Fantasy: Immortality Begins with Absorbing Demons

Chapter 501 The Secret Realm of a Hundred Flowers (Part Six)

Snapped!

Zhao Laogou suddenly flicked his finger, and the jet-black blood immediately clung to the bloodline in the center of the Bloodhound's forehead.

The Bloodhound shuddered and froze as if dead.

In an instant, a pair of will-o'-the-wisps of fluorescent green pupils opened and stared straight at Fang Shouming.

“…..”

Fang Shouming felt a chill run down his spine when he saw that gaze, and he shuddered.

One second, this bloodhound seemed harmless to him. But the next second, it transformed into something terrifying, like a demon. Even he felt a sense of dread for no apparent reason.

People like Zhao Laogou, who follow their own desires and disregard moral rules and the rules of the martial arts world, only care about their own pleasure. This is not only because their personality, beliefs, and behavior are unrestrained and different from ordinary people.

The most important point is that demonic warriors are people who have actually had contact with the demon race, have joined the demon race, and know one or two demonic secret techniques.

This is the real reason why it is called the Demonic Path.

But Fang Shouming couldn't care less about justice; the most important thing right now was to find the real culprit.

Go...

After using the Demon Clan's secret technique, Zhao Laogou's face turned extremely pale, and his movements became somewhat distorted.

Clearly, this secret technique also caused him considerable consumption and damage.

The Bloodhound paused at the window frame for a moment, then darted out like an arrow.

"Follow!"

Zhao Laogou quickly reminded him, and Fang Shouming followed closely behind.

The two followed the Bloodhound closely, watching it first follow the lake's edge, then downstream with the current, until it finally arrived at a secluded rocky shore.

The Bloodhound, whose special abilities were activated by the Demon Clan's secret technique, is truly extraordinary. After many days, it actually revealed Han Yi's escape route in detail.

"This place seems to still be by Flower Lake; hardly anyone comes here normally..."

Fang Shouming looked around at his surroundings, his expression puzzled, wondering what use this place could possibly be.

"All the clues end here..." Old Zhao seemed to have some unique way of communicating with dogs and quickly obtained the information he wanted.

"You mean this is where the murderer last appeared?" Fang Shouming asked.

"That's right, all the traces end here. This could lead to two possibilities."

First, the remote location and high humidity washed away all traces. Second, the murderer was extremely cautious, not only hiding their entire body but also scattering special odor-removing powder in the vicinity to eliminate any remaining scent or traces.

Here, I lean towards the second possibility.

Old Zhao analyzed carefully, and the conclusion he drew last time ended up with no result, which greatly annoyed him. This time, he also showed his true abilities.

This is a secret technique of the demon race that can shorten one's lifespan.

“Regardless of the possibility, as you said, we’ve reached a dead end and are completely at a loss,” Fang Shouming frowned.

In his view, there were two possibilities; saying it or not saying it made no difference.

What's the use of just having a conclusion? Not finding the murderer is not the answer he wants to hear.

roar…...

Suddenly, the Bloodhound beside them let out a low growl and plunged into the lake.

Zhao Laogou didn't even have time to answer Fang Shouming's question and rushed over quickly.

Before long, he squatted by the lake and took a dark object from the Bloodhound's mouth.

"Young Master Fang!" he called out, as if he had discovered some crucial clue.

Fang Shouming looked up at the sound, paused for a moment, then immediately recognized the item: "This, could this be the murderer's clothes from that day?!"

What Zhao Laogou held in his hand was a dark piece of cloth.

It was about the size of a palm-leaf fan, covered in slippery green moss, and the strips of cloth were riddled with holes, as if it had been damaged by something. Even though it had been washed and ruined by the water, it was still clear that the cloth was of good quality and was woven from some special material.

"As expected..." Old Zhao's eyes lit up with joy as he stared intently at the black cloth strip in his hand.

"This must be where the murderer disposed of his own traces."

The perpetrator hastily fled here after the crime, masking his scent with odor-absorbing powder or something similar. He then quickly cleaned up the black robe he wore during the attack, changed into clothes he had prepared beforehand, and swaggered out, blending into the crowd…”

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly paused, as if he had thought of something, and then jumped into the lake as well.

