Something's wrong with this demon.

Chapter 18

The air suddenly froze.

The two people, shrouded in darkness, stared at each other, standing motionless in place.

All around was completely silent, and it seemed as if one could hear the sound of withered leaves falling nearby.

But suddenly, Chen Ju burst into laughter.

He smiled and said, "Brother Luo, don't be nervous. While others can't go out, we night patrolmen can naturally go out."

After saying that, he smiled at him again and continued walking forward.

Luo Qingchen paused, slowly loosened her clenched fist, and followed behind.

"Let's quickly patrol the area and then head back. It's not safe here at night; who knows what strange things might jump out of the woods."

As Chen Ju walked, he talked, his eyes constantly scanning the surrounding darkness.

Luo Qingchen glanced at his back, then looked into the surrounding darkness.

The two quickly circled the courtyard wall outside Baixianglou, and after finding nothing amiss, returned to the courtyard.

Lanterns hung in the courtyard, their faint light dispelling some of the darkness.

At this moment, Chen Jufang stopped and looked at him with a smile, "Brother Luo, did I scare you just now? Don't blame me, every newbie gets scared on their first night patrol. When I first came here, Brother Zhao scared me too, I almost peed my pants that time."

"Brother Zhao?"

Luo Qingchen's expression remained calm, but her heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Among the guards I met yesterday, none of them had the surname Zhao. Moreover, from what this man said, he had been patrolling with someone surnamed Zhao, but now he was all alone.

What about that guy surnamed Zhao?

The answer is obvious.

Chen Ju laughed and said, "Brother Zhao had other matters to attend to and has already left, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to come here. There are many people eyeing this job."

"Come on, let me show you inside."

He smiled as he climbed the steps and walked into the building.

Luo Qingchen followed behind without making a sound.

Sun Ping was speaking quietly with a maid in a corner of the hall. When she saw the two enter, she quickly waved her hand and said in a low voice, "There are distinguished guests upstairs. You two should not go up yet."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ju nodded and led Luo Qingchen toward the corridor on the right side of the first floor.

As I passed the stairwell, a woman's piercing scream and the sinister laughter of two men came from a room upstairs.

Chen Ju explained in a low voice, "Those who come down from up there are usually formal disciples of the sect. I heard there are brothels up there, but they are very expensive and you can't do whatever you want, so some disciples occasionally come down there to have fun."

At this point, his eyes were filled with envy and longing as he whispered, "I've heard that many of the women in the brothels up there are female disciples of sects, and even female elders. Those women all have beautiful skin and figures, and they know seductive arts. Men with slightly lower cultivation levels, once they go in, never come out..."

Luo Qingchen was taken aback upon hearing this and asked, "Female disciples of the sect? And female elders?"

Do these people still need to sell themselves in brothels?

Chen Ju said, "In our Demon-Slaying Sect, the higher the cultivation level, the more blood and silver are required. For the sake of cultivation, let alone selling oneself in a brothel, even cutting off one's own flesh, there are people flocking to it."

Luo Qingchen remained silent.

Chen Ju suddenly looked at him and laughed, "Brother Luo, now that you have magic stones and medicinal herbs, where are you planning to get fresh blood? Go out and buy it, or... use your own?"

Luo Qingchen clearly caught the glint of greed deep in his eyes and calmly said, "I'm not going to take a medicinal bath yet. I even have to borrow money to repair things, so where would I get the money to buy blood? As for using my own blood... in a few days, someone from above will come to collect my blood. If I use it now, and they take a big bowl of it, I might die."

"Too."

Chen Ju smiled and continued walking forward.

After a moment, he couldn't help but sigh again, complaining, "Brother Luo, we're all pitiful people. Not only do we not earn much money working here, but we also have to have our blood drawn every few days. Even with magic stones and cultivation herbs, how can we cultivate without fresh blood?"

Luo Qingchen asked, "How many people can go up there each year?"

Chen Ju shook his head and said with a wry smile, "At most, only one or two people can climb up from here in a year. Those with a little talent or money would never come here to be medicine people; they just walk in and get promoted. People like us can forget about it."

Luo Qingchen asked, "Is it difficult to cultivate to the Blood Exchange Realm?"

Chen Ju turned to look at him and said, "What do you think? How can one cultivate without enough blood? Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless you have your own drug users."

Chen Ju sighed and said, "But who would be willing to be our medicine manipulators? To go and plunder? The sect won't allow it."

Luo Qingchen asked, "Brother Chen, do you mean that all the medicine people in Medicine People Town came here voluntarily?"

Chen Ju laughed and said, "Of course, everyone came voluntarily. Outside, there is chaos and demons rampaging, and our lives are always in danger. Here, we have food and drink, and we are protected by the Demon Extermination Sect. As poor people with no money or power, we are naturally willing to come."

Luo Qingchen nodded silently and said nothing more.

The two walked around the first-floor corridor and the various side rooms. When they returned to the main hall, two men dressed in black robes came down from upstairs.

Sun Ping, who was usually indifferent to people, immediately stepped forward with a big smile and started talking.

