"Anyway, since that day, our Peach Blossom Island has stopped receiving any foreign guests for a very long time, in fear of such a thing happening again."

The disciples who were responsible for the guests didn’t have deep cultivation and were rather young too. When Wu Xingxue was rampaging through the world, he was probably still too young to remember anything. Yet still, while narrating the story, his face was still pale as paper. It was evident that this event had left a deep shadow, with retellings passing along from person to person.

At the time, the person who was hit the hardest was Mr. Yi Wusheng, as well as our Sect Leader. After all, the people who tragically died under that vicious devil’s hand were all their own relatives, "said the disciple." Mr. Yi Wusheng was distraught and devastated and almost lost his mind. Ever since, his body has become much weaker. It’s just like the saying goes, doctors can’t cure themselves. He needs to enter seclusion for a period every year to adjust his body, and only then can he continue on his road of cultivation. "

As for the Sect Leader, he also admitted that he was almost driven insane at that time as well."

During those few years, Hua Zhaoting has been extremely apprehensive, thinking that everyone could be suspicious. There were over a thousand people on Peach Blossom Island, and he thought that all of them could be possessed by devils. They would pretend to be normal and harmless, waiting for an opportunity to devour others on the island.

The place Hua Zhaoting lived in was called Jiahua Hall.

Before, the sect leader would personally train twelve sword-practicing disciples in his hall, and there would be many other disciples responsible for cleaning and other tasks as well. But ever since the Wu Xingxue incident, the entire Jianhua Hall has been emptied.

All the disciples were moved back to the Disciples’ Hall; not a single one was allowed to stay.

Ever since, the Sect Leader has developed a habit of living alone. As for all the daily tasks that needed to be done in Jianhua Hall, he would do them himself.

That happened and remains to this day.

"After that, our Peach Blossom Island went from three halls to four. A punishment hall was added, "said the disciple.

"Punishment Hall? What do they do?” asked Wu Xingxue.

"Check for the devils," explained the disciple. "All of us disciples have to get up early and report to the Punishment Hall first thing in the morning. The Punishment Hall’s elders will check our souls. Once the soul-checking talisman is stuck onto your wrist, they’ll know whether you’re a devil or whether you are possessed. "

"Every day?" Wu Xingxue asked in shock.

"Yes, every day," then the disciple added, "In fact, twice every day; both morning and night. After we finish our daily assignments, we’ll return to the Punishment Hall again. Especially the disciples who were on patrol duty. They’re the most dangerous. "

"……"

The psychological shadow was quite large.

Then it must be quite rough on your punishment hall’s elder. Every day, from morning to night, he must repeat the same motion countless times. In stories, such a person would have either rebelled or gone crazy. "

"…

"He might want to check his own soul sometimes too." Wu Xingxue added:

"He does," said the disciple.

Wu Xingxue thought about it, gave an "mm," then said, "So you had to say all that just to make it easier to ask?"

"?"

Wu Xingxue calmly lifted his sleeves, revealing his wrist.

The disciple looked at his wrist, was silent for a moment, then reached into his sleeve and pulled out a golden talisman with the word "Hua" on it.

After telling such a long story and adding so many details, it was indeed so that he could use these two soul-checking talismans.

He couldn’t help it either. A well-known sect like the Hua Sect definitely cared about their face. They valued courtesy and, no matter what, would not mistreat their guests. Since it was a guest seeking help, forcing them to the Punishment Hall to get searched wouldn’t sound too nice if the news got out.

They could only use this type of method to convince their guests to make them think that getting checked was completely natural, and in fact, extremely necessary.

After the disciple gently rolled out the soul-checking talisman and bowed towards Wu Xingxue, "Pardon me. Just like the Sect Leader says, we really can’t help it. Please understand. "

Of course, But your sect leader must have told you that I’m a soul who accidentally went into someone else’s body. I guess that counts as possessing? " Wu Xingxue paused, then continued, "And, I’m not sure if this body’s original owner was good or not."

Don’t worry. Even if the body’s original owner is an unforgivable sinner, as long as your current soul is good, nothing will happen. Also, even if the heinous original owner has some leftover spirits, the talisman will be able to tell and wouldn’t count it against you. "

"Oh, I see," Wu Xingxue nodded.

After the disciple explained everything clearly, he reached out to put the talisman on Wu Xingxue’s wrist.

But just before the paper touched the skin, Wu Xingxue suddenly raised two fingers, stopping him.

Alarm shot through the disciple’s heart!

