8: Are you fucking crazy?

“That Black Wolf Demon was extremely vicious, and I was worried he would commit more crimes, which is why I resorted to such a measure.”

“You could have just told me. I would have brought people there, wouldn't I?”

Jiang Lan said, “I couldn't be certain the Black Wolf Demon was hiding at the crime scene; it was just a guess at the time. I originally only intended to investigate, and we just happened to run into each other. It was a head-on clash, so I couldn't very well run, could I?”

“That's true…” Chen Heguang found Jiang Lan's explanation quite reasonable.

If it were him, he would have done the same.

If you have the strength to kill your opponent, but you run away to find others when you meet them, isn't that just foolish?

Moreover, the Black Wolf Demon was capable of hiding in plain sight, which proved he wasn't unintelligent.

If Jiang Lan had gone back to report, by the time people arrived, the Black Wolf Demon would have likely vanished.

“Alright, what's past is past. Regarding your strength, I won't tell outsiders.”

“You trust me that much? You believe me when I say I'm at Bone Refinement Second Layer?”

Chen Heguang's expression was somewhat complex.

“I watched you grow up, Lan'er. Forget Bone Refinement Second Layer; if you told me today you've entered the Mortal Shedding Realm, Uncle Chen would still believe you.”

He suddenly smiled, then changed the subject, “Let's not talk about that for now. What do you think about Zhao Guisheng's death?”

“I suspect it was mostly the work of the Tiger Demon from Black Wind Mountain.”

Now that Chen Heguang knew his true strength, Jiang Lan had no interest in continuing to beat around the bush and spoke honestly.

“That's right, Tiger's Accomplice are not common.”

Hearing Chen Heguang say this, Jiang Lan seemed to remember something. “Oh, right. The Black Wolf Demon I killed yesterday also knew how to control Tiger's Accomplice.”

Chen Heguang frowned in thought.

“Wolf Demon… Tiger's Accomplice…”

After thinking for a while, Chen Heguang said with some irritation, “These beasts from the Green Lantern Sect really won't stay quiet. I don't know what these scoundrels are trying to do.”

“Green Lantern Sect?”

Jiang Lan didn't react for a moment.

Weren't they talking about Tiger's Accomplice? How did it get to the Green Lantern Sect?

“We found this on the Black Wolf Demon's body today.” Saying this, Chen Heguang slapped a green sachet onto the table.

Jiang Lan's eyes flickered at the sight.

He recognized this sachet.

It was a token of the Green Lantern Sect; members could use it to identify each other.

However, although the sachet was found on the Black Wolf Demon, it wasn't necessarily his. It could have belonged to Scholar Qian or Squire Li.

But just then, a pungent, musky odor, coming from who knew where, entered Jiang Lan's nostrils.

His gaze fell upon the sachet.

Well, this sachet belonged to the Black Wolf Demon.

It had been thoroughly marinated.

Green Lantern Sect followers were not only humans.

Demons were also numerous.

“The Green Lantern Sect's activities have indeed become quite frequent recently.”

In Jiang Lan's memory, the Green Lantern Sect had been established as early as the end of the thirty-second year of Shenwu.

However, the Green Lantern Sect was just a small organization before, and it had never caused much trouble.

But in the past two years, for some unknown reason, it had gained many new followers and grown stronger day by day.

Especially in recent months, they had resumed their practice of human sacrifice, harming countless innocent lives.

Jiang Lan looked up.

“What about the scouts sent to Black Wind Mountain? Have they returned?”

“Still…”

Just as Chen Heguang spoke, the main gate of Wuwei Hall was slammed open with a 'clang'.

A man in black burst in, stumbling and falling to the ground as soon as he entered Wuwei Hall, his chest heaving violently.

“Lu Yu? What happened? What about Cai Chuang?”

The person who arrived was Lu Yu, one of the two scouts Chen Heguang had sent out yesterday.

The other scout who went out with him to gather information was named Cai Chuang.

Lu Yu lay on the ground, panting for a long time, then swallowed hard and said with difficulty, “Dead… dead…”

After speaking, he began to pant violently again.

Chen Heguang also became anxious.

Seeing this, Jiang Lan walked to Lu Yu and helped him sit upright.

“No rush, take a breath, speak slowly.”

Chen Heguang's mind was in turmoil, but he knew this was not the time to press for answers.

In such a situation, if he couldn't catch his breath, it was not impossible for him to die on the spot.

It took a full fifteen minutes for the scout's breathing to finally calm down.

After taking the cup of water Jiang Lan handed him and gulping it down, he finally let out a long breath.

Seeing this, Chen Heguang quickly asked, “What happened? Did you encounter that Tiger Demon?”

“No…”

The scout's eyes were filled with terror, mixed with a hint of relief at having survived a disaster.

“Then what happened? Tell us!”

Chen Heguang was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

“Little West Village is suffering from a corpse plague…”

“Corpse plague?” Chen Heguang quickly said, “Tell me in detail, what happened.”

The scout sat on the ground, lowering his head, seemingly organizing his thoughts.

After a moment, he began, “After Cai Chuang and I left, we planned to visit the villages near Black Wind Mountain to see if we could find any useful information.”

Jiang Lan listened silently from the side.

He knew both of these scouts.

Their strength was at Skin Refinement Eighth Layer, which was not weak and more than sufficient for scouts.

But to expect them to face a Bone Refinement Tiger Demon directly was unrealistic.

So, when it was said they were going to investigate the Tiger Demon, at most they would visit surrounding villages and listen for any rumors about the Tiger Demon.

“That night, the two of us arrived at Little West Village, about thirty li from Black Wind Mountain. We didn't get any useful information in the village, so we decided to stay for the night and continue our journey at dawn.”

“The village chief found us a civilian house, but before dawn, a black and white mottled living corpse broke in. Cai Chuang stayed to delay it for me…”

At this point, Lu Yu's voice stopped, and he buried his head in his hands, emitting a low sob from his throat.

“Don't cry yet. Did that living corpse have more black fur or white fur?”

With a sniffle, Lu Yu wiped his tears and looked up.

“Mostly black fur, with only a few white hairs…”

Jiang Lan's eyes flickered.

The living corpses in this world were similar to the zombies he had seen in movies in his previous life.

White fur corresponded to the Skin Refinement Realm.

Black fur, on the other hand, was the Bone Forging Realm.

However, by Skin Refinement Seventh or Eighth Layer, the white fur would gradually recede, and black fur would begin to grow.

When black fur covered the entire body, it also meant that the living corpse had officially entered the Bone Forging Realm.

And by the Qi Gathering Realm, the living corpse's fur would completely disappear, and aside from its grayish-green skin, it would be almost indistinguishable from a human.

It was rumored that living corpses in the Mortal Shedding Realm were indistinguishable from their living selves in both appearance and voice, as if they had been resurrected from the dead.

“Lan'er, you stay here and watch. I'll go report to the Centurion.”

Chen Heguang was only a Captain, not a high-ranking official in the Demon Suppression Division.

He could make decisions on matters like Jiang Lan interrogating prisoners.

But for other things, he wasn't qualified.

Even sending out scouts was his idea only after he had reported to the Centurion, and the Centurion had made the final decision.

Just as Chen Heguang lifted his leg to leave, Jiang Lan suddenly reached out and pressed his wrist.

“I'll go to Little West Village.”

“Are you out of your mind?!”