Macaque

Yan Jue reached out toward Madam Chen’s quilt and, as expected, found a damp patch there. A thin stream of fluid was still seeping slowly out of her body.

Yin essence.

Was the evil thing afflicting Madam Chen connected to the one from the Huang residence?

Could it be that the fiend from last night hadn’t been killed, and after Huang Niangzi was rescued, it had simply switched targets?

One question after another flashed through Yan Jue’s mind.

“...”

Duan Luxi felt Madam Chen’s pulse. “I don’t know about anything else, but her pulse is exactly the same as Huang Niangzi’s yesterday!”

Qi Xianqing sat by the bed. “Come over and listen to what she’s shouting.”

Yan Jue froze, then leaned in to listen. Her heart gave a hard jolt.

Hu Lang.

Duan Luxi was a little bewildered. “Even the name she’s calling out is exactly the same as Huang Niangzi’s yesterday.”

Yan Jue stood off to the side listening, then suddenly blinked. She spotted something by Madam Chen’s pillow and bent down to pick it up.

A clump of stiff, dark yellow fur.

Yan Jue : “What is this?”

Qi Xianqing’s gaze flickered when she saw what was in Yan Jue’s hand. She unfastened the Qiankun bag at her waist, took something out, and held it up.

Yan Jue could clearly see what Qi Xianqing was holding, and couldn’t help but pause.

A messy tuft of dark yellow fur, caught in the wind.

Qi Xianqing : “I found this in Huang Niangzi’s room last night.”

“Since the same fur has turned up in this room, then this troublesome fiend, unless something unexpected happened, should be the same one as before.”

Duan Luxi asked, “Senior Sister, what kind of animal is this fur from?”

Though it was only a tiny tuft of fiendish fur, a faint fishy, musky stench still clung to it.

Five Dragons Sect once had a lesson specifically meant to teach disciples how to distinguish between the various creatures in the world.

It was just a pity that the class required an extremely sharp sense of smell and great patience; very few disciples ever passed it.

Qi Xianqing had taken that class, so she had already made her judgment. “Monkey.”

Yan Jue said slowly, “Macaque.”

She didn’t finish, but everyone understood.

Macaque; Hu Lang.

Now the situation was very clear.

Originally, they had all planned to finish the task and leave. At this point, though, there was no way they could go.

If the fiend wasn’t fully driven out, there would only be endless trouble later.

Qi Xianqing nodded. “The Thousand-Eyed Macaque Demon has the strongest yang energy among all demons. It especially likes to transform into a man and seduce women into coupling with it, then absorb their yin essence to increase its own cultivation; this is the art of taking yin to supplement yang. Once too much yin essence is lost, the harmed women gradually become mentally confused.”

“Light cases leave them foolish; severe cases drive them mad.”

Indeed, for male cultivators, yin essence was truly a precious resource for advancing their cultivation.

Yan Jue thought to herself that one only had to look at how much her own yin essence had benefited the male lead’s cultivation to know that.

While the group was talking, they suddenly heard a shout from outside the window. It seemed to be one of the Taoists from Qianqing Temple who had gone out earlier. “Madam Jiang of the northern city has fallen victim as well. Since fellow daoists are here, why not come with this humble priest to take a look? This matter is serious; with my meager skills, I’m afraid I won’t be able to handle it. I venture to ask all of you for help.”

“...”

After retrieving Madam Chen’s soul using the same method as the day before, the group went to the Jiang residence in the north of the city.

As expected, Madam Jiang’s condition was exactly the same as the other two.

The Taoist from Qianqing Temple was already casting spells in the room.

Qianqing Temple was also a fairly famous sect in the martial world, so there was no need to worry too much.

The group waited outside the door, watching the sky slowly darken.

The deadline for this D-rank mission was seven days; two had already passed.

Suddenly, they heard an enraged roar from inside the room. Yan Jue immediately looked through the window and saw a mass of black fog, identical to yesterday’s, crashing around wildly inside.

The Taoist’s cultivation was clearly not high. He brandished a peachwood sword and hacked wildly through the air.

Yan Jue stared at that dark brown wooden sword, and goosebumps rose all over her body.

