Start practicing from Mr. Fox

Chapter 177 Black Hand
His words carried the majesty of a city god, and the surrounding demons and ghosts were stunned and fell silent.

He shook his head, not daring to speak.

Chen Ji looked around, his eyes growing cold.

The demons and ghosts all lowered their heads, not daring to meet Chen Ji's gaze.

Discussing the living City God is certainly interesting, but if the City God takes notice of you, it will be a disaster.

They had all heard of the new City God's reputation.

Upon arriving, he couldn't stand the wolf-blood demon eating the blood of its own kind, so he killed it in the street, and even killed the former city god who had covered it up.

With powerful backing and strength, it seems they are indeed not easy to deal with.

Chen Ji frowned slightly.

I never expected that the demons and ghosts of Fenshan Town would see me this way.

These things have never been publicly announced, so the fact that they spread so quickly must be largely thanks to that shrew.

Chen Ji looked around and saw the white goose feathers in several places.

It really was it.

Chen Ji suppressed his thoughts, knowing that the Youdi Sparrow was still betting on both sides, and didn't care.

Such people or demons have always existed.

Sometimes it really does come in handy.

If you can't get anything out of these demons and ghosts, then you can question them.

But for now, we should ask the demons and ghosts around us first.

"The discussion was so lively just now, why is there no sound now? Didn't you see it? Or are you afraid to speak up?"

Some demons and ghosts regretted not running away earlier, instead staying here to watch the spectacle.

Now they're even running...

Huh? Yes, you can run!

The City God is a living person, and his subordinates are monks and Taoist priests, who don't seem to have any real skills.

Only a few immature fox spirits followed him.

Even if the City God doesn't intervene, he can't do anything about all these demons and ghosts.

Moreover, there are many demons and ghosts here. If they scatter in all directions, even the City God cannot kill them all before his magic power is exhausted.

The thought arose, and immediately the demons standing at the back looked around, preparing to escape when no one was paying attention.

However, this action was too obvious, and other demons and ghosts immediately understood and shrank behind the people.

Without any prior agreement or summons, numerous demons and ghosts seized the moment Chen Ji turned his head and unleashed their spells.

"Right now!"

"run!"

The demons and ghosts each have their own unique magic.

Some vanished as a gentle breeze, others turned into smoke and disappeared into the ground, and still others revealed themselves and fled.

"Fellow Daoist..."

"Certainly!"

Just as Master Xiyun was about to offer a reminder, before he could even speak, he heard Chen Ji speak softly.

As soon as he finished speaking, an invisible ripple spread out from around Chen Ji.

Wherever the ripples passed, all the demons and ghosts froze in place, unable to move an inch.

Master Xiyun glanced sideways, his expression full of surprise.

After a moment, he suddenly realized what was happening and asked in a low voice.

"Fellow Daoist, is this also part of the City God's authority?"

"Exactly."

Chen Ji nodded.

What he just used was the ability attached to the City God's Seal.

Once activated, it can bind all humans, ghosts, and demons whose cultivation level is lower than that of the City God within the City God's jurisdiction.

I originally thought I wouldn't have a chance to use this magic, but who would have thought that these demons would run away just because I asked them a question.

Then let's give this technique a try.

After hearing this, Master Xiyun confirmed the power of the technique.

A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Such authority, exceeding one's own capacity, is indeed rare.

"No wonder so many people want to obtain the position of the underworld or the City God after they die. They used to intimidate demons and ghosts in the City God Temple, and now they can make their words law within their jurisdiction. They are indeed powerful."

"That's precisely why only virtuous people can take on this role."

Chen Ji said seriously.

“When officials are corrupt, they only bring harm to the people of the area. Moreover, there are people above who are watching over them. When the people are forced to seek justice but cannot get any, they may rise up in rebellion.”

“But if the City God is unjust, not to mention ordinary people, even people, demons, and ghosts with cultivation will have no way to seek justice.”

"That is the most terrifying thing. The former City God turned this place into a hell on earth for his own selfish reasons. It was really wrong."

Chen Ji sighed.

Looking at the demons around him, he noticed that most of them had fear in their eyes.

So they untied the robes of some of those who still had a pure aura and asked them why they behaved this way.

"This……"

The demons exchanged glances, some hesitant to speak.

After a while, looking at the little fox beside Chen Ji, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Then, as if he were a human, he rose and clasped his hands in greeting.

"Please forgive us, Your Majesty, it was your actions that frightened us."

"I heard that on his first day in town, the lord killed the man-eating demon. Most of the demons and ghosts in this town have eaten blood, and they are worried that the lord will bring up old grievances and settle scores."

"exactly."

“If we hadn’t never eaten blood, we wouldn’t dare say these things to the adults.”

