Chapter 14: Volume One: Mountain Ghost Rumor, Chapter 14: Three Swords, Two Realms

Volume One: Mountain Ghost Rumor, Chapter 14: Three Swords, Two Realms

The tiger's blood was scalding, drenching him from head to toe.

Zhao Chan was sent flying.

The tiger Demon shook its head, blood splattering everywhere; it stared fixedly at the boy who had stood up, its expression hiding confusion and astonishment.

The Peach Branch had easily sliced through the tiger's maw—it could be said that this seemingly fragile branch was a Dharma Treasure—yet the boy's left fist, which had struck its forehead, had brought its mountain-crushing pounce to a dead halt.

The immense force transmitted from the boy's fist made its head spin with dizziness.

It was hard to imagine that such a terrifying, immense strength could be contained within a body that could be swallowed in two or three bites.

He could engage in close-quarters combat with a Demon!

The fierce tiger Demon spoke in human tongue: "You... are you also a Demon?"

It had eaten no fewer than sixty or seventy people, if not a hundred.

Never before had a human been able to contend with it by sheer strength alone.

Unless the boy was also a Demon! Otherwise, the tiger Demon, which had opened its spiritual wisdom nearly ten years ago, simply could not fathom it.

Zhao Chan stared at the eager-to-strike tiger Demon.

He stuck the Peach Branch into the ground.

He grabbed his left forearm with his right hand and used a clever flick to snap his dislocated left arm back into place.

Dislocated arms were all too common for lacquer gatherers.

They all possessed a set of techniques for resetting them.

The tiger Demon panted and spoke again in human tongue: "Leave, and I will not eat you."

Its voice was hoarse and grating.

Zhao Chan gripped the Peach Branch and pulled it out.

The sky had turned dark.

This mountain path was even darker.

There was a small detail about the incident Zhou Niu had mentioned, where Zhao Chan fought off a sheep Demon, that had not been made clear.

Zhao Chan had disemboweled the sheep Demon with the utmost ease, rather than using his full strength; it was more like being chased by a domestic rooster, where he turned around, grabbed the chicken by the neck, and tossed it to its death.

It was just that simple.

In all of Youju Town, only Lao Liu and Zhao Chan's parents knew that he was born with an unimaginably great strength.

Zhao Chan recalled the "Shake God Sword" that Wang Huan had explained.

To achieve the first level, 【Sword Released with Spirit】, one had to strengthen the physique and cultivate power; for an ordinary person, this was a slow, grinding process—eating well, drinking well, and practicing diligently without a single day of rest—and it might take three years to see any success.

As for those with truly inferior physical aptitude, it might take ten or twenty years to achieve Sword Released with Spirit.

The second level was called 【Sword Released Preserving Spirit】; according to the methods of strengthening and supplementing the physique in the "Shake God Sword," upon reaching a certain level, a mysterious force would emerge within the sinews and bones.

Using this force to strike a blow, with the force adhering to the blade, was the "spirit" of that sword.

The "Shake God Sword" had twelve forms.

Zhao Chan had only memorized the first four forms for the time being.

The first form: Rear Sword.

Suddenly, he gripped the Peach Branch tightly and charged forward.

The tiger Demon immediately pushed off the ground with all four claws, leaping to pounce on him.

Zhao Chan seemed frightened stiff by the tiger Demon's aura that cowed all beasts, making no reaction; only when the tiger Demon was right before him, its interlocking fangs clearly visible in the dark night, did he clumsily swing the Peach Branch.

With this sword, the Peach Branch seemed to come alive.

The tender buds swayed gently, becoming increasingly vibrant.

The tiger Demon also noticed this.

The Peach Branch seemed to have suddenly gained a soul.

However, with the thin-bodied Zhao Chan right before its eyes, the tiger Demon only needed to open its maw to bite off his head in one go.

Zhao Chan eerily shifted his body to the side, drifting forward a step to move alongside it.

In the blink of an eye, the tiger Demon raised its claws to tear him apart, only to be nimbly evaded by Zhao Chan.

A chill ran down the tiger's back.

Immediately followed by intense pain.

The tiger Demon, having missed its pounce, turned its head to look.

A wound deep enough to reveal bone had been slashed into its back by the Peach Branch.

The tiger Demon was incensed.

Ignoring the wound, it was just about to lock onto Zhao Chan to take its revenge.

