Realm of the Night God

Sloppy man could sense the residual Demonic Qi lingering in the teahouse. This was because the serpent demon had previously used demonic techniques to alter her appearance within the teahouse, leaving behind traces of Demonic Qi that only he could detect. However, the presence of this Demonic Qi was faint, almost imperceptible.

During the time spent in the teahouse, not only had the serpent demon employed her demonic spiritual power, but Yang Haoran had also deployed Yin spirit power to set up a restriction barrier. Although it was just a mundane soundproofing spell, it inevitably left traces of Yin Qi.

However, sloppy man did not sense the Yin Qi left by Yang Haoran, only detecting the Demonic Qi left by the serpent demon.

This was because the man had a unique sensitivity to Demonic Qi, akin to how the Underworld Envoy was attuned to Yin Qi. Hence, he only sensed the Demonic Qi left by the serpent demon and not the Yin Qi left by Yang Haoran.

His failure to detect Yang Haoran's Yin Qi did not mean he lacked sensitivity to it altogether; rather, his sensitivity to Yin Qi was not as acute as it was to Demonic Qi. If the Yin Qi in the vicinity were stronger, sloppy man would have surely noticed its presence along with the Demonic Qi.

"Mysteriously sensing the presence of Demonic Qi here, despite sealing her own Demonic Qi, suggests that she had indeed employed demonic techniques in this teahouse. Perhaps she hasn't left the teahouse yet but has concealed her Demonic Qi within herself, making it nearly impossible to detect!" With this thought in mind, sloppy man downed his beer in one gulp and conjured another can seemingly out of thin air, much like a magician.

Cracking open the fresh beer, he stepped into the teahouse, intending to ascertain whether the serpent demon was still present, as he suspected. If she indeed lingered within, he deemed the situation manageable.

The reason he nonchalantly entered the teahouse was to avoid arousing suspicion and alerting the serpent demon. However, he overlooked a crucial detail—his strong scent of alcohol and unkempt appearance made it difficult not to attract attention.

Half an hour later, sloppy man emerged from the teahouse, standing outside with a furrowed brow and an unpleasant expression, chain-smoking and gulping down more alcohol.

Despite his thorough inspection and sensing, he found no trace of the serpent demon within the teahouse. The almost imperceptible Demonic Qi lingering inside was merely a remnant left by the serpent demon, who had long departed.

However, he didn't leave empty-handed after the half hour. Using a photo of the serpent demon, he managed to glean some information from the teahouse staff.

The waiter who had served the serpent demon and Yang Haoran vividly remembered the serpent demon's impression. After all, a woman as strikingly beautiful, almost to the point of being abnormal like the serpent demon, was hard to forget.

From the waiter, sloppy man learned that the serpent demon had indeed visited and reserved a private room but hadn't stayed long. Due to the bustling business, the waiter couldn't recall the exact time of her departure.

In addition to this, the waiter disclosed another piece of information—that the serpent demon was not alone; she was accompanied by a man.

Of course, the waiter was unaware of the serpent demon's true identity, referring to her as 'beauty' when recounting the incident to sloppy man.

Likewise, sloppy man didn't reveal the serpent demon's true identity to the waiter, claiming to be her cousin. However, the waiter remained unconvinced and impatiently ushered him out of the teahouse, as sloppy man's presence could potentially affect their business.

The main reason the waiter shared this information with sloppy man was to hasten his departure and avoid any lingering presence in the teahouse.

Taking a swig of beer, sloppy man pulled out his mobile phone and reopened the video.

Apart from the serpent demon, there was indeed a man beside her in the video. However, throughout the footage, this man only appeared briefly in one scene; the rest of the time, it was all about the serpent demon.

During the live stream, the host hadn't focused much on Yang Haoran, and coupled with the video editing, the spotlight was almost entirely on the serpent demon, leaving Yang Haoran with minimal screen time.

When sloppy man had previously scrutinized the video repeatedly, all his attention had been on the serpent demon. He hadn't bothered to notice if there was anyone else beside her since Shilin Town was a tourist spot, and people coming and going were normal occurrences.

Now, prompted by the waiter's reminder, he revisited the video and finally noticed Yang Haoran's presence, paying closer attention to him.

"Could this man be the prey ensnared by the serpent demon's charm?" sloppy man pondered, before pocketing his phone and resuming his inquiries with nearby shopkeepers and tourists.

To his dismay, despite questioning several shopkeepers and numerous tourists, none had seen the serpent demon, treating him like a beggar and shooing him away.

It's quite straightforward why this situation arose. When the serpent demon exited the teahouse, she had already altered her appearance. Although she was still dressed in sportswear, it wasn't unique to her; plenty of other people wore similar attire.

Moreover, the teahouse staff didn't notice her departure, so they wouldn't have observed the change in her appearance.

Even if they had noticed her altered appearance, they would have simply mistaken her for someone else and not linked her to the serpent demon.

Therefore, the teahouse staff remained unaware of the serpent demon's transformation, and naturally, sloppy man remained clueless as well.

Without knowing about the serpent demon's change in appearance, wandering around with her photo and asking shopkeepers and tourists wouldn't yield any results.

At this moment, Yang Haoran and the serpent demon had arrived at their final destination—to the seal of the malevolent spirit.

The area was strewn with stones of various sizes, with cracks and large pits on the ground, indicating a past battle had taken place there.

Despite the abundance of debris, the area didn't seem crowded because it was vast, much larger than Yang Haoran had anticipated.

"Underworld Envoy big brother, this is it," the serpent demon exclaimed, leaping over a pile of rubble and pointing to the space just ahead of them. "The malevolent spirit is sealed there. Can you see it?"

In the direction indicated by the serpent demon, a mass of Yin Qi hovered in mid-air, motionless and maintaining a consistent form. If one didn't pay close attention, they might mistake it for a mere black stone.

However, both Yang Haoran and the serpent demon were not foolish enough to regard it as such.

Before the serpent demon spoke, Yang Haoran had already noticed the floating Yin Qi.

Not only did he notice it, but through the special ability of his ghost eye, he also saw many things that the serpent demon couldn't. He simply chose not to mention it.

As for why the Yin Qi, which was the manifestation of the malevolent spirit, remained motionless like an inanimate object, it was because of the prolonged sealing, which had plunged the malevolent spirit into a deep slumber.

"Underworld Envoy big brother, look there," the serpent demon pointed below the malevolent spirit, where a skeleton was seated.

"Is that the formation master you mentioned?" Yang Haoran inquired.

"Definitely him. Although it seems empty around him, he's actually within a formation. We're currently at the edge of the formation barrier, and if we get closer, the restriction barrier released by the formation here will become apparent."

To prove her point, the serpent demon extended her finger and lightly tapped the space in front of her, conjuring a tiny green light emitting a faint demonic spiritual power. It floated forward.

Yang Haoran didn't stop the serpent demon; he knew what she intended to do, so he simply watched silently.

In the blink of an eye, the floating green light seemed to collide with an invisible barrier, revealing the barrier's presence. The green light imbued with demonic spiritual power shattered upon impact, dissipating into specks of green light.

The appearance and disappearance of the barrier were swift—the moment the green light shattered, the barrier vanished.

In fact, even if the serpent demon hadn't done this, Yang Haoran's ghost eye could still detect the barrier's presence. He hadn't stopped the serpent demon's action because he wanted to see if there would be any other discoveries after the demonic spiritual power touched the barrier.

And indeed, there was a discovery. The fact that the green light was shattered by the barrier instead of being pushed aside indicated that the barrier possessed a certain destructive power. Trying to forcibly break through the barrier without sufficient power would not only fail but also risk injuring oneself.