It was strange.
Ye Xi clutched her medicine box tightly and gripped Shen Mingjin’s hand. Suddenly, a few low, hoarse, eerie winds drifted in from outside the building door. A dull creaking sounded inside, like an old wooden door being pushed open and shut.
Half-Mountain Spirit Garden did have some public areas that looked old, but occupied places were renovated quickly. The sound of an old wooden door was too abrupt.
Shen Mingjin also sensed something wrong. “Xiao Xi, what’s up?”
Ye Xi stated it bluntly. “Sister, it seems we’ve been schemed against.”
“Schemed against!”
You Nian exclaimed in shock and instinctively glanced at the least familiar Xiong Xiao. Seeing her weak, dying state, she shook her head firmly. “Physician Ye, are you mistaken?”
Ye Xi: “I’m not saying Xiong Xiao schemed against us, but the one behind the scenes pushing this did.”
Shen Mingjin: “Xiao Xi, what do you think is off?”
“The timing.” Ye Xi carefully observed their surroundings; the silence felt unusual. “I’ve interacted with Xiong Xin twice. She’s the type who cares a lot about face and reputation—her performance just now proves it.”
“She clearly doesn’t value Xiong Xiao that much but still tries hard to play the loving mother. Even after the truth is exposed, she keeps insisting she isn’t biased and loves her daughter dearly. With her personality, she absolutely wouldn’t delay treatment for days when there’s a free doctor in Half-Mountain Spirit Garden after her daughter falls ill.”
“Xiong Xiao just said it was that Ye Yao who told them to wait a few days. The wait wasn’t too early or late—it was exactly the second evening after we returned from the General Bureau. There must be something wrong.”
You Nian: “Physician Ye, are you overthinking? If they had some plot, why not act earlier? There was so much daytime. Why wait until evening? Maybe it’s just coincidence.”
Ye Xi knew she was suspicious by nature. You Nian’s words made her waver for a moment, doubting if she was overthinking. But it lasted only an instant.
Better safe than sorry.
She stopped advancing and immediately connected to the Spirit Web, sending the situation here to Ye Tan and Ni Yueying.
No response came. Shen Mingjin’s heart sank along with hers.
Eager to save her, You Nian carried Xiong Xiao forward a few steps before Ye Xi grabbed her by the scruff of the neck.
Ye Xi: “We can’t go any further.”
She didn’t want to abandon a life, but she couldn’t let those around her fall into danger for it. She hadn’t noticed on the way over, but now sensing the crisis, they definitely couldn’t proceed.
Ye Xi ignored You Nian’s struggles and handed the medical kit to Shen Mingjin. She scooped up the two children, one in each arm, and rushed toward the building entrance. “Sister, let’s go!”
The open doorway seemed to have gained an invisible barrier. Ye Xi failed to charge through with You Nian and the others.
As soon as their bodies neared the door, a force pushed them back. It shoved Ye Xi several steps, and if Shen Mingjin hadn’t appeared behind her to steady her, she might have tumbled down while still holding You Nian and Xiong Xiao.
You Nian had just insisted that Ye Xi was overthinking things, but now that her body had been repelled by the door, she finally sensed the crisis. “Physician Ye, I’m too stupid.”
Ye Xi set the two children down and patted You Nian’s head. “It’s not your fault.”
Entering Building Eight wasn’t You Nian’s responsibility. They hadn’t spotted the problem from the start, and the mistake wasn’t hers alone.
The only one to blame was the schemer behind it all, who had exploited their kindness.
Kindness shouldn’t be a crime.
Building Eight had clearly been sealed with a Demon Art Barrier similar to the one in Wenan District, creating a completely isolated world that cut them off from the outside. Wenan District had required the sacrifice of so many lives to establish its space—what about here…?
Ye Xi twitched her nose. She detected no scent of blood.
Her furrowed brow didn’t relax; instead, it creased deeper.
The power to see through everything came from the Wanling Tree, but now she saw nothing before stepping into the trap. That could only mean the power here far exceeded Wenan District’s. It made sense—sacrificing ordinary humans versus powerful demons yielded different amplifications.
Whether the demon here was dead or not, Ye Xi couldn’t say yet, but something had definitely gone wrong.
Ye Xi glanced sideways at Shen Mingjin. “Sister, this is Building Eight.”
Shen Mingjin gave a silent hum, forcing a strained smile. “Xiao Xi, Shao Li didn’t lie to me.”
The space had been jointly created by the Eleven Clans. Beyond the main passages at the front doors, each building had special channels, and the authority to activate them rested with the Clan Leader. The Leader would grant access to select demons below them. The Imperial Token was one way to open these special passages. To silently activate Building Eight’s channel without alerting any demons, only someone holding an Imperial Token could do it.
Other buildings might have many suspects, but Building Eight had very few.
With the Spirit-Devouring Snake Clan in decline, and Shen Minghuan a madwoman who even suspected her closest kin, the number of Imperial Tokens she could issue was limited.
