Chapter 3: Volume 1: Mountain Ghost Rumor, Chapter 3: Demon

The mountain had no name. A strong wind swept over, and the pine forest rose and fell like sea waves.

Wang Huan stopped halfway up the mountain. The village had long been obscured by the pine forest, and every breath was filled with the smell of earth.

Song Er looked at Wang Huan, then at Zhao Chan.

The youth was carrying a sword and a bamboo basket, looking even more relaxed than him, a farmhand who used physical strength. It seemed that climbing the mountain was like walking on flat ground for Zhao Chan, not tiring at all.

"How old is the little gentleman this year?"

"Fourteen."

"When I was fourteen, I followed my father to hunt in the mountains and farm in the fields. In a blink of an eye, my father was gone, and my brother was gone too." Song Er chuckled lowly.

Zhao Chan always felt that something was wrong with Song Er.

The place where the demon cooked sixteen people was in a mountain depression that was not easy to notice.

Wang Huan looked down at the pots and pans and scolded: "Damn demon, do you really think the Demon Slaying Division is blind and deaf?"

Song Er, who had jumped into the mountain depression to bolster his courage, shouted: "Master Wang, the villagers found those scraps right here."

Wang Huan nimbly jumped in, walked around the small mountain depression, and his brows gradually furrowed.

"When you villagers found this, did you not find any traces of the demon?"

"No, it was just very windy, making people uncomfortable, so the villagers hurriedly picked up the scraps and returned to the village."

"Very windy..."

"It was especially windy at the time; the pine trees nearby were about to break."

Wang Huan said to Zhao Chan: "Give me the bamboo basket."

The yellow talismans in the bamboo basket were drawn with complex patterns in cinnabar.

After Zhao Chan handed it to him, he stared unblinkingly at Wang Huan's actions.

"This is the Demon-Searching Talisman, sweeping the sky and searching the earth to find demons!" Wang Huan introduced.

He stepped in the Yu-step, his left middle and ring fingers curled inward, his thumb pressing the tips of his middle and ring fingers.

As Wang Huan walked faster and faster, the yellow talismans in the bamboo basket trembled a few times, and then flew up, scrambling to be first.

The cinnabar patterns gradually brightened, lining up in a row like a long snake winding through the mountain depression.

The demon aura, which was originally invisible to the naked eye, suddenly floated all around.

It was blue-black, mixed with wisps of blood lines.

The yellow talismans in the long snake formation sped away in the direction the blood lines extended.

Wang Huan shouted: "Sword!"

Zhao Chan unslung the forty-some jin iron sword and handed it to him with one hand.

"Good strength!" Song Er's eyes flickered, and he praised.

Wang Huan leaped out of the mountain depression, chasing the Demon-Searching Talisman.

The demon aura had gone down the mountain.

The Demon-Searching Talisman rushed toward Shanniu Village.

"Return to the village!"

Song Er asked: "Why?"

"The demon is cunning; it has returned to Shanniu Village."

Following the path they had come, Wang Huan couldn't care about waiting for the two who were slightly slower. He moved like a shooting star, afraid that if he were late, more villagers would die in the demon's mouth.

"Master Wang has left us behind! What if the demon hasn't gone far and finds us alone?" Song Er said urgently.

Wang Huan turned his head and sneered: "The Demon-Searching Talisman won't be wrong. Zhao Chan, you and Song Er don't enter the village; wait for me at the entrance."

Zhao Chan agreed readily: "Okay."

Wang Huan chased the Demon-Searching Talisman, leaping like a rabbit and rising like a bird. Only a corner of his tattered cloak fluttered, and in an instant, even the cloak with holes was completely obscured by the green pines, and his figure could no longer be seen.

Song Er was a few steps behind Zhao Chan, unhurried: "Little gentleman, what if Master Wang judged wrong, and that demon is one with cultivation, deliberately teasing us? Sigh."

"Brother Song Er, have you really never seen that demon?" Zhao Chan asked sincerely.

"Ha? If I had seen it, I would have been eaten until not even bone fragments were left." Song Er changed from his previous urgency and replied with a grin.

Zhao Chan slowed down, his right hand gripping the lacquer knife that was not easy to notice. He turned his head to look at the slightly strange Song Er, on guard: "Brother Song Er's father and brother both died in the demon's mouth, so Brother Song Er is very happy?"

Song Er grinned with his yellow, turbid teeth: "The house and fertile fields all belong to me now; of course I'm happy."

It was near dusk. The gloomy sky finally revealed a tiny bit of sunset glow. The sunset glow was not good-looking; it was excessively red, as if a piece of tattered cloth stained with fresh blood had been hung up.

Zhao Chan suddenly twisted his waist and turned around, his waist driving his shoulders, his shoulders driving his hands. The lacquer knife he gripped tightly slashed toward Song Er's throat.

A hundred miles, a thousand knives, one tael of lacquer.

Zhao Chan's lacquer knife was fast and accurate!

Just now, he suddenly understood why Song Er gave him a strange feeling.

Song Er's speech and behavior were too cold, too thin-blooded, and too indifferent. He didn't look like a living person, but rather like a stone without a heart or emotions.

The number of demon infestations around the town was increasing, and there was no lack of demons disguised as humans mixing among the villagers. They all had one characteristic—they had few human emotions.

Zhao Chan had heard of this while harvesting lacquer in the mountains and forests.

Pine waves were constant, and the wind was strong.

The lacquer knife in his hand cut Song Er's throat.

Song Er was still smiling.

Smiling very excitedly.

He reached out to grab the bold, careful, and strong youth.

Zhao Chan was like a young eagle spreading its wings to fly high, or like a starving tiger cub wandering alone in the mountains and forests. He kicked Song Er in the chest, and taking advantage of his backward tilt, he immediately fled down the mountain without looking back.

