The Steward Demonic Emperor

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Skin white as snow, soft brows like a dancing willow, cheeks rosy like a fresh peach, delicate like a blade of grass, and eyes clearer than the purest spring were the only ways such beauty could be described, yet it still failed to do her justice.

Murong Xue had come out in the open, stunning every single person with her visage.

[She lives up to her name as the best beauty in southern lands.]

The ever writhing Baili Jingyu forgot all about his pain, as he looked at this angel that had graced him with her presence with a goonie look.

Murong Xue kept a frosty expression, checking his pulse and sending warm and fuzzy Yuan Qi in his body. She was better off not knowing, the discovery ending up being the shock of her life as she winced.

[Just what on earth is this?]

“Young miss, h-how is he?” Zhui’er rushed over, watching as Baili Jingyu was hardening under her very eyes and taking a dark color.

Murong Xue was grave, shaking her head, “I don’t know, his body is baffling. Something black is eating him from the inside, even my own Yuan Qi. I don’t know what that thing is, but it has to be brutal.”

Everyone else nodded while scared. They looked at her and wondered how Murong Xue was going to save him.

This young miss wasn’t just a way too pretty face, also known as an Immortal Healer and for good reason.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?”

Zhui’er shrieked, getting everyone’s attention. The ever blackening Baili Jingyu’s eyes drunk in Murong Xue’s every lovely and intoxicating feature as he strained with all his being to touch her perfect hand. It was like his life depended on it. His lust was plain for all to see, “Miss… Murong, you truly are… perfection…”

Everyone’s faces twitched in unison.

[A leopard doesn’t change its spots after all, especially a deviant like him. Death is just around the corner yet he still has the time to flirt with girls.]

Murong Xue grew icy, clenching her fists and gnashing her teeth. The only thing stopping her from lashing out and leaving a deep print on his face was his already wretched state.

She had seen her fair share of womanizers who only cared about flirting.

But in regards to Baili Jingyu, she needn’t bother with putting him in his place as his outstretched hand for her delectable soft skin stiffened in place. Though the desire in his eyes was never quenched, his body just wouldn’t follow along with his wants even as his last vestige of life flew away from him, swallowed by the darkness within.

He had become a black rock in the flesh, just like that demon spirit stone nearby.

Everyone was stunned by such a development. How could a healthy man, by all accounts, just turn into a rock without rhyme nor reason?

Moreover, his death was so queer that had everyone around feel a chill down their spine.

“Miss Murong, w-what just happened?”

Wu Jiangtao bowed to her and asked. Murong Xue shook her head with doubt, “I don’t know either. In all my years as healer, I’ve seen my fair share of odd illnesses, but never one as strange as this. It has similarities with poison, from such a violent reaction, but it really isn’t. It’s more similar to a demonic cultivator’s curse or demonic parasite, but even that isn’t entirely true. I just can’t explain it…”

Whoosh~

Hundreds of men suddenly showed up from the heart of the city in an unending stream. The man in front elicited endless gasps of shock from the crowd around, “Prime Minister, what has brought sir all the way to Goldbough City?”

“Where is that rotten bastard, Baili Jingyu? I’ve used the official line to go thousands of miles all the way over here, only to hear he’s out welcoming guests. Humph, now where is he? I have a score to settle with him!”

Baili Jingwei was livid, disregarding anyone around him,

As if on cue, all eyes fell on the weirdly shaped black rock on the ground.

Baili Jingwei followed their gaze and knew immediately what happened as he jeered, “This useless bastard got what he deserved to die the same way. You got lucky you got off so easily, or I would’ve made sure you’d leave squealing!”

“Prime Minister, can I assume from your words that you know what’s happening?”

Oblivious of the crimes Serene Shores Trading had committed, in Baili Jingwei’s eyes, Wu Jiangtao had the poor inspiration of putting himself up for a lashing as he bowed and scraped, “We just witnessed the City Lord die out of the blue. Can it be that something is going on?”

Baili Jingwei cocked an eyebrow and mocked, “Old Wu, you dare show yourself to me? Your company actually have no idea why he died?”

“Prime Minister, what do you mean?”

Wu Jiangtao jerked in fright. He felt like the usual Baili Jingwei who cherished talent and was nice to them was no longer around.

He looked royally pissed and it was their fault. They, however, were oblivious as to what wrong they might have commited to earn Baili Jingwei’s ire to such a degree as to make him lose his temper.

Looking at his dumb look, Baili Jingwei knew he was talking to a wall so he sneered, “Old Wu, you don’t know what fine work Serene Shores Trading has done? I came here to ask you where those demon spirit stones came from. You better have a good explanation!”

“Demon spirit stones?”

Wu Jiangtao and Wu Ranze shuddered, then gasped, “Prime Minister, y-you mean that the demon spirit stone…”

Humph!

Baili Jingwei flicked his wrist and huffed, “I don’t know from where you unearthed those rocks, but you went as far as working with that degenerate Baili Jingyu to spread it to the officials in the imperial capital. You know how that turned out? In just three days, a third of princes and generals that used your special rock have turned black and stiff. They died without even knowing why. The death of the empire’s foundation shook the entire nation. Who do you think is to blame for such a tragedy? Just where the hell did you get it from?”

Everyone from the Serene Shores Trading gasped, then they looked at the demon spirit stone on the ground with dread.

This tiny little thing ruined close to half of the empire’s officials.

[This is a disaster!]

The Wu clan was done for!

Serene Shores Trading had been in the business for thousands of years, only to be cut down in one day…

Wu Jiangtao was ashen and shook like a leaf. He staggered and blood spilled from his mouth, looking to be taken by despair.

“Prime Minister, our company has sold the demon spirit stone but it wasn’t us who made it. It came from a client. We don’t know either how…”

Wu Ranze rushed to bow and plead, feeling unease as well.

Baili Jingwei mocked, “A client, who? Tell me his name, his background, his credentials, everything!”

“Well…” Wu Ranze’s face fell, “Prime Minister, you know our business model as well. We never ask our clients anything unless they wish to share it willingly. All we know about him is that he wanted to go to western lands and just used the commercial line while taking an unconscious kid with him…”

“What, a child?”

The rage Baili Jingwei had so far turned into complete disbelief, “What kind of child? How old? How did both of them look?”

Wu Ranze bowed at once and replied, “Prime Minister, the child looked to be an eight-year-old, quite adorable. Only he seemed to have suffered heavy wounds, always unconscious. As for the sir, he was thin, but very shrewd and good at negotiations. No matter how hard I tried, not once did I manage to get any info out of him…”

“Impossible! He didn’t die? How is this…”

Baili Jingwei shuddered and said in disbelief, “He should’ve been pulverized from Dragon Cleaving Sword King so how is he still among us…”

“Young miss, doesn’t that sound like that Gu Yifan we just saved…”

“Zhui’er, quiet. This isn’t our problem!”

Zhui’er couldn’t help herself from whispering to Murong Xue when she heard them talking, but the miss warned her. Baili Jingwei’s ears however, were just too sharp and gasped, “You met them? He’s called Gu Yifan? When?”

“Three days ago we rescued a child and a man from snow. The older one called himself Gu Yifan.” Seeing Baili Jingwei staring hard, Murong Xue spoke of their encounter.

Baili Jingwei grimaced, his eyes shocked to the core, “Gu Yifan, you’re like a haunting soul…”