THE DEVIL IN THE DETAILS
Chapter Twenty-Nine — Slaughter in the Dark

“Bullshit!”

Yang Ming strode toward Zhuo Fan with terrifying momentum and grabbed him by the collar, dragging him away from the bed so violently that the old man stumbled several steps.

Lei Yuting froze.

Why was Yang Ming reacting this strongly?

“Senior Brother…” she asked carefully. “What’s wrong with you?”

Yang Ming narrowed his eyes and slowly turned toward her.

“Junior Sister,” he said coldly, “are you hiding something from me?”

Lei Yuting’s heart skipped.

But after a brief hesitation, she forced out a bright smile and shook her head.

“Of course not.”

Yang Ming stared at her silently.

Then the corner of his mouth curled upward in a strange smile.

“Junior Sister… we’ve known each other for years.” His eyes darkened. “You’ve never been good at lying to me.”

Lei Yuting’s chest tightened.

For some reason, looking at his smile now felt like staring into the eyes of a venomous snake.

Instinctively, she stepped back twice.

Yang Ming laughed softly.

Then, without warning—

Whoosh.

He struck with one palm.

Lei Yuting had no time to react before the blow slammed into her chest and sent her flying backward.

Blood sprayed through the air.

At the same moment, Yang Ming pressed a hidden switch near the bed.

Rumble.

The floor split open instantly.

Lei Yuting fell directly into the darkness below.

Zhuo Fan widened his eyes dramatically and turned to run.

But Yang Ming moved even faster.

He grabbed the old man by the throat and flung him down into the pit as well.

Then he pressed the mechanism again.

The stone floor slowly sealed shut above them, returning the room to perfect normality, as though no hidden chamber had ever existed beneath it.

On the bed, the old mountain chief trembled violently with rage.

But he could do nothing.

Boom.

Lei Yuting hit the ground hard inside the pitch-black chamber, pain exploding through her body.

Then another weight crashed down directly on top of her.

“Agh!”

She coughed blood again instantly.

“Didn’t expect that brat to build a trap here.”

Zhuo Fan slowly pushed himself up while muttering to himself.

Then his hands paused.

“Hm.” He blinked thoughtfully. “Soft landing.”

“Bastard!”

Lei Yuting’s furious scream echoed through the darkness.

“Get off me right now!”

Zhuo Fan looked down.

Only then did he realize he was sprawled directly across her body — and both hands had landed squarely on her chest.

He immediately jumped backward.

“Accident. Pure accident.”

Lei Yuting’s face burned scarlet.

But right now, she no longer had the energy to argue about something like that.

Because she understood everything.

She shot to her feet and screamed upward toward the sealed ceiling.

“Yang Ming! So it really was you all along!”

Yang Ming’s laughter echoed down through the thick stone overhead.

“Junior Sister, the moment you returned to the mountain, I knew something was wrong.” His voice carried open amusement now. “And then you suddenly brought back some second-grade alchemist? Clearly, you’d already started suspecting me.”

“Why?” Lei Yuting shouted, grief and fury mixing together. “Father never treated you unfairly!”

“Hmph.”

Yang Ming’s tone became cold.

“I came to Black Wind Mountain with my own purpose from the very beginning. Whether that old man treated me well never mattered.”

He laughed again.

“Originally, I didn’t intend to move against you this soon. But then you had to bring back this so-called alchemist and ruin my plans.”

Lei Yuting trembled violently.

“You… you were planning to kill me too?”

Tears streamed down her face.

This time, the pain had nothing to do with the palm strike earlier.

Her heart felt like it was tearing apart.

Zhuo Fan watched quietly from the side.

He felt no sympathy whatsoever.

Who could she blame?

Only herself for failing to see clearly.

Still, since he was currently playing the role of harmless wandering fraud, he continued acting properly.

“Young master,” Zhuo Fan wailed upward miserably, “your personal grudges have nothing to do with me! I’m innocent! Please let this old man go!”

Yang Ming burst out laughing.

“Old fraud, if you truly had no skill at all, killing you wouldn’t matter either way.” His voice darkened slightly. “Unfortunately for you, you noticed the old man’s condition.”