Chen Ju stopped and looked at the two men's arrogant figures. He said in a low voice, "See the skulls embroidered on their chests? They must be disciples from the sects who came down from up there."

Sun Ping, with a forced smile on her face, saw the two people out the door.

"Let's go upstairs and take a look. If everything's alright, we can go rest on the first floor."

Chen Ju yawned and stepped onto the stairs.

Luo Qingchen followed behind and they went up to the second floor together.

As the two entered the corridor, they passed the first room and suddenly heard a woman's suppressed sobbing coming from inside.

Chen Ju laughed and said, "Those two just left from this room. Don't be fooled by how miserable this woman is crying now. She'll forget everything after she wakes up from a good night's sleep. After all, the people from above gave her quite a bit of money."

As he spoke, he continued walking forward.

Some rooms were very quiet, while others were noisy.

"As long as the women inside are not in mortal danger, we don't need to worry about them."

Chen Ju led him around the second floor, yawned, and turned to walk out of the corridor, saying, "Let's go, we'll go downstairs and keep watch. If anything happens, someone will call us."

As the two passed the first room at the entrance of the corridor again, the door suddenly opened with a creak.

A woman's slightly hoarse voice rang out from inside the door: "Xiao Cui, come up and clean the house."

Luo Qingchen happened to pass by and looked at the woman inside the door.

The woman's gaze also fell upon him.

Both of them were taken aback.

"Ah... Brother Chen?"

The girl inside had red and swollen eyes, disheveled hair, several handprints on her face, and tear stains at the corners of her eyes. Her face showed both astonishment and surprise.

"A-Yun?"

Luo Qingchen's expression was complicated.

The girl in front of me is Zhao Shi's younger sister, Zhao Yun. Back in Qingshui Town, she often played with Xiao Yu.

Chen Ju asked in surprise, "Brother Luo, you two know each other?"

Luo Qingchen composed herself and said calmly, "It used to be a small town."

"Oh?"

Chen Ju glanced at the two of them again and said with a smile, "Then you two chat for a while, I'll go down first by myself. Call me if you need anything."

With that, he went downstairs alone.

At this moment, a young maidservant hurried upstairs with hot water, glanced at the two people at the door, lowered her head and went into the room to start cleaning.

"Brother Chen, I heard from Father this morning that you've come here to work as a guard."

Zhao Yun looked somewhat unnatural. She gave an awkward laugh, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and pulled up her disheveled clothes.

Even with her hair down, the scars on her neck were still hard to hide.

Luo Qingchen smiled and said, "I heard Brother Shi mention you yesterday too..."

He paused, then added, "It's good that you're alive."

Zhao Yun lowered her head, biting her lip, but didn't know what to say.

For a moment, both of them fell silent.

Luo Qingchen, fearing she would be embarrassed, said, "I still have to go down on patrol. Let's talk again next time."

"Um."

Zhao Yun responded softly, not daring to look up.

Luo Qingchen had only taken a few steps when she suddenly looked up and said, "Brother Chen, I heard that Xiaoyu..."

Luo Qingchen stopped and remained silent.

With red eyes, Zhao Yun said, "Brother Chen, I believe you wouldn't do such a thing. I know you love Xiaoyu more than anyone else; you'd rather get hurt yourself than see her hurt. How could you possibly harm her?"

Luo Qingchen was silent for a moment, then turned to look at her: "Ayun, thank you."

On Zhao Yun's swollen cheeks, a smile appeared, just like that of the innocent girl she once was. Then, she suddenly remembered something: "Brother Chen, wait a moment."

With that, he hurriedly returned to the house.

She quickly took out a pink purse, handed it to him, and said softly, "My brother came by this evening. He said you seem to be short of money. This is the silver I've saved. Father and brother don't know about it. There are only twelve taels in total. It's not much, but I hope it can help you."

Luo Qingchen was stunned for a moment. Looking at the sincere smile on the girl's face and the gentle look in her eyes, her heart suddenly trembled.

Thank you.

He hesitated for a moment, but still reached out and took it.

"Okay, Brother Chen, you can go ahead and get busy."

Zhao Yun smiled slightly, lowered her head and retreated into the room. Suddenly, she said at the door, "By the way, Brother Chen, I'm free during the day. If you have some free time, you can come and talk to me."

She paused, a hint of desolation and self-mockery appearing on her face: "If you're busy, then forget it."

After saying that, she smiled again and went back into the room.

"Squeak..."

The door closed.

Just then, from another room next door, came the mournful cry of a woman and the sound of a whip cracking.

Luo Qingchen lowered her head, looking at the purse in her hand that still held the warmth of the girl, a look of daze in her eyes.

All the noise around us seemed to have vanished into silence.

But at this very moment—

"ah--"

Suddenly, a woman's terrified scream came from downstairs!

"Someone's dead! Someone's dead—"

Luo Qingchen's expression changed, and she hurriedly put away her money pouch and ran downstairs!

Downstairs, Chen Ju was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a naked woman with disheveled hair staggered out of a room in the right-hand corridor, screaming in terror.

Luo Qingchen rushed over quickly, and as soon as she reached the door of the room, she saw a terrifying scene inside!