Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

Xu Lingguang then thought of how he had given Song Nanchu a lot of pills and spirit stones when Song Nanchu left. Worried that Song Nanchu would feel burdened, he also wrote an IOU and put it in with him, so that Song Nanchu could repay him with interest after becoming the Demon King.

Just then, Xi Zhe suddenly remembered something, reached into his sleeve, pulled out a very old piece of paper, and handed it over, saying, "By the way, the king said that if you don't believe me, he should give you this. You'll believe me after you read it."

Xu Lingguang took it and saw that it was clearly the IOU he had written to Song Nan back then.

The edges of this IOU are frayed, clearly indicating it has been frequently handled.

"..."

Xu Lingguang thought to himself, "Back then, I gave Song Nanchu a lot of spirit stones and pills. Could it be that Song Nanchu is worried about not being able to repay this debt, so he is staring at the IOU all day long?"

Feeling increasingly guilty, Xu Lingguang tucked the old IOU into his sleeve and coughed dramatically, saying, "It is indeed my old friend. We were planning to go to the inner city and should set off in the next couple of days. You should go back and report to us first."

Upon hearing this, Xi Zhe was overjoyed and said, "Then my brother and I will go back to report to the King."

Just as he was about to say goodbye and leave, Xu Lingguang called him back.

Seeing the other person looking at him with suspicion, Xu Lingguang fiddled with the IOU in his sleeve and asked in a low voice, "How is your king's...financial situation?"

Xi Zhe was clearly taken aback, obviously not expecting him to ask such a question. Just as he was thinking about how to answer in a more dignified manner, his younger sister Xi Cheng said very honestly, "Qianjin Tower has been taken over by Huo Dou. The few profitable businesses left by the late king have also been taken over by Huo Dou's people. After the king returned, he seized two more of them. However, Huo Dou has controlled the inner city for many years after the late king's accident. Our foundation is far inferior to his. Now the king is supporting the various demon clans under his command, and he is really struggling financially. We haven't received our monthly salary for two months."

Xi Cheng was clearly quite resentful about not receiving her monthly salary, and rattled off a whole string of words. Xi Zhe didn't even have time to cover her mouth before she could finish, and could only awkwardly smile at Xu Lingguang, explaining with difficulty, "It's not that serious, it's just that the Huo Dou's methods are despicable and vicious, and we're temporarily at a disadvantage..."

Xu Lingguang: "..."

Xu Lingguang sighed. "This demon king Song Nanchu doesn't seem as rich as me." He decided to just pretend the IOU didn't exist once he got to the palace.

Otherwise, Song Nan's already impoverished life would likely be made even worse.

Because of the visit of the Xi Zhe siblings, Xu Lingguang brought forward his plan to go to the inner city.

I'm planning to take the kids to the inner city for a few days.

However, given Song Nanchu's precarious financial situation, Xu Lingguang packed a lot of things to avoid adding to Song Nanchu's burden by going to the inner city.

The little ones were overjoyed at the prospect of going out to play, following Xu Lingguang like little tails. When Xu Lingguang went to the kitchen to prepare ingredients, the little ones eagerly helped him carry them. When Xu Lingguang went to the room to pack his usual bedding and pillows, the little ones rushed to play with their own little mats. They even brought them over...

After Xu Lingguang had tidied up some everyday items, he went to the storage room to see Zhou Fuying.

The little ones who followed behind also stayed by the side, lying on the edge of the bed and looking at the sleeping Zhou Fuying. Yu Rong eagerly raised her hand and asked, "Where should we put this person?"

Si Yuan looked down on this silly kid: "This guy has nowhere to hide."

He suggested, "Since he hasn't woken up yet, we might as well just leave him here."

After being brought back, Zhou Fuying remained unconscious. Xu Lingguang set up a spirit-gathering array around him and fed him pills. During this time, Zhou Fuying's internal and external injuries had almost healed, but he still did not regain consciousness.

Xu Lingguang would occasionally visit him and hear him crying and saying "I'm sorry," or shouting in fear, "Dad, no!"

They guessed that he was not waking up because he was troubled by inner demons and did not want to wake up.

Xu Lingguang was also considering whether to bring Zhou Fuying with him on this trip to the palace.

