道罗邪皇子 (邪神之道 B5)

992

"Nothing is guaranteed but I do sense there to be something within the domains of the Fourth Hell that is giving off an undulation of demonic Qi."

[...]

Towards the words that Yi had said Xia Huang Hai would be lying if he said that he wasn't interested.

At this point he is more than willing to grasp at anything that could potentially give him a shred of hope for he truly does only have five years of longevity remaining.

The main reason for Xia Huang Hai to host this evening party today is because of his declining lifespan while the second reason-

(Is he really the intruder?)

Is to see if there is truly an intruder here in his domain.

It is common knowledge that a person's air will change should they dapple into demonic arts for an extended period of time and because Yi had been so skilled in his abilities to disguise himself even a genuine Half-Monarch like Xia Huang Hai has a difficult time making a confident claim to say that he is indeed an imposter under Yi's current reasoning.

A person's outward appearance may be changed through various means but their soul-

(I don't see any changes on his soul and the magic array that guards this place is linked directly to me. But...)

The moment Yi had entered the Xia family's domain Xia Huang Hai had indeed felt the entry of a foreign presence.

But since the magic array didn't show any signs of activation up until now the question of whether or not there is truly an intruder appears in Xia Huang Hai's mind.

Not a single person is perfect so there are times in which Xia Huang Hai may mistaken a roaming ghost for a living entity despite having gotten accustomed to these ghosts that are just a native part of this land.

(...Am I just imagining the presence of an intruder because death has constantly been looming over my head for the past few years?)

"Divine ancestor what say we send a few clansmen to investigate this source of demonic Qi?"

Breaking the silence that is induced by Xia Huang Hai and the two prime elders' silence Yi asks this question to see if he can force a change in this awkward situation.

[...]

Thinking of the risks involved with this suggestion Xia Huang Hai took his time to answer but eventually he can only raise a light sigh.

[Very well then. I grant you permission to have five others to accompany you to the location you have in mind. As for when you should head out, I'll leave that up to your discretion.]

"Many thanks for divine ancestor's permission."

Counting the amount of time it took for Xia Huang Hai to answer him Yi concludes that the former has yet to truly label him as an imposter of the seventh elder.

(If he truly hasn't labeled me as an imposter yet then that does make my life easier.)

Maintaining his venomous smile on the inside Yi patiently waits for this meeting to conclude.

.........

As a full day goes by and the next morning arrives news of a certain incident spreads quickly within the areas of the Spirit Crane Sect.

"Have you heard?"

"What?"

"In the outer perimeters three disciples suddenly died."

Much of those who heard this piece of news can only react with bewilderment.

Killing between sect disciples regardless of reason is strictly prohibited and should an offender of this rule be found they will always be subjected to the harshest punishments possible because the Spirit Crane Sect's population is severely limited.

The first eruption of conflict between the Spirit Crane Sect and the Xia family had greatly reduced the population of both sides.

It isn't known how the Xia family had dealt with their loss of manpower after that conflict but for the Spirit Crane Sect they were forced to kidnap individuals from the outside world to repopulate themselves over time.

Most of the housekeepers and servants that attend to the estates of an elder are often times the descendants of such misfortunate individuals.

"Has the killers been found?"

"Not yet. Actually the method used to kill them hasn't even been discovered yet."

"Then was it because their cultivation had gone awry?"

"Not sure but supposedly their corpses looked no different from when they had been alive."

As this piece of news continue to spread it eventually reaches Ye Gui Feng's ears.

"Words travel fast. Still... I wasn't expecting there to be this much effort being put into investigating three deaths."

Staying within Li Wen's residence Ye Gui Feng pours himself a cup of tea with an ominous smile on his face.

[Three deaths aren't considered small in a severely limited population. To the higher-ups that's three less manpower they could be using to hasten the speed of their search for the Fourth Hell's Flag.]

"In a month's time I need to raise this number a bit more. But the process of sowing this curse is far too inconvenient."

Having cautiously sowed his curse on a few individuals while taking a stroll Ye Gui Feng came to the same conclusion as Yi.

As much as he would like to help with making improvements to this curse without great understanding of its properties Ye Gui Feng isn't able to provide much assistance.