Catching Demons

The next morning.

Meng Yuan shot arrows two hundred times, then led the students through the Gale Wind Saber Technique several times, correcting their movements and essentials.

Being swindled out of ten taels of silver yesterday was a small matter; going out to subdue demons today was a big one, and Meng Yuan was very much looking forward to it.

Historical records were not detailed in their descriptions of demons. Often during times of chaos, there would be "demon calamities." Even in peaceful years, demons would frequently slaughter living beings.

But he still didn't know the specifics. Meng Yuan felt that if all demons were like Grandmother, they might be good at petty theft, but causing widespread chaos was probably beyond them.

Not long after breakfast, Nie Yannian finally arrived.

Meng Yuan was already prepared, with a saber at his waist, a quiver on his back, and a bow in his hand.

Having only recently entered the ranks, Meng Yuan was well aware of his capabilities. He could handle five or six strong men without a problem and could even hold his own against martial artists of the same rank.

But no matter what, a bow and arrows, as a long-range weapon, had to be brought along.

"Master Nie, should I switch to the Five-Stone Bow?" Meng Yuan had always practiced with the Two-Stone Bow.

"Forget it. Although you can draw the Five-Stone Bow, it's too strenuous in the long run. It's like people; being a bit plump is quite delicious, but it's too easy to exhaust your energy and can't last long," Nie Yannian said casually.

What was all this about? Was that how you compared things? It made Meng Yuan think of the beautiful proprietress of the Drunken Moon Pavilion.

However, Meng Yuan always listened to advice and said no more.

When Wu Changsheng and the others saw Meng Yuan fully equipped, looking ready to go out for training, they all showed anticipation, hoping Master Nie would take them along.

"Guard the house well!" Nie Yannian casually dropped a sentence, then took Meng Yuan away from the Training Field and to the stables.

Meng Yuan couldn't ride a horse, but fortunately, the horses here were well-trained and gentle.

Moreover, Meng Yuan was not lacking in strength or reaction speed. Although he had no experience riding, he could stabilize himself as soon as he stepped into the stirrup and mounted the horse.

After leaving the Royal Residence, Nie Yannian first explained the difference between riding a horse and riding a person before talking about the purpose of this trip.

It turned out the problem was still at the manor outside the city. The Princess Consort had a medicinal manor south of the city, and things had been going missing recently. Several patrolling dogs had also disappeared, and some villagers even said they had seen demons.

After finishing that, Nie Yannian put away his lazy demeanor and talked about spirits and monsters.

There were countless spirits and monsters in the world. Whether they were snakes, insects, rats, ants, or jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards, all could become demons and cause trouble.

Wild beasts in the mountains and forests needed to absorb the essence of the sun and moon, or swallow spiritual herbs and precious medicines, to cultivate spiritual light and develop intelligence. The clever ones would even refine their horizontal bone and speak human words.

Demons also had their own paths of cultivation, but they had more drawbacks and were quite slow to show results. Now, after countless years of fighting with humans, demons had gradually learned human cultivation paths, mostly following the path of martial artists, but some also followed Daoism and Buddhism.

After demons began cultivating, they would gradually nurture a human form, which was called transformation.

However, most would retain some characteristics of wild beasts. Generally speaking, the more intelligent and agile the demon, the more complete their transformation. The more foolish and clumsy the demon, the more beastly characteristics they retained.

Of course, there were also exceptions.

Low-rank demons were mostly not very intelligent, or rather, their minds were not very flexible. However, some demons were close to humans and would read and write, and some even studied military strategy.

Some demons were ferocious, some were timid, some liked to gather in groups, and some roamed the mountains alone. Their temperaments were varied, and their beastly instincts had not been completely eliminated, so they were mostly wild.

Fear comes from the unknown. After receiving this guidance, Meng Yuan's fear of mountain spirits and monsters completely disappeared. Instead, he became interested in spiritual herbs and precious medicines, thinking that if he had the chance, he would try some, as they might be beneficial to his Essence Flame.

Leaving Songhe Prefecture through the south gate and traveling three li, they saw a large river, which was the Canglang River.

The Canglang River came from the west, turned east south of Songhe Prefecture, and finally flowed into the sea.

The two rode their horses along the bank against the Canglang River for more than ten li and saw a manor.

This was the medicinal manor, much smaller than the Pasture Manor, and surrounded by high walls. There were also medicinal gardens nearby, and many villagers also planted medicinal herbs.

