The Journey of Immortal Cultivation
Chapter 39 Leading by Example

Chapter 39: Chapter 39 Leading by Example

As the conversation reached this point, Afu knew full well she was sowing discord, yet his heart couldn’t help but think: That’s right! Those sons of bitches each keep several blood cattle to themselves; brothers below them go from meal to meal, unsure of the next, and are ordered not to randomly suck blood outside, lest people discover them. The hunger burns incessantly! Without those jerks lording over them and living large, life would be so much better!

Seeing the changing expressions on the demon’s face, turning into a gnashing of teeth, Ning Xiaoxian knew he was tempted, so she threw out another bait: "You don’t have to say it; I know you’re not the one who killed those people in Xian Dong and South County. But if you don’t confess, Senior Brother Quan and the others will lay the blame for these two murder cases on you. You always eat with restraint and never bite people to death. Now you have to take the rap and die for someone else, how unjust is that for you?"

Afu’s lips moved as if he had something to say but then stopped himself.

"I bet you must be thinking, facing certain death at the hands of cultivators. But don’t you want to drag a few annoying sods down with you?" After saying this, she was satisfied to see a fierce gleam flash in Afu’s eyes, realizing he had finally mustered the courage.

The time was ripe. Ning Xiaoxian quietly threw out her trump card: "Besides, what if I can ensure you don’t die?"

The Bat Demon could hardly believe his ears: "What did you say! I can be spared from death?" Those cultivators from the Immortal Sect were all vehement in their loathing of evil, how could they possibly spare him once caught?

"Keep your voice down! Do you think this is something that can be discussed openly? The cultivators outside have excellent hearing," she chided him while slapping his head, yet in a way that seemed quite intimate. It was hard to imagine that these two were in a predatory and prey relationship just this noon, especially since she almost became the prey, "Follow my instructions, and I guarantee you won’t die."

He looked at Ning Xiaoxian over and over, finding it hard to believe that she was just a mortal girl in her teens, so he said irritably: "Are you mocking me? I don’t believe you!"

However, faced with a slim chance of survival, his resolve to accept death has dissipated without a trace.

She shrugged, "If you don’t believe it, that’s your loss! Then I’ll call Senior Brother Quan in to chop off your limbs, force the address of the bat demon’s hideout out of you, and have him kill you with one stroke! It’s not like your life or death makes any difference to me, why should I help you?"

Weirdly enough, Shi Jishan planned to deal with him just like that before, but Afu was already prepared for death and didn’t mind it much; but now, hearing there was a chance to live, the thought of being mutilated and killed with a single sword strike suddenly made him feel a chill rising from the soles of his feet, as though his limbs were no longer his own.

He steadied himself and quickly changed his tune: "Alright then, as long as you can spare my life, I will tell everything." Of course, he didn’t trust Ning Xiaoxian, but what better option did he have at this point? "What should I do?"

"Tell the whole story from beginning to end, and don’t irritate anyone at will. I’ll take care of the rest," she said with a confident demeanor.

Now that they had reached an agreement, she went outside to call Quan Shifang and the others back. Quan, being the gentleman that he was, lead all the junior brothers far away when she asked everyone to leave, as though they were afraid of overhearing her conversation with the Bat Demon.

Everyone was amazed at how she had managed to make the Bat Demon speak.

Afu’s attitude had indeed improved greatly. He pondered for a moment and said: "We belong to the Fortune Bat Clan of the Bat Immortals, originally living over four thousand li west of here, in Ming Xiao City. Then a group of demons came to take over the city; they were so powerful that even the City Lord was killed. Our Clan Leader refused to join them and was also slain. Our Fortune Bat Clan fled Ming Xiao City and escaped all the way east to here." Demons always like to aggrandize themselves by calling themselves Immortals.

Wait a second, Ning Xiaoxian quickly caught a crucial point: "Demons taking over the city? You mean, your City Lord was originally a demon too, but was killed by other demons, and the city was taken over?" Her voice rose several notches. She couldn’t help it, she was so astonished, having thought that demons were universally despised, yet here they could become City Lords. This world constantly challenged the limits of her imagination.

However, it seemed that only she was shocked; everyone else acted as if it were completely normal, and Shi Jishan rolled her eyes and whispered, "What an inexperienced bumpkin!"

Quan Shifang could not bear to see her embarrassed, so he coughed lightly and said, "Miss Ning may not know, but the various forces on the Nan Zhanbu Continent are tangled and complex. The orthodox cultivators and demon cultivators of the Human Clan each govern their own states and counties, and the Demon Clan is no exception. There are several very famous large cities that are ruled by the Demon Clan."

Afu nodded and said, "That is indeed the case. On the way fleeing east, Wo Tou, who held the deepest demonic power among us, declared himself the Clan Leader. To avoid revealing our whereabouts, he set a rule that we must not kill but only drink blood. Our Fortune Bat Clan also has the ability to heal wounds, so, we’ve managed to come this far without gods or ghosts noticing, until we finally settled down in Siping County."

"We sold ourselves into serving large households, working as maidservants by day, and at night we would stealthily drink the blood of rich families’ sons, but we wouldn’t drain them completely, instead turning them into our blood cattle. This way, no lives were harmed, and we didn’t attract the attention of cultivators."

He clenched his teeth with hatred and said, "But after settling here for three months, internal divisions began to emerge within the Fortune Bat Clan. Wo Tou and his followers’ power grew more and more, each one monopolizing several blood cattle. Those of us without power were trampled underfoot, we couldn’t even get enough to eat! Today, I was so unbearably hungry that I took the chance during their noon rest to lead away someone else’s blood cattle to stealthily drink. As a result..." He sighed deeply.

A disciple couldn’t help but ask, "If you don’t kill and only drink blood, then what is the deal with the two people who died in the county?"

Afu snorted, "That wasn’t our doing." He explained that there was a female Bat Demon in the Fortune Bat Clan who clashed with Wo Tou, and he beat her to death ten days ago. Just as this Demon King Wo Tou was about to eliminate all threats, he discovered that her two little bat demons had vanished without a trace.

"These two murder cases were definitely committed by those two little creatures." The idea that it was the little bat demons that had exposed the clan’s whereabouts, resulting in him being captured by cultivators, made him loathe the two little beings, grinding his teeth in hatred. "If we measure by the Human Clan’s age, they would be only five or six years old, not yet having learned to drink blood in moderation, nor how to heal wounds."

Upon hearing this, Quan Shifang and others finally had a realization. No wonder the wounds on the two bodies were so large and ferocious; it turned out they weren’t made by adult Bat Demons, but rather the handiwork of two little bat demons! It must have been that one had drunk its fill, and then the other clambered over to gnaw, causing such severe injuries.

Furthermore, the Bat Demon Ning Xiaoxian saw at the crime scene was also sent by Wo Tou to search for the whereabouts of the little bat demons, not intending to be antagonistic towards them.

Now that things have been cleared up, the Chaoyun Sect was ready to begin demon extermination. The day was coming to an end, and they needed to act fast, as night was the period of activity for demons.

－－－－－－－－－－Tip of the hat, Gratitude－－－－－－－－－－－－

Thanks to the following girls and handsome guys for their rewards:

Miss Qiong

What’s wrong with Pillow Control

Red Sleeve Feather Robe

Light blue tears

Sleepy 123

Thanks from the little one!