Zhou Fuying and Song Nanchu have been fellow disciples for so many years. If Song Nanchu knew about his situation, he might want to see him.

Moreover, given Zhou Fuying's current state, even Xu Lingguang couldn't force him to wake up. He might remain asleep for a long time, and Xu Lingguang still needed to find Liuzhu's master's whereabouts, so taking him along probably wouldn't be very convenient.

He thought that if Zhou Fuying hadn't woken up before he left, he might be able to entrust him to Song Nanchu.

Thinking this, Xu Lingguang said, "Let's take him with us. It's not safe for him to stay here alone."

After all, this is a city of demons. Leaving a human unconscious here alone, whether he is awake or not, always makes one worry that something might happen.

After making the decision, Xu Lingguang and Lan Jian and their families traveled to the inner city by carriage the next day.

There was a layer of miasma separating the inner and outer cities. Before the Xi Zhe siblings left, they gave him a jade bell, saying that carrying the jade bell would allow him to enter the city smoothly.

Sure enough, just before the carriage reached the thin mist, the jade bells hanging under the eaves of the carriage jingled and made a clear, tinkling sound. Then, a thin barrier enveloped the carriage, and the miasma automatically retreated to both sides after touching the barrier, quickly clearing a path.

Passing through the miasma, you will see the majestic inner city gate.

Before even entering the area, Xu Lingguang could hear melodious music and a variety of noisy voices.

Xu Lingguang lifted the carriage curtain to look outside, and the lively children crowded forward, craning their necks to peer out with him.

Judging from the architectural style within the city, the inner city is actually quite similar to the human city, except that the architectural style is more ornate and incorporates various styles.

For example, along the way, the carriage passed by a cluster of restaurants and theaters, including elegant southern-style buildings and majestic northern courtyards. These buildings were all very exquisite, but when put together, they looked somewhat incongruous.

However, these demons were clearly already used to it, and even quite enjoyed it.

Xu Lingguang saw a demon with his robes wide open, holding a wine cup, looking down from the second-floor balcony at their carriage: "Xue Yuling, the Demon King's guest? Wasn't the Demon King supposed to be in seclusion?"

"It's a silver fox, and it's even with several cubs... Our new demon king isn't very old. Could it be that he had cubs outside before and only brought them back now?"

Another scantily clad fox demon emerged from behind, her snow-white thighs peeking out from under her skirt as she walked, the top of her thighs faintly visible. The two women nestled intimately together, the male demon peering inquisitively at the carriage while slipping his hand under her skirt...

But the people around them were not surprised at all by what they saw.

Xu Lingguang, his face dark, covered the children's eyes, slammed down the carriage curtain, and complained to Lan Jian, who was sitting on the other side, "The people in the inner city are not very honest and simple."

How could they do something so inappropriate for children in broad daylight!

Lan Jian did not witness the scene just now. He only glanced at it with his divine sense after hearing Xu Lingguang's complaint. After seeing it, his expression turned cold. The two great demons who were originally being intimate on the second floor suddenly screamed, and then were lifted up as if someone had grabbed their necks and thrown off the second floor.

The two bumped into a guest table on the first floor, spilling glasses and drinks all over themselves.

The two scrambled to their feet, and the male demon, his face ashen, demanded, "Who attacked me? What kind of hero hides his head and tail like that?"

Someone who recognized the trick chuckled and reminded him, "Look, it was done by that guy in the car."

"The guest our Demon King invited this time is quite powerful; I didn't even notice him make a move."

The demons discussed amongst themselves, speculating about the identity of the person inside the carriage.

The snake woman and Rao Shan mingled among these people, exchanging a glance without making a sound. Others might not recognize the people in the carriage, but they would recognize them even if they were reduced to ashes.

Isn't that the Silver Fox group that severely injured the three of them before?

After surviving their ordeal at the Tower of Ascension, they focused on recovering from their injuries, hoping to return to the outer city to inquire about the two. However, while Giant Peak was still recovering, the two were invited to the palace by the Demon King?

If the Demon King were to win them over before they could… Fear filled their eyes, and they quickly got up to go to the Tower of Ascension to report the news.

"Did those two go to the palace?"

Inside the Tower of Ascension, Huodou sat on the throne of bones. His crouching beast body rose up in anger, elevating his human half to look down completely at the two people lying on the ground.

