The One Who Harmed Me

Ping An County.

Top floor of Wangchun Pavilion.

A large white ape with a tall build sat cross-legged on a grand master's chair, surrounded by a group of scantily clad, beautiful courtesans.

Some sang and danced, some massaged his shoulders and back, and some fed him fresh fruit.

The white ape lay in a doze on the grand master's chair, one hand holding a scantily dressed, coquettish beauty, groping her body, while the other hand tapped lightly on the armrest of the grand master's chair, swaying his head slightly to the rhythm of the singer.

This life was simply too comfortable.

"Lord Ape, Red Serpent Fairy is dead!"

Just then, a lackey with a pointed mouth and monkey cheeks entered the room, knelt on the ground, and reported.

"What?"

"Red Serpent is dead?"

"How is that possible?"

"She was at the peak of the second stage of the Divine Hidden Realm. Her transformation and bewitchment techniques were unique. Moreover, the demon race's physique is naturally stronger than the human race. Even a human martial artist at the third stage of the Divine Hidden Realm would find it difficult to kill her!"

"There are only a handful of existences in Ping An County capable of killing her. Who exactly killed her?"

The white ape opened his eyes, a flash of ferocity in them. The strength with which he kneaded the beauty in his arms involuntarily increased. The person in his arms trembled all over, a look of pain appearing on her face, but she bit her lip tightly, not daring to utter a sound of pain, only enduring it silently.

"It was that person who used five pairs of virgin boys and girls as a price to ask her to handle some private matters. We don't know the specifics of what she did. Lord Ape, you also know that Red Serpent is too proud to discuss these things with us."

The lackey with the pointed mouth and monkey cheeks said.

Although Red Serpent and they were both demons, she only had a cooperative relationship with Lord Ape, while they were Lord Ape's subordinates.

So, psychologically, she felt that she was on an equal footing with Lord Ape, and naturally disdained to associate with these followers of Lord Ape.

"Hmph."

"I always wanted her to join my Wangchun Pavilion and work for me. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be the proprietress of this Wangchun Pavilion? But she insisted on messing around with that person, and now she's finally been screwed to death!"

"Five pairs of virgin boys and girls, that person is quite the big spender."

"If Red Serpent had really accomplished this matter, then it wouldn't have been impossible for her cultivation to take it to the next level. What a pity, there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world."

"Forget it, I'm very angry right now, you all go down!"

The white ape exhaled hot air between his nostrils, hugged the beauty in his arms, and went straight to the bed.

The other courtesans saw a trace of intolerance in their eyes, as well as some panic, and bowed and retreated.

Soon, bursts of painful screams came from the room. After a long time, the screams became smaller and smaller. Half an hour later, the corpse of the beauty from before was directly thrown out by Lord Ape.

Her body was deformed, covered in blood, with a look of horror on her face, her eyes wide open, not closing in death.

"The human race is really weak, not satisfying!"

"Send me two more!"

Lord Ape's voice came from the room.

The next morning.

Wang Chao arrived at the Brocade Guard's hundred-household office early in the morning and heard about the snake demon entering Chen Fan's residence.

"Brother Chen Fan, I heard that a snake demon sneaked into your house last night?"

Wang Chao looked at Chen Fan, who had come to report for duty, and asked.

"That's right."

"That snake demon thought I was vulnerable, so it wasn't very vigilant. As a result, I struck first and killed it with two strikes!"

Chen Fan said in a deep voice upon hearing this.

"Well done."

"This time, you've turned misfortune into a blessing."

"Not only have you escaped the gate of life and death, but your cultivation has also made great progress. I think in a few years, becoming a squad leader will be no problem at all."

Wang Chao patted Chen Fan's solid shoulder and said with a smile.

"Then thank you for your kind words, Head Wang!"

Chen Fan said with a smile.

"Our ninth squad has just lost four brothers. Currently, the centurion hasn't assigned us any tasks. Let's go together today to take care of the four brothers' funerals."

"The compensation for the four brothers came down yesterday, fifty taels of silver per person, not too much. I also negotiated with the county, and the county exempted their families from ten years of corvée and taxes."

"Fifty taels of silver, ten years of corvée and taxes."

"The lives of our Brocade Guard brothers are really worthless!"

"In the end, it's still because I, as the eldest brother, am incompetent!"

Wang Chao smiled self-deprecatingly and said with some sadness.

"Wang-tou, no need to blame yourself. You've done your best. The world is like this; there's nothing we can do."

Chen Fan said with a deep sigh.

The basic salary for a Brocade Guard in Ping An County is about ten taels of silver a year. Adding in mission rewards, holiday bonuses, and other miscellaneous benefits, they can earn about twenty to thirty taels of silver a year.

But when the four brothers from their Ninth Squad died fighting demons, the county only gave their families an amount equivalent to two years' salary as a pension. It was truly disheartening.

"Sigh!"

"This damned world!"

"Forget it, let's not talk about it."

Wang Chao led the remaining six members of the Ninth Squad to help each family with the funeral arrangements for the four brothers. Each of them left one tael of silver with each family, while Wang Chao left two taels.

With this money, plus the protection of the Brocade Guard, the four families' lives wouldn't be too difficult in the future.

"Brother Chen Fan, please wait."

As he was about to leave after helping with the last brother's funeral arrangements, the deceased's wife called out to Chen Fan.

"Brother Chen Fan, stay and see if Zhao Jia's wife needs any help. We'll take our leave first, after all, Zhao Jia was closest to you when he was alive."

Wang Chao patted Chen Fan on the shoulder, forcing a smile as he spoke.

"Alright."

Chen Fan nodded in response.

"I wonder what instructions Sister-in-law has for me?"

In their Ninth Squad, a Little Banner Officer served as the captain. Among the remaining ten Brocade Guard members, only Zhao Jia had joined the Brocade Guard in the same year as him. Zhao Jia was three years older than him, but the two were considered peers, so they were the closest on weekdays.

Zhao Jia had married before joining the Brocade Guard, and his wife had given birth to a son the year before last. Now, the Zhao family was left with only this orphaned widow and her child.

"Zhao Jia and the other three were murdered."

"You survived by sheer luck, so you must be careful. That person won't let you off."

Zhao Jia's wife pulled Chen Fan into the courtyard, looked around to make sure no one was there, and said with a firm tone.

"Sister-in-law, did you hear anything from Brother Zhao?"

Chen Fan was stunned for a moment, then thought of the snake demon from last night, and his expression suddenly became serious.

"He didn't tell me anything, but he left this behind."

Zhao Jia's wife took out a piece of Flying Fish Uniform cloth from her bosom, with several words written in blood on it: The one who harmed me is H

The word wasn't finished, but it was Huang Chengyue, the Brocade Guard Centurion, who gave them the emergency patrol mission.

It was originally just a patrol mission outside the city, but somehow, the five of them encountered an extremely powerful toad demon. The five of them were killed without even having the ability to resist.

Logically speaking, such a powerful demon shouldn't appear outside the city. After all, the more powerful a demon is, the more territorial it is. Who would place their territory not far outside the county town?

"Brocade Guard Centurion Huang Chengyue?"

"Why would he collude with demons to kill us?"

"Is it simply to provide the demons with five portions of food, or does he want to silence us?"

Chen Fan thought to himself.