Only then did she belatedly realize that, as a fox demon, she had a natural fear of objects that warded off evil. Before she could even react, her whole body was already trembling, and she took several steps back.

A vast surge of demonic energy raged inside her body, as if it were about to burst out. In that instant, the demon-binding ring around her neck seemed to sense something; after a slight tremor, it shrank sharply and clamped tightly against her skin.

Her back suddenly struck something soft.

Qi Xianqing instinctively caught her, and Yan Jue fell directly into the girl’s arms.

In an instant, the pleasant scent of the Immortal Spirit Physique wrapped around Yan Jue.

Her legs went weak; she nearly lost her footing, and hot sweat broke out on her forehead.

Even though she had already spent so much time with Qi Xianqing and had grown somewhat used to her scent, Yan Jue still could not resist that elegant presence.

At the same time, the black fog seemed to have locked onto its target and suddenly lunged toward the window.

Blue light flashed; Zhuying came out of its sheath.

The mass of black fog was split in two by Qi Xianqing’s immortal sword and slowly vanished into the air.

A brief silence fell over the room.

Duan Luxi asked, “What exactly is that black fog?”

Qi Xianqing replied, “It’s a remnant thought of the fiend.”

As soon as she finished speaking, a piercing scream suddenly came from the inner room. “Quick! Stop her! She’s going to escape...”

With a thunderous crash, the door was violently smashed open, and a black shadow shot out like a whirlwind.

The Taoist ran after it. “Madam! Madam!”

Yan Jue froze, instantly realizing that the girl fleeing like a madwoman was none other than Madam Jiang, who had also been affected by the fiend.

Qi Xianqing’s expression turned cold as she chased after her.

Madam Jiang was moving too fast, far beyond what an ordinary mortal could manage. Before Qi Xianqing could catch up, the servants had already crowded in and blocked her at the outer edge. Madam Jiang, running in a frenzy, reached the latrine over there and let out a soul-rending scream. “Hu Lang! I’m going with you!!!” Then she jumped into the cesspit.

In an instant, everyone surged toward that side like a tide. By the time Madam Jiang was pulled out, she was already dead.

-

The entire estate was shrouded in gloom.

Qi Xianqing sat in the room, feeling a little angry. Unconsciously, her fingers tightened around the immortal sword Zhuying, her knuckles turning slightly white.

She had gone down the mountain many times and knew the nature of these fiends very well.

Relying on their greedy private desires, they had harmed who knew how many innocent lives.

That was why, when Master once asked her whether she wanted to remain in the mountains cultivating in seclusion or go down the mountain to slay demons and exorcise evil, she gave up the right to enter Five Dragons Sect’s inner chambers for secluded cultivation and climb higher and higher, and chose the latter.

If the world’s demons and evil spirits were not cut down to the last one, how could she face the countless lives they had taken?

If there was anything Qi Xianqing hated most in her heart, it was demons and monsters.

Demons came first.

“...”

Qi Xianqing knew very well that severing the black fog had only cut off one remnant thought of the fiend. This method of exorcism was treating the symptoms, not the root cause at all.

That Thousand-Eyed Macaque Demon would always find a new target.

Even if it couldn’t find another victim for the moment, once they left, it would surely go back to attacking the three women who had already “fully recovered” from their illnesses.

It might even harass the original Huang Niangzi even more ruthlessly.

If they wanted to stop this completely, the only way was to find that Thousand-Eyed Macaque Demon.

But there were tens of thousands of young women in the city. Without knowing what its next target would be, waiting passively for the rabbit to run into the tree stump was far too difficult.

Qi Xianqing was lost in thought when she suddenly noticed something. “How much longer are you going to keep holding my hand?”

Yan Jue had just been frightened out of her wits by that peachwood sword and hadn’t noticed that she had somehow been gripping Qi Xianqing’s hand tightly.

She immediately let go. “Sorry, I forgot.”

“...”

Suddenly, footsteps sounded in the corridor outside. Duan Luxi hurried in from outside. “Senior Sister, it really is!”

