Female lead: No, it's me again??

"Don't think too much now, let's take a look at this skeleton."

"Ah."

Feng Siyue snapped out of her daze and shifted her gaze.

"This... judging from the bones, it should belong to a seven or eight-year-old child, but we can't be sure if it's a girl or a boy. There's a trace of demonic energy remaining in the ribs, which proves that it was done by demons, but we can't find any other information."

Gongzi Qi asked, "Shall we take another look?"

look again?

Did she miss something?

Feng Siyue leaned closer and carefully examined the skeleton from top to bottom, finally discovering some minor scratches on the left ribcage. "This is..."

"Scratches?"

These scratches are clustered around the edge of the child's missing rib on the left side.

Feng Siyue hadn't noticed before because the child's bones weren't complete; his left hand was missing, half of his head was missing, and even half of his right leg was gone.

Under such circumstances, she didn't think much about the scratch on her left ribcage.

Now it seems...

Feng Siyue looked at the other missing bones of the skeleton again, but did not find similar scratches. She realized, "Senior brother, do you mean that this demon first dug out her heart and then broke her limbs?"

The young man asked, "Do you think this is unnecessary?"

Feng Siyue nodded.

"A normal person would die naturally if their heart was lost. A child this young would most likely not be able to protect their soul from perishment, so why break their arms and legs?"

Gongzi Qi casually mentioned it.

"Could it be venting anger?"

Feng Siyue paused for a moment, "...What Senior Brother said makes sense."

The deeds of the demon race in the past are recorded in great detail in historical books.

Torture and murder are not impossible.

Seeing her thoughtful expression, the young man smiled slightly. "I'm not teasing you anymore. The reason for doing this is simply to downplay the act of digging out the heart."

"Downplay?"

Gongzi Qi nodded.

"Apart from the heart, there were no scratches on the other missing parts of the skeleton. This suggests that there is only one possibility: it did the heart removal itself."

"Demons are ferocious and come in all shapes and sizes. They worship absolute power, and any part of their body can be a weapon. Therefore, one of the differences between demons and humans is their sharp fingernails."

"Demons have powerful physical bodies. They can easily tear apart humans with their physical strength alone. When they encounter children, they don't even need to waste their magic power."

"But the act of digging out hearts is too targeted, making it easy for people to guess which branch of the demon race it is, so it needs to be concealed."

Feng Siyue didn't quite understand.

"They're all demons now, why are they hiding?"

Gongzi Qi continued to explain, "The demon race is different from the human race. Demon race is just a general term. In their world, any creature that can use magic belongs to the demon race."

“Using us as an analogy, humans, beasts, plants, and inanimate objects that can cultivate spiritual power can all be called the Spirit Race.”

"The division of the Spirit Race is not clear, but the Demon Race has many branches, each with its own destiny. Finding the correct division of branches is very important for eliminating the Demon Race."

Feng Siyue listened intently, as if a new world had opened up for her. "So, even if they cut off their heads and destroy their hearts, they might not necessarily die?"

Gongzi Qi nodded, "That's right."

The woman frowned. "This race is so strange. Senior brother, which branch of the demon race likes to dig out hearts?"

Gongzi Qi's gaze darkened slightly, "Heart-Eating Demon."

"Heart-devouring demons usually appear in the form of dogs, cats, or raccoons. They enhance their cultivation by devouring hearts. If they devour enough hearts, they can also purify their bloodline power and become higher-level soul-devouring demons."

Like human cultivators, demons, in addition to basic cultivation advancement, also have various ways of evolution, making them very difficult to deal with.

Feng Siyue was silent for a moment, then asked, "What's the weakness?"

This form is exactly the same as the monster she encountered that day. Could it be...?

"If their strength is sufficient, simply destroy their soul. If their strength is equal, find an opportunity to attack five inches below their right armpit, which is the lifeblood of their demonic power."

Feng Siyue pondered, "It seems that there are definitely an unknown number of Heart-Eating Demons in Jiangchuan City."

Gongzi Qi continued,

"The rest of the time is spent dealing with them."

After saying that, he placed his hand on her wrist and led her out of the space.

It was only after they came out that Feng Siyue realized, "So that bookstore is on the territory of Chaoyang Holy Palace?"

"Isn't Chaoyang Holy Palace supposed to be secluded from the world?"

The young man put away the scroll. "For humans, we are indeed living in seclusion, but for demons, we have never lived in seclusion."

Over the centuries, the Chaoyang Holy Palace may have faded from the human race's view, but knowing full well that they would make a comeback, they have already left their footprints on every piece of land in the Illusionary Universe Continent.

To the demons, we have never been hidden from the world?

His tone was so ordinary.

Feng Siyue stared intently at the young man facing her. At that moment, she seemed to glimpse a corner of the Chaoyang Holy Palace, and also a corner of the Holy Son of the Chaoyang Holy Palace.

Feng Siyue didn't know what a sect should be like, but she knew that there were very few like the Chaoyang Holy Palace in the world, who stood firmly on the side of humanity yet were ignorant of worldly affairs.

The coldness and warmth of human relationships she witnessed before meeting Ali still affect her to this day.

She had seen brothers turn against each other, and she had also seen powerful sects sacrifice a dozen innocent villages for a single spirit stone mine, showing no regard for the survival of those with low cultivation levels.

I've also seen people who, out of jealousy of their friends, tortured and killed them with their own hands, along with innocent families and those involved, wiping out their bodies and disposing of them. Even after meeting Ah Li, some people bullied the weak, some poisoned themselves, and some killed city residents just to frame their friends.

All of this told her that this was a cannibalistic world, where human life was as insignificant as an ant's. People who sacrifice their humanity for power, status, and selfish desires could not survive long.

Feng Siyue has always firmly believed this.

Therefore, it's none of my business.

Later, after meeting Ali, she gained a second understanding.

True friends are those who would go to great lengths for each other without complaint.

That's why she felt that,

The existence of Chaoyang Holy Palace is like that of an anomaly.

Young Master Qi hadn't heard his junior sister's voice for a long time. Turning his head, he found her staring blankly. He asked...

"Junior sister, what are you thinking about?"

Feng Siyue thought for a moment and then voiced her doubts, "Senior brother, don't you think that the Chaoyang Holy Palace's mission to protect humanity is too unconventional in this cold and cruel world?"

"Alternative?"

The two words echoed on Gongzi Qi's lips, and he understood what she meant. "You want to ask, why does the Chaoyang Holy Palace insist on protecting the human race when it is clearly in seclusion?"

Feng Siyue nodded. "I've always heard that wherever there are demons, there's the Holy Palace. I'm very curious, what's such a righteous and noble sect like?"

"But on the other hand, those years of wandering told me that such a sect does not exist."