How could a residence for cultivators be left without any protection at all? Nowadays, with the spiritual energy reviving across various regions, evil spirits had also increased significantly. Since they were out handling affairs, if some vengeful spirit snuck to their doorstep to seek revenge, wouldn’t the elderly man and the young sister who knew nothing of cultivation be left completely defenseless?

The moment the dark shadow crawled into the yard, Uncle Gao and Uncle Bi paused their hand mid-chess move. The array talismans buried in the courtyard were instantly triggered by the malevolent energy. A burst of spiritual light flashed, and the black energy swirling around the shadow churned violently as it let out a sharp, piercing shriek.

The very next second, Bai Zhizhi flew out of the room, raising his hand to strike a palm toward the location of the dark shadow.

A ghostly green spiritual light condensed from his palm. The wind from his palm was fierce, and the spiritual energy he unleashed was dense and domineering. If even a fraction of it touched the evil spirit, given how weak it was, it would have been blown to smithereens in a heartbeat.

By pure coincidence, the triggering of the array talismans had blasted the dark shadow backward, which happened to make it dodge the fatal blow Bai Zhizhi dealt as he flew out.

Bai Zhizhi landed barefoot in the courtyard. Under the cold moonlight, his eyes were frosty as he glanced at the two men still playing chess in the yard. He could not help but speak up: “You guys aren’t sleeping, and you’re still playing chess at this hour.”

Uncle Gao coughed lightly: “The spiritual soil is simply too precious to us; keeping watch over it is the only way we can feel at ease.”

Bai Zhizhi said: “What is there to watch? Go to sleep. With me here, I guarantee this courtyard won’t lose so much as a single leaf.”

As for the dark shadow that had sneaked in under the cover of darkness, Bai Zhizhi had no intention of giving chase. No matter what it was, if it really had some objective, it would definitely return. He had read plenty of storybooks, and if a tiger was lured away from its mountain to trick the strongest one into leaving, wouldn’t this house full of the elderly and the young be left at the mercy of others? He was not falling for that.

Glancing at the two old men, Bai Zhizhi added: “Go to sleep, stop keeping watch. Keeping watch over a mere patch of spiritual soil like this, when the spiritual fruits actually grow out, are you guys going to move and live under the corridor?”

With that, Bai Zhizhi tapped his foot and flew back into his room. Originally, he wanted to say that this world did not have many demon cultivators and the human cultivators had very low cultivation levels, so most of them being ordinary people should make it safe. He never expected there to be such sneaky, underhanded things around.

He checked the time; it was past three in the morning. At this hour, he could not find anyone to play games with, so he might as well meditate instead.

Just as he was about to enter a state of deep meditation, Bai Zhizhi caught a whiff of blood carrying over in the air. The scent smelled quite far away. After hesitating for a fraction of a second between going to take a look or staying put, Bai Zhizhi decided it was better to guard the courtyard well.

Since he had promised Jiang Lin, he had to deliver on his promise. When Jiang Lin returned, he would have to hand this courtyard full of the elderly and the young back to him in one piece.

When morning came, completely unaware of what had transpired last night, Yue Zhihuan stretched and got out of bed. Since her brothers were not in the courtyard, the task of taking care of the little fox fell upon her shoulders. After washing up and changing her clothes, she saw Uncle Gao and Uncle Bi already doing their morning exercises in the yard and gave them a smiling gesture for good morning.

Uncle Gao said with a smile: “Huanhuan got up so early. What do you want to eat this morning? I will go and make it for you guys.”

Yue Zhihuan shook her head, pointed outside the door, and gestured: [The uncle next door is opening a jar of cherry wine this morning. I will go buy a few bottles, and bring breakfast back while I’m at it.]

Uncle Bi instructed: “Be careful on the road, and come right back once you’re done buying.”

Yue Zhihuan nodded, took the basket from home, and headed out. It was much easier to put breakfast in a basket; otherwise, carrying a bunch of bags by hand would squeeze one’s fingers painfully.

She could be considered to have grown up in this alleyway, having come here with her brother when she was around ten years old. Her brother did not want her cooped up in the house all the time, so he used to make a point of taking her on strolls nearby. Later, as she became more and more familiar with the area, she often helped the household run errands to buy things.

However, she only went to a few specific shops when buying things. The owners of those shops were very nice people, and they had become familiar with her after she bought from them so often. They all knew she could not speak, and she did not need to speak either; she would just point and gesture, and they would never look at her with strange eyes.

After buying the pan-fried buns that Zhizhi liked, the scallion sauce noodles that Uncle Gao liked, the hot and spicy soup along with the baked flatbread stuffed with meat that Uncle Bi liked, and the small wontons she liked, plus two bottles of cherry wine, Yue Zhihuan returned with a basket full of goodies.

