Chapter 43: Volume One: Mountain Ghost Rumor - Chapter 43: Divine Position

Volume One: Mountain Ghost Rumor - Chapter 43: Divine Position

The sunlight on this day was not dazzling, and the wind was not noisy. Kong Yanxing's face twitched with pain, and he said vaguely: "Really not killing me?"

Zhao Chan was truly speechless and simply didn't say a word.

He said to himself: "I can see it now. You kid are good in every way, but your heart is too soft. Do you think that just because we are both Demon Slayers, I won't stab you in the back? You are dead wrong!

Thousand-Household Yuan brought you to Yang County. Do you know what he is here to do?

To inspect the Demon Slayer Divisions of various counties, to arrest Demon Slayers who collude with demons, bully the common people, or embezzle money.

Demon Slayers look bright and beautiful, seemingly dedicated to slaying demons and eliminating evil for the common people, but in fact, we also have selfish desires. Once we have attainments and become cultivators, our selfish desires will be magnified a thousand times!

Last year, Yang County ferreted out a Demon Slayer who colluded with demons to fabricate merits and defraud rewards. He was a Hundred-Household just like me, and was eventually escorted to the Lancang Prefecture prison.

If there is a chance, I will take you to the Lancang Prefecture prison to see. The demons and criminal Demon Slayers inside are almost fifty-fifty.

Speaking of which, why do you think Lancang Prefecture sent Thousand-Household Yuan to patrol everywhere at this node? It must have received news.

According to what I heard, some Demon Slayers in Ze County, where Thousand-Household Yuan is going next, are truly daring!

I have said so much. Do you really dare to pat your chest and guarantee that I am a good person?"

Zhao Chan asked calmly: "Is Big Brother Kong the Hundred-Household of the reporting room?"

"Yes."

"When Yuan Senior and I arrived at the Demon Slayer Division, it was already late at night, but Big Brother Kong was still on duty."

"Hmm, and what does this explain?"

"It explains that Big Brother Kong is a trusted person of the superiors in the Yang County Demon Slayer Division," Zhao Chan said.

Kong Yanxing looked at the young man holding the reins and said in surprise: "Oh?"

Zhao Chan said: "The reporting room faces the common people who come to report cases directly, so it should be very critical in the Demon Slayer Division. And Big Brother Kong was still busy late at night, which can probably explain something."

"Flattery?"

"Do you think I look like I'm flattering you?"

"Doesn't look like it." Kong Yanxing finally smiled slightly and easily. "I won't tease you anymore. After you take up your post at the Yang County Demon Slayer Division, come to my reporting room to work. Usually, you will record demon infestations, and if there is a shortage of manpower, you will go to the front."

"Must I go to Yang County?"

"Hmm. You are a piece of gold now. The poor and remote Youju Town is no longer suitable for you. You need to go to a bigger 'stage' to hone yourself."

Zhao Chan pondered: "What if I don't go?"

"It's not up to you. Besides, how far is Yang County from Youju Town? Whenever you miss home, you can come back and stay for a few days."

"Good."

"After arriving in Youju Town, send me to the Demon Slayer Division to heal my injuries. You and Warrior Wang maintain the situation for the time being. If a demon infestation breaks out that you cannot deal with, inform me in time, and I will come forward."

"Will the Wangqing River cause us trouble?" Zhao Chan asked.

Kong Yanxing took a few deep breaths. He had just taken a 'Grass Returning Pill,' and the aftereffects of the 'Anger Origin Spirit Ascension Pill' were generally stabilized: "Who knows? Let the Lancang Prefecture Demon Slayer Division have a headache. It has nothing to do with us. As the saying goes, when the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up. We are short, so we should just honestly hide under the eaves to avoid the rain."

Zhao Chan looked at his pale face and whispered: "Are the aftereffects of the 'Anger Origin Spirit Ascension Pill' serious?"

"Serious." He sighed. "Although I won't fall in realm, the pain inflicted on my body is like being sliced by a thousand knives. Moreover, the more times it is taken, the more the aftereffects will stack. This is my first time taking it. Perhaps by the second time, all my twelve main meridians and eight extraordinary meridians will be shattered."

The two arrived in Youju Town at the second quarter of the Si hour.

Wang Huan was wearing his tattered cloak and carrying the forty-nine-jin "Lion Mountain." Because he hadn't rested well, his eyes were covered with bloodshot veins.

He happened to be patrolling to the entrance of the town and saw Zhao Chan and Kong Yanxing.

