Chapter 25: Bathing Demon Skill

In his right eye, the writhing fox head was a hazy, misty shadow.

The fox leaned closer to sniff him, its nostrils twitching as it sniffed repeatedly.

Shi Chun also smelled the source of the fragrance—it was the fox demon directly in front of him. His smile became increasingly fawning, but combined with the internal torment he was enduring, it looked genuinely unpleasant.

The next moment, his smile vanished, freezing on his face as the great green fox demon bared its terrifying fangs at him.

Shi Chun frantically called out, "Fox Immortal Lady..."

He couldn't tell its gender, but he assumed it was female, having heard a woman's voice earlier.

However, his plea for mercy was cut short before he could finish.

A large, pink, slimy tongue darted out from between its ferocious fangs, rapidly licking his body and face a few times. Then, it turned its head away disdainfully, letting out a bell-like woman's hum, "Your blood stinks."

Suddenly, it lowered its head and bit directly into the accuser's corpse. Blood spurted as it bit, and it slurped a mouthful into its mouth before carrying it away, making Shi Chun, who stood nearby, tremble with fright.

The great green fox demon's head then retracted into the spatial rift. The immense demonic energy receded like a tide, and as its grasping claws withdrew from the rift, the spatial rift rapidly closed, healing instantly as if it had never been there. While a significant amount of demonic energy still lingered in the city, the terrifying oppressive aura that had accompanied it suddenly vanished.

Lan Qiaoyan and others on Bowang Tower, along with everyone in the city who felt bewildered and surprised, were almost all staring in the same direction.

Shi Chun landed on the ground, touching his face and body, which were wet with saliva. However, that was trivial. He looked around, at least confirming he was temporarily safe. Yet, he remained shaken, his legs weak from fright, after witnessing the accuser being eaten in one bite right before his eyes.

The city guard, still holding his drumstick, swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. Clearly, he had also been terrified by the powerful pressure moments before.

He had wanted to run just now, but knowing someone was watching nearby, he dared not abandon his post.

Du Huoguan, upstairs, remained calm and unperturbed, knowing that the great green fox demon had been released by the Prison Master. Yet, he was still somewhat confused and reminded, "Prison Master, the wounds on the deceased's body can serve as evidence. Shi Chun should know what happened that night."

His implication was, "Why did you release a fox demon to eat the evidence?"

Nie, however, said indifferently, "How long do you intend to leave these corpses here? Clean them up."

Du Huoguan was stunned. There were no other corpses currently besides those of Qi Yueru's son and his companions. His eyes flickered, and he turned to look at the scene where there was blood on the ground but no corpses. He instantly understood something.

The fact he observed was: the Prison Master had deliberately released the fox demon to eat the evidence, specifically, the evidence that Shi Chun had killed Qi Yueru's son!

It was then not difficult to guess what the Prison Master meant by telling him to dispose of those corpses.

His eyes widened slightly. Was the Prison Master going to protect that terrified, weak-kneed young man downstairs?

He found it somewhat unbelievable. What kind of person was the Prison Master, to actually protect an "ant" he didn't even know?

"Yes," he replied verbally, but the surprise in his eyes did not diminish. He wondered why the Prison Master would make such an astonishing move. He couldn't help but recall the demonic cultivation method the Prison Master had mentioned recognizing earlier. He wasn't sure about the pronunciation of the first character, as there were too many homophones, but the image of the skull mark imprinted on the accuser's flesh was fresh in his mind. That was certainly not normal. So he tried asking, "Prison Master, is Shi Chun cultivating a demonic art?"

His heart was uneasy as he asked this question. Good and evil were incompatible. Why would the Prison Master protect someone who cultivated a demonic art?

Nie glanced at him. He hadn't intended to explain anything, but some misunderstandings were unnecessary, especially when it concerned the incompatibility of good and evil. So, he uncharacteristically offered an explanation: "'Bath Demon Art,' the 'bath' as in 'bathing.' The first person to create and cultivate this method, during the ancient war between gods and demons, severely wounded many demons and slew the Demon Ancestor."

Upon hearing this, Du Huoguan was utterly shocked, exclaiming, "Slew the Demon Ancestor?"

