Chapter 109: Monsters

Long Tian pushed open the door listlessly. Seeing guests inside, he glanced at them—the young man was at the Golden Core stage, while the white-haired old man seemed somewhat inscrutable to him.
Startled, he quietly went into the bathroom and called out to Ye Feng, “Xiao Feng, come take a look. Which towel do I have among those we bought yesterday?”
Ye Feng responded and stood at the bathroom door with a helpless expression. Long Tian pulled him in and whispered, “That old man is very strong. Who is he?”
“He’s the leader of the Wudang Inner Council!” Ye Feng immediately realized that Long Tian had called him over because he was worried that Priest Kongxu might be up to no good.
“Are they here to help?” Long Tian was puzzled. “How did they get here so fast?”
“His disciple saw us leave the Ghost Market yesterday and suspected us of being the murderers, so he came to investigate. But I’ve already explained everything. There’s no problem anymore!” Ye Feng explained.
“Oh, that’s good!” Long Tian finally felt relieved and then shouted, “Oh, it’s this one! I know now!”
Ye Feng shook his head and left the bathroom.
“That person just now must be Long Tian from the Long family. Truly, heroes emerge from youth!” The old man didn’t seem surprised at all.
Ye Feng said nothing. After all, Long Tian’s Yuan Ying stage strength was already at the peak of this world, so any praise would be appropriate.
“Last night, after my disciple told me about the Ghost Market, I went there with him. We entered through the eastern entrance. By the time we arrived, all the corpses had been burned to ashes. There wasn’t a single living creature in the entire Ghost Market. But I do have some clues…” The old man took out several black strands, resembling hair, from his wide sleeves.
Although to ordinary people, those strands looked like hair, Ye Feng sensed a brutal aura, somewhat similar to the one in the valley. Initially, Ye Feng thought that feeling in the valley was just an illusion, but now he realized it wasn’t. “Was this taken from the valley? What exactly is it? Why didn’t Long Tian and I see it?”
“You two might not have seen it yesterday, but you must have sensed it! The aura of this thing is similar to that in the valley…” The old man smiled at Ye Feng, knowing he had already sensed it.

“This is demonic energy, the power used by demons. It’s similar to our own vital energy, as both are transformed from spiritual energy. Like our vital energy, this kind of energy can only be observed with the naked eye when it’s of high quality and quantity. Such energy residues will disappear on their own after a while. Fortunately, that demon was quite powerful, so the residual demonic energy after its attack was still strong, and I arrived in time. As soon as I got there, I sensed this energy. So I used a secret technique to give it a tangible form, making it visible to the naked eye, and then sealed it—consider it as evidence!” The old man said, putting that thread-like substance back into his sleeve.

“Are you saying it was a demon that attacked them?” Ye Feng recalled the scene from last night; it was indeed too brutal. Normal humans, without deep hatred, would never tear those corpses into such pieces.

However, Ye Feng still had a few doubts. “Aren’t demons generally not very intelligent? How could they know to destroy the bodies and pile them up for burning? Moreover, their actions were clearly planned. Within about ten minutes after Long Tian and I left Hu Die’s residence, they silently killed her. Their methods were clearly human.”

“In the Ghost Market, there must have been more than one person involved in the massacre. The appearance of those demons was probably also man-made! Under normal circumstances, demons would never appear in crowded places. Though greedy and murderous, they’re not stupid. In such places, even if they’re powerful, they might be surrounded and killed by the crowd! The only explanation is that they were deliberately brought there and released when there were many people. The enraged demons then went on a killing spree before fleeing, leaving the survivors with little combat strength. The person who orchestrated this incident killed them directly and piled up the bodies for burning.”

“And the one who killed Hu Die was someone else! I heard from Ji Mo that you and Long Tian were standing not far from the southern entrance. If anyone left through the southern path, they wouldn’t have escaped your detection. In other words, the person who killed Hu Die wasn’t in the valley at all. They waited until you left her residence before acting.” The old man analyzed the whole situation carefully.

“In that case, this incident must have been led by at least two experts at the Yuan Ying stage. The one inside the valley should be no weaker than that monster, otherwise they wouldn’t have survived after the monster went berserk. As for the one outside who killed Hu Die, they must also be at the Yuan Ying level!” Ye Feng frowned deeply; there were still not many clues yet.
“That’s likely true, but it’s possible more people are involved in this…” The old man nodded seriously as well. “It’s just unclear where this incident originated… What exactly drove them to carry out such large-scale killings…”
“Indeed, their motives are really hard to understand!” Ye Feng nodded too. “But inside the valley, all the items meant for sale have disappeared, and Hu Die’s Sumeru Ring was taken as well. It’s possible they’re searching for something…”
“We noticed that too. Aside from the burned corpses and broken weapons and limbs on the ground, not a single item meant for sale remains,” the old man nodded.
“Elder, we can’t just sit idly! Is there any way to catch the murderers?” Ye Feng was anxious; the enemies hiding in the shadows made it hard for him to feel at ease.
“Let’s start with that monster. I still have some traces of its magic energy. As for the rest, leave it to Wudao, the head of Shaolin’s inner monastery. Shaolin is very skilled at tracking monsters.” The old man seemed confident in that monk named Wudao. “Over five hundred years ago, a canine monster appeared near Kunlun. That guy, Wudao, chased it alone for 27 days. After killing the monster, he contacted me, and the two of us secretly roasted and ate it…”
“Uh… can you even eat that kind of thing?” Ye Feng was sweating profusely, and even the old man’s disciple looked utterly incredulous.
“It tastes quite good! After a monster dies, its magic energy gradually dissipates, so it can be used as food! It just doesn’t enhance our true energy after consumption,” the old man explained matter-of-factly. “Oh, by the way, I’ve held this in for over five hundred years. I finally can’t resist telling you today—don’t tell anyone else, okay…”