Chapter 78: Summoning Demons 6K – Please Subscribe

He Dong Xian yamen.

The problem with Wu Lian has been resolved; Sun Da and Sun Fei have both returned home, and she has been temporarily placed in a room within the yamen, awaiting the resolution of Wang Wu's side of the matter.

The yamen gave Sun Da's family ten gold as compensation, and also promoted Sun Fei one rank.

Of course, they did not disclose the details of Wu Lian's identity, only stating that she is actually a monster. However, she married into the Sun family out of gratitude, and they bear no ill will toward her.

Sun Da himself has little emotion about this matter, or rather he does, but only some awkwardness.

Because Wu Lian originally intended to marry him, this was reported to Sun Da, but Sun Da, out of kindness, did not accept, so she became his younger brother's wife.

This caused Ruo Niang to feel a bit jealous, but her attitude toward Wu Lian did not change much; she even tried to persuade Wu Lian to stay in the Sun family.

However, after seeing her younger brother‑in‑law's attitude, she naturally kept those words unsaid.

Sun Da and Ruo Niang, as a couple, treat Wu Lian very differently from how Sun Fei does; after all, his sworn brother died at the jaws of a monster, which has made him extremely loathsome toward monsters.

Even though he has built several years of affection with Wu Lian, when she revealed her true form, he became angry.

Thus, under his strong demand and the yamen's notarization, their marriage contract was nullified, ending the bond between a human and a monster.

As the older brother, Sun Da naturally wanted to advise his younger brother a few words, since he indeed likes his sister‑in‑law Wu Lian. Yet, as an elder brother, he also must consider his younger brother's wishes.

So Sun Da said nothing, after watching Wu Lian for a while and sighing a few times, he left with his family.

Led by a yamen guard, Wang Wu quickly arrived at Wu Lian's room; the moment he entered, he saw Wu Lian sitting on a stool inside, looking desolate.

"Wang… Young Hero Wang," Wu Lian's eyes flashed with a spark upon seeing Wang Wu, and she hurriedly stood and called his name.

"You're now a free person; have you thought about the road ahead?" Wang Wu sat down in front of her and asked.

"I…"

Hearing the question, Wu Lian lowered her head again, and her gaze dimmed.

"I too, I also don't know…"

She shook her head.

The restriction within Wu Lian's body was removed by Wang Wu, right after entering the city.

And the disappearance of the seal would naturally be known to its owner, Xi Men Pei, but at that moment he was being pulled off a carriage by several members of the Demon-Subduing Army, unable to react.

"Do you wish to continue as a monster, or live among humans?" Wang Wu asked.

Wang Wu did not reveal to her that he also harbors a monster's mind; had the conflict with Si Tu Jin in He Xi Xian not been peacefully resolved, Wang Wu would have chosen to transform and flee with Wu Lian.

If events had unfolded that way, Wu Lian would have learned Wang Wu's identity. Afterwards, Wang Wu would temporarily house her at his residence, planning to send her to Zhao Xingyue the following year.

As for now, if she has her own plans for the future, he will not interfere; if not, he will keep her temporarily in He Dong Xian and send her to Zhao Xingyue next year.

Zhao Xingyue also knows Wu Lian; Wang Wu has told her about it. After hearing the story, she expressed willingness to help and will come to He Dong Xian next year, when the monster people will cooperate to rescue Wu Lian.

Wang Wu felt the plan was perfect, and took pride in his strategic planning and unparalleled wit.

The plan indeed had no flaws; Zhao Xingyue, hailing from a top sect of Nan Zhou, can easily handle a county aristocrat like Xi Men Pei.

Although the Xi Men family has some influence in the Nan Zhou prefectural capital, that power is merely that of the higher‑ranking clan they are attached to.

But sometimes, plans can't keep up with changes.

"If you no longer wish to stay in human society, you could go to Xu Mang Shan," Wang Wu said after she remained silent for a while.

"In Yanzhou's Xu Mang Shan lies a monster city called Hei Wu Cheng, self‑governed by monsters. It is said to be quite prosperous, with decent relations with human towns, even trade. You may reside there."

The monster city that Wu Er Niang mentioned was later detailed by Zhao Xingyue to Wang Wu; no wonder even Wu Er Niang had heard of it—it truly is a good place.

"Alternatively, if you still wish to live among humans," Wang Wu said, "you can go to a friend of mine; she will find you a livelihood in human society."

"How about it?"

After presenting the two options, Wang Wu looked at Wu Lian, awaiting her answer.

