I raised the evil spirit and became an evil investigator

Aicheng Hualian was thinking in his heart.

She looked at Kenichi Takahashi in front of her and couldn't connect him with those cultists who used human flesh and blood to worship evil spirits.

"That's human flesh, and it's infested with fel energy, am I right?"

A cold voice pierced the silent air. The speaker was the evil god standing beside her.

Aicheng Hualian had no intention of digging into the matter, but the evil god disdained to read people's expressions. He always did what he thought.

"Hey... well, you're right." Takahashi Kenichi was stunned, as if he hadn't expected Kagura Hikaru to point out the source of the flesh and blood so directly. He sighed and said, "That is indeed human flesh, but I picked it up from the Black Water Hole."

"Picked it up?"

"Yes." With a somewhat miserable expression, Takahashi Kenichi walked to the statue and knelt down to pay homage. "Over the past ten years, while researching evil spirits in the Blackwater Swamp, I've always encountered human corpses."

"Most of them were private investigators who ignored warnings and entered the Blackwater Swamp to complete their missions, or perhaps they were simply lost souls. Because the Blackwater Swamp was filled with demonic energy, their bodies wouldn't decay after death. So, I cut off some of their flesh and used it as a sacrifice."

"I also heard from the villagers here that the more noble the flesh and blood offered to the Shunhe God, the more satisfied he will be, and there will be no more floods in the Yelan River. So I use this human flesh for sacrifice, which better reflects my respect for the god."

"This is too..." Although he was used to seeing life and death due to his professional experience, Aicheng Hualian didn't know how to evaluate the other party's actions.

Is it safe to say that Takahashi Kenichi has gone mad? Offering the flesh of his own kind to a deity, a wild deity from nowhere, hoping that it will answer his wishes and restore peace and tranquility to the polluted Yelan River?

Judging from the situation in the Black Water Swamp, this so-called River God doesn't seem to be very effective.

But Aicheng Hualian believes that he has no position or qualifications to blame the other party. After staying here for more than ten years, it is understandable that he has mental problems and has become a little paranoid.

Amidst Kenichi Takahashi's compliments and thanks, Karen Aijo and Hikaru Kagura left the house.

On the way out of Nakagawa Village, Kagura Hikaru communicated with her through her will.

He is lying.

The human flesh displayed before the statue must have been dead no more than five days ago. If it had been found in the Black Water Pond, it wouldn't have looked so fresh.

Hearing this, Aicheng Hualian asked back, "Are you saying that the human flesh was from Mr. Takahashi? He killed people to obtain the human flesh for the sacrifice?"

You don't believe me?

The dark blue eyes swept over Aicheng Hualian. If anyone else was stared at by such a gaze, they would probably shiver with cold, but the vigorous breeder was already accustomed to it. "Of course I will believe the words of a god, but this goes against everything I have seen."

"As a C-rank psychic, apart from anything else, I can still tell whether a person has ill will towards me." During the conversation with Kenichi Takahashi, Karen Aishiro also used her psychic vision to observe the emotions expressed by the other party, and could not see any trace of malice at all.

"You said the human flesh had been dead for no more than five days. Perhaps during those five days, some unlucky soul entered the Black Water Pond and was killed by the evil spirit, and then happened to be picked up by Mr. Takahashi."

[……] Giving Aijo Karen a look that asked, "Do you believe it yourself?", Kagura Hikaru said nothing more and walked forward silently.

"Xiao Guang, how long can you last after that meal in the Black Water Hole?"

[I don’t know, but I’m not hungry right now.]

Kagura Hikaru's reply was ambiguous, but that wouldn't do. Aijo Karen needed accurate data in order to make arrangements for the next step.

She glanced at Kagura Hikaru's face, but it was as if she had hit an iceberg. Now she understood that the other party was sulking.

"why is it like this…"

Why is the evil god so prone to losing his temper? He doesn't have the dignity of a god at all.

But it is also true that the other party is far from being "mature". The evil god in hunting mode is probably only eighteen or nineteen years old in human age. This is the age when people think they are the most amazing and their ideas are the most correct, so their reactions to opposition from others are also the most intense.

Seeing this, Aijo Karen quietly walked over to Kagura Hikaru, reached out her left hand, and quietly tugged at the hem of his shirt. Seeing that he didn't resist, she slowly increased her strength, her lips parted, and softly spoke, as if trying to persuade a child, "If Hikaru doesn't tell me, I don't know how to plan my next hunt. I believe everything you said just now. I'll keep an eye on Takahashi Kenichi."