Song Er watched Zhao Chan, who was using pine trees to hide his figure, with a smile. He touched his severed neck; not a single drop of blood flowed: "It's time for my favorite cat-and-mouse segment again."

He changed into another "person," becoming the burly man with monkey brows, dog eyes, cow ears, a leopard nose, and a tiger mouth.

Sun He tightened his short jacket, cold sweat flowing uncontrollably.

"Ghost wall, I've hit a ghost wall!"

The fog filled the sky, and the fishy smell was pungent. The entire Shanniu Village seemed to have only him left.

Sun He's legs were shaking uncontrollably. He leaned against the wall, cautiously testing his way forward.

The fog poured into his mouth, tasting like rotten meat.

After much effort, he moved to a courtyard door. Sun He was surprised to see the courtyard door half-open, with candlelight burning inside.

A look of relief appeared on his face. He couldn't help but use a little more force, and the courtyard door swung open with a bang.

Sun He stood blankly outside the door.

The courtyard was neatly arranged with tables and chairs, and an oil lamp was burning on the table, just like a setup waiting for the owner to return home for a meal.

And on both sides of the tables and chairs.

Human heads were piled up in the style of a Jingguan, dense and layered, but the last one at the top was still missing.

Severed limbs were in another category, immersed in a water pool by the wall, with floating ice cubes visible from time to time.

The internal organs were stored separately—hearts, lungs, stomachs, livers, kidneys... everything was there, cleaned extremely cleanly, the dark purple blood vessels and veins on the surface of the organs clearly visible.

There were also eight or nine large water basins. From Sun He's angle, he could see the fresh blood deposited inside, with cold water floating on top.

"Are you hungry too?"

Old Man Li stood behind him at some point, holding a butcher's knife used for slaughtering pigs and sheep.

Without waiting for Sun He to scream, Old Man Li swung his knife at his neck.

Fresh blood splashed, seeping into the cracks of the bluestone slabs under his feet.

He picked up the head and carefully placed it on the very top of the Jingguan.

Only then was the human head Jingguan finally completed.

Old Man Li hung Sun He upside down, cut off his limbs one by one, caught the blood in a large basin underneath, and waited patiently for the fresh blood to drain.

He cut open the body and removed the internal organs, fearing that even a tiny bit of skin would be broken.

After everything was done, Old Man Li smiled with satisfaction, looking quite content.

The wind chimes under the eaves tinkled.

Shanniu Village was shadowy, like a mirage.

Sun He walked out of the door, enthusiastically greeting the villagers.

The demon aura reached the outside of Shanniu Village and stopped, not continuing to extend. The Demon-Searching Talismans, which were in a long snake formation, drifted away in all directions.

Wang Huan rushed into the village in a hurry.

He asked several people, and they all said that there was nothing unusual about Shanniu Village after they left.

Wang Huan's heart, which had been in his throat, calmed down slightly. He bent down, leaning on his knees to adjust his breathing, because he had run too fast and had left Zhao Chan and Song Er far behind in the mountains.

"Master Wang, has the demon been slain?" Old Man Li rushed over excitedly.

Whenever a demon infestation occurred, as long as someone from the Youju Town Demon Slaying Division came, they would surely be able to clear the demon atmosphere and return a period of peace to the people of Shanniu Village.

Wang Huan shook his head gently: "The demon is cunning."

"Heh, no matter how cunning the demon is, we've encountered it before. Master Wang, don't be anxious!" The old man comforted him, "I've prepared good wine and food; please, Master Wang and..."

"Eh, where is that little gentleman?"

"He and Song Er will be here later."

"Master Wang, please rest at my house first."

"I'll wait for them at the entrance of the village."

Night fell quickly, and the passing dark clouds made the hooked moon look shadowy and unclear.

The wind whistled.

Wang Huan looked worried, his brows tightly furrowed.

Zhao Chan and Song Er were late in returning to the village.

"Old man, I'll go look for them."

Old Man Li, who had been accompanying him, became worried: "Master Wang, could they have been..."

"No!!"

It was like comforting himself.

The Demon-Searching Talisman was useless against this demon; it was the first time he had encountered such a thing.

"Should I let the farmhands go up the mountain with Master Wang?"

Wang Huan shook his head and ran toward the mountain with his sword.

Zhao Chan was currently tied to a pine tree, unable to move.

The glowing treasure book that Sun He was thinking about floated in his mind.

The book was yellowed, tattered, and covered in cracks, as if it would turn to ashes at any moment.

The first page, when opened, depicted the bizarre and evil demon—monkey brows, dog eyes, cow ears, leopard nose, tiger mouth.

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Zhao Chan would never have expected that the nightmare haunting him actually existed.

Even though he sensed something was wrong, took the initiative to attack the demon, and successfully escaped, good things didn't last long. After only half a cup of tea's time, he was punched away by the elusive demon and immediately lost consciousness.

The strong wind whistled.

The demon sighed faintly.

"Little gentleman, I know you're awake."

"I have the divine ability of Guanshin. Your fate is full of twists and turns, you've endured contempt and bullying, and you want to get ahead more than anyone else. Unfortunately, the cause and effect in this world are ethereal; even if you try your best, you'll probably only end up failing."

Zhao Chan forced himself to stay calm.

"Arriving in this place by chance, I happened to be on the verge of a breakthrough in my realm, so I had to eat people on the spot to refine my demon aura."

"Master Wang of the Demon Slaying Division is not bad. Swallowing him is worth twenty people—how wonderful!"

The demon turned his head to stare at Zhao Chan: "Handsome appearance, strong physique, firm will, and superior aptitude. A wild mountain youth is actually an excellent material for refining a ghost envoy! It's unexpected, hehe..." ===== CHAPTER 4 =====