However, on her way back, a shortcut that ran through and led back to the courtyard was cordoned off, and a crowd of people was gathered at the entrance watching the commotion.

Yue Zhihuan stopped out of curiosity to take a look as well, listening to the particularly well-informed aunts nearby chatting about what had happened inside. It seemed there had been some accident, and a family of three had all died.

Bai Zhizhi woke up from his meditation, stretched his muscles a bit, washed up, and came out, just in time to see Yue Zhihuan running back in a panic while clutching a pile of things: “What’s wrong? Why are you running? Who is chasing you?”

Uncle Gao hurriedly went to the door to look outside, but he did not see anyone.

Yue Zhihuan shook her head, pulled out her phone, and typed: [Someone died in the alley next door, a family of three is dead! There are so many police officers at the entrance!]

Uncle Bi frowned: “A murder case?”

Yue Zhihuan nodded repeatedly. She had not seen the bodies, but she saw the cordoned-off area and the police, so she figured what those aunts said was likely true.

The two men frowned and exchanged glances. Last night, they had been guarding the courtyard the entire time. Although the incident occurred in the neighboring alleyway, which was somewhat of a distance from them, if a murder really had taken place, with their cultivation levels, it was impossible for them not to hear any screaming or commotion—unless the victims did not have the chance to scream at all.

Bai Zhizhi picked up a pan-fried bun and ate it: “Around past four in the morning, I smelled blood.”

Hearing this, all three of them looked at him.

Bai Zhizhi said: “I didn’t care. First a dark shadow and then the smell of blood; who knows if someone was trying to lure me out to wipe you all out in one go. I promised Jiang Lin to take good care of you, so naturally, I will keep my word.”

Uncle Gao said: “Let’s have breakfast first. After we eat, I will go out and see what’s going on.”

Before they could even finish eating, the gate of the large courtyard was knocked on. Uncle Bi got up to open it, and he was quite surprised to see the person at the door: “Captain Lu, did you come to find Little Jiang? Little Jiang isn’t here.”

The person who came was Lu Mingyu, a member of the General Bureau’s detachment.

Now, the scale of the Management Bureau was growing larger and larger. With energy fields appearing without warning, several very important provinces and cities had established branch bureaus. Currently, China had one General Bureau, four branch bureaus, and thirty-two brigades.

Do not be fooled by the large number of brigades; they were also categorized by rank. Out of the thirty-two brigades, only eight were directly under the jurisdiction of the General Bureau, another eight belonged to the branch bureaus, and the remaining sixteen, although also managed by the branch bureaus, were distributed locally and did not hold as much authority.

Jiang Lin’s East City Brigade was one of those directly under the jurisdiction of the General Bureau, responsible for all metaphysical incidents in the entire capital, with one brigade handling one district.

Although the detachment Lu Mingyu belonged to was also one of the eight directly affiliated brigades, he did not have to take charge of any specific district. Instead, his group existed as something akin to an inspection team—meaning they were a logistics team when not needed, and would be dispatched to wherever reinforcements were required.

When needed, he possessed the same authority as the other directly affiliated brigades.

For instance, right now, since Jiang Lin and his group had entered the energy field, if any supernatural incident occurred in the capital, the one responsible for handling it would be Lu Mingyu. Alternatively, if an incident involved Jiang Lin’s East City Brigade and Jiang Lin had to step aside to avoid a conflict of interest, Lu Mingyu would temporarily take over his work.

Lu Mingyu knew that Jiang Lin had entered the energy field. Their early entry was kept a secret from the cultivators of other countries, but their brigade captains all knew about it—and of course, it was strictly limited to their knowledge.

At this moment, his visit to the courtyard was not to look for Jiang Lin.

Lu Mingyu tilted his head to glance into the courtyard and said: “Between approximately three and four this morning, a family of three was killed in Alley No. 21. Their deaths were horrific and do not look like the work of humans, so the police department reported it to the Management Bureau. I just went to check, and the wounds on the victims contain malevolent energy, with a trace of demonic energy left behind.”

Bai Zhizhi, who was chewing on a pan-fried bun, tilted his head slightly and looked toward the door upon hearing the words demonic energy.

Standing at the doorway, Lu Mingyu’s gaze locked onto Bai Zhizhi’s, his eyes filled with scrutiny, assessment, and an evaluation of his level of danger.

This fox demon was personally accompanied by Jiang Lin. Unless he caught the fox demon red-handed, even he had no authority to deal with him.

