Chapter 29

“Everyone… is here?” Cheng Hui greeted.

The woman dressed as a man turned her face away disdainfully, the one from the Jing Yao Si gave him a glance but said nothing, only the old monk said, “Amitabha, greetings, benefactor.”

Cheng Hui thought: Got it, this is the difference between initial goodwill being negative, zero, and positive.

He wasn’t angry. Back in the day, when he worked part-time to earn tuition, what kind of people hadn’t he met? These three were already considered decent; there were even those who would trip you up just because they didn’t like your face.

“That big monk and the man are very strong,” Ah Qiu said. “If there’s danger, you can ask them for help.”

Cheng Hui was amused to hear that. Even better, now he had a thigh to cling to.

He walked over to the old monk with a smile: “My name is Cheng Hui, I’m a demon hunter. How should I address you, Master?”

The old monk chanted a Buddhist mantra: “This humble monk is Xuan Tan, an ordinary monk from Yulong Temple.”

Ordinary monk? Ha, I don’t believe you. If you were an ordinary monk, would you be here?

Cheng Hui then looked at the other two: “Since we’re all gathered here, why not introduce ourselves? Maybe we can help each other later?”

The woman dressed as a man sneered, “Help each other? Are you out of your mind? Demon hunters don’t need help from each other. Only losers think about getting help from others.”

“You can’t say that, miss,” Cheng Hui shook his head. “What’s the most important job for us demon hunters? It’s to solve strange incidents. If something is within our ability, it doesn’t matter who solves it. But if we encounter something particularly dangerous that we can’t handle, seeking help from companions is better than letting the strange incident continue to claim lives. After all… most demons get stronger the more people they eat.”

The woman dressed as a man looked a bit uncomfortable at his words, but the man from Jing Yao Si seemed surprised by Cheng Hui’s perspective and nodded: “Indeed, our goal is to resolve strange incidents, not to compete for strength. I am Ye Qi, the county guardian of Jing Yao Si.”

In this world, demons often appear, so the court had to set up a special department to monitor the world to prevent demons from growing too powerful. This department is called Jing Yao Si.

It’s said that Jing Yao Si specializes in dealing with demons and strange events, and the strength of a county guardian should be quite reliable.

The woman dressed as a man looked even more displeased after being rebuked by Cheng Hui, but seeing the other three had introduced themselves, she couldn’t be left out, so she reluctantly said, “I am Xin Erniang, from the Xin family of Hedong.”

“Is it the Xin family of Hedong that produced a celestial being?” the old monk asked in surprise.

Ye Qi also looked surprised.

“That’s right.” Xin Erniang was obviously very proud of her family having produced a powerful celestial being, and her expression visibly improved.

“Long admired, long admired. Miss Xin, to be ranked second at such a young age and even venture out for experience, you must be extraordinarily talented,” the old monk said politely.

Cheng Hui inferred from his words that the name Xin Erniang was likely earned through competition, and the person in front of him must be quite formidable to have secured it.

Xin Erniang, probably not used to such praise, blushed slightly and said repeatedly, “I dare not, I dare not. With the master from Yulong Temple and the lord from Jing Yao Si here, I’m just a newcomer.”

Cheng Hui watched the mutual flattery for a while. These three were all quite distinguished, making him, a complete novice, stand out.

Fortunately, his previous actions had won the goodwill of the master and Ye Qi. Although Xin Erniang wasn’t fond of him, she didn’t say anything more.

The four agreed to explore the manor together but split into two directions to cover more ground while looking out for each other.

Cheng Hui teamed up with Master Xuan Tan, and they were responsible for investigating the east courtyard, while the other two headed straight for the west courtyard.

Master Xuan Tan was a patient monk, and Cheng Hui took the opportunity to ask many questions. At first, the master answered thoroughly, but later his expression turned indescribable.

He practically had this written on his face: How did you survive until now, knowing nothing, and even become a demon hunter?

Cheng Hui was fearless. He knew nothing to begin with, and if he had encountered a demon right away, he might not have survived. Now that they were in the manor, where strange things could happen at any time, he had to seize the opportunity to learn as much as possible about demons and prepare himself.

Master Xuan Tan, being a monk, didn’t refuse to answer Cheng Hui’s questions, even though some were quite basic.

Cheng Hui thought to himself, this master is indeed a high-level monk, so he needed to ask as much as possible.

Ah Qiu: …

As a permanent resident in Cheng Hui’s mind… a kind of existence that defies classification, Lin Qingqiu could see everything outside through Cheng Hui’s eyes and hear everything he heard. Sometimes, he could even notice things Cheng Hui unconsciously ignored.

