Chapter 65: Chapter 62: One Man Surrounds the Demons
The Monster Suppression Department’s food was excellent, and aside from Li Hao, even people like Li Yuanzhao who were accustomed to delicacies from the mountains and seas ate heartily, their bellies and goblets full.
In Cui Fan’s words, “We slayers of demons must always face life-threatening dangers, so we surely can’t die with an empty stomach, right?”
That made sense.
After eating their fill, they rested for a quarter of an hour. Then, Cui Fan took out the map to show Li Hao and the others the area they would patrol that afternoon, before asking them to get ready and assemble outside.
The location for the patrol had previously shown signs of demon activity, which had been addressed. This time, they were going to check for any oversights, making it quite suitable for taking along newcomers.
When it came time to gather, however, Cui Fan saw only Li Yuanzhao and Ren Qianqian among the four people and couldn’t help but ask in surprise, “Where’s the last one?”
“Hao told us he went to the outhouse and asked us not to wait for him. As for the task assessment, he said Master Cui can just score him however you see fit.”
Li Yuanzhao conveyed Li Hao’s words as they were.
Cui Fan was speechless.
Then, he chuckled wryly to himself.
Sure enough, a young master from a great family had come here only to amuse himself and broaden his horizons; indeed, Cui Fan hadn’t taken it seriously either.
In this day and age, those who took things too seriously were the ones to lose out.
“Alright then,” he said.
Cui Fan didn’t say much and led the four people on their way, while secretly devising an excuse in his mind to award the young master a perfect score.
After all, there was no way he could give a low score.
He would rather be accused of negligence than to mark down the score.
Because while the young master might only face issues with schooling, Cui Fan himself would be at risk of losing his job.
Cangyu City was square-shaped and surrounded by mountains on all four sides.
About thirty li to the east of the city lay a mountain range that spanned across the large river leading to Cangyu City. The range stretched for dozens of li with peaks upon peaks and lush forests.
The sunlight struggled to penetrate the large leaves, leading to heavy moisture in the woods and making the forest seem shadowy and ghostly even during broad daylight.
Near the mountain range, scattered like splashes of mud, lay some villages. Each village had several hunting households that relied on the mountain for sustenance and lived off hunting.
As the saying goes, “The duck knows first when the water is warm.” These hunters who spent their years living off the land were the ones who best understood the dangers of the mountains.
Since several bold hunters who defied superstition had been found in the mountains, dismembered, nobody dared to venture into them again, with even the collection of firewood being limited to the foothills.
At this moment, however, a figure rushed through the air above the mountain range, speeding forward.
Clad in the black attire of the Monster Suppression Department, this person was none other than Li Hao.
Going to the outhouse was just an excuse. He wasn’t needed for something like a patrol, and that Master Cui certainly wouldn’t lead them to slay real demons; if there were any, they were only minor ones for practice.
As for the matter of academic credits, he cared even less for them. Anything that could be exchanged for credits at the Black and White Hall, the Li Family already had.
And the top-tier Peerless Technique wasn’t something you could exchange for mere credits.
His only goal in coming to the Black Wind Mountain Range was to find the whereabouts of that demon.
The Tiger Robe Immortal.
Along the way, Li Hao noticed many demons flickering in the woods below and various spirits and monsters lurking among the trees.
But they were all minor demons, with faint demon auras.
Once reaching the Soul Succession Realm, one could glimpse the demon auras.
Through the perspective of the Divine Soul, one could see the energies of heaven and earth, and these wandering energies, like accumulated snow, would settle on all things in the mountains and rivers. Given enough time, they would adhere firmly.
Bamboo, rocks, animals—all were covered by “qi.”
It was just that they were faint and pure, like colorless thin mist.
Martial Artists, however, were different; their qi was as vigorous as flames, and depending on the Cultivation Technique they practiced, the color of their qi would change. Those in the Divine Travel Realm and even the Fifteen Li Realm had qi as dazzling as stars. If not deliberately subdued, their presence could be discerned from li away.
It was the same with demons.
