Chapter 140 Does Her Royal Highness Know Me?

The moment the Ghost White Tiger closed the courtyard gates, Cheng Feng tucked Xueju inside the clothes against his chest and stepped out of the shadow space, appearing directly within the courtyard.

Just as the gate shut, Cheng Feng entered the field of vision of the Ghost Princess.

Catching sight of a suddenly materialized stranger, Gui Lingying widened her eyes in astonishment, instinctively opening her mouth as if about to speak.

Fearing that the Princess might mistake him for an assassin and inadvertently summon the demons outside, Cheng Feng quickly stepped forward and covered her mouth with his hand.

Gui Lingying’s reflexes were exceptionally fast. The very instant Cheng Feng's hand covered her mouth, her jade-like palm pooled with demonic energy.

A pale blue light illuminated her palm, which she swiftly pressed against Cheng Feng's abdomen.

Clearly, had Cheng Feng made any move detrimental to her, the energy in her palm would have erupted to kill him instantly.

Cheng Feng had no desire to meet such an end, especially since he meant her no harm. He whispered in explanation, "Hush, Princess, I'm not a bad person. I'm here to help you."

Gui Lingying paused. After pondering for two seconds, she gave a slight nod.

Cheng Feng slowly withdrew his hand, inwardly amazed at how instantaneous Gui Lingying's reaction and movement had been.

Because of Xueju’s previous description of her, he had subconsciously regarded this ghost princess as nothing more than a vase, which explained why her status in Scarlet Moon City was so desolate.

Now, it seemed that impression was dead wrong. As a demon of royal blood, Gui Lingying might not possess overwhelmingly prominent combat power, but she was by no means weak.

Cheng Feng roughly estimated her strength: by the standards of the Disaster Association, she should be a monster close to Disaster Level SS.

Unaware of Cheng Feng’s complex mental deliberations, Gui Lingying swept her beautiful eyes up and down, confirming that she had never seen this strange man before.

She asked with a hint of perplexity, "What kind of vampire are you? Why are you here, and what is your purpose?"

Because Cheng Feng’s physical traits closely resembled those of a vampire and he exuded a vampire's scent, Gui Lingying naturally jumped to conclusions and mistook him for one of the kindred.

"I'm not a vampire; I'm a human," Cheng Feng explained. "It’s a long story, but I was entrusted by the Store Manager to come here primarily to help you."

"The Store Manager?" Gui Lingying muttered, puzzled. Rummaging through her memories, she could recall no demon bearing the title of Store Manager.

Seeing her looking bewildered yet profound, Cheng Feng clarified, "The Store Manager refers to [The Tyrant] Black Night-Fork."

Gui Lingying widened her eyes slightly. It was actually Black Night-Fork who had sent this human. If so, it was highly likely that something had happened to Black Night-Fork.

Back then, she had dispatched Xueju to Winterfell City to bring Black Night-Fork back for assistance. Now, seeing Xueju return with this human proved that the situation had indeed taken a turn.

Current events were unfolding precisely as the man named Liu Mochen had foretold.

Pulling her thoughts back, Gui Lingying asked, "What about Xueju? Since you know about Black Night-Fork, you must have seen her, right? Isn't she with you?"

"Of course she is. Stupid cat, you can come out now."

Cheng Feng patted the clothes over his chest, and a moment later, the fabric stirred as a tiny cat head poked out from his collar.

Catching sight of Gui Lingying, Xueju blinked her azure eyes, her face lighting up with joy before she leaped out with her entire petite feline body.

Accompanied by a flash of dazzling white light, she instantly transformed from a small white cat into a delicate, petite young girl clad in a white dress.

"Princess~!"

Overcome with emotion, Xueju lunged forward and threw her arms around Gui Lingying, nearly bursting into tears.

Though they had been apart for merely a month, Xueju felt as though she had been separated from the Ghost Princess for several years, and her eyes welled with crystal-clear tears.

She couldn't help recalling that when she left Scarlet Moon City for Winterfell City last month, it was solely to fulfill the Princess's commission.

Throughout this period, she had continuously endured assassination attempts by the demons of Scarlet Moon City. She could only consider herself lucky to have survived each harrowing ordeal by a hair's breadth.

Had she not originally lingered at Cheng Feng’s home and subsequently been rescued by him, Xueju felt she might never have known whether she could see Her Highness the Princess again like this.

At the long-awaited sight of Gui Lingying, Xueju felt a tightness in her throat and longed to pour out all her grievances.

"It's alright, Xueju, you're safe..." Gui Lingying gently patted Xueju’s back, soothing her in a soft voice. "It's over now. You've been wronged."

Slowly releasing Gui Lingying, Xueju spoke with a trace of remorse, "Princess, I'm sorry. I failed to bring Black Night-Fork back; I didn't fulfill your trust."

