My Evil Wife Is a Nine-Tailed Fox

"It's been years, and yet neither you, the humans, nor the grim reapers made an effort to get to the bottom of this?" Shen Minyao snorted. "If I wasn't hunting a demon, I suppose you would need to deal with it on your own, Mu Qing." 

The grim reaper glanced at her and huffed. 

"You bring more problems than help. Don't you know how much work I had to deal with after you killed that spider demon? Because of you, we were forced to do overtime." He glared at her, as he remembered the clean-up he had to do along with his fellow grim reapers. 

The fox woman waved her hand and resumed walking along with Jiang Chen, who was visibly confused next to her. She laughed at his reaction and shook her head. He was probably not sure if she was indeed talking to a grim reaper like she said, but there's no reason for her to lie, anyway. 

"Since it has been years, it only made sense that the infestation here is worse than the city hospital," Shen Minyao commented. 

"Did you also investigate the city hospital?" Jiang Chen asked. The news about the fire that consumed one part of the city hospital and how it took several lives had filled the mainstream news for the past weeks. 

Shen Minyao made a noncommittal sound. She would rather not disclose things this early with Jiang Chen and the others. The less they knew about the nine-tailed fox, the better. It would be a pity if they end up dying by her own hands. 

"Mu Qing was doing an inspection there. After all, it's his job to collect souls of the departed, right?" She answered. 

Jiang Chen nodded, but he could feel that there was more to it. At that, he didn't dare to probe any further. If Shen Minyao wasn't willing to say things, he would rather not poke into her business and lose his life in the process. 

The fact that she was able to withstand holding Li Fei'er's talisman without getting hurt and that this demoness was able to have absolute possession of Shen Minyao's body only meant that she was a high-level demon.

"Then, what do we know about the demons that reside here?" The fox woman asked once they reached the wide intersection of the highway. There was a pedestrian lane that allowed people to cross the roads. Because the fourth district never slept, people and motorists could be seen everywhere. 

"There weren't any reported sightings of the demons," Jiang Chen answered her, "In fact, we've only come to the conclusion that it was a demon that caused havoc here because of the amount of negative energy being accumulated." 

"There's something odd about it, though," Mu Qing joined their conversation. "Remember the mirror demon at your school?" 

"What about it?" Shen Minyao asked. What did it have to do with their current case? 

"There are some spirits who were able to resist the influence of the demons, but they can't seem to leave the place." 

"So spirits were bound to stay here, huh." The fox woman couldn't help but wonder how many similarities the two cases had. 

The spirits during the mirror demon's case were lured into the place, trapping them in the process; while the demons here at the fourth district had killed humans for them to be able to extract the souls from the dead bodies to feed on later. 

"Should we take a look and see what kind of barrier is stopping the spirits from leaving this place?" Shen Minyao asked the two men. 

"I'll go and see how large the barrier covering the district is. I'll see you here in an hour," Mu Qing said before he vanished into thin air. 

"Ah, he left already without waiting for my answer." The fox woman frowned. This wasn't the first time that happened, and perhaps she should get used to it by now. 

"We should also need to get going, milady," Xiao Bai suggested as he leaped back onto Shen Minyao's shoulder. 

"What should we do then?" Jiang Chen questioned her. As he looked at the fat cat on Shen Minyao's shoulder, he wondered how she was able to withstand its weight. 

Since he could only hear Shen Minyao's response and not the grim reaper's voice, it was hard for him to come up with a conclusion based on what could have been spoken between the two. 

"Mu Qing left to see how big the barrier is. We should also see and check if it is placed by a human or a demon." She sighed.

Her words only confused the young psychic further. Nevertheless, Jiang Chen followed her as they continued their stroll. 

Since it was almost six in the evening, more people had come out to meet their friends and loved ones over dinner. The two easily avoided the crowd, but Jiang Chen was having a hard time keeping up with the fox woman's pace. Shen Minyao easily avoided the humans they encountered along their way, as she could sense their presence even before she was able to see them. 

"Do you mean to say a human can also set such a barrier? But why would they do that?" Jiang Chen asked once he caught up with Shen Minyao and her guardian. 

"You are asking the wrong person here, Mr. Jiang," Xiao Bai replied, instead of his mistress, "But yes. Humans with enough spiritual presence such as shamans, priests, and witches can set barriers to fend off demons. However, those barriers can also be used to trap them and other spiritual entities inside if they want." 

Jiang Chen nodded in understanding. What the fatty cat said made sense to him. It wasn't impossible for a human to come up with such a deadly trap, especially if demons were involved in it. 

After walking for about fifteen minutes, the two reached one end of the barrier. Shen Minyao touched it, and the barrier sparked upon contact.