At dusk, Qin Yun’s brother, Qin An, reluctantly left the manor. Together with his wife and children, he headed south of the city on a horse-drawn carriage.
The night descended.
Qin Yun changed into black clothes and tracked his brother to his manor. There, he stood hidden in the shadows.
“According to the mark that I left on brother, this is it.” Qin Yun looked at the manor. “This is actually the first time that I’ve been to brother’s manor. I would have never imagined that demons would be the reason why.”
With a step, he flew more than a hundred feet into the manor’s interior, where he landed on the roof of a pavilion. Silently, he half-crouched as he surveyed the entire manor.
The manor was a couple of acres big and there were quite a few servants on patrol. In certain dark recesses, there were even expert guards that stood vigilant.
“Dharma Eyes, behold!”
Dharmic patterns condensed deep within Qin Yun’s eyes and he once again opened his Dharma Eyes.
Under the Dharma Eyes’ gaze, the vital auras of the two hidden expert guards and the six servants that were openly patrolling could be clearly seen. Qin Yun also saw the vital auras of his brother, Qin An, as well as his brother’s wife and children. They were all fast asleep. As long as an aura was within his Dharma Eyes’ range, even if there were buildings that blocked his gaze, it could not hide from him.
“Found it.” Qin Yun quickly found the thick green demonic aura. It originated from one of the rooms that the maids resided in.
Sou!
A blurry figure silently traveled more than a hundred feet to the room’s door and gave it a light push. The lock on the door easily opened.
…
Inside the room.
A small girl dressed in thin, skin-tight clothes was sitting on her bed with her brows furrowed.
“Hmph! It’ll take another three months before the demonic aura merges with his three souls and seven spirits. Only then can I consider it a success.” A terrifying bloodlust aura surfaced in her eyes, “Counting the six months that I’ve already spent here, I will have been the maid of a lowly merchant for nine months? Once the leader’s grand plans are complete, I’ll eat all of those that have cursed at me or bullied me!”
A bloodthirsty, powerful demoness had to work as a maid, being hollered at for half a year. How could she not be angry?
All she could do was endure and wait for her work to bear fruit.
“When it’s past midnight, I can absorb Qin An’s Yang aura again once he is completely asleep.” The young girl closed her eyes and started to wait patiently and silently.
Suddenly—
The door was pushed opened silently.
Despite the door not producing any sound, the girl could sense it and her eyes snapped open. Immediately, she saw that a black-dressed youth had pushed the door open. The black-dressed youth casually walked in and, while he did so, he emitted an invisible wave.
“Seal!”
As Qin Yun entered, he cast a Dharmic spell. A barrier of light flashed into existence, enveloping both Qin Yun and the girl within the room. Obviously, the light barrier was invisible to the naked eye.
The ‘Sealing Spell’ could seal the surrounding area and trap enemies! It could also isolate the space within the barrier from the outside world. Others couldn’t hear was happening inside. Finally, it could even seal the enemy’s strength. This was an extremely impressive Dharmic spell.
Qin Yun closed the door nonchalantly.
“Dharmic spell?” The girl’s heart palpitated.
Dharmic spells were techniques founded by accomplished Daoists or Buddhists after they gained enlightenment over the natural forces of the heaven and earth. Dharmic spells were not taught to just anyone, and the conditions to cast them were extremely, extremely difficult. The barriers to entry were incredibly high. Just his being able to cast a Dharmic spell showed how terrifying the black-dressed youth was.
“So it’s only a cat demoness,” Qin Yun softly said as he looked at the young girl. Thanks to the Dharma Eyes, he could see the girl’s true form.
The girl was still wearing skin-tight clothing as she got off the bed in trepidation. Standing there with her bare feet, she said weakly, “Senior, please spare me. Spare me! Although I have been in the Qin family premises, I have not done any harm.”
“Have not done any harm? Then, why is this family’s master, Qin An, full of your demonic aura? It has even sunken deep into his organs?” Qin Yun wasn’t in a hurry to act. He found many aspects of the situation to be curious. “If this continues, the master of this house, Qin An, will probably be bedridden in the near future. Medical help would likely prove fruitless and his only outcome would be death.”
“What,” the girl was alarmed and tears started to well in her eyes. “I didn’t. I never wanted to hurt Mister Qin.”
“No?” Qin Yun looked at her coldly. “But you are harming him.”
“No, I didn’t. I didn’t want to hurt him, I didn’t know!” The girl was quick to blame herself, “Senior, I will not lie to you. Qin An and I truly love each other, so why would I dare hurt him? It’s just that I’m a demoness and couldn’t bear to tell him. Perhaps my demonic aura has seeped into his body during intercourse?”
“Intercourse?” Qin Yun sneered. “His Yang aura is so weak that it couldn’t have just been intercourse. You have probably been deliberately absorbing his Yang aura, haven’t you? You could have absorbed all of his Yang aura in one go, yet, you have been absorbing tiny amounts every time. What are your intentions?”
The young demoness was very inwardly alarmed. “This young man appears to be very young, so I thought that he would be lacking in experience. Now my hopes of deceiving him and finding an opportunity to sneak away are gone. He actually managed to deduce that I’ve been absorbing Yang aura.”
“I didn’t hurt him, really!” the young girl cried out. “Senior, you must trust me!”
“Humans and demons have been lovers before. How can mere intercourse result in the weakening of Yang aura to such an extent?” Qin Yun sneered. “At this point, it’s better to speak the truth and stop getting caught in lies.”
