Chapter 61: The White Lotus Sect

My eyes gleamed with an eerie light as I stared at Huang Ying, watching black lines emerge across her body at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Five weaknesses and seven injuries, congenital deficiency," I raised my brows and inserted a Soul-stabilizing Needle into her brow.

Just then, two anguished screams echoed from outside, sounding like Huang Boru and his wife. I rushed out to find the couple with broken limbs, collapsed to one side, while the giant willow tree had had its demon soul extracted by Nightingale, now rapidly withering.

Nightingale sealed the demon soul, glanced at me with an ambiguous smile, and said, "Qin Feng, why not continue to indulge in that warm fragrance and soft jade?"

"You... you’re not Li Yan!" Huang Boru cried out, his face pale.

"Sorry, I’m not. But may I ask why? If Li Yan were really here, would you have killed him?" I crouched down and asked quietly.

"Who said we’d harm him? Li Yan has a Three Yang constitution. We merely intended to borrow his yang energy to prolong Ying’s life. At most, he’d be a little weakened," Huang Boru defended.

Nightingale burst into laughter, then slapped Huang Boru’s face with the back of her black blade, mocking, "A little weakened? You planted the willow demon seed in your daughter, feeding that demon. One drain of yang and he’s weakened, two, three more? In three to five years, Li Yan would be dead, and the willow demon would evolve enough to move freely, spreading harm everywhere."

Suddenly it all made sense—Huang Boru must have arranged the childhood betrothal with Li Yan for his Three Yang constitution.

"Kill us, but please spare Ying. She knows nothing," Huang’s mother pleaded, her voice trembling.

"I can spare her, but you must tell me—who are you really? This willow had the potential to become a demon, but it’s impossible without three to five hundred years. It was deliberately catalyzed. If I’m not mistaken, there must be many bodies buried beneath its roots," Nightingale brushed her hair aside, her smile cold and chilling.

Huang Boru and his wife’s faces turned ashen. Suddenly, they exchanged a look, their eyes flashing with a ghostly light. Nightingale and I instinctively retreated, but their gazes quickly faded, and their breath ceased.

They had killed themselves.

"You’ve been following me?" I asked.

"Of course. We’re teammates on a mission. You’re out in the open, I’m in the shadows. Wherever you are, I am too. Just depends if you have the skill to notice," Nightingale giggled.

I rolled my eyes. "Don’t I get any privacy? Are you spying on me even when I’m on the toilet?"

"Get lost, you sicko," Nightingale snapped.

"Fine, let’s talk business. How should we deal with Huang Ying? I think she really knows nothing," I said.

"She suffers from five weaknesses and seven injuries, congenital deficiency. Without the demon seed in her, she’d have died long ago. But leaving it in her, she’s neither human nor demon. Once the seed matures, she will be demonized," Nightingale replied.

"If we destroy the demon seed inside her, she’ll die soon, won’t she?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.

Nightingale nodded. We both understood—there was only one outcome.

We went inside. Nightingale fetched clothes and dressed Huang Ying, and I removed the Soul-stabilizing Needle.

Soon, Huang Ying slowly awoke, let out a startled cry, hugged her chest, and looked fearfully at Nightingale and me.

Half an hour later, after learning the truth, Huang Ying sat in silence for a long time. Then she rose and walked out to her parents’ corpses, lying down beside them.

She closed her eyes, gave a bleak smile, and murmured, "I often dream of the willow tree, sometimes even turning into one myself. I never thought things would be like this. My parents did all this for me. They shouldn’t have had to bear it. Go ahead, destroy the demon seed."

Nightingale stepped forward and struck Huang Ying’s crown with her palm.

Instantly, wisps of ghostly green light floated out from Huang Ying, and her complexion turned waxy yellow. She began to cough, her breathing labored.

Soon, she ceased to breathe.

I sighed, my chest tight, and lit a cigarette, smoking in silence.

Smack!

Nightingale slapped my back hard. I stared at her, baffled.

"What are you doing, with that expression? Overflowing sympathy won’t help you finish the mission. There are too many suffering people in this world—can you pity them all? Now’s not the time for sighing. If this family were ordinary, how could they know how to catalyze a tree demon?" Nightingale scolded.

"So what do you suggest?" I exhaled smoke and stubbed out my cigarette.

"Let’s search the place," Nightingale said.

We turned the Huang house upside down, and eventually I found a hidden compartment inside the kitchen stove.

Inside were two ancient books about demon raising, and an iron token engraved with a white lotus.

White Lotus Sect!

