Demons are the embodiment of desire, and thus their greatest ability is to arouse the deepest desires in the human heart.
With just a glance, they can dredge up the most primal desires from the depths of one's soul – savagery, slaughter, destruction…
This is also what demons love to do before killing. Desire devours reason and corrupts the soul. Then, consuming the victim's soul becomes incredibly delicious for the demon, and it also strengthens itself.
Demons do not eat people, but they consume human souls. Therefore, humans whose souls are devoured by demons exhibit very peculiar expressions before death: eyes wide with anger, grinning maniacally, exhibiting cruel brutality, and so on.
This also serves as one of the best clues for officials in their pursuit of demons.
As for how demons tempt human desires, over the years, officials have also accumulated much experience.
For example, people with strong willpower have a high resistance to the demon's ability to corrupt the mind.
In addition, those with faith, regardless of what they believe in, also possess strong resistance if they have faith.
Besides these, there are many other methods.
However, with the advancement of science and technology, humans have developed many new means, the most effective of which is emotion-suppressing drugs.
After taking these drugs, one can suppress all their emotions for a short period, becoming a pure and indifferent machine, naturally immune to demonic temptation.
It is said that these drugs were initially used to treat certain special diseases and were unintentionally found to be remarkably effective against demons.
Unfortunately, Liu Nanfeng was unaware of these methods, had not taken any special medication, and was accustomed to his free and unrestrained lifestyle. He had no faith, and his willpower was just so-so.
If it weren't for meeting the Su sisters and obtaining a fortuitous encounter, he would still be an ordinary human.
Thus, with just a glance, Liu Nanfeng, the "ordinary" human, had his desires stirred.
All his reason seemed lost at this moment, replaced by a surge of violent desire from the depths of his heart, a desire to sever everything.
Seeing the embankment, he wanted to break it.
Seeing the river, he wanted to cleave the great river.
Even the sun in the sky, he wanted to split in two.
He thought it, and he acted upon it.
At this moment, his mind was completely controlled by negative emotions, and he had entirely forgotten Su Jinxiu's admonitions.
He directly summoned his painting, pulled his hand, and the short sword given to him by Zhu Yin'e appeared in his hand.
Fortunately, the demon could not see the painting's existence, but Liu Nanfeng's ability to summon a sword out of thin air surprised it.
Thinking the other party was a cultivator playing the fool to lure it into a trap, and that he possessed some kind of storage treasure, the demon couldn't help but become wary.
Two balls of flame ignited in its eyes, and Liu Nanfeng's condition within his body was immediately observed in detail.
He was indeed slightly stronger than an ordinary human, but that was all. Looking at the short sword in his hand, it was also unremarkable, merely an ordinary item.
With this thought, a trace of greed arose. It seemed the other party had obtained some fortuitous encounter and acquired a storage treasure, but it didn't know where it was hidden. It surveyed the surroundings but found nothing.
However, it wasn't a big problem. As long as it devoured the other's soul and read its memories, it could find out how many times the person wet their bed as a three-year-old.
Therefore, when it saw the other party brandishing the short sword and charging at it with a ridiculous stance, it didn't even bother to dodge.
It was a combination of desire and ghost, and human weapons, or rather, purely physical weapons, could not harm it at all.
Moreover, this human's desire radiated an incredibly brilliant light in its eyes. It was the purest desire it had ever seen since its own genesis.
Such a soul would surely be delicious. It licked its lips, thinking that its injuries would recover significantly this way.
It was indeed unlucky. This morning, its long-nurtured human-demon was snatched away, and halfway there, it encountered a "lunatic" monkey demon. They started fighting without a word, beating it half to death. Fortunately, its true form was special and it escaped quickly, otherwise, it would have met its end today.
But fortune and misfortune are intertwined; this saying is indeed true. Little did it expect that in the blink of an eye, a soul with such pure desire would be delivered.
As the other party's desire intensified, the demon sniffed the air, as if it could smell the aroma of the other's soul.
Seeing the other party approaching, it slowly opened its mouth, its teeth resembling those of a shark.
It didn't eat people, but it was the embodiment of desire. Even in human form, it couldn't escape some external characteristics arising from desire.
For instance, its teeth were an outward manifestation of its appetite.
The demon's opened mouth stretched to its ears, utterly terrifying. But Liu Nanfeng, driven by desire, had lost all reason and felt no fear.
His only thought was to slay the opponent, to split it in two.
