Chapter 201 - 12: Disappearance, Search, Black Buddha Temple

Chapter 201: Chapter 12: Disappearance, Search, Black Buddha Temple

Countless thoughts flashed through Yun Heqing’s mind in an instant, but Su Yuan just laughed.

"Stop guessing. No one told me. But did you really think you got to touch my hand for free back then?"

In a flash, the color drained from Yun Heqing’s face, and his hands began to tremble. "You... You put a curse on me?"

"It’s not really a curse, just a little trick to see if you’ve been badmouthing me behind my back."

The color finally returned to Yun Heqing’s face. Just a moment ago, he had frantically scanned his body but found nothing unusual. It seemed Su Yuan wasn’t lying; he hadn’t actually been cursed.

But even this little trick was more than he could bear. With a pleading look, he said, "My lady, I know I was wrong. I shouldn’t have been so nosy. I beg you, please be merciful and spare me. I promise I’ll leave Yu Huo County at once and never return, all right?"

"Who said I was going to let you leave?"

"Huh?" Yun Heqing froze.

He had assumed Su Yuan must be interested in Chen Ye. He figured she was taking her anger out on him for his meddling and had come for revenge.

’But from the looks of it, have I misunderstood?’

"You know about that incident that’s been causing such an uproar lately?" Su Yuan asked.

"You mean... the Wang Family Village incident?" Yun Heqing said cautiously.

Su Yuan nodded.

Yun Heqing, of course, knew about it, but he didn’t want to get involved. This was different from the Black Wind Stronghold incident, which was just dealing with a single Evil God. But one look at this case, and he knew there was definitely more to it.

Although the thousand-tael reward was tempting, his own life was far more important.

And now, it seemed this Su Yuan was very interested.

"Are... are you planning to take on this job?" Yun Heqing asked again.

But Su Yuan shook her head. "No, I’m not interested in the reward money. I just want to find the real culprit and take something from them."

At this, Su Yuan looked at Yun Heqing, her smile growing even cuter. "But it’s impossible for me to find clues on my own, so I thought of you, Daoist Yun. After all, your Qi Observation Technique is quite impressive. So, let’s work together. Once it’s done, the reward money is all yours. How about it?"

Yun Heqing really wanted to refuse. But looking at the round-eyed girl across from him, he ultimately suppressed the urge. Still, he said, "I suppose I can, but my Qi Observation Technique isn’t guaranteed to find that person."

"That’s fine. It’s not like this has to succeed. Besides, I can teach you a trick that should increase our chances of success." Su Yuan winked, her smile incredibly sweet.

"What trick?"

Yun Heqing was confused, but after hearing Su Yuan’s explanation, he fell silent. He realized it was actually a pretty good idea.

At the same time, he secretly made a resolution. ’Once this is over, I absolutely cannot stay in Yu Huo County. I have to get as far away as possible. This place is just too damn strange.’

"Well then... To a pleasant partnership!" Su Yuan extended her hand to Yun Heqing.

But Yun Heqing shook his head frantically. "A pleasant partnership, yes, but there’s no need to shake on it."

Su Yuan smiled faintly and didn’t insist. After they exchanged contact methods, she floated away.

A few more days passed. The mysterious performer in green seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving not a single clue behind.

Meanwhile, the massacre at Wang Family Village was causing widespread panic in the city.

The common folk gossiped endlessly, and all sorts of terrifying rumors about Evil Sects harming people were blown completely out of proportion.

For a time, all of Yu Huo County was gripped by fear. At night, every household bolted its doors shut. The streets were deserted, without so much as a Ghost Shadow to be seen.

Chen Ye, however, paid no attention to the turmoil outside.

After returning to the inn, he locked himself in his room and rarely went out.

To him, investigating the case was just a side hustle to earn extra cash. The one constant goal was to improve his own strength.

The experience in Wang Family Village had once again reminded him of how dangerous this world was.

A remnant of the Puppet Sect, who came out of nowhere, could easily slaughter a village of several hundred people.

And from the performance of the Demon Slayer Department, it was obvious that the dynasty was already stretched thin. Aside from Cong Bo, the rest of them, including Magistrate Huang, were all useless figureheads.

Therefore, he couldn’t rely on anyone but himself.

After all, this world had too many powerful experts and too many bizarre techniques.

His current level of strength was still far from enough.

So, he poured all his remaining money into his Cultivation, purchasing a large amount of Cultivation Resources and honing his Cultivation day and night without rest.

At the same time, he used his Identity as a freelance member of the Demon Slayer Department to look through numerous files on the Puppet Sect.

He wanted to figure out the origins of this Evil Sect, which had vanished for so many years.

According to the records, the Puppet Sect was an evil Sect that rose to prominence in the south three hundred years ago.

Its founder was originally an artisan obsessed with the Mechanical Technique. He later unintentionally obtained an Ancient Evil Scripture and combined the Mechanical Technique with a Soul Refining Evil Technique to create the incredibly vicious Puppetry Technique.

The Puppet Sect’s methods were also extremely bizarre and cruel.

To refine their Puppets, they required large amounts of living souls and resentful energy.

Therefore, wherever they went, they would often choose a village or small town to slaughter completely, using the lives and resentful energy of all the villagers to refine a powerful Blood Soul Puppet.

Puppets refined in this manner were not only impervious to blades and spears and possessed immense strength, but they could also retain some of their combat instincts from their past lives, making them extremely difficult to deal with.