Chapter 455: Staring Blankly, Staring Blankly (9/10, Autumn Subscription)

He got up from bed, stretched his numb legs, opened the window, and felt the morning sun warm his face.

"Parchment, come out and bask in the sun—welcome a wonderful day!"

His Flame Heart Method had broken through to the seventh layer, strengthening him beyond the previous level, leaving Fang Yue in high spirits—even enough to tease Parchment.

But as expected, there was no response.

Because Parchment was in deep sleep; previously, using the power of 【Silver Stone】 to activate 【Ancient Words Power】 had drained it severely, requiring a long period of dormancy.

Then it had been forced to manifest again to deal with Meiyu Xianzi, exhausting itself completely.

After speaking with Fang Yue, it truly fell into slumber, unknown when it would awaken.

Of course, this didn't stop Fang Yue from occasionally teasing Parchment, which gave no reply.

If Parchment were awake, it would retort—but now that it was asleep, it couldn't fight back, so he could scold it however he liked.

Fang Yue was pondering how to scold Parchment when suddenly he felt a tremor beneath his feet.

He paused, then opened his door.

The creaking sounds of carpentry work immediately reached him.

Ahead, several carpenters were gesturing and apparently discussing repair plans.

Confused, he walked to the corridor and looked down.

Holy hell!

One of the main wooden pillars supporting the second floor had been partially smashed, making the entire upper level look ready to collapse.

What the hell happened??

Fang Yue hurried to find Lord Han but couldn't locate him; he went downstairs and finally found Jing Yan and the others.

"Holy shit!"

Before Fang Yue could even greet them, a massive dog head, panting heavily, rushed over.

"Xiao Xuedou??"

Fang Yue was stunned—he'd only trained all night, and now everything felt like the world had turned upside down.

Jing Yan quickly explained what had happened last night.

After Fang Yue processed it, he stared at Xiao Xuedou, whose drool dripped heavily onto the floor.

If not for Xiao Xuedou's massive size increase, he truly couldn't believe it had viciously attacked them last night.

"Possession…"

Fang Yue paused, and his first thought was the Qingluan Lou case.

Could it be… that case was merely the beginning?

But that didn't make sense.

The 【Fire Mark Token】 had only been touched by Dou Baiyi and Xiong Duoduo of the Flame Sect.

No one else had touched it—how had Xiao Xuedou become connected to it?

It was impossible that Xiao Xuedou had been possessed by some external entity only to manifest its effects upon arriving in Qingsi County.

Because throughout the journey, Fang Yue had watched closely—there had been no issues at all.

And the resemblance of this possession to Dou Fan's…

Fang Yue frowned, his gaze suddenly flicking toward Jing Yan and Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu.

The only thing Xiao Xuedou had done alongside Dou Fan and the others was visit Qingluan Lou.

Could it be that merely visiting Qingluan Lou caused possession?

That couldn't be right!

After thinking, Fang Yue asked: "Have either of you felt unwell? Any abnormal status on your status bar—like a curse?"

"No."

"Nope."

Both shook their heads.

Alright, he couldn't figure it out—apparently the real problem was how to handle the enlarged Xiao Xuedou.

Killing it would be a permanent solution, but everyone found the idea hard to accept.

Leaving it alone, however, risked another possession and more chaos.

After thinking, Fang Yue still had no idea, so he asked: "What did Lord Han say?"

"Lord Han… leans toward eliminating Xiao Xuedou, but he says he'll follow your orders."

So he's kicking the ball back to me again.

"... Where is he?"

"He went to look for Captain Lin. Captain Lin didn't return all night—he's worried."

"What? He's not a child—what's there to worry about? Lin Ling probably went somewhere like Qingluan Lou to have fun."

"Lord Han says Captain Lin isn't that kind of person. He promised to return to the inn before dark, yet he didn't come back at all—there must be a special reason."

Hearing this, Fang Yue finally felt a flicker of concern.

"Could Lin Ling really be in trouble…"

Thinking of Dou Fan's possession and Xiao Xuedou's possession, Fang Yue frowned.

Qingsi County isn't safe—please don't let Lin Ling get possessed too. If he does, I'll have to personally put him down, just to repay his care for me.

Lin Ling was still missing, and Fang Yue was already imagining Lin Ling possessed, then calmly seeing him off.

If Lin Ling ever found out, he'd probably shoot Fang Yue full of holes.

As Fang Yue was lost in these thoughts, he saw a squad of Blue Guards approaching from afar.

"Are you Captain Ye?"

Fang Yue was first stunned for a moment, then his emotions stirred with excitement.

By rights, yesterday's case had been wrapped up, and he had already received the 【Broken Dragon Head】 reward.

Logically, he shouldn't have had any dealings with the Qing Division in the short term.

So now, the only possible reason this group had come was that the news from Gu Yue Cun had been confirmed, and he could officially join the Qing Division!

"Yes, that's me!"

"Captain Ye, please come with us…"

"Is there feedback on the case of Gu Yue Cun's destruction?"

"Huh?" That Grey-Clad Qing Guard was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said: "No, it's Lord You who's looking for you."

You Sisi?

Fang Yue was taken aback.

What does she want with me… Could it be that after being defeated by my sword yesterday, she's holding a grudge and planning to challenge me again…

No way, I don't want any of this childish fighting.

Setting aside the lifespan I have to expend in every battle, there's simply no payoff.

After thinking for a moment, Fang Yue asked: "Did she say what it was about?"

"Yes, Lord You said there's new progress on the Qingluan Lou case."

The Qingluan Lou case??

It was only just wrapped up yesterday, and now it's being reopened??

After exchanging a word with Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu and Jing Yan, he followed the Qing Guard toward the Qing Division.

Along the way, Fang Yue gradually sensed something was off.

On the streets, there were clearly fresh signs of destruction, along with bloodstains left by something being dragged.

"What happened here?"

"Don't know, the ones on night patrol last night weren't us."

Fang Yue's brow furrowed slightly, and he didn't press further. He had more or less already guessed that You Sisi's looking for him might be related to these matters.

After going a bit further, sure enough, he saw another similar scene.

It had all been dealt with to some extent by the Qing Division, but judging from the traces left at the scene, what happened at the time must have been extremely brutal.

Just along this one road to the Qing Division, he could see three or four similar situations.

Fang Yue's heart gradually sank, and he dimly realized that something major seemed to have happened in Qingsi County, and he was still completely in the dark!

Standing at the entrance of the Qing Division, looking at the figures inside who were far busier than when he'd last come, Fang Yue strode in.

……

(End of chapter)