bookpub Chapter 81 Good and Evil
Chapter 81 Good and Evil
Chapter 81 Good and Evil
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
There was no response from inside, but the knocking continued.
Luo Qingchen stared at the doorway, motionless.
A moment later, a voice came from outside the door: "Friend, we are disciples of the Zhenguo Academy. May we open the door and say a few words?"
""
It was the voice of the young man named Xu Mang.
"Friend, please open the door. We mean no harm."
Xu Mang continued knocking on the door.
Luo Qingchen closed the window before walking over and slowly opening the door.
Outside the door, all five members of the Zhenguo Academy were present.
Besides Xu Mang, there was another short young man, two girls, and a woman.
The tall girl was still dressed as a boy.
He looked at the five people.
The five people were also sizing him up.
Xu Mang cupped his hands and said, "Friend, may we come inside to talk?"
Luo Qingchen did not fully open the door.
He held the door open with both hands, leaving only a crack, and stood inside.
There were many things placed on the ground behind and beside him.
"If you have something to say, say it here."
He refused outright.
The tall girl disguised as a boy, seeing his attitude, immediately said, "How can you be so rude? I slap you!"
Before she could finish speaking, the door was immediately closed.
Her words came to an abrupt halt.
"you----"
She immediately blushed and was about to speak again when the woman next to her stopped her.
Xu Mang had no choice but to knock on the door again: "I'm sorry, friend, my junior sister here is too impatient. How about we talk at the door?"
I have some information here that I'm sure you'd like to know.
After a moment, the door opened again.
The door was still only opened a crack.
The girl disguised as a boy, her face flushed with anger, glared at the person peeking through the crack in the door, while the woman beside her covered her mouth.
Xu Mang cupped his hands in greeting and said in a low voice, "Friend, you must be a disciple of the Demon-Suppressing Sect, right?"
Luo Qingchen looked at him from inside the door but did not answer.
Xu Mang said, "I guessed it when we were at that Anjia Teahouse. The letter the teahouse owner was holding had your Demon Exorcism Sect's skull and crossbones symbol on it."
Seemingly to dispel the other party's doubts, he took out his waist token and said, "We are all disciples of the Zhenguo Academy. I am Xu Mang, this is my junior brother Yuan Zhao, and these two are my junior sister Fang Ying and my junior sister Lu Qingqing."
He did not introduce the woman next to Lu Qingqing.
Judging from the situation, the woman should be from the girl's family.
"How should I address you, my friend?"
Xu Mang asked again.
Luo Qingchen did not answer, but asked, "Why have you come to see me?"
Xu Mang said, "We came here to investigate the recent disappearances. As you may have heard in the courtyard, another person went missing last night, and a merchant even saw a ghostly figure that resembled a child. To be honest, we don't know much about these strange things, and my fellow disciples are all going out for the first time. However, I've heard that your sect seems to have quite a bit of knowledge about these things, so I'd like to ask for your guidance."
Luo Qingchen said calmly, "I'm new here myself and don't know much about this place."
Xu Mang could only say, "We checked the backyard wall, and there were indeed several children's footprints there, but there were no footprints on the ground outside or inside the wall. The merchant said the ghostly child suddenly floated away; although it sounds eerie, we think it's possible. Could it have been a demon or some kind of monster?"
Luo Qingchen looked at them without saying a word.
"Alright, then we won't bother you any longer. If you make any new discoveries or come up with any ideas, please let us know."
The few of us will stay at this inn and leave once the truth comes out.
Seeing his cold attitude, Xu Mang realized he was unwilling to talk further, so he had no choice but to bow and take his leave.
Before the others left, Luo Qingchen closed the door.
"This guy is going too far!"
Lu Qingqing finally couldn't hold back any longer and said angrily, "Look at that guy's attitude! He's a disciple of the Demonic Sect. As disciples of the Zhenguo Academy, we're already being kind by not speaking ill of him, yet we've been so polite to him. And what did he do?"
"Alright, Junior Sister Lu, let's go. That's how the disciples of the Demonic Sect are; they find it hard to trust others."
Xu Mang tried to persuade him.
Another girl named Fang Ying whispered, "Senior Brother Xu, I've heard that the disciples of the Demonic Sect like to kill and skin people, and even eat them. Is that true?"
Xu Mang remained noncommittal, saying, "Let's go take a look at the woods behind here."
At this moment, the disciple named Yuan Zhao suddenly whispered, "Do you think these disappearances might be the work of the Demon-Slaying Sect disciples? We're not too far from the Demon-Slaying Sect. I've heard they like to capture people to make medicine figures, and even use corpses to refine medicine. Could that Demon-Slaying Sect disciple we just saw have been sent by them to spy on us?"