"Hundred-Household Kong?!" Wang Huan was overjoyed and his spirit was lifted. He truly hadn't expected that the person coming to deal with the demon infestation would be Kong Yanxing.

"Warrior Wang has worked hard," Kong Yanxing said weakly without dismounting.

Wang Huan sized up his appearance: "Did Hundred-Household Kong encounter a demon in the mountains?"

"Hmm, an Old Flood Dragon that didn't have eyes was hiding there, and I slaughtered it! After these things are finished, I will treat everyone to Flood Dragon meat."

Wang Huan had been under so much pressure for the past two days that it almost crushed him. With Kong Yanxing's arrival, the burden was lifted, and he felt the world spinning. He still forced himself to apologize: "I have sinned. Shao Hua and other Demon Slayers, along with the Youju Town constables, died under the Mountain Ghost's claws. Despite Zhao Chan's warning, I still underestimated the Mountain Ghost's cunning and caused them to die in the line of duty."

Kong Yanxing frowned on his horse and asked: "Was it really the Mountain Ghost that killed them?"

"Ah? I don't know, I guess it should be..." Wang Huan recounted his experience of going to Shanniu Village with Zhao Chan to be "teased" by the Mountain Ghost.

Kong Yanxing shook his head slowly: "Zhao Chan has already said this at the Yang County Demon Slayer Division. Whether Shao Hua and the others were really killed by the Mountain Ghost needs our investigation. Demons deserve to die, but we cannot ignore that there were no other demons causing trouble near Shanniu Village."

Wang Huan thought deeply for a while and said: "Hundred-Household Kong's lesson is correct."

"I was injured when killing the Old Flood Dragon. Let me rest for a while."

"Yes."

Zhao Chan led the horse to the Demon Slayer Division, and Wang Huan kept winking at him from the side.

"Speak if you have something to say," Kong Yanxing said, closing his eyes and feigning sleep.

Wang Huan said awkwardly: "It's like this. When Zhao Chan went to Yang County to seek help, I forgot to let him take away the 'Slaying Demon Record' and the merit report letter I wrote. I don't know if the Hundred-Household..."

"Zhao Chan's merit has already been clarified. After this matter, he will go to the Yang County Demon Slayer Division to take up his post. By virtue of his merit, he will likely be appointed as a captain by Thousand-Household Yan." For the person who guided Zhao Chan in cultivation, Kong Yanxing was willing to say a little more.

"Oh my! Oh my! Good, that's great! Zhao Chan, have you thanked Hundred-Household Kong yet?"

Zhao Chan nodded: "I have thanked him."

Kong Yanxing added: "This kid even asked me just now if he could not go to Yang County."

Wang Huan slapped Zhao Chan on the back: "Isn't the Yang County Demon Slayer Division ten times or a hundred times better than Youju Town? You are not a thing in a pond; you should go to the big world outside to hone yourself."

"Wang Dage's lesson is correct," Zhao Chan lowered his head slightly.

Kong Yanxing listened to Wang Huan scolding Zhao Chan and couldn't help but want to laugh.

Wang Huan just said "Hundred-Household Kong's lesson is correct," and then Zhao Chan said "Wang Dage's lesson is correct."

It seemed that Wang Huan had indeed taught the young man cultivation; otherwise, how could this kid be so respectful to him?

Immediately, Kong Yanxing sarcastically thought he was overthinking. Could it be that a great figure was hidden in the Youju Town surrounded by mountains and water, and he was the master who taught Zhao Chan cultivation?

Impossible.

Absolutely impossible.

Then where did the peach branch come from?

Did Lao Liu really snatch it from a demon by chance?

Kong Yanxing had rich experience in dealing with demon infestations, but he couldn't figure this out for a long time.

"Warrior Wang."

"Subordinate is here."

"Do you know Lao Liu?"

"Lao Liu? I know him. He is the master who taught Zhao Chan to collect lacquer. This person's personality is very strange."

"How is it strange?"

Wang Huan racked his brains to recall: "It's really hard to explain in a few words. Lao Liu is poor and 'stubborn.' If he didn't know how to collect lacquer, he would have starved to death long ago."

Zhao Chan remained silent. In his view, Lao Liu's "stubbornness" was actually an arrogant and overbearing attitude that looked down on everything. He also felt it was strange. Lao Liu was an old bachelor; what qualification did he have to be arrogant and overbearing?

"Is Lao Liu an outsider?"

"No."

Wang Huan probed: "Hundred-Household Kong, is there a problem with Lao Liu?"

"No problem. I heard Zhao Chan mention Lao Liu, so I just asked casually. Right, where is... where is Fairy Bai?"

"Who is Fairy Bai?" Wang Huan was confused.

"Bai Yuqing."

"Her? To be honest with the Hundred-Household, subordinate has not found her."

Kong Yanxing said longingly: "It's understandable. No need to look for her."

"Yes. Does this Bai Yuqing have a great background?"

"You don't need to know."

"Yes."

Bai Youjun was standing in a corner of Caiyan Street, looking at Zhao Chan leading the horse into the Youju Town Demon Slayer Division with a smile on her lips.

Bai Yuqing stood beside her, deliberately hiding their figures. She saw that the person riding the horse and seriously injured was in the Upper Grade Foundation Establishment Realm.

"Taking pills to increase True Qi and then getting injured?" Bai Yuqing murmured to herself, "It looks like the 'Anger Origin Spirit Ascension Pill'."

"Sister, what is the 'Anger Origin Spirit Ascension Pill'?" Bai Youjun asked curiously.

"A pill refined by the Demon Slayer Division that 'kills a thousand enemies and loses eight hundred,' to prevent Demon Slayers from having no power to fight back when they encounter demons with higher realms than themselves."

"Oh! I know! The old Taoist priest said there is a type of technique in the cultivation world called a 'two-injury technique,' which can increase combat power in a short time, but the consequences are very serious. Lightly, one is near death; heavily, one's soul flies away and scatters."

"The 'Anger Origin Spirit Ascension Pill' draws on the 'two-injury technique,' but the aftereffects are not as serious as the 'two-injury technique,' and the effect is not as good either."

Bai Youjun whispered: "Since that person took the 'Anger Origin Spirit Ascension Pill,' he must have killed a demon! Fortunately, the young master wasn't injured. Sister, look at the young master bare-chested, how dashing and unrestrained!"

Bai Yuqing automatically ignored the second half of Qing's sentence: "There was an Old Flood Dragon in the Middle-grade Destiny Knowing Realm hidden in the mountains. He should have killed the Old Flood Dragon."

"Did Sister not sense the fight?"

"It was too far."

After a pause, Bai Yuqing instructed Bai Youjun: "After Zhao Chan comes out, tell him about Hundred Treasure Zhen Pan Xi."

"Sister~ you should have told the young master earlier."

"Heh, this matter has nothing to do with him. There are plenty of people in the town who don't want to see him get even a tiny scratch..."

Whether it was A Ping and Xie Wan of the Xuanwei Sect, Huangfu Changqiu of the Baoyu Studio, Xun Lan of the Hengwu Pavilion, or even their sisters, they were all paying attention to Zhao Chan at every moment.

Even that Upper Grade Foundation Establishment Realm Demon Slayer who had just arrived in Youju Town looked at Zhao Chan as if he were looking at a flawless treasure.

Zhao Chan was the safest person in Youju Town right now...

A demon was crawling in front of Xiaoshui Zhenren.

The demon's aura was weak.

Although it didn't understand human speech, it could report the scene of the Flood Dragon bleeding on the cliff to Xiaoshui Zhenren.

This method directly emptied half of its life.

"The Old Flood Dragon is dead," Xiaoshui Zhenren paced and said to himself. "Can A Ping of the Xuanwei Sect beat Pan Xi alone?"

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. I still have a backup plan."

It threw a pill to the demon. The demon showed ecstasy and swallowed it. In the blink of an eye, not only was the lost half of its life replenished, but its aura also climbed steadily, stopping only when it reached the Middle-grade Qi Gathering Realm.

Xiaoshui Zhenren lowered his head and looked at this Mountain Ghost physique: "Only the attainments of the Lower-grade Foundation Establishment Realm. The certainty is truly insufficient.

If I had known I would fall into such a passive situation, I should have refined Zhao Chan into a ghost envoy back then, ignored Pan Xi, and run directly to Fei Mountain to fight for it. Once I became the Fei Mountain God, the overall situation would have been settled.

Unfortunately, I had greed in my heart, and with A Ping stirring up trouble, I missed the opportunity."

He walked toward Shanniu Village.

A group of people lay dead at the entrance of the village. Their faces were expressionless, and they should have died without even reacting.

Xiaoshui Zhenren didn't want to waste such good fresh ingredients, but a cultivator lived in the village, and that cultivator didn't want to see him eat people.

"Waste!" Xiaoshui Zhenren muttered.

He walked to the door of a farmhouse and knocked: "Has the True Qi been adjusted?"

"Almost," a woman's voice came from the courtyard. "Come in."

Xiaoshui Zhenren pushed the door.

In the courtyard sat a disheveled female Taoist priest. She looked up and glanced at Xiaoshui Zhenren. "Senior brother, I will help you one last time. From now on, I will never owe you any favors."

Xiaoshui Zhenren laughed: "Anyway, you can't go back to Ze County. Why not stay in Fei Mountain to cultivate?"

"Sigh, Master would never have thought that you, senior brother, would choose to become a Mountain God, and I would become a traitor to the Demon Slayer Division that everyone shouts to beat," the female Taoist priest said helplessly. "The world plays tricks on people!"

Xiaoshui Zhenren pointed to the corpses at the entrance of the village: "You should have come earlier."

"Hmm?"

"There is still one Demon Slayer alive in Youju Town."

The female Taoist priest didn't care: "Leave it for senior brother to eat. Senior brother, you didn't like eating people before. Why have you become so obsessed with meat now?"

"Hmph, since you know I like eating people, why didn't you let me eat them?"

"I can't bear to see senior brother become a pure demon," the female Taoist priest shook her head. "The Mountain Ghost was left to you by Master. You... sigh, how did it come to this?"

"I worked in the Imperial Observatory of the Xitang Kingdom for a lifetime, and I am even more afraid of death than you," he said. "I don't want to die."

"You can ask the Demon Slayer Division for pills to extend your lifespan."

Xiaoshui Zhenren mocked himself: "The Demon Slayer Division definitely wants my Mountain Ghost. How could I hand it over to them? Moreover, I call myself Xiaoshui Zhenren, but my real cultivation is only in the Lower-grade Destiny Knowing Realm. I was just entertaining myself with the identity of the Five-Official Baozhang Zheng."

The Five-Official Baozhang Zheng of the Imperial Observatory of the Xitang Kingdom was responsible for recording changes in celestial phenomena and determining good and bad luck, an eighth-rank official position.

The female Taoist priest said gloomily: "Senior brother, this is truly the last time I will help you. I have to flee for my life and roam the world, leaving the Xitang Kingdom."

"Did the Lancang Prefecture Demon Slayer Division send someone?"

"Yuan Hou of the Qingshu Mountain Mountain Ape Clan, with the cultivation of the Upper Grade Destiny Knowing Realm. I heard he is about to break through to the Opening Mansion Realm of the Middle Five Realms."

"The Qingshu Mountain Mountain Ape Clan is gifted, and they are also the loyal lackeys of the Demon Slayer Division. If I were you, I would also have to flee," Xiaoshui Zhenren mocked himself. "Junior sister, your trick of 'hiding under the lamp' is also powerful. Yuan Hou definitely wouldn't have thought you would secretly run under its nose."

The female Taoist priest smiled reluctantly: "It just happens to help senior brother advance to Mountain God. Perhaps there will be a time when I have to beg you."

"Junior sister, you say 'how did it come to this,' but I want to say, how did you come to this? Ze County has two Thousand-Households, and you are one of them. Why collude with demons and fabricate merits?"

The female Taoist priest said: "Senior brother is an eighth-rank Five-Official Baozhang Zheng of the Imperial Observatory, with the cultivation of the Lower-grade Destiny Knowing Realm. I am a Thousand-Household of Ze County, also with the cultivation of the Lower-grade Destiny Knowing Realm. Senior brother, your lifespan is coming to an end. Is my lifespan sufficient? It was all for the pills to extend lifespan from the Demon Slayer Division that I colluded with demons and fabricated merits!"

"How many years can a lifespan-extending pill extend?"

"A low-grade lifespan-extending pill can extend life by ten years, a mid-grade by thirty years, and a high-grade by sixty years. If Lancang Prefecture hadn't sent Yuan Hou to patrol the counties, my merits would have been enough to exchange for a low-grade lifespan-extending pill in a year or so."

"I didn't know the benefits of lifespan-extending pills."

The female Taoist priest rolled her eyes at him: "Senior brother has long planned to occupy the magpie's nest and take the Mountain Ghost, using your connections in the imperial court to seek the Mountain God's divine position, right?"

"Not bad. Junior sister, if you cooperate with A Ping, can you kill Pan Xi?"

"Afterward, I want to swallow the blood Qi of A Ping and all the common people in Youju Town to delay the passing of my lifespan."

"Good, I will help you." ===== CHAPTER 44 =====