His gaze suddenly shifted to outside the window, looking at Shi Chun with a strange expression. This tiny ant was actually cultivating a method that could slay the Demon Ancestor! No wonder his palm force was so domineering even at its initial manifestation.

As if guessing what he was thinking, and also not wanting any misunderstanding, Nie explained again, "The existence of this method has long been like a chicken rib—worthless, or even less than worthless. First, it's extremely selective, though the exact criteria are unclear. It is said to be difficult to get started. If one manages to begin cultivating it, it is indeed more domineering than ordinary methods at first, as you have seen. However, he will have to change his cultivation method sooner or later, otherwise, he will be stuck at the initial martial stage and find it difficult to even enter the advanced martial realm."

Du Huoguan was puzzled, "Why?"

Nie replied, "Although this method is domineering once mastered, its cultivation process is true to its name: 'no demon, no flourishing.' It requires absorbing demonic energy to cultivate. The higher one's cultivation level advances, the greater the demonic energy needed to absorb. The era when demonic ways ran rampant has long passed. Traces of demons are scarce, making it fundamentally impossible to support the cultivation of the 'Bath Demon Art' anymore."

"I see." Du Huoguan was enlightened. He looked at Shi Chun downstairs, but was still puzzled. "The Living Prison still has a legacy of the 'Bath Demon Art'."

Such a top-tier cultivation method should not be obscure, yet he had never even heard of it. This showed it had been lost for a long time. Only time could defeat and bury everything.

Nie replied, "Before I came to the Living Prison, I had never heard of this cultivation method. After taking over the Living Prison, when I was bored, I was looking through the handover items of previous Prison Masters' inheritances and stumbled upon an ancient record by chance, that's how I learned about it. That was before the Heavenly Court changed masters several times. A very long time ago, a successor of the 'Bath Demon Art' was indeed banished here."

"Ah?" Du Huoguan was very surprised, and instinctively uttered the same two words again, "Why?"

Nie replied, "It's precisely because its cultivation was like a chicken rib, difficult to achieve anything with, that one had to resort to drastic measures. This method indeed has its domineering aspects. Besides absorbing demonic energy for cultivation, it can also absorb killing intent to temper the body. The place with the strongest killing intent is where large armies clash. That individual secretly plotted and incited wars of slaughter in the mortal world. The result was too great a commotion to conceal. After being captured, his cultivation was crippled, and he was thrown into this place. According to records, he perished not long after being banished here. I didn't expect that after so many years, the legacy would still continue."

Du Huoguan nodded repeatedly as he listened. Indeed, only if a cultivation method was too useless, preventing cultivators from excelling and forcing them to eventually abandon it, would it remain obscure. Otherwise, such a domineering method wouldn't have gone unrecognized for so many years.

Nie also looked at Shi Chun downstairs. "The most domineering aspect of this method is that those killed by it have their souls scattered and bodies annihilated, completely vanishing from the world, without even a chance to enter reincarnation. Perhaps this is why this method is difficult to revive. Its method of killing is too extreme."

"Hiss!" Du Huoguan drew a sharp breath. This meant not only destroying a person's current life but also cutting off any chance of a next life. The method of killing was indeed too extreme. He couldn't help but recall the struggling human face outline he had seen earlier beneath the skin, as if it had endured immense pain and torture.

Having said all he needed to say, Nie lifted his chin, gesturing downstairs. "He won. Let them go."

"Yes." After receiving the order, Du Huoguan, remembering that the other party intended to protect Shi Chun, reminded again, "Prison Master, it's easy for him to leave here, but after leaving, the Qi family might not let him off. He could be killed once he's outside."

His implication was, "Even if you help him now, it will be in vain."

Nie pondered briefly, then said indifferently, "Execute that woman who came to visit the prison on the spot."

...Du Huoguan thought he had misheard, and recovering, he quickly asked, "If Qi Yueru is killed, how will we explain it to the Qi family?"

"What Qi family? Never heard of them," Nie said. He turned and walked towards the brocade couch. "After the execution, hang her body outside the city for public display, and say that I personally carried out the execution!"

The meaning was very clear: afraid they'll demand an explanation? Let the Qi family come to me for it.