The Full Story

"Too much nonsense. And that laugh was awful!"

Chen Fan muttered to himself.

He shook the demon blood from his Embroidered Spring Blade, sheathed it, then strode to the village entrance and called out loudly:

"Fellow villagers, the Wolf Demons that plagued this place have all been slain by me."

"The demon slayer is Chen Fan of the Ping An County Brocade Guard!"

With that, he swung onto his horse and rode away.

One after another, numb figures emerged from every corner. Watching that galloping figure, the light gradually returned to their eyes!

Black Stone Town.

Wang Chao had told Chen Fan and the others to gather here after completing their patrol assignments.

Chen Fan was the last to arrive. When Wang Chao saw him return, a flicker of astonishment crossed his eyes, but there was even more delight.

"Brother Chen Fan has returned safely. Everyone, we can head back now!"

"Brother Chen Fan, did everything go smoothly on your trip to Black Bear Gulch Village?"

Wang Chao asked.

"It went fairly smoothly. It was just that a pack of Wolf Demons had eaten more than half the villagers of Black Bear Gulch Village."

"I happened to kill seven Wolf Demons there and brought back their tails. Chief Wang, do you think these seven tails could earn me a position as a Brocade Guard Squad Leader?"

Chen Fan replied with a faint smile, staring straight at Wang Chao as he asked.

"Heh heh heh."

"Of course they can."

Wang Chao gave an embarrassed laugh.

He was so awkward that he did not even voice the question in his heart.

How had Chen Fan, a martial artist who had only just entered the second stage of the Divine Treasury Realm, managed to kill seven Wolf Demons?

"Chief Wang, did you know Wolf Demons were lurking in Black Bear Gulch Village?"

Chen Fan finally asked the question.

The moment he said it, everyone else turned to look at Wang Chao as well.

Luckily, it had been Chen Fan who encountered the seven Wolf Demons. If it had been any one of them, would they not have become bloody food in the demons' mouths?

Chief Wang had personally assigned this patrol mission.

This... was simply terrifying the more one thought about it!

"You five go on ahead. Brother Chen Fan and I may have a bit of a misunderstanding. I'll explain it to him."

Wang Chao looked at the other five and spoke.

"Yes!"

After exchanging glances, the five of them rode off toward Ping An County.

Wang Chao looked at Chen Fan and found that Chen Fan's gaze had never left him. He grew increasingly guilty. After a long struggle between heaven and man, he dismounted and dropped to the ground with a thud.

"Brother Chen Fan, I've wronged you. Kill me or carve me up as you please!"

"Chief Wang, have you also been colluding with demons?"

"I've always regarded you as an elder brother."

"A few days ago, when I was gravely wounded and on the verge of death, you knelt and begged Chief Zhang of the Third Squad to drag the Boar Demon from the foot of Black Mountain to the Brocade Guard Martial Arts Field, fulfilling my last wish and allowing me to personally slay a demon before I died."

"It was precisely that heroic spirit of personally slaying a demon that let me break through. Not only did I shatter the barrier between life and death, my strength also increased tremendously. I have always remembered your kindness."

"But why are you trying to harm me now?"

Chen Fan said calmly, his voice low.

Without Wang Chao's kneeling plea, there would be no Chen Fan today. There was gold beneath a man's knees, yet Wang Chao had been willing to go that far for his brother. Chen Fan had truly been deeply moved.

Although Chen Fan's strength now far surpassed Wang Chao's, he still respected this old brother in his heart.

But Wang Chao's actions today had truly chilled his heart.

Wang Chao had been trying to personally send him to his death!

If not for his Golden Finger and the explosive growth in his strength over the past few days, had it been the old him, he would already have become dinner for those Wolf Demons!

"Brother Chen Fan, say no more. I was the one who wronged you."

"They used my family to threaten me. I... I had no choice but to comply!"

Wang Chao said with a face full of anguish.

Between his family and Chen Fan, he could only choose his family and betray Chen Fan.

He felt guilty, but he had no choice!

"It was Cao De."

"He colluded with demons and intended to control all of Ping An County."

"He was also the one who threatened your family and made you assign me to patrol a village where Wolf Demons were hiding?"

Chen Fan asked.

"It was him."

"It has always been him."

"Demons surround Ping An County. The two Chief Squad Leaders and we Squad Leaders all know about these matters. Even some of the old Brocade Guards know a little. Only youngsters like you don't understand much."

"But Cao De controls the entire Brocade Guard. With our strength, we simply cannot resist him. What is more, he colludes with demons and has their support. Even if we joined forces, we would not be his match."

"Besides, most of the Ping An County Brocade Guard Precinct were promoted by him personally. They are his trusted confidants. How many would truly dare to resist him?"

"That day, when you went to carry out the emergency patrol mission, although Chief Squad Leader Huang Chengyue chose the people, the order itself had come from Cao De."

"At the time, the ones on duty at the Brocade Guard were you five from our Ninth Squad. Thus, Huang Chengyue was destined to find no one else for the mission. It could only be you five."

"I simply didn't know which one of you five had offended Cao De, making him set this trap to borrow the demons' hands and wipe you all out."

At this point, Wang Chao held nothing back, telling Chen Fan everything he knew.

In truth, he had only pieced together all the twists and turns afterward. He had merely buried those doubts in his heart, not daring to stand up for Chen Fan and the others.

In fact, the reason he had worked so hard to fulfill Chen Fan's last wish was also because he wanted to ease the guilt in his heart.

After all, at his core, he was not a bad person.

"It was me."

"It should have been me."

Chen Fan answered after hearing this.

Even now, he did not know exactly how he had offended Cao De.

Perhaps the root of it all lay in that small courtyard near the County Magistrate Estate.

Perhaps he would have an answer tonight.

He only knew that when he had rashly entered that side courtyard that day, Cao De had driven him away with a shout. As for the woman tangled up with Cao De, he did not know her origins. In any case, she could not have been Cao De's wife.

Because this Centurion had been obsessed with martial arts his entire life and had never married or had children.

And if he had not been mistaken that day, demons had entered that side courtyard. It could be said that the courtyard was also a gathering place for demons.

Just imagine: an ordinary Brocade Guard entered the private side courtyard of a Brocade Guard Centurion, encountered the Centurion making love with someone, and was highly likely to have realized that the Centurion was secretly keeping demons in his courtyard.

Whoever it was, they would have to kill that ordinary Brocade Guard!

If that was how things had happened, then everything made sense.

Unfortunately, Chen Fan was no longer the greenhorn who had joined the Brocade Guard a year ago. He was now a martial artist at the peak of the Divine Treasury Realm. So what if Cao De was a Brocade Guard Centurion?

If he dared provoke him, Chen Fan would still kill him!

"Brother Chen Fan, since we have laid everything out in the open today, I might as well say a little more."

"Run!"

"Run as far away as you can."

"With your current skills, life will not be too difficult wherever you go."

"Go to a prosperous city where no demons are hiding, change your name and appearance, and you can start over again."

Wang Chao spoke from the bottom of his heart.

Chen Fan was different from him. His relatives and friends, his wife and children, were all in Ping An County. He had no way to abandon them.

But Chen Fan was originally an orphan, alone in the world, and now possessed considerable martial strength. A man like him would be treated as an honored guest wherever he went.

"Let's go."

"Let's return to Ping An County!"

Chen Fan said. With that, he spurred his horse and raced toward Ping An County.