"Snap."

The glass in her hand instantly cracked, shattering with a crisp sound.

As a demon who had lived for hundreds of years, she wouldn't normally bother with a mortal. It was beneath her. But mentioning that person was crossing the line, stirring up her deep-seated pain.

Hu Li raised her head. The eyes that usually exuded charm were now icy, with a faint trace of blood swirling in their depths.

The bar's lights flickered violently for a moment, and a chill not typical of summer spread from Hu Li, making Mo Baobao shiver.

"What do you think you're doing?" Mo Baobao took a step back, her bravado fading, but she still tried to sound tough. "This place is full of cameras. If you dare touch me, I'll expose you to the media!"

Perhaps something in her words struck a chord. The blood in Hu Li's eyes faded slightly. "Mo Baobao."

She called out softly, her voice gentle and filled with an enchanting power. Mo Baobao instinctively looked up, meeting a pair of extraordinarily beautiful eyes. She felt as if she had fallen into a vortex, her mind in turmoil.

The next moment, her eyes lost their focus, and she stood there motionless.

"Leave."

Hu Li's red lips parted, her tone cold, a stark contrast to her earlier gentleness.

Mo Baobao, as if hearing heavenly music, obediently turned and left.

"By the way, I'm not sure if it's my imagination, but she seemed to know I'm not human." Hu Li recalled the scene in detail, thinking about Mo Baobao's seemingly disjointed words.

"You used a mind control spell on her?" Zhao Jiong noted this point and asked another question.

"Yes," Hu Li said. "Just the basic mind control spell. It only lasts for two hours and then dissipates on its own."

Seeing Zhao Jiong's expression change, Hu Li became a bit nervous. "The spell just slows down her thoughts and actions..." Halfway through her sentence, she seemed to realize something, and her face changed.

"It seems you've realized," Zhao Jiong said, rubbing his chin. "The killer probably took advantage of Mo Baobao's sluggish state due to your spell. In other words..."

"I didn't kill Boren, but Boren died because of me."

Hu Li finished his sentence.

As soon as she said that, a faint blood-red thread seemed to wrap around her.

It was the karmic consequence of Mo Baobao's death, indirectly caused by her.

If Zhao Jiong were to scan her with his phone now, the results would be vastly different from before.

"Knock knock." Two knocks sounded from outside, followed by an incredibly pleasant voice, "Sister Hu, are you in there?"

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The voice was so melodious it could be described as "making one's ears pregnant."

"Come in," Zhao Jiong called, glancing at Hu Li.

Lu Shu opened the door and stepped in.

The next moment, he found himself frozen, paralyzed by a pair of eyes.

"Officer Zhao?" He called out to Zhao Jiong, his already pale face turning ghostly white, "I've been law-abiding recently, not killing, not eating people, not hurting anyone."

So could the person next to him stop looking at him like food?

He was scared.

Zhao Jiong coughed, noting Ling Ji's intense gaze at Lu Shu. Her eyes, like black obsidian, were filled with an obvious meaning.

—Food, delicious, want to eat.

"Ling Ji, Lu Shu is a well-behaved demon under the Special Management Bureau..."

"I know I can't eat him," Ling Ji interrupted, but her eyes didn't move from Lu Shu. "Do you have any kin around here?"

Lu Shu shook his head like a rattle drum. "No, sir. I'm the only survivor of the Lu Shu clan."

"What?" Ling Ji couldn't believe it, rubbing her ears. "Your clan is known for high fertility among demons. How can there be only you?"

"Are you counting those low-level, mindless Lu Shu and trying to deceive me?"

"No, you misunderstood." Sensing the cold tone in her voice and the immense pressure of an ancient demon, Lu Shu broke into a sweat. "I'm not referring to those lower-level demons."

In the demon world, only those who awakened their ancestral bloodline and perfectly inherited their legacy could bear the name of their species. He, being the purest bloodline of his clan, naturally inherited the name Lu Shu. Others, even if called Lu Shu, were not true Lu Shu.

Moreover, in the demon world, the strong ruled, and the fittest survived. It was normal for higher-level demons to prey on lower-level ones. He wouldn't offend a powerful demon for unrelated lower demons.

