The most shameless alchemist in history

"It's been a long time since I've had any fresh human flesh. Give me that woman, with her delicate skin and tender flesh, and I'll slice her off piece by piece, then sprinkle some pepper and salt on her. The taste...tsk tsk, just thinking about it makes my mouth water." The blade of the cleaver in Kama's hand reflected his ferocious face.

This was a stark contrast to her previous kind and gentle demeanor. Behind them, all the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled people that Du Lei and the others had seen before emerged. None of them were without knives, and all of them wore ferocious and eerie expressions, which were especially chilling under the moonlight.

"Come on, now is the time for us to enjoy the feast! Everyone, enjoy this delicious meal to your heart's content! Come on... Huh? What's going on? Why is this place... empty? Where is everyone?" Just as this group of originally gentle and kind townspeople suddenly went berserk and rushed into the prefab house where Du Lei and the others lived.

They were surprised to find that the group of fat sheep, who should have been soundly asleep in bed, were not there, which left them somewhat bewildered.

"Something's not right. I clearly saw them sleeping. How could they suddenly disappear? What happened?" The more Kama thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. She lifted the blanket on the bed and searched under the bed, but she couldn't find Dure anywhere.

"What, are you looking for me?" Just then, a voice came from outside. Kama, Siegel, and the others immediately ran outside. They saw someone sitting on the roof of the wooden house, looking down at them with a mocking air.

"You're quite the hider, kid. You're hiding here? Kid, get down here right now!" someone shouted from the crowd.

"Don't be like that, you might scare him. Dure, he's just joking with you. It's so cold up there, you should come down quickly." Kama returned to her gentle demeanor, smilingly gesturing for Dure to come down.

"Stop pretending. You're not like this at all, but you insist on putting on a gentle act. Don't you find it disgusting? Or do you really think you're human just because you're wearing this skin?" Du Lei shouted.

"What did you say? How did you know..." Siegel exclaimed in surprise, understanding the hidden meaning in Durei's words.

“How do I know you’re not human?” Dure said, catching up on what Siegel hadn’t finished.

"Hmph, just as I thought! You bunch of monsters actually tried to lure us into a trap. Luckily, Durei noticed quickly, or we would have fallen for it!" Just then, Kotetsu's voice came over, glaring angrily at Kama and Siegel's group.

Lark, Ape Arm, and Bee Sting were behind him, with Wendy surrounded by them, while Leopard Tail was nowhere to be seen.

"No way, Lady Kama is such a kind person, how could she be... a monster in disguise?" Even now, Winry still couldn't quite believe what she was seeing, even though she could clearly see that both Kama and Siegel were holding kitchen knives.

"Where exactly did we slip up that allowed you to see through us?" Siegel was somewhat unconvinced. He believed that everything should be flawless, and he really couldn't understand how the other party could tell that they were demons.

"Want to know the answer? Then go ask Death! Stop wasting time with them, get to work!" Dure had already prepared his crossbow. Standing atop the wooden house, he was the first to pull the trigger, sending sharp arrows flying towards Siegel!

“Mr. Dure, could this all be a misunderstanding? Have we made a mistake…?” Winry still couldn’t quite believe that Siegel and Kama were really monsters. Just as she was trying to get Dure to confirm again, Dure’s crossbow bolt was already fired.

She screamed and closed her eyes, unable to bear watching the blood splatter. Although she trusted Du Lei, she was still afraid that he might be wrong. If that happened, they would have killed someone alive, something she absolutely could not accept!

“You foolish humans, you could have died peacefully in your sleep, but you chose the most gruesome way to die. I’ll let you see me tear your flesh off piece by piece and stuff it into my mouth to eat… What, so fast!” Siegel stopped pretending.

He ripped off his own face, revealing a hideous, one-horned demon. He lunged at Dure, but by then the arrows were already flying. No matter how fast it was, it couldn't outrun the arrows that whistled through the air. The crossbow bolts struck its face!

"Ouch, ouch, ouch! You actually shot me! No, my power is dissipating! It hurts so much!" The demon, struck in the face by Du Lei, rolled on the ground in agony. It was obvious that Du Lei's arrow had caused it great damage.

"You idiot, you can't even dodge an attack of this level? What a piece of trash... But even trash has its value, hehehehe." The woman who should have been Kama next to her also tore off her mask, revealing herself as a two-horned demon.

It looked at the demon disguised as Siegel writhing on the ground in pain, grabbed it, and bit down on its throat!

.

422 Curse of the Evil Spirit

The moonlight was cold and dim, and by its light, one could see blood splattering between the demon's sharp teeth. The scene was truly shocking, and those with a weaker constitution would probably wet their pants on the spot, considering that the two of them had just played the roles of a loving mother and son not long ago.