"It doesn't matter."

Gui Lingying smiled faintly, comforting her, "Actually, I already know what happened outside. Black Night-Fork is dead, and the human you brought with you is here to help us, isn't that right?"

Xueju blinked in bewilderment.

During this time, the Princess had been confined to this courtyard without being able to step outside even half a step.

The guards at the gates were all demons under the command of Ghost Asura, and no outsiders could ever approach, isolating the Princess completely from the outside world without a soul to provide her with information.

How, then, did the Princess know what had transpired in Winterfell City?

Without offering an explanation, Gui Lingying shifted her captivating eyes to Cheng Feng: "That being the case, you must be Cheng Feng?"

Cheng Feng paused, quite surprised that she knew his name since it was their first meeting and neither had ever heard of the other before.

He asked, "Her Highness the Princess knows me?"

"No, your name was told to me by someone else."

With a trace of reminiscent thought, Gui Lingying said, "He told me that I only needed to quietly wait here until the start of the Royal Assembly, at which point a human named Cheng Feng would appear. And that this human would take me away from here."

Cheng Feng frowned, sensing that matters were far from simple. "Who was that person?"

Seeing Cheng Feng's serious expression, Gui Lingying recalled, "He wore a black robe, carried a giant sword, and claimed to be the fourth Abyss-Walker..."

Cheng Feng was slightly startled, his tone tinged with disbelief: "Liu Mochen... He actually came to Scarlet Moon City!"

Not only him, but Xueju was also inwardly shaken.

In her understanding, Liu Mochen was the absolute villain who had murdered Black Night-Fork.

For such a villain to have come here and sought out the Princess—wasn't that extremely dangerous?

Fortunately, the Princess appeared unharmed, proving that Liu Mochen must not have harmed her.

Liu Mochen possessed prophetic abilities and had foreseen the trajectory of the future.

A few days ago, he had arrived in Scarlet Moon City, materialized out of thin air within the courtyard, and informed Gui Lingying of the events unfolding outside.

He had told her that if she wished to leave, she simply needed to await the arrival of Cheng Feng.

As long as she met the human named Cheng Feng, she could prevent Ghost Asura from ascending the throne and bring the coup in Scarlet Moon City to a close.

Cheng Feng could not fathom what Liu Mochen’s true intentions were; regardless of how the situation in Scarlet Moon City developed, it bore no relation to him whatsoever.

Why would he make a special trip just to pull off this stunt?

Never mind, he would temporarily push this matter to the back of his mind.

Cheng Feng drew a golden token from his pocket and handed it to Gui Lingying.

"Brother Shen!"

"Hmm!"

As Shen Changqing walked along the road, he would exchange greetings or nods whenever he encountered familiar faces.

Yet regardless of who it was, not an excess of expression lingered on anyone's face, as though they remained utterly indifferent to everything.

To this, Shen Changqing had long since grown accustomed.

For this was the Demon Suppression Division, an institution dedicated to maintaining the stability of Great Qin, whose primary duty was the slaughter of demons and anomalies, alongside a few other auxiliary pursuits.

It could be said that every single person within the Demon Suppression Division had stained their hands with copious amounts of blood.

Once a person grew accustomed to witnessing life and death, indifference towards many things naturally followed.

When he had first arrived in this world, Shen Changqing felt somewhat out of place, but as time dragged on, he grew used to it.

The Demon Suppression Division was vast.

Those permitted to remain within its ranks were invariably formidable experts or individuals possessing the potential to become such experts.

Shen Changqing belonged to the latter category.

The roles within the Demon Suppression Division were divided into two main professions: Guardians and Demon Slayers.

Anyone entering the Demon Suppression Division started from the lowest rank of Demon Slayer, and then climbed step by step, with eventual prospects of becoming a Guardian.

His predecessor had been a probationary Demon Slayer within the division—the lowest rung among Demon Slayers.

Armed with his predecessor's memories, he was exceedingly familiar with the environment of the Demon Suppression Division.

Before long, Shen Changqing halted before a pavilion.

Unlike the rest of the Demon Suppression Division, which exuded an aura of stern slaughter, this pavilion stood out like a crane among chickens, radiating a distinct tranquility amidst the blood-soaked division.

At that moment, the doors of the pavilion stood wide open, with people occasionally entering and exiting.

Hesitating for only a moment, Shen Changqing stepped across the threshold.

Upon entering the pavilion, the atmosphere underwent an abrupt transformation.

A wave of ink fragrance intertwined with a faint scent of blood washed over him, causing his brow to knit instinctively before smoothing out again almost immediately.

The lingering scent of blood on everyone within the Demon Suppression Division was a stench almost impossible to wash away completely.