Stepdaughter of a wealthy family? The little darling of a Beijing tycoon

Lin Feng and Ye Shuang were both taken aback: "Master Shen, the evil spirit has been defeated, isn't the case closed?"

Shen Jingshu traced the faint, lingering aura of malevolent energy, distinct from the twin evil spirits, with her fingertips, and slowly spoke: "These two are merely puppet evil spirits that come out to hunt and suppress malevolent forces."

"The skin-slaying techniques they practice are extremely unorthodox, lacking any legitimate ghostly methods; they are evil arts that have been deliberately cultivated and instructed by others."

She raised her eyes, her tone resolute: "Behind the scenes, there are others pulling the strings. Someone is secretly raising evil spirits and teaching them evil arts, using the beauty's skin to haunt and cultivate evil skills. The two evil spirits are just expendable pawns and henchmen."

Tonight's elimination of the two evil forces may seem like a case closed, but in reality, it only scratches the surface of this series of murders.

The true mastermind remains hidden in the shadows, never revealing themselves.

The night breeze gently dispersed the last wisp of malevolent energy, and the mountains and forests were completely restored to peace.

Upon hearing these words, Lin Feng and Ye Shuang's expressions changed simultaneously, instantly realizing that the situation was far more dangerous and complex than they had imagined.

"Puppet evil spirits?" Ye Shuang's expression was solemn. "No wonder these two evil spirits have such a consistent pattern of behavior and a clear purpose. They only refine skin evil and do not kill indiscriminately. They are not like wild vengeful ghosts at all, but rather like tools that have been tamed and controlled by people."

Lin Feng said in a deep voice, "If there really is a living person behind this, then this cross-provincial and cross-city serial skinning case is not the work of ghosts and monsters at all, but a vicious esoteric crime of nurturing evil and using evil spirits to cultivate power!"

This type of evil magic is the most insidious and secretive. Ordinary police cannot find it, and ordinary sorcerers cannot trace its origin. It is precisely because of this that the case has been delayed for months, with countless victims, and no one has been able to solve it.

Shen Jingshu looked down at the faint trace of strange evil energy remaining on her fingertips, her eyes cold and deep.

She had sensed something was wrong the moment she began to refine the two evil spirits.

Deep within the souls of those two twin evil spirits, a fine, binding seal had been placed.

This hand seal is extremely unorthodox and sinister. It does not belong to folk magic or orthodox ghost magic. It is a long-lost technique for refining evil spirits and controlling souls.

The practitioner uses their own blood essence as a guide to imprint the evil spirit's soul, remotely controlling and absorbing its essence. The evil spirit is responsible for killing and hunting, while the practitioner hides in the shadows and reaps all the rewards of their cultivation.

Once the evil spirit falls, the mark is automatically destroyed, leaving no trace and perfectly severing all connections.

If Shen Jingshu hadn't possessed profound spiritual power and keen perception, an ordinary spiritual master would have assumed the case was completely closed after eliminating the evil spirits, and would have been completely unaware that there was someone behind the scenes.

"Most of the essence of the skin they've accumulated over the years has been remotely extracted by someone."

Shen Jingshu slowly spoke, revealing the key clue: "The two evil spirits only retained a small amount of malevolent energy to maintain their forms. The core condensed beauty spiritual energy and pure yin skin evil energy were all absorbed by the person behind the scenes."

"In other words, this person has already increased his cultivation level by relying on the fates and appearances of countless young girls in their prime."

Ye Shuang felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing this, and gritted her teeth, saying, "Using human lives to practice evil arts is utterly inhuman!"

Lin Feng immediately became serious and asked, "Master Shen, can we now follow the remaining marks to track down the other party's location?"

Shen Jingshu shook her head slightly: "The mark has long since shattered completely with the destruction of the evil spirits. The other party was extremely cautious and did not leave any direct coordinates."

But she changed the subject, her gaze becoming firm: "However, he overlooked one flaw."

