Divine Wood Part 1

The few people from the Feng Clan never expected to hear such a sentence.

In these turbulent years, Fallen Flower Mountain Market had been able to maintain such a lively and prosperous scene because it relied on the protection of the Feng Clan.

Thus, the people in the Mountain Market were always very respectful when they saw them.

When Evil Demons saw them, especially their 'Feng' Character Sword, they would always show a look of dread, either attacking immediately or turning tail to flee.

This one today was truly the first of his kind they had ever met.

It was one thing for this Evil Demon to be unfazed by the 'Feng' Character Sword, but his first words were not a cry to fight or kill, but an order for them to do something.

What a bizarre encounter!

The young woman was dumbfounded, almost not knowing how to respond. She froze for a moment, her almond-shaped eyes widening as she said: "What filthy place did you crawl out of, you... person? Such arrogant words!"

She could have been harsher, but this Evil Demon inexplicably carried an air of nobility. It was truly hard to say anything too unpleasant to such a person.

But that didn't stop them from drawing their swords—

The moment the Evil Demon's threatening words fell, the seven or eight Feng Clan disciples drew the longswords at their waists in unison!

Clang clang—

With several metallic rings, the Sword Qi from those longswords had already formed sharp points, rushing straight for Wu Xingxue!

The next moment, his figure blurred—the Sword Qi pierced through, but it didn't hit the Evil Demon. Instead, it went straight for the couch behind him.

A series of cracks from the wooden posts breaking rang out, and splinters flew everywhere.

The innkeeper by the table jumped in fright and hurriedly took a few steps closer to the Feng Clan disciples for safety.

Just as he finished moving, a loud crash echoed.

The perfectly fine couch, its four posts all severed by the Sword Qi, collapsed to the ground, becoming a pile of scrap wood.

The Feng Clan members were horrified.

"Where did he go?!" they blurted out, and were surprised to hear a reply.

"Are you looking for me?"

The voice came from behind them.

Everyone stiffened and spun around. They saw that the Evil Demon had somehow teleported into their midst.

He was standing behind an unlucky disciple, gripping the disciple's wrist and forcing him to hold his sword horizontally inwards, the blade pressed against the disciple's own neck.

"You—" The disciple's expression was tense, his face a deathly, ashen pale, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged.

He struggled with all his might against the hand gripping his wrist, but to no avail, nearly shattering his teeth from gritting them so hard.

The Evil Demon's voice was soft and slow: "Someone told me not to cause too much of a commotion, so this is the only way. It would have actually been better to restrain your leader, but since your leader is a young lady, acting rashly would make me look like a scoundrel. So, I have no choice but to trouble you."

...

He said it so earnestly, yet the disciple almost vomited blood.

To the others, his words had another layer of meaning: I can restrain any one of you; it's just a matter of who I pick.

Provoked, several disciples' faces darkened, and they were about to raise their swords again. But with a muffled groan, the blade on the restrained disciple's neck moved a fraction closer, pressing a shallow mark onto his throat.

"Don't move!" the young woman shouted again.

Everyone gripped their sword hilts tightly, not daring to move.

The sword on the disciple's neck also stopped, no longer pressing down.

The innkeeper hesitated for a moment, then silently took a few small steps back to the table.

The young woman stared at the blade, and after a moment, she finally spoke: "When we entered, you said you were looking for someone?"

"Yes."

The young woman's fine brows knitted together as she looked at Wu Xingxue in confusion. A moment later, her gaze shifted to the innkeeper, and she asked in a low voice: "What exactly is going on? Isn't this supposed to be the same as the previous incident?"

The innkeeper wore a pained expression: "It is the same."

The young woman glanced at Wu Xingxue again, then looked back at the innkeeper: "Then who are you looking for? Shouldn't the person who disappeared be—"

The innkeeper waved his hands repeatedly: "Don't say it, don't say it! Immortal ladies and elders, if he wants to search, just let him."

The young woman was still unconvinced. She turned to stare at Wu Xingxue: "Since you're so capable, able to restrain whomever you please and acting as if none of us can do anything to you, then you..."

Her gaze flickered as if she had found a flaw. "Then why ask for our help? It's just finding a person; you could do it yourself. Let me think... Could it be that you have some restriction on you? An injury? Because you're already at the end of your rope and are just putting on a brave face to bluff us?"

They had encountered their fair share of bluffing Evil Demons, so the more she spoke, the more plausible it sounded.

Several disciples tightened their grips on their swords again, trying hard to find a weakness in Wu Xingxue, but they heard him say: "That's not it."

