Turns Out I'm the Real Monster?!

「The next morning.」

After a delicate breakfast prepared by Bai Xiang, Jiang Mu headed for the Government Office.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw Zhang Xiaokui, shirtless, practicing his Diamond Guard technique with grunts and shouts.

Seeing Jiang Mu arrive, he quickly stopped and bowed. "Lord Jiang!"

"Where’s your brother?"

"He’s out on patrol."

Zhang Xiaokui wiped sweat from his brow and said,

"Oh, by the way, Lord Jiang, someone came to file a report. They specifically asked to see you and have been waiting in the signing room for nearly an hour."

"A report?"

Jiang Mu was taken aback. "Did you ask what it was about?"

"I did, but she wouldn’t say. She insisted on waiting for you," Zhang Xiaokui said.

Puzzled, Jiang Mu walked toward his office, the signing room.

He stepped inside.

And there, a graceful figure was sitting in a chair. It was none other than Madam Shen, the woman he had met at the tavern last night!

Today, she was dressed in a peach-pink, sheer-sleeved dress, her makeup exquisite. Her eyes held a seductive charm.

Jiang Mu was a little stunned.

Before he could even react, a fragrant scent washed over him.

Madam Shen threw herself directly into his arms.

The woman tilted her head back, her beautiful eyes shimmering like spring water, brimming with a sorrowful grievance.

"You cruel, cruel man..."

"Have you forgotten all about your old flame now that you have someone new?"

Jiang Mu’s body stiffened, his scalp tingling.

’Just as I thought!’

’My worst fears have been confirmed.’

’That bastard Jiang Chen really did seduce another man’s wife!’

He hastily took half a step back, pushing the woman out of his embrace.

"Madam Shen, please compose yourself. My family suffered a tragedy some time ago, and I was afflicted by a demon’s poison. My memory of past events is hazy... There must be some misunderstanding between us."

The grievance in Madam Shen’s eyes deepened.

"What a convenient ’hazy memory’! You heartless man. I heard about the tragedy that befell your family, so I didn’t want to disturb you.

Last night, it seemed you’d recovered, so I came to see you today...

And what do I get? You fob me off with this pathetic excuse!"

As she spoke, her hips swayed, and she moved to press against him again.

Jiang Mu retreated once more, his expression turning serious.

"Madam Shen! Whatever misunderstanding we had before, I am now an official of the Demon-slaying Bureau, and you are Uncle Shen’s wife. For both official and private reasons, we should no longer have any involvement with each other."

Madam Shen’s expression gradually turned cold.

"Eldest Young Master Jiang, when you were coaxing me into bed, you called me your ’darling treasure’ over and over, swearing you’d love me for a lifetime. Now that you’ve had your fun, you want to toss me aside like a dirty rag?"

"You want to deny it all? Fine! What about your child? Are you going to abandon them too?"

"What!?"

The color drained from Jiang Mu’s face.

"Pfft!"

But then Madam Shen covered her mouth and laughed, her eyes dancing with mockery.

"Look how scared you are. As brazen as I am, I wouldn’t dare cuckold my husband so openly and raise another man’s child... I still have my eye on the Shen family’s immense fortune, you know."

"Phew..."

Jiang Mu let out a long sigh of relief.

’Damn, this woman is vicious. She nearly scared me to death.’

The woman leaned in again, her tone turning sinister.

"Listen here, Jiang. You can get tired of me and dump me, I don’t care. Out with the old, in with the new. At worst, I’ll just find myself another young, virile man.

However, I really am here to file a report this time.

And you have to help me. Otherwise, I’ll throw all shame to the wind and make sure our little sordid affair is known throughout the entire city.

I’ll turn you, the newly appointed high official of the Demon-slaying Bureau, into the laughingstock of the city!"

Jiang Mu was not intimidated by her threats.

In their brief confrontation, he had already figured her out. This woman was a refined egoist.

She only cared about her own interests and would never risk burning everything to the ground.

"Fine. What’s the report?"

Jiang Mu pulled over a chair, sat down, and asked coolly.

Madam Shen said,

"I suspect that no-good husband of mine is keeping a little vixen on the side."