Even the puppet raised his eyes. His sword seemed to move a bit, and the clanging of gently swaying chains sounded out of nowhere.

"What’s wrong?" The disciple’s hand trembled as he quickly looked towards the guest.

This childe Cheng had a handsome appearance, but in the cultivation sects where everyone looked outstanding, he could only be called "so-so". But his eyes were nice. Especially when they contained the light from outside the window, they looked gorgeous.

……

It is almost a bit incompatible with his face.

Instantly, the disciple felt a shiver down his spine.Only to see that Childe Cheng was smiling, "You’re so interesting. What are you panicking for?"

When smiling, his eyes were even brighter, like black amber that had been washed in cold spring.

Truly incompatible with his face.

The disciple did not feel any better because of his smile. All the hairs on his body were standing on end, and he didn’t dare move a muscle.

Childe Cheng noticed and, this time, gave a more mischievous smile, "Was my block just now pretty exhilarating?"

"…

F–

If it weren’t for Hua Sect’s reputation, he really would have cursed the guest.

I heard when I came that the left hand is connected to the heart, so it’ll be more accurate when checking the soul. Is that true? Wu Xingxue switched to his left hand and pulled up his sleeve, "But that means you’ll have even less to worry about, right?"

"……"

"Right," the disciple said unhappily as he stuck the soul-checking talisman on his wrist.

The soul-checking talisman used by the Hua Sect’s Punishment Court was well-known across the land. Some cultivation sects even came to the Hua Sect every year to purchase some. The Hua Sect would also often give some to the common people of the city every month out of kindness.

If one was possessed by a devil, then the talisman would change colors from gold to red.

If the color was light, that meant that it had only been a short while and perhaps the person still had hope.

If it was dark red, then that meant it was already too late.

If it turned bloody red or even somewhat black, then that person was already a complete devil who wouldn’t retain any of the original person’s nature.

The disciple stared at the talisman on Childe Cheng’s wrist without blinking. But even after his eyes started to be sour, the talisman still didn’t show the slightest sign of turning red.

i> Thank God…

It almost scared me to death. /i

Although he didn’t say anything out loud, he still breathed a long sigh of relief in his head.

After he took the talisman off, he suddenly took notice of the puppet on the side.

There were puppets around on Peach Blossom Island. Some were used as servants, others were used to help the disciples train.

According to his knowledge, puppets only move on command. Other than its master’s instructions, it wouldn’t move an extra inch. They would just stand there, staring into nothingness and hearing nothing.

But this Childe Cheng’s puppet seemed to look at him while he was placing the talisman. He only turned his cold and expressionless face away after the talisman was lifted.

It almost seemed like if anything went wrong, this puppet would have pulled out his sword.

After a second of thought, the disciple quickly took out a second talisman and stuck it to the puppet’s wrist without even speaking.

The disciple was young and of average build, but the puppet was extremely tall.

Therefore, after he stuck it on and looked up, he could feel the oppression from the puppet’s downcast gaze.

It was almost unbelievable.

Not only didn’t the soul-checking talisman turn darker, it even seemed to have gone lighter.

This was unprecedented.

But the disciple didn’t have time to think that much. He quickly lifted the talisman and wanted to get away.

Before leaving, he reminded himself of what the Sect Leader told him to, "Peach Blossom Island is located in a dangerous place. Although we get checked twice a day, some devils still manage to get here by water. Every month, we’ll have a few disciples die because of this. Therefore, there will be disciples patrolling during the night. If they make noises, please be understanding. "

Oh, also, never ever go towards the peach grove there. Don’t even get close! "

"……"

Wu Xingxue thought to himself, "i> You’re better off not mentioning it. Although I’m not one of those who’d mess around and find trouble for myself, now that you said it, I might accidentally go there out of curiosity. /i

Thankfully, the disciple didn’t leave them hanging. He explained solemnly, "All of the devils we’ve caught on Peach Blossom Island, as well as those who were devoured by them, are buried there." Have you seen those centipedes that still move around after they die? The Devils are also like that. Even if they die, as long as they detect your existence, they will still begin to stir.

"Then why do you keep them there?" Wu Xingxue asked with shock.

"They have their purposes."

"Like?""Like during the night, when yin energy is the most abundant. If outsiders tried to attack and happened to be stronger than those buried in the peach grove, then they’d move around restlessly, trying to approach the invaders. That is the nature of a devil.

Those who cultivated evil ways were all like this. They didn’t have feelings and only knew how to dominate.

The weak would succumb to the strong, moving towards the strongest instinctively.

That was how the Devil’s Den, Zhaoye City, was formed.

