That wretched vixen has disguised herself as my wife!

Xie Yunqi quickly rolled over, wrapped the fleece blanket that she had already laid out on the ground around herself, leaving only her small face, which was red from being roasted by the fire, exposed.

"Young Miss, you're all bundled up like this. If a ghost really comes, you'll be the brave warrior who stays behind to cover the rear."

"Jingming, are you trying to die?!"

Chapter 43 The Twilight Hour

Dark clouds obscured the moon, and all that could be seen was thick darkness.

Jiang Jingming added a few more pieces of firewood to the fire. The wind was strong at night, and the firewood burned faster than he had expected.

Lu Zhao slept to his left, snoring softly.

The two agreed to keep watch at night and then switch shifts in the middle of the night.

The three girls slept on the right side, while Xie Yunqi insisted on sleeping in the middle, explaining that she would draw her sword and protect the other two should there be any noise.

Of course, everyone could see that it was just because she was scared.

Jiang Jingming, bored, poked the fire with the firewood in his hand, when he suddenly heard Xie Yunqi say in a soft voice:

"Sister Fang, Aqing, are you asleep?"

"Not yet, what's wrong?"

Fang Zhiyi quickly replied in a gentle voice.

"..."

Aqing remained silent.

But Jiang Jingming knew she definitely wasn't asleep; she just didn't want to talk.

Knowing that Fang Zhiyi was also awake, Xie Yunqi immediately moved closer like a caterpillar.

"Sister Fang, are you scared too?"

"Actually, it's alright."

Jiang Jingming couldn't see the girls' expressions at that moment, and for some reason, he felt an awkward sense of eavesdropping on their whispered conversations.

"Yunqi, don't be afraid. There are probably no ghosts in the world."

Fang Zhiyi's voice was filled with laughter, as gentle as if she were coaxing a child.

Before Xie Yunqi could answer, Jiang Jingming had already joined in the girls' late-night chat.

"As the saying goes, if you have a clear conscience, you have nothing to fear. Miss, you're so timid, could it be that you've done something heinous?"

His sudden words startled Xie Yunqi, who shuddered violently and struggled to raise his head to hurl a furious curse:

"You're the one who's done something wrong! Please think about it, if ghosts only harm bad people, are they still ghosts? They'd be gods who punish evil and promote good!"

"That's true."

Jiang Jingming thought about what she said and then laughed.

That's not entirely without reason.

Fang Zhiyi chuckled softly.

"If ghosts really existed, perhaps people wouldn't be so afraid of death. Rather than being afraid of death, people are more afraid of disappearing, of never seeing their loved ones again, and of being forgotten by the living."

"That seems right."

Xie Yunqi breathed a sigh of relief; this statement clearly put her at ease.

She closed her eyes again, burying most of her face in the fluffy blanket.

"In that case, I won't be afraid even if I get eaten by a ghost... Jingming, just you wait and see, I'll haunt you even as a ghost."

Jiang Jingming smiled and accepted the nameless resentment from the young lady with equanimity.

Her breathing gradually calmed down; she had probably finally fallen asleep.

Jiang Jingming looked up at the dark night sky, where the clouds moved by, but there were no stars or moon in sight.

If only ghosts really existed, at least he could tell Na Risong that he wasn't actually a merchant who came to do jade business.

The uncertainty of life and death is far more terrifying than seeing a ghost.

He originally thought that his departure from the Duyue Sect was only to investigate a case in which he had been framed by a demoness.

They thought that as long as the truth was found out, everything could go back to normal.

However, it turned out he was too naive.

That family massacre was just the fuse; now many forces are eager to make their move.

The Righteous Alliance is eager to avenge the blood feud of ten years ago, while the organization behind the scenes has been waiting for this spark for a decade.

Once the fire of chaos is ignited, it will never be extinguished.

"..."

Jiang Jingming was lost in thought when he suddenly felt his wrist being gently grasped.

Aqing stared at him quietly with her crystal-clear eyes.

She probably sensed that he had something on his mind.

Jiang Jingming smiled, clasped his hands together, and held her hand in the middle.

Their pulses beat in unison, one light and one heavy.

When they first arrived in Yongzhou many years ago, the two of them were the same, regarding each other as their only support in this unfamiliar world.

"I will protect you."

Jiang Jingming thought to himself.

……

No sleep for one night.

"Jingming, why didn't you wake me up?"

As dawn broke, Lu Zhao looked ashamed.

He slept so soundly last night that he didn't wake up at all, and Jiang Jingming didn't wake him up to take over the shift, so he slept until he was woken up by the sun.

"fine."

