Ling Xiao’s home was in an old apartment building in the city centre. Song Jun carried the little black cat as he climbed up to the third floor. Standing in front of the door he had visited once before, he took a deep breath and then knocked on the door.
They didn’t get a response as quickly as expected. Song Jun even started to doubt if there was anyone inside at all.
But the little black cat pulled him with a paw and motioned for him to wait a moment.
Sure enough, after a full minute, and after Song Jun knocked on the door several times, the door opened from the inside.
The person standing in front of the door was Xiang Wenxi. He looked at Song Jun and the little cat in his arms with a wary look on his face and asked, “What are you doing here?”
Song Jun asked him, “Is Ling Xiao here?”
Xiang Wenxi said, “Why are you looking for Ling Xiao?”
Song Jun looked down at the black cat in his arms and said to Xiang Wenxi, “Senior Brother Xia wants to see him.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiang Wenxi immediately reacted and wanted to close the door. However, at this time, the black cat had already escaped from Song Jun’s arms and got into the house.
Xiang Wenxi then didn’t care about closing the door and hurried to catch up.
The black cat was extremely agile and quickly avoided Xiang Wenxi’s pursuit. It rolled and landed on the carpet in the living room. However, at the same time, Song Jun saw a black wolf leap out from the corner and bite the black cat on the carpet.
Song Jun screamed in fright.
However, he saw the black wolf suddenly roll away on the ground and let out a painful howl. The black cat landed on the ground and transformed into Xia Hongshen’s human form, standing in front of them.
Ling Xiao also appeared in human form. Xiang Wenxi quickly went over to support him and asked, “What are you doing here?”
Song Jun was a little afraid that they would start fighting again, so he quickly stepped forward and said, “We have no ill intentions, but Senior Brother Xia has something to ask you about the Demon Market.”
“Demon Market?” Xiang Wenxi was a little surprised, “What’s going on in the Demon Market?”
Xia Hongshen, calm and composed, walked over and sat down by the sofa, crossing his long legs. He said, “Do you guys know about the recent infectious disease?”
Xiang Wenxi glanced at Ling Xiao.
Ling Xiao said, “I know a little bit.”
Xia Hongshen told them, “I suspect that the outbreak of infectious diseases has something to do with the owner of the Demon Market.”
“How could that be?” Xiang Wenxi was obviously a little surprised.
Xia Hongshen said, “Let’s sit down and talk. If we let the infectious disease continue to break out like this, I’m afraid this city will cease to exist.”
Hearing what Xia Hongshen said, Song Jun suddenly felt very frightened.
Xiang Wenxi looked at Ling Xiao at a loss. Although Ling Xiao didn’t look convinced, he still chose to sit down and talk to Xia Hongshen.
“What is the identity of the owner of the Demon Market?” Xia Hongshen asked.
Ling Xiao was silent for a moment and said, “We don’t know either. There have been rumours about him, but none of them have been confirmed. I don’t understand why you think the source of the infection has something to do with him.”
Xia Hongshen said, “Do you still remember that time when I was bitten by his beast in the Demon Market?”
Ling Xiao nodded slightly.
Xia Hongshen said, “Because the wound could not heal for a long time, Lonshao took me to Yun Qingshan Hongyin Temple to ask the abbot for help. Only then did I realise that it was caused by demonic energy soaking into the wound.”
“Demonic energy?” Ling Xiao couldn’t hide his surprise.
They were demons living in this city, but they had grown accustomed to peacefully coexisting with humans. Generally speaking, they didn’t harm people because doing so could easily expose their existence, making their future lives more precarious.
However, the so-called ‘devil’ was entirely different. They didn’t belong to this world; perhaps they didn’t even have a complete physical form. Nevertheless, without exception, they all possessed formidable power.
While it wasn’t uncommon for the owner of the demonic market to tame supernatural beasts to guard the market, the problem arose when these beasts carried demonic energy. The demons in the city were reluctant to be controlled by a devil.
Xiang Wenxi lay on the back of the sofa chair, frowned when he heard this, and said, “You’re saying that this city is mixed with devils?”
Xia Hongshen shook his head, “It’s hard to say. That’s why I’ve come to ask for your help.”
He used the word ‘help’, and Xiang Wenxi suddenly felt relieved. Ling Xiao was obviously no longer so resistant. He mused, “The Demon Market has been around for a long time. It has been said that the owner has immense influence here. It’s not realistic to say that it’s an external demonic entity. I speculate that his method of taming supernatural beasts may be unconventional, or perhaps he obtained some demonic artefact to assist him…”
Xia Hongshen said, “The latter is more likely.”
Ling Xiao continued, “But the identity of the owner of the Demon Market is too mysterious. He has never shown up in the Demon Market. Even on the day you almost destroyed the entire market, he could stop you but still didn’t reveal himself. I can’t think of anyone else in this city who might know his identity. The only way is to investigate at that amusement park. At least there must be someone in that amusement park who knows his identity.”
