Chapter 59: Not Human

After a bout of frantic panting, the room gradually settled into quiet. Not long after, Ning Qing emerged, hastily dressing as she slipped out, then tiptoed back to her own quarters.

High above, Ning Xiu stood on the rooftop, his gaze cold as he witnessed everything below. He remained there for an indeterminate length of time. As dawn crept in, the moonlight faded, vanishing into the boundless sky.

Ning Xiu glanced upward. Without realizing it, the entire night had passed.

All across the Ning estate, doors to the various courtyards began to open one after another. Everyone was preparing to greet a new day.

Ning Xiu sought out Zhang Heng, and after a careful tally, discovered that no one had died in the household overnight. This news brought a visible sigh of relief to Ning Mingfeng and the others.

"And where is Ning Qing?" Ning Xiu suddenly asked, casting his gaze over the assembled people as the thought struck him.

"The young master has gone to the mourning hall to keep vigil. I saw him just a moment ago," someone replied.

Ning Xiu nodded. Whatever the truth might be, the absence of any new deaths was certainly welcome news. The dark cloud that had hung over the Ning estate seemed to disperse a little. Seeing smiles returning to the faces around him, Ning Xiu felt a lingering unease, but chose to say nothing more.

Even if that ghostly entity were to return, it would not appear in daylight. After exchanging a few words with Ning Mingfeng, Ning Xiu made his way back to his own courtyard.

As he passed the mourning hall, he indeed saw Ning Qing kneeling inside. Ning Xiu cast a glance, then paid no further attention. Though he had not slept all night, he was still full of energy. Returning to his room, he practiced the "Bull’s Mighty Fist" and "Indestructible Iron Body" for a while before finally taking some rest.

By midday, Zhang Heng came to find him.

"Master, did you discover anything last night?"

Ning Xiu shook his head gently, but then seemed to recall something. "Uncle Zhang, the noises you heard on your night patrol—were they all coming from the main courtyard?"

"Not all of them," Zhang Heng replied, frowning as he thought carefully. "Each time, the sounds came from a different place, and I could never find the source."

On hearing this, Ning Xiu turned and left at once. Zhang Heng hurried after him. "Master, where are you going?"

"The mourning hall."

When Ning Xiu arrived at the mourning hall, he found that Ning Qing was no longer there. After asking the nearby servants, he learned that Ning Qing had left the estate on some errand.

"Is something wrong, Master? Have you discovered anything?" Zhang Heng asked, following Ning Xiu into the mourning hall.

"It's only a suspicion for now," Ning Xiu replied, shaking his head. "Uncle Zhang, let everyone know that the night watch must be strengthened again tonight."

"I would have done that even if you hadn't said so," Zhang Heng assured him.

Night fell once more.

Ning Xiu stood atop the roof, watching over the entire Ning estate. That evening, Ning Qing returned at dusk. After spending a short while in the mourning hall, she went back to her own quarters. Then, just as the night deepened, she crept out of her room, sneaking toward Madam Zhang’s chambers—exactly as she had the previous night.

Ning Xiu saw it all.

According to Zhang Heng, Ning Xiu’s earlier theory from the previous night was now rendered void. The source of the nighttime noises was not here. It made sense—Ning Zhiyuan had been alive until recently. No matter how bold Ning Qing might be, she would not have had the opportunity for such deeds before.

This meant that the murders remained linked to that mysterious sound, and perhaps to the very acts Ning Qing and the others were engaged in. If he had not intervened the night before, another tragedy might have occurred already.

With this in mind, Ning Xiu did not hurry to follow. He grew more cautious, suppressing his presence entirely before silently tracking behind.

Inside the room, the scene unfolded once again like a living tableau of debauchery.

"You’re so much fiercer tonight, my good brother, I can barely endure it," gasped Madam Zhang, her voice the only one in the room. There was no reply from her partner—only bestial, ragged breathing.

Sensing a murderous aura seeping from within, Ning Xiu drew the Divine Remnant Sword from his back, and with a single kick, burst open the door.

In that instant, a blindingly obscene tableau met his eyes without a shred of concealment. Madam Zhang was pinned before the bed by a ghastly pale, deathly man, who moved atop her with rapid, animalistic thrusts.

This man was not Ning Qing at all!

A sharp gleam flashed in Ning Xiu’s eyes. With a low shout, he strode forward and brought his sword down in a savage arc.

Clang!

The man, sensing danger from behind, whirled about and raised his arm to block. Incredibly, he used his bare flesh and bone to intercept Ning Xiu’s strike—meeting it with force to rival a martial artist of the highest rank.

"Aaaah!" Madam Zhang, already near collapse from the violent exertions, looked back and let out a piercing scream. What frightened her wasn’t Ning Xiu’s sudden intrusion, but the identity of the man atop her. She was certain this was not Ning Qing’s body.

But when she saw the man’s face, her second scream was even more shrill.

She recognized him.

Now, terror gripped her—not merely at who this man was, but at whether he was even human.

Ning Xiu frowned, then chopped his hand against Madam Zhang’s neck, knocking her unconscious and bringing blessed silence. Only then did he have a moment to truly observe his adversary.

To his astonishment, the man before him was none other than Ning Zhiyuan—supposedly dead, his body meant to lie in a coffin at this very moment.

Moreover, Ning Xiu could sense no trace of life from him; this was a living corpse.

Yet, this was no ordinary walking corpse or zombie as Ning Xiu had encountered before.

He had no time to ponder further. Channeling the searing energy of the Nine Suns through his body, he gripped the Divine Remnant Sword and struck again at "Ning Zhiyuan".

Before the sword could descend, it split into countless arcs of light. The sword-lights wove together into a net that enveloped Ning Zhiyuan completely.

Faced with such a relentless assault, "Ning Zhiyuan" could not resist. All he could do was watch his wounds multiply, howling like a wounded beast.

"Die!"

With a thunderous shout, Ning Xiu swept his sword in a horizontal arc.

A flash of sword-light.

"Ning Zhiyuan’s" head suddenly flew from his shoulders and struck the ground with a heavy, resounding thud.