Chapter 18

The death of the Liu family father and daughter was like a bucket of cold water dousing Shen Yi.

Do not harbor any Jiaoxing !

They are not sluggish monsters wandering aimlessly through the wilderness, sitting still in one place waiting for bands of heroes to harvest them as experience.

Doing what I did before—using the former body’s connections, striking suddenly when the demons let their guard down—was indeed easy.

But it cannot last forever.

Those violent creatures have emotions too, they exchange information among themselves, and they do so far faster than I imagined!

They know the black-furred dog demon went to the Liu household—do they not know who it followed?

With each demon slain, the remaining beasts grow more cruel and their vigilance rises; if word of the ape demon’s death spreads, the next ones to ambush me will likely be true great demons.

Shen Yi refused to live in constant dread.

He needed more demon lifespans.

Thinking of this, Shen Yi rose and walked slowly out the courtyard gate.

By now, Liuye Street was filled with civilians, all watching from a distance.

Officers beating officers—this kind of dog-eat-dog spectacle was rare indeed.

“Let them all go.”

Shen Yi nodded slightly.

“Your servant obeys.” Chen Ji bowed, gesturing to the remaining men to untie the captives.

He withdrew his gaze, then hesitated, gritting his teeth as he pulled out a torn letter, its envelope still stained with blood: “Would you like to see this… it just fell off one of them.”

Shen Yi frowned and took the letter, unfolding it slowly.

The message contained only one sentence.

“Come to Liuli Temple Village. I have questions for you.”

No introduction, no signature—nothing but those words.

But given Shen Yi’s understanding of those dog demons, they were far more adept with swords and spears than with pens.

The only one among them with the leisure to write such a letter was the old dog who never lacked food or drink—and among the constables, only I had any connection to the yellow-furred one.

Chen Ji clearly saw the implication too, which was why he hesitated before showing it: “What do we do? Going is out of the question, but if we ignore it, they’ll come to the city for you… should we tell the Dianli?”

Everyone knew Liu Dianli treated Shen Yi like a half-nephew.

With that connection, if he was willing to speak up, he might even persuade the formidable martial master from the County Magistrate’s household to negotiate with the demons.

“Hurry,” Chen Ji said anxiously. “Or else Liuli Temple Village…”

“Tch.” Zhang Pengtian staggered against the wall, spitting blood as he chuckled bitterly: “Liu Dianli has already given orders—you can’t deploy even a single constable now. Stay put in the county. You’re lucky someone’s protecting your life. As for the rest of those worthless lives… pah… you’ve got no power to care.”

Hearing this, Chen Ji’s heart lurched.

He instinctively glanced at the young man before him, then was immediately drowned in helplessness.

Even though Shen Yi’s martial strength far surpassed his expectations, it still only applied to ordinary constables—if he faced the entire dog demon faction… didn’t those martial masters they hired, each a seasoned demon-slayer, now sit helplessly inside the county?

At that moment, Chen Ji suddenly noticed Shen Yi’s furrowed brow had smoothed out.

“Shen my lord…”

Shen Yi patted his shoulder: “Go back.”

He had been troubled—demons dwelled deep in the mountains, the terrain treacherous, hard to track.

Waiting for them to come to him was too passive.

Now that they wanted to talk, how could he miss such a perfect opportunity?

“….”

Shen Yi’s expression was calm, but Chen Ji grew more uneasy by the second, watching helplessly as the man walked away, blurting out: “You’re not leaving the city, are you?”

“Leave the city? I’ve watched him crawl up from a street thug—he wouldn’t even glance at his own mother if she were kidnapped by demons. Now he’s playing the hero?”

Zhang Pengtian, supported by two subordinates, rolled his throat and spat a thick wad of phlegm onto the ground.

“Pah!”

…

Outside Baiyun County.

A figure shot past like an arrow piercing the air; tree branches trembled, birds startled into flight.

What was once merely ordinary martial skill—the Serpent’s Eight Steps—now, fueled by the cultivation base of the Fifth Orifice, rendered the man’s speed invisible to the naked eye.

Not long after, Shen Yi saw the dilapidated little temple again.

He slowed his pace, his breath steady and even, betraying not a trace of his earlier sprint.

On the field ridges of Liuli Temple Village, villagers paused their labor, all staring at the sword-wielding figure at the village entrance.

Usually, the arrival of constables meant disaster.

Either it was the constables themselves, or demons were causing havoc.

After recognizing his face, the villagers’ numb expressions softened slightly.

They remembered this constable.

Last time, it was he who personally slew the dog demon—and left without taking a single silver tael.

A little girl who had just learned to walk, clad in a comically oversized, hole-ridden coarse cloth, stumbled forward, holding out a broken bowl with a childish voice: “Constable, drink water.”

Shen Yi patted her head and took the bowl, draining it in one gulp.

As he set the bowl down, his gaze slowly turned toward the mountain path on the other side.

As the saying goes: arriving early is not as good as arriving just in time… truly perfect timing.

On the rugged mountain path, over a dozen figures, each two heads taller than ordinary men, flickered in and out of the dense forest.

Beneath their matted, sticky fur lay evenly toned, pulsing muscles; their faces were monstrous, clad only in loincloths, shoulders bearing enormous sedan chairs two zhang tall, stepping on the mountain path as if it were flat ground.

On the sedan chair lay a body weighing at least eight hundred jin, reclining lazily.

Its fat layers were each about two fingers thick, piled densely, like a mountain of flesh, impossible to count how many layers there were.

Most striking was its glossy, deep-yellow fur, sharply contrasting with the other dog demons.

Moments later, they halted the sedan chair at the village entrance.

The ragged little girl had just reached out to take back her bowl when she suddenly fell with a thud, sitting hard on her rear.

Her dirty face froze; she held her breath, biting her tiny lips with her milk teeth, her small body trembling uncontrollably.

Compared to the child, the other villagers seemed calmer… or rather, they were simply accustomed.

They instinctively glanced toward the path.

There stood only one constable, with only a single sword at his waist.

Behind him, the winding path remained deathly silent; they waited long, but no other figures appeared.

The villagers seemed to understand—dull eyes filled with fresh despair.

They all crouched down, hugging themselves tightly, neither crying nor fleeing.

The girl suddenly felt a tall shadow fall over her.

She looked up.

There, the constable stepped calmly past her, walking forward as he drew his waist sword.

Until the blade was fully unsheathed.

Shen Yi held his waist sword at an angle, standing before the massive sedan chair.

(End of Chapter)

To Liuli Temple Village