Chapter Thirty-One: The Talisman of Binding Spirits

After killing the vicious young master, Xiao Wenzi felt not the slightest guilt. All he wanted was for the victim to behave and obey, letting him freely feed on blood and exchange it for system coins. If his strength had not been so meager and his only offensive spell the Wing Blade Technique, he could have simply knocked the target unconscious and fed—there would have been more blood to consume if the victim survived. It was simply bad luck for Zhou Liang.

After all, cultivators of the Second Heaven possessed sharp spiritual senses. If Xiao Wenzi had tried to deal with Zhou Liang as he did the mortal martial artists in Kaoshan Town—using fire chains or candlesticks to strike—he might not have succeeded. Should he alert the other cultivators in this grand manor, not only would feeding and exchanging for system coins be impossible, but he would immediately be plunged into peril.

As Zhou Liang’s throat spurted blood, Xiao Wenzi swiftly darted forward and began to feed. Drop after drop, he swallowed the fresh blood, and as he lit up nine blood droplet icons, he exchanged them for Second Heaven system coins, never stopping the feeding motion. His cultivation had broken through to the peak of Second Heaven in the Demon Aura Realm, and his feeding speed was much faster than before. Within minutes, he had exchanged over a hundred system coins.

At the same time, Xiao Wenzi was delighted to discover that compared to mortal martial artists, this nameless villain—though low in cultivation—had blood that coagulated more slowly, allowing Xiao Wenzi to continue feeding quickly.

“Mm, this should suffice. The blood is becoming viscous and can’t be consumed further. I must leave quickly,” he mused.

After another two or three minutes, Xiao Wenzi stopped feeding, spread his wings, and flew out. In the end, he did not have the heart to harm the innocent girl. He knew that once she awakened, the young master’s death would be exposed, and then the entire Zhou family, perhaps even all the cultivators of Nanshan City, would hunt him down.

Knowing he had little time, Xiao Wenzi spared no demon spiritual power, fleeing rapidly until he was nearly out of the Zhou family estate and close to the underground drainage channel he had entered through. Only then did he breathe a long sigh of relief.

Perched temporarily atop an eave, Xiao Wenzi quickly accessed the exchange page for Second Heaven system coins. Seeing the status bar displaying nearly one hundred ninety coins, he smiled and unhesitatingly clicked the icon for the Concealment Talisman.

The Concealment Talisman was a charm that masked and shielded his demon aura, making it impossible for cultivators to track his movements by aura. Xiao Wenzi knew the Zhou family would not let matters rest. Though confident he could escape Nanshan City, the only risk of exposure lay in the faint traces of demon aura left in the air when he used spiritual power to flee.

With the Concealment Talisman in effect, this loophole was perfectly closed, and Xiao Wenzi did not begrudge spending system coins to exchange for the charm.

Twenty system coins vanished, and a pale silver talisman appeared before him, the size of an adult’s palm, shimmering with spiritual light—a truly extraordinary artifact. Just like the talismans of the cultivation world, it was simple to use: one merely needed to infuse energy to activate it.

Knowing he could not linger in such a place, Xiao Wenzi immediately used his foreclaws to channel demon spiritual power into the Concealment Talisman. The charm vaporized quickly, merging into his body and disappearing.

As expected, with the talisman in effect, no matter how he circulated his energy, not a trace of demon aura leaked. He swiftly flew out of the Zhou family estate, heading directly for the underground drainage channel.

Half an hour later, the girl who had been struck unconscious by Zhou Liang slowly woke. Her first thought was that she must have been violated. Yet aside from the burning pain in her cheek and her torn clothing, her body felt no other discomfort, and the villain was nowhere in sight.

Quickly sensing something amiss, she sat up slowly, wiping away tears and searching for the fire chain to light the candle and see what happened.

“Ah—!”

She had been brought here as a bride by force and had no idea where the fire chain was. Unable to find it at the bedside, she summoned her courage and got out of bed—only to stumble over the corpse on the floor.

Zhou Liang lay dead, his throat pierced, blood pooling everywhere. The girl’s small hand pressed against his chest, sticky and cold—his body was already stiff and lifeless.

Though she had never eaten pork, she’d certainly seen pigs run; as she touched his neck and face, realization dawned, and her scream echoed through the entire Zhou family manor.

On a wedding night, even if the young master acted outrageously, the bride should never make such a sound. So Zhou Liang’s parents, wives, and a host of servants and maids rushed to investigate. The scene shocked them all: the young master’s blood covered the floor, he was long dead, and the bride, her face swollen and clothes torn, huddled by the bed, trembling as if possessed.

Such a calamity meant the girl brought here as a bride would surely be subjected to strict interrogation, though she herself had no idea what had happened. With no murder weapon in the chamber, Zhou Liang’s parents and the Zhou family’s leaders began to suspect an intruder. To overpower even a cultivator, the perpetrator could not have been an ordinary mortal expert.

After a brief discussion, while sending word to their ancestor, the Zhou family head went at once to seek aid from the City Lord’s mansion. Nanshan City was no ordinary secular town; the City Lord’s mansion was backed by Fallen Feather Sect—truthfully, they were one and the same.

Out of respect for the Zhou family’s ancestor, the City Lord did not come in person that night, but dispatched a capable deputy, an elder at the half-step Foundation Establishment stage.

The young master had been killed by a spell resembling a wind blade, but such a fine magical edge was unusual, seemingly not the work of a human cultivator... Wait—the room contained faint traces of demon aura, and the window paper had a narrow hole torn in it. Could it be?

The gray-robed elder arrived at the Zhou family, extended his spiritual sense, and easily discerned the true cause of Zhou Liang’s death. Suddenly enlightened, he looked off into the distance, his spiritual sense spreading without reservation.

Seeing his silence, the Zhou family head and others dared not inquire.

After a long while, the gray-robed elder finally withdrew his gaze.

“Senior You, have you found the murderer?” asked the Zhou family head, unable to resist as the elder strode quickly outside.

“There is a clue. If my guess is correct, Zhou Liang’s death is likely related to the infamous demon mosquito incident. However...”

The gray-robed elder cared little for the paltry twenty lower-grade spirit stones offered for the demon mosquito’s capture, but he had at least heard of it. Now, connecting the dots—the window’s tiny torn hole made it impossible for any other demon beast or venomous insect to be responsible. It could only be that cunning demon mosquito returning once again.