Chapter 76: The Man-Eating Demon

Anlin Town, a township under Wuhe County, takes its name from being bordered by a forested mountain on one side and the Anqu River on the other.

Changping Prefecture lies within Jiang Nan of the Ten Thousand Spirits; the Chang River flows through the prefecture, and when it passes Wuhe County, four tributaries merge into it, which is precisely the origin of Wuhe County's name.

The Anqu River is one of these four tributaries, and Anlin Town is the largest township along its banks.

When the carriage arrived at Anlin Town, it was already past mealtime and the sky had begun to darken; just as Gu Zhao was preparing to ask a passerby where an inn might be, he saw that lanterns and torches were already lit inside the town, illuminating almost the entire place.

Thus, finding an inn was very easy.

Parking the carriage at the entrance of an inn, Gu Zhao led the embroiderer and Zhu Qingyan down from the carriage, only to see that all the guests in the inn's main hall wore expressions of sorrow, and their movements carried a hint of panic and haste.

They ate hastily, drank hastily, and then hurried upstairs to return to their rooms, as if tigers were chasing them from behind.

The inn's Shopkeeper and the shop assistants also wore grim faces; upon seeing Gu Zhao's group, they even showed sympathy, but they quickly concealed their own emotions and instead asked, "Does the guest wish to stay? How many rooms?"

Gu Zhao frowned slightly but did not rush to ask questions; instead, he produced a silver ingot and said, "Four superior rooms."

He was not short of money now, so naturally he would not subject his people to hardship.

"Ah?" The Shopkeeper was slightly stunned; although a bit puzzled, he swiftly pocketed the silver and then called for a shop assistant to lead the four of them upstairs.

Gu Zhao and the others exchanged glances, then followed the shop assistant to the third floor of the inn; only when the assistant pushed open the door to the first room did Gu Zhao ask, "Has something happened in Anlin Town?"

Fear flashed across the shop assistant's face for an instant; just as he was shaking his head to speak, a small silver ingot was placed into his palm. "Is there some danger in the town?"

Seeing the silver in his hand, the shop assistant licked his lips and, gritting his teeth, advised, "If you dare to travel at night, do not stay in the town; leave immediately!"

"What is going on?" Gu Zhao asked curiously.

"A river demon is causing trouble in the Anqu River! In the past seven or eight days, dozens of people have already died in the Anqu River!" the shop assistant whispered, as if afraid the demon in the Anqu River might hear.

Gu Zhao and Daoist Yan Song exchanged a glance; there was work to be done!

But Gu Zhao was somewhat puzzled. "Since everyone died in the Anqu River, what are you afraid of by staying in the town?"

The shop assistant's voice even carried a crying tone. "Because dozens of people died in the river, the fishermen and boatmen in the town dare not go down into the water either; so in the past three or four days, that river demon has already come to the town to kill people!"

The shop assistant had a strong sense of professional ethics; having accepted the silver, he had to make the news clear.

"That river demon comes every night; each time it kills more than ten people. It has been happening for four days; today is the fifth day!"

"The town has reported to the authorities; I heard that a high expert came to handle this matter the day before yesterday, but in the end, he only said that the river demon would leave on its own after ten days and told us not to panic."

"How can we not panic? Now no one knows if the next one will be themselves, so they can only stay at home and leave it to fate!"

"Of course, traveling at night is also very dangerous," the shop assistant concluded. "But whether to leave overnight or stay in the town and gamble that the river demon will not choose you, that is for you to decide."

Watching the shop assistant leave, Daoist Yan Song suddenly said, "Earlier today, General Yan of the Golden Wind Sect mentioned that there was trouble around Wuhe County and that Liu Qingfeng might be in danger if he came."

The embroiderer asked, "Is the Golden Wind Sect killing people?"

Zhu Qingyan shook her head slightly. "If the Golden Wind Sect kills people, they will not kill Liu Qingfeng."

Gu Zhao thought for a moment. "Could that high expert from the county be someone from the Golden Wind Sect? So the Golden Wind Sect knew the news but lacked the ability to stop the other party from killing?"

Bai Ke suddenly spoke up. "It should be someone from the Bi'ang Palace; otherwise, they would not have made the Golden Wind Sect back down."

"The Bi'ang Palace is built underwater in the Chang River; normally, they just casually eat some fish or boatmen to whet their appetite, or occasionally overturn boats to feast, so they rarely come ashore to kill people."

"However, the demons of the Bi'ang Palace rarely come ashore because although they are very powerful in the water, on land they are no match for the Golden Wind Sect and the Three Absolute Mountains." Bai Ke explained, then added with some curiosity, "Could something have happened?"

Daoist Yan Song couldn't help but bare his teeth. "What an arrogant demon; truly treating humans as food!"

Bai Ke sighed. "The demons in the Bi'ang Palace and the Three Absolute Mountains originally treat humans as food."

"But today, he is going to be eaten," Gu Zhao chuckled. "I wonder what kind of fish it is; is the meat tender enough?"

Daoist Yan Song glanced at him sideways. "This is a man-eating demon; are you sure you can eat its flesh?"

"Uh..." Gu Zhao blinked and looked at Bai Ke. "We can't kill demons that don't eat people!"

Glanced at by Gu Zhao, Bai Ke's tail fur stood on end. "You should just eat those demons that suck human qi and blood; when they are killed and reveal their true forms, they are just ordinary wild beasts, and eating them can also benefit bone and blood strength, increasing physical power."

Daoist Yan Song nodded. "Demons eat humans, humans eat demons; the cycle of the Heavenly Dao, the natural principle."

Gu Zhao gave a thumbs-up. "Uncle is right!"

Zhu Qingyan pressed her lips and smiled lightly, then pulled the embroiderer to her room to rest, while playing with the jade flute in her hand and gazing at the Anqu River not far outside the town under the moonlight.

The moonlight was bright, and the place was illuminated by lanterns.

Under the moonlight, the Anqu River shimmered, radiating a silver glow; a winding black shadow several zhang long suddenly appeared beneath the water surface, and with the surging of water spray, the upper body of a man in green robes emerged from the water.

As the man in green robes gradually appeared on the water surface, the black shadow beneath the water grew shorter and shorter until the man's pair of silver boots stepped on the water in mid-air, at which point the shadow beneath the water had vanished, leaving only the man's shadow reflected on the water surface.

The man looked at Anlin Town, shook the copper kettle in his hand, then grinned and walked on the water, quickly reaching the riverbank and arriving at the entrance of Anlin Town.

Anlin Town was illuminated by lanterns, bright enough to shine on his body; if there were anyone with good eyesight in the town, they might even discover his whereabouts.

Thinking of this, the man began to look at the town, preparing to find the unlucky soul who could see him, and then he saw a young girl suddenly appear from the darkness, with a snow-white fox perched on her shoulder.

The man was slightly stunned; with a movement of his divine sense, he went to investigate the young girl. Although it was intercepted by a surge of demonic power, it still allowed him to discern the true nature of the young girl and the white fox.

Seeing the nervous look in the young girl's eyes, the man in green robes chuckled. "Do you want to stop me?"

The embroiderer shook her head and then asked, "Are you a snake?"

The man in green robes looked at the white fox on her shoulder and answered irrelevantly, "Snakes do eat foxes!"

The embroiderer frowned, glanced back somewhat embarrassedly, and also answered irrelevantly, "But I have never made snake soup."