“What condition?” Zhuo Fan shouted indignantly. “I just thought his body had accumulated toxins from lying in bed too long! I was going to prescribe a cleansing pill!”

Silence followed.

Then Yang Ming sighed heavily above them.

“…Damn it.”

He had misunderstood completely.

Originally, he thought this old man had actually discovered the hidden method he’d used against the mountain chief.

But after hearing this idiotic explanation, Yang Ming finally realized—

The man truly was a fraud.

Thinking about it now, it made sense.

Someone this old who was still only at Qi Gathering Stage Four — what real ability could he possibly possess?

Yang Ming rubbed his forehead in irritation.

If he’d known this earlier, he wouldn’t have exposed himself so quickly.

Now he would have to personally handle matters in Windforest City himself.

“Worthless old fraud,” he spat coldly. “Acting mysterious and nearly ruining my plans.”

His voice turned vicious.

“Wait here quietly. Once I finish my business, I’ll come back and deal with both of you.”

Then they heard him shout outside:

“Guards! Watch this place. No one enters.”

“Yes, sir!”

Footsteps gradually faded away.

“Hey! Young master!” Zhuo Fan shouted upward again. “Pretending to know things is how everyone survives on the road! Don’t kill me for that!”

No answer came.

At last, Zhuo Fan confirmed Yang Ming had truly left.

He slowly turned toward Lei Yuting.

She sat collapsed against the wall, eyes empty and lifeless.

The man she had trusted most had become the one trying to bury her alive.

Worse still—

He had not hesitated even slightly.

For any woman, that kind of betrayal would shatter something permanently.

Zhuo Fan studied her quietly.

Then sighed.

“You and our young miss really are alike,” he said casually. “Maybe later you two can exchange experiences about getting betrayed by men.”

Lei Yuting glared at him through tear-filled eyes.

“Hmph. Later?” she said bitterly. “We’ll be lucky if we survive tonight.”

Zhuo Fan smiled faintly.

“Everything’s proceeding according to plan. Relax. We’ll leave tonight.”

Then his eyes narrowed slightly.

“Of course, if you really want to die, feel free to kill yourself now. You’re no longer useful anyway.”

Lei Yuting’s eyes widened angrily.

“Even if I die, I’ll drag you down with me!”

Zhuo Fan only chuckled and closed his eyes against the wall.

Lei Yuting snorted and turned away.

But strangely enough, after arguing with him for a while, the suffocating pain in her chest had eased slightly.

The grief remained.

But it no longer felt sharp enough to kill her.

Time passed slowly.

At last—

Night fully descended.

The moon hung high above Black Wind Mountain.

Most of the bandits had already fallen asleep, leaving only rotating patrols guarding the stronghold.

Inside the dark underground chamber, Zhuo Fan slowly opened his eyes.

A sinister smile spread across his face.

Lei Yuting had unknowingly fallen asleep on the floor nearby.

Without waking her, Zhuo Fan flicked his fingers lightly.

Whoosh.

A red light emerged from Lei Yuting’s body and flew directly toward him.

The Blood Infant.

During their journey here, Zhuo Fan had never fully trusted Lei Yuting.

So he had prepared two safeguards.

One was Xiao Cui.

The other was the Blood Infant hidden inside Lei Yuting’s body at all times.

The moment she showed any hostile intent—

It would kill her instantly.

Fortunately, she had cooperated.

But now, the Blood Infant had a far more useful purpose.

The tiny crimson creature rubbed affectionately against Zhuo Fan’s face like a child reunited with its parent after days apart.

Zhuo Fan smiled.

Then slowly raised one finger and pointed outward.

At that moment—

The killing intent in his eyes became absolute madness.

The Blood Infant understood instantly.

It transformed into a streak of crimson light and shot upward.

The heavy stone above might as well not have existed.

The Blood Infant passed through effortlessly.

Outside—

Black Wind Mountain slept peacefully beneath moonlight.

Bandits snored inside their rooms, smiling foolishly in pleasant dreams.

Then the red light came.

It flashed silently through the darkness and pierced directly through their bodies.

In.

Out.

Gone.

The men still wore smiles as their heads tilted sideways.

Dead.

The Blood Infant moved too fast to follow.

Within a single breath, it passed through more than twenty people inside one room.