Soon, he swam ashore, soaking wet, clutching a piece of black cloth in his hand.

This process was repeated, and soon, half of the tattered black robe was pieced together. Even though it was only half, the whole thing looked like a tattered mop, but it was extremely large, perfectly matching the physique of the black-clad man seen by the witnesses.

“I was right. This should be the last place where the real culprit changed clothes after succeeding in the crime, disguised himself as an innocent passerby, and calmly left.” Zhao Laogou said with certainty.

"If these are the clothes that person wore that day, then by finding the source of the clothes, we can follow the clues and find the real culprit!"

Fang Shouming was overjoyed, knowing that he had found an important clue.

Although the black robe was incomplete, its size alone could be used to deduce the killer's weight and build.

“That’s right. These specially made clothes usually come from a few secret workshops. I have good relationships with many of them. If I ask around, I should be able to find the murderer’s clues.”

Zhao Laogou also had a smile on his face. As a member of the demonic path, he was very familiar with these items that flowed out of the black market.

He was a regular customer of these black market items before.

“By the way, Young Master Fang, there’s one more thing to be aware of.” He reminded Fang Shouming, “The location here is extremely remote. I suspect the murderer might be someone who knows Jingtian Manor very well, which is why they know all the hidden routes so clearly.”

In fact, his speculation was incomplete; he even felt that the murderer was very likely an insider at Jingtian Manor.

However, this speculation contradicts his previous conclusion.

Therefore, he couldn't say it directly, but only gave a subtle reminder.

“I’ve had my suspicions about this for a while now…” A glint of light flashed in Fang Shouming’s eyes.

In fact, after investigating the people around Chen Lingmo and finding no suspicious individuals, he began to suspect that it might be Zhao Ziyang's people who had secretly sabotaged things.

Otherwise, the timing wouldn't have been so coincidental. Just as Chen Lingmo was about to make his move, something happened.

Now, the conclusions drawn from both the previous and subsequent analyses perfectly validate the earlier guesses.

"Don't tell anyone about this yet," Fang Shouming said slowly. "Old Dog, find out the source of these clothes first, identify the real culprit, and then make a decision."

His mind raced.

If Chen Lingmo was indeed injured by someone sent by Zhao Ziyang...

So, now is an opportunity.

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to turn the tide.

This would give Chen Ying a golden opportunity to completely side with the father and son and work together to deal with Zhao Ziyang, thus giving his father, Fang He, a great chance.

An idea gradually began to emerge in Fang Shouming's mind.

His mouth stretched wider and wider, until he burst into uncontrollable, maniacal laughter.

......

Jingming Town, the Inspectorate.

"Alright, that's roughly the schedule for this quarter. If you need anything while I'm gone, you can go to Chen Jiuli next door for minor matters, or to my senior sister Zhong Han for major matters."

The two of them aren't far apart; if anything happens, they should be able to get there in time.

In the magnificent reception room, Han Yi sat in the main seat, looking at the three hall masters under his command.

“Especially you, Xiaoling, this is your first time serving as a hall master, and you have little experience. If there is anything you are unsure about, you can ask the two of them for advice.”

He looked at the two hall masters, Zhu Haishan and Qu Qiao: "You two should also help Xiaoling more. Although there are few people in Qiyun Mountain, we must unite and work together."

Zhu Haishan and Qu Qiao nodded repeatedly in agreement. A woman on the other side, of average appearance and figure, who gave off an extremely dull and honest impression, also quickly agreed.

Luo Meiwei died, and Han Yi promoted someone from the Lotus Hall to replace her.

Huang Qingling was a long-time disciple of Lotus Hall who had worked diligently for many years.

According to Han Yi's observation, this woman was the most ostracized by Luo Meiwei in the Lotus Hall because of her upright character and lack of flattery.

Han Yi simply promoted her to the position of Hall Master, taking over Luo Meiwei's responsibilities and directly managing the logistics and finances within the industry.

Besides Huang Qingling, many other people in Lotus Hall who had ambiguous relationships with Luo Meiwei were also replaced by him.

He was terrified of May Lo; if another contraband incident happened, he'd have nowhere to turn for help.

