Chapter 4: Volume 1: Mountain Ghost Rumor, Chapter 4: Truth and Falsehood

Wang Huan crossed the pine forest and returned to the mountain depression where the pots and pans were ready.

The demon was confident that he would come back: "You made me wait so anxiously that I almost swallowed this kid because I was hungry."

Wang Huan asked angrily: "Where is Song Er?"

"Song Er? Heh, he's long since entered my temple of internal organs."

Wang Huan's anger was visible on his face. He controlled the iron sword like an arm, pointing it at the demon.

The demon was not panicked at all, leisurely untying the hemp rope binding Zhao Chan and lifting him up by the neck.

The demon smiled: "Throw your broken sword far away, or I'll swallow him now."

"You..."

Zhao Chan struggled painfully.

"Say it again, throw the sword away."

The demon smiled, quietly observing Wang Huan, who was caught in a dilemma, preventing him from rushing over regardless.

Having eaten countless people, he loved watching the human race fall into a dilemma of choice. Only then could the good and evil in human nature be fully reflected, and the taste be sweet.

Suddenly, he felt the arm gripping Zhao Chan's neck become light. He turned his head in confusion.

The youth was gripping the three-foot-long peach branch tightly.

The peach branch had sprouted new buds.

The muscular arm had already been severed, falling to the ground and stained with mud.

While the demon was stunned, Zhao Chan, having regained his freedom, ran toward Wang Huan with all his might, like a tiger cub that had luckily bitten its natural enemy.

Wang Huan was also stunned by Zhao Chan's move, but he recovered quickly, running in large strides, his iron sword slashing at the demon's head.

"Sigh, eating people all year round has actually led to being pecked by someone." The demon watched the sword edge approach and sighed helplessly.

It was just a sigh, not despair, as if it were not him who was dying.

His body was split in two.

There was no blood at all, not even internal organs; he was like a fish bladder with only a skin bag.

The demon turned back into Song Er's appearance.

"Kid, I'm going to refine you into a ghost envoy, make you serve by my side day and night, and not give you a bit of freedom!"

Accompanied by the whistling wind and pine waves, the demon's voice drifted over.

The villagers of Shanniu Village appeared one after another, entangled in fishy, foul-smelling fog, their faces iron-blue, their whites of their eyes rolled back, full of ghost aura.

"I ate all of Shanniu Village and refined them into Chang ghosts. Doesn't Master Wang want to purge evil to the end? Feel free to kill them until their souls fly away."

The demon laughed wildly from the darkness: "Or, they can swallow all your Yang energy, which will be a cheap gain for me."

Wang Huan scanned the surroundings and shouted angrily: "A clown who only dares to hide, do you have the guts to show yourself and fight me to the death!"

"Brute!" The demon sneered. "I like to win with wisdom."

The Chang ghosts of the entire Shanniu Village rushed toward Wang Huan and Zhao Chan.

Ignoring the demon hiding in the dark, Wang Huan shouted: "Come here! Those are Chang ghosts; they have Chang poison on them. If you get infected with Chang poison, you'll be worse off than dead!"

The villagers had all turned into Chang ghosts. If he didn't kill them now, they would definitely be a disaster in the future.

Wang Huan hid Zhao Chan behind his back, waving his iron sword. His sword technique was open and closed, like a strong wind sweeping through a wheat field, harvesting the Chang ghosts that only listened to the demon's orders.

"Master Wang is worthy of being a cultivator in the Upper Grade Body Refining Realm. With so many Chang ghosts, they actually can't do anything to you."

Wang Huan slashed one Chang ghost after another.

If a person dies, they might become a ghost; if a ghost dies, it is truly like a lamp going out.

The last Chang ghost's appearance was Old Man Li.

Wang Huan's hand gripping the sword hilt trembled slightly.

These innocent people were eaten and harmed by the demon, and then refined into Chang ghosts, and finally, he had to kill these poor people with his own hands until their souls flew away...

He raised his sword, but in the end, he was half a beat slow. The Chang ghost Old Man Li instantly changed into the demon with bizarre features: "Ha, you fell for it! I was waiting for you to be soft-hearted."

