Chương 13: The Red Flower Demon

"Demon?" Han Bingxuan looked at Fang Cheng, lost in thought. Fang Cheng noticed him staring.

"Why are you looking at me? I said there's a demon here. I didn't say I'm the demon. I'm a good person."

"Fang, I know you're a good person." Han Bingxuan still didn't understand why Fang Cheng kept emphasizing that. It was like a criminal insisting on his innocence. But he didn't dwell on it. His focus was on whether there really was a demon.

"There's something wrong with Zhang Ruilin's burial," Han Bingxuan said.

"What do you mean?" Fang Cheng asked. Han Bingxuan frowned.

"Fang, have you heard the legend of the Red Flower Immortal of White Flower City?" Fang Cheng replied, "The noodle shop owner just told me. But that's just to fool common folk. As cultivators, we wouldn't believe it."

"Exactly. We're cultivators, and Zhang Ruilin was too. None of us would believe that kind of legend. So why did he choose to be buried the same way as the Red Flower Immortal?" Han Bingxuan questioned. Fang Cheng thought for a moment.

"Maybe it's not imitating the Red Flower Immortal. Maybe that's just how lucky funerals are done here. Red coffins, red burial clothes, lanterns and decorations, like a wedding. Honestly, I didn't see anything wrong with Zhang Ruilin's burial."

"No, Fang. I remember you said from the start that the coffin was suspicious." Han Bingxuan pointed out, recalling the scene. Fang Cheng must have noticed something.

"The red lacquer has a bloody smell." Fang Cheng shrugged. Since Han Bingxuan had asked, he couldn't hide it. He then gave a vague explanation.

"Some lacquer sellers add pig blood or chicken blood to make the red brighter. I realized that later and ruled out the coffin as suspicious, even though it was covered in flashy patterns."

"Yes, that's exactly the problem." Han Bingxuan pressed on.

"From what I know, Zhang Ruilin was an extremely meticulous person. Even if he wanted a red coffin, he wouldn't add random patterns all over it. That doesn't match his character."

"Good point." Fang Cheng agreed, following Han Bingxuan's logic.

"Yuan Min also said Zhang Ruilin gave the coffin maker plans for a custom coffin. The patterns must mean something. In that case, we need to dig up the coffin and examine it." Han Bingxuan shook his head.

"No. The people are still gathered at the grave. Digging it up now would enrage them."

"You're right." Fang Cheng nodded.

"We can do it at night when no one's around. I'm good at this. I'll dig quietly, just like when I was a kid sneaking into the fields at night to steal sweet potatoes. I'd bury them in the ground to roast, no smoke, no flames, then eat them and bury the peels. No one ever knew, hehe."

"Fang, your childhood sounds interesting." Han Bingxuan smiled in surprise. Then he said, "Zhang Ruilin was beloved by the people of White Flower City. People are still coming from the villages to pay respects. Even at night, there will likely be mourners at the grave. Digging it up isn't an option." Fang Cheng didn't argue. He thought for a moment.

"If we can't dig up the coffin, we can't examine it. Right. We can go to the coffin maker and get the plans." Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

"The plans are gone." Han Bingxuan sighed.

"While you were eating noodles, I found the coffin maker and asked for the plans. He told me Zhang Ruilin had him burn them as soon as the coffin was finished."

"Damn it. Zhang Ruilin was definitely hiding something, even if he's dead." Fang Cheng said. At that moment, he really wanted to dig up the coffin and beat the corpse. Han Bingxuan laughed and reassured him.

"It's fine. I had the coffin maker redraw the plans. But the patterns are complicated. It'll take a few days. Once he's done, we can study them." He paused, then continued.

"Everything, the coffin, all of it, comes back to Zhang Ruilin. But he's dead. That's our biggest problem. A dead man with a destroyed spirit can't speak."

"Yeah. Dead men tell no tales." Fang Cheng looked disappointed. Why did he have to die so early? Couldn't he have waited until after I arrived? Han Bingxuan smiled slightly.

"Fang, remember when you suggested the dead body might be a substitute, a twin brother?"

"I was just guessing randomly. Don't tell me I actually got it right. Zhang Ruilin isn't dead?" Fang Cheng scratched his head. He'd said a lot of stupid things under the demon sword's influence.

"No. Zhang Ruilin is dead. We both saw him. We both examined him." Han Bingxuan explained.

"I'm thinking, what if Zhang Ruilin was just a pawn? The real mastermind saw an Underworld Officer arriving and panicked. He pushed Zhang Ruilin to suicide, thinking that with the City God dead, I'd have no one to question and would soon leave White Flower City."

"That makes sense, Han. You really are a skilled Underworld Officer. Keep going. Who's the damn mastermind?" Fang Cheng shamelessly flattered him. The demon sword inside him was stirring restlessly. He desperately needed some tasty evil. Han Bingxuan replied, "I've been asking myself: who could make Zhang Ruilin willingly kill himself? I even sent a flying sword message to my colleagues at the Underworld Bureau, asking them to check Zhang Ruilin's records for any cultivators he had close ties with.

But Fang, your comment about a demon in White Flower City just woke me up. No cultivator would willingly kill himself, unless he was bewitched by a demon." He patted Fang Cheng's shoulder approvingly and continued.

"Let's go back to the legend of the Red Flower Immortal. Legends don't come from nowhere. They have origins. My guess is this: two hundred years ago, the so-called Red Flower Immortal slaughtered everyone in White Flower City and devoured them to ascend to the immortal realm. After that, White Flower City became a ghost town. Everyone avoided it. The Great Sheng Dynasty moved outsiders in to repopulate it and fabricated the legend of the Red Flower Immortal's ascension to prevent panic.

The demon behind all this is imitating the Red Flower Immortal, trying to devour the people of White Flower City again." Fang Cheng clapped his hands.

"Yes! That fits. There's no way an Emperor would pity someone and just let them ascend. Ascension requires massive amounts of Divine Energy or flesh and blood. The Red Flower Immortal, no, the damned Red Flower Demon, definitely slaughtered countless lives. Too bad I was born two hundred years late. I would've stabbed her to death." Han Bingxuan smiled.

"Fang, I find you very contradictory. You claim to be a carefree cultivator who just wants to fish and enjoy life. But your killing intent and your unique sense of justice say otherwise. Strange. Very strange." Fang Cheng rubbed his nose and laughed awkwardly. He waved his hand and explained, "Cultivators are all contradictions. Some Emperor once said that contradictions exist inside everything, everywhere, all the time. We have to acknowledge them, then seize the main contradiction and resolve it."

Han Bingxuan replied, "That was the Dongyue Emperor. He's right. Contradictions are universal. But I feel like your understanding is a bit off."

"No, no, Han. We don't need to worry about these minor contradictions. According to the theory of dualities, we should pay attention to them, but not too much. We need to focus on the main contradiction. Cultivators need to see the big picture. Contradictions accumulate until they cause a qualitative change. So we must face the risks and challenges of the main contradiction, create opportunities within risks, and never shy away from struggle..."

"That's enough, Fang. I know you've memorized the Ascension Manual cover to cover. Please, stop." Han Bingxuan cut him off, his head spinning. Fang was full of contradictions. A cultivator who claimed he didn't want to ascend, yet had the Ascension Manual memorized perfectly. He wanted to dissect Fang's body and study him piece by piece using dialectical methods. But not now. Now they had to solve the main contradiction:"Who is the demon?"