"Demon!"
Someone among the crowd instantly began to panic.
The crowd looked terrified when they saw Ye Chen's transformation as well,
but the next sentence immediately calmed them down.
"What are you afraid of? Didn't you see that an adult from the Demon Slaying Division is here?"
Only then did everyone settle down.
"So it's just a Green Zombie!" Lu Jun said with a light chuckle.
Without the slightest hesitation, Lu Jun raised his foot and crushed Ye Chen's head with one stomp.
[Slain Demon, Green Zombie. Acquired its innate evolution technique—Bronze Skin Iron Bones] [Bronze Skin Iron Bones: Increases strength; impervious to blades and spears] [Demon Essence: 3026]
What a useless piece of trash. Only twenty-six points of Demon Essence...
Lu Jun sneered inwardly.
He glanced down at the headless Green Zombie corpse before him, its fingernails sharp and its skin tinged bronze.
Suddenly, Lu Jun seemed to sense something. His brows lifted slightly.
The next second, a pitch-black soul abruptly shot out from Ye Chen's neck. It transformed into a hideous, snarling face and roared at Lu Jun, "Just you wait!"
Then it suddenly streaked away into the distance.
"Oh? Looks like it wasn't simply a Green Zombie..."
"Seems there's more fun to be had behind this..."
"But he actually dared to threaten me!"
Lu Jun laughed.
Lu Jun did not choose to pursue it immediately.
His technique, See Through Myriad Illusions, could track a demon's location by following its demonic aura. His opponent's aura had already been locked onto, so it was merely a matter of dying sooner or later.
He would find it eventually.
Lu Jun rather liked casting a long line to catch a big fish.
Thinking this, Lu Jun raised his brows, and the corners of his mouth lifted again.
"Looks like there'll be follow-up rewards..."
After dealing with the demon, Lu Jun gently lifted his eyes and glanced outside the door. Beyond it lay the deep courtyards of Li Mansion.
Through See Through Myriad Illusions, he could still see dense demonic energy lingering there.
"Master Li, perhaps we should have a private chat." Lu Jun's voice was mild.
Master Li swallowed and shuddered. He hurriedly said, "My lord! Please, follow me!"
Inside the loft.
Master Li and Lu Jun sat facing each other.
Master Li respectfully prepared tea and set it before Lu Jun.
"My lord! The tea..." Master Li said cautiously.
Master Li had seen his share of important figures.
But whenever those lords mentioned the Demon Slaying Division, their expressions became deeply wary.
The Demon Slayer Envoys were the most mysterious group in all of Dagan.
It was said that they possessed extraordinary mystical powers and had always fought on the front lines against demons.
This was also Master Li's first time dealing with one. Naturally, he was both shocked and afraid.
"Don't be afraid. I'm not a demon, and I'm not going to eat you, am I?"
Lu Jun smiled amiably.
Master Li gave two dry, sycophantic laughs in response.
It was difficult to connect this courteous young man with his warm smile to the brute who had crushed a demon's head beneath one foot moments earlier.
"Tell me about it. Explain Ye Chen's origins first, then tell me about your daughter." Lu Jun said.
"Yes."
Master Li began speaking, his expression taking on a trace of desolation and grief.
"About two years ago, my daughter had just turned fifteen. She was at the age when a girl should have her hair pinned up, and I was preparing to find a suitable family for her to marry into."
"But who would have thought that my daughter would become pregnant?"
Lu Jun's brows rose slightly.
"I was furious at the time. She had become pregnant before marriage—there was no doubt it would bring shame upon the family. But no matter how I questioned her, she kept crying and telling me that she had never been in contact with any man and had never done anything improper..."
"Half a month passed, and my anger gradually faded. She was my daughter, after all, the only bloodline my late wife had left me. If she truly loved that man, there was no need for him to come from a matching family. We weren't lacking for anything. As long as my daughter was happy, that was enough."
"But when I asked again, my daughter still cried and told me she had never been in contact with any man. That was when I gradually sensed something strange. Her wet nurse told me that my daughter had indeed stayed in her chambers all this time and rarely went out. The only people around her were maids. Aside from me, she had basically never come into contact with another man."
"Even then, I still refused to believe it..." Master Li gave a bitter laugh. "Yes, according to what ordinary people like us know, how could a woman become pregnant without coming into contact