But Zhao Chan had disappeared.

The second form of the "Shake God Sword": Sword Trace.

The next moment.

The Peach Branch pierced deeply into the tiger Demon's body.

The tiger Demon whipped its head around; it turned out Zhao Chan had hidden in its blind spot, and just as it was searching in all directions, Zhao Chan had delivered the second sword.

He withdrew the Peach Branch and retreated quickly and cautiously.

He had thoroughly enraged the tiger Demon, even driving it into a desperate situation.

A Demon in such a state was at its most dangerous.

It would use every possible means to retaliate.

Zhao Chan took refuge in the night.

Two sword strikes.

He made the Peach Branch "come alive," and every strike was extremely "spirited," while his force was neither a fraction too strong nor a fraction too weak, just right.

This must be what Wang Huan called 【Sword Out with Spirit】.

He never expected that he could so easily become a low-grade Body Refining Realm practitioner.

The Demon tiger ignored everything and lunged over again.

Third form, Sword Trace.

Wang Huan mentioned that the third through sixth forms could only be executed once one reached the level of 【Sword Out with Preserved Spirit】.

Zhao Chan secretly thought, isn't it just force? He had it.

Climbing mountains and wading through water to gather lacquer is a task that consumes a great deal of physical strength.

Lao Liu taught him how to conserve energy on mountain paths, and he learned diligently.

The method was simple: it was just bitterly tempering his own sinews and bones; whether it was carrying seventy or eighty catties of large rocks up a mountain, or repeatedly risking his life to slam into trees that had grown for hundreds of years, Zhao Chan did it all without a single flaw.

There were plenty of medicinal herbs in the mountains; if his sinews or bones were injured, he would pick herbs to stop bleeding and reduce bruising for topical application.

Lao Liu was an expert at identifying medicinal herbs, and Zhao Chan was curious why he didn't work as a medicinal farmer instead of doing the bitter, grueling work of a lacquer gatherer.

He still remembers, when he was climbing a steep mountain with over eighty catties of stone on his back, Lao Liu stood on the mountaintop, beaming with joy, and shouted, "Only a kid like you with such great strength would dare to temper yourself like this; if it were an ordinary person, they would have been trained to death long ago."

After tempering himself like this.

Zhao Chan felt a mysterious force between his sinews and bones that he could call upon as he pleased.

Lao Liu said with a smile, "With this force, you won't be tired when climbing mountains and wading through water to gather lacquer."

It was truly as Lao Liu had said; relying on this force, he never again felt so tired from climbing mountains and wading through water to gather lacquer that he couldn't get out of bed the next day.

Even as the force grew stronger and more mature, his physical strength increased more and more.

When Sun He forced him to hand over the Treasure Book, if he hadn't tried his best to hold back his force, Sun He would have already been killed by his impact.

Zhao Chan took a deep breath, called upon his force, and the Peach Branch slashed down.

This sword strike was so fast it left an afterimage.

Because the force was so great, the Peach Branch carried a gale comparable to a tiger's roar.

After the previous two strikes, the Demon tiger had already been greatly weakened.

Although this pounce was imposing, it was actually not as strong as when it first encountered Zhao Chan.

It pounced to right in front of Zhao Chan.

It then completely lost consciousness.

The new buds on the Peach Branch were stained with fresh blood, and the blood dripped down, drop by drop.

Zhao Chan walked past the Demon tiger and murmured, "A pity I won't be able to use the fourth form."

His mood relaxed slightly.

Using only three strikes, he had risen from a low-grade Body Refining Realm to a mid-grade Body Refining Realm, a full two minor realms.

He picked up the Green Snake Sword and its scabbard, then looked back.

The night was long, and the moonlight and starlight spilled down as if they cost nothing.

The variegated fierce tiger, which was a size larger than an ox, had been split in two.

It had been split in two right down the middle!!

The best pig butcher in town would have given a thumbs-up to praise the young man for such a clean cut if he had seen this scene.

Once the Demon tiger died, the insects suddenly began to chirp and the birds began to sing in the night on Erniu Mountain.

……

Zhao Chan stepped through the muddy dirt road and ran to Xiaoshi Village.

Zhou Niu and Sun Dagou were waiting nervously and helplessly at the village entrance.

"Brother Zhou? Brother Sun?"