After finalizing the plans for the various industries, and seeing that the three had nothing else to do, Han Yi waved and got up to leave. In the study on the second floor, the butler, Yang Du, had already packed a suitcase and was respectfully waiting for Han Yi's arrival.

"Sir, everything I needed to bring this time has been packed. Would you like to take a look?"

"Alright, no need. Go down and tell Old Li we'll be leaving soon," Han Yi instructed.

"Okay." Yang Du nodded and quickly walked down.

Han Yi picked up the package and slowly walked towards the courtyard.

The package didn't actually contain anything valuable; it mostly contained small, delicate gifts for meeting someone.

When he goes back to Jingtian Manor this time, he will bring back some small gifts for his master and senior sisters.

A few days ago, he received a letter from Zhong Yunxiu.

It seems there's an extra spot for the secret realm in the inner courtyard, so they asked him if he wanted to go and solicited his opinion.

Han Yi agreed without hesitation. His thoughts coincided with Zhong Yunxiu's.

Right now, both sides are in a state of extreme anxiety and tension. If they can't find the item soon, they might resort to desperate measures.

That will be Han Yi's most dangerous moment.

Therefore, at this point in time, it is a wise choice to let Han Yi go out and hide for a while.

Soon, coachman Lao Li and his old horse arrived in front of Han Yi.

Han Yi didn't say much, just nodded and sat down.

After he entered the carriage, the carriage visibly lurched downwards, causing a slight dent.

Old Ma also rolled around on the ground a few times before the impact of the force gradually dissipated.

Han Yi saw this and frowned slightly.

With his breakthrough to the sixth level of the Heaven-Mending Technique, his blood and qi became denser and heavier than before.

While his strength was immense, a side effect was that his weight increased dramatically again.

There's nothing we can do about it. The surface area hasn't changed, but the density has increased, so naturally the weight will increase.

The old horse in this carriage was just an ordinary horse. It was simply tall and strong, and as Han Yi gradually grew stronger, it naturally found it increasingly difficult to work.

"It seems I should learn from the Green-Clad Alliance and raise a monster strong enough to support my weight for my future battles..."

Han Yi recalled his several encounters with the Green Robe Alliance.

Any martial artist in the Green Robe Alliance, if picked randomly, either keeps dogs or eagles, or raises dragons and snakes.

They seem to possess some special means to greatly increase their affinity with demonic beasts and to drive them to fight for them.

Han Yi had killed two Green Robe Alliance martial artists last time and obtained some daily cultivation records from them.

Furthermore, after communicating with Zhong Yunxiu, Hu Ping, and others, he learned that this method of communicating with and controlling demonic beasts is called "Beast Taming Technique".

This method places extremely high demands on cultivators; the most basic requirement is to have a natural affinity for demonic beasts.

This is the most basic requirement. Without this, you might be swallowed whole by a monster the moment you get close to it.

Furthermore, the complete lineage texts on beast taming are scarce, and the consumption of various resources, time, and energy is extremely terrifying.

Therefore, Zhong Yunxiu also advised him to focus on practicing his skills and not to try to improve his strength through such crooked methods.

Yes, animal taming is actually a form of evil practice.

Taming beasts, using traps, employing witchcraft, poisoning, and so on are all forms of evil practices. Anything that relies on external forces rather than one's own strength to defeat enemies is considered an evil path. Even if one cultivates evil methods to the point of immense power, their own inherent strength will never match it.

Moreover, if the methods one relies on are specifically countered by others, one might not even be able to defeat a three-year-old child.

"But who says that while practicing martial arts, one cannot necessarily cultivate other methods? What Master is worried about is that I might be too distracted and become obsessed with the unorthodox way of rapidly increasing my strength, thus missing the peak period of martial arts cultivation and regretting it in the end."

But with my control panel, I can increase my strength while also gaining another means of combat. After all, more options mean more solutions to problems.

Inside the carriage, Han Yi appeared to be resting with his eyes closed, but in reality, he was contemplating his future path in martial arts cultivation.

"Master, we have arrived at Huayang City."

Suddenly, Old Li gently knocked on the carriage and softly reminded him.