"Ah."

Chen Ji sneered and looked at them.

“There are many kinds of blood food. For example, those carnivorous demons also hunted and ate blood food before they gained intelligence, and there was no problem with that. Why do they have to eat people after they gain intelligence?”

"You also have carnivorous demons, so why don't you eat human blood?"

"This……"

The demon who asked the question paused for a moment, looked embarrassed, and shook his head after a long while.

"We do not know."

"Is it that you don't know, or that you dare not say?"

Chen Ji casually remarked, and the demons and ghosts' expressions changed.

Having lived here for years, how could they not know about Chen Ji's problem?

It's simply that for demons that have gained sentience, eating ordinary blood food would be too slow for them to improve their cultivation. Eating demons and humans with sentience would result in a greater improvement.

However, catching demons is not easy. Even the lowest-ranking demons have the ability to save their lives, and they may even suffer retaliation and ambushes if they are not careful.

In comparison, cannibalism is much easier.

Ordinary people have no means of self-protection, and their lives are as worthless as grass in this chaotic world.

One tael of silver cannot buy an ox, but it can buy more than ten people.

There's no need to hunt in the mountains; you can simply rob people on the road to get an endless supply of vegetables and meat.

Once a blood demon has consumed a human, it will not seek any other methods.

However, they were also demons, and they dared not say this to humans, otherwise they would not be tolerated by the demon race after the humans left.

"You don't need to say anything more."

Chen Ji waved his hand, interrupting them.

They looked at the other demons and ghosts and spoke at the same time.

"Whether human, demon, ghost, or cultivator in the world, they all want to fight for a sliver of life."

"Although blood food can accelerate cultivation, too much of it can lead to stagnant and violent temperament, or the development of inner demons, preventing one from going far."

"Especially cannibalism, which is a violation of natural law and morality."

“Occasionally, a few might be able to cultivate into demon kings, but they will also attract the attention of the city god or the cultivators in the temples to exorcise them because of their many evil deeds.”

"If you want to continue like this, then continue, but if I find out you come to buy groceries again, you'll suffer the same fate as those others."

Chen Ji's gaze fell on several red-eyed blood demons.

Even without using the aura-gazing technique, one could see with the naked eye the almost overflowing blood and murderous aura emanating from their bodies.

It was haunted by vengeful spirits, clearly a blood demon who had killed people.

I could even feel the blood energy from the past few days.

Moreover, when Chen Ji asked them questions, he noticed that they looked nervous, which was probably related to the killings that had taken place here a few days ago.

Previously, Chen Ji would have needed to argue before saying anything. But now that he was in a city god's domain, and these demons and ghosts were not all benevolent, there was no need for explanation; he could simply take them away.

At this moment, all the demons and ghosts looked over.

Chen Ji then immediately unleashed his swift and decisive actions.

"Hunting!"

At his command, the souls of several blood demons flew out, and Chen Ji casually made a move.

They used the underworld's daily patrol methods to capture all the criminals and put them in bottles to take away.

But this move was enough to terrify the demons and ghosts.

They had never witnessed anyone being able to extract the soul directly from a living demon.

Chen Ji directly ordered Bai Qi and the others to take away the bodies of these blood demons.

He didn't forget to glance at the group of demons.

"Since I am the City God of this place, I know about what you have done. I will not pursue it for now, but if you do it again, I will not tolerate it, whether you are human, ghost or demon."

After saying that, he tilted his head back and spewed out a fire dragon.

With the authority of the City God and filled with rage, the fire dragon appeared several feet long, and after growing larger in the wind, it became dozens of feet long, hovering in the air like a real dragon, suppressing all the demons and ghosts present and making them dare not raise their heads.

Once the fire dragon dissipated and Chen Ji and his group disappeared completely, leaving no trace of their presence, the demons and ghosts on the street dared to move about cautiously.

However, no one went back to check on the situation of the demons that had been taken away earlier.

In Fenshan Town, it's not just people who die; demons and ghosts also die, and the dead are used as food by other demons.

But after today.

All the demons who relied on blood for sustenance couldn't help but shudder, fearing that Chen Ji would come after them.

They could clearly see the ability to capture souls.

Those few blood demons were considered quite capable in the town; even when they joined forces, they could hold their own against the wolf blood demon for a few rounds.

But Chen Ji managed to forcibly extract his soul.

Such methods are not only inconceivable, but also impossible to guard against. Unless one escapes from Fenshan Town, there is almost no way to avoid them.

But now it's not safe outside the town either.

Previously, with the wolf-blood demon restraining them and the city god's order, they were able to walk through the mass graves outside the town without disturbing the town's demons and ghosts.