"It's me! It's me!" Zhou Niu's expression tightened, and he immediately called out happily.

Sun Dagou was more concerned about whether there were actually any Demon on Erniu Mountain, and he shouted, "Little brother, did you see any Demon?!"

Zhao Chan ran up to them, "No, no Demon appeared on Erniu Mountain."

"Oh my, then what's with all this blood on you?" Zhou Niu exclaimed.

"Blood from a wild beast that didn't have eyes," Zhao Chan laughed.

"Really, really, really, really no Demon? Don't lie to me!" Sun Dagou stuttered as well.

"Rest assured, if there were a Demon, I wouldn't have been able to come back."

"Are you not a Demon in disguise?"

"Brother Zhou, the flowers you gave to Sister Wu Ting, she trampled them to pieces right in front of you."

Zhou Niu immediately said excitedly, "It is indeed my brother Zhao!"

"I'll go to your place to wash up first, I'm covered in blood."

"Alright."

Sun Dagou leaned in close and whispered, "Little brother, this blood on you, could it be from a Demon?"

Zhao Chan did not intend to tell them the truth for the time being.

The arrival of a Demon on Erniu Mountain would surely make the people of Xiaoshi Village panic.

He would first return to town to inform Wang Huan of what happened on Erniu Mountain, and wait for the other Demon Slayers to return from Shanniu Village before investigating why a Demon had suddenly appeared on Erniu Mountain, which had never had any before.

Where did they come from?

Could it be that they came down from Eren Mountain?

After simply washing the Demon blood off his body, Zhou Niu took out a set of his short clothes for Zhao Chan to change into.

Zhao Chan's build was tall and straight; at fourteen years old, he was only half a head shorter than Zhou Niu, and wearing his short clothes, they did not feel big.

"Brother Zhou, you all should rest early; I am heading back to Youju Town to report."

Zhou Niu and Sun Dagou said with concern: "Little brother, if there really are Demons on the mountain, what if you didn't discover them?"

"That won't happen."

"How could it not? Little brother has mortal eyes, while Demons are all cunning and treacherous; they will avoid you so you don't discover them, then wait until you leave to attack the village in the dead of night." Sun Dagou shook his head, "I must call the villagers to leave the village quickly and hide."

Zhao Chan grabbed Sun Dagou: "Brother Sun, believe me, there are no more Demons on Erniu Mountain."

Zhou Niu looked at his face, suddenly laughed heartily, and punched Sun Dagou: "Don't be so jumpy, listening to little brother is definitely the right thing to do!"

"But..."

"Little brother is a Demon Slayer; if you don't listen to a Demon Slayer, who are you going to listen to?"

Sun Dagou muttered: "But little brother just became a Demon Slayer; if it were what Master Wang said, I would listen."

"I'm off." Zhao Chan bade the two farewell and strode quickly toward Youju Town.

Meanwhile, Sun Dagou was still pacing back and forth in the room, uneasy.

Zhou Niu truly could not bear to watch any longer and revealed: "Use your brain and think carefully, where did the fresh blood on little brother come from?"

"Ah?" Sun Dagou looked at him in confusion, "Where else could it come from, he ran into wild beasts..."

Sun Dagou was instantly jolted awake: "No, that's not right!"

"Figured it out?" Zhou Niu assumed the posture of an expert.

"If Demons and wild beasts attacked Xiaoshi Village together in the middle of the night, we would be dead for sure!"

Zhou Niu opened his mouth and sighed leisurely.

Dog brain!

He was unwilling to explain further.

It was simply playing the lute to a cow.

The four characters "playing the lute to a cow," he had heard from Zhao Chan.

No, playing the lute to a dog! It was playing the lute to a dog!

Estimating the time.

Zhao Chan increased his speed.

By the time he rushed into the town, the Shadow Puppet Theater Troupe was performing in full swing.

The performers sang the tune with rising and falling cadences.

On the white cloth, a colorful Shadow Puppet of a youth was slaying a fierce tiger as if a god had descended to earth.

"Young Master!"

Bai Youjun waved at him from within the crowd that was watching the play with rapt attention.

Zhao Chan nodded to acknowledge her.

He looked around but did not find her elder sister, Bai Yuqing.

Bai Youjun lifted the hem of her pale green long dress and trotted to his side, asking playfully: "Where did Young Master go? Why did you only return when it was dark?"