Jiang Mu raised an eyebrow.

"This ’vixen’ you speak of... is she a person, or a Demon?"

"I think she’s a Demon!"

Madam Shen said, "You’re from the Demon-slaying Bureau. You have the authority to kill her!"

"Just because you think she’s a Demon doesn’t make it so. Everything requires evidence."

Jiang Mu was speechless.

He was starting to understand.

Shen Wanhai had found a new lover, and this woman felt threatened. So she wanted to use him to pin the label of "Demon" on the other woman—to kill with a borrowed knife.

’The deadliest poison is a woman’s heart, indeed.’

Madam Shen sneered.

"Evidence? Lord Jiang, whether she’s a Demon or not is just a matter of your word, isn’t it?

Let me tell you, if he were just having a common affair, keeping some brothel girl, I could turn a blind eye.

But this woman is different!

She’s completely bewitched my husband. For the past few months, he’s spent most nights at her place, and he’s grown colder and colder toward me."

As she spoke, the rims of her eyes turned red.

"My life is so bitter. For so many years, I’ve managed the household for the Shen family, borne his children, and dutifully upheld my role as a wife, never once overstepping my bounds... Now that I’m old and my beauty has faded, am I to be thrown out?"

The corner of Jiang Mu’s mouth twitched.

’Dutifully upheld my role as a wife?’

’Was it a ghost who threw herself into my arms the moment I walked in?’

Madam Shen looked at him with teary eyes.

"In short, you help me get rid of that vixen. Once it’s done, I’ll give you a generous reward. I know you don’t lack for money, but as an official, you need silver to grease the wheels. No one ever complains about having too much money."

Leaning back in his chair, Jiang Mu shook his head.

"I’m sorry. Without any proof, I will not move against an innocent person."

"Innocent? You?"

Madam Shen took a step forward, slammed her palm on the desk, and leaned in to glare at him.

"Jiang Chen, you dare speak of innocence? A few days ago, the fog demon attacked the city. How many common people died? Were they not innocent?!

If you refuse to help me today, I’ll report you! I’ll accuse you of colluding with Demon Fiends, and don’t you think I won’t dare!"

Jiang Mu gave her a look one might reserve for a complete moron.

"Suit yourself."

’This woman must have lost her mind. To think she’d make up such nonsense just to get rid of a rival.’

’Colluding with Demon Fiends?’

’Is that the kind of mud you can just sling around freely?’

"Heh, Jiang Chen, you don’t really think I have no evidence, do you?"

Madam Shen suddenly smiled.

It was a cold, triumphant smile, making her seem like a completely different person from the grieving, seductive woman moments before.

"Those words you spoke... when you were holding me in bed... surely you haven’t forgotten them?"

Jiang Mu frowned. "What words?"

Madam Shen said menacingly,

"You had a lot to drink that night. You were worried about my safety and told me to flee the city the next morning. You said the City Defense Array of Hu State was about to fail, that a Great Demon would invade, and you didn’t want me to die in the city."

Jiang Mu froze.

A moment later, a chill shot up his spine.

Jiang Chen, an unlearned, good-for-nothing playboy... how could he have known in advance that the City Defense Array was going to fail?

And how could he have predicted that a Great Demon was about to invade?

’Wait a minute!’

’Could she be making this up, setting a trap for me because she knows I have "amnesia"?’

"You think I’m lying to you?"

As if reading his mind, Madam Shen took a lustrous, dove-egg-sized piece of jade from her robes and tapped it lightly on the desk.

The next moment, a drunken voice clearly emanated from the jade stone:

"Darling... listen to me, you have to leave Hu State first thing tomorrow morning... The City Defense Array is about to fail, and a Great Demon is going to break in... I don’t want to see you die..."

The voice was Jiang Chen’s!

Which, of course, was now Jiang Mu’s voice.

Jiang Mu was stunned.

’They even have recording Magical Artifacts in this world?’

Listening to the words from within, his expression turned grim.

’Could it be...’

’The traitor Ran Qingshan is looking for, the one who colluded with Demon Fiends... is actually me?!’

’So after all this time, I’m the mole.’