Therefore, he spared no effort, and under the opponent's mocking gaze, he swung his sword directly at its forehead.
And then—
The demon let out a piercing scream.
Pain, immense pain, far greater than when the monkey had struck it with its staff.
It was born from desire, a human-demon born from devouring its host's soul.
It was a complete rebirth; it was not a human-demon, nor a mere ghost, but an entirely new species.
Yet now, it felt as if someone was holding a knife, trying to forcibly tear it apart.
The pain of being cut made its soul tremble, and its desire showed signs of dissipating and collapsing. It lost all will to fight and turned to flee, no longer daring to confront Liu Nanfeng.
As for Liu Nanfeng, after delivering the sword strike, he also regained his composure.
Perhaps the sword strike had vented all his desires, leading him into a state of afterglow.
Or perhaps it was because the demon was injured, its corrupting ability weakened, allowing him to escape its control.
But regardless of the reason, Liu Nanfeng, upon regaining his senses, was startled by himself and immediately leaped back, trying to dodge the opponent.
Unexpectedly, the opponent turned and transformed into a wisp of black mist, fleeing into the distance, emitting chilling screams that made one's hair stand on end.
Liu Nanfeng reacted swiftly. With a thought, the painting reappeared out of thin air, and like a wall, it blocked the demon's path.
In that instant, the demon sensed an indescribable terror ahead. However, its escape speed was too great, and it couldn't dodge in time. It crashed headlong into the painting.
In Liu Nanfeng's eyes, as the demon collided with the painting, it was like hitting water, causing ripples.
The demon, terrified, tried to break free, but the painting seemed to have a suction force, directly dragging it in.
It was still at the volcano's location. The mist surrounding the forest at the foot of the volcano began to recede rapidly, revealing a larger area.
This process took tens of breaths, expanding the area by more than ten times compared to previously "sealed" demons.
Of course, for the entire painting, it was still tiny, almost negligible.
The demon was also somewhat bewildered. It only saw a blur and found itself transported from the riverbank to a crater.
It reacted extremely quickly, transforming into a wisp of black mist and flying into the air, enduring the pain as it surveyed its surroundings.
It saw molten lava flowing within the crater, emitting waves of heat, but there were no signs of eruption.
At the foot of the volcano lay a lush forest, with trees hundreds of meters tall and shorter ones dozens of meters high. The undergrowth and thorns were also exaggerated, all several meters high.
"This is definitely not Earth."
This was the demon's first thought. Such tall forests and vegetation on Earth would not go undiscovered by humans.
Moreover, the entire world was strange and silent, utterly still, without even a hint of wind.
It looked up at the sky. Although the entire world was as bright as day, it saw no sun.
At this moment, its gaze sharpened as it noticed the human-demon trapped in the lava – its lost prey.
Its heart rejoiced, ready to feast, but it halted mid-flight. It was not brainless and realized this might be a trap.
But it was too late. The lava suddenly erupted.
Without time to think, it flew upwards, but the lava pursued it relentlessly, like a fiery dragon of molten rock, greatly astonishing it.
Meanwhile, outside the painting, Liu Nanfeng watched intently and, with a thought, an invisible giant hand pressed down from the sky.
The demon, unaware, flew like a headless fly, hitting a glass barrier and falling directly down, only to be caught by the lava dragon.
What was originally a mass of black mist immediately revealed its form, being directly dragged into the molten rock.
No matter how hard it struggled, how piercing its screams, it was all in vain. Finally, it was consumed by the lava.
Its fate was to be refined.
Name: Hu Guizhi
Race: Demon
Cultivation: Ninety-one years
Identity: A demon walking the mortal world, corrupting hearts, inciting desire, and raising human-demons.
Past Karma: Formed by the human-demon Hu Guizhi devouring its host's soul.
Abilities: Tracking, Soul Absorption, Temptation, Strength Enhancement, Ethereal Form.
Note: Desired to consume the body in life, desires to consume the soul in death, corrupts hearts and causes havoc in the human world, can be refined.
Refinement: Randomly grants one ability.
Tracking: A demon's instinct, the skill of foraging. Can find you by scent. m..oΓg
Soul Absorption: A demon's instinct, the skill of eating. Drains your body dry within three seconds.
Temptation: A demon's instinct, the skill of cooking. One look at you and desire flares.
Strength Enhancement: A demon's instinct, the skill of evolution. Eating makes you stronger.
Ethereal Form: A demon's instinct, the skill of escape. Vanishes a thousand miles in a flash.
Liu Nanfeng was also greatly surprised. This demon, which seemed unremarkable, actually possessed five abilities.
But in summary, they were feeding, evolution, and escape – these were not just the instincts of a demon but also of any living creature.
It was just that humans achieved this through millions of years of evolution, while the demon had compressed it by hundreds of thousands, even millions of times.
Therefore, no matter which ability he obtained, it would be incredibly powerful. It was a pity that he could only obtain one.
Liu Nanfeng then turned his gaze to the human-demon beside it, the one he had "sealed" that morning and hadn't yet refined.
Name: Li Cuiping
Race: Human-Demon
Cultivation: Twenty-three years
Identity: Manifestation of jealousy, devouring talent and fortune, causing loss of reason.
Past Karma: Triggered.
Abilities: Intellect Reduction, Luck Reduction, Fury.
Note: Embodiment of jealousy. Once within the painting, its roots are severed, can be refined.
Without hesitation, Liu Nanfeng chose to refine it.
He immediately saw explanations for the abilities, but he could still only randomly acquire one.
Intellect Reduction: I am jealous of your talent and intelligence, making you dumber. (Listen to me...)
Luck Reduction: I am jealous of your good fortune, reducing your luck, and causing you constant misfortune. (I wish you...)
Fury: I am jealous of your confidence and composure in crisis, lowering your state of mind, causing you to lose reason and do foolish things. (I see you...)
Liu Nanfeng was astonished. He never expected such small human-demons to possess three curse-like abilities.
As long as one uttered the starting phrase in parentheses, they could curse the target.
Although these three abilities did not appear to be very upright, when facing enemies, such considerations were irrelevant.
Thus, with a thought from Liu Nanfeng, the lava directly engulfed the human-demon.
In reality, the human-demon, half-submerged in the lava, was already half-dead. Without even a scream, it vanished completely, leaving only two bubbles rising from the lava.
For some reason, Liu Nanfeng thought of Feng Hongjin again. He turned his gaze towards the river and met someone's eyes.
It was the girl in the sailor suit he had seen on the embankment that day. She stood on a dilapidated sand and gravel ship, a striking sight. A gust of wind blew, lifting her long, flowing hair.
"Woo…" With a blast of the ship's horn, the vessel slowly moved forward.
Liu Nanfeng also ascended the embankment via the nearby steps.
However, after reaching the embankment, he realized that the sand and gravel ship was far out in the river. How could he have clearly seen the girl in the sailor suit standing on it?
He looked back towards the river. Indeed, there was a ship in the distance, but whether there was a girl in a sailor suit was completely unclear.
Having encountered several "strange" incidents today, Liu Nanfeng did not wish to stir up more trouble. Suppressing his doubts, he hurried towards the coffee shop.
It was safer to be by his wife's side; the outside was simply too dangerous.
Upon arriving at the coffee shop, he found several customers inside, chatting in low voices over coffee.
"Welcome."
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Xu Xinyi, behind the counter, instinctively called out. As she looked up, she realized it was the boss.
However, her voice also alerted Su Jinxiu, who was preparing latte art nearby. She looked up, about to ask why he had been gone so long, when she saw Liu Nanfeng staring at Song Haitang's backside again.
She let out a soft hum, her hand trembling, and the latte art completely failed.
Liu Nanfeng walked towards the counter, intending to ask Su Jinxiu if she wanted to go home together. Just then, he saw her place the coffee she was holding in front of him.
"Drink this one."
"Huh? I already had one this afternoon. I can't have another. I won't be able to sleep tonight if I do."
"It's okay if you can't sleep, I'll keep you company," Su Jinxiu said with a smile.
"My wife is so good," Liu Nanfeng said, taking the coffee happily, assuming she was just being affectionate.
"Go sit over there and drink it. When I finish this cup, we'll go home together," Su Jinxiu said.
"Alright," Liu Nanfeng replied, taking his coffee to a nearby seat.
As soon as he sat down, he saw Song Haitang bring over a small pot of cactus.
"The boss's wife asked me to prepare this for you this afternoon and told you to put it on your computer desk."
"Okay, you can put it there."
Liu Nanfeng couldn't help but look at her a few more times, primarily to observe the ghost behind her.
A moment later, he saw Su Jinxiu bring over another cup of coffee.
"I accidentally failed again. Drink this one too."
Liu Nanfeng: ...