"Went to Xiaoshi Village," Zhao Chan replied neither warmly nor coldly.

"Oh, Young Master..."

"Miss Bai, I still have some other matters."

"Young Master, go ahead and get busy!"

She watched his departing back, suddenly remembered something, and hurried to catch up.

"Young Master, Young Master, walk a bit slower."

"Does the Miss have something to say?"

"Yes, Young Master, beware of Outsiders; I suspect someone has ill intentions toward you."

Zhao Chan smiled: "I have noted it, many thanks for the reminder, Miss."

Having said that, he ran toward the Demon Slayer Office.

Bai Youjun stood foolishly in place, savoring every word she had spoken with the Young Master.

Bai Yuqing walked over from behind the screen where the Shadow Puppet play was being performed and patted her little head.

"Ouch! Sister, don't pat me! If you pat me more, I won't grow tall."

"Hmph, Qing, your big eyes are about to grow onto that person," Bai Yuqing raised an eyebrow and sneered.

Bai Youjun's lips curled into a smile: "Sister, I reminded him; if he is cautious enough not to give that Outsider a chance to assassinate him, will he reward me handsomely?

Actually, I don't need gold or silver treasures, as long as Young Master allows me to follow him, that would be fine."

Bai Yuqing snorted coldly: "Don't forget, we are also Outsiders."

"Oh, right."

They walked through the streets and alleys and inadvertently saw Qiu Gao filled with malice toward the residence where Zhao Chan lived.

Bai Youjun originally wanted to secretly teach Qiu Gao a lesson, but was stopped by Bai Yuqing.

She said that if he couldn't even deal with an Outsider at the low-grade Body Tempering realm, Zhao Chan was not suitable to be bait for fishing the Mountain Ghost, nor was he suitable to be her brother-in-law.

Sure enough, after saying this, Bai Youjun immediately followed her obediently.

"Sister, is Young Master really at the mid-grade Body Tempering realm?"

"Is Qing doubting my cultivation?"

"No! No! I was just worried."

"The Lao Liu that Zhao Chan speaks of must be a reclusive expert; only in this way can it be explained that he himself doesn't even know he has the ability of the mid-grade Body Tempering realm."

"Big Sister, is that why you want the young gentleman to act as bait, because you saw this clearly?"

"Mm," Bai Yuqing said softly, "Do you know why I suddenly took you away when we were at Zhao Chan's house?"

"I don't know."

Her gaze flickered: "Zhao Chan's talent for cultivation is extremely high; to be able to polish this piece of uncut jade until it is flawless without revealing its sharp edge, that mysterious Lao Liu is definitely no ordinary mountain cultivator. Moreover, Lao Liu went missing on Eren Mountain..."

"The young gentleman said that when he went to Eren Mountain to look for Lao Liu, the Miasma and Demon Beasts were all gone," Bai Youjun said, knitting her delicate brows.

"Indeed, I suspect Lao Liu has motives we cannot fathom."

"Big Sister, shouldn't you change the plan now and not let the young gentleman serve as bait to fish for the Mountain Ghost? What if Lao Liu finds out and causes trouble for us?"

Bai Yuqing patted her little head and said heroically, "Retreating in the face of difficulty is not my character. If I can force Lao Liu out, I would actually like to see what kind of extraordinary person is hidden in this small town surrounded by mountains and rivers!"

"Great! Qing, you are worrying about your little young gentleman again!"

Youju Town Demon Slayer Division.

There was still only Wang Huan there.

The Demon Slayers like Shao Hua who went to Shanniu Village to wrap things up had not returned for a long time.

Even the constables who followed them had not a single one returned to the town.

The little toad went to Erniu Mountain and likewise had not returned.

Wang Huan wiped the forty-nine-jin "Lion Mountain," his heart extremely uneasy.

He did not know what had happened outside.

"Sigh, troubled times."

"Wang Dage!" Zhao Chan, carrying a green snake on his back and a Peach Branch tucked diagonally into his waist, stepped into the Demon Slayer Division.

Wang Huan stood up with a start and asked urgently, "How did it go?"

"There was indeed a mottled fierce tiger; it should be a Demon."

Wang Huan breathed a sigh of relief: "As long as you are back, that is fine. Tomorrow I will go and slaughter that beast."

"Wang Dage, there is no need."

"Hm?"

The youth said calmly, "I have already killed it."