For example, if a radish suddenly gained consciousness among a bunch of radishes, it wouldn't consider other radishes its kin. Its true kin would be other conscious beings like itself.

A radish might be eaten by a rabbit, the rabbit by a wolf, and the wolf by a tiger. This was the natural food chain. Even if one creature transcended its place in the chain, it didn't mean it could disrupt the original chain.

This was the law of nature.

"All those with Lu Shu bloodline have been eaten over the years." Not only by higher demons but sometimes even by humans.

"I can testify to that," Hu Li, who had known Lu Shu for decades and worked with him for years, didn't want to remain silent.

"Honestly, humans are even worse than higher demons."

China has always been a nation of food lovers. Anything that flies, swims, or runs is on the menu.

Lu Shu's unique abilities made his kind prime targets for humans.

Lu Shu, described as a white-headed, tiger-striped creature with a red tail, was said to bring prosperity to one's descendants if worn. Eating its flesh was even more effective.

Infertility has always been a persistent issue, ancient or modern.

When humans go crazy, they'll eat anything, including each other. To them, Lu Shu was just another dish, no different from chicken, duck, cattle, or pig, except for its higher value.

Lu Shu, with his pure bloodline, had hidden deep in the mountains to avoid such a fate.

"What a pity." Ling Ji regretfully looked away, slumping back on the sofa with a pillow, feeling sorry.

Without that burning gaze, Lu Shu relaxed, cautiously moving to sit beside Hu Li, clutching her sleeve.

Seeing her sleeve wrinkled, Hu Li wanted to tell him, "Brother, you're holding the wrong leg. I'm also at the mercy of the big boss."

But seeing his pale, frightened face, reminiscent of her own initial encounter with the boss, Hu Li's heart softened, and she let him be.

Zhao Jiong waited for Lu Shu to calm down before asking about Mo Baobao. Unsurprisingly, Lu Shu didn't know her.

"So who exactly is this Mo Baobao?" Hu Li found the situation odd after hearing about the raccoon.

"Is someone targeting us demons?"

Foxes are known for their intelligence. It was normal for her to make such a connection with so few clues. "It's possible. Be careful when you go out, and don't let your guard down even at home."

"What's there to fear? If they come, just crush them." Ling Ji's half face peeked from behind the pillow, glancing at Hu Li. "Your main concern should be how to rid yourself of that karma."

Demon cultivation was already harder than humans. Now, with human karma, her future cultivation would be even more challenging if not resolved.

"Sister Hu, why do you have karma?" Lu Shu, who had been training in the studio, hadn't followed the news. By the time he came out, the issue had subsided. With his cultivation, he couldn't see the karma on Hu Li.

"Is it because of that Mo Baobao?" Lu Shu, though not very powerful, was not stupid. He quickly figured it out.

"Officer Zhao, how can we get rid of Sister Hu's karma?"

Zhao Jiong rubbed his chin, "We'll probably have to find the real culprit behind Mo Baobao's murder."

Lu Shu's eyes lit up, looking at Zhao Jiong with hope, "How do we investigate?"

Zhao Jiong: "..."

He had hoped to get new clues from Hu Li, and though he did, the case had become more complicated.

"What's so difficult?" Seeing their worried faces, Ling Ji casually suggested, "Summon Mo Baobao's spirit and ask her."

A wrongful death would cause the soul to linger in the place of death for seven days until the underworld officials came to take them away. "Even if we can't summon her, we can ask the local underworld officials."

Zhao Jiong clapped his hands, "Right, why didn't I think of that? Thanks for the reminder, Ling Ji." He then got up to find someone in the Special Management Bureau to summon the spirit.

With one person gone, three demons with different moods remained.

Feeling down, Ling Ji got up, stretched lazily, "Little fox, I'm leaving. For Bai Heng's sake, come to me if you encounter unsolvable problems."

"Thank you, Ling Ji."

Ling Ji nodded, gave Lu Shu one last longing look, and went upstairs to find Yu Zhiyan.

She was in a bad mood and needed something sweet to cheer up.

After she left, Lu Shu finally relaxed, peeking out from behind Hu Li, "Sister Hu, who is that big boss? Why is she so powerful and terrifying?"

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