"Having absorbed the yin energy from the skin for a long time, he must have a large amount of yin energy of the same origin remaining on his body. This yin energy is tainted by the resentment of countless wronged young girls, and it is filthy and violent, and cannot be completely erased. As long as I search within the city, I can accurately locate people with the same aura."

Besides that, she also had a clear deduction in mind.

"This person has been stationed in the rear controlling the evil spirits for a long time, so he won't be too far from the crime area. Ning City is the location with the most recent cases, so he must be lurking in Ning City recently, waiting for an opportunity to commit more crimes."

After clarifying all the details, the three quickly returned to the municipal bureau and reviewed all the case files overnight.

Based on data from all the victims over the years, a strange commonality has once again surfaced.

All the murdered girls were not only stunningly beautiful, but also had birth charts indicating a purely Yin destiny.

The ordinary, beautiful girl is just bait; the pure yin body and pure yin energy are the true nourishment for cultivation that the person behind the scenes wants.

The other party meticulously selected their prey and planned their scheme precisely over several years; they were cunning and extremely ruthless.

When the city police chief saw the three people return, he quickly went up to them to inquire about the progress of the case.

Upon learning that a living, unorthodox practitioner was operating behind the scenes, the police chief felt a chill run down his spine and immediately pledged full cooperation: "I will immediately mobilize all city archives, recent migrant population records, and registration information for visiting practitioners to fully cooperate with your investigation! We are ready to deploy police forces to seal off and control areas at any time!"

Shen Jingshu raised her hand to stop them: "There's no need for a big fuss. Making too much noise will only alert the enemy."

Evil cultivators have a keen sense of smell; once they detect a large-scale investigation, they will inevitably flee overnight, making it extremely difficult to capture them.

"I'll rest tonight, and I have my own plans for tomorrow."

Her gaze was cool and resolute.

He murdered dozens of people and then hid in the shadows to enjoy the fruits of his bloodlust cultivation.

This time, she will personally tear through the layers of disguise and expose this evil cultivator hiding behind the scenes, bringing him to justice and bringing him to justice.

The night was deep, and Ning City appeared calm on the surface, but undercurrents were already surging.

In the dead of night, the hotel room I checked into was completely quiet.

Shen Jingshu raised her hand and gently waved it. A faint light flashed in her personal storage space, and a pair of gleaming scissors and a neat stack of yellow talismans landed on the table.

She lowered her eyes and focused intently, her fingers flying across the paper. With each scissor movement, scraps of paper fluttered down, and in no time, dozens of exquisitely crafted paper puppets, each the size of a palm, stood on the table. The figures had simple, clear features and complete limbs, their thin paper bodies exuding a lively and spirited charm.

Shen Jingshu gathered a wisp of pure spiritual energy at her fingertips and gently touched the center of each paper figure's brow.

The moment the spiritual energy entered the body, the originally stiff and still paper figure instantly came to life. Its small body tiptoed around on the table, dancing and leaping lightly, its movements agile and lively.

She bent down and whispered the search order to the paper puppets. Her voice was clear, and every word entered the consciousness of each paper puppet: "Go to all the streets and alleys of Ning City to search for the hidden blood evil aura. Once you capture the target's aura, send back the signal immediately. There must be no delay."

These paper figures were all crafted by her own hands, each imprinted with her unique life essence, and the two were connected in spirit. As soon as any of the paper puppets detected any unusual yin energy, Shen Jingshu, far away in the hotel, could immediately sense it and pinpoint its approximate location.

The paper figures bowed in unison, received the order, and one after another leaped towards the open window, drifting lightly in the wind and scattering like countless tiny paper butterflies, landing in the streets and alleys of Ning City, in the old alleys and suburbs, and in the dark corners of buildings, leaving no place untouched.

As night deepened and the city's inhabitants slept soundly, lights extinguished in every house, dozens of paper puppets imbued with mystical spiritual energy were silently traversing every corner of the city, meticulously probing for any lurking malevolent aura, conducting a thorough search for the evil cultivator lurking in the shadows.