Nightingale and I exchanged shocked glances. My mission was originally to investigate the White Lotus Sect at Baidong Miao Village in Xiliang, but before I even set out, I’d discovered a hidden White Lotus Sect member here in Linjiang.

"The White Lotus tokens come in wood, iron, copper, silver, gold, and purple. Only core members have them; peripheral members do not. Wooden tokens are common, iron tokens mean a minor leader," Nightingale explained.

We reported the matter, and soon the Ninth Bureau sent specialists to handle the aftermath.

Before Chen Ying’en and her team arrived, I slipped away. My current mission was top secret—only Director Zhou and my partner Nightingale knew.

That night, when I saw Nightingale, I noticed bruises on her hands and mouth, and asked in surprise what had happened.

"I fought with Chen. I gave her panda eyes," Nightingale said, as if afraid I’d think she lost.

I was speechless. "Was that necessary?"

"Hmph, Linjiang is her jurisdiction. With such a big incident, she’s responsible. I said a couple of words, and she wanted to fight. Who’s afraid of her?" Nightingale sneered.

I recalled the gossip about the two women and couldn’t resist saying, "I heard the two of you fought over a man. But that guy sacrificed himself already. Surely he wouldn’t want to see you two... uh, I’ll stop."

Seeing Nightingale’s face darken as she glared at me, I felt a chill and shut up immediately.

"You know nothing. And who are you calling 'big brother'? Is he yours to call that?" Nightingale paced angrily, trying to restrain herself, but finally exploded.

"What should I call him then?" I muttered.

"Call him 'father-in-law'!" Nightingale roared.

What?

I stared at Nightingale, my mind momentarily blank.

Nightingale blushed, cursing herself inwardly—how could she say that? Her mind must have slipped. She turned and walked away.

Then it hit me, and I grabbed her hand. "Tell me clearly. Father-in-law? That man is your father? Is that right? Is it?"

Nightingale shook off my hand, faced me, took a deep breath, and said, "He’s my father. I just said that because I was angry and confused. Don’t overthink it."

"I won’t, definitely won’t. But who’d have thought—I have a father-in-law now," I said, suppressing my laughter.

"You..." Nightingale stamped her foot and disappeared into the night.

I shook my head with a smile, not taking it seriously, just finding it amusing.

Yet something nagged at me. Wait—I needed to sort it out.

Nightingale’s enmity with Chen Ying’en stemmed from her father. Why?

Could it be that Chen Ying’en had some secret relationship with Nightingale’s father?

This was getting absurd.

For several days, I lingered in Li Family Village, mingling with the relatives and elders.

Auntie had been smiling endlessly these days. Since her husband’s death, she’d been alone; now, with me returning as Li Yan, she felt she had something to rely on.

As for the Huang family incident, the Ninth Bureau completely concealed it.

I only heard that the marriage discussions with the Huang family had collapsed, and many people were eager to introduce me to new girls.

One day, I received word that a medical aid team for Xiliang was being assembled.

I signed up, and with my credentials, was immediately accepted.

Three days later, eighteen members of the aid team—eight doctors and ten nurses—boarded a bus with a banner to head to Xiliang.

Of the eight doctors, apart from me, two were from the Second and Third People’s Hospitals, five from local township hospitals. To be honest, most joined the team for the prestige—after a year of aid, they’d have priority for promotion.

"Xiao Yu, from your palm lines, it seems your love life isn’t smooth," I said on the bus, holding the hand of a young nurse fresh out of school, reading her fortune.

"Dr. Li, you’re spot on. I was dating a doctor, but someone snatched him away," the nurse said angrily.

"Fate brings what’s meant to be, and takes away what’s not. If someone can take him, he was never really yours," I said, gently pressing her palm.

Her cheeks flushed as she glanced at me, her voice turning soft, "Dr. Li, can you see if I’ll meet my soulmate soon?"

"Let me see... hmm, your stars are aligned for romance. You’ll meet your soulmate within the next three months," I replied.

"Do you know who it’ll be?" she asked, nudging my leg playfully.

Before I could answer, a mocking voice came from the side, "Dr. Li, you might as well become a fortune-teller instead of a doctor."

I glanced at Ai Jun, a doctor from the township hospital, about thirty, unmarried, always trying to flirt with the nurse. He wasn’t attractive, kept boasting about his wealth and influence, and the nurse ignored him.

"Dr. Ai, don’t doubt me. Judging by your face, I see you’re in for a bloody disaster today. Better be careful," I said lightly.

"What do you mean?" Ai Jun stood up.

Just then, the bus braked sharply. Ai Jun was thrown forward, hitting his head on a seat armrest, splitting it open by three or four centimeters, blood streaming down his face.