Lu Qingqing immediately said, "It must be! Otherwise, why would that guy be so guilty and afraid to let us in? Maybe the person who went missing last night is hiding in his room!"
Xu Mang said helplessly, "Junior Sister Lu, I just arrived at the inn this morning, and the room was just opened."
Lu Qingqing said, "That guy came yesterday, but he didn't come here. Maybe he sneaked over last night and kidnapped her?"
The woman beside her whispered, "Miss, don't say things without evidence."
Lu Qingqing said angrily, "If we arrest him and interrogate him, wouldn't we have evidence? What are the Demonic Sect disciples doing here all of a sudden? They must be here to do bad things. I just don't understand why Qinghe City lets them come and go as they please, and why other sects don't immediately kill them when they see them, even though they've done so many bad things and harmed so many people!"
"that is."
A girl named Fang Ying echoed this sentiment.
Xu Mang guessed, "There must have been an agreement among the higher-ups, but how would we know the specific reasons?"
As they talked, they arrived at the backyard.
"Let's go check out the woods behind here."
Xu Mang walked ahead and went out through the back door.
From the second-floor window, Luo Qingchen watched them enter the woods behind the building. After a while, she closed the window and lay down on the bed to sleep.
Soon, night fell.
After Xu Mang and the others returned, they ate dinner and then went back to their rooms.
At this time, the number of merchants and travelers in the inn increased again.
Merchants who had just come from Qinghe City dared not travel through the canyon at night, so they all planned to stay here for the night and set off again the next morning.
As for the disappearance last night, many people are still unaware of it.
As night deepened outside the window, Xu Mang woke Yuan Zhao and whispered, "We won't sleep tonight. We'll keep watch in the backyard and catch the murderer as soon as possible. The people from Xueyu Palace are still searching the canyon ahead. We can't fall behind and become a laughingstock."
Yuan Zhao asked, "Where are Junior Sister Lu and the others?"
Xu Mang said, "Let them sleep. They're tired from the day. The two of us are enough."
The two quickly went downstairs and hid in a corner of the backyard.
at the same time.
In the room, Lu Qingqing tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep.
After a while, she suddenly sat up, nudged Fang Ying who was sleeping next to her, and whispered, "Senior Sister Fang, wake up!"
""
Fang Ying opened her eyes sleepily and asked wearily, "What?"
Lu Qingqing's eyes shone brightly in the darkness, showing no signs of sleepiness. She pointed outside and said, "Let's go investigate the case!"
Upon hearing this, Fang Ying smiled wryly and said, "Junior Sister Lu, where are we supposed to search? We've been looking all day and haven't found anything."
.
Lu Qingqing pulled her out of bed and whispered, "I know where to look! We just need to capture that little devil from the Demon-Suppressing Sect, torture him severely, and we'll definitely find out!"
Upon hearing this, Fang Ying was startled and instantly woke up, saying, "Go and capture that person from the Demon-Suppressing Sect? Junior Sister Lu, are you crazy? That guy is a disciple of the Demon Sect, he kills without blinking an eye."
Lu Qingqing snorted coldly and said, "No matter how powerful he is, he's only one person now, while there are five of us here! Moreover, we are disciples of the Zhenguo Academy, so he wouldn't dare to do anything to us."
Fang Ying quickly shook her head: "No, no, it's too dangerous! The people of the Demonic Sect are treacherous, cunning, and ruthless. Even if he knows we are from the Zhenguo Academy, it's still dangerous if we anger him. They don't care about rules. I heard from my master that the disciples of the Demonic Sect only follow rules within their own sect. Outside, they have no rules at all. They kill, set fires, force women into prostitution, skin people alive, and commit all sorts of evil."
Lu Qingqing had already gotten out of bed and started getting dressed. She said, "If Senior Sister is scared, I'll go by myself. This is our first time out here. If we go back without doing something spectacular, we'll definitely be laughed at by the people in the courtyard. If the people from Xueyu Palace solve the case first, they'll laugh at us even more and belittle us. They already look down on cultivators from our imperial court."
Seeing that she was serious, Fang Ying quickly got out of bed and pulled her along, saying, "Junior Sister Lu, if you really want to go, let's go and call Aunt Lan, and also tell Senior Brother Xu and the others."
Lu Qingqing stubbornly replied, "Just the two of us! If you're too scared to go, I'll go alone. Can't we do anything without them?"
Seeing that she couldn't persuade her otherwise, Fang Ying sighed and had no choice but to go and get dressed.
Who told this girl to be so precious? Her family even brought guards with her when she came out to gain experience. If something happened to her here, she wouldn't know how to explain it.
