Roaring Dragon-Chapter 24: Who Are You Calling Wife?

As night fell, the noisy commotion inside the Princess Manor started up again:

"Eight of one—!"

"I heard the constables have a young hero now, unbeatable in martial arts and handsome as hell..."

"Keep dreaming. He's already the favorite of Miss Linghu..."

...

Meanwhile, in the two courtyard houses beyond the wall, everything was pitch dark and silent.

Xie Jinhuan was sitting cross-legged in his bedroom, palms resting on his knees, faint energy currents swirling around him, lightly ruffling Meiqiu’s fluffy feathers. Beside him was a newly bought book: Tales of Strange Spirits and Demons.

After the Lin family’s aunt and niece had left in the afternoon, Xie Jinhuan had wandered the streets a bit, eavesdropping for updates from the authorities.

It turned out that County Constable Yang had indeed gone to arrest Li Zixian, the eldest son of the Li family, and Yang Dabiao was searching the city for any hidden demon accomplices.

However, because the "Zihui Mountain Great Demon" was seen as such a massive threat, the prefecture hadn't sent many reinforcements. Word from the countryside was that villagers had been mobilized to form human chains to comb through the mountain range.

Zihui Mountain stretched over seven hundred li — a vast area. It would take time to search, but with so much manpower, eventually, they'd stumble onto the grave robbers' hideout.

Xie Jinhuan, having fled the mountain two days ago, wasn’t sure if he’d left anything behind.

But with the mountains crawling with searchers, he didn’t dare go back. His only choice now was to find a way to "redirect the disaster," pinning the blame on either the demon bandits or the Li family to draw the authorities' attention away.

Because he had encountered demon bandits today, he had picked up Tales of Strange Spirits and Demons while shopping.

The book cover was exquisitely illustrated, featuring a voluptuous fox demon.

Xie Jinhuan had bought it, hoping to learn more about demons.

Unfortunately, he quickly realized the cover was just a marketing ploy — the contents were mostly records from the Wujiao (Shaman Cult) Rebellion era.

Originally, Wujiao was a somewhat shady but not necessarily evil sect — dealing with poisons, voodoo, summoning spirits. Not respectable, but not monstrous either.

That changed about a hundred years ago when a genius from the Corpse Shaman branch defected to demon cultivation.

He became the infamous "Ancestor of Corpses" — mastering soul-harvesting, puppeteering corpses, and wreaking such havoc that he wiped out a third of the population and even toppled the previous dynasty.

Other Wujiao sects had righteous members who tried to stop him, but public opinion didn't care — the whole sect got exiled to the wastelands, where they still languished today.

Xie Jinhuan, having studied history diligently to outdo local bumpkins, flipped through the book — finding no trace of the "voluptuous fox demon" he was promised — and tossed it aside.

Now, practicing his internal energy at home, he grew annoyed hearing the landlady's house once again turning into a madhouse.

Picking up the Zhenglun Sword, he called:

"Miss Ye?"

"Goo?"

Meiqiu, who had been boredly rolling around, got so scared she flapped away from the room.

A familiar, sultry, teasing voice came from behind him:

"Can't sleep? Want big sister to coax you again?"

Turning around, Xie Jinhuan saw the gorgeous red-dressed ghost woman lying lazily at the side, her chin propped on her hand, looking at him with mischievous eyes.

Finding the "ghost-earplug" method very effective, he continued sitting and gathering energy:

"Earlier, you asked what I thought when I first saw you. Why?"

Ye Hongshang flipped over onto her stomach, hands under her chin, her jade feet dangling in the air:

"I meant exactly what I said.

When you first saw big sister, what was your honest feeling?"

"You sure you want me to say it?"

"Mmhm~"

Xie Jinhuan glanced at the red-dressed ghost beauty, then smirked:

"You looked slutty as hell."

"...?"

Ye Hongshang’s dangling feet froze. Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

Then she sat up straight, adopting a frosty, commanding posture, her gaze sharp like swords:

"You prefer the cold, untouchable type?"

Her voice turned cold and proud — like an icy peak untrodden for a thousand years.

Xie Jinhuan blinked, a faint flicker of confusion in his eyes:

"You... look kind of familiar like this..."

Ye Hongshang’s heart leapt in excitement. She kept up the cold goddess act:

"Oh? You've seen me before? Think carefully."

"Hmm..."

Xie Jinhuan thought long and hard, then slapped his forehead:

"That's right! Nangong Fairy!

"I once wandered near the Celestial Observatory and caught a glimpse of Nangong Fairy from afar — her aura felt just like yours now."

Ye Hongshang fell silent, then flopped back down on the bed, pouting with her cheek against her hand:

"Men really are pigs. Eyes on the bowl, heart on the pot. Hmph~"

It’s not like I even ate anything, Xie Jinhuan thought silently. He asked:

"Are you trying to figure out your own origins?"

Ye Hongshang blinked her beautiful eyes:

"I must be someone pretty important. Maybe you knew me in a past life and are here to repay a debt."

Xie Jinhuan seriously doubted he knew her in any past life. He shook his head:

"I'm not some white snake spirit. Repay what?"

"Maybe I am the spirit~ Payback still counts."

While speaking, nine fluffy, crimson tails fanned out from behind her, gently swaying around the bed canopy, as she transformed into a stunning, busty fox demon.

Holy—!

Xie Jinhuan’s pupils shrank — this was exactly how he had imagined a fox demon to look!

He peered at her tail area suspiciously:

"Is that a prop? Or part of your real body?"