How else would a city lord rise from a crowd of demons and devils that killed him without a second thought?

If the corpses make a big commotion and move towards a certain direction, then it would be impossible for us not to realize," continued the disciple, "and it’ll be easier to search for the intruders." But this tactic is hard to use. After all, the ones buried here are already fierce enough. It’s hard to find someone even more vicious to lure them to move. "

"Anyway, just don’t go looking for trouble."

The disciple was still in a hurry to return the talismans, so he left in a hurry.

***

Wu Xingxue wasn’t a mannerless person.

As a guest on Peach Blossom Island, he didn’t want to cause trouble. So he didn’t wander around, and nor was he really curious about anything on the island.

He only wanted to meet Yi Wusheng. And since he could meet him the next day, he wasn’t too worried.

Dusk came quickly as dark clouds covered Chunfan City and rain came pouring down.

Not long after the disciple left, Sect Leader Hua Zhaoting sent people to bring the meals. Everything was quite thoughtful and enthusiastic.

Wu Xingxue held his sleeve and opened the lid of the boxes. His lips moved silently.

Sure enough, the boxes were filled with the type of food cultivating disciples liked to eat—too plain. But they looked quite nice. There was a plate that had very elegant peach blossom pastries.

He almost immediately lost interest and placed the box back down. He sat beside the table and poured himself a cup of tea.

Just after a sip, he suddenly heard a hoarse voice in his ear, "A normal mortal will get hungry."

Wu Xingxue’s eyelashes trembled, then swallowed the rest of the tea.

There was another chair next to him, but after waiting a while, Xiao Fuxuan still chose to stand behind him. So, while still holding the cup, he turned his head and said, "What are you doing there, planted behind my back? To show off your height? If you’ve seen my banquets in Juan City, you won’t say something like that. "

After a moment, Xiao Fuxuan’s hoarse voice came again from behind. He replied, "Normal puppets don’t usually need to sit."

Wu Xingxue: "….."

He looked outside at the disciples who passed by from time to time, then said to himself, "Sure, stand if you wish." Then he poured himself another cup of tea.

Wu Xingxue pinched the cup and muttered quietly without looking back, "But it is quite strange. I don’t really feel hungry. Is it because my body’s too powerful that I don’t need to eat? "

But in the end, although he didn’t like it, he still took out a peach blossom pastry.

The lights in the room had already been lit; the warm yellow light drew a curve between his brows, nose, and lips. Xiao Fuxuan’s shadow was cast onto the table in front of him from behind.

After nightfall, there were more disciples on patrol. To avoid arousing suspicion, they tried not to speak to each other.

But at one point, Wu Xingxue took a glance outside the door and seemed to have thought of something. He suddenly asked,"… Xiao Fuxuan, that Devil Lord who originally owned this body, what kind of person was he?"

This question sounded a bit strange, because even though he himself said "Devil Lord."

For a long while, he didn’t hear Xiao Fuxuan respond.

But he could feel the gaze falling on him.

He couldn’t help but turn around, meeting Xiao Fuxuan’s eyes. He saw that person leaning against the wall with his sword in his arms. After looking at him for a long time, he said, "I thought your soul had mistakenly entered a body and that you wanted to return to Que Capital. Since you’re returning to Que Capital, this place is nothing more than a dream. Why ask? "

Wu Xingxue gently squinted his eyes, then turned back around, "You’re right."

He didn’t expect a reply.

But after a bit, he heard Xiao Fuxuan say, "I’m not sure how others would describe him." But to me, he’s a person who I can recognize no matter what form he takes. "

Wu Xingxue’s gaze jumped.

Perhaps it was because of this reply, or perhaps because two patrolling disciples appeared. The two didn’t speak again that night.

Xiao Fuxuan didn’t need to eat or sleep. He just leaned against the wall with his eyes down, pretending to be a puppet. Wu Xingxue washed up and curled into bed.

In the latter half of the night, a crash of thunder suddenly sounded on Peach Blossom Island.

This was the time of night when yin energy was the strongest. The Devils couldn’t conceal their presence no matter what. If there was an invasion, then it would be most obvious at this time.

Suddenly, a rapid round of bells sounded, followed by the noise of many people.

The patrolling disciples ran around with silver bells in their hands. Nearly all of the thousand disciples opened their doors in a wave, just to see the dirt beneath the previously quiet peach grove stir in turmoil, almost like the abrupt agitation of a hundred bugs.

The next second, these movements rushed towards a single direction like a giant earthworm.

It was the guest rooms.