Grasping Evil

The crease on Ning Fan’s forehead faded. He deactivated the Sense Blocking Formation and with a flick of his sleeve, the door of the room opened by itself. At the doorstep stood a teenage girl who was approximately 10 years old holding a copper basin and a towel. Her scrawny body made her look like she had been suffering from malnutrition for days. As the door opened without warning, she got the shock of her life, causing her to lose grip of the copper basin.

*Clink Clank*

Her face turned pale as if all blood was drained from it. She immediately knelt down, begging for pardon with a shivering tone.

“Lo…Lord… Ple…Please for…forgive me… Xi...Xiao Huan di…didn’t d…do it on pur…purpose…”

She was the new maidservant whom Lu Bei kept to replace the previous maidservant who died. However, she was only ten years old. She would only be officially kept by Lu Bei after she reaches the age of 14.

In Lu Bei’s memories, this girl had speech disorder. The more nervous she gets, the more severe she stutters.

The root cause of her speech defect seemed to be because of her impure demon bloodline.

As for the reason why she took the form of a human, it was because she once accidentally consumed the Transformation Grass…

Anyway, this girl’s appearance was rather innocent. Despite her current age, if she grows up for a few more years, she would certainly be a young lady with remarkable beauty. Lu Bei indeed had a good eye for women.

Pitifully, before Lu Bei could wait for her to grow up, he was killed by Ning Fan. Now, this girl would belong to Ning Fan.

The young girl was terrified, extremely terrified…

Her sole intention was to bring water for her master to freshen himself up. To her horror, she carelessly overturned the copper basin. In her mind, it was a terrible mistake which might anger her master and get herself mercilessly punished or even killed by him.

As a matter of fact, prior to her arrival, there were already 15 maidservants who were killed by Lu Bei due to all kinds of mistakes. For instance, the taste of the tea was too plain, the tea was too warm, the smile on the servant’s face was not sweet enough…

Especially when Lu Bei was in a bad mood, he would take the lives of more innocent people. There were even times when he blamed his servants for the changes of the weather and once they became his target, none of them could escape death.

Lu Bei might be a useless demon who was not even worth mentioning among the seven hundred Demon Soldiers of the Luo Yun Tribe, but he was still a being who managed to achieve the Nascent Soul Realm amongst hundreds of thousands of small demons in his tribe. In the eyes of the small demons, he was a respectable being that must never be underestimated.

At the split second when the door opened, the little maidservant was able to notice that her master’s eyebrows were tightly knitted. In her thoughts, her master should be contemplating a worrisome matter… Since she had made a mistake at a time like this, how could it be possible for her to stay alive…

“Spa…Spare…Spare m…”

Her nervousness overwhelmed her, making it difficult for her to even say “spare me”.

“Get up. It’s fine. Don’t worry. I am not going to punish you, so you don’t have to be anxious…”

Ning Fan’s lips curved into a heart-warming smile. Although he killed people like cutting down hemps, he would never lay a finger on mortals.

This girl might have a heterogeneous demon bloodline, but she did not have any cultivation. Therefore, she was considered a mortal.

When Ning Fan was still a mortal, he thought that war only concerned the military. In war, no matter how many a soldier kills, it was still excusable to do so. The innocent people, however, should not be involved in the massacres committed by the troops.

After becoming a cultivator, he thought that cultivation was a matter which only concerned cultivators. Along the path of attaining higher cultivation level, he had no choice but to kill others for limited resources. However, mortals should not be included in the cultivation world. They had nothing to do with cultivation…

Ever since the beginning of his cultivation journey, he never considered himself as a good person. But no matter how many crimes he committed or how notorious his reputation became, he would still uphold that principle.

Other than considering her as a mortal, he felt an unexplainable sense of familiarity from the little girl which made him be unwilling to kill her.

He stood up and made a step forward. In the next moment, he appeared in front of the girl like a gust of refreshing breeze. He squatted down and tried to help her get to her feet.

“You don’t have to be afraid…” Ning Fan shot her a faint smile.

The girl was in a daze. Her mind was only filled with one single thought - since when did her atrocious master become such a gentle being…

As soon as his hands grasped her thin arm, a drastic change occurred in his eyes.

Now, he finally understood the reason why the little girl felt so familiar to him.

It was because this little girl was…one of the three souls of the female corpse!

“The soul of Weiliang? Why would it be at the Land of Slumber of the demon race?”

Although her first soul was located at the Demon Sinister Forest, it was still justifiable as the forest was connected to the Ancient Heavenly Court.

However, it was beyond the realm of possibility for her soul to come here from the Ancient Heavenly Court!

I actually met Weiliang’s second soul in this place.

Deep inside, Ning Fan felt that it was as if someone in the unseen world purposely placed one of Weiliang’s souls at this place, waiting for his arrival…

“This is more than just a coincidence…”

Seriousness gleamed within his eyes. Suddenly, he recalled the advice that Old Ancestor Dong Xu had given him back in the auction.

My lifespan is strange, as if someone has altered it before…

Could it be someone is plotting against me?!

Who is it?! What’s his intention?!