Wu Lian lifted her head to look at Wang Wu, her eyes holding some emotion; she opened her mouth but did not speak immediately, and after a moment she slowly said:

"I… I am willing to go to the Young Hero's friend's place, if, if it's not troublesome…"

"No trouble," Wang Wu said with a smile. "It's not a problem, though if you go to her, you might still be treated as a monster slave. But you needn't worry about anything else, because she is a woman."

"Th‑thank you…" Wu Lian nodded lightly.

"Then spend the rest of this year staying temporarily in He Dong Xian," Wang Wu said.

"First, change your appearance a bit; although those who once commanded you in He Dong Xian may have already been captured and killed by the Demon-Subduing Army, your face is still too conspicuous, so it's best to alter it."

"Next year my friend will come to He Dong Xian, and then you can leave together with her."

"Hmm…"

Wu Lian's matter was thus resolved; although some accidents and unexpected events occurred, overall it went fairly smoothly.

Thinking back, rescuing Zhao Xingyue was indeed a very wise decision; for his activities in human society, this woman can provide great assistance.

Moreover, she comes from a major sect of Nan Zhou, need not elaborate, and her background is likely impressive.

Because in her Wang Wu sensed a temperament very similar to Si Tu Jin's… well actually it's not; it's because Zhao Xingyue told him that someone in her family serves in the Demon-Subduing Army.

Since they are employed, they clearly aren't foot soldiers; even if they were, many are of noble or famous lineage.

The Great Zhou comprises thirteen provinces, with a population of perhaps four to five hundred million, making it a very powerful nation on the former Shang Dynasty lands. After the Yin‑Shang fell to a demonic disaster, its territory was inherited by the former vassal states.

Wei, Chu, and Xia are the three states bordering Zhou; among them, Wei was the strongest nation on this land after the Shang's fall, inheriting the most Shang heritage.

Later Wei split into Eastern and Western Wei, then was overrun by the Chu, and has declined in recent years but remains strong.

As for Chu, it is a special case; during the Yin‑Shang period it nominally submitted to the Shang, but in reality was very untrustworthy, repeatedly rebelling and even once breaching the Shang capital.

To suppress the Chu, the Yin built a massive military city, Panlong City, in Chu territory; it was a southern military stronghold of the Yin‑Shang empire and a bridgehead for conquering the southern barbarians.

But now that place has fallen into Chu hands.

And Xia, a very ancient state; before the Yin‑Shang built their vast theocratic empire, it was already one of the Xia vassal states.

It is a very ancient slave‑republic, whose highest ruler is selected from the leaders of its twelve internal vassal states.

Later, the leader of this alliance was always a Yin person from the Great Shang, and eventually the Yin directly replaced them, establishing the Great Shang.

The Yin, or Shang, built a theocratic empire of immense size; Wang Wu cannot say exactly how large, but from Zhao Xingyue's description it seems comparable to his hometown's area, perhaps even larger.

As for the Great Zhou where Wang Wu is now, he doesn't know its exact national strength, because Zhao Xingyue didn't say which is stronger or weaker among Great Zhou, the Two Wei, Chu and Xia.

Wang Wu is quite interested in these countries, and if there is a chance in the future, he wants to go see them. For now, he should first establish his footing in human society.

He has thought about bringing Shu Niang and the others to live in a human city; that is indeed feasible, because demon slaves are not uncommon in the human world, and it would suffice to change Shu Niang and their status to "demon slaves".

As for restraints, they aren't even necessary; having them is naturally safer, but lacking them isn't a big problem.

It's like walking a dog without a leash—clearly unreasonable and dangerous—yet many people still do it.

However, relocating Shu Niang and the others to human society requires Wang Wu's strength as a guarantee, and at present his strength hasn't reached that level.

But now, with a supplement as a boost, Wang Wu indeed plans to try it after the coming spring. As for the concrete plan, it still needs careful scheming.

Having settled Wu Lian, it's already late. The sun had set long ago, so the exact time now doesn't matter.

Wang Wu plans to return tomorrow or the day after; the remaining time today can be spent strolling around the city.

Arriving at the county town's central street, there were far fewer pedestrians than when he first entered. Few people stood before the various stalls, and many stall owners had already packed up to go home.

The reason for this becomes clear when you look at the fully armed soldiers in the city.

Officials' envoys are everywhere, soldiers patrol in groups everywhere, and occasionally one or two members of the Demon-Quelling Army can be seen.

Behind them soldiers escort a group of criminals hurriedly passing from distant streets. From the clothing on those criminals, they are all recognizable individuals.

Just as Wang Wu had thought, Si Tu Jin's arrival at He Dong Xian must be for her main mission.

And this main mission, based on the earlier conversation she had with the Xi Men family heard at the county office, appears to be about capturing someone.