Now that the Blood Demon is dead, the new City God clearly wouldn't do something like rashly leaving the town.

I'm afraid that in the eyes of the demons and ghosts in the chaotic graveyard, they are better prey than mortals.

So they all obediently went back, lost in thought.

Inside the City God Temple.

Chen Ji and his group have returned with the Blood Demon they encountered earlier.

The City God's power is strongest here, and he can employ many methods.

Chen Ji had Bai Qi and the others put down the several lost demons and ghosts, and with a wave of his hand, he created several different rooms in the temple.

Then the souls of several demons flew out of the bottle and entered different rooms to wait.

"Still not awake? What are you waiting for?"

Chen Ji asked slowly.

As soon as he finished speaking, all the demons and ghosts opened their eyes, looking around in confusion before finally turning to Chen Ji.

"This is where?"

How did we get here?

"Oh, I remember now, it was you who used magic to trap our souls here!"

"what are you up to?"

The demons raised their voices and questioned Chen Ji.

Unfortunately, all they received in response was Chen Ji's indifferent voice.

"If you want to live, answer the questions honestly. If anyone's answer contradicts the others..."

Chen Ji drew out his words and smiled slightly.

"Besides being the City God of this place, I also hold a position in the Underworld. I can let you go to the Underworld and think carefully about what the true answer is."

After saying that, he took out the Underworld Seal, activated it casually, and a dense Yin energy flew out of the seal.

The demons and ghosts all changed their expressions.

They had previously met the previous City God and knew that the City God's questioning was similar to human judgment, requiring evidence.

However, the underworld does not require evidence for interrogation; all that is needed is a soul.

If they really end up in the underworld, they're afraid they won't fare well.

The demons trembled, not daring to say anything more. They nodded hurriedly, saying they would never hide anything, but begged the City God to give them a way out.

"it is good."

Chen Ji nodded, put away the underworld seal, and asked them what they had done in the past few days.

What exactly happened when the monk Zhenru saw the corpses of humans and demons on the road?

"This……"

The demons exchanged glances and all hesitated.

After a long pause, he gritted his teeth and made a decision.

"Fine, I'll die whether I speak or not, so please, City God, spare my life!"

One of the demons bowed and responded in a low voice.

"It's because a demon doesn't like the way adults do things, and wants you to go back to where you came from..."

"Those human corpses and demon corpses were the bait they dropped."

"Ultimately, what I want is..."

"what?"

Chen Ji raised an eyebrow, still wondering what else he hadn't thought of.

"They want to incite a war between humans and demons."

A demon slowly spoke.

Chen Ji finally understood the reason.

No wonder they prepared human and demon corpses on the street.

If no bodies are found here, many more will be dumped in the town in the future.

Whether it's humans or demons eating blood, the final outcome is that the blood will be taken away here.

This would lead to a chaotic war between humans and demons.

At that time, the entire town of Fenshan will become an exceptionally strong realm of dead spirits and ghosts.

What a clever scheme!
Chen Ji looked coldly outside the temple, already knowing who had done this.

He couldn't stand being the acting city god, yet he didn't want the town to be plagued by demons and ghosts.

That's why I came up with this plan.

Unfortunately, before the operation could even begin, Chen Ji had already seen through their scheme and captured them.

After that, all that was left was to settle the accounts.

Chen Ji looked at the demon who had spoken and asked him what benefits he had received.

"I received twenty sticks of incense as an invitation to go to the City God Temple to offer incense, but nothing else was arranged."

"Where does the fragrance come from?"

"It came along with the news."

"Where's the stuff?"

"In the flesh."

Chen Ji nodded, waved his hand to summon the demon's body, and sure enough, he found solidified incense sticks inside.

However, Chen Ji could tell at a glance that the incense was not pure; it contained the malevolent energy and resentment that the local city god had previously absorbed.

If one is not careful and actually absorbs it, one may very well end up like the previous City God.

He sighed inwardly, realizing that the mastermind behind this was indeed up to no good.

Put away these incense sticks, intending to study them later or see if they can be used for anything else.

Then he looked at the other demons and asked them if they had anything else to say.

“I heard them say that something big is going to happen soon, and if you are still here, you will not have a good end.”

Chen Ji raised an eyebrow.

These words seemed unspoken, but Miss Bai judged them to be true, so she couldn't help but ask what important matter it was.

"This little demon doesn't know either. He only vaguely heard about rising water and riverbanks, and that he had to go to the west to contact some deity."

“Is that so…”

Chen Ji nodded, having already guessed most of what they were going to do.

However, there's no need to worry about that right now; there are other things to take care of.

If it's really what he thinks, he'll know what's going on when they meet again.

(End of this chapter)