Chapter 10: Prolonging Life

Twenty years of lifespan—long, yet not long.

For Shen Yi, however, it counted as an enormous pleasant surprise.

When he had transmigrated over, his predecessor had left behind only a little over thirty years of life; counting generously, he'd have to die before reaching his mid-fifties—a genuine short-lived ghost.

The so-called approaching end of one's days—this was fate.

With the help of the Wind and Thunder Scroll, he had barely managed to bring his physical body to perfection, but in the end he was still confined within the realm of ordinary mortals.

Being able to slightly extend his end-of-days was already no easy feat.

Shen Yi gathered his thoughts, his anticipation for the Zhen Mo Si inspection a month from now growing ever stronger.

Of course, before that he still had to make two preparations.

The first was strength.

The Da Qian dynasty had established the Zhen Mo Si, independent of the imperial court.

Among them, the lowest-ranked—even those with no soldiers under them—were specially granted the title of seventh-rank Captain, on par with the magistrate of Bai Yunxian.

Just an ordinary Captain could casually bestow a transcendent method like the Wind and Thunder Scroll upon Chen Ji, simply because his talent was decent.

To join the ranks of such people, he had to display something extraordinary.

The initial realm… or higher?

Shen Yi wasn't entirely sure, but a higher cultivation couldn't hurt.

Although right now he had neither a cultivation method nor any precious medicines, he had previously been able to comprehend initial-realm martial arts from the Demon-Slaying Saber Art; now that he had half a volume of the Wind and Thunder Scroll, as long as he was willing to throw in lifespan, he could always deduce something worthwhile.

Thinking of this, Shen Yi looked at the panel, feeling a pang of heartache.

Just moments ago he'd felt like he was holding a windfall; in the time it took to eat a meal, he'd turned into a pauper again.

【Remaining Demon Lifespan: seventeen years】

Killing demons—actually, that wasn't easy at all.

Shen Yi had only managed to get the chance to be alone with demons by leveraging his predecessor's network, but as one demon after another went missing, the trust built up over several years would collapse at an unimaginable speed.

The smith must be strong himself; Shen Yi had to accumulate enough strength to face their frenzied counterattack before the demons discovered his betrayal!

Apart from strength—

The second was reputation. After all, if things continued as they were now, the government office wouldn't be able to cover its tracks.

Once a Zhen Mo Si Captain arrived in Bai Yunxian, before slaying any demons, the first thing he'd likely do was drag the "infamous" Master Shen to the vegetable market and dismember him.

Still, there was no rush on that matter.

As long as he killed enough demons, his reputation improving would simply follow naturally.

"Mm…"

Shen Yi stood at the doorway stretching his body; no longer worrying about losing his life next year, he felt his whole person relax considerably.

Just then, two constables came running from the end of the street, panting: "Lord Shen, we've finally found you! Head Song wants you to hurry back and report for duty."

"Report for duty?"

Hearing the voices, Chen Ji—who was tidying up the bowls and chopsticks—looked up.

The Head Song the two of them spoke of was none other than the head of the Punishment Office, Song Changfeng.

In principle, a subordinate reporting work to his superior was the most normal thing in the world.

But in the Bai Yunxian government office, it was not so.

Head Song was over forty, originally an age of high spirits, but because he'd chosen the wrong side in dealing with demons, he'd been suppressed again and again by the government office, and had long been unable to keep Shen Yi in line.

Moreover, although he handled affairs uprightly, his temperament was hardly steely; watching helplessly as the waters of Bai Yunxian grew ever more muddied, he was angry inside, yet didn't dare truly step forward to denounce anyone.

After being suppressed, his fighting spirit had gradually faded too.

He simply became a hands-off Shopkeeper, carrying a teacup and muddling through each day; as for Shen Yi, he avoided him whenever possible, lest he lose face.

Why was he deliberately seeking him out today?

"I'm going to the government office. Get some rest early, no need to leave a lamp for me."

Chen Ji turned and took his saber; Chen Jinyu obediently nodded. She had always worried her brother's temper was stubborn and his eyes could not tolerate a single grain of sand, that he'd be ostracized and bullied by his colleagues while on duty. Now it seemed he had found a superior worthy of trust.

Thinking of this, she stole another glance at the tall, slender figure in the doorway.

What sort of person could it be, to make her proud, stubborn brother trust them so completely?

Shen Yi turned back, raising an eyebrow slightly: "What? Put the saber down and go wash your dishes."

"…" Chen Ji silently tossed the saber aside.

Shen Yi looked back at the two constables before him—both were his own subordinates.

But at this moment, their eyes were evasive; clearly they were hiding something.

Whoever could scare them like this and summon him over was most likely not that Head Song.

"Let's go."

Shen Yi asked no more, and stepped out onto the main street.

The two constables, not daring to even breathe loudly, led the way ahead, all the way back to the duty room.

The slightly fatter one finally turned back, his face twisted as he whispered: "Please be very careful…"

The moment he finished, he immediately turned back around.

The two of them stopped before the tightly shut door: "Head Song, Lord Shen is here!"

Hearing this, Shen Yi felt a slight puzzlement—could it really be Song Changfeng?

In just the span of a daze, a reply came from inside the room, but it was not Head Song's voice…

Bang! Bang!

Two large holes were punched through the wooden door; black shadows darted out, simultaneously piercing through the two constables' chests.

Shen Yi stared at the two black shadows protruding from the constables' spines—a pair of wrinkled, black-furred palms.

At this moment, two hands each gripped a faintly twitching heart, slowly extending them before him, and the sharp nails suddenly stabbed in!

"Brother Shen, why have you stopped?"

"..."

Shen Yi closed his eyes and gently drew in a breath of warm, foul-smelling air.

Immediately after, he suddenly kicked the door!

As the wooden door shattered, a sharp shriek burst from within, and the black shadow nimbly darted toward the back.

Shen Yi stepped inside slowly, his indifferent gaze sweeping the surroundings.

The first thing to meet his eyes was Song Changfeng, his face ashen. The middle-aged man knelt before a rattan chair, his whole body trembling like a sieve — not entirely from fear; the greater reason lay on his shoulder.

It was a thick, powerful furry thigh.

Casually resting on Song Changfeng's shoulder, it was enough to nearly shatter every bone in his body, the pain beading cold sweat across his brow.

The owner of the furry thigh lounged in the rattan chair, draped in a loose, roomy scholar's robe hanging open. Slowly propping himself up on one elbow, he revealed an ugly ape-face and bared his teeth slightly: "Brother, sit."

Besides him, there were two other ape-demons in the room.

One of them hunched its body, its dangling arms brushing the floor, its face brimming with malice.

Blood still dripped from its fingertips — clearly the earlier "show of force" had been its handiwork.

"Why have you only just arrived... look at the fine mess you've made..."

Song Changfeng's face twitched, his emotions near collapse: "Is this how you handle demons and monsters? You've handled them right into the government office..."

Whatever had happened earlier, a grown man was now weeping and sniveling, complaining like a wronged wife.

Shen Yi looked at the table — three blood-drenched dog heads were laid out neatly.

He glanced back at the two still-warm corpses of the runners by the door.

The old ape in the scholar's robe smacked his lips, stretched out a paw to pat Song Changfeng's head, and laughed: "There's still one more — right here."

As he spoke, the other two ape-demons had already quietly blocked the main door.

(End of chapter)