“I, I don’t know…” The young girl’s tears fell as she grimaced in sorrow.
However, without warning, she rushed to a window to her side. Her speed was so fast that she left afterimages. Her right hand also immediately became covered in fur, with sharp claws extending out. Her right claw swiped down violently, in an attempt to rip through the sealing light barrier.
It was too fast!
But Qin Yun, who was standing by the side of the door, was even quicker. He appeared next to the girl nearly instantaneously and stretched out his left hand to grab at her.
The young girl attempted to dodge in panic. However, despite it being a seemingly ordinary left hand, she was unable to dodge it at all. The five fingers easily gripped onto her neck.
At this point, the young girl had changed drastically. Her entire body was covered in long fur. There was even fur on her head. Her ears had become cat ears while her eyes had turned green. Her pupils transformed into vertical slits. Her mouth was also full of razor-sharp teeth and she attempted to struggle. However, large amounts of Quintessential Essence came surging out of Qin Yun’s left hand before they went into the cat demoness’s body. Then, he cast a sealing spell in her body, immediately putting an end to any resistance.
“Peng!” With a nonchalant toss, he threw the cat demoness to the ground.
“Speak. Lying there in front of me is useless. Unless you say something that convinces me, I can be satisfied by kill you,” Qin Yun looked at the girl.
He had to understand why his brother was being harmed so viciously.
Absorbing Yang aura was very common. Most demons would absorb lunar Yin aura for cultivation. But lone Yin did not lead to birth and solitary Yang did not foster growth, so there was a need to balance the two.
The power of solar Yang was formidable. And the Yang aura of humans was the most effective. Absorbing it from humans greatly aided the cultivation of the demons. Thus, it was quite common for demons to absorb Yang aura. However, this demoness had spent half a year, only to absorb a minuscule amount each time? And while doing so, the demoness also pretended to be a maid? That was a huge waste of time. With that much time, the demoness could have absorbed the Yang aura from hundreds of people. Even if a portion of each person’s Yang aura was absorbed, the cumulative effects would still be much better.
“Speak.” Qin Yun looked at the cat girl as an invisible bloodlust aura shrouded her.
The cat demoness’s heart pounded. She could tell that the person in front of her had no lack of demon blood on his hand. He definitely wasn’t a greenhorn cultivator. With her life on the line, she thought, “Hiding it from him would only earn death. But if I just foolishly reveal it, I’ll probably still be killed! There’s no time to think right now. I can only seek a way out of this peril.”
“Senior, you really do have a discerning eye. My puny tricks can’t deceive you,” the cat demoness said quickly. “The reason why I went through the great trouble to be a maid and only absorb a small amount of Yang aura each time is so that my demonic aura will gradually permeate him. Now, it has seeped into his organs and, in another two or three months, it would’ve probably gotten into his soul.”
Qin Yun’s eyelids twitched.
“When the demonic aura seeps into the three souls and seven spirits, even an accomplished cultivator would be powerless to help him. At that time he would either be severely ill, or dead. Only I, the owner of the demonic aura, would be able to save him.” The cat demoness continued, “From then on, his future would be in my hands.”
“A demonic slave?” Qin Yun’s voice was ice cold.
Once the demonic aura seeped into the souls, there really was no cure. One could only survive if the demonic aura’s owner willed it so.
With one’s life or death in the hands of a demon, they had no choice but to be a faithful servant to that demon.
“It can’t be counted as a demonic slave. If I wanted to, as the owner of the demonic aura, I could always extract and remove the demonic aura and return him to normal,” the cat demoness said immediately.
“Extract and remove the demonic aura? It has already seeped into his soul. Even if you were to extract the demonic aura strand by strand, that would still take several years, wouldn’t it? Qin An is just a mere merchant, and definitely not worth going through so much effort.” Qin Yun coldly said, “Is it because of his father?”
Qin An’s father was Qin Liehu, who was one of the three silver-badge constables. He had a sizable influence in Grand Dominance City.
“I am only carrying out orders from my leader,” the cat demoness quickly said. “I don’t know the reasons why.”
“Where is your leader?”
“He’s within Grand Dominance City.” In hopes of living, the cat demoness answered honestly.
“Bring me there.” Qin Yun glared at the cat demoness.
“Senior, I am willing to lead the way but I hope that you will spare my life. I am only a small demoness that was forced to do this.” The cat demoness looked at Qin Yun.
“Cut the crap. Lead the way.” Qin Yun grabbed the cat demoness’s shoulder, she could not put up any form of resistance.
“Senior, if you won’t spare me, then I’d rather die here.” The cat demoness said as she gnashed her teeth.
Qin Yun fell silent.
The cat girl was making a huge gamble. She believed that the person before her wanted to save Qin An, and to do so he needed to know who the figure behind all of this was.
Time slowly passed and the cat demoness closed her eyes and forcefully held her ground.
“Alright, I consent to your request. As long as I am able to find the one behind this and confirm that he did indeed instruct you to do so, I can spare you,” said Qin Yun.
The cat demoness was delighted. She knew that the higher the cultivation of human cultivators, the more arrogant they were. Because of this, they valued their promises! A promise was worth its weight in gold. They would not renege on it easily.
“Senior, thank you for showing mercy and letting me live. I will lead the way now,” the cat demoness quickly said.
Sou!
Grabbing onto the cat girl’s shoulder, Qin Yun left his brother’s manor silently. The servants were still patrolling around the manor but they noticed nothing, let alone the fact that a cat demoness that had been among them for half a year, and was now being taken away.