By the time it emerged again—

Every last person inside had become a corpse.

No screams.

No struggle.

Only silence.

Again and again, the Blood Infant swept through Black Wind Mountain like a crimson phantom, quietly harvesting lives.

At last, it arrived outside the mountain chief’s room.

Two guards still stood watch there.

Whoosh.

The Blood Infant shot into one guard’s body instantly.

The second guard jumped in terror.

“Something went into your body!”

The possessed guard froze.

Then Zhuo Fan’s voice suddenly echoed from inside him:

“Open the mechanism. Let us out.”

The two guards stared at each other in horror.

Why was the voice of the imprisoned man coming from inside another person’s body?

Before either could react—

The possessed guard’s body rapidly shriveled before their eyes.

Skin collapsed.

Flesh dried.

Bone cracked inward.

Then—

Poof.

The entire body disintegrated into ash.

The Blood Infant emerged from the ashes and instantly entered the second guard.

The remaining man collapsed to the ground screaming.

He had never seen anything so horrifying in his life.

Again, Zhuo Fan’s voice echoed from inside his body:

“Open the mechanism.”

This time, the voice carried absolute coldness.

No room for refusal.

The guard completely broke.

“Y-Yes! Right away!”

Crying openly now, he crawled desperately toward the mechanism and activated it.

Rumble.

The stone above the chamber slowly opened.

Warm moonlight poured downward into the darkness.

Lei Yuting woke groggily and opened her eyes.

Then she saw the open ceiling.

And Zhuo Fan standing beside her with folded arms.

“If you still don’t want to die,” he said lazily, “come up.”

With that, he leapt out first.

Lei Yuting stared blankly for half a second.

How had he done this?

But then she heard his words and immediately became furious again.

“Hmph. You really want me dead that badly?”

She bit her lip stubbornly.

“Well too bad.”

“I’m not dying.”

Then she leapt upward and followed him out.

[End of Chapter Twenty-Nine]

Chapter Thirty — Snow Silkworm of the Frozen Abyss

Both of them returned safely to the mountain chief’s room.

The surviving guard immediately dropped to his knees the moment he saw them.

“Please spare me, sir! Miss, please!” he cried. “I was forced into this by the young ch— no, by that bastard Yang Ming!”

Lei Yuting still had no idea what had happened.

But Zhuo Fan simply waved a hand lazily.

“Stand aside.”

The guard nodded frantically and shrank into a corner, trembling.

Without another word, Zhuo Fan walked to the old mountain chief’s bedside.

The old man stared at him with desperate hope in his eyes.

Zhuo Fan smiled faintly.

“I can heal you,” he said calmly. “But afterward, you work for me.”

Lei Yuting froze.

Then she looked at Zhuo Fan in shock.

“You can really cure my father?”

Zhuo Fan ignored her completely and kept his eyes fixed on the old man.

The mountain chief hesitated.

Clearly, he was struggling internally.

Zhuo Fan understood immediately what worried him.

“You don’t need to be concerned,” he said lightly. “I won’t force you to harm your own people.”

He pointed toward himself.

“My name is Zhuo Fan. Steward of the Luo family.” His eyes narrowed slightly. “Right now, we share the same enemies. I’m lacking a Bone Tempering expert at my side. I want your help.”

The moment the old man heard the words Luo family steward, a fierce light flashed across his eyes.

Then he blinked heavily several times.

Agreement.

Zhuo Fan grinned.

Without hesitation, he flicked his finger.

The Blood Infant emerged from the terrified guard’s body and floated before him.

The guard’s face instantly turned pale again.

After all, he had personally watched that red light reduce a living man to ashes moments earlier.

Lei Yuting was equally startled.

She had suffered under that strange red light herself.

“Zhuo Fan,” she said nervously, “what are you doing?”

“Healing him.”

“But…” Her face tightened. “Can that thing even heal people?”

To her, the Blood Infant was nothing but a terrifying torture weapon.

It had restrained her body completely and humiliated her without resistance.

She could not understand how something so sinister could also heal.

Zhuo Fan chuckled softly.

“Miss Lei.” He shook his head helplessly. “Your father is already half-dead. If I wanted to harm him, would I really need to go through this much trouble?”

