Chapter 1119: Heart-Eating Demon

Beyond Yeren Gou lies the deep mountains; as they walked out of Yeren Gou, a cave appeared before them.

Upon entering the cave, one could see that this place was full of traces of human life.

The person living here must have been a very elegant and learned individual; they had tidied up an ordinary cave until it was neat and orderly, and the entrance was cleaned until it was spotless.

There were many beds and daily necessities woven from mountain vines, and there was even a hammock woven from vines in the cave, which was crafted quite exquisitely.

"Someone lives here?" Su Qingcheng asked, filled with shock and suspicion.

"Yes, someone lives here, and they are a modern person." Chen Yu stared at a piece of calligraphy on the side: "More importantly, they are from Huaxia."

Jinhua had lived here for over ten years, and she had never known that such an exquisite cave existed here; she curiously followed the cave inward.

Suddenly, her expression went blank; she saw that in the depths of the cave, there was a deep pit, and within this pit were countless skeletons.

These skeletons lay helter-skelter in the deep pit; because some had been dead for too long, their remains had become intertwined, making it impossible to distinguish who was who.

Jinhua let out a scream, and this scream immediately startled Chen Yu and Su Qingcheng; the two of them rushed in.

"What's wrong, Jinhua? Are you alright?" Su Qingcheng stepped forward and hugged Jinhua.

Jinhua was so frightened that her face turned pale; she pointed at the deep pit in the depths of the cave, shivering incessantly.

Su Qingcheng's face turned pale instantly as well; she never imagined that in this deep pit, there would be so many dead people.

Chen Yu stepped forward and jumped into the deep pit; his brows furrowed slightly as he saw that there were at least twenty skeletons in the pit.

Some had died only in recent years, which could be seen from the degree of decomposition of the bodies, while others had been dead for over a decade, their clothing already weathered away.

More importantly, the cause of death for all these people was the same: they had been killed by someone stabbing them directly through the chest with a knife to remove their hearts.

"Heart Demon?" A term suddenly surged into Chen Yu's mind.

The person took human hearts to cook and eat; it was unknown what the reason for doing this was, but this unknown person likely had a near-pathological obsession with hearts.

"Master, these people, they all have no hearts." Su Qingcheng studied Medicine, and she quickly saw where the problem lay.

"Yes, these people have no hearts. If I'm not mistaken, the person living here would lure people here, then kill them and take their hearts to cook." Chen Yu's brows were tightly locked: "I don't know what his purpose is in doing this, but this is an extremely dangerous individual; the people who have gone missing in the village in recent years must have something to do with him."

"So, my mom and dad are here too?" Jinhua's tears burst forth; she jumped into the deep pit and wept uncontrollably before the piles of bones: "Mom, Dad, I've come to see you. It's Jinhua."

Chen Yu sighed; this young girl had an obsession with her parents in her heart, but what was done was done, and it could not be undone.

Su Qingcheng walked over and comforted her softly.

Just at this moment, a figure flashed at the entrance, and a man in tattered clothes walked in.

This man had dark skin and a very long beard, making it almost impossible to distinguish what his true face looked like; furthermore, most of his clothes were woven from plants. If one were to see him in the wild, he would mostly likely be mistaken for a wild man.

Chen Yu looked at the man, and murderous intent suddenly appeared on his face; if he wasn't mistaken, this guy was that Heart Demon.

When the man saw Chen Yu's sharp and terrifying gaze, he turned and ran.

"Stop!" Chen Yu shouted violently and was the first to give chase.

The man's speed was extremely fast; although the path under his feet was rugged and uneven, and there were many small pebbles, the man sprinted rapidly, as if he could not feel the pain in the soles of his feet.

If this hundred-meter sprint speed were brought to the national team, he would definitely win the championship.

It was a pity that no matter how fast he ran, it was useless; Chen Yu took a leap, stepped out, and his entire body actually crossed the void, instantly blocking the man's path.

The man was caught off guard and slammed headlong into Chen Yu, and Chen Yu slapped him across the face.

With a 'slap', the man was sent tumbling several times before falling to the ground with a thud.

His physical fitness was truly strong; after falling to the ground, he quickly flipped up and was about to run to the other side.

But his body stiffened, and he stood there, his whole body cold, not daring to move a muscle.

A trace of chill surged up along his spine; he slowly turned his head and saw a wisp of Sword Qi hanging three feet above his head. If he dared to move even an inch, this wisp of Sword Qi would pierce through his body without mercy.

With a thud, the man knelt on the ground, shivering; he did not dare to move at all.

Chen Yu's figure flashed, and he was already by the man's side, saying coldly: "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

The man knelt on the ground, trembling, his face somewhat pale; Chen Yu furrowed his brows as he looked at the man, saying nothing.

If he wasn't mistaken, the man likely had some kind of illness—a dual illness of both mind and body; his coming here was not an accident, but to escape.

"What... year is it this year?" After a long while, the man stammered.

"The Xinchou Year of the Ox," Chen Yu said indifferently.

"Has it been... tw, twenty years?" The man was dazed, lost in thought, and tears fell slowly.

He let out a loud laugh, looking completely insane.

"Why cook and eat human hearts?" Chen Yu said coldly.

"I am sick, my body is weak; if I don't eat hearts, I will die." The man laughed for a long time before shouting crazily: "Before I came here, I had already eaten many people."

"The elderly, women, children, the young and strong; but later I was wanted, and had no choice but to flee everywhere. I fled all the way, cooking and eating hearts along the way, until I finally had nowhere left to turn, and only then did I think of living in the deep mountains."

"After I arrived here, I discovered that the people here feared the Mountain God, so I disguised myself as the Mountain God to make them afraid to step into this area. Anyone who stepped in, I would kill them and take their hearts to cook."

The man's voice was very calm, as if he were narrating something that had nothing to do with him, but the numerous crimes he had committed were intolerable to the world.

"I did nothing wrong, I just wanted to survive. I only killed people and took their hearts to cook so that I could survive. I just wanted to survive!" The man suddenly shrieked like a madman.

"You wanting to survive is not wrong, but life is equal; taking human lives to fulfill yourself is an act of defying the Heavenly Dao." Chen Yu said coldly: "You have killed countless people over these years; your crimes deserve death."