Ye Hongshang twisted her waist away coyly:

"My real body doesn’t look like this.

You wanted to see a fox spirit, so I made myself look like one."

Finding out it wasn’t real, Xie Jinhuan lost interest.

Still, this experience was new, and curiosity got the better of him:

"You can turn into anything? How about a spider—

HOLY SH—!!"

Before he even finished, a sharp, piercing screech erupted from the bed!

The scene inside was indescribable.

Even fearless Xie Jinhuan nearly had a heart attack, shielding his eyes with his hand:

"I meant a sexy spider-woman! Not a giant white-furred spider!"

"Oh~"

"You still 'oh'! Disappear! DISAPPEAR! I'm about to die of fright!"

"Are you sure? Big sister isn’t someone you can just summon and dismiss."

"GO, GO, GO—!"

Frantically waving his hands, Xie Jinhuan kept his eyes shut tight until the eerie sounds faded away.

He had just relaxed a little when suddenly he heard from behind the house:

Clang clang clang—

"Laaaangg—君——~"

"Drink! Drink! Drink!"

"...?"

Xie Jinhuan’s face darkened. He realized he had made a huge mistake.

Reluctantly, he picked up the Zhenglun Sword again:

"Miss Ye? Hongshang? Hey?"

No response.

Apparently, the temptress ghost was now throwing a tantrum.

With no choice, Xie Jinhuan gritted his teeth and tried to meditate despite the racket.

But the bunch of crazy noble girls in the Princess Manor were being too damn loud, bickering non-stop. He even caught snippets like:

"The Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival’s starting soon! Heard tons of handsome young heroes are coming! Even Young Lord Bao Fei ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) from Jinghua Manor is here!"

"A guy with a name like 'Bao Fei' — how fat can he get?"

"Bah! You're one to talk about fat!

Come on, lift her skirt! Let's see who's fatter!"

How the hell am I supposed to cultivate like this?!

Xie Jinhuan almost lost it.

If he didn’t barge in there to be a judge, it was only because of sheer willpower!

Finally snapping, he picked up the Zhenglun Sword again:

"Night big sis? Beautiful Night? Ghost wife?"

"Who are you calling wife?"

"Kidding, kidding! I need to focus on training — help me block the noise!"

"Hmph~"

...

Meanwhile, deep into the night at the Dan Prince’s study.

Steward Zhu Wenyuan stood by the desk, folding fan in hand, brows furrowed:

"Truly a turbulent time. We’ve visited every household today, checking every man matching the footprint height.

Just in Danyang County alone, we found over a thousand suspects..."

Dan Prince Zhao Xiao, nearly fifty, still retained a scholarly aura.

Years of worrying over state affairs had sprinkled his hair with silver.

Sitting behind his desk, he flipped through reports:

"Both Zihui Mountain and the academy detected the bloodthirsty aura.

Footprints were found too. Danzhou definitely has a great demon lurking.

"If we find nothing by tomorrow, we'll petition Luojing and let the Grandmaster handle it.

"I’d rather be scolded by the Censors than risk a true disaster befalling the people."

As a governor-prince, Zhao Xiao was supposed to handle problems himself.

Reporting to the capital too early would imply incompetence.

But given the threat level, it was the safer move.

Zhu Wenyuan, as a top advisor, preferred to solve things locally — but the Zihui Mountain demon was too elusive.

He changed the subject:

"And as if that’s not enough, now the Li family is stirring trouble.

"They surrendered Li Zixian to the county yamen and even supervised his torture themselves, fearing we wouldn't press hard enough.

"Li Zixian’s tough. No matter how badly beaten, he insists he’s innocent —

says all the forbidden drug trades and demon dealings were Li Shizhong’s doing alone..."

Dan Prince wasn’t surprised:

"Without a dead man's confession, Li Zixian would be a fool to admit anything.

Li family sent messengers to Luojing immediately after Sanhe Tower's incident.

I expect Li Gongpu’s people to arrive tomorrow."

Li Gongpu, as a favored imperial attendant, was extremely influential.

Even though Zhao Xiao was the Emperor’s own brother, he still had to tread carefully around someone favored at court.

With demons on one side and political messes on the other, Zhao Xiao was utterly exhausted.

As he flipped through reports, a name repeatedly caught his eye:

"Who's this Xie Jinhuan?

He was at Dongcang Ward, Sanhe Tower... seems he was critical to both cases."

Zhu Wenyuan had done his homework:

"Former County Constable Xie Wen’s son.

Studied under the Hidden Immortal sect after his father's death.

Recently returned and lives at Qingquan Alley."

"Mm..."

Zhao Xiao, hearing that his father died in service, naturally felt a bit more favorable:

"If you praise his martial skills, he must be impressive.

And we need capable men right now..."

Then Zhao Xiao frowned:

"He lives near the Princess Manor?"

"Uh..."

Zhu Wenyuan knew the Prince doted on his daughter, the Changning Princess, like a treasure.

She was reaching marriageable age, and Zhao Xiao’s worst fear was some slick young rogue seducing her.

Many idiots had tried lurking near the Princess Manor, dreaming of 'marrying into money.'

Seeing Zhao Xiao's suspicion rising, Zhu Wenyuan quickly explained:

"He’s friends with Deputy Constable Yang Dabiao.

No contact with the Princess.

If you’re worried, I’ll keep an eye on him."

Zhao Xiao thought for a moment, then relaxed:

"Forget it.

Though his origins are humble, his father died serving the nation, and he’s capable and upright.

If Changning were to fancy him... it wouldn't be too humiliating."

"Understood."