Chapter 33: Who Is the Demon?

Under the special alertness elixir prepared by Qi Shanye, the time originally required to engrave the Chengpo Star Pattern—half an hour—was stretched to an hour and a half.

Xu Jin could not afford to pretend.

Because Qi Shanye’s steady, gentle spiritual force circled constantly around Xu Jin’s head, Xu Jin had to activate the Yin Hui Form, deliberately guarding the Upper Star Palace, or Qi Shanye would immediately notice.

Xu Jin felt the Chengpo Star Pattern was beginning to take shape.

But even so, compared to the simplified Gathering Star Pattern engraved on his chest by the instructors, the difficulty of this Chengpo Star Pattern was a hundredfold greater.

Xu Jin remembered that when Ning Yuchan engraved the simplified Gathering Star Pattern on his chest, she did it twice: each session lasted fifteen minutes, with a thirty-minute gap between them, and it was done.

Yet this Chengpo Star Pattern had already taken two hours—four hours total—and only now had a faint outline begun to form.

If this man in green had no malicious intent toward Xu Jin, then once the Star Pattern was successfully engraved, its effect must be significant.

But what if he did have malicious intent?

This was Xu Jin’s greatest concern right now.

After a brief moment of thought, Xu Jin fell into a deep sleep.

Today, Qi Shanye, using that one alertness elixir, drained Xu Jin’s spiritual force completely before leaving.

Deep night.

In the quiet chamber of Tian Zhang, Supervisor of the Jinshan Dao Academy, Tian Zhang’s hand had just grasped his Blood Shadow Blade when he let go again, sighing helplessly.

“You come to me every day—do you have nothing better to do?”

The figure of the man in green, Qi Shanye, slowly materialized before Tian Zhang’s window. “Are you just watching? Watching them commit atrocities across Jinshan County under the guise of demons?”

“Isn’t this trouble your own doing?” Tian Zhang retorted.

At this, Qi Shanye let out a cold laugh, then several more before cursing, “Where’s your balls? Got castrated?”

“I’ll go rape your wife right now.”

“Then you won’t come kill me—you’ll beat your wife instead, blaming her for being too beautiful?”

“Coward?”

“Where’s your bloodlust from twenty years ago?”

Tian Zhang’s chest heaved violently, his brow bristling with killing intent. “The court and the National Dao Academy have both issued orders.”

“If one day the court orders me to sleep with your wife, will you also prepare her bathwater?”

“You—”

Clang!

Tian Zhang’s long blade flashed from its sheath, pointing at Qi Shanye. “Don’t push me too far.”

“You can’t stand it when it’s your wife!”

“But you can stand it when it’s these common folk?”

“Don’t forget—twenty years ago, who wrote his blood letter and paraded through the city, under the pressure of the Tianyang Star Hall, to define the first step of your blood revenge?”

With that, the man in green vanished instantly, but his voice lingered.

“I’ve said all I have to say. Think on it yourself.”

“In this world, everyone fears death and clings to life.”

“Everyone has selfish desires.”

“But when night is deep and quiet, ask your own heart.”

The voice faded, leaving Tian Zhang lost in thought within the quiet chamber.

Even without Qi Shanye’s reminder, the stack of reports on his desk told Tian Zhang he had to act.

Yet under the court’s order to “fully cooperate with the Tianyang Branch Hall in hunting demons,” his options were extremely limited.

After a long while, a red streak of light shot up from the academy and landed directly at the residence of the Academy Head, Dong Zhao, atop the mountain.

“Come in.”

As soon as Tian Zhang landed, Dong Zhao’s voice rang out.

Tian Zhang strode in and saw Dong Zhao standing with his hands behind his back before the window of the small pavilion, overlooking the entire Jinshan County city.

“Head, I want to dispatch troops to patrol Jinshan County city!” Tian Zhang said.

“Didn’t you receive the court’s order?”

“I did, but Head, look at this!” Tian Zhang handed Dong Zhao several reports.

“On June 18, across all six counties and the county seat, nine homicides occurred. Twelve direct deaths, seven of them labeled as demon attacks.”

“On June 19, thirteen homicides occurred across all six counties and the county seat. Nineteen direct deaths, nine labeled as demon attacks.”

“On June 20, fourteen homicides occurred across all six counties and the county seat. Twenty-six direct deaths, ten labeled as demon attacks; even when no evidence existed, the government office still classified them as demon crimes.”

“On June 21, twenty-one homicides occurred across all six counties and the county seat. Thirty-nine direct deaths—all labeled as demon attacks.”

As of tonight, the latest reports show thirty-two more homicides across all six counties and the county seat, with forty-six direct deaths—all labeled as demon attacks.

These are only the deaths. Daily, nearly a hundred cases of robbery, assault, looting, and vandalism occur.

Gangs across the county are seizing the chaos to plunder and extort!

Head, it’s fallen into chaos!

Jinshan County is in chaos.

The inaction of the government office and the Dao Academy has emboldened every evil and unleashed every demon.

If this continues, all industries will wither, and great turmoil is coming!” Tian Zhang’s expression was agitated.

“The court and National Dao Academy have issued these orders, and the Tianyang Branch Hall watches closely—all focus is on capturing demons. What can we do?” Dong Zhao said.

Don’t mention demons, and all was quiet; mention them, and Tian Zhang shouted, “Head, do you really not know whether any demons exist?”

