Gou Zai Yao Wu Simulated Immortal

Li Qian stood with his eyes lowered, his fingertips gently stroking the hilt of the Soul-Devouring Sword.

This demon was able to lurk here for many days, brazenly using living people to replenish its energy for cultivation.

Furthermore, knowing the whereabouts of the Demon Slayer team earlier means that there must be something else hidden in their lair.

Having made up his mind, he no longer hesitated and stepped into the cave.

The cave is narrow on the outside and deep on the inside, with a foul and stagnant stench lingering inside.

Li Qian raised his hand to ignite the talisman fire, illuminating the four walls, and carefully searched along the back of the cave.

Not long after, they noticed a very faint anomaly behind a stone table against the wall.

At first glance, the stone pattern appears to be a single, seamless piece, but in reality, there are traces of concealment at the edges and corners.

It was clearly opened and closed repeatedly, and then intentionally covered up again.

Li Qian flicked his finger, and a wisp of spiritual energy entered the crevice in the stone.

With a soft click, the stone wall slightly caved in, revealing a narrow, dark compartment.

He bent down and took out the items one by one, spreading them out on the stone table and examining each one.

The first thing that catches the eye is two account books.

Li Qian opened one of the books, his gaze quickly sweeping across the pages, his eyes immediately darkening.

This is where the missing woman went.

The ledgers include Heixi County, Xiangyang County, and even several surrounding towns.

Those who have been missing for a long time in the past two years and whose reports to the authorities have been fruitless are mostly listed in this category. They are then roughly divided into three categories.

One option was to retain them, as they were mostly kept by the snake demon and his lewd bandits as food for the beasts.

The second type is resold, with the time and location marked on the back, clearly indicating that it was sold elsewhere.

The third one only says "sent to the mountains" and then there is no further text.

Li Qian then opened another book.

This book contains the accounts of incoming and outgoing transactions.

The Liu family of Heixi County, several merchant families from Xiangyang County, and a few wealthy and powerful families from the surrounding area were all prominently listed.

Some people offered silver, some offered people, and some used the snake demon to settle personal scores.

He remembered each and every single thing, the number, the date, and the details of the interactions quite clearly.

Li Qian remained silent, then carefully opened and read through the several short letters beside him.

Although these short notes contain many cryptic and hidden meanings and are not explicitly stated, a comparison of the notes is enough to reveal their meaning.

After looking at them, Li Qian divided the items on the stone table into several piles.

He picked up two more small wooden plaques.

Each piece has an extremely fine engraving, which, if not examined closely, could easily be mistaken for a scratch from an accident.

Li Qian examined it closely and realized that the mark resembled a simplified secret mark used by the Demon Slayer Division when transmitting short messages.

The traces of the demon lord and the servant, the three parties, all came together in this rotten ditch.

The fact that they were able to sell Xue Duan's team's whereabouts ahead of time suggests that the mole in the office is likely quite influential.

If we were to expose everything right now...

Once the other party realizes this, their first reaction will inevitably be to destroy evidence, silence witnesses, and cut their losses to survive.

If we force them to sacrifice pawns to save their chariot, then we will have suffered a great loss.

Thinking of this, Li Qian turned around and, without elaborating further, began to explain his plan.

Xue Duan remains missing.

Inside the cave and the village, some traces were deliberately left that were neither clear nor clear, neither real nor fake.

The goal is to let the mole in the office know that Xue Duan is not dead and that someone else has already found clues by following this place.

This made the other party restless.

Whether they were in a hurry to silence him or to contact more accomplices, they were bound to make a move.

As long as it moves, it will always show its tail.

Xue Duan lowered his head and remained silent. After a long while, he slowly nodded.

Now that things have come to this, he has no other choice.

Seeing that he agreed, Li Qian stopped talking and immediately took action.

They deliberately left some half-true, half-false clues and slightly arranged the scene inside the cave.

It should look as if it has been hastily searched, but not too deliberately; everything must be just right to draw people in without making them suspicious.

By the time all the arrangements were completed, it was nearly dawn.

The mountains outside the ravine were tinged with white, and a sliver of blue light was already rising from the east.

Li Qian led Xue Duan away from this place, heading towards Heixi County along a small path.

By the time they reached the outskirts of Heixi County, it was already noon.

The two did not go straight into the city, but first found a place to stay outside the city and made some arrangements.

Li Qian looked at Xue Duan and said bluntly, "Go and keep an eye on the Liu family."

Xue Duan was taken aback: "The Liu family?"

"Liu Haoshen of Heixi County." Li Qian said calmly, "Since this man has dealings with the snake demon, he is definitely not clean."

"It's not advisable for you to return to the Bureau now, nor is it advisable for you to reveal your identity as a member of the Demon Slayer Bureau. You might as well stay hidden in the shadows and keep an eye on the Liu family's comings and goings for me."

After saying that, he took out a small bag of pills from his sleeve and tossed it over.

"Don't push yourself until your injury has healed. If anything unusual happens, note it down and don't act rashly."

Xue Duan remained silent for a moment, then took the pill and responded softly.

Li Qian nodded slightly.

With Xue Duan already keeping a close eye on Heixi County, it's time to move on to the other side.

He hadn't moved from the old snake demon stronghold in San Die Gou, intending to wait for it to fall into his trap.

When the snake demon fled, the bandit stronghold became its most likely place to return and revisit.

But now that She Zhuyin is dead, there is no need to keep these bandits who worked for the demons.

After leaving Heixi County, we went straight into the mountains and traveled swiftly.

When they arrived at Sandiegou again, it was already late at night, and the bandit stronghold was still the same as before.

The fence was crooked, the lights were scattered, and the sounds of drinking games, rough laughter, and cursing could be heard from the village from time to time.

Clearly, the bandits were unaware that She Zhuyin was dead and still believed they had powerful backers, allowing them to continue running rampant in the mountains.

Li Qian stood on a high place, looking down at the village.

As the night breeze swept by, he flipped his hand and produced several talismans.

The talisman ignited without fire and silently disappeared into the darkness.

The next moment, chaos erupted in several places within the village.

"Fire!"

"Quickly save the grain!"

"Damn it, who was so blind as to knock over the lamp?!"

Chaos erupted, and everyone was at a loss.

Amidst the chaos, Li Qian silently slipped in from the other side.

Sword flashes, heads fall.

With each flash of cold light, a person fell silently to the ground.

These people were just ordinary bandits, with only a bit of ruthlessness, and they were no match for Li Qian now.

Furthermore, the village was thrown into chaos and unable to help each other, and in no time he had broken through.

The remaining men sensed something was wrong and fled with their knives drawn.

But just as they reached the gate of the village, a dark light, like a poisonous dragon emerging from its cave, swept past.

Several heads flew off in response.

Blood splattered on the wooden fence, and the night wind grew even colder.

In the end, only a man who looked like a bandit leader was left slumped on the ground, his crotch wet and his teeth chattering.

He couldn't even speak properly when begging for mercy.

Li Qian walked slowly to him and looked down at him for a moment.

The man immediately kowtowed repeatedly, his voice trembling, "Spare me! Spare me! I was just following orders! It was all Master She's doing! I had no choice!"

Li Qian remained expressionless, only asking calmly, "How many women have you sent to the mountains over the years?"

The man trembled, his face turned deathly pale, and his lips quivered for a long time, unable to utter a single word.

Li Qian stared at him, and as the sword flashed, a man's head rolled to the ground.

At this point, there were no survivors in the entire bandit stronghold.