“I asked some of the guards outside. Thirty li east of the city, there’s a lewd shrine; the thing enshrined inside is the Thousand-Eyed Macaque God. And Madam Chen and Madam Jiang both went to worship the Monkey God, one three days ago and the other the day before yesterday.”

The Monkey God was a yang deity; this kind of lewd shrine mostly handled descendants, childbirth, having sons, that sort of thing.

Duan Luxi continued, “But where is this fiend hiding? How are we supposed to find it?”

Yan Jue frowned and looked at the half-dead Madam Jiang on the bed. She suddenly felt as if she shared the same fate.

Being drained of yin essence was no different from directly taking an ordinary woman’s life.

And standing before her now was not some cold, paper-thin character.

It was a living, breathing life.

Yan Jue suddenly : “I’ll draw it out.”

The moment the words left her mouth, it was as if thunder had cracked beside everyone’s ears.

Qi Xianqing lifted her eyes and looked over.

Chu Fu frowned. “A-Jue, what are you saying? Is this something you can joke about? Even if there really is a Thousand-Eyed Macaque Demon, since it’s been able to strike so many women without anyone noticing, its cultivation must be far from weak! You’re only at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment right now; one misstep and the demon will suck away your yin essence!”

Heh. Yan Jue’s yin essence would belong to him sooner or later. Chu Fu was obsessed with purity; he knew this woman had a sordid nature. So many women had fallen for the fiend’s tricks, and no one knew how tall, imposing, and elegant that fiend looked.

Yan Jue would probably rush to couple with it as well.

Something he had not yet obtained; how could he allow anyone else to covet it!

Yan Jue didn’t even glance at him. Turning around, she said to Qi Xianqing, “Senior Sister, wait for my news.”

Qi Xianqing : “You always use yourself as bait. Is that some kind of habit of yours?”

Yan Jue froze. Only then did she realize Qi Xianqing was referring to what had happened at Drunken Spring Pavilion that day. “After all, I’m the most suitable choice right now.”

She wasn’t wrong. First, her cultivation was low, so if that fiend had any intelligence, it would inevitably lower its guard.

Second, she was indeed very confident in her own looks. Yan Jue dared to say her bearing and charm surpassed anyone else’s.

Duan Luxi felt the atmosphere was subtly off and tried to smooth things over. “Ah, Yan Jue, this is way too dangerous...”

Qi Xianqing’s expression remained cool, her tone colder still. “You’re that confident in yourself?”

Yan Jue replied, “Then that’s my capital. Some people, even if they lie there, the Thousand-Eyed Macaque Demon wouldn’t spare them a single glance.”

Her words were barbed, and she never missed a chance to mock Qi Xianqing.

The moment she finished speaking, the coldness around them rose sharply.

Qi Xianqing looked at Yan Jue, and invisible pressure slowly began to radiate from her body.

Yan Jue’s scalp prickled; her legs went weak, and she couldn’t help wanting to kneel. She was almost suffocating.

Meeting those dark yet clear peach blossom eyes, Yan Jue felt an unprecedented danger emanating from Qi Xianqing.

Of course she was afraid, but she knew that Qi Xianqing had the world in her heart. If this method could draw the fiend out, she would not refuse it.

“...”

After several breaths, Qi Xianqing finally let her go and said flatly, “How can you be sure that Thousand-Eyed Macaque Demon will definitely be drawn out by you?”

“If it’s that kind of capital, I may not be inferior to you.”

Yan Jue: “?!”

Yan Jue widened her eyes and looked Qi Xianqing up and down. Her face instantly flushed bright red.

This woman was doing it on purpose, wasn’t she!

At any rate, it seemed she had won this gamble. Yan Jue hurriedly changed the subject. “Senior Sister, rest assured; I’ll definitely lure it out.”

The capital she meant, naturally, was not that kind of capital.

As the original body’s descendant of the Ghost Mansion Fox Clan, she possessed outstanding aptitude and bloodline, such as this yin essence that had pushed the male lead up two entire realms.

She was Pure Yin Physique; although it wasn’t as precious as the Immortal Spirit Physique, it was still a very rare constitution.

“However...” Yan Jue changed tack. “I need Senior Sister’s cooperation.”