Chapter 272 The Rat Demon 2
"Let's find a place to discuss." Ye Shaoyang interrupted.
After they exited the alley, the two went into the police car stopped by the road. As she started the engine, she asked, "Back to the town or your apartment? I'm OK with either."
"Don't go back to town; we need to capture the rat demon."
"The rat demon…. Where is it?" Xie Yuqing was dumbstruck at once, staring at him with wide eyes.
Ye Shaoyang did not answer her question. Instead, he took out the porcelain bowl he used to make potions and placed it onto the seat. Then he ignited the Qi Accumulation Talisman Paper he previously removed from Accountant Liu's mother and put it into the bowl. Next, he reached out for another two talisman papers, stuck them into the bowl in a cross shape, and drew a few strokes on the papers with cinnabar ink.
The Qi Accumulation Talisman Paper emitted jets of red and black smoke, twirling around each other. Ye Shaoyang winded down the window; the black smoke dispersed, but the red remained in the bowl and did not spill out, moving in a spiral and growing in intensity.
"What is this?" Xie Yuqing asked out of curiosity.
"The black smoke is the corpse Qi, while the red smoke is the demon Qi." When the Qi Accumulation Talisman Paper burned out, Ye Shaoyang took out a bottle of Mermaid Oil and poured the liquid into the bowl. The red demon Qi turned into a liquid at once, accumulating and coagulating into a sticky, blood red fluid. Picking up the sticky fluid with a sheet of talisman paper, Ye Shaoyang wiped it onto his Yin Yang Compass. He recited an incantation, and the fluid slowly glided in one direction.
"Let's go. To the east."
Xie Yuqing looked at the Yin Yang Compass in amazement, "What does it indicate?"
"It is the blood of the rat demon. It was left inside Accountant Liu's mother. With its blood, the compass can show us its location."
Xie Yuqing had a sudden thought, so she asked while she drove, "No wonder the demon undead could squeak and move so fast. But, why it chose the old lady and not her son?"
"The demon undead can only demonize a corpse. It would not dare to kill a living human. If not, the Netherworld Council will charge it. Furthermore, it was a demon that learned black magic; the Nether Council would send an army troop to capture it if they detect it killing too many people."
Xie Yuqing nodded in understanding, "But what advantage does the rat demon get from possessing the old lady?"
Ye Shaoyang did not answer directly, instead he asked, "Do you know why the demon undead was dried and wrinkled? It did not bleed when I chopped down both its arms."
"Because it has part of an undead?" Xie Yuqing simply made a guess.
Ye Shaoyang shook his head, "An undead will have undead blood, but a demon undead has no blood. That is because the blood was cultivated into corpse oil and absorbed by the rat demon. Therefore, the demon undead needs to eat raw meat and drink animal's blood; the demon Qi in its body will transform these substances into corpse oil. I am sure the rat demon came and extracted the corpse oil every three to five days. In summary, the rat demon demonized the old lady and used her as a corpse oil cultivating tool. Wait, left turn."
Xie Yuqing quickly turned the steering wheel. Gazing along the car lights, the car seemed like it was heading toward a mountain area, so she asked, "The rat demon, is it somewhere around here?"
"It won't be staying far from the house, as it needs to collect the corpse oil."
The car drove into a mountain area, and the tar road ended; both of them got out of the car and walked up the mountain, following the direction shown on the Yin Yang Compass.
They realized that they were standing in a hill cemetery when they saw countless tombs on the sides. It was dead silent; the pale moonlight shone on each tomb, making the view more frightening. Xie Yuqing grabbed Ye Shaoyang's arms and looked around nervously as if a ghost would suddenly appear from nowhere.
Halfway up the mountain, the demon blood on the Yin Yang Compass emitted a faint red light, indicating that the rat demon must be within two to three miles from them. Ye Shaoyang wiped the blood with a sheet of talisman paper and ignited it. A thin wisp of smoke appeared and flowed in the same direction regardless of the wind.
"It's there. Let's go." As Ye Shaoyang spoke, he caught up to the thin smoke; Xie Yuqing also sped up, and she quickly turned when she felt a chilling sensation on the back of her neck. A deadly pale, terrifying face stood about twenty centimeter away, grinning from ear to ear at her spookily, and sprung toward her.
"Aaa-" Xie Yuqing screamed for her life, but Ye Shaoyang quickly covered her mouth, and threw a talisman paper onto the ghost's forehead, absorbing it.
"Shhh, the rat demon is here. You could raise its attention!"
Xie Yuqing was catching her breath and said resentfully, "It terrified me! Why would it disturb me?"
"It was just a common spirit that tried to blow out the mortal lamps on your shoulders once you looked back; it wanted to possess you. "
"Why would a spirit target me when I am with you?"
"I hid my presence to prevent the rat demon from detecting my existence. Wait a second; I thought I gave you a Qi Hiding Talisman Paper?" Ye Shaoyang turned to her back and realized it was gone. He drew another one and stuck it on for her, "From now onward, you have to stay close to me and keep quiet. If you really need to talk, you have to talk as softly as I am now."
Xie Yuqing nodded, "Alright."
Xie Yuqing smiled; a rat demon that needed a puppet to cultivate should be no match for Ye Shaoyang.
After walking another ten meters or so, they arrived at the woods and heard rats squeaking. Ye Shaoyang stopped and lowered his voice, "I guess it is inside."
"It seems that there are a lot of them."
"Rats always stay in groups, but there is only one rat demon; the others just form its army. Wait for me here."
Xie Yuqing looked around at the pitch dark surroundings and the countless tombs; she frowned, "I would rather stay with you."
Her words left Ye Shaoyang speechless. They walked as softly as possible in the direction of the squeaking sounds. The land curved up before it came to a large slope. Empty land surrounded the slope; spruce were erected on each side of the slope, and a streamlet slithered in front of the incline.
"The trees open the heavenly door, the woods behind a slope, and a streamlet as a guide passage. What a strategic location of Fengshui! The slope, there must be an ancient tomb underneath!"
Xie Yuqing showed no interest in the ancient tomb. She poked his arm and said in a low voice, "Did you hear that? The rats are opposite the slope."
Ye Shaoyang nodded. Considering that they might alarm the rats if they walked straight to the place, he signaled for Xie Yuqing to exit the woods, move around it, and sneak in quietly. They found a strategic location for them to spy on the slope area and hid in between the trees.