A quarter of an hour later, Song Ciwan departed from the family’s courtyard, the children’s laughter accompanying her as she continued her journey beneath a sky full of stars.
Pinglan City, shrouded in night, possessed a strange, contradictory feeling—it was both quiet and clamorous.
It was quiet because the night had grown late, and the people celebrating the new year with fireworks had all returned ho, exhausted. The clamor, however, ca from argunts like the one at the previous house, which were frequently breaking out all across the city.
In Song Ciwan’s vision, she could see the city’s intangible energies boiling, rising into the sky in wave after wave.
Song Ciwan stuck to her previous thod, capturing the energies as she walked.
If she ca across a family arguing too viciously, she would release her Black Insects to intervene, provided it was convenient.
Song Ciwan knew full well that this sudden, rapid increase in the city’s intangible energies, the common folk’s incessant argunts, and the amplification of everyone’s malevolent thoughts were by no ans normal.
With the opening of Illusory Nether City during the New Year festival, the influence of Nether Qi on the Mortal World was clearly intensifying!
Song Ciwan had actually hesitated for a mont, considering whether to take out her Ancestral Dragon Coins for Divination again. But after turning the thought over in her mind, she quickly abandoned it.
’With my current, rudintary Divination Technique, I really can’t divine anything particularly special. And even if the Ancestral Dragon Coins could point in a direction, how can I be sure that guidance won’t be influenced by so unseen forces?’
The more Song Ciwan practiced her Cultivation, the deeper her thoughts on fate and life beca.
’It’s like that saying I often heard in my past life: The more your fortune is told, the thinner your fate becos!’
’What can truly be considered the pull of fate?’
’And what can be considered true freedom?’
’After much thought, perhaps it was as the Sutra of Sitting and Forgetting said: Attach to nothing, and enter the void.’
’In other words, just let nature take its course.’
’Water benefits all things yet does not contend, so nothing can contend with it.’
’So, should one contend or not contend?’
Song Ciwan wandered on, once again witnessing the myriad states of the human condition.
The people of this world were driven by greed, hatred, and delusion—sotis over daily necessities, other tis over love, hate, and vengeance.
When food and clothing were scarce, daily necessities and copper coins were the main sources of conflict. But for those who wanted for nothing, who were even wealthy, new troubles would arise.
For example, there was a family of rchants who had amassed considerable wealth over generations. For the New Year, the entire clan gathered—wives and concubines, legitimate and illegitimate children, the main family branch and its offshoots. On the surface, everything seed perfectly harmonious.
However, one of the illegitimate sons harbored malicious intent. He used a Secret Technique to tamper with everyone’s food and drink, and by the ti the banquet was ending, everyone but him had been poisoned to death!
The scene was incredibly grueso. The illegitimate son looked at the bodies strewn across the floor and burst into wild laughter. "Dead... They’re all dead! And good riddance! Everything is mine now—the family fortune, the power, the land, and my Xiaochuan’Er! It’s all mine, HA HA HA..."
As he laughed, whether due to the Secret Technique he had used or because the Mortal World was simply too crazed that night, the man suddenly transford. In an instant, horns sprouted from his head, fangs grew from his mouth, his limbs beca covered in lumpy scales and thick fur, and his hands turned into a mass of writhing tentacles.
At that very mont, a fierce wind ripped through the grand mansion, and Demonic Qi surged toward the heavens!
Having transford into a demon in an instant, the man leaped up and toppled an entire building.
RUMBLE!
As brick walls collapsed, the surviving servants in the mansion panicked, screaming and scattering in all directions.
Song Ciwan happened to be passing by. A sweep of her Spiritual Sense revealed many young boys and girls among the servants. The patrolling Demon-slaying Captains were still far away, with none yet on the scene. So, with a light tap of her toes, she turned into a blur and passed right through a wall—
That’s right. Because she existed in the Otherworld, Song Ciwan could pass through walls at will while walking in the Mortal World.
In fact, it wasn’t just walls. If she wished, she could also pass through people.
Of course, doing so tended to cause discomfort, so Song Ciwan generally avoided it.
Executing her Returning to the True Level Grasshopper technique, she instantly appeared before the demonized man. She stretched out her hand, the Five Poison Jar opened, and a dense swarm of Black Insects surged out, surrounding the creature in a flash.
Having undergone Demonization, the man now possessed Infinite Power.
He opened his mouth and spat out plus of Demonic Qi, instantly killing many of the Black Insects.
The Black Insects dropped to the ground with a SIZZLE, and the surrounding grass and trees were scorched black in patches.
Song Ciwan placed a hand on the Black Armor Saber at her waist, ready to draw it at a mont’s notice to support her Black Insects.
However, after just a few rounds of fighting with the Black Insects, the demonized man suddenly deflated like an inflatable doll that had been violently punctured. With a loud cry, he curled into a ball.
The Demon Horns on his head vanished, as did the scales and thick fur on his body.
He lay shriveled on the ground, watching the terrifying Black Insects swarm around him. He suddenly clutched his head and burst into tears. "N-No, stay away! Father, First Mother, Big Brother... Please, spare ! Wen’Er will never do it again!"
Sohow, he had mistaken the swarm of Black Insects for the vengeful spirits of his dead relatives.
Song Ciwan stood to the side, genuinely surprised. She truly hadn’t expected such a turn of events.
The Heaven and Earth Scale automatically appeared and collected a ball of energy: [Demonic Desire. A mortal’s demonization, the demon within man. Contains shock, terror, and fear. Weight: three jin and six liang. Barterable.]
This was the first ti Song Ciwan had ever collected sothing like "demonic desire."
anwhile, the man on the ground, still weeping and clutching his head, spat out, "Don’t bla ! You can’t bla ! Who told you to divide the family assets?! Why should Big Brother get ninety percent while the rest of us brothers combined only get ten?!"
"We’re all Father’s sons! Why?! Why?!"
"Aargh! It hurts! Let go! Let go! Father, First Mother... Aaargh!"
The Black Insects surged forward. Having lost the special abilities from his Demonization, the weeping man was gnawed by the insects, rolling on the ground in agony.
As he rolled on the ground, he scread and cried, his words alternating between regretful pleas and furious curses.
As he cursed, the Demon Horns on his head began to show signs of regrowing.
But the Black Insects were devouring him too quickly, and his horns ultimately failed to regrow. Finally, he lay still on the ground, completely silent.
Song Ciwan recalled the reluctant Black Insects, forbidding them from continuing to Devour the flesh before them.
It wasn’t out of pity; rather, the energy in the Five Poison Jar was nearing saturation. If the Black Insects grew any stronger, Song Ciwan worried she would lose control of the jar!
She once again suppressed the Five Poison Jar within her Vast Sea Grotto Heaven. Then, with a wave of her hand, the Heaven and Earth Scale flew out. Its Balance Plate spun once and collected the Demon Corpse from the ground.
[Damaged flesh and blood from a mutated Demonization. Two-star Level. Barterable.]
Having collected the Demon Corpse, Song Ciwan lingered for a mont. She watched as the servants, who had been running about in chaos, suddenly stopped in their tracks. Soone cried out, "The Third Master is dead! No, the Third Master is gone?"
Then, another person cheered through their tears, "He’s really gone? SOB... We don’t have to die! This is wonderful!"
In the distance, Soldiers from the City Patrol Departnt seed to have noticed the commotion and were forming up to advance on the location.
Song Ciwan’s figure flickered, and she swiftly departed from the estate.
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