However, Kagura Hikaru did not give the answer she wanted as she expected.

This was the first time that Kagura Hikari appeared in the real world in human form, and it was also the first time that she met Aijo Karen, who was pleading with her in such a soft manner.

The evil god's consciousness immediately searched his mind for everything about humans and found the behavioral term "acting coquettishly".

"Are you acting like a spoiled brat? Among humans, this kind of behavior is called acting like a spoiled brat, am I right?"

"Hey! I want your answer, not your definition of my behavior!" Even Aicheng Hualian's cheeks were reddened by the evil god's unconventional way of thinking. "So what if it's just coquettishness? Among us humans, as long as it's coquettishness, the person being coquettishly treated must obey the coquettish person."

【real or fake? 】

"I wouldn't lie to you."

[…That meal can last for three days.]

"That's good. It took longer than I expected."

……

More than 700 meters to the left of Guanglian and the others, two figures were stealthily passing under the eaves of the houses.

"I don't know how that black puddle suddenly got so much bigger! It almost swallowed us both up. Luckily I was smart enough to run away!"

Following Ishido Futaba at a hurried pace was Hanagi Kaori. They had been observing the restricted area from over a thousand meters away, but the awakening of the giant black bug had caused the area's diameter to expand nearly three times, nearly swallowing them whole.

"Ouch! What are you doing!?"

Ishidome Futaba in front suddenly stopped, and Hanayu Kaori's nose hit the other's back hard.

"Shh!" Turning back to signal Hanayu Kaori to be quiet, Ishido Futaba pointed to a shop in front and said in a low voice, "Look at that guy on the motorcycle. He doesn't look like a local."

Hanayu Kaori looked in the direction that Ishido Futaba pointed, and her face suddenly turned pale.

"That guy is one of the people chasing me!"

Chapter 123 Encountering a Killer

"I'm telling you, I'm only addressing you as old man because of your age, but this glass of water you gave me doesn't seem right!"

He threw the cup of water in his hand to the ground. With a crisp clang, the porcelain cup shattered and the white water spilled all over the floor.

Although the water appeared to be pure, the assassin codenamed Shui Chan had already discovered through psychic testing that the water in the cup was actually polluted water from the Yelan River. If she drank it, she would be cursed by the Yelan River and trapped there for life like the villagers before her.

The old man she scolded had a face full of wrinkles, with gray hair hanging loosely down his back. He looked to be in his seventies. Facing the woman's scolding, the old man showed no fear and even looked directly into the killer's eyes. "Haha, if you want to learn the whereabouts of that child Futaba from me, forget it!"

……

"Do you know her?" The two people hiding behind the house heard the dispute between the old man and the killer Shui Chan. Hua Liu Xiangzi turned her head to look at Ishido Futaba beside her, but found that the girl had a gloomy face and was staring at the killer's back.

"Yes. Six years ago, when I came here, the old lady's granddaughter accidentally entered the Blackwater Swamp. I happened to be nearby at the time and helped the girl out of the Blackwater Swamp. The house I live in now is the old house they didn't want anymore."

"Damn it, how did that killer find her!"

"Is that really true?" Hua Liu Xiangzi was shocked and said quickly, "Doesn't that mean that person knows your information, even where you live? This is troublesome. If the old woman is forced by the killer to tell us where we are hiding, we will be finished!"

"We need to think of a solution quickly! I can't show up right now. Oh, Futaba-kun, why don't you go and lure the killer away? If that doesn't work, you can even find a way to silence that old woman!" Hua Liu Xiangzi's tone became increasingly urgent, and in the end, she even mentioned the method of killing and silencing the old man. As she watched the killer approach the old man, a few drops of cold sweat fell from her forehead.

"..." Ishidome Futaba turned her head and stared at Hanayu Kaori in shock. For a moment, she felt that this former childhood sweetheart in front of her was a stranger to her.

"Xiangzi, what are you talking about? Do you want to kill Grandma Liu?"

"Is there any other way? Don't you even have the awareness to escape this predicament with the least possible cost?" Hua Liu Xiangzi shuddered slightly. She knew those four assassins were no pushovers, each a D-rank lawless outlaw. Those assassins, having emerged from the corpses of human beings, were far superior to her, a pampered young lady, in terms of combat prowess.