Shao Li’s warning to Shen Mingjin to beware those around her had truly been sincere advice.
The more Ye Xi thought about Shao Li’s reaction that day, the more she suspected Shao Li had guessed who had swapped places with Shao Yan. But Shao Li had chosen to cover for that person, likely because they were a hero who had saved the Embracing Snow Clan, holding a status in Shao Li’s eyes no less than Shen Mingjin’s.
Ye Xi had a rough idea of the suspects now, but she still asked Shen Mingjin once more. “Sister, do you know who could tamper with things here?”
She wanted to give Shen Mingjin hope that it wasn’t a relative controlling Building Eight, but words alone couldn’t change the truth.
Shen Mingjin’s smile turned bitter, her voice trembling faintly. “Me, elder sister, big sis, aunt.”
There were no other options.
Shen Mingjin already had few relatives, and now one stood against them. No matter the outcome, it would be a heavy blow to her.
You Nian hoisted Xiong Xiao onto her back again and nudged Ye Xi with her small hand, signaling her to comfort Shen Mingjin.
A faint itch climbed Ye Xi’s throat.
She pinched her throat, but no sound emerged.
Shen Mingjin’s lips pressed into a thin line, her expression growing graver.
She steadied her mind with effort, trying to appear calm. “Xiao Xi, we need to find a way out of here.”
“Mm.”
Ye Xi had just nodded when the unexpected happened.
Black spider spines suddenly crawled out from Xiong Xiao’s back, stabbing into You Nian’s body with lightning speed.
You Nian turned in disbelief, but Xiong Xiao looked even more shocked. “I-I didn’t know it was…”
Fresh red blood dripped onto the floor and spread into a circular pattern. The moment the pattern connected, a pillar of light erupted. Before Xiong Xiao could finish speaking, the two were engulfed by the light and vanished.
“You Nian!”
Ye Xi reached to grab her, but her hand grasped at empty air, touching only a lingering chill from the light pillar.
Shen Mingjin stepped forward quickly and examined the pattern on the ground. “Xiao Xi, it’s the Traction Technique.”
The Traction Technique rapidly summoned kin to one’s side. Xiong Xiao’s demonic lineage was Black Bear, while You Nian’s was Spirit Rabbit. Their races differed, yet they were summoned together?
Shen Mingjin knew demon arts better and quickly pinpointed the key. “Xiao Xi, when Xiong Xiao’s Demon Tendon was removed, a bone remnant was likely left behind. That remnant occupied Xiong Xin’s body and connected to You Nian through blood and bone fusion, allowing them to be pulled together. From what I know, Ye Yao belongs to the Dawn Eclipse Clan’s Bone-Devouring Spider Clan.”
“Ye Yao only took them?”
Ye Xi had thought the schemer targeted her, but it didn’t seem so now.
If the goal was her, the moment she’d held Xiong Xiao had been a perfect opportunity.
It seemed they only schemed to take You Nian.
What made You Nian worth scheming for?
The surveillance footage.
Right—they wanted the surveillance.
The only possibility was that their visit to the General Bureau yesterday had been discovered. They wanted to use You Nian’s abilities to learn exactly what they’d done, heard, and investigated that day.
Ye Xi’s worst fear had come true—someone had targeted You Nian’s special ability.
This relatively gentle method of probing secrets reminded her of Bian Rong and Qiao Yan. Were Ye Yao, Bian Rong, and the others in the same camp?
But… to steal away just You Nian, did they really need such a grand display?
Acting in Building Eight was no different from exposing themselves.
Ye Xi doubted that someone who could control Bian Rong and Qiao Yan to willingly die, and erase all traces, would be so foolish—unless they didn’t know how limited Shen Minghuan’s Imperial Tokens were, unless…
Ye Xi couldn’t yet figure out why the schemer made such a big move only to take You Nian, but now they had to go find her.
Since they couldn’t retreat, they pressed forward.
Ye Xi led Shen Mingjin toward Xiong Xin’s home while continuing to contact Ni Yueying and Ye Tan via the Spirit Web. The two, who had been unreachable, finally responded as they reached the twelfth floor in the elevator.
Ni Yueying: “Tonight has phased meeting summary, not convenient to reply. Be careful.”
That explained why they’d waited until evening.
Ni Yueying’s high-level General Bureau meeting was completely sealed off. Not just communication devices—even powerful demon intents struggled to pierce the barrier. Without the Spirit Web Ni Yueying had set up, Ye Xi couldn’t reach them at all.
Ye Xi could guess Ni Yueying and Ye Tan’s situation. With everyone needing to speak in a phased summary, they couldn’t spare the focus to chat without alerting the other three and exposing their contact, which would tip off the enemy.
Until Ni Yueying and Ye Tan escaped the meeting, they had to figure it out themselves: Was it Si Ruoling or Shen Minghuan allying with General Bureau leadership, or was Shen Shuyun pulling the strings?
And with all this fanfare, was it really just for the footage You Nian had seen?