Jiang Jingming smiled and carried the luggage back onto the horse.

He wasn't really in the mood to sleep last night either. He'd been through so much in the last few days that he hadn't had a chance to properly sort things out in his mind.

Aqing didn't sleep either, and the two of them sat silently like that all night.

"Let's hurry up. You can rest well once we get to the village. I'll go ask about the notice."

Lu Zhao patted his forehead, feeling quite annoyed.

I don't know if it's because of his injury, but he slept very soundly last night, which means that all his years of training at the Divine Capital Guard have been for nothing.

When there is danger in the surroundings, you must remain vigilant and never entrust your safety to others.

This was originally an instinct ingrained in his bones, but for the first time in his life, he failed to do it.

It was probably because he trusted this companion he had only known for two days too much.

Lu Zhao sighed and looked at Jiang Jingming, who was sitting diagonally on the saddle, his hand on the long, black sword, his eyes half-closed in the sunlight.

This boy has a reassuring quality about him, even though he always has a carefree and smiling demeanor.

……

Today the formation has changed. Aqing is leading the way at the front, Lu Zhao, Fang Zhiyi, and Xie Yunqi are in the middle, and Jiang Jingming is at the rear.

At first, Xie Yunqi would urge his horse to catch up with Fang Zhiyi and chat with her, but later he gradually became tired, sleepy-eyed, and yawning constantly.

Jiang Jingming had no choice but to speed up slightly and ride alongside her to prevent the young lady from falling headfirst off her horse.

Unlike Lu Zhao, who led the way in a hurried and orderly manner, A Qing followed her own pace.

The trip, which had been delayed due to the late start, was made up for, and the group saw the outline of a distant village at dusk, as planned.

Thinking about the ghost notice, Xie Yunqi finally regained some energy.

She leaned closer mysteriously.

"Hey, Jingming, have you ever heard the saying that dusk is the time when you're most likely to see ghosts?"

"I heard."

Jiang Jingming nodded; this seemed to be a generally accepted view.

Dusk is the moment when day and night meet, and at this time the outline of the boundary between yin and yang becomes blurred.

The order belonging to the dead loosens, and they will take the opportunity to break free of their constraints and infiltrate the human world.

Therefore, dusk is also called the hour of the demons.

“I was terrified when I was a child. I always felt that at this time of year, the house would turn into a man-eating monster, and the big tree would beckon like a hanged ghost.”

Xie Yunqi spoke very quickly, as if trying to embolden himself, while constantly glancing warily from east to west.

The three figures in front walked into the village entrance in the dim night, while the two who were talking lagged behind a little further behind.

"and then?"

Jiang Jingming found it somewhat amusing.

"Then……"

Xie Yunqi's words came to an abrupt halt.

With trembling hands, she grabbed Jiang Jingming.

Jiang Jingming reined in the horse, about to speak, when he saw the place that had terrified her so much.

The "man-eating demon" that everyone thought only existed in portraits was clearly standing there alive.

No one noticed when it appeared; perhaps it had always been there, only now slowly revealing its true shape from the darkness.

Chapter Forty-Four: Slaying Demons

In an instant, Jiang Jingming understood what the portrait was depicting.

The artist's skills are by no means clumsy; on the contrary, they can be described as extremely accurate, with almost no strokes superfluous.

Its bloated abdomen, almost touching the ground, was supported by several slender, bony limbs of varying lengths, making it look from a distance like a giant beetle crawling on the ground.

But this insect also has a human head.

It had its back to Jiang Jingming and Xie Yunqi, who were riding on horseback, and its body was hunched over, as if it were looking for something.

In this situation, Jiang Jingming knew that if he didn't do something, the young lady beside him would start wailing and screaming.

But to be honest, he was also a little scared.

Just now, Aqing and the others had already walked through the fence at the village entrance. With Aqing's alertness, it was impossible for her not to notice such a huge creature.

But she didn't notice.

It truly seemed to emerge suddenly from the darkness, like a ghost.

"Don't make a sound."

Jiang Jingming could only lower his voice and grasp Xie Yunqi's trembling hand in return.

The young lady's soft fingers had no calluses whatsoever, a testament to her dedication to sword practice.

Xie Yunqi took a deep breath and asked in a very soft voice:

"What exactly is that?"

"I do not know."

Jiang Jingming shook his head and pressed his right hand on the hilt of the knife.

He could feel Wujiu vibrating faintly inside the scabbard, as if he had sensed a dangerous aura.

Sometimes Jiang Jingming didn't feel that this eerie knife was a harbinger of danger, but rather seemed to be yearning for certain moments of fatal blows.