"That young punk is clever, picking up the scraps right behind you guys."

Huo Dou chuckled coldly: "Is this the job you've been doing?"

The snake woman knew things were going badly, and quickly explained, "I received information from my spies that the Demon King invited them not to deliberately oppose the Lord, but because he seems to have some old acquaintance with those two."

The snake woman obtained this information from the spy, intending to exonerate herself. After all, if they were truly acquainted with the demon king, then at least it wasn't because they were incompetent and the demon king's people beat them to it.

Unfortunately, Huodou was not a reasonable ruler. Seeing that the snake woman was still arguing, he swept the two of them away with a wave of his sleeve and said, "Useless things. I have given you chances time and time again, but you are useless. It seems that I have been too merciful."

After he finished speaking, four skeletons emerged from the ground and grabbed the snake woman and Rao Shan's ankles from the left and right respectively.

The four skeletons looked incredibly fragile, but only the snake woman and Rao Shan, who were captured, could feel the immense force beneath their feet, like Mount Tai.

Their bodies were pulled down by the heavy force of the skeletons until their entire heads were buried in the ground. Only then did the four skeletons stop pulling, and their heads emerged from the ground with a sickening sound.

After the sound, the dark red ground began to undulate, and countless skeletons rushed forward, grabbing the two people who had sunk into the ground and tearing them apart.

However, their entire bodies were trapped in the soil, and the snake woman and Rao Shan could not struggle, nor dared to struggle. They could only grit their teeth and endure the pain, occasionally begging for mercy in agony.

This torment lasted for a full half hour before the skeletons slowly dispersed.

At first, the four skeletons pulled the two of them out of the ground like radishes. Once back underground, the two demons had been devoured of most of their flesh, and there wasn't a single piece of good skin left on their bodies.

The snake woman felt a burning pain on her face. She resisted the urge to touch her cheek, struggled to her feet, knelt down again, and kowtowed in gratitude: "Thank you, my lord, for sparing my life."

Huo Dou said sinisterly, "This is your last chance... Now that you've entered the palace, you might as well bring those two with you."

The snake woman paused, wanting to say that she and Rao Shan were no match for that great demon, but she was also afraid of Huo Dou's power, so she could only stammer in agreement.

However, Huo Dou waved his sleeve, and a skeleton crawled out of the ground, carrying a skull, and knelt before the throne.

Huo Dou clenched his fist and condensed the miasma in his hand into a tangible form. Drops of yellowish-green viscous liquid fell into the skull. After filling it about halfway, the skull, now filled with the yellowish-green viscous liquid, returned to the snake woman and Rao Shan.

"This is the plague water from my body. After you two drink it, your cultivation will increase greatly. If you still can't defeat those two, you don't need to come back to report. This plague water will turn you into nothing but bone dust."

The snake woman felt a chill run down her spine and could only accept the skull with trembling hands, suppressing her fear as she drank half of it.

Rao Shan then took the other half and drank it.

After the two finished drinking, the flesh that had been mostly eaten began to regrow rapidly and visibly. However, the writhing flesh was mixed with a strange yellowish-green color. When the skin also regrowed, many yellowish-green spots quickly appeared on the surface, just like the spots on Huodou's skin.

But Huo Dou is the source of the plague, and the plague is the source of his power, so there is no need to fear him.

But for ordinary flesh and blood like the snake woman and Rao Shan, the plague water that entered their bodies was no different from a death warrant.

They must capture the two men and report back before they can beg their lord to withdraw the plague and spare their lives.

While the snake woman and Rao Shan were plotting how to abduct the two from the palace, Xu Lingguang and his party had already entered the palace by carriage.

The palace is more luxurious than other buildings in the inner city, but upon closer inspection, one can see that many places have not been maintained or repaired for a long time and show signs of age.

For example, the originally bright and vibrant glazed tiles have lost their luster because they have not been wiped for many years.

The sunlight falling on it casts a hazy glow that exudes a sense of vicissitude.

Xu Lingguang withdrew his gaze from the distance and saw the Xi Zhe and Xi Cheng siblings coming forward, standing on either side of the carriage: "We are here on His Majesty's orders to guide Young Master Xu and Young Master Lan. Please follow us."