Using people as fuel?!
These lunatics—did they even grasp what they were doing?!
“I’m an officer from the Demon Subduing Division,” Du Xuan declared outright, her voice icy cold. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing?”
“Fuel…”
Her words fell on deaf ears. They hadn’t even registered.
The craftsmen, along with their leader, shuffled forward with agonizing slowness, closing in step by step.
“Stop,” Du Xuan warned again. “Or you’ll face the consequences!”
There were only about ten of them, ordinary folk without a shred of combat experience. She wasn’t afraid in the slightest.
“Wait,” Yin Luan whispered from behind her. “Something’s off about the surroundings… Hiss, hiss—a ton of people are closing in!”
No sooner had she spoken than a pair of eyes gleamed from the darkness, fixed on them like a predator eyeing its prey.
Then another pair.
And another.
More and more.
Countless pairs emerged from the shadows, too many to number.
They all turned toward the pair, advancing with a pressure that sent chills down the spine.
Yin Luan’s jade pendant grew hotter than before.
“How many are there… Don’t tell me the whole city’s out to trap us?”
Du Xuan’s scalp prickled.
She was far tougher than the average person—dozens of bandits wouldn’t stand a chance against her.
But hundreds? Thousands?
She wasn’t one of the three esteemed lords from the Demon Subduing Division, capable of facing armies single-handedly or soaring through the skies. Against a mob like this, fear was only natural.
“What now?”
Little Snake huddled against her companion, feigning terror as she asked.
“Rule one of Demon Subduing Division fieldwork: when the situation exceeds your capabilities, don’t hesitate… Retreat!”
Without another word, Du Xuan grabbed Little Snake Demon and bolted.
The encirclement hadn’t fully closed yet—better to flee now before it was too late!
But she’d underestimated their numbers. Every direction was packed with layer upon layer of bodies, no gaps whatsoever.
Gritting her teeth, Du Xuan swung her sword at the nearest man.
Officers of the Demon Subduing Division weren’t allowed to harm ordinary people lightly, especially when there wasn’t a trace of evil spirits on them.
Killing the innocent would stain one with bloodlust, breeding wicked thoughts. That was why most Demon Subduing Hall members retired after a decade on the job.
Blood bubbled from the man’s legs with a sizzle. He staggered and fell, but those behind him didn’t falter—they kept pressing forward.
“Stay back! I’ll beat you dead! Stay back! I’ll beat you dead…”
Yin Luan flailed her fists wildly, playing the part of a frail woman with no real threat behind her blows.
They couldn’t break through.
Du Xuan’s breathing grew ragged.
Was there no choice but to unleash a slaughter? But if she did, she’d never be able to stay with the Demon Subduing Division.
Punishment aside, the lingering taint of bloodshed would trigger violent reactions whenever she encountered evil spirits. For safety’s sake, even her master wouldn’t let her handle such cases anymore.
Neighhh! Neigh-neigh—
At that moment, a shrill whinny pierced the air from behind the crowd.
A horse charged wildly through the throng, scattering them in its path. Du Xuan’s eyes lit up. Dragging Yin Luan along, she fought and dashed her way out of the encirclement.
“Weird,” Little Snake Demon said. “Isn’t that the horse we tied up in the stable? How’d it get loose?”
“Maybe,” Du Xuan replied with a frown, “someone let it out…”
~~~
Once they’d escaped the encirclement, the threat from those people dropped sharply.
Du Xuan led her along rooftops and walls, evading everyone’s sightlines. To be extra safe, she even dusted them with powder from her pouch to mask their scents.
“Achoo—so itchy…”
“It’s fine, just tough it out… And stop rubbing against my clothes!”
They slipped through alleys and streets, circling back to the inn undetected.
The front gates were shut tight.
No problem for them. After scaling the wall, they found someone waiting inside.
It was the innkeeper’s wife.
Du Xuan gave her a few appraising looks but said nothing, merely nodding toward the guest rooms.
The middle-aged woman nodded back and followed them upstairs.
With doors and windows sealed tight and talismans pasted all around, Du Xuan lit a small lamp before speaking.
“You’re the one who let the horse loose?”
“Yes.”
The woman’s voice was still hoarse, but it carried more strength than the half-dead rasp from before.
“It seems you’ve returned to normal…” The Demon Subduing Division Lord pondered for a moment. “In that case, perhaps it really is the situation described in the book?”
“Don’t speak in riddles,” Yin Luan said. “What exactly is going on?”
“The people here aren’t under the control of Evil Techniques,” Du Xuan explained. “But they might have been… hypnotized.”
“Hypnotized?”
“People seem fully awake, with nothing apparently wrong, but their minds are trapped in a ‘cage,’” she continued. “They’re both normal and abnormal at the same time, reacting to specific triggers. Isn’t that right, Innkeeper’s Wife?”
“Yes…” The Innkeeper’s Wife let out a deep breath and murmured softly, “People are clearly awake and know what they’re doing, but they just can’t control their own bodies. My Lord, how did you…”
“I’m from the Demon Subduing Division,” Du Xuan reassured her. “How did you manage to wake up?”
“It was all thanks to the talisman you gave me.” The Old Woman pulled the talisman from her bosom. “It was like a fire blazing in my head, burning away all those filthy things. I slept deeply, and when I opened my eyes, I was back to normal.”
The Calming Mind Talisman was mainly meant to soothe the mind, but for those under hypnosis, a deep sleep could break the control.
Who would have thought that, by sheer coincidence, the talisman had awakened the Innkeeper’s Wife.
“You’re calling this hypnosis,” the Little Snake Demon said in confusion, “but hypnotizing an entire city? Is that even possible?”
Earthstone City was home to a sizable population. Hypnotizing them one by one would take days upon days.
With that much time, wouldn’t it be better to carry out some other nefarious scheme?
“There’s a case recorded in the book,” Du Xuan said, rubbing her chin. “It involved a well-known figure in a city who, with the aid of certain external items, gradually took control of the entire place… through incense, water sources, food, and complementary spells. Once the number of hypnotized people reaches a critical mass, the effect can even spread from person to person, engulfing the whole city.”
“This actually works…”
Yin Luan was left dumbfounded.
This bizarre world was full of unimaginable oddities.
“There’s a crucial detail here,” the Demon Subduing Division Lord added. “That person must have some fame in the city—ideally a celebrity. The more attention they draw, the easier it is to carry out the hypnosis. Innkeeper’s Wife, you must remember who that man was, right?”
“Mystic Master,” the Old Woman replied, lowering her head. “Last year, during the autumn harvest, a master came to the city.”
“He did fortune-telling, read feng shui, wrote calligraphy and painted, guided pottery firing—he could do it all. Everyone in the city loved him, especially loved chatting with him.”
“He claimed there was a method that would let everyone fire exceptionally fine pottery…”