Before coming here, he had contacted the director to ask how to handle this matter, only to be told that the newly opened energy field had been opened by Bai Zhizhi. He was told not to act rashly; unless there was ironclad proof of him killing someone, he absolutely must not offend him blindly.

Seeing him peer into the yard, Uncle Bi instantly understood the meaning of his visit and said directly: “It wasn’t Zhizhi.”

Lu Mingyu withdrew his gaze and frowned slightly: “Why are you so sure?”

Uncle Bi said: “Old Gao and I kept watch in the yard all of last night, and Zhizhi never went out. Although Old Gao and I are up there in years, our cultivation is still intact. It is impossible for him to slip out secretly without us noticing. More importantly, Zhizhi has no grievances or enmity with them; he doesn’t even know who lives in this alleyway. He wouldn’t hurt people for no reason, much less have a reason to kill.”

Bai Zhizhi chewed and chewed, swallowed the bun in his mouth, and looked at Yue Zhihuan, who was also standing by dazed: “Are they suspecting that I killed someone?”

Yue Zhihuan, who had just snapped out of her daze, shook her head hurriedly, then ran to the door and gestured to Lu Mingyu: [Zhizhi wouldn’t kill anyone; he is not a bad demon!]

They had not known each other for long, but she was naturally sensitive to people’s emotions. Although she could not determine with absolute certainty whether someone was good or bad based solely on this, after living together day and night during this period, she believed Bai Zhizhi was not a demon who would kill people.

Lu Mingyu could not understand Yue Zhihuan’s gestures, but he could understand her protectiveness, saying: “I did not say he killed them. It’s just that the people who died last night had malevolent energy and demonic energy on them. Given that there is a demon residing at your place, I naturally have to conduct a routine inquiry.”

Uncle Gao poured a cup of tea and brought it out: “Come inside. Yesterday evening, something also entered our courtyard.”

Lu Mingyu walked inside. The moment he entered the courtyard, he keenly perceived a vibrant surge of spiritual energy nearby. He turned his head to look, and his gaze instantly locked: “Is this spiritual soil?”

Uncle Gao said: “Yes, it belongs to Zhizhi. Yesterday, he used spiritual soil to plant grapes here, so Old Bi and I kept watch here the entire night and didn’t dare sleep.”

Lu Mingyu’s gaze fell upon Bai Zhizhi once more: “Using spiritual soil to plant grapes?”

Bai Zhizhi leaned against the back of his chair and smiled: “I like it. What is it to you?”

Taking a slight deep breath, Lu Mingyu asked Uncle Gao: “You just said something entered. What was it?”

Uncle Gao: “A dark shadow. The moment it entered, it was repelled by the array at home.”

Lu Mingyu: “You didn’t chase after it to see what it was?”

Still eating, Bai Zhizhi said: “What is there to chase? If its target is the courtyard, it will definitely come back.”

As he spoke, Bai Zhizhi suddenly paused, then narrowed his eyes: “If I had chased after it yesterday, and now someone is dead, wouldn’t I be completely unable to clear my name?”

Everyone present was taken aback. Lu Mingyu looked at him: “Why do you think that way?”

Bai Zhizhi: “Even when I didn’t chase after it, you still suspected me of murder. If I had chased after it, wouldn’t I be suspected even more? And you ask why I think this way. Is it not because the moment you guys saw malevolent energy and demonic energy, you suspected me first? Don’t tell me you didn’t suspect me; I’m not stupid.”

Lu Mingyu: “I am merely suspecting all possibilities. There is nothing wrong with that. Suspecting, and then screening the suspected individuals one by one, is the normal procedure of handling a case.”

Bai Zhizhi: “So you still suspected me.”

Lu Mingyu: “…” He suddenly felt an indescribable barrier, as if trying to communicate across species.

Yue Zhihuan patted Bai Zhizhi, giving him a reassuring shake of her head.

Standing to the side, Uncle Gao translated: “Huanhuan is telling you not to be afraid. We all believe this has nothing to do with you. They will conduct an examination on the victims’ bodies, and this kind of murder will lead to an investigation into their social network. In short, they will absolutely not wrongfully accuse an innocent person.”

Bai Zhizhi: “So troublesome.”

Lu Mingyu stared straight at him: “These are three human lives!”

A demon was indeed a demon, naturally filled with disregard for life. To him, investigating and seeking the truth was actually considered troublesome.

Bai Zhizhi slammed his hand on the table: “What about three human lives? I didn’t kill them! Why are you raising your voice at me? If you have the ability to raise your voice here, why don’t you have the ability to go and find the killer?!”

Jiang Lin had even said humans were very good and told him not to hold a prejudice against humans. Now, how was it him holding a prejudice against humans? Clearly, it was humans who held a prejudice against demons!