When they were still wearing the masks of Siegel and Kama, their friendly and harmonious relationship was the envy of even Winry. But who knew that once the parent-child game was over, such a cruel scene would be revealed, even the well-informed Kotetsu frowned.

"Now that we've dealt with the trash, it's time to deal with you! Everyone, attack together! I can already smell the despair. Their flesh and marrow, filled with pain and struggle, must be incredibly delicious. This will be our moment of glory!" The demon pounced on Kotetsu and the others.

At its call, the more than twenty demons behind it tore off their disguises and pounced on Kotetsu and the others, completely unaffected by the demon who had been impersonating Siegel being devoured by his companions. To them, it all seemed to be perfectly natural.

"You cruel bastards... Damn it, you're actually that strong? It seems I really underestimated you!" Kotetsu swung his fist to meet the demon that pounced on him. He was originally very confident that he could knock the demon away, but after their fists clashed head-on, he realized that he had been too optimistic.

His punch only made the opponent retreat, not fly away. Moreover, he clearly felt that this punch alone had consumed a lot of his strength. If he continued to fight at this rate, it wouldn't be long before he was exhausted!

"No, Captain, there are just too many of them. We can't fight them at all. What should we do?" Bee Sting was also panicked by this sudden turn of events. She gritted her teeth and tried to fight back, but even Tiger Che was having a hard time dealing with it, let alone her.

"What else can we do? It's all our fault for being careless and falling into their trap. Are we going to die here and become their food?" Hu Che regretted his previous judgment, because it was he who decided to leave the inn and come to the mountain, but now it has been proven that this was not the right choice.

"What on earth is going on, Mrs. Kamar, and Siegel, everyone... how did you all become like this? What happened?" Winry was still in a daze. She assumed that Siegel and the others had been cursed by something, which was why they looked like this.

“Miss Winry, they are not Lady Kama and Siegel at all. They are the demons that came out of the ground and destroyed the town! No, we can’t fall here, and we can’t lose to them!” Dure shouted as he fired his crossbow.

He changed positions, and with each crossbow bolt he fired, a demon screamed in agony. But no matter how accurate his archery was, he could only kill one demon with a single bolt. Moreover, these demons were incredibly resilient, and even if he hit one, he might not be able to bring it down.

“There’s no other way. In this situation, we have no choice but to…” Bailing, who had been protecting Wenli, gritted her teeth. She knew that they had reached a very difficult point. In this situation, she couldn’t care about anything else and planned to do something to turn things around.

"Are you wretched demons causing trouble again? Come over here quickly!" Just then, a hoarse and aged voice rang out from behind Du Lei and the others. Du Lei and the others subconsciously turned around and saw a white light appear.

"Damn it, is that wretched old woman causing trouble again? Don't be afraid of her, everyone. She's old now and not as powerful as she used to be. Let's all attack together and take her down!" The demon disguised as Kama seemed to be the leader of this group of demons, and it gave orders towards the white light.

"Look, that's... Granny Ghost? What's she doing here?" Bee Sting exclaimed. She was confused when she heard the hoarse voice, thinking that another group of evil spirits was attacking them, but she was stunned when she saw that it was Granny Ghost.

"Don't just stand there, hurry up and get over there!" Du Lei reacted the fastest. He shouted and urged Bee Sting, Wen Li and the others to move closer to the Ghost Granny's location. At this moment, more than twenty demons launched a fierce attack on them. Looking into the distance, a large number of evil spirits emerged.

They crawled out from the distant mine entrance along the edge of the hillside, their numbers so dense that it was impossible to see exactly how many there were!

"Although I am old, I will never let you evil spirits cause trouble. Hurry up and leave!" the old woman urged loudly. She held a cane in her hand, the top of which was inlaid with a piece of jade, from which white light emanated.

"But Granny Ghost, are you really okay?" Although Wenli didn't quite understand what was going on, she could tell that the old woman had appeared to help them. She was a little worried about the old woman's condition, after all, being surrounded by a large group of evil spirits was no joke.

"Don't worry, dealing with these little devils is more than enough. You all hurry back to the inn. There's a barrier outside the inn, they can't get in. Be quick!" The old woman waved her cane and smashed it at the little devils that pounced on her. At first, even a big guy like Kotetsu could be brute-forced by the little devils, but the moment they touched the cane, they let out a scream. Flames burst from their bodies, and they cried out in pain.

"Bellatrix, Bee Sting, you two quickly escort Miss Wenli back to the inn. Me, Uncle Hu Che, Uncle Yuan Bi, and I will hold them off with Grandma. Hurry up, don't hesitate!" Du Lei urged loudly, as he was running out of arrows.

