Hearing her words, Yang Kai's burning desire instantly dimmed considerably. He frowned. "How many died?"
"Six! Instantly killed — one fifth-grade and five fourth-grade!" Zi Mo's face was pale with shock, her brows tightly knitted. She scrambled out from beneath Yang Kai, frantically tidying her clothes to cover her exposed upper body.
Then, as though some thought had struck her, her spring-water eyes secretly darted a glance downward toward Yang Kai's crotch. She quickly looked away, her face flushing as red as blood, gleaming with an alluring luster.
"Do you know who did it, and how many of them there were?" Yang Kai asked in a low voice.
Zi Mo controlled demon beasts through Soul-Controlling Insects, so she could sense their life or death within a certain range. But anything beyond that was difficult to determine — after all, she hadn't witnessed it with her own eyes.
"Not really." Zi Mo shook her head.
"Let's go check it out!" Yang Kai decided immediately.
"It could be dangerous," Zi Mo said hesitantly. "What if it's that expert who escaped before..."
She was naturally referring to Wu Chengyi. In this strange land, whoever could annihilate six demon beasts in an instant had to be extraordinarily powerful.
"If it's him, that's even better." Yang Kai couldn't help feeling a surge of eagerness. Wu Chengyi had sent one of his junior brothers to hunt him down before, and Yang Kai had kept that grudge firmly in mind. That debt would have to be settled sooner or later. Besides, Wu Chengyi very likely still had treasures like the Pyroclastic Liquid on him.
Whether it was killing for revenge or seizing treasures, there was no reason for Yang Kai to let him go.
Seeing Yang Kai so resolute, Zi Mo didn't dare go against his wishes. Moreover, even if it really was Wu Chengyi, he wouldn't fare well against Zi Mo's demon beast army.
With a hurried command, Zi Mo led her remaining demon beasts toward the site of the incident. Leng Shan followed along on wobbly legs. The two women walked side by side, deliberately leaving Yang Kai behind.
Yang Kai didn't mind. He trailed after them, keeping watch for any movement in the surroundings.
"What's wrong with you?" Leng Shan had keenly noticed the change in Zi Mo and couldn't help asking softly.
"What?" Zi Mo seemed to have been lost in a daze, as though she hadn't heard Leng Shan's words.
"You've been acting strange." Leng Shan studied her curiously. "Weren't you supposed to seduce him and embarrass him? But just now you..."
Leng Shan thought for a long while before finding the right words: "You looked like you were actually enjoying it?"
Zi Mo wished the ground would open up and swallow her. Her ears and neck had turned completely red. She clenched her teeth and whispered, "Don't bring this up again. And never try to seduce him in the future, otherwise... you might end up getting burned playing with fire."
"What..." Leng Shan was stunned.
What a total loss!
She had assumed Yang Kai wasn't really a man, so Zi Mo hadn't taken his liberties to heart. So what if he kissed and touched her? You're not even a real man. What else could you do? Even if I stripped naked and lay in front of you, all you could do is grope a little.
But what she never imagined was that Yang Kai was nothing like she had assumed.
That fleeting sensation still lingered in Zi Mo's mind even now. Every time she thought of it, she felt mortified. Beneath her bold and uninhibited exterior, Zi Mo's heart was nothing like what it seemed.
But... if he really was a man, then why had he been completely unmoved the other day when she and Leng Shan were practically naked in front of him? What man could resist such an easily available temptation? Was he really some kind of righteous gentleman?
Lost in these jumbled thoughts, they quickly arrived at the place where the six demon beasts had died.
There were some bloodstains on the ground, but the demon beast corpses were gone. The blood had coagulated into droplets and been collected by someone, leaving behind only piles of fine ash.
Yang Kai surveyed the surroundings, his brow furrowing.
Zi Mo crouched down and sifted through the ash. After a moment, her expression changed.
"What is it?" Leng Shan asked.
"The Soul-Controlling Insects... they're gone." Zi Mo's face went pale. She carefully searched through another pile of ash, but after combing through all six piles, she couldn't find a single Soul-Controlling Insect.
"No point looking. The one who killed your demon beasts isn't that expert from the Nine Star Sword Sect!" Yang Kai regarded Zi Mo with an amused expression. "There are no traces of sword energy here."
"What are you trying to say?" Zi Mo's expression grew uneasy. She had a vague guess, but she didn't dare confirm it — or rather, she didn't want to.
"You know perfectly well. Do I really need to spell it out?" Yang Kai scoffed.
"No way..." Zi Mo shook her head faintly, her voice barely a whisper, her heart wavering.
Suddenly, Zi Mo looked up toward another direction. "More of my demon beasts have been killed!"
Yang Kai let out a cold laugh, his suspicions growing ever firmer. He tilted his head and looked at Zi Mo. "Want to go check it out?"
Zi Mo's face twisted with conflict. After a long, hesitant pause, she gave a slight nod.
But this time, she didn't dare scatter her demon beasts to the perimeter. She called them all back and rushed toward the second location.
Half an hour later, Zi Mo stood up again with a look of disappointment. There were four piles of ash here — there should have been four Soul-Controlling Insects, but just like before, the insects had vanished without a trace.
"Was it two of your fellow disciples who did this?" Leng Shan had finally caught on, staring at Zi Mo in shock.
The Soul-Controlling Insects were a technique unique to Zi Mo's group. If it truly had been Wu Chengyi who killed the demon beasts, there was no way he could have taken the insects too. He simply didn't have that kind of ability.