After I stopped trying, a rich woman trained me into a demon emperor.

To avoid alerting the enemy, Zhou Ran did not charter a plane, but only took Qin San, and as an ordinary passenger, they plunged into the Ten Thousand Mountains of Southern Xinjiang.

He left Fatty Wang and Wu De in Jiangcheng.

Although the Song family has suffered a great loss for the time being, they dare not make any rash moves.

However, Xiao Hongli and Chen Ya are mortals after all, and they use all their spiritual energy to preserve their youth and achieve longevity, so they must have a trustworthy expert by their side.

Wang Pangzi had just achieved enlightenment, and with Wu De's men, they were more than capable of guarding the villa.

As for Liu Jianguo, Zhou Ran had already made arrangements.

The authorities have already secretly deployed their forces, and if the capital dares to make a move, their claws will be immediately severed.

After several twists and turns, when the two set foot on the land of a remote border town, a humid and hot air mixed with the smell of decaying herbs and cheap perfume covered their faces.

This place is called Qingmu Village. It is nominally under the jurisdiction of Myanmar, but in reality, it has long been a lawless area where no one cares.

Beneath the stilted houses, vendors selling animal hides and herbs huddled together with peddlers selling funerary objects from ancient tombs, their eyes warily scanning every passerby.

The air was filled with the aura of more than one cultivator.

Although most of them are at the third or fourth level of Qi Condensation, in this era of depleted spiritual energy, such a density of cultivators is already a rare sight.

"Mr. Zhou, this place is not safe."

Qin San followed half a step behind Zhou Hou, his sharp suit looking out of place in the chaotic environment.

He lowered his voice, "In the mountains, more people die every day than survive."

Zhou Ran didn't speak, his gaze sweeping over a guesthouse at the end of the street.

Chaos is good.

The bigger the waves, the more expensive the fish.

"Boss, this place may be remote, but it has plenty of interesting things to offer."

Qin San chuckled and pointed to several shops in the distance with pink lanterns hanging above them.

"There's a local dance that's incredibly energetic, would you like to try it...?"

Zhou Ran glanced at him, said nothing, but took off her sunglasses and looked over at a guesthouse at the end of the street.

There was a very special atmosphere there.

Qin San was so frightened by Zhou Ran's single glance that he turned into a quail.

He had no choice but to follow Zhou Ran around.

The two walked through the bustling market, avoiding the luxurious hotels in the town center, and instead entered a quiet cobblestone alley.

Deep in the alley, a wooden sign hangs.

Cloud Edge Homestay.

Avoiding the town's luxurious but dangerous hotels, the two turned into a quiet cobblestone alley.

At the end of the alley, a wooden sign hangs – Yunbian Homestay.

Pushing open the wooden door, the scene inside the courtyard was completely different from the filth and chaos outside.

Hidden among lush bamboo, with fish raised in the courtyard, the air is filled with a faint scent of herbs, washing away the dust of the journey.

"Oh, you two distinguished guests, looking for a room?"

A lazy, yet slightly tactile voice came from behind the counter.

A woman walked out gracefully, wearing a local batik long skirt with a very high slit in the hem, revealing glimpses of her fair and plump calves as she moved.

She was in her early thirties, with long, jet-black hair casually tied up with a silver hairpin. Her eyes and brows told a story, and the mature aura she exuded could make any man's mind wander.

This woman was like a ripe peach, exuding an alluring charm from head to toe.

Master Qin's eyes widened for a moment, then he quickly lowered his head.

Having been by Zhou Ran's side for a long time, he knew who he could see and who he couldn't.

But the proprietress had an extremely sharp eye.

She only glanced at them before realizing who was the primary and who was the secondary person.

The middle-aged man in the suit, exuding a menacing aura, was actually half a step behind the young man in casual clothes, and his attitude was as respectful as an old servant.

They are either rich or noble.

A big fish has arrived.

The proprietress's smile widened, and she swayed her hips even more vigorously:

"My name is Feng Lili, and I'm the owner here."

Judging from your travel-worn appearances, you must have just arrived from out of town.

"Please sit down, I'll brew you a pot of the finest Pu'er tea."

"Two superior rooms."

Zhou Ran's voice was calm, and his gaze did not linger on her alluring figure, but instead passed over her and landed in the corner of the courtyard.

There sat a little girl, about seven or eight years old.

The girl, dressed in a clean floral dress and holding a tattered rag doll, was talking to herself in the empty air.

Her eyes were vacant, sometimes shrinking into a ball in fear, and sometimes making a faint hoarse sound as if she were being choked.

Feng Lili followed Zhou Ran's gaze, her charming smile froze, and a hint of sadness crept into her eyes, so quickly it was hard to catch.

"That's my daughter watching the game."

She forced a smile, her voice lowering.

"Born with..."

I'm a bit withdrawn and shy around strangers, please don't mind.

"Autism?"

Zhou Ran withdrew his gaze and looked at Feng Lili.

A glimmer of purple light, like stardust, flashed deep within his pupils before vanishing in an instant.

The Demon Eyes had already seen through everything.

In his field of vision, the little girl's neck and limbs were tightly bound by two wisps of gray, twisted, smoke-like material.

The thing had no physical form; it seemed to be pieced together from countless faces groaning in agony, and it was greedily devouring the girl's soul.

interesting.

This is not a ghost.

Ghosts belong to the Yin category and have form and substance.

But this thing exists between the real and the unreal, and even its yin energy is so weak that it can be ignored.

No wonder, there wasn't a trace of Yin energy within several miles of the Demon Eye's gaze.

It turns out they were all eaten by these worms.

Moreover, it's no wonder that to all outsiders, the child just seemed sick.

Ordinary exorcism and warding-off-evil techniques are completely ineffective against this.

"gentlemen?"

When Feng Lili saw Zhou Ran staring intently at her daughter, her heart skipped a beat, fearing that this distinguished guest would find it unlucky.

"It's nothing."

The purple light in Zhou Ran's eyes completely disappeared.

"I want to drink chicken soup, the kind stewed with wild mushrooms."

Feng Lili's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled, and she immediately put on that alluring smile again:

You've come to the right person!

I'm not bragging, but within a hundred miles, no one makes the best chicken soup.

Please have a seat, it will be ready shortly!

Watching Feng Lili sway her hips as she walked into the kitchen, Zhou Ran picked up his teacup, his expression inscrutable.

"Boss, that little girl..."

Qin San leaned closer. He felt that the corner was eerie, and despite the hot weather, it gave him goosebumps.

"When people die, they become ghosts."

Zhou Ran blew on the tea foam, making a sound so soft that only the two of them could hear it.

"When a ghost dies, it becomes a '聻' (a type of ghost in Chinese folklore)."

"Should I?"

Master Qin looked completely bewildered; he couldn't even write those characters.

Deep within Zhou Ran's sea of ​​consciousness, the slumbering remnant soul of the Demon Emperor, Ye Futian, seemed to smell the aroma of an appetizer and lazily sent out a divine thought.

"Tsk, how could something like a '聻' (a type of spirit) be raised in such a remote and impoverished place where spiritual energy is depleted?"

"Although it's just the lowest-grade remnant soul fragments, it's barely enough to fill a gap in my teeth."

Zhou Ran remained calm and suppressed the old demon's agitation.

Let's eat first.

The proprietress also has a problem.