Fortunately, it was in the inn, and everyone else was staying next door, so there shouldn't be any major problems.
The two men dressed, grabbed their weapons, and quietly left the house.
"That guy lives in room number five; I made sure to remember that earlier today!"
Lu Qingqing led the way and soon arrived at the door of room number five.
"Senior sister, watch your left and right, be careful someone comes out. Once we're inside the room, go and take that guy down immediately, tie him up first!"
Fang Ying was still somewhat worried and wanted to say a few more words of persuasion, but seeing that she had already taken out a razor blade and was poking at the door, she had no choice but to give up.
"Click—"
With a soft click, the door opened.
Lu Qingqing gave her a gesture indicating that it was done, and then quietly pushed open the door.
Fang Ying quickly followed behind and entered the room.
As soon as the two entered the room, they heard a noise coming from the bed inside.
"No—no—I'm going to die—"
It was a woman's voice!
The woman's voice was suppressed and painful, as if she were crying and begging for mercy!
Then, a man's voice rang out: "Heh heh, why are you shouting so softly? Afraid someone will hear? Don't worry, no one will come. Shout all you want, and I'll see how I kill you!"
Then, the sounds of the wooden bed shaking and the woman struggling could be heard.
Lu Qingqing was furious. She had been holding a rope, but now she immediately pulled out a dagger and hissed angrily, "Senior Sister, did you hear that? This fiend has kidnapped a woman, is torturing her here, and is even trying to kill her! We absolutely cannot let him get away with this!"
"Ah! Ah! I'm going to die—"
Suddenly, the woman on the bed screamed.
Lu Qingqing's expression changed, and with a "whoosh," she grabbed her dagger and rushed in, shouting angrily, "Demon! Stop!"
Fang Ying hurriedly gripped the dagger and followed him inside.
Lu Qingqing rushed to the bedside, yanked back the curtains, and saw a naked man torturing a woman. The woman was screaming in agony. Enraged, she shouted, "You demon! Prepare to die!"
After saying that, he grabbed the man's hair with one hand, gripped the dagger tightly with the other, and without saying a word, stabbed the man in the chest twice!
Fang Ying was startled by this, fearing that the demon would launch a violent counterattack before his death, and that both of them would be doomed. So, she steeled herself, hurriedly stepped forward, and plunged a dagger into the man's heart, shouting angrily, "Demon, prepare to die!"
Before the naked demon could react, he was stabbed to death by the two men in a few blows.
The woman he was pinning down and abusing suddenly stopped screaming, her eyes wide with terror as she stared at the horrific scene that had suddenly appeared before her.
The man began to bleed.
Lu Qingqing pulled the woman off the bed and asked with concern, "Are you alright?"
"ah""
The woman's piercing scream suddenly echoed throughout the entire inn!
Xu Mang and his companion, who were keeping watch in the darkness of the backyard, were startled by the noise and hurriedly ran into the building.
The other people in the inn were also startled by the scream and jumped out of bed.
"Squeak—"
At that moment, the door to room number six next door slowly opened, revealing a crack.
Luo Qingchen appeared inside the door.
He smelled a strong odor of blood.
The screams and the smell of blood were coming from the fifth room next to his.
He stayed there during the day and changed rooms in the evening.
"Miss! What's wrong?"
At this moment, the woman from Zhenguo Courtyard rushed out of the room before she could even put on her outer garment. She was startled to see her young mistress and Fang Ying there and hurriedly asked what was wrong.
Holding the blood-stained dagger, Lu Qingqing trembled with fear at the sight of the man spitting blood, but said smugly, "Aunt Lan, I killed that demon from the Demon Exorcism Sect! I suspect that demon is the murderer of the missing persons case here! Look at this woman, she was the one that demon kidnapped tonight. If Senior Sister Fang and I hadn't arrived in time, that demon would have killed her."
Fang Ying nodded in agreement.
At this moment, Xu Mang and his companion rushed up and quickly took out a tinderbox to light the oil lamp on the table.
When Lu Qingqing saw him arrive, her face flushed with excitement: "Senior Brother Xu, I killed that despicable demon! I saved someone!"
At that moment, the lights illuminated the room and revealed the woman slumped on the floor.
The woman suddenly wailed, "You ruthless killers! That's my man! Why did you kill my man! Waaah—"
'
Lu Qingqing's smug expression instantly froze.
Xu Mang quickly stepped forward and dragged the man's body off the bed.
The dim light illuminated the man's face.
Upon closer inspection, everyone realized it was a man with a full beard.
Lu Qingqing stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
At this moment, Xu Mang suddenly turned his head and looked towards the door.
Luo Qingchen appeared outside the door, glanced at them indifferently, and walked past the doorway.