So, watching Cheng Hui almost make Master Xuan Tan cry with his basic questions, he couldn’t help but want to laugh.

“Hui… Cheng Hui…” He quickly corrected himself, not wanting Cheng Hui to associate him with that little brat just yet.

—Even though he was insanely jealous inside.

He himself never had the chance to be with Cheng Hui day and night, and yet the sealed memory version of him managed to do it, which made him very unhappy.

But having defied the heavens back then, he offended the Heavenly Dao, leading to a heavy price and forcing him to seal himself, using a split of his consciousness from before the age of twenty-five to avoid being targeted.

Though he didn’t know why his consciousness awakened in this world, it was a good thing. At least this way, he didn’t have to wait so long to see Cheng Hui.

“Cheng Hui?”

“What?” Cheng Hui asked.

“You need to be careful of that Xin Erniang,” Ah Qiu reminded.

“I know, her attitude towards me is so bad, I’ll definitely be cautious of her.” Cheng Hui thought Ah Qiu was stating the obvious.

“No… I mean, I suspect her name, Xin Erniang, might be fake.”

“Hmm?”

Cheng Hui perked up: “You think she’s an insider?”

Ah Qiu paused, his tone a bit helpless: “No, she should be from the Xin family. When Master Xuan Tan mentioned the Xin family, the pride on her face wasn’t fake. But her name, Erniang, might not be real.”

Cheng Hui was puzzled: “If she’s from the Xin family, why would she fake her name?”

“You heard Master Xuan Tan, their Xin family ranks by strength. To get the second rank, one must be elite in the clan, with both talent and temperament. But this Xin Erniang… her talent is hard to say, but her temperament isn’t great. Also… when Master Xuan Tan praised her, she blushed.”

“Isn’t blushing when praised normal?”

“Blushing is normal, but ordinary girls who blush often lower their heads or avert their gaze to avoid eye contact, unlike her, who lowered her head with her eyes darting around, clearly guilty.”

Finally, Ah Qiu concluded: “That’s why I say she’s likely a lower-ranked newcomer from the Xin family, but to gain your trust, she claims to be Xin Erniang. In reality, her strength might not be that great. If you encounter danger later, remember to seek help from the other two.”

Cheng Hui: … Damn!

How are you so sharp after nine years?

I suspect my eyes are fake…

Slightly stimulated by Ah Qiu, Cheng Hui felt like he was about to retreat into his shell again, but fortunately, they had reached the east courtyard by then.

Passing through a dilapidated garden, they entered the east courtyard, which was small, surrounded by servants’ quarters. In the center of the courtyard was a large tree, its branches and leaves so lush that it almost covered the entire courtyard.

Under the tree was a well. Cheng Hui walked over to take a look. The well was very deep, and getting closer, he could feel a chill emanating from it.

He picked up a stone and threw it down. Several seconds later, he heard a dull thud, indicating the well was quite deep.

After discussing with the master, they decided to check the servants’ rooms separately. While inspecting one room, Cheng Hui accidentally discovered a hidden compartment in a large wardrobe. Inside was a thick diary.

“Interesting, the servant here could read and write?” He picked up the diary with interest, and upon opening it, he found it was kept by the steward responsible for managing the manor.

The old steward, being forgetful due to age, feared forgetting his daily tasks, so he recorded everything, creating a work diary of sorts.

Cheng Hui skimmed through it, picking out a few key entries.

Yuanping 24th year, spring, March 9th

The master got angry again this morning. Sigh, I don’t understand, the painting was clearly well done, but the master said it was ruined.

In the afternoon, a servant accidentally spilled the master’s paint, and the master’s face was terrifying.

Yuanping 24th year, spring, March 10th

That servant disappeared. The master said he was sold, but I don’t remember.

Sigh, forget it, I’m old and forgetful, probably just forgot.

Yuanping 24th year, spring, March 19th

The master is very happy, the madam is pregnant again. Hopefully, this one is a boy. Although the young lady is adorable, we still need a boy to carry on the family name. In my hometown, someone like the master would be criticized.

Yuanping 24th year, summer, June 12th

The madam miscarried again, probably due to her frail health. She can’t keep a child. So far, only the young lady has survived. The others, the oldest was eight months, a fully formed male fetus, what a pity.

If you ask me, the master could take more wives to bear children, but he’s a romantic, devoted only to the madam.

I’m old, I can’t understand the master’s thinking. The madam is great, but is it worth being childless for her?

Yuanping 24th year, summer, June 13th

The master is in a great mood today, so strange.