The Attack of the Wastrel

Even Gu Lingzhi did not know something like that before she met Zi Zi, let alone these people.

Ever since the Tianyuan Continent got separated from the Realm of the Gods, there were very little demon beasts who could demonstrate spiritual knowledge. Their ability to morph into human beings only existed in legends; many people had thought that there was a mistake in the historical records, that maybe it was just the wishful thinking of the historian.

“Zi Zi, calm down. You can’t come out now. We’ll have to wait until we catch the culprit before we let you out, otherwise we’ll be in trouble,” Gu Lingzhi tried to reason with it.

“What trouble will there be? At most, the both of you can subdue the whole of the Spirit City using your powers. It’s not like the both of you aren’t capable of it,” Zi Zi retorted angrily.

Gu Lingzhi really wanted to ask Zi Zi if he thought that the City’s Glaze Warriors were only for show. Since the Spirit City had managed to stand its ground for so many years in the Lost Lands without any successful invaders from the outside world, they would definitely have secret techniques that gave them such an insurmountable amount of power. Even if she were to leave out all the rest, the cauldron that could generate spiritual energy was impressive in and of itself; it would take someone extremely talented to have forged it. Furthermore, since they’ve dared to let Rong Yuan and Gu Lingzhi enter the Spirit City, it meant that the residents had great confidence that they could keep them under control.

“Why aren’t you talking anymore? You were boasting so much just now, you have nothing to say now, do you?” Qiao Yeshu said as he stuck his chin out, delighted to have the upper hand for once.

Rong Yuan sighed in response, “It’s scary to be as clueless as you.”

Qiao Yeshu’s face immediately darkened, and he glared fiercely at Rong Yuan. “I think you’re making things up on purpose because you’re unable to find who the murderer is.”

Rong Yuan did not bother to reply to him, he decided to elaborate on his point of view for Wei Lingshu instead.

“I’ve examined the two bodies; whatever is left in the skull and in the abdomen have bite marks on them. From the bite marks, there is no doubt that it is caused by human teeth, but when we look at the radius of the marks, it is not possible that it was done by a human. There is a big possibility that it is caused by a demon beast that has morphed into a human being.”

“Really? What kind of demon beast would be able to do that? How exactly do they morph into human beings?” Wei Lingshu was visibly shocked. Even the humans in the Lost Lands could not reach the cultivation of a Demigod, how was it possible for a demon beast to be able to do so?

“Unless… they came from the outside world like the both of you?” Wei Lingshu guessed. Yet, Gu Lingzhi refuted him, “I don’t think so.”

When met with Wei Lingshu’s questioning gaze, she explained herself, “There hasn’t been a demon beast that can morph into a human being on the Tianyuan Continent for very long now. It’s almost been a hundred thousand years since they existed.”

Qiao Yeshu laughed loudly at her words, “If such a demon beast doesn’t exist in the Tianyuan Continent, then it’s even more unlikely that it would be found here.”

“What demon beast? What are all of you talking about?” a voice interrupted before Gu Lingzhi could retort.

Gu Lingzhi turned to look in the direction of the voice and came face-to-face with Jin Hao, whom she had not seen in a long time. As the number one fan of Wei Lingshu, Jin Hao loved to visit Wei Lingshu’s manor whenever he had free time. When he heard that Wei Lingshu had returned to his manor, he immediately rushed over.

“What are all of you talking about? A demon beast that can morph into a human being? I’ve never heard about it before.”

“Me neither,” Qiao Yeshu hummed, “These two people have retracted their earlier guesses, now they think that the murderer is a demon beast that morphed into a human being. They didn’t stop to think what kind of place the Lost Lands is, how is it possible that there would be such a high-level demon beast here?”

Qiao Yeshu then suddenly pushed Jin Hao away and exclaimed, “What’s that? Throw that away! How old are you, why are you still playing with worms?”

A few people who heard Qiao Yeshu turned around to look at what Jin Hao was holding in his hands. It was a worm, with a head as big as his fingernail. It looked at everyone present with its small eyes.

Jin Hao did not throw it away like Qiao Yeshu told him to. In fact, he proudly showed it to everyone and giggled, “I found this precious little thing on my own, it’s so cute, who could bear to throw it away?”

Gu Lingzhi begged to differ with the green and hairy worm that Jin Hao was holding. It was a creature that she detested the most. She cringed internally and took a few steps back unconsciously, shrinking in Rong Yuan’s embrace. She felt goosebumps all over her body

Qiao Yeshu was much more direct in his reaction. Rudely, he told Jin Hao, “How is this disgusting thing cute at all? You have a strange eye for beauty. Quick, throw it away, just looking at it makes me cringe.”