The Demon Lord's dark eyes looked at them as he said: "Because I only know how to kill people. I can't do anything else."

Everyone: "..."

Wu Xingxue was telling the truth, but to others, it sounded like another threat. And it was a crystal-clear threat; combined with his eyes, it really didn't seem like a bluff.

The innkeeper was frantically making eye signals from the side, but the Feng Clan disciples were still at a stalemate.

Seeing Wu Xingxue frown, showing a hint of impatience, the young woman said: "Fine, we'll search."

She took out a few paper talismans bearing the Feng Clan's insignia from her robes. Too lazy to ask the innkeeper for a cinnabar brush, she wiped her finger on her sword's edge and, with a drop of blood, asked: "What is the full name of the person you're looking for?"

When guests entered the inn, the innkeeper would ask for their names, and every one was recorded in a register. He recalled the names these two guests had given the first time they entered and was about to answer.

But he heard Wu Xingxue say: "Xiao Fuxuan."

The innkeeper shut his mouth: "?"

But the Feng Clan disciples' mouths dropped open: "???"

The inn was completely silent.

After a moment, the innkeeper trembled: "Ah?"

He added: "That's not the name you gave when you checked in... This name... isn't that High Immortal Tianxiu's name... This..."

As he muttered to himself, his expression was one of utter shock.

That was actually quite normal. Anyone who heard that High Immortal Tianxiu had stayed in their own inn for two nights would probably have the same reaction.

But for a split second, a different look flashed through his shock. It vanished in an instant, so fast it was as if it had never been there.

But Wu Xingxue saw it.

It was like... joy?

But it didn't seem to be to the extent of joy. It was more like a long-dusty glass bead that had suddenly brightened for a moment, its spirit gathering.

Wu Xingxue thought back and felt that the look was somewhat familiar—just like that moment at the Hua Family, when Yi Wusheng grabbed the hem of his robe and said 'save me' to him.

'Could it be that this innkeeper has also been possessed by an Evil Demon, and his original soul was revealed the moment he heard 'High Immortal Tianxiu'?'

'No, it doesn't seem like it. Besides, he doesn't have the slightest hint of demonic Qi.'

'What is it, then?'

Wu Xingxue thought to himself.

He recalled the innkeeper's earlier words and suddenly noticed an extremely subtle problem—

The innkeeper had said that after the scholar and his page met with trouble in the inn, he remembered the advice from the people of the Immortal Sects and felt that his inn was indeed an ill-fated place, with every inch of land reeking of strangeness. It got to the point where he was plagued by nightmares and couldn't sleep at night.

So he went to ask the Immortal Sects for help.

At first listen, there was nothing wrong with his words, but thinking about it now, it was a bit strange.

He was so troubled he couldn't eat or sleep, so why didn't he move his inn to a different location? He would rather keep a terrifying coffin in the inn and raise a Corpse Person that could lose control at any moment, yet he never thought of moving.

'Why?'

'Was it that he didn't want to move? Or that he couldn't?'

'Was he reluctant to leave this place? Or was he unable to leave for some reason?'

Wu Xingxue narrowed his eyes.

***

The innkeeper merely blinked, and he felt a biting cold wind sweep past the back of his neck. Immediately after, a blade so sharp it could sever a falling hair was at his throat.

Wu Xingxue, who a moment ago was holding a Feng Clan disciple hostage, was now behind him, as fast as a phantom.

He heard Wu Xingxue ask him in a low voice: "You're afraid of this place, yet you don't leave... Are you guarding something?"

This question was like slitting open a sealed bag.

The innkeeper's eyes brightened again for an instant, and his whole body trembled violently, as if he had suddenly woken from a long dream.

His eyelids trembled as he opened his mouth, seemingly trying with all his might to say something, but then he pressed his lips together and gave a pained shake of his head. It was as if he wanted to speak but was bound by something, unable to say it, and even had to deny it, expressing the opposite meaning.

This reaction was truly bizarre, but it confirmed Wu Xingxue's suspicions.

He had previously listened to the innkeeper's rambling, thinking the man was just naturally talkative. Whether it was the young girl eating her own father or the young master eating his page, both stories could have been explained in a few sentences, yet the innkeeper insisted on starting from "Jade Essence grew in the backyard".

Thinking about it now, it was as if he was trying his best to speak within the limits of what he was allowed to say, trying to make the listener understand the hidden meaning behind it—this place is not ordinary, but I cannot leave.