"Understood, Miss Wenli, let's go now!" Bailing escorted Wenli down the mountain in a hurry. They ran wildly, and evil spirits pounced on them. Bailing and Bee Sting were too busy to deal with them, which caused gaps in their defense. It was clear that an evil spirit was about to pounce on Wenli.

Winry, however, had no way to protect herself and was about to fall victim to the attack!

"Whoosh!" A sharp arrow pierced the demon's head, causing it to lose its momentum and fall to the ground.

Winry was also saved by this arrow.

"Miss Winry, let's hurry, we'll be at the inn soon." Bailing glanced at the arrow, then followed the direction from which it had come and saw Dure, who nodded to her. She immediately stepped aside and helped Winry walk towards the inn.

"They should be able to get back to the inn without any problems, but... has the last arrow already been shot? There's no other way, this is the only option." Du Lei looked at the empty quiver, gave a wry smile, and could only draw his dagger and grit his teeth to go forward and fight the demon.

.

423 Age Issues

When Winnie returned to the inn, she was exhausted, but even so, she couldn't sleep at all, because so much had happened in just one day. First, they stayed at the inn, and nothing should have happened, except for the old woman who was acting a bit strange.

But then Bee Sting and Leopard Tail encountered Siegel, a child Leopard Tail used to know. Siegel told them that the inn was a ghost inn and that staying there would be fatal. He took Winry and her group to the mountain and assured Winry that the mountain was the safe place.

At first, Winry believed it too, because Siegel and his "mother" Mrs. Kama did indeed show a deep bond between mother and son, and the people on the mountain were also very hospitable, which left a deep impression on Winry. Everything was so real, and she envied it so much.

But their good fortune didn't last long. Not long after, Siegel and Mrs. Kama removed their masks, revealing their hideous fangs. If Dure hadn't been on guard beforehand, they probably would have died on the mountain long ago. Winry still feels lingering fear when she recalls that scene.

"I can't believe it, that lovely Siegel and the gentle and kind Lady Kama were actually evil spirits in disguise..." Winry was stunned for a long time. The impact of these events on her was too great. She had been envious of them.

“Actually, it’s not Miss Winry’s fault. The only one to blame is that they were too cunning. Even we were fooled. Fortunately, Dure discovered this in time… By the way, Dure, how did you realize they were imposters?” Bee Sting looked at Dure gratefully.

If Dure hadn't reminded them in time, woken them from their sleep, and made preparations in advance, they would probably have perished on the mountain by now. You see, she had been involved in bringing Siegel to Winry and the others and suggesting going up the mountain, which made her feel very guilty.

"The answer is actually very simple, it's a matter of age." Du Lei looked at his empty quiver with some disappointment. The arrows in the quiver were all made for him by Tie Xin, the blacksmith on the mountainside of Maple Leaf Academy. There were only twelve arrows in total, and every arrow shot was one less. He had just shot them all.

After sighing, he had no choice but to decide to go back to retrieve them the next day at dawn, hoping to find all the arrows. He had been worried about the bee stings while on the mountain, and they urgently needed to get out of that dangerous place, so he hadn't had time to explain. Now they were safe.

"Age issue? What's wrong with age?" Kotetsu frowned. He hadn't realized that Siegel and the others were imposters either. Strictly speaking, they had encountered this kind of impersonation once before in Nightmare Mountain. He had fallen for it then, and it was only after Dure reminded him that he saw through the black smoke's true purpose.

"Siegel is only eight or nine years old, right?" Dure focused his questions on Siegel, asking Bee Sting and the others.

“That’s right. Judging from his appearance, he’s at most nine years old, no more than ten. He’s just a child. What’s so strange about that?” Bee Sting nodded. She didn’t understand why Dure would suddenly bring up Siegel’s age. She hadn’t noticed anything unusual.

“Leopard Tail, he should be twenty-one years old this year, right?” Du Lei looked at Leopard Tail. When they were in danger, Leopard Tail was nowhere to be found. It was when they were going down the mountain that Bee Sting found Leopard Tail and dragged him back.

“Leopard Tail will be twenty-one in two months.” Bee Sting knew Leopard Tail’s birthday and answered the question for him.

"If I remember correctly, Uncle Kotetsu, you once said that you and the others have been teaming up as partners for several years now." Du Lei is an observant and attentive listener who always remembers what others say unintentionally.

“That’s right, we’ve been working together on missions for almost five years now.” Hu Che nodded. His team consisted of himself, Leopard Tail, Bee Sting, and Ape Arm. Each of them had their own strengths and worked together seamlessly. Over the past five years, they had carried out many important missions.