Xia Hongshen seemed to think for a moment and said, “Let’s go together tomorrow.”
Ling Xiao looked at him without speaking.
Xia Hongshen said, “Like you, I don’t want to see this city destroyed.”
Ling Xiao finally nodded.
The next day, Song Jun took a leave of absence to accompany Xia Hongshen to the amusement park. In fact, the senior sister couldn’t come, and he, being the only one left, shouldn’t have taken a day off. However, the appraisal centre had been experiencing a downturn in business lately, and it was a matter of survival. At this time, no one was worried about whether his son was their biological child. For two or three consecutive days, there had been no clients at the appraisal centre.
So, the responsible teacher simply granted him a day off while holding down the fort at the appraisal centre.
Song Jun woke up in bed in the morning and suddenly had a realisation that it felt like he was going to go on a date with Xia Hongshen. He opened his eyes early in the morning and could not fall asleep again.
In the morning, he and Xia Hongshen went out together. It was no longer easy to take a taxi, so they had to take the bus. They made an appointment with Ling Xiao and others to meet at the entrance of the amusement park.
After arriving, Song Jun saw Xiang Wenxi waving to him from a distance, and he immediately had the illusion that they were on a double date.
When he thought of this, Song Jun couldn’t help but turn his head and glance at Xia Hongshen. It turned out that Xia Hongshen was looking up at the sign at the gate of the amusement park and didn’t notice his thoughts at all.
The amusement park was quite desolate, but fortunately, it hadn’t closed its doors to customers.
In fact, the city’s amusement park hadn’t been doing well for the past two years. Despite its long history, the facilities were not as modern as those in larger amusement parks on the outskirts of the city. With the lack of attractions to draw in out-of-town visitors, the park had become increasingly deserted.
The tickets to the amusement park were not expensive because all the rides there were charged separately. Xia Hongshen bought four tickets and went in with them.
There were no guests along the way, only amusement park staff.
But the person they were looking for should be lurking among these staff members.
Ling Xiao and Xiang Wenxi were paying attention all the way. Although Xia Hongshen wasn’t actively looking around, he was still paying attention to the people around him. If someone was a demon, he could easily sense their aura.
The only part of the amusement park that seemed to be doing relatively well was its water park. However, due to the infectious disease, there were also very few visitors there now.
Song Jun was the only one who didn’t know anything and could only follow them. He was actually somewhat interested in the roller coaster he passed just now, but he didn’t have the nerve to suggest that he go on it.
Xia Hongshen’s footsteps suddenly stopped, and he raised his head and looked up.
Song Jun looked in the direction of his gaze and saw him looking at an observation deck opposite the water park, where someone could be vaguely seen sitting on it.
Ling Xiao also looked over and said immediately, “They are from the Demon Market.”
The person opposite seemed to notice their gaze, turned around in a hurry and climbed down from the observation deck.
There was a large water pool separating them. While anyone could probably cross the pool to catch that person immediately, they obviously didn’t intend to do so in front of the other people in the amusement park.
They quickly split into different groups to catch the person. Xia Hongshen asked Song Jun to follow him, and they ran around the pool towards the front.
Song Jun hurriedly followed Xia Hongshen.
Their movements in the entire amusement park were very conspicuous, and many staff members immediately looked over.
Song Jun couldn’t run as fast as Xia Hongshen and his physical strength was far inferior to that of Xia Hongshen. When he chased after him, he was already out of breath.
By this time, the man had long since disappeared.
Ling Xiao moved even faster. He pointed in a direction to the right, indicating that he had seen the person running that way just now.
Song Jun looked in the direction he pointed and saw that it was a haunted house in an amusement park.
This haunted house was newly built in recent years. When Song Jun came here as a child, this thing didn’t exist yet, so naturally, he had never been inside.
The staff guarding the gate in front of the haunted house were all gone, probably because there was no work and the weather was hot, so they went to hide somewhere.
Song Jun gasped, pulled Xia Hongshen and asked, “Are we going in?”
Xia Hongshen raised his head, looked at the outline of the entire haunted house and said, “Go in. There might be something mysterious inside.”
In Song Jun’s opinion, haunted houses were all lies. He was not afraid at first, but when he heard Xia Hongshen’s unclear words, he suddenly became nervous.
Xia Hongshen probably felt that Song Jun was afraid, so he stretched out his hand to him and said, “Follow me.”
Song Jun quickly took Xia Hongshen’s hand and followed him towards the haunted house.
As soon as they stepped in, the curtain at the door was drawn down, completely blocking out the light from outside. There was only a small, slightly glowing green light on both sides of the road pointing out the way forward.
Xia Hongshen walked at the front, followed by Song Jun, and behind him were Ling Xiao and Xiang Wenxi. He had to say that this made him feel more secure.
However, Xia Hongshen stopped and said, “The yin energy is very strong.”
“Senior brother?” Song Jun couldn’t help calling him softly.
Xia Hongshen said to him, “Never let go of my hand.”
Song Jun nodded and held Xia Hongshen’s hand tighter.
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