“Even if I know, what can I do? I have no authority to define the rules.”

“Under the pressure of the Star Halls, even the National Dao Academy has lost the power to define right and wrong.”

“What can we do?”

Here, Dong Zhao sighed. “We can only blame the Lingji Star Hall for being too rigid—each branch hall destroyed, even their main hall locked down—and who knew it would bring such suffering to Chen Guo?”

“In the end, Chen Guo, their supporter, swallowed these bitter fruits.”

“But it’s the common people who suffer and die! If star cultivators from the Star Halls and Dao Academies slaughtered each other until rivers ran red, I wouldn’t care. But now, day after day, it’s our own parents and neighbors who die and suffer.”

“Twenty years ago, those same parents and neighbors signed blood petitions and paraded through the city to save my life.”

“Now, they look to me, their Supervisor, to protect them—but—” Tian Zhang’s face was filled with sorrow.

“Protect them? With what?”

“Head, latest reports: the Worship of the Dipper Cult has risen again—people are vanishing in some areas. Not just them—the Blood God Cult has also grown increasingly active; blood-imbued Star Casting Scriptures have been found in every county.”

“Head, if this continues, Jinshan County will erupt into great chaos!”

Dong Zhao stared fixedly at Tian Zhang, then suddenly asked, “Do you truly want to do something?”

“Of course!”

“Tell me your plan,” Dong Zhao said.

At this, Tian Zhang revealed his long-planned idea. But to his surprise, Dong Zhao shook his head. “No.”

“Your method might work, but it’s only a temporary fix—it won’t deter anyone.”

“And afterward, these new Star Patrols you recruit will immediately be sent out under the pretext of hunting demons.”

“Useless.”

“Head, isn’t it better than doing nothing?”

“Try thinking differently.”

“Think differently?” Tian Zhang was confused.

“They’re hunting demons, right?”

“Then let’s give them a real demon to lock up!” Dong Zhao said.

“Head, I don’t understand.”

“The Tianyang Branch Hall says they’re hunting demons—but they never said who the demon is!”

“The Blood God Cult can be a demon. The Worship of the Dipper Cult can be a demon. So too can the murderers, rapists, and looters.” As Dong Zhao spoke, his voice grew quieter, and Tian Zhang leaned in closer.

After a long silence, Tian Zhang suddenly exclaimed, “Head, this plan is enormous!”

“If it succeeds, it could restore peace to Jinshan County for twenty years!”

“Indeed. But I currently have too few usable people.”

“Precisely because of that, success is possible.”

Dong Zhao fixed his gaze on Tian Zhang. “Will you do it? If yes, I’ll issue secret orders for the rest of the Dao Academy to assist you. If no, pretend you never came.”

“I’ll do it! How could I not?”

“Twenty years ago, I had nothing—and I still dared to fight. How much more so now?”

“People only dare to risk everything when they have nothing.”

“The more they have, the more afraid they become.”

“If not for this, how could the Lingji Star Hall have been forced to lock its hall?”

“And how far has Chen Guo fallen?”

Hearing this, Tian Zhang nodded. “Head, I’ll prepare for the worst.”

“Then go. I’ll issue the order after dawn.”

At this, Tian Zhang stepped back three paces, bowed deeply, then turned and left.

The next morning, before dawn, Xu Jin rose as always for morning practice, still performing only three rounds of the Canxia Form, then returned to his dormitory to engrave the Star Pattern.

The night had been entirely consumed by the man in green; to engrave the small Gathering Star Pattern ahead of schedule, Xu Jin could only rely on the daylight hours.

Although Xu Jin’s difficulty in engraving star patterns had shifted from tracing to freehand copying, freehand copying still could not succeed on the first try.

Engraving star patterns inside the Star Lamp was entirely different from engraving them on one’s own flesh.

The first and second attempts both ended in failure.

His control over star energy was still inadequate.

By the third attempt, Xu Jin had gained considerable experience.

A half-lotus-shaped minor star pattern, Xu Jin guided his star energy like a painter, rendering every branch with perfect precision—each fine detail exact—until the final branch was about to close into a flawless loop, when sudden pain lanced through his skull and his star energy trembled.

It collapsed!

Xu Jin opened his eyes and exhaled deeply.

He still lacked experience.

In the future, he should remember: when engraving star patterns, he must keep his soul force at its peak.

Then, Xu Jin swallowed a Soul-Clarifying Pill.

Feeling his soul force slightly restored, he found himself missing the Stimulating Pill the man in blue had given him last night.

That one Stimulating Pill, taken, had made him as alert as if he’d taken a stimulant—within three minutes, he was fully energized.

Unfortunately, he’d only been given one last night.

As for the price in the elixir room, thirty taels per pill.

Although Xu Jin still had some silver on hand, he felt the Soul-Clarifying Pill was sufficient for now.

Of course, if needed, he would buy without hesitation.

For the fourth and fifth attempts, Xu Jin merely kept refining and reinforcing, accumulating experience.

When the effects of the Soul-Clarifying Pill wore off, he barely managed to finish lunch before collapsing into sleep.

In the afternoon, Xu Jin was jolted awake by urgent drumbeats.

“All newly admitted disciples, assemble in the Training Hall within fifteen minutes!” a servant shouted the order.

(End of Chapter)