"Then here's the problem: you've been working together for five years, which means you were together when Leopard Tail was sixteen, and Leopard Tail never left during that time, right?" Du Lei asked further.

“Yes, we are on a mission and work almost year-round. Even when we are on leave, we are all together. Almost no one asks for leave to leave alone... Wait, five years ago Leopard Tail was sixteen years old, while five years ago Siegel was only... three or four years old?” Bee Sting thought of this.

"That's the problem. Since Siegel said he met with Leopard Tail, it must have happened at least five years ago. But how old was he five years ago? How could he know so much? Besides, the town's prosperity dates back at least ten years. Look at this."

Dure handed something to Bee Sting, Winry, and the others. Bee Sting took it first; it was a newspaper.

"This is just a newspaper used to cover the windows of the hotel, what's so interesting about it... Oh, it says... there's an accident at the Chunfeng Town coal mine, 68 people are trapped... This is news about a coal mine accident!" Bee Sting initially didn't know what use a mere newspaper could be.

But when she saw the record clearly, she was shocked.

“Check the time in the newspaper again,” Dure reminded them.

"The time is... ten years ago?" Bai Ling's eyes quickly scanned the date column, which clearly showed that it was ten years ago.

"The coal mine in Chunfeng Town had an accident ten years ago. The capitalists closed the mine, a large number of townspeople fled, and the town gradually declined. That all happened ten years ago... Here is... the list of victims of the mining accident?" Hu Che took the newspaper and looked at it carefully. He discovered some new things.

"Look at this person on the list, does he look familiar?" Du Lei asked, pointing to a name on the list of mine disaster victims in the lower right corner of the newspaper.

"Familiar? I don't remember seeing this name anywhere before." Wen Li joined in to help, trying to recall, but couldn't figure it out.

"The focus isn't on the first name, but on the surname." Du Lei moved his finger to the surname.

“Surname? This surname…wait, isn’t this surname the same as Siegel’s?” Bee Sting remembered that Siegel had proudly mentioned his surname when introducing himself. Recalling this, she compared the two and found that they were indeed the same surname.

“If I’m not mistaken, this person is Siegel’s father,” Dure said, offering his opinion.

“Siegel’s father? They have the same surname, and there’s no other person on the list with that surname. I remember when Siegel talked about his family, he said that his father was an outsider and had no brothers or sisters or anything. It’s not impossible that he was Siegel’s father… But if Siegel’s father died ten years ago, where did he come from?” Bailing frowned, very confused about this.

"Therefore, there is a big problem with Siegel's age. As long as we have doubts about this, we can find loopholes in what he says, follow the clues, and after eliminating all possibilities, it will be natural to conclude that Siegel is an evil spirit in disguise."

Dure continued to explain.

.

424 Soul Message

After Dure's explanation, Winry and the others finally understood that there was a big problem with Siegel's age. It was precisely this point that made Dure suspicious. Through careful thinking and the process of elimination, he finally concluded that Siegel had died long ago, but the dead person was standing in front of them perfectly fine.

Du Lei recalled his experience on Nightmare Mountain, and the fact that monsters had escaped from the mines in Spring Breeze Town. It was only natural that he would associate Siegel with monsters. Just as everyone was relieved that Du Lei's careful observation had saved them, the old woman arrived.

"You must all be hungry. I've made some soup for you. Come and have some." The old woman, still holding a candle, came over and beckoned Wenli and the others to follow her to the dining room. Wenli and Beethorn looked at each other for a moment, unsure whether to go or not.

"Thanks to the old woman for saving us, we were able to escape back to the inn safely. I'm a bit hungry after a busy night, so let's all come together." Seeing that no one dared to follow, Du Lei took the lead and followed the old woman to the dining room.

With Du Lei leading the way, Wen Li and the others no longer hesitated and followed. Wen Li looked at the old woman's back and was a little confused. Was that hunched-over, frail old woman the same old woman who had been waving her cane on the mountain not long ago, so majestic and powerful?

“I’ve added herbs to these soups to help expel the poison. Little girl, you should drink more. Your constitution is the weakest. You’ve inhaled a lot of poison in town, and you need to expel it all from your body.” The old woman pointed at Wenli and served her another bowl of soup.

"Thank you, Granny Ghost... Oh no, thank you Granny. We misunderstood you before and didn't listen to you and went up the mountain, causing you trouble!" Wenli sincerely apologized to the old woman. Although she was a girl, she was a responsible person and took the initiative to apologize for her wrong judgment.

"You can call me 'Ghost Granny' if you want, I won't carry it with me anyway. I'm neither human nor ghost anyway." The old woman laughed self-deprecatingly. Her voice was hoarse, and she coughed twice, showing that her health was really not good.