Lei Yuting bit her lip.

Then she pointed at the Blood Infant stubbornly.

“Then tell me what it is.”

Zhuo Fan’s expression became slightly more serious.

“A demonic artifact.”

He looked toward her calmly.

“Demon Path cultivators often refine demonic artifacts for combat, defense, control, or killing. They are indispensable to us.”

Then his eyes sharpened.

“Do you remember why Yang Ming attacked us the moment I mentioned a foreign object inside your father’s body?”

Lei Yuting frowned.

“Wasn’t that just a bluff?”

Zhuo Fan nearly coughed blood.

“So now I finally understand why Yang Ming fooled you this badly.”

He sighed deeply.

“You really are unbelievably naïve.”

Lei Yuting’s face turned red instantly.

Her adoptive father had always praised her talent and intelligence growing up.

This was the first time anyone had ever called her stupid directly to her face.

Yang Ming attacked us,” Zhuo Fan continued, “because I exposed the truth.” His eyes darkened. “Your father’s condition comes from a demonic parasite lodged inside his body.”

He pointed at the Blood Infant.

“So naturally, I need my own demonic artifact to remove it.”

Lei Yuting seemed to understand a little now.

But uncertainty still lingered in her eyes.

“Your artifact…” she asked carefully. “Can it really defeat his?”

Zhuo Fan burst into loud laughter.

As though he had just heard the greatest joke in existence.

Yang Ming’s so-called demonic artifact was nothing more than a crude parasitic gu worm — the lowest tier of demonic tool imaginable.

The Blood Infant, meanwhile, was Zhuo Fan’s life-bound demonic artifact.

A supreme creation feared even by the ancient Ten Emperors.

Comparing the two was laughable.

Unfortunately, Lei Yuting knew absolutely nothing about any of this.

Truly.

Ignorance was terrifying.

Too lazy to explain further, Zhuo Fan directed the Blood Infant into the old man’s body.

Instantly, crimson light began flickering beneath the mountain chief’s skin.

His entire body started twitching violently, as though countless insects were crawling beneath his flesh.

Then—

The red light swept through him like lightning.

Everywhere it passed, the writhing beneath the skin ceased completely.

Roughly fifteen breaths later, the Blood Infant emerged and returned to Zhuo Fan.

On the bed, the old mountain chief’s fingers twitched slightly.

Then his lips moved weakly.

“Yu… Ting…”

Lei Yuting’s eyes widened.

“Father!”

She rushed to the bedside and grabbed his hand tightly, tears pouring down her face.

“You can speak again!”

Meanwhile, Zhuo Fan frowned slightly to himself.

“Damn. His body’s been immobile too long. Blood circulation’s almost dead.” He clicked his tongue softly. “It’ll take at least half a year to recover fully. Useless for immediate combat.”

Then he sighed.

“Feels like I saved him for nothing.”

His voice had been quiet.

But Lei Yuting still heard every word.

She immediately turned and glared at him.

“Don’t worry,” she snapped. “My father owes you his life, and so do I. I’ll repay this debt even if I have to throw myself into fire.”

Zhuo Fan only shrugged.

Truthfully, he had wanted an active Bone Tempering expert.

Not one barely able to move.

Still—

Better than nothing.

But just then—

The old mountain chief’s body suddenly convulsed violently.

Then something slowly crawled from his mouth.

Lei Yuting gasped.

A snow-white worm, roughly three inches long, wriggled outward inch by inch from between the old man’s lips.

The moment she saw it clearly, murderous fury exploded inside her.

“So you’re the thing that did this to Father!”

Lightning crackled instantly around her fingers as she stabbed toward the worm.

“Stop!”

Zhuo Fan shouted and grabbed her arm immediately.

Lei Yuting stared at him in confusion.

“Why are you stopping me? That thing nearly destroyed him!”

“What do you know?”

Zhuo Fan snapped at her impatiently.

Then, incredibly carefully, he took out a small box and placed the white worm inside.

Afterward, he bit his fingertip and let several drops of blood fall into the box before sealing it shut with obvious satisfaction.

For the first time since arriving at Black Wind Mountain—

Zhuo Fan felt genuine excitement.

A massive reward.

The creature inside the box was called the Snow Silkworm of the Frozen Abyss.

An extremely rare species born within freezing spiritual pools.

Most importantly—

It survived through parasitism.

The instant its larvae hatched, they needed a living host within one hour or they would die immediately.

But creatures rarely existed inside frozen abyssal waters.

So most Snow Silkworms died shortly after birth.

Only a tiny number survived by continuously changing hosts.

Most Demon Path cultivators used them merely as low-grade gu parasites because very few people understood their true potential.

Even within the Sacred Domain, almost nobody knew the Snow Silkworm possessed one terrifying innate ability:

Once it parasitized a host, it could not be forcibly removed by normal means unless the host was on the verge of death.

That was why Zhuo Fan had used the Blood Infant to erase its larvae throughout the old man’s body first.

The silkworm believed its host was dying and abandoned the body voluntarily.

Otherwise—

Even the Blood Infant would never have been able to force it out cleanly.

As for the larvae the Blood Infant destroyed so easily?

That was only because Yang Ming had raised the Snow Silkworm incorrectly, reducing its offspring into ordinary gu parasites.

But now…

Now it belonged to Zhuo Fan.

And in his hands—

This little creature would eventually become one of the most terrifying demonic artifacts in existence.

Thinking about that future, Zhuo Fan’s lips curled into a deeply sinister smile.

The other three people in the room shivered simultaneously.

Because somehow—

The smiling Zhuo Fan looked even more frightening than Yang Ming.

“Carry the old man,” Zhuo Fan said casually to Lei Yuting. “We’re returning to Windforest City.”

Then he turned toward the surviving guard and smiled warmly.

“Thank you for opening the mechanism for us.”

The guard forced out an ugly smile.

“N-No problem…”

“But unfortunately,” Zhuo Fan continued softly, “you’re no longer useful.”

The guard froze.

“No—”

Crunch.

Zhuo Fan’s hand locked around the man’s throat and lifted him into the air.

Black energy burst violently from his palm and swallowed the guard whole.

Then Zhuo Fan clenched his fist.

Boom.

The man exploded instantly into drifting ash.

Lei Yuting froze completely.

This was the first time she had witnessed Zhuo Fan kill someone directly.

And only now did she truly understand how terrifying he was.

Cruel.

Efficient.

Merciless.

No hesitation whatsoever.

The old mountain chief’s pupils shrank as well.

He had traveled the world for decades.

Yet standing beside Zhuo Fan still made his instincts scream danger.

Lei Yuting glanced at her father.

Then back toward Zhuo Fan.

For the first time, uncertainty rose inside her.

Had cooperating with this man truly been the right decision?

One thing, however, was absolutely certain now.

Anyone who became Zhuo Fan’s enemy—

Would die horribly.

Lei Yuting sighed deeply and lifted her father onto her back.

Then the three of them walked through Black Wind Mountain together.

Along the way, corpses covered the stronghold.

Hundreds of them.

Every single bandit had died silently in their sleep.

No wounds.

No struggle.

Only peaceful expressions frozen on dead faces.

And somehow—

That peacefulness made everything even more horrifying.

The mountain chief’s eyes filled slowly with tears.

He remembered these men laughing and drinking beside him not long ago.

Yet now they all lay dead beneath the cold moonlight.

Still—

He did not hate Zhuo Fan.

If anything, he felt gratitude.

As Black Wind Mountain’s chief, he understood perfectly why this had to happen.

If word spread that he and Lei Yuting escaped alive, then every bandit sent to Windforest City would be silenced immediately.

This slaughter was not cruelty.

It was finality.

Even if Zhuo Fan had not done it—

The old chief would eventually have ordered it himself.

At least this way, he did not need to personally command the deaths of his own brothers.

The old man looked toward Zhuo Fan’s calm back and spoke with great difficulty:

“Steward… Zhuo…”

“Thank… you…”

Zhuo Fan understood immediately what he meant.

But his expression did not change at all.

The old mountain chief stared at him for a long time.

Fear.

Respect.

Admiration.

All three emotions mixed together in his eyes.

Finally, he whispered hoarsely:

“You… are someone destined… for great things.”

[End of Chapter Thirty]