Chapter 66

He Zhizhou suddenly realized something and gulped down a mouthful of tea. “Look, even if he knows that his wife is likely a demon, he has been protecting her at all costs, not letting anyone get close and even forbidding Taoists from performing rituals. Isn’t this blatantly telling everyone, ‘Although I suspect her, I won’t let any of you interfere and harm her’?”

Zheng Weiqi, the novel dealer, agreed with him. “I see! This is definitely a love story between a human and a demon! Maybe from the beginning, it wasn’t Miss Zhao who fell in love with the young master, but the demon wearing her skin. Two beings came from different paths, but after overcoming difficulties, they ended up together. Who would’ve thought that one day the demon would go to the well to wash and accidentally be discovered by the servants who had hidden the truth for so long?”

It’s like a cultivation version of Romeo and Juliet, just missing Mr. Chen coldly handing her a check from the bank and saying expressionlessly, “Five million spirit stones, leave my son.”

Their dialogue went back and forth, and Chen Lubai’s face changed after hearing it. With an air of indulgence, he slammed the table hard.

“No! Even if they truly love each other, that woman cannot stay! You don’t know that, besides my brother, both my father and I are getting worse day by day. Not only are we physically weak, but we also sleep a lot. If this continues, the entire Chen family will be ruined!”

This was something everyone didn’t know.

Beings from different paths, destined not to be accepted by the world—how pitiful.

After hearing this, Zheng Weiqi’s expression changed, and she looked at her junior sister with curiosity. “Ning Ning, what exactly is your demon-repelling water? Why have I never heard of it?”

Ning Ning was searching through her bag, gently raising her eyes to meet hers. Although she answered, it was not the question asked. “Sister, have you ever thought that if Chen Yaoguang really knew the true identity of the demon, why would she secretly go to the well to wash her skin?”

With a simple sentence, she overturned their previous lengthy discussions.

The beautiful love story seemed to have turned into an unreliable bubble. Zheng Weiqi wanted to hear her continue analyzing, but saw Ning Ning take out a bottle of medicine from her bag and motioned to Pei Ji beside her with a beckoning finger. “Extend your hand.”

Pei Ji, holding his sword, moved his finger slightly upon hearing this, hesitatingly extending his arm.

Seeing the appearance of his palm, Zheng Weiqi couldn’t help but gasp.

Pei Ji’s hand was long and fair, with distinct joints; although it was covered with calluses formed from sword practice, it was still considered handsome.

Unfortunately, his right hand seemed to be burned, with a conspicuous redness and slight swelling. On the fair palm of the young man, it appeared somewhat grim.

“When I saw the demon-repelling water earlier, I felt like I had seen it before.”

He Zhizhou seemed to realize something; his mouth rounded in surprise. “Could it really be as I thought?”

“It’s exactly as you thought.”

Ningning, with one hand holding the medicine bottle and the other hand, applied the medicine to Pei Ji’s palm. “CaO + H2O = Ca(OH)2. Lime reacts with water to form calcium hydroxide and continues to release intense heat.”

She paused for a moment and then brushed her fingertips over Pei Ji’s palm and fingertips in turn, her voice lowering slightly. “Did you also guess it?”

The girl’s fingertips were unbelievably soft, like cotton landing on the skin, carrying a cool ointment, which greatly alleviated the burning pain of the wound. Pei Ji looked down at her fair back of the hand, not knowing if it was itching or hurting. His fingers moved unconsciously.

Then he shifted his gaze to the table on the other side. “Hmm.”

“If it’s just lime and water, wouldn’t anyone get burned by it?”

He Zhizhou stroked his chin thoughtfully. “But Chen Yaoguang behaved so casually; doesn’t that prove he’s deliberately deceiving people?”

“There are three main suspicious points in the Chen family’s strange occurrences.”

Ningning finished applying the medicine and habitually blew a breath of cold air into Pei Ji’s hand, causing the latter’s ears to heat up and his whole body to stiffen as he pulled his arm back.

Cheng Ying couldn’t help but express his annoyance: “Are you okay, Pei Ji? It was just a breath of air; why such a big reaction?”

Pei Ji didn’t want to bother with him and replied calmly in his mind, “Really.”

“The first suspicious point is the rumor about ‘Madam Zhao being a demon’, which originated from a servant who went to the well late at night and witnessed her washing her skin in the well.”

Ning Ning remarked, “But isn’t that too coincidental? Setting aside how they just happened to encounter each other, as a demon like the Painting Enchantment who meticulously plans to replace the original person, would she really make such a low-level mistake of casually going to the well to take off her skin, only to be inadvertently seen by others?”

“Right.”

Zheng Weiqi nodded as if she understood: “If I were the demon, I would never use such a risky method. Isn’t it simple to wash the skin? Just wait for Chen Yaoguang to leave, then fetch a basin of water and do it in the room.”

“That’s correct. If we shift our perspective, discard our previous speculations, and look at the problem from another angle—”

Ning Ning paused, a glint of brightness shimmering in her almond-shaped eyes. “What if the servant didn’t accidentally discover the demon, but it was intentional?”

This time, He Zhizhou couldn’t stay still. “Intentional? Intentional for what? To make sure others know she’s a demon?”