"Huh? Why would she bring a lot of money to a place like this?" Li Fei'er asked confusedly. What kind of spirit possessed Lu Anqi's body? She had a bad feeling about this.

Shen Minyao leaped down from the branch she and Mu Qing were standing on, and she faced Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen looked at her with a conflicted expression on his face, as if he was having a hard time coming up with a decision.

"We should hurry. I can sense great murderous intent coming from her. She might commit murder anytime soon," she spoke without batting an eyelid.

Li Fei'er shivered and glanced at Mu Qing to ask for confirmation when he appeared behind Shen Minyao, but he remained silent. He must have known something, but why wasn't he saying anything about it?

"S-she's going to commit murder using my body?" Lu Anqi trembled in fear. She would be in a lot of trouble if that happened. No one would believe her if she claimed to not be the person who committed it, as she was possessed by a ghost.

"What do we do?" She asked worriedly, with tears streaming down her face.

"We'll stop her, whatever happens. You must calm down, Lu Anqi." Jiang Chen tried to console her, but he was also feeling helpless at the moment.

Did he really have to rely on Shen Minyao's help now?

Ever since he found out that Shen Minyao was the infamous nine-tailed fox hunted by many shamans and exorcists, Jiang Chen had tried to keep a distance from her. It wasn't like he was afraid of her, but he was confused as to how he should deal with her.

While her personality and attitude were what someone could expect from a powerful demon, Jiang Chen couldn't believe that the fox woman had committed a genocide a hundred years ago. Although he was wary of her because she was a demon, it was hard for him to imagine that she had committed such a heinous crime against humanity. One could easily see that she was arrogant and held cynical beliefs towards humans like him, but she wouldn't kill any mortal human unless she needed to.

However, Jiang Chen's circumstances never let him freely act on this thought. He didn't like the other exorcists to suspect him for being acquainted with the nine-tailed fox demoness. Neither would he give them a reason to accuse him of betraying humanity by keeping Shen Minyao's whereabouts a secret.

Jiang Chen was aware of how dangerous it would be, not only for Shen Minyao, if other humans found out about her identity. Li Fei'er and Lu Anqi would also be dragged into the problem.

"Shen Minyao, can I have a word with you in private?"

"Ah, finally. I thought you'll continue to pretend that I don't exist in your eyes, Mr. Jiang," Shen Minyao replied with a mocking tone in her voice.

"Fine. Come and follow me," she told him before giving Mu Qing a glance. "Lord Hell, can you please keep an eye here for a moment?"

The grim reaper only nodded and didn't utter a single word.

Shen Minyao turned around and left with Jiang Chen. Once she deemed that they were outside everyone's earshot, she faced him.

"What is it now? I suppose you still haven't reported my new identity, given that no exorcists have come to see me these days."

"I decided not to report you," Jiang Chen said. When the fox woman raised a brow at him, he continued: "I decided to know and confirm some things about you first and not jump to conclusions. As to why I chose not to report you, it is for Miss Li and Lu Anqi's safety."

The fox woman chuckled at that. As expected, Jiang Chen would try not to implicate those two young women if things took a turn for the worse.

"You do realize that it would only be a matter of time before they find out my secret," she told him.

"Don't underestimate them, Shen Minyao. They may be young, but those women know how to make a decision for themselves."

"Are you expecting them to forgive me for deceiving them because they develop some attachment to me? Mr. Jiang, I thought you were smart. You know well what could happen in the future once my identity is found out. Li Fei'er would face some repercussions from her family, and you and Lu Anqi would be deemed traitors by others for protecting me. Say, Mr. Jiang, do you think I'm worth it?"

Jiang Chen couldn't refute her words, knowing well that what she said made sense to him. It seemed like the fox woman had already thought that far.

"What about Peng Weijin? You know something, right?"

"Hn. He was possessed by my previous lord husband. You understand why he hates me, right?" Shen Minyao didn't dare to hide the truth from him, but she was surprised he hadn't figured it out, considering where the hunt and possession happened.

Could humans really be so oblivious to such things that they needed someone to spell it out for them to understand? The fox woman didn't know what to expect from them anymore.

"Then, that only meant.. he's more of a threat to humanity than you are now?" Jiang Chen muttered.

"Oh? I'm offended, Mr. Jiang. You think I can't commit the same genocide in this era?" She chuckled at him, amused. "To think that I am the demon here, and yet you dare to compare me to that tailless monkey now parading himself as the new king of the demons."

"It seems that you and Lord Hell know what's happening these days more than us humans."

"Why, of course. Xuan Yanrui's emergence as a demon had caused such a big commotion within the demon world. It would only be a matter of time before he makes a move on humans after successfully creating his band of demons that suited his principles," the fox woman said before giving him a serious look.

"Mr. Jiang, I suggest you should make a plan B or C now. I understand that you still have some reservations, but it would be better if you take a stance before another war starts among demons. After all, humans like you would surely become collateral damage from all of it.

"What does he want then? What's his endgame?" He asked.

"What else but world domination? Now that he turned into a demon and gained some supernatural abilities, he would surely find a way to force everyone to accept his will. Everyone who opposed him would surely be killed."

Jiang Chen hardened his jaws at that. If Shen Minyao was this bothered by the war that was about to start, then perhaps he really needed to make some preparations ahead of time. He had to protect not only himself but also everyone in their small group, regardless of whether they were a human, a demon, or a grim reaper.

"Enough of that. You didn't come here to discuss things about Xuan Yanrui, right?" Shen Minyao asked him.

"En." He nodded, snapping back to reality. "I was wondering.. I'm wondering if you could find out the identity of the spirit that possessed Li Fei'er's body. We would be able to stop it from killing someone if we knew the ghost's identity.. or their motive."

"I see.."

Well, she had already expected this would happen, and she was only waiting for Jiang Chen to swallow his pride and ask her for help. historical

"I can read their mind for a limited time, but would that be enough?"

"Anything that could give us any clue about their identity and what they did before they died," Jiang Chen replied. "So long as we have enough clues, I might be able to find their identity. We need to act fast."

His family had vast connections within Jiang City and neighboring towns and cities. He might be able to identify the spirit and stop them from committing a crime using Lu Anqi's body.

"I'll help you, but I need something in return." Shen Minyao had this thought that she had been trying to ignore for weeks now, ever since she noticed a pattern in the strange similarities among the real Shen Minyao, Li Fei'er, and Lu Anqi.

"If it's something within my capacity and wouldn't harm anyone."

"Li Fei'er's mother was said to have died in childbirth, but her remains went missing even before she was buried by her family. Lu Anqi's parents got involved in an accident, but her mother's remains went missing from the car they were in. Shen Minyao's mother disappeared even before her daughter reached six years of age."

"Why are you telling me this?" Jiang Chen couldn't understand Shen Minyao's concern about those.

"I tried to check the news about missing persons from the year Li Fei'er was born, and there had been sixty reported cases of mothers that had gone missing."