As his expression changed, he let loose of the control of his aura, releasing it from his body. The small girl was immediately frightened to the core and tears began to well up in her eyes.

“I…I…I…”

She wanted to say “I’m sorry” but nervousness took control of her ability to speak.

This little stammering girl…

Ning Fan pulled himself out of his contemplation and his eyes gradually softened.

“Plotting against me huh… Interesting. I wonder to what extent that you, mysterious person, could plot against me!”

His gaze lingered on the malnourished girl whose height was only at his chest and caressed her head.

“Are you hungry?”

“No…No…I…am….” She was in fear and trepidation.

“Are you really not hungry or you just don’t dare to admit it…” Ning Fan beamed. Without hesitation, he pulled her into his arms and vanished in a gust of demon wind. In a flash, they emerged outside the most extravagant restaurant of the Northern Desert City.

There were a total of ten floors within the restaurant. Only demons at the Gold Core Realm and above were permitted to enter. The Early Nascent Soul Realm demons could enter up to the fifth floor of the restaurant. The Mid Nascent Soul Realm demons could enter a higher level than the Early Nascent Soul Realm demons. The Late Nascent Soul were able to access up to the seventh floor while the Peak Nascent Soul Realm could enter the eighth floor. The ninth floor was meant for the Spirit Severing Realm demons and in the tenth floor was the special seats of the old ancestor figures of the Luo Yun Tribe!

This restaurant was opened by Lu Sheng, who was one of the seven generals of the Luo Yun Tribe. He was the guardian of the Northern Desert City.

Ning Fan knew that she was hungry because she was a mortal being.

Therefore, he had no hesitation at all to decide to bring her out to have a meal.

However, there was a knot in his heart that could not be untied regarding that little girl. She was undoubtedly a part of the female corpse’s soul. If he fuses her into the female corpse, the latter would certainly recover a great portion of her spiritual intelligence.

But taking out the little girl’s soul and putting it back to its original place was equivalent to taking her life…

He was hesitating whether or not to kill this innocent young girl to restore the female corpse’s mental state…

If this situation was intentionally set up by that mysterious person, what would be his ulterior motive?

Apparently, that person is waiting for me to kill this young lady and recover the female corpse’s intelligence…

“I can’t act according to what that person wishes… But this is Weilinag’s soul…”

Ning Fan’s eyes were filled with doubts but he maintained a smile on his face.

If I kill her, my Heart of Dao would then be crushed.

If I don’t kill her, Weilinag would never be fully revived.

Besides, if I kill her, I might even fall into that person’s trap… A person who could make such accurate predictions of my moves… Hmm… Could that mysterious person be a True Immortal?

“Weiliang, I wonder what would you do if you were in my position…”

Suppressing his thoughts, Ning Fan made his way to the restaurant together with the little girl.

Before they could set foot on the restaurant, two armed guards immediately approached them to stop them from coming in.

“All floors below the fifth had been reserved by our master, Young Master Hao Chen, to entertain important guests. For any unrelated person, get lost!”

“Interesting. Do I need to look at the faces of mere Gold Core Realm ants like you when I bring my wife out for a meal? Crush!”

Just as his words fell, a tremendous Violent Qi surged within his body. With just his Violent Qi, the two Gold Core Realm guards had their demon cores broken, causing their cultivation levels to regress into the Harmonious Spirit Realm!

The two of them spurted out mouthfuls of blood and collapsed to the ground. Their eyes were filled with astonishment.

Who is this man?! He crushed our demon cores with just his Violent Qi?!

The young girl was terrified by the scene before her. Perhaps she was too small to see someone spurting out fresh blood in front of her.

“Don’t be afraid… When I’m here, no one can hurt you!”

“Mm-hmm.” She nodded, feeling that her master seemed to be quite different today than in the past. He was just too good to her…

To treat her to a meal, he even dared to cause a scene in front of the most luxurious restaurant of the Northern Desert City…

Internally, she was of course touched by his actions. Even so, she still had a shred of fear within her heart. After all, her master was known for his notoriety.

Is he sincerely kind towards me or does he harbor some other intentions?

Unknowingly, she was already brought to the fifth floor of the restaurant.

As soon as they arrived at the fifth floor, a strong spirit sense which was as sharp as a needle instantly rushed towards his direction. It carried the full attack of an Early Nascent Soul Realm being.

“I am Young Master Hao Chen. Do you really think a mere ordinary Demon Soldier like you can hurt my subordinates?!”

“Crush!”

Ning Fan uttered that single word. A surge of Violent Qi which emanated red light blasted at the incoming spirit sense.

In a split second, the young man who initiated the attack was filled with surprise. His spirit sense was damaged, causing him to cough out blood while retreating backwards. He was already in a grievous state!

“It’s you! Lu Bei! How is it possible?!”

When the young man took a good look on Ning Fan’s appearance, his eyes widened in disbelief.

Note :

Measurements :
a. li(里) = 500 m
b. zhang(丈) = 3.13 m
c. chi(尺) = 30.7 cm
d. cun(寸) = 3.33cm