On the outskirts of Donghua City, Hua Liu Xiangzi had fought two of the four assassins, a nearly one-sided battle. Yun Rao and Xue Mang, the sisters, worked together like one, beating Hua Liu Xiangzi back repeatedly, fracturing her left leg and injuring her abdomen, nearly killing her on the spot.

From that point on, the escape began. Hanayagi Kaori contacted her former friend, Ishido Futaba, and made her way to the Yelan River. She'd thought hiding near the restricted area would provide her with more safety, but she hadn't anticipated the killers' relentless pursuit, having already reached this very village.

Now, the safe house she carefully selected is about to become an unknown burial place.

She thought the killer would not expect that a pampered young lady like her would hide near the restricted area, but she did not expect that the killer had the means to track her, and she was still caught by the killer.

During her days in hiding, she drank the water of the Yelan River to better blend in with the area and conceal her psychic fluctuations, becoming bound to it. If the killer discovered her now, she would be unable to escape. With nowhere else to turn, she had no choice but to hide deeper. However, she had no idea that anyone besides herself knew where Ishido Futaba lived.

But Ishido Futaba beside him clearly had other ideas.

Seeing that the killer was about to use violence against the old man, Shidong Shuangye became very anxious.

"No, Grandma Liu has helped me a lot over the years. I can't just stand by and watch!"

"You guy!"

Looking at Ishidome Futaba's back, Hanayu Kaori gritted her teeth in anger. She touched her face, regretting why she didn't prepare some mask or something to cover her face. After a brief hesitation, she quickly walked away from the killer.

……

"Something seems to have happened nearby."

To the east of Aicheng Hualian, the sudden increase in the desire to survive in several places made her curious.

Generally speaking, the stronger the desire to survive, it often means that someone's life is threatened.

But this remote village has only a population of a few thousand people. If there were any criminals, they would have been caught and exposed by the villagers long ago. How could such a vicious incident happen in broad daylight?

"It must be Kenichi Takahashi who is killing people." Kagura Hikaru said this on the side, and it seemed that he was still obsessed with his suspicion of Karen Aishiro.

"Maybe it's someone else?" Thinking of Hua Liu Xiangzi and the other person who kept pestering him, Ai Cheng Hua Lian pointed his index finger at his mask, confirming that it was intact. "It must be those killers, the ones who wanted to kill Hua Liu Xiangzi. They're probably already in these three villages and towns."

"Want to go over and take a look?" This time, it was the evil god who took the initiative to ask if he wanted to intervene. Aicheng Hualian just smiled and shook her head, "The young lady's affairs have nothing to do with us. They involve the Hualiu Group's business war. If we get involved, it will be difficult for us to escape."

If the person being hunted was an ordinary person, Aicheng Hualian might have offered a helping hand. But the other party was a member of the Hualiu family, claiming to be a descendant of a prestigious family with a lineage of thirteen generations. So, Aicheng Hualian would not get involved in this mess. She was sure that the young lady would be able to escape.

"Let's go then."

The two continued walking forward. Just as they turned a street and stepped onto the road leaving Zhonghe Village, a woman with white eyebrows and black hair stood in front of them, blocking their way.

"Please stay, both of you."

The woman's voice was soft and gentle, like the snow falling in early winter. She took out a piece of paper and looked at the list on it, comparing the characteristics recorded on the list.

In fact, there was no need for comparison or verification. Just based on the strange attire of Aishiro Karen and Kagura Hikaru, it was enough for Xuemang to judge that they were the next "outsider".

She said calmly, "You two are outsiders. Could you please take off your masks?"

"Eh?" Aijo Karen stepped forward and quietly stood in front of Kagura Hikaru, telling her not to move. "Excuse me, young lady, is there anything I can do for you? We are indeed outsiders, but we are private investigators here to investigate the Blackwater Swamp. We are not the people you are looking for."

"Interesting." Xuemang's lips curled slightly, "How did you know I was looking for someone?"

"If you are not looking for someone, why would the other girl hiding in the tree use some means to detect my psychic fluctuations?" Aicheng Hualian said, pointing to a big tree beside the road.

Chapter 124 Is it her?

"This lady's detection ability is unexpectedly strong." A look of surprise flashed across Xuemang's eyes. Her sister Yunrao was the best among the four killers in terms of concealing her own breath. If the other party used all her strength to conceal herself, even her sister would take a while to find her.