But Wang Wu is also very curious what kind of person could cause officials of He Dong Xian and the local aristocracy to collude with them.

Even facing Si Tu Jin's interrogation, which is likely just a personal amusement for that woman, nevertheless, even if merely entertainment, the Zhou family's attitude was already sufficiently strange.

The Demon-Quelling Army represents the Great Zhou court, yet when facing the court, these people still show no sign of confession.

That is rather odd.

Wang Wu pondered, and his super brain kicked in, quickly arriving at the conclusion, "This shit doesn't concern me at all."

Indeed, Wang Wu shrugged, stopped paying attention, and continued to wander the street.

"Shopkeeper, how much is this?"

Wang Wu walked up to a jewelry stall, picked up a pair of crescent earrings, and asked.

"These are old items!" the stall's shopkeeper beamed at the sight of Wang Wu, "These are treasures I dug up from the ruins of Wang Gu Lin!!"

Saying that, he made a gesture, "I won't ask for more, eight liang of silver."

"Nerve." Wang Wu set the earrings down and turned to leave.

"Hey, young hero! Don't go!! Young hero!!!"

The shopkeeper's voice came from behind.

"Five liang, five liang!! Three liang!!! Never mind, seeing how dashing you look, young hero, I'll sell it to you at a loss, a single price! Just one price!!!"

"500 wen!! 500 wen!!!!"

Wang Wu never looked back, quickly left the place, until the shopkeeper's voice vanished completely.

Wandering through the city, buying some dry food, seasonings and furniture, Wang Wu eventually reached the county town's entrance, the very gate he had entered through.

He glanced at the towering city walls and the notice board at the gate, walked over and read its contents.

There was nothing special, just some wanted notices and official announcements; he turned to leave, but a peripheral glance caught a familiar name on the board, causing Wang Wu to stop and examine the sheet closely.

【Wanted: Li brothers】

Reward: 50 liang each, alive or dead.

He Dong Xian County Office

"Ha…" Wang Wu looked at the two portraits; realistic painting has developed well here. At least the depictions, though younger than the ones Wang Wu saw that day, indeed look like that.

The meticulous brushwork here already incorporates perspective and shading, hardly different from the modern meticulous paintings of Wang Wu's hometown.

Unfortunately, those two have been dead in a pit for months, and the pit had been tampered with before, likely leaving no remains.

Turning away, he came to the wall's edge, looked at the stairs leading up and a soldier yawning there, and decided to go over.

"General."

Wang Wu went up and said "General", because he didn't know how to address him; he is neither an ancient person nor a native here, so he can only use whatever others call him.

The soldier was still yawning, but upon hearing the voice at his ear and looking closely, he was startled half to death.

"Ah, oops! Great… Great sir! I… I wasn't slacking, I wasn't slacking!!!" He immediately "plop"‑ed and knelt before Wang Wu, trembling like a sieve.

"Um, I just wanted to go up and look." Facing the soldier's attitude, Wang Wu awkwardly pointed to the stairs leading up the wall and said.

"Ah? Please, please!!" The soldier, hearing Wang Wu, immediately moved aside, stood up beside him, and bowed, saying, "Please, sir!!"

The soldier didn't know Wang Wu's exact identity, but the people who entered the city with the Demon-Quelling Army were clearly not someone of his low rank to provoke.

As for why, despite never having seen Wang Wu, he could recognize him at a glance, the answer is simple: no need to describe his appearance in detail, just a phrase like "celestial bearing" and the pattern on his clothing suffice.

Thus, when he heard the other call him "General", the guard's heart went cold.

"Thank you."

Wang Wu nodded at him, then ascended the stairs. After he left, the soldier at the stairwell wiped sweat from his head and exhaled.

"Damn… you scared me to death."

…………

"Sir."

As soon as he reached the wall, several soldiers greeted Wang Wu. He nodded at them, then went to the rampart edge and looked outward.

There it was pitch black, except for a speck of fire on the distant plain to his left, where a human village lay on the open field.

To his right was the direction of Wang Gu Lin. The straight‑line distance from Wang Gu Lin to He Dong Xian is actually very far; one must walk at least thirty‑some kilometers from the forest to reach here.

It was pitch black, but not completely so, because Wang Wu could see pairs of eyes in the forest, countless blood‑red eyes.

Those are demons.

There are also some "things" floating above Wang Gu Lin, either a vague human silhouette or a vague outline of some kind of beast.

"M-Master?"

"Hmm?" While he was staring absentmindedly toward Wang Gu Lin, Wang Wu suddenly heard someone call his name. He turned his head and saw a frail soldier.

He wasn't tall—just over 1.7 meters—and his build was extremely thin, like a bamboo pole, making the heavy armor he wore look terribly awkward.

The soldiers inside the city wore full armor: lacquered plates on the outside, chainmail underneath, plus a thick padded layer as the innermost lining, giving them remarkably strong defense.

Wang Wu had never seen in the city soldiers dressed in light or short armor like the village militia outside, which showed how advanced the world's productivity truly was.

"Anything wrong?" Wang Wu looked at the other person and asked.

"Sir, sir, are you truly a True Realm Warrior?" The frail soldier, seeing that Wang Wu was willing to speak with him, became excited and stammered his question.

"Yes," Wang Wu nodded. "Do you have anything you want to ask?"

"N-no, I don't know…" Hearing that Wang Wu still intended to keep talking, the soldier grew even more excited, stammering, about to continue his question, but the next second he was yanked aside.

"M-Master, I'm sorry, truly sorry!!"

A middle‑aged soldier replaced the youngster before Wang Wu, bowing and saying, "This kid is immature and slow‑witted; please, sir, be lenient and don't hold it against him…"

"No problem, let him ask." Wang Wu tilted his head and smiled. Then he looked at the skinny soldier behind him and asked, "Do you want to ask why you can't become a True Realm Warrior?"

The frail soldier immediately nodded repeatedly, his expression excited, but as he kept nodding his face suddenly stiffened, and he froze right there.

"Hm?" Wang Wu noticed the other's odd behavior and was a bit puzzled, but in an instant a strong chill surged from behind, making his hair stand on end.

He snapped his head around, looking forward, his pupils dilating instantly.

It was a person—a woman—quietly floating not far outside the city wall.

Time seemed to stop at that moment; when Wang Wu saw her, he too froze in place.

She wore a set of clothes similar in style to Zi Yuan's, but clearly less ornate—more plain—and the patterns differed completely from Zi Yuan's.

Her abdomen was sliced open, her face looked as if it had been boiled in water, which reminded Wang Wu of articles he had read about Shang‑dynasty sacrificial rites.

"Noble women of defeated tribes were sent to the Yin lands. There they would be killed as human sacrifices, their heads placed in a steamer to be boiled and offered to the heavens."

The woman before him had a head that truly didn't match the body below, because the torso showed no signs of being boiled, and her skull was attached to the neck at a bizarre angle.

It faced the direction of He Dong Xian, opened its mouth; the jaw muscles, having lost elasticity from high‑heat cooking, tore apart as the lower jaw expanded, like ripping a piece of boiled meat.

"Aaaah… ah…"

She let out a sigh‑like sound; even from about a hundred meters away it was still clearly audible.

As she opened her mouth, time resumed its flow. Wang Wu's long sword at his waist sprang out in an instant, golden light flaring from his hand, and he leapt back to the city‑wall steps.

Boom—!!!

At the same moment, several beams of light shot out from the city wall and instantly engulfed the distant monster. As the beams vanished, nothing remained there.

"Ha! Damn thing, you don't even know where He Dong Xian is? How dare you trouble us??"

The middle‑aged soldier's voice rang in his ears; looking toward the other side, he stared at the distant darkness, hands on hips, and smugly cursed.

Then he turned to Wang Wu, smiling, and said, "Sir, no need to be nervous; the defenses of He Dong Xian are not comparable…"

Clack

The sound abruptly stopped as the middle‑aged soldier's jaw dropped to the ground. Immediately afterward, his body turned a bizarre color, as if it had just been boiled in a steamer.

"Ah, aaaa, aaaa…"

Yet at that moment he was still alive and very lucid.

He seemed to realize what had happened, a sigh like the earlier demon's escaping his throat; his body jolted, his eyes spun wildly in their sockets, then burst out and fell to the ground.

After the eyeballs came the rest of his body, which fell apart like overcooked meat, detaching from the bones.

Above that pile of rotten flesh, the monster in ancient garb that had originally been over a hundred meters away, outside the county, stood there quietly.

Its eyeballs were shriveled, jaw muscles torn, mouth open, emitting sighs.

"Ah…"

In an instant, golden light flared atop the city wall.

"Shu Niang!! San Niang!! Er Niang!!"

While raising his sword to slash the monster, Wang Wu roared inside his mind.

"W-what's wrong? Wu Lang?"

When Shu Niang's voice came through the phone, Wang Wu instantly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nothing, just a reminder not to go out."

He hung up the phone, looked at the body he had sliced in half, and felt no less of the looming danger in his heart.

Because he knew very well that the thing wasn't dead.

(End of Chapter)