Jin Hao pouted and turned to let Wei Lingshu take a look at it, “Don’t you think it’s cute?”

Wei Lingshi looked at the worm in his hands and then at his eyes full of excitement, and he could not bear to dampen Jin Hao’s mood, so he praised him, “Yes, it’s rather cute.”

“Master has the greatest taste after all!” Jin Hao excitedly celebrated, before dipping his head to give his worm a kiss. Everyone else shuddered.

“So, what was it that all of you were talking about? A demon beast that can morph into a human?”

“We’ll have to ask the two outsiders that you brought in,” Qiao Yeshu retorted with a sullen look.

Gu Lingzhi smiled lightly as if she was faced with a child that did not know how to behave, “When a demon beast has gained a certain amount of spiritual power, it can develop intelligence that’s not inferior to that of a human being’s and then gain the ability to morph into one. When the True Gods were still around, it was not rare for such demon beasts to exist.”

In fact, there were one of these demon beasts right in her Inheritance Space.

Jin Hao listened, his eyes lit with wonder, “Wow…so they do exist!” He then excitedly asked Gu Lingzhi more questions about demon beasts and their ability to transform. Qiao Yeshu appeared disinterested, but it was obvious that he was listening intently to Gu Lingzhi and Jin Hao’s conversation, afraid that he would miss a detail. Wei Lingshu looked at him and shook his head whilst smiling to himself.

Gu Lingzhi told them everything she knew, and the three of them listened very intently to her, as if they were listening to a brilliant storyteller. When she finally stopped, they looked at her, wanting to know more.

“Elder Gu, tell us more! After the demon beast morphs into a human, can they mate with Martial Artists? What kind of offspring do they produce – humans or beasts?”

Gu Lingzhi shook her head whilst laughing, “That, I do not know. According to the historical records, the offspring that they produce are not entirely human nor are they entirely demon beasts. They tend to have mixed blood. In the early stages of their life, they take on the form of a human being. It is only until adolescence that they awaken the demon beast blood in their body.”

“Oh…” Jin Hao paused to think. With one hand, he caressed the worm gently. The hairy worm perched cutely on his hand. Occasionally, it would roll around on its palm adorably.

Gu Lingzhi assessed the interaction between Jin Hao and his worm, astonished. It was difficult for creatures like worms to develop spiritual knowledge. A well-behaved worm like the one Jin Hao had was hard to come by, it was no wonder he treasured it so much.

The skies above them gradually darkened as they conversed throughout the day. Night had fallen without them realizing. After kindly rejecting Wei Lingshu’s kind gesture of having them stay for dinner, Rong Yuan and Gu Lingzhi returned to their own personal accommodations at the Sanhe Courtyard that was near the Chancellor’s Manor. When Wei Lingshu finished his dinner, he went to the Chancellor’s Manor together with Qiao Yeshu to report about his new findings. He also told the Chancellor about what Gu Lingzhi had told them about demon beasts being able to morph into human beings.

Within the Sanhe Courtyard, they followed their routine of assigning Pan Wen to guard their surroundings while they entered the Inheritance Space.

After they carefully irrigated their Spirit Plants, they realized that some of them had started to germinate. They had grown into seedlings. Gu Lingzhi examined their growth one by one whilst chatting with Rong Yuan.

Surprisingly, their conversation was not about the murder cases that happened recently, but about the message that Guan Yue had divulged to them secretly.

Whatever that had happened in the Spirit City had spread to the other four cities. They now knew that other than Rong Yuan, a Demigod that had come from the outside world, had come to the Lost Lands and there was now another cold-blooded murderer with the cultivation of a Demigod as well. The Chancellors of the other cities had long been eyeing the cultivation resources that the Spirit City kept for themselves, now they had an excuse to act on it. They wanted to find the murderer before the people from the Spirit City did, so that they would have leverage to negotiate for cultivation resources.

According to the man that had been sent by Guan Yue, he wished that Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan would find out who the murderer was before anyone from the three cities did, and hand the murderer over to Lin Chongyuan.

“I don’t know what Guan Yue’s intentions are. Previously, he wanted us to go undercover in the Spirit City because he was coveting over cultivation resources. Now, there’s a great chance for him to get access to some by working with the Chancellors from the other cities, yet he wants to become the good person and help the Spirit City instead. He keeps contradicting himself, isn’t he afraid that we would not do according to what he says?”

“What could he be afraid of?” Rong Yuan squatted beside Gu Lingzhi and helped her water the Spiritual Plants with spiritual water. “Guan Yue has the most knowledge about the Spirit City. He would only tell us to do so knowing that we will not be able to subdue the Spirit City on our own. It is rare for a wise person like him to come by, he’s not shaken by short-term benefits and is able to see the bigger picture at hand.”