However, demons with Taoist cultivation usually hide their demonic aura and blend into the crowd, making them hard to spot.
At this moment, within the Black Wind Mountain Range, various dense and faint auras drifted about.
Li Hao released a golden light from the top of his head and his Divine Soul ventured forward, surveying the situation.
Deep in the mountain range, in front of a cave with rugged, grotesque rocks.
Leaning on a huge boulder, there sat a demon almost as tall as four or five Zhang, with the appearance of half-man, half-bear.
Scattered by its feet were pure white bones, and the relatively flat stone beneath its bottom was padded with some tattered and wrinkled human skins, the pungent stench of evil spreading around.
Beside it, there were other figures in various poses, including a long snake with the upper body of a seductive woman, a reptile with a withered head, and a monster with the lower body of a white baby’s legs attached to the waist of a centipede.
“Great Demon of Mighty Strength, our Black Wind Mountain Range has already assembled over twenty thousand lesser demons, eight hundred spirits, and twenty-five who can transform. We’re ready to join forces with the Red Eyebrow Taoist to devour Cangyu City at any moment!”
A snake woman with a winding figure and a seductive face said coquettishly as her head swayed in the air.
A gleam of craving showed in her eyes as she flickered her serpent tongue, seemingly impatient.
“Once we’re done eating, we’ll make our escape. The passage by Wangchuan Mountain has been cleared, ready for our departure at any moment,” another gaunt and sparingly-haired old creature said with a titter.
“We must wait for the right moment.”
The bear demon’s face was filled with savage energy, yet its voice was calm:
“We’ll act after the Red Eyebrow Taoist leads the others from the north in the attack. That man surnamed Yue secretly sent a message to the Xia Family half a month ago, but luckily the Red Eyebrow Taoist had a way to handle it. The Xia Family won’t be coming for a while.”
“After all this time, we finally get to feast properly, so satisfying!”
“The meat supplied by that man surnamed Yue is getting worse every time. This time, I must eat him.”
“Heh, that’s not your turn, the Tiger Robe Immortal has already reserved it.”
The bear demon also glanced at the talking Wolf Demon and said coldly, “That Yue is the brother of Tiger Robe, it is reserved for him alone.”
“I was just saying, how could I possibly compete with the Tiger Robe Immortal for food,” the Wolf Demon hastily said with a sheepish smile.
As they conversed, suddenly, the bear demon seemed to sense something and looked up towards the woods.
There, a young man clad in dark clothes, with a sword strapped to his waist, brushed aside roadside weeds and walked slowly into this mountain heartland, occupied by numerous Great Demons.
At this very moment, the other demons also became aware, realizing a human had approached so closely without their detection!
“So many demons…”
Li Hao looked around, his gaze sweeping over each of the Great Demons in turn.
They only slightly concealed their auras; they didn’t hide them completely, standing out like candles in the darkness.
As he saw the hellish scene before him, his expression changed, barely conceiving the number of humans cruelly slaughtered here.
“A Monster Suppression Envoy?”
Upon seeing Li Hao’s attire, all the demons were taken aback.
The dragon pattern on his cuff and the number of patterns on his dark clothes indicated he was just a Monster Suppression Envoy.
Yet he dared to come before them?
“Hm? Are you here to deliver the meat supply? But it was just delivered a few days ago, and… you don’t have any meat with you,” said an old man with a high-pitched, strange laugh, who was as short as a dwarf. He hopped and skipped toward Li Hao but watched him carefully.
Li Hao knew what the demons meant by ‘meat supply’.
Delivering meat?
He paused, suddenly realizing the incredible implications within those words—utterly chilling.
His mind raced with numerous thoughts, and Li Hao scanned the demons before asking, “Which of you is the Tiger Robe Immortal?”
“Looking for the Tiger Robe?” the demons were bewildered.
The emaciated old man grinned and said, “Boy, you’ve got guts. Aren’t you afraid of us?”
“Afraid?”
Li Hao slowly drew the demon-slaying sword from his waist, “You’ve got audacity, being surrounded by me, and yet you don’t run.”