57. Who’s Been Tricked?
“What!?”
The man’s heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively took a step back.
But he quickly regained his composure and chuckled. “What do you mean, Miss? What could I possibly be hiding?”
“Is that so?”
Gong Yiling took out a piece of paper. On one side was written “Suspected Identity Replacement,” and on the other, two names were listed.
One was Young Master Xuli. Someone had seen him being attacked, but then another, unharmed, Young Master Xuli appeared. Clearly, his identity had been replaced by Tian Shangque.
As for the second person…
“Hua Liansheng, Young Master of the Dongling Hua family. This identity seems legitimate, but the Dongling Hua family was recently annihilated. And since Yunqing Marsh, where they resided, is far from here, the news hasn’t arrived yet.”
She tossed the paper at “Hua Liansheng.”
“Young Master Hua, did you escape death and come here seeking a chance to rise again? Or… are you not Hua Liansheng at all?”
“Hua Liansheng” frowned.
He indeed wasn’t Hua Liansheng, but how did this girl find out…?
“You suspected me all along?”
“Not really.” Gong Yiling shook her head. “I was just trying to identify the demonic cultivators and accidentally stumbled upon your… case.”
Hua Liansheng chuckled, neither confirming nor denying, simply listening.
“I initially suspected you were a demonic cultivator, but you didn’t reveal yourself in the palace. So, you must have been sent by someone else.”
Gong Yiling narrowed her eyes. “Mr. or Ms. Demonic Spirit, is it fun pretending to be human?”
Yes.
Although she had no concrete proof, there were several clues.
For example, a demonic spirit wouldn’t be far from its fragmented power. So, during the first round, the demonic spirit must have been among the participants.
And if he was just a human traitor, there was no need to assume the identity of a dead person.
These two points suggested that he might not even be human, but a demonic spirit possessing a human corpse.
“Heh.” The demonic spirit smiled, revealing its true nature. “You guessed correctly. But since you know I’m a demonic spirit, you dare face me alone?”
His words were a clear threat.
However… Gong Yiling wasn’t afraid.
Not only was she unafraid, but she even said playfully, “Mr. or Ms. Demonic Spirit—”
“Mister.”
“That’s a shame. I thought it would be fun if it was a female spirit possessing a man’s body.”
Gong Yiling shrugged. “But do you really think I’ll fall for your trap?”
“Hmm?”
“If you were truly that powerful, you would have attacked us along with that beast earlier. But you didn’t. That means you’re not even confident in facing two people at once.”
“You…” The demonic spirit took another step back, his eyes wide with shock.
“Wait, let me guess.” Gong Yiling held up a hand, stopping him. “You’re a Free and Easy Spirit. You can split yourself into hundreds of fragments, each with a part of your consciousness.”
“And you can use a shared consciousness technique to connect with any other being, allowing their attacks to appear near your fragments, even from afar. A space-time type spiritual art, right?”
The demonic spirit was stunned.
“How do you know about the Free and Easy Spirit?” he asked, puzzled. “Our ancestors never revealed themselves, and there are no records of us, even in the Complete Record of Demonic Spirits.”
“Ah…”
Gong Yiling glanced at the complete record provided by the system and coughed. “There’s this thing called Baidu. I’m telling you this in case you don’t know.”
“Baidu?”
“Yes, a very powerful information network. It knows everything, even the three sizes of every person in the world.” (A common internet slang for bust, waist, and hip measurements.)
“Allow me to deny that. The system wouldn’t know such things.”
“Shut up.”
Gong Yiling retorted, surprisingly assertive.
Then, she crossed her arms and continued, “And the more fragments you create, the weaker your main body becomes. Are you sure you can defeat me in your current state?”
The demonic spirit chuckled. “I won’t know until I try.”
“Then try.”
With that, the demonic spirit raised his left hand, and a strange energy surged around him, then he threw three number cards at Gong Yiling.
However, this was exactly what Gong Yiling wanted.
She didn’t dodge. She had deduced that the claw marks on the ground were from being dragged to a hidden location.
So, instead of searching for the hidden cave…
She would use a simpler, more direct method.
Before vanishing, the demonic spirit saw Gong Yiling’s seemingly passive stance and was momentarily speechless.
Then, he saw the confident smile on her face.
“Could it be… she deliberately…”
It was too late to react.
He felt a gust of wind, and the girl was gone, leaving four deep claw marks on the ground.
“Damn it!”
—
—
Meanwhile, back in the cave…
Not just Qiu Shui, but many others had also regained consciousness.
However, having seen the monstrous creature, they no longer dared to act arrogant.
Yes.
Although this creature looked a bit… simple, not like the terrifying beasts of legend…
They even saw it holding a large jar, giggling to itself (actually, it wasn’t giggling at them, as it didn’t even consider them a threat, or even prey).
And what was this creature?
It had golden-red scales, a body over a hundred meters long, and a face any Chinese person would recognize, looking incredibly majestic and powerful.
Yes.
The master of this cave, the one who captured them…
Was a four-clawed golden dragon.
