The only method.

Although the manor was big, there weren't many servants working there.

So far, Jie Fu Lian had only seen a few servants that could be counted on a single hand and to his surprise, it seemed like those few servants that he had seen were the same ones that had been working here in the past.

If Jie Fu Lian remembered it right then these few servants should not be ordinary people. They were all people who had once been mercenaries or cultivators.

The servants helped prepare the table for dinner and soon, The four people were seated around the table.

Jie Fu Lian and Duan Luoyang couldn't help but gulp down their saliva as they saw the wide range of dishes that had been prepared for them.

"There wasn't much time to prepare but we still tried our best," Fan GuiYing spoke up, feeling a bit embarrassed.

It needed to be known that this was the city's finance minister's manor and except for a selected few, no guests were ever invited here. Hence, if there was a guest then the manor would be decorated and all meals would be prepared in such a way that would make one almost think there was a festival.

However, this time, since there wasn't much time, the preparations were done with what was on hand so, in Fan GuiYing's eyes, it looked a bit too casual and shabby.

"Uncle Fan, this looks amazing!" Jie Fu Lian immediately exclaimed, not hiding the genuinely delighted grin on his face.

They exchanged a few more words and soon began to eat the food that had been prepared for them.

Duan Luoyang who had come here for only two things: Food and Fan GuiYing, felt as if his trip hadn't been in vain. He wasn't disappointed in the least! In fact, the reality had been much better than his expectation.

Just like Jie Fu Lian had said, Fan GuiYing was a beauty that needed to be seen at least once in life and the food tasted as if it were the best in the world.

At first, there was so much food on the table that Duan Luoyang thought they wouldn't be able to finish it all, but as soon as they were finished eating, all the food was already gone and only the empty bowls and plates were left.

Duan Luoyang felt as if his stomach was filled to the brim with no more space for anything else. After eating to his satisfaction, he felt a little tired and wanted to sleep.

However, as soon as the empty plates and bowls were taken away, The servants placed four porcelain empty cups on the table and a jar of the best Osmanthus wine in the city.

"This wine is very famous in our city. If you have come to Xiujiang, you cannot leave unless you have tasted our special osmanthus wine," Fan GuiYing spoke as he poured the wine onto the porcelain cups and filled them all up one by one.

As soon as Jie Fu Lian saw the osmanthus wine, his eyes lit up with great interest and just like Duan Luoyang, his fatigue also disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"A dinner can't be complete without a drink!" Jie Fu Lian laughed as he lifted the cup of wine.

Duan Luoyang bobbed his head up and down as he enthusiastically agreed.

The two looked like youngsters who were finally allowed to drink alcohol and both Fan Xue and Fan GuiYing couldn't help but laugh at such reactions.

The four people happily drunk the osmanthus wine, talked and laughed together.

The topic of their conversation was never stable and would float from one place to another. At one moment, they would be talking about the incident of Hua Tianshu burning down the city, and at the other moment, they would be talking about how beautiful the osmanthus flower was.

There was no awkwardness or discomfort in the atmosphere and the four people got along seemingly well.

When it was time for Duan Luoyang and Jie Fu Lian to leave, Fan GuiYing held them back and suggested, "It would be rude of us to send you off when you are this drunk. We already have a guest room prepared for you two. Why don't you rest here for today?"

It had only been a day since they had met and Duan Luoyang didn't want to trouble Fan Xue and Fan GuiYing any further so he was naturally about to decline the offer, however, before he could say anything, Jie Fu Lian had already jumped the gun.

"Uncle Fan is right! It is already this late and we are drunk. We can't even find a proper inn at this time of the night. If it isn't much trouble then we would like to stay here for the night."

Duan Luoyang looked at Jie Fu Lian with eyes that clearly conveyed his thoughts on the man, which were 'shameless'.

Two large guest rooms were prepared for them and all necessities were provided to them. From hot water to the clean bedsheets, there was no need for them to worry about anything since everything was already there, waiting for them.

As soon as Duan Luoyang entered the guest room, he threw himself on the bed and went right to sleep. Whereas, Jie Fu Lian decided to take a bath first.

"So what did you think?" Fan Xue asked as he put up a sound barrier around himself and Fan GuiYing in order to not let anyone else overhear them.

Fan GuiYing took a deep breath in as he thought about it for a minute before speaking, "He has the same vibe. He says the same things and does the same things. Even the way his eyes light up when he sees me, it's all the same. But, can he really be Jie Fu Lian?"

Fan GuiYing suddenly frowned as he continued with a bit of a disappointed tone in his voice, "A part of his soul was trapped inside his sword while another two parts are with Bai YiJun. As for the remaining Four, they had already been destroyed. He cannot be resurrected nor can he be summoned. Reincarnation is also out of the question."

Fan Xue nodded his head with a slight frown as he heard this. He had already thought of this but the similarity between this Fu Ming and Jie Fu Lian was really a bit too high.

"But for him to come back, it isn't something impossible," Fan GuiYing suddenly added with a sigh.

"There's another method?" Fan Xue raised his eyebrows as he asked.

"The only method is possession. If a part of his soul possesses the body of another, he can live once again. But Jie Fu Lian was a half-demon. The only body that would be compatible for his soul would be one with both high spiritual energy and high demonic Qi."

Fan Xue gulped as he heard this and his frown deepened as he muttered, "The body of a high-ranking demon or a half-demon."

Fan GuiYing nodded his head, "That's right. If it isn't another half-demon, then it has to be the body of a high-ranking demon but out of all the high-ranking demons, there is only one that has spiritual energy."

"Shen Fang..."

Fan GuiYing silently nodded his head.

In the first place itself, the body of a pure demon could not contain spiritual energy. Shen Fang, the King of the demon realm was perhaps the only one who was an exception to this rule.

Since his origins had been erased with time, it was hard for anyone to guess how exactly he had become such an exception but there have been numerous rumors and speculations going around.

Some say he was a half-demon while others say he was once a cultivator who had been turned into a demon. There were even some who claimed he had consumed more than a thousand spiritual cores of cultivators and in turn, created his own spiritual core.

However, these were all nothing more than rumors. Nobody except for Shen Fang knew the truth.

"But don't worry, it can't be Shen Fang," Fan GuiYing quickly added with a sigh as he pointed out, "In order for the possession to be successful, the soul inside the body has to be destroyed and there needs to be some connection between the body and the new soul that possesses the body. There is no way Shen Fang can be dead and he was a man who had no offsprings. Even though Jie Fu Lian was a half-demon, he shouldn't have any connections with Shen Fang."

Fan Xue felt a little relieved as he heard this and sighed as he spoke, "That's good. If he had really possessed the body of Shen Fang... Let's not even think about it. Nothing good would have come out of it."

"Dear, if he really is Jie Fu Lian, what do you plan on doing?"

Fan Xue pursed his lips into a thin line and seriously thought about it for a minute before he spoke, "I might just decide to ignore it. He was always a good person. I don't think his existence would harm anyone. If anything, there would be people like you and me who would be happy to have him back."

Fan GuiYing smiled as he heard this and nodded his head in agreement.