That evening, Jing Yi sneaked out of the sleeping hall and went to meet Liu Cheng in the steward’s house, telling him everything he had found out so far.

"That is everything he told me," he finished up his report on both the last few days that he had spent working with the others in the fields and his conversation with Peng Mu just now.

Liu Cheng furrowed his brows, not quite sure what to make of that. "Well, he has either made up an elaborate lie or he might not be a knowing accomplice and was only roped in by this demon through their sinister means."

"Well, if it really is that woman, then he does seem to love her. I don’t think that he has any knowledge of what she might be doing otherwise. Anyway, could it be that this wasn’t her doing after all? Otherwise, shouldn’t he know at least something?"

Liu Cheng sighed, not quite sure how he should make Jing Yi realize his errors. Well, he probably shouldn’t expect too much. After all, even though Jing Yi was helping him, he just wasn’t and a demon hunter. He would never have the same intricate knowledge of just how vicious these creatures could be. Naturally, he couldn’t understand just how harmful it would be to leave them to their own devices. He could only hope that Jing Yi wouldn’t inadvertently give something away because of his inexperience. Speaking of which …

"After everything he has told you, do you think that he will let you meet her?"

Jing Yi raised his brows and could only shrug his shoulders. "I have no idea. He mentioned her for the first time today. And we didn’t even speak about her for long. I don’t think it’s very likely that it would happen anytime soon. From what he said, even he doesn’t see her regularly."

Liu Cheng gave a hum but he didn’t quite believe it. Since he was in love with the demon, he would definitely go to see them every time he could. There was no mistake about that. That was just the charm that the demons had on unknowing humans. "Well, try to continue asking in that direction. If he is unwilling to tell you anything about the demon, then ask about the other two people who died. Every detail you find can help us stop the demon."

Jing Yi nodded and got up from his seat. "Alright, then I’ll go back now. I can’t promise anything but I’ll try to do my best. I don’t think that he’s guilty though."

Liu Cheng glanced at him, not quite happy with what he was saying. "Well, just continue what you’ve been doing so far. No need to worry about the rest. I will take care of that."

Jing Yi wanted to say something more but finally stopped himself at the last moment. Anyway, it was true that he didn’t know anything about hunting demons. Maybe he just wasn’t able to see through things in the way that Liu Cheng did. He should really leave it to him. "Alright, then I’ll be going now." He gave him a last look and then left, going back to the sleeping hall.

Lying back down in bed, he wasn’t able to fall asleep though. He stared at the ceiling, thinking about everything that Peng Mu had told him today as well as his own situation with Qiu Ling. There were so many things going on recently … Maybe everybody was having a streak of bad luck.

Jing Yi sighed to himself when he thought of that and turned to the side. Anyway, he probably couldn’t compare these things. While that Tai Chen might have died without a fault of his own just because he had been acquainted with the wrong people, and Peng Mu might have been made an unknowing accomplice because of the same reason, he himself was the one who had caused Qiu Ling’s injury. He wasn’t without blame.

But just as he had said to Peng Mu today, the past couldn’t be changed anymore. The only thing you could do was to change your behavior going forward. He should do that himself. As soon as he came back to the capital city and saw Qiu Ling again, he would tell him that he had also fallen in love with him and that he definitely wanted to marry him. He might even apologize for needing so long to realize it even though he still felt that taking his time hadn’t been a bad thing in and of itself.

It was just that he hadn’t been able to understand those feelings for too long. Even after he came to like Qiu Ling, he hadn’t been able to realize it up until that moment when he almost lost him. If Qiu Ling and he really never would have been able to see each other again … That definitely would’ve been a type of guilt he would never be able to get rid of.

Well, he had probably been lucky. He didn’t know it for sure but he just couldn’t help but think that it had to be that way. Anyway, Qiu Ling was very strong. Would he really just give up like that? That couldn’t be.

So even though the hope might be slim, he still felt that Qiu Ling should have gotten out of this with injuries that weren’t too heavy. And even if they were, he would fight himself back to full health. He might need some time but it wasn’t like he had to be back to his old self in just a few days. Even if it meant that they wouldn’t be able to keep that promise with Grandmaster Zhangsun and marry after that year was up, it was still alright. As long as Qiu Ling got better again, it would be worth it.

Having reassured himself like that, Jing Yi finally fell asleep. The next morning, he once again got up and accompanied the other men onto the fields. He stayed close to Peng Mu once again, trying to look out for anything he would deem suspicious. But just as usual, there was nothing of the like to be seen.

Peng Mu just worked like everybody else. In fact, if there was anything, then it was just that he was nicer than the others and tried to take care of the people that had newly arrived here and still struggled with a thing or two. He offered them some advice and even lend a helping hand when they really needed it.

It was hard to believe that this kind of person would knowingly associate himself with a demon that wanted to harm people.