Chapter 25: 025 River‑East Wang Clan (Part Three)

Li Yuan is now very relieved, glad that he hadn't openly claimed he would go help them eliminate the monster in the Wang Gu Lin.

Otherwise, if we had truly taken it on, we would have had to grit our teeth and shoulder it.

We could run away, but in any case it would still be a loss of face.

A True Realm Warrior—although this particular True Realm Warrior, whose name is still unknown, is not that powerful.

But in a place this small, encountering a True Realm Warrior is already a very rare occurrence.

True Realm Warriors aren't easy to see in such a small place.

Cultivators like them can see one because cultivators are numerous, and although "True Realm Warrior" and "ordinary warrior" sound like the same thing, they cannot be conflated.

Being unable to defeat even a True Realm Warrior, one can only flee in disgrace, and may even be captured and forced to serve as a star slave for a while; although the other side didn't state it outright, anyone who hears the story can infer it.

To be honest, for humans, becoming a female monster's slave… at least for cultivators, it's not a particularly humiliating experience.

Anyway, that's the case for male cultivators; after all, female monsters are indeed beautiful, and also… ahem.

Of course, provided one isn't drained dry and can escape alive, for a male cultivator that's hardly a loss.

"How is it?" After a palm shattered a pillar, Wang Wu withdrew his hand, stepped before the three, and asked Li Yuan,

"What level is my current realm? I'm really not clear about this, after all I can't even read the characters,"

"Ha ha… Young hero, you're being modest…" Li Yuan forced a smile, "Your realm is already on par with mine; in close combat within a hundred steps, I would surely die under your palm."

Speaking, Li Yuan glanced at the long sword hanging from Wang Wu's waist, recalling that the heirloom blade had been broken by a monster, and then tentatively asked, "It seems you also practice swordsmanship?"

"I do," Wang Wu nodded, "I know a bit of sword technique, but I'm not proficient."

"I see…" Li Yuan nodded, utterly skeptical of Wang Wu's claim of being 'not proficient.'

That fellow's family heirloom must be impressive; its cultivation method, even though Li Yuan is not a True Realm Warrior, still feels extraordinarily extraordinary.

But he can't read characters…

That might be true.

"Since that monster's strength is so overwhelming, even Wang Wu, a True Realm Warrior, would struggle to handle it, can we seek help from the authorities?"

At that moment, Wang Lan, who had been silent, spoke up.

While speaking, she glanced at Wang Wu, and their eyes met; she quickly averted her gaze and looked at Li Yuan.

"The authorities?" Li Yuan's face showed a strange expression upon hearing that, then he said, "The authorities wouldn't bother with such matters, especially a monster that's neither strong nor weak."

"The money your Wang Clan lost in that forest, if you go to the authorities to have them solve this and kill the monster, you probably won't get your money back."

"If the court cultivators dispatch a demon‑extermination army to lead the operation, once the matter is settled, guess how many times they'll demand money from you along the way? They might even take the whole batch of silver your Wang Clan lost, and that might not even be enough."

Saying that, Li Yuan's face flashed a brief scornful look. It was clearly not directed at Wang Lan for asking the question, but at someone else.

"The supplies along the way and all sorts of miscellaneous expenses—do you really think the County Colonel would foot the bill? He'd certainly be asking your Wang Clan, that big‑money family, for money."

"Isn't demon extermination the court's duty?" At this point, Wang Wu asked curiously. He still remembered the story Shu Niang and the others had told him:

Decades ago, a monster went to a nearby village and captured some people to eat—about twenty‑something or fifty‑something, certainly fewer than a hundred.

Then the court's army arrived.

The court's troops immediately swept the area clean; since then, the monsters outside Si Hun Shan were reduced to only a few.

"That also depends on who it is," Li Yuan sighed, "If you were a farmer in a village, that would make sense."

"Although living in a village is indeed less safe than in the county seat, those farmlands and pastures are the foundation of the court."

"If a village is frequently raided by monsters, you just send someone to the county seat for aid, and the army will mobilize immediately, wiping out the nearby threat completely."

"I see…"

After Li Yuan's explanation, Wang Wu immediately understood. After all, Shu Niang and the others had also said that if they really wanted to eat people, they could just feast on traveling merchants on the Guan Dao.

As for the people in the surrounding villages, it's best they stay put if possible.

"You should remember, right? The incident from decades ago in Xi Peng Village," Li Yuan added.

"A monster infiltrated Xi Peng Village, managed to bypass the village's formation and the Monster-detecting Stone, settled there, even took a wife. In the few years it lived there, nearly a hundred people from nearby villages disappeared."

"At first, everyone thought it was inter‑village feuds causing deaths. But as more people vanished and some corpses were found outside with bite and cut marks,"

"Those marks clearly weren't made by humans, which naturally terrified the surrounding villages. Then several villages jointly reported the incident to He Dong Xian."

"At that time, the court's Demon Suppression Office happened to be touring my southern province, and a Demon Suppression Army was stationed in a camp outside the county. The villages below reported for help, and the county also happened to have a Demon Suppression Army."

"That sweep also brought decades of peace to the Guan Dao between He Dong Xian and He Xi Xian."

"As for the monster that caused your Wang Clan caravan's disappearance..." Li Yuan stroked his chin, "Its strength wasn't weak; at least it was a subordinate of a major demon‑level monster. It must have come from elsewhere."

"Moreover, I don't think your Wang Clan caravan's disappearance was caused by a monster."

Although Li Yuan wasn't clear about Zhu San Niang and the others' true situation, he had to admit that the fellow was indeed somewhat capable.

He could even guess that Zhu San Niang wasn't a local monster. Moreover, he knew the Wang Clan caravan wasn't taken out by Zhu San Niang or her two neighboring monsters.

"Oh?"

It was still Wang Wu who spoke, while Wang Yin's expression remained calm, showing no surprise at Li Yuan's speculation.

"Then the Wang Clan caravan that vanished three years ago—wasn't that caused by a monster?" Wang Wu asked.

"No," Li Yuan shook his head.

(End of chapter)