Upon hearing the inquiry from others, Murong Qi shivered as she answered, "I just went to the woods to relieve myself, but I was worried about encountering wild beasts, so I asked Jesida to keep watch for me.
But after I finished, I suddenly heard a scream. When I reached the spot where Jesida was waiting for me, I only saw a pool of blood and no sign of him.
Later, a dark shadow pounced on me, and I barely managed to struggle free and run out."
"Wild beasts? Didn’t they carry the person away?"
The crowd exchanged glances, and some people, frightened, boarded the bus first.
"Should we go look for him?"
"Who can fight a wild beast? Going now would be like offering ourselves up!"
"I’m scared to go; anyone who wants to go, can go."
In times of life-threatening danger, no one wanted to take the risk.
"Let’s just drive off! Who knows if the beast might jump out?"
"Yeah, once we reach the tourist area, it should be safe."
"I wouldn’t have come here if I had known earlier; it’s not as developed as back home, just full of desolate spots!"
Other tourists complained, and many urged the driver to hurry up and drive away, not caring about Jesida’s fate.
"We don’t even know if he’s alive or dead; it’s not right to just abandon him ."
Finally, someone spoke a word of fairness.
"I will go look," Shangguan Qiu said. "But don’t drive the bus away; wait for me."
The crowd hesitated; they didn’t know how ferocious the beast might be.
If it ran out, could it harm them as well?
"We can’t just stand by and watch him die, can we?"
"Yes, she’s said she’s going."
"If the beast comes out, we can drive away quickly, right?"
After discussing, Qin Zhao stepped forward, "I’ll go with her. If there is any danger, we’ll run back early and tell you all to leave."
After speaking, she glanced at Chu Yan.
"Wait for me here in the bus."
Chu Yan turned his gaze away, involuntarily grabbing her hand.
He clearly didn’t want her to risk it, or perhaps it would be better if they went together.
"If you’re not here, he might drive the bus away."
Qin Zhao leaned close to him and whispered in his ear.
Chu Yan nodded, "Then be careful."
Qin Zhao and Shangguan Qiu got off the bus and headed towards the forest from which Murong Qi had run.
At that moment, a kind lady helped Murong Qi onto the bus.
Qin Zhao turned to look at her, her face bearing a thoughtful expression.
As the two walked into the forest, Qin Zhao asked Shangguan Qiu, "Don’t you think there’s something off about Murong Qi?"
While walking, Shangguan Qiu recalled how Murong Qi had looked earlier.
"The scars on her body are strange; the wounds are shallow and don’t look like they were caused by a wild animal. There’s hardly any blood on her clothes, and some of the tears seem like they were made by hands."
Shangguan Qiu suddenly stopped.
"Her wounds aren’t from a wild animal, could she have inflicted them herself? Why would she do that? Could it be she murdered Jesida and, so..."
Hearing her analysis, Qin Zhao quickly interrupted.
"No, I suspect she’s not herself."
"There’s an Evil Spirit possessing her."
Previously, Qin Zhao and Murong Qi had conflicts, so Qin Zhao had paid special attention to her facial features and had warned her several times of impending bloodshed and a potentially short life.
However, Murong Qi never took those warnings to heart and still came out to wander recklessly.
Qin Zhao had seen Murong Qi but noticed the death calamity on her had vanished.
Not only that, Qin Zhao was unable to see through her face or discern her Fate Diagram.
Qin Zhao spoke about these doubts to Shangguan Qiu.
"Our Heavenly Masters observe mortals and it’s virtually unheard of to not see through them, unless the individual has a special Fate Diagram, like a reincarnated Divine Monarch from the Immortal Realm."
Shangguan Qiu continued, "Another possibility is encountering a fellow practitioner with high cultivation, or someone whose cultivation might be lower than yours but has used a technique to hide their Fate Diagram. That’s why you can’t see through her."
"Right, but I’ve met Murong Qi several times before, and I could always see through her face. Just a few days ago, there was no anomaly.
When she stepped out of the forest just now, suddenly I couldn’t observe her anymore."
"Could the problem be this forest? Could the Evil Spirit have killed her and Jesida, and then, to lower others’ guard, possessed her body to approach those people?"
"Then the people on the bus are in the greatest danger!"
Shangguan Qiu’s expression tensed, and just as she was about to turn back to the bus, Qin Zhao quickly grabbed her.
"I left several talismans with Chu Yan. If there’s trouble there, we’ll know immediately. The talismans in his hand are enough to ensure everyone else’s safety."
Before leaving the bus, Qin Zhao had stuffed a stack of talismans into Chu Yan’s backpack.
And Chu Yan had seen them; he should understand her intention.
"This forest is so vast, we might not be able to inspect every corner."
"That’s fine, I’ll use my Divine Sense to feel around."
Qin Zhao halted her steps, her powerful Divine Sense spreading out, enveloping most of the forest.
Sure enough, she sensed something amiss.
In the dense forest ahead, two figures were watching them.
"This way, let’s go check it out!"
Qin Zhao and Shangguan Qiu hurried over.
The two shadows, realizing their speed was exceeding that of ordinary people, turned their heads to sneak away.
Qin Zhao used the Thunder Strike Technique, knocking the two figures to the ground.
Approaching, they found that these were not real people, but two scarecrows with talismans attached—it looked to be the handiwork of someone behind the scenes.
"The Evil Spirit has definitely realized a Heavenly Master is here."
Shangguan Qiu looked at the scorched scarecrows on the ground, burned by the Thunder Strike Technique.
As Heavenly Masters, they could sense the residual Evil Energy on them.
"It looks like we won’t find Jesida. Let’s head back."
Since they had found the Evil Spirit’s scouts in the forest, regardless of whether Murong Qi had issues, Jesida was certainly dead, and there was no point in continuing the search.
"The bus and the scarecrows, could they all be related to Murong Qi?"
On the way back, Qin Zhao suddenly remembered that she had Murong Qi’s birth details.
"Wait, let me calculate this."
These birth details were given to her by Mrs. Shen the last time she was asked about marriage compatibility.
Qin Zhao had a good memory. Even though several days had passed, she still recalled Murong Qi’s birth details.
After some calculations, her expression darkened.
"Murong Qi is already dead."
"It seems that someone has possessed Murong Qi."
The two returned to the bus, where the driver and ticket seller looked impatient.
"Did you find her or not? If not, stop worrying about whether she’s alive or dead. I told you it’s not safe here, you insisted on stopping. Who’s to blame if someone dies?"
Shangguan Qiu ignored the driver’s complaints.
She pointed at Murong Qi, "You, get down here."
Murong Qi’s face was pale, trembling with fear.
"What... what are you going to do?"
"So it was you who killed Jesida. How much longer do you think you can keep this act up?"