Unexpectedly, after just one encounter, the masked girl revealed her sister's hiding place.

What was even stranger was that she was also using psychic detection methods to examine the two masked girls in front of her, but no matter who they were, the psychic fluctuations they displayed made her feel confused.

The red-masked investigator who had pointed out Yunrao's hiding place was emitting a shrouded psychic energy, making it impossible to determine his exact level. The black-masked investigator on the other side was even stranger. His aura was as shrouded in darkness as a rock pulled from the sea, as if he had built a solid barrier around himself, blocking her from detecting him.

She should be thankful that she is unable to uncover the true identity of the evil god now, otherwise the next destination of this killer lady would be the hospital.

"Now that you've been exposed, there's no need to hide. Come out, sister."

Snow Blind spoke to a tree beside the road. There was a rustling sound, and the treetops shook. A woman wearing simple gray clothes and dressed like a wandering merchant floated out from the treetops, like a cloud falling from the sky.

"Let me introduce you two. This is my sister, Yunrao. We're wandering merchants, making a living by selling goods in various cities. Recently, when we passed through this village, one of our team members got separated. Knowing this is a dangerous restricted area, we're a little worried and want to know if anyone has sneaked into the nearby villages recently."

"Wandering merchants?" Aicheng Hualian looked at the two women before her, smiled, and shook her head. "I've seen wandering merchants before. Most of them carry large and small bags, and some even form entire caravans loaded with various supplies. But you... I don't seem to see any goods you're selling. And since your teammate is missing, you should seek help from the authorities. Why are you searching privately?"

As wandering merchants with no fixed place to live, each business trip would often cover thousands of kilometers, selling the goods carried by the caravan to cities along the way. Therefore, every time they went out for business, the wandering merchants carried a large amount of supplies. But the two girls in front of them were completely naked, without even a package, and they did not look like so-called wandering merchants at all.

Aicheng Hualian knew full well that the two girls were most likely assassins from the Shadow Assassins, out to kill Hua Liu Xiangzi. However, she couldn't confront them head-on right now. Who knew how powerful the Shadow Assassins were? Aicheng Hualian didn't want to experience the classic "beat the younger, then the older" scenario.

Therefore, she was happy to watch the other party acting in front of her, and pointed out the shortcomings of the two female killers in disguise.

"Well..." The woman with eyebrows as white as snow paused for a moment, then reacted instantly. "Our caravan's merchandise convoy is parked elsewhere. This is a restricted area, after all, and it's unsafe. As for seeking help from official forces..." Snow Blind showed an embarrassed expression. "The identity of the person who escaped is somewhat special, and it's not convenient for the police to know."

Seeing this, the woman named Yunrao pursed her lips and walked forward impatiently, saying, "Sister, there's no need to hide anything. Let me tell you, the one who escaped is our commodity. She's a psychic with great potential. A boss has taken a liking to her and asked us to deliver her safely to a designated location."

Human traffickers!

A word flashed through Aicheng Hualian's mind.

Oh no, in today's society, this special team for transporting psychic talents should be called the "Spiritual Seedling Transport Team" - a team that specifically obeys the arrangements of the sponsor and delivers the psychic seedlings that the sponsor likes to the sponsor's hands.

I didn't expect that the other party would use this gray profession as disguise.

"Time is running out and we don't want to waste time talking to you. Judging from your appearance, you are not the same person as our target. Have you seen the person in this photo?" As he said that, Yun Rao took out a photo from his sister's trouser pocket and handed it to Aicheng Hualian. In the photo, Hua Liu Xiangzi's face was prominently shown.

Sure enough, it was the killer who came to hunt down Hua Liu Xiangzi.

"If you can provide useful information, you will be rewarded."

Aicheng Hualian shifted her gaze away from the photo and looked at the bills in the other person's hand. She said with a hint of regret, "I'm sorry, I didn't see the person in the photo. If there's nothing else, then...?"

At this moment, she suddenly saw Yunrao reaching out and grabbing her face.

At the same time, a dissatisfied rebuke sounded in his ears, "Why are you wearing a mask in broad daylight? What's so shameful about it?"

The other party's move was extremely fast. In just a blink of an eye, his hand had reached the edge of Aicheng Hualian's mask and was about to lift the black and red mask.