The medicinal manor was used for transporting large quantities of medicines, processing drugs, and collecting medicines, and the profits were extremely high.

Entering the manor, the manor head came out to greet them, along with a young man wearing the same clothes as Meng Yuan.

This young man was named Ren Debiao, also a guard of the Royal Residence, a Ninth Rank martial artist, who had come to the medicinal manor first to investigate.

Without much small talk, they entered the main hall, and Ren Debiao began to talk about the investigation.

"It's a spirit that came down from the mountains. It stole a total of seven dogs, a small donkey, and many processed medicines, mostly Wound Healing Ointment and Essence Nourishing Qi Enhancement Pills," Ren Debiao said, looking capable.

"Songhe Prefecture is next to the mountains. Although there have always been many spirits in the mountains, Songhe Prefecture is a large city, and spirits generally don't dare to come out of the mountains to cause trouble," Nie Yannian clearly knew a lot about demons. "Coming out of the mountains to steal medicine, could it be that the spirits were injured in internal conflict? Or was it done by some ignorant hothead?"

"Also, two people died in the manor, a man and a woman who were having an affair in the middle of the night. Their bellies were cut open, and their internal organs were all eaten," Ren Debiao said.

"Having an affair in the middle of the night? Aren't they afraid of the cold?" Nie Yannian laughed.

"Master Nie, please give us a plan. Should we report it to the authorities, or handle it ourselves?" the medicinal manor head asked.

"Report it to the authorities? Report it for a few small demons? What about my Nie Yannian's face if that gets out?" Nie Yannian was very confident. "Let's cook and eat first. We'll guard here tonight. We'll catch one if one comes, and a pair if two come!"

The manor head said no more and ordered the villagers to kill chickens and sheep.

In early spring, the weather was still cold. Eating delicious fatty lamb dipped in garlic paste, followed by a mouthful of lamb soup, was truly the ultimate delicacy.

A trace of nourishment was absorbed into the Essence Flame. Meng Yuan felt that if he could eat lamb to his heart's content every day, his Essence Flame would probably be complete again in less than two months.

After eating and drinking their fill, Nie Yannian slowly patrolled the medicinal manor and finally came to a secluded room to examine the two incomplete corpses.

Their internal organs were gone, and the wounds looked like they were caused by the sharp claws of a spirit.

"Probably a canine or wolf-like spirit," Nie Yannian went to the scene of the incident to examine the traces left by the spirit.

However, this spirit was very cunning. Its footprints had been wiped away, and it was impossible to identify what kind of spirit it was.

It wasn't until after dinner that Nie Yannian made arrangements. He would take Ren Debiao and Meng Yuan to guard the roof of the back wall. The rest of the villagers would not participate; they were just to go to sleep and not come out to check if they heard any noise.

This was essentially waiting for the rabbit by the stump.

"Demons can be useful here, and they can also be not useful," Nie Yannian tapped his temple and instructed, "If they get an advantage once, they'll want to get it again. Unless they feel pain, they can come every day. Moreover, demons are mostly vengeful, so you either kill them directly or let them know that they can never bully you, otherwise they will definitely come back to trouble you."

The chill of early spring was biting, and the wind was relentless at night.

All three of them were martial artists, so enduring the temporary cold was not a problem.

As the night deepened and dawn approached, it became even more silent. A faint bleating sound came from the dark world.

Meng Yuan immediately perked up, opening his eyes wide and looking towards the source of the sound.

He saw a figure in the darkness run from outside the courtyard wall, then jump straight onto the two-zhang high courtyard wall.

Then the figure observed the surroundings, and after seeing no danger, it bleated again. Another dark figure appeared and then also jumped onto the courtyard wall.

The two figures looked around for a while before jumping into the courtyard.

Meng Yuan was about ten steps away from them. Although the world was dim and without light, he could already see clearly.

These two figures were not human at all. They were about one zhang tall, with bulging muscles and thick fur. One was black and the other white, with huge goat heads on top of their heads. The large horns on their heads were curved like scimitars.

The two Goat Demons were slightly hunched, with sacks slung over their shoulders and bone clubs in their hands. Their eyes were yellow and devoid of any emotion, making them exceptionally terrifying.

Seeing that the prey had taken the bait, Meng Yuan held his longbow, slowly drew an arrow, and was ready to attack at any moment.

"Can't wait to shoot already?" Nie Yannian smiled mischievously, "You take your saber and go down and fight them!"