The demon slapped the iron sword away, his five fingers like hooks, looking like he was about to tear Wang Huan's throat.

Zhao Chan, who had been hiding behind his back, slashed over with the peach branch with new buds the moment the demon slapped the iron sword away.

Five years of tempering basic sword skills—when the time came to use them, he used them with ease.

Moreover, lacquer harvesters also pay attention to timing. In the best season, the best environment, and the most suitable knife cut on the lacquer tree, the raw lacquer harvested is the most.

Zhao Chan was far more sensitive to timing than other lacquer harvesters.

Whether it was the angle of the sword slash or the timing chosen, both were top-notch.

Like boiling soup pouring on snow, the peach branch, the thickness of a finger, easily severed the demon's body.

Wang Huan gasped for breath, his arms trembling. His tiger's mouth was split, and blood flowed. He stared in disbelief as the demon was slashed diagonally into two halves from the chest by the peach branch.

His iron sword had been imbued with magic by an expert from the county Demon Slaying Division, making slaying demons and purging evil as easy as eating and drinking. Why was this peach branch, which could be snapped with a casual touch, even better?

The wind dispersed the fishy, foul-smelling fog.

The real Old Man Li appeared, motionless, like a stone statue.

Wang Huan breathed a sigh of relief and said hoarsely: "The demon is dead. Look, Old Man Li is there. Once the Chang master dies, the Chang ghosts turn to stone. The demon is truly dead!"

Zhao Chan remained vigilant of the surroundings.

Wang Huan endured the pain to pick up the iron sword and whispered an apology, killing Old Man Li with one sword.

When he turned back, Zhao Chan was staring at him with hesitation, gripping the peach branch tightly. No, he wasn't just wary of him; the youth was wary of every blade of grass and every tree.

"Good skill, even the demon can be killed. Sigh, I didn't expect this demon to understand the technique of illusion. It's my fault for having low cultivation and not seeing through it." Wang Huan didn't mention the miraculous nature of the peach branch at all.

"I am not a demon; I am your Brother Wang. You are the one who wants to earn fifteen copper coins!"

Only when Wang Huan mentioned the copper coins did Zhao Chan slowly exhale a breath of turbid air.

Even so, he didn't dare to relax completely.

"Bad, Sun He, who followed us secretly, should still be in the village!" Wang Huan suddenly remembered.

After they left, the demon slashed into two halves by the peach branch turned into another person's appearance, and this person was also a villager of Shanniu Village...

The village was cold and clear.

The two searched everywhere, but found nothing. They didn't find Sun He.

"Sun He must have returned to the town." Wang Huan pondered. It was good that one less person died.

Zhao Chan suddenly asked: "If I join the Demon Slaying Division, can I learn the great skills of slaying demons and purging evil?"

"Not just slaying demons and purging evil, longevity and long-term vision are not impossible!"

Wang Huan's eyes were sad, and he deliberately smiled in an unkempt way: "It saves me some trouble. Slay demons where there are demons, purge evil where there is evil. Zhao Chan, welcome to the Demon Slaying Division. In the future, slay more demons and purge more evil to avenge the villagers! An eye for an eye, blood for blood!!"

He added: "The peach branch you hang at your waist—don't let the outsiders in the town know its miraculous nature. I will also keep it secret for you."

Zhao Chan bowed: "Many thanks, Brother Wang."

A glowing treasure book could make Sun He covet it, let alone a three-foot peach branch that was clearly not an ordinary object.

Wang Huan was a master of the Demon Slaying Division. If he had greed, he could have killed him to take the peach branch and then blamed it on the demon.

The youth also understood the truth that an innocent man is innocent, but his treasure makes him guilty.

No matter what, he had to struggle to live.

Wang Huan faced the night wind, his tattered cloak fluttering: "Don't act like a small child. As long as the demons in the world are not killed, disasters like Shanniu Village will never cease! We should reorganize, sharpen our efforts, and save the common people of the world. It is our duty!"

The two left the village to return to the town, still needing to call other Demon Slayers and constables to go to Shanniu Village to clean up the aftermath.

Zhao Chan, carrying the forty-some jin iron sword, was suddenly dazzled.

He saw the yellowed ancient book in his mind again.

The first page, covered in cracks, still had the demon drawn on it, lifelike and vivid, as if it would leap out at any moment to devour someone.

"What's wrong?" Wang Huan supported Zhao Chan and asked solemnly.

"Probably my mind was shocked; I'll be fine after a rest."

"Go, let's sit by the road."

Nearly a stick of incense time passed.

Zhao Chan asked suspiciously: "Brother Wang, is the demon really dead?"

A Ping, with a sword scar on his forehead, stood on the mountain top, examining the demon with monkey brows, dog eyes, cow ears, leopard nose, and tiger mouth.

Halfway up the mountain.

The demon picked up the head at the very top of the Jingguan.

This head had a large, ugly black mole on its left cheek.

He threaded a needle and sewed the head on.

"Limbs... where did Old Man Li put his limbs?"

"Here!"

A Ping frowned, looking down at the demon doing needlework.

Until the "person" with complete limbs and a perfect head was sewn, the demon blew a breath at it, and then beckoned to the side. Sun He's soul floated into the "person."

The "person" stood up strangely, as if it were a puppet. Only then did the demon look up at A Ping, who was standing on the mountain top: "Mountain Ghost under the seat of Xiaoshui Zhenren, greets the fellow Daoist."

"Fellow Daoist, what do you mean by hindering me from killing those two mortals?"

A Ping immediately shouted angrily: "Monster, be presumptuous!"

The Mountain Ghost smiled wildly, arrogant and unrestrained: "Fellow Daoist is injured, right? So what if your realm is higher than mine? You still can't do anything to me, can you?"

He spoke arrogantly, but threw a coin to A Ping.

Immediately after, the Mountain Ghost whispered in the ear of the sewn "person."

"What is your name?"

"Sun... Sun He."

"Do you know what you are going to do?"

"I know."

"Go."

Sun He stumbled down the mountain, his figure disappearing into the night.

The Mountain Ghost grabbed an arm at will, bit it hard, and asked vaguely: "Has fellow Daoist ever seen anyone who uses the Chang ghost technique like me?"

A Ping frowned: "Sewing skin bags, granting souls—it is indeed rare."

"I am the Mountain Ghost under the seat of Xiaoshui Zhenren. No matter whose disciple you are, since you have come to Youju Town, everyone's goal is the same. I advise you to go back and heal your injuries, so as not to end up with nothing."

The Mountain Ghost found a stone and sat down, crossing his legs, leisurely, eating a piece of meat with every word he said, "Don't let the big water wash away the Dragon King Temple, and don't let one family not recognize another."

The Mountain Ghost is a ghost spirit raised by the essence of the mountain. It has the divine ability of Guanshin, is good at observing the subtle parts of the human heart, and can spit out money. The money coins spit out are called Mountain Ghost Flower Money, which has the miraculous effect of auspiciousness, smoothness, attracting wealth, and protecting peace.

If it receives an edict, it is a genuine Mountain God, and the coins spit out are also promoted to Mountain God Coins.

Whether it is Mountain Ghost Flower Money or Mountain God Coins, cultivators can use them to buy Dharma artifacts and trade pills.

The Mountain Ghost has always been the "coin minting furnace" for mountain immortals or sects, which is extremely important. Since it has come here, Xiaoshui Zhenren must be nearby.

A Ping snorted coldly, hesitated for a moment, put away the Mountain Ghost Flower Money, and disappeared on the mountain top.

"Heh, spineless. One by one, they usually shout that slaying demons and purging evil is acting on behalf of heaven, protecting the territory and the people, and saving the common people from fire and water. You mountain cultivators are all great benevolent people who save the world... But once it involves your own interests, you immediately turn a blind eye, instantly changing from high-and-mighty benevolent people to being more cold-blooded than us demons. Heh, where is the life and death of the common people as important as your 'great cause'?"

He sneered: "Sooner or later, I will swallow you all."

The Mountain Ghost smacked his lips: "It's a pity that the gallbladder was eaten as a snack. A human's gallbladder—the lingering aftertaste is sweet." ===== CHAPTER 5 =====