Learn skills from the world of film and television.

Chapter 3003 Bait!

Duan Banxia almost instinctively retorted, "How dare you slander someone's innocence out of thin air? You're the monster! Your whole family are monsters!"

Wang Yue was also somewhat amused and exasperated. Was Jiu Xuanye, who had such a big appetite, not quite right in the head? How could she say such things to everyone?

Although he felt that the person might not necessarily be lying, he should be more tactful in his dealings.

Therefore, Wang Yue stopped Jiu Xuanye from continuing and instead asked seriously,

Why do you say that? What evidence do you have?

Jiu Xuanye then realized that he had been too impulsive. Suddenly calling someone else's sister-in-law a monster would make any normal person anxious.

He quickly recounted the recent murder case, and then solemnly said,

"I tracked her all the way from Guangping City to Nanyang City. There's no doubt she's a demon, but I only recently found her trail."

She and Lord Duan Yanqiu are too close, and Jiu Xuanye really can't take direct action, so she wanted to ask for your help.

Wang Yue frowned and said uncertainly, "What you're saying is actually without any evidence. Otherwise, if you just reported what happened to the government, that monster would definitely have nowhere to hide."

Jiu Xuanye was speechless after being rebuked by Wang Yue's words, but he was still unwilling to give up, so he said anxiously,

"That monster eats people. It can hear other people's voices all by itself, which is why her ventriloquism is so good."

Although some people in Guangping City have heard the voice of the monster, it can no longer be used as evidence, and there's nothing I can do about it.

But a monster is a monster after all. Once a monster has eaten a human, it's like it's addicted, and it's impossible for it to change its ways!
They may not eat monsters for a while, but that doesn't mean they'll never eat them again!
Therefore, I sincerely ask for your help to find the monster's weakness!

Seeing that Jiu Xuanye couldn't produce any evidence, Wang Yue looked at Duan Banxia and said very seriously,
"Then tell us, what exactly are the characteristics of the Human-Faced Swan? We can help us probe it, but you must not make a move directly."

After all, she's the fiancée of the county magistrate of Nanyang. If you make a move, you'll likely be surrounded and arrested by the entire city.

Jiu Xuanye thought Wang Yue's words made a lot of sense, so he quickly explained them to Wang Yue, which also made Wang Yue understand what the human-faced owl was.
It turns out that this monster is a type of monster described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, with a human face and an animal body, a tiger's body and a dog's tail, and a body shape like a swan.

It is adept at changing its form, making it extremely difficult to capture, precisely because you have no idea what it will look like.

It prefers to eat people's throats. Each time it eats someone, it can obtain that person's voice, making its own voice uncertain and difficult to distinguish.

After hearing this, Wang Yue said uncertainly, "Since you said that the human-faced owl likes to eat people's throats, then if someone has excellent singing skills, do you think the human-faced owl might be unable to resist eating him?"

Jiu Xuanye immediately understood Wang Yue's idea. He said somewhat uncertainly, "You mean you want to find someone to deliberately lure this person into a trap? But if that's the case, this person will be in danger. I'm afraid that's not a good idea."

Wang Yue glanced at Duan Banxia beside him, and remembering that the actress who played her could sing, he smiled and said, "Banxia has a very nice voice. If she wanted to sing, she would definitely attract attention."

"Let's blend in with some of the musicians, and when the monster appears, we'll attack together."

Jiu Xuanye thought this method was feasible and immediately looked at Duan Banxia, ​​since this matter still needed Duan Banxia to make the decision.

"Young lady, I see that you possess some spiritual power, so you must be a cultivator. I wonder if you would be willing?"

Duan Banxia, ​​being a young lady confined to her chambers, was genuinely curious about the world of monsters, yet also genuinely afraid. She swallowed hard and said nervously,
"I'd be willing, but I've only been learning for a few days. Is it safe to do this?"

Jiu Xuanye immediately said, "That's easy. I'll write a talisman on your hand. When you encounter danger, just throw the talisman out."

"I suppose once that monster is injured, this brother and I can go after it together. I'll make sure you're safe."

Wang Yue wanted to learn more skills, so he said with a smile, "There are still a few days until the wedding. Brother Jiu, teach us some skills so we can be of help."

"Of course, I won't teach you your family's secret techniques, just some basic moves for using spiritual energy, because at our current level of cultivation, our master hasn't taught us many moves yet."

Jiu Xuanye didn't take Wang Yue's attempt to negotiate any terms seriously at all, and instead readily agreed.

After receiving their assurances, Duan Banxia naturally agreed. She then pretended to be suddenly struck by the music in the video and would often go to some theaters to listen to music. She would even sing a few lines when she returned home at night.

Duan Yinghuan was surprised that his daughter had developed such a hobby after only a few days away from cultivating with Wang Yue. He worried that her reputation would be ruined if this continued for too long.

So, the day after Duan Yanqiu's wedding, Duan Yinghuan quickly found his elder brother and arranged for Wang Yue to move into a secluded courtyard. He thought that by arranging for someone to be closer to the place, he could also prevent Duan Banxia from continuing to go to the entertainment venue.

After Wang Yue moved in, Jiu Xuanye also quietly slipped in as well, and the two of them were indeed quiet for two days.

Of course, he didn't do nothing these past two days, because Jiu Xuanye kept a close eye on Duan Yanqiu, worried that he would be eaten by a monster.

Fortunately, for some unknown reason, the little monster showed no sign of letting go, which made Duan Banxia wonder if her sister-in-law was a monster after all.

Before Duan Banxia could get any information, something unexpected happened in their secluded courtyard.

From time to time, the sounds of playing instruments and singing could be heard from the secluded courtyard. The music was unlike anything people had ever heard before, which aroused the curiosity of many.

Unfortunately, the Duan family master had already given instructions that no one was allowed to approach this courtyard, which is why no one discovered that it was Duan Banxia singing.

In fact, the pieces that Wang Yue taught were just ancient-style pieces adapted by later generations. Although the artistic conception was somewhat lacking when performed in this era, the style had its own unique characteristics.

Such a strange melody indeed caught the attention of Duan Yanqiu's new wife, Qu Manniang, who unexpectedly visited Duan Banxia less than five days after their marriage.

You know, as a newlywed, you have to be with your mother-in-law from morning till night for the next few days. How can you have time to see your sister-in-law?

What's more, they're not even from this lineage!

Duan Banxia was terrified during the meeting. After Qu Maniang left, she rushed to the side courtyard and excitedly exclaimed upon seeing her.

"Senior brother, my sister-in-law keeps coming to my yard today and saying some strange things, which really scared me."

She patted her chest as she said this, clearly still shaken.

Wang Yue had been learning some sword techniques from Jiu Xuanye in the past few days. With the help of his spiritual power, he felt that he had mastered them and was ready to make a big splash.

Seeing that the Human-Faced Swan was finally ready to make its move, Wang Yue immediately exclaimed excitedly.
“In that case, I’ll call Brother Jiu. We’ll hide around your house tonight. Remember not to close the windows, so it’ll be easier for us to go in and rescue you.”

Duan Banxia readily agreed, but she was clearly still a little scared and reluctant to go back. She stayed until it was almost dark before she had no choice but to return to her courtyard.

Jiu Xuanye happened to arrive at that moment. He had only intended to test the waters, but he hadn't expected Wang Yue to say that the opportunity had come. He immediately exclaimed excitedly,

"Then I'll prepare properly, and we'll try our best to take down that monster tonight."

Wang Yue thought he was getting ready and even couldn't resist practicing his sword moves again.

Of course, these moves were all taught by Jiu Xuanye, but Wang Yue learned them very quickly. Even Jiu Xuanye thought that Wang Yue was a sword-fighting prodigy.

Unfortunately, the time was too short, and Wang Yue only mastered one set of sword techniques, which he has yet to use.

The red-clad mirror demon, watching all this in the mirror, couldn't help but sigh. She herself had almost died under Wang Yue's sword; how could she not be a genius?

Wang Yue was of course unaware of any of this. At night, they squatted by the wall, each holding their breath and cultivating, just waiting for the monster to make its move!
Strangely enough, Wang Yue and Jiu Xuanye waited under the bed for a long time, but Qu Manniang did not appear. Instead, Duan Banxia sang the little tune that Wang Yue had taught her over and over again for a full half hour without stopping.

Wang Yue sensed something was wrong and reached out to push open the window. When Jiu Xuanye saw Wang Yue's action, his expression changed instantly.

Taking advantage of the moment when Wang Yue opened the window, Jiu Xuanye actually climbed over and went inside.

Although Wang Yue hadn't had much contact with Jiu Xuanye, he noticed how nervous Jiu Xuanye was, so he couldn't help but jump in as well.

Before Wang Yue even landed, he noticed a person with a fish-like head dodging Jiu Xuanye's attack.

When Wang Yue jumped down, the mermaid was just approaching the window. He didn't have time to use magic or even draw his sword. He could only channel his spiritual power and punch the fish's head.

Thanks to the results of his spark-exploding practice, Wang Yue was able to acquire spiritual power very quickly. Although he was in a great hurry, his fists still carried spiritual power.

The sound eel was slammed back by Wang Yue's punch, and Jiu Xuanye swiftly slashed the sound eel's back with his sword.

After being hit by an arrow, the sonic eel transformed into a fish over two meters long and fell towards Wang Yue.

Wang Yue had already adjusted his posture, channeled his spiritual energy into his hands, and forcefully unleashed a sword strike.

As Wang Yue returned the sword, spiritual energy spread out and enveloped the blade, just like the legendary sword energy!
The thick-skinned eel couldn't withstand such a sharp sword aura and was actually cut in two!

"My subordinates stay...!"

Jiu Xuanye only managed to utter half of his voice before it abruptly stopped! He never expected that Wang Yue would actually cut the monster in two with just an iron sword.

That's incredible!

It's really unbelievable that someone has only been practicing for two months.

Wang Yue sheathed his iron sword and asked with some confusion,
"what happened?"

Jiu Xuanye originally wanted to spare the life of the sound eel, allowing him to return to being a fish, but now it was too late. He sighed and said...

"Killing him would be a good thing!"

Wang Yue watched as Jiu Xuanye remained silent. Instead, he noticed a dozen or so souls that were attached to and devouring the souls of the sound eels.

The essence of the original sound eel was quickly torn apart by these dead souls, but the previously ordinary dead souls also had some black energy!
This is a trend of turning into evil spirits! Wang Yue saw that these dead souls had already devoured all their essence, and he wanted to perform a ritual to help them pass on, hoping that he could obtain pure essence.

Fortunately, Wang Yue had been worried about encountering this situation one day, so he had already consulted his fairy sister. He quickly formed a spell with his hands and shouted rapidly,

Edict!

The soul returns to the heavens, the spirit returns to the void.
The eternal night cannot obstruct your way home; the Milky Way will guide you.

Scatter!
As Wang Yue shouted, the soul that had turned black quickly returned to normal, transforming into a pure essence and soul.

Drawn by the power of the galaxy, the soul vanished instantly, dissipating into the world, presumably to be reincarnated.

After they disappeared, they left behind a dozen or so pure white dots of essence.

Wang Yue quickly reached out his hand towards the spirits, and they actually floated towards him and soon entered his body.

Wang Yue quickly circulated his internal energy, transferring the energy to his dantian, which made him feel warm all over again.

Moreover, Wang Yue could sense that the energy he gained this time was even greater than the last time, which would significantly increase his strength.

This is quite normal, though. The last clump of essence Wang Yue obtained was only the size of a fist, but this time he obtained more than a dozen clumps of essence, each the size of an egg.

However, Wang Yue didn't have time to convert this ball of energy, because he heard a series of footsteps coming over. It was obvious that the servants had heard the commotion and had run over.

Jiu Xuanye immediately said seriously, "This time we've sent the Human-Faced Swan's companion monster, the Sound Eel. We can't expose ourselves yet, so let's leave immediately."

After he finished speaking, he jumped out of the window and ran away, and Wang Yue quickly jumped out as well.

They had just left when Duan Yanqiu rushed over. He opened the door and, seeing that Duan Banxia and Tingzhou were safe, frowned and asked…

"I heard from the servants that there was a fighting going on here. What's going on?"

Duan Banxia looked at her room, which was in complete disarray. She knew that some things couldn't be hidden, but she also knew that if she told the truth, no one would believe her.

Therefore, Duan Banxia said, half-truthfully,
"Just now, a fish-headed man with a human body barged in, and then a man with a sword followed him. After the two fought, they escaped through the window."

Duan Yanqiu wanted to say that Duan Banxia was talking nonsense, but there were obvious sword marks in the room, and even the broken chairs and stools had very clean cuts, which proved that someone had indeed used a sword in the room.

"Don't think nonsense. There are no monsters here. It must just be someone wearing a fish-head mask!"

"You get some rest, I'll go investigate."

Duan Yanqiu did not pursue the matter further. After giving a brief instruction, he hurriedly left with his men.

Duan Banxia breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at the intact items on the bedside table.

Tingzhou didn't believe in ghosts or monsters before, but he was terrified just now.

The person who made the fish head was actually controlling her young lady to sing for almost half an hour. The scene was really too bizarre.

Tingzhou was unable to move at the time and couldn't help even if she wanted to. She was terrified and thought she was going to die with her mistress.

Now that they were finally rescued, Tingzhou, seeing that his young mistress wasn't planning to tell Duan Yanqiu, anxiously asked,

"Miss, why don't you tell the young master about this? What if another monster comes?"

Duan Banxia picked up the kettle from the coffee table and poured herself a cup of tea. She drank the now-cold tea in one gulp, then sighed and said...

“We grew up together, when have they ever believed what I said? Do you think they'll believe me after I say this?”

Tingzhou immediately understood her young lady's predicament, and she also said painfully,

"They definitely won't believe it. They'll even drive Young Master Wang and Ninth Young Master away! They'll think those two corrupted Miss!"

Duan Banxia nodded, saying helplessly, "Yes, so we have no other choice, we should..."

"Plop~!"

Duan Banxia was only halfway through her sentence when the maid Tingzhou suddenly swayed and fell to the ground.

Duan Banxia quickly went to support Tingzhou and asked anxiously,

"Tingzhou, what's wrong with you?"

No matter how much Duan Banxia shook Tingzhou, Tingzhou seemed to be dead and could not be woken up at all.

Duan Banxia was no longer the naive girl she once was. She immediately realized something was wrong, quickly helped Tingzhou onto the bed, and then cautiously picked up the short sword hanging by the bedside.

This sword was forged by Duan Yinghuan when Duan Banxia was about to train with Wang Yue. Although she had learned a few sword techniques from Jiu Xuanye, she knew that they were just fancy moves and not very useful.

Knowing her own background, Duan Banxia was extremely nervous. She just pointed at the door and didn't dare to move at all.

"My little sister seems scared!"

Just as Duan Banxia was nervously at a loss, the door opened by itself without any wind, and Qu Manniang's voice came through.

Duan Banxia immediately took two steps back nervously, her voice stammering as she spoke.
"Sister-in-law, what brings you here? My brother just left with his men!"

Qu Manniang ignored the short sword in Duan Banxia's hand. She walked towards Duan Banxia step by step, her voice soft but tinged with coldness.

"What are you afraid of, little sister?"
I knew your brother had just left, and I was worried you'd be scared alone, so I came to keep you company.

Duan Banxia didn't believe this nonsense at all. She knew she had to stall for time, giving Wang Yuejiu and Xuan Ye two hours to return. She forced a smile.
"Sister-in-law, no need, you can go back and wait for my brother."

Qu Manniang, being a demon who had lived for so long, was well aware that Duan Banxia was stalling for time. Fearing unforeseen complications, she revealed a sinister smile.
"As your sister-in-law, how could I leave you alone? You'd better come with me!"

As she said this, she grabbed Duan Banxia.

As Duan Banxia saw the outstretched hand, she couldn't help but think of the Mirror Demon's claws. She quickly dodged backward, but accidentally tripped over the edge of the bed and fell directly onto the bed, the short sword in her hand flying out of her hand.

Qu Manniang easily dodged the short sword with a light dodge, her smile widening as she approached Duan Banxia step by step.

Tingzhou was lying next to Duan Banxia, ​​and she really couldn't avoid it. Almost instinctively, she used her palm to stop Qu Manniang's outstretched hand.

Qu Manniang took it as a childish girl's dying struggle and quickened her pace towards Duan Banxia.

Unexpectedly, just as Qu Manniang touched Duan Banxia's hand, a magic seal shot out from Duan Banxia's hand, sending Qu Manniang flying backward and crashing heavily against the wall.

Not only that, the hand that Qu Manniang was holding onto Duan Banxia also fell to the ground and instantly transformed into colorful wings.

Before marrying Duan Yanqiu, Qu Manniang already knew about the Duan family and knew that there were no demon hunters or other martial arts masters in Duan Yanqiu's family.

Of course, this excludes family backyards.

Qu Manniang never expected that Duan Banxia had such a way to save her life. Despite being injured, she was unwilling to give up and struggled to pounce on Duan Banxia again.

She felt she needed to eat someone as soon as possible to replenish her own strength, otherwise she would be exposed sooner or later.

Duan Banxia discovered that the talisman in her hand was very powerful, and Qu Manniang was covered in blood after being injured, which gave her more confidence. Almost subconsciously, she quickly formed hand seals and used the Exploding Sparks technique!

Duan Banxia had a shorter cultivation time and her talent was not as high as Wang Yue's, but at least she was the female protagonist of this world, so her cultivation speed was still acceptable.

In addition, when Wang Yue absorbed those light orbs earlier, some scattered light orbs were unconsciously absorbed by Duan Banxia, ​​leaving her with a meager amount of spiritual power in her dantian.

Therefore, although Duan Banxia's exploding sparks were not very powerful, they still created a strong gust of wind that rushed towards Qu Manniang.

Qu Manniang was unaware that Duan Banxia was using someone else's power to intimidate her. Because of her severe injury last time, she quickly changed position when she felt the wind and then pounced on Duan Banxia again.

Seeing that he had frightened Qu Manniang, Duan Banxia continued to form hand seals rapidly. Just as Qu Manniang was about to grab him, he unleashed another gust of wind.

Qu Manniang quickly changed her position again, only to find that it was just a gentle breeze with no real harm.

By this point, Qu Manniang understood perfectly well that Duan Banxia was merely using someone else's power as a pretext. She immediately pounced on Duan Banxia, ​​ignoring the sparks that Duan Banxia was throwing.

But at that moment, shouts suddenly came from outside the door.

"There's noise coming from the young lady's room!"

"Could it be that the thief has returned?"

"hurry up!"

Accompanied by these noisy sounds, footsteps approached from afar and were about to enter the courtyard.

After Duan Banxia tried to scare Qu Manniang twice, she realized she couldn't frighten her anymore. On the third attempt, she scrambled and dodged Qu Manniang's claws.

(End of this chapter)