However, the place he hid was even more interesting; it turned out to be the Hengdao Inn they had visited before.

This saved even the time of traveling; sword light descended, and the three arrived at the entrance of the Hengdao Inn.

Chen Ye glanced over; the half lion and broken blade were still there, but now white banners hung upon them, mourning the death of County Magistrate Cui.

Yet Chen Ye and Su Chunyi only stood at the entrance, not stepping inside the inn.

Lan Shi looked left and right, seeing nothing amiss, and couldn't help asking in a low voice, "What are we waiting for?"

Su Chunyi offered no explanation, merely pulling Lan Shi aside and saying to her, "Watch Mr. Chen's methods carefully."

Lan Shi didn't understand, but she saw Chen Ye already chanting spells and drawing talismans, his eyes turning golden.

Chen Ye opened his Spiritual Eyes and gazed at the Hengdao Inn; it looked unremarkable, the Five Elements Qi stable, no different from anywhere else.

Chen Ye had come here before to search, but had seen no clues.

But back then, he had come and gone in haste, glancing only a few times before leaving. Now that Su Chunyi said Najiang Shiyue was hiding here, Chen Ye looked much more carefully.

After staring intently for a moment, Chen Ye indeed detected a slight irregularity.

All things in heaven and earth possess Qi, mostly divided into Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements; without external force to stir them, they are usually quite stable.

But the Qi of this Hengdao Inn was perhaps too stable; even the trees planted on both sides, their Wood-element Qi, remained motionless.

These were not withered trees; they should constantly exchange Qi with heaven, earth, and all things. Even if the exchange was minute, it should be dynamic, yet after looking for a long time, there was no movement whatsoever.

"So it is an illusion technique; I didn't expect the demon lord Jiang Shiyue to have this trick up his sleeve."

Chen Ye didn't understand illusion techniques, mainly because Mo Ci had never taught him, but as Su Chunyi said, his foundational understanding of arrays was far deeper than other cultivators.

The principle of arrays is nothing more than stirring heaven and earth's Qi in a specific way to achieve the desired effect.

Summoning clouds and rain, flying on swords—their essence is all the same.

Since what lay before his eyes remained unchanged, it meant he had chosen a certain moment, copied the scene, and turned it into a curtain to deceive the eye.

Such things break with a single poke.

"Let me see: Kan position devours Qi, Li fire burns Yin, Gen stops, repeating the Way, the movement of Heaven..."

Even without understanding illusions, the laws of heaven and earth's Qi circulation were the same. Arrays could not exist without Qi, so Chen Ye calculated carefully according to the Hengdao Inn's original orientation, and soon a smile appeared.

"Truly, no surprise at all; the array core is placed in such an obvious spot, truly practicing the idea that the most dangerous place is the safest to the end."

Chen Ye walked to the half lion, extended his fingertip to scratch the long blade, leaving a talisman with his fingertip blood, then activated the Sword Case; three sword lights flew toward the Kan, Li, and Gen trigram directions.

Only the sound of three shattering cracks was heard; even a mortal could see countless cracks appearing out of thin air.

But arrays are still arrays; the moment the cracks appeared, Qi gathered to repair them, yet the blood talisman Chen Ye left on the array core also took effect, emitting a brilliant glow.

The cracks that were about to be repaired expanded again, finally shattering completely, revealing the true form of the Hengdao Inn.

Dried bloodstains and mangled bodies remained on the ground, as if a massacre had occurred; a nauseating stench hung in the air. Several martial artists with red eyes and emaciated figures stood at the door, glaring fiercely at Chen Ye.

Before, the array had concealed these things.

Now that the illusion was broken, the calm inn was like hell.

Lan Shi watched in shock; was this the power of immortals? Even when walking right beside the corpses before, she had seen nothing; such a strong stench of corpses, she hadn't noticed a trace.

Chen Ye looked at those red-eyed martial artists; clearly, they had been controlled by Jiang Shiyue's charm technique. But this incomplete charm technique was greatly harmful to the human body; these people probably wouldn't live long.

Chen Ye sighed, "A demon lord is a demon lord; treating human lives as nothing."

Those martial artists waved their weapons and charged at Chen Ye, but mortals, even if fearless of death, posed no threat to cultivators.

Chen Ye shook the Ten Thousand Souls Banner; countless Yin spirits, including Yang Chongguang, flew out and quickly suppressed these martial artists.

Yang Chongguang stepped on the heads of two martial artists and asked, "Benefactor, shall I kill them?"

Chen Ye shook his head; he had no time now to distinguish whether they were innocent or accomplices, so he took out a medicine bottle, poured out a little, and blew it away.

The medicine powder scattered, drilling into the nostrils of these martial artists, quickly making them fall into a deep sleep.

This was a relic from Monk Ku'e; he had collected a large pile of medicine bottles at the time, and this sleeping powder was one of them, considered standard equipment for demonic cultivators, though not something good, only useful against mortals.

Chen Ye usually had no use for it, but unexpectedly, it came in handy now.

As soon as these controlled martial artists fell, a resentful voice came from inside the inn: "Why are you so aggressive?!"

Jiang Shiyue, whose name had been heard but never seen, finally appeared before Chen Ye.

This person walked out of the full inn; his already Yin-soft face was now even grayer, looking like a corpse.

His master had died inexplicably, and Qinghe County had suddenly changed hands; Jiang Shiyue knew cultivators were involved, but he truly didn't know who.

He had seen the message Chen Ye left, but he didn't believe cultivators from Qinghe Sword Sect would kill and then take the bodies away.

With so many chaotic matters piled up, he couldn't make sense of them; Jiang Shiyue just wanted to hide, wait three or five months, and perhaps things would stabilize.

Who would have thought that even after hiding so seriously, someone would still come to his door to wipe him out completely.

Chen Ye carefully examined this Young Master Jiang; how to put it? If it were his past life, he would probably be that kind of criticized young idol; one couldn't say he was ugly, but he just didn't look healthy or sunny no matter how one looked.

With such a gloomy appearance, how could he be considered the number one handsome man?

Seeing Chen Ye's contemptuous look, Jiang Shiyue became even angrier, but he still forced down his rage and said, "What exactly do you want? We are all fellow Daoists; there's no need to fight to the death. Lay down the terms; anything can be negotiated."

Chen Ye refused without hesitation, saying, "Who is your fellow Daoist, you demon lord?"

Jiang Shiyue roared in anger, "Dare you say you are not from the Demon Sect? Do you really think no one knows you are impersonating a disciple of Qinghe Sword Sect?!"

Chen Ye smiled and pointed to Su Chunyi beside him, saying confidently, "This is a disciple of Qinghe Sword Sect; if you doubt it, you can ask her opinion."

Jiang Shiyue spat, saying disdainfully, "Do you think I'm stupid?! Using the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and sleeping powder right in front of a Qinghe Sword Sect disciple? If she is from Qinghe Sword Sect, I'll write my name backwards!"

Ah, this...

Chen Ye felt somewhat awkward; this matter was indeed hard to explain.

But thinking about it, he let it go; what was there to explain to a dead man?!

The Ten Thousand Souls Banner shook, and countless Yin spirits lunged at Jiang Shiyue; the Sword Case opened, and four sword lights flew toward Jiang Shiyue; his right hand drew a talisman, and the Body-Stabilizing Technique was already being prepared... In an instant, Chen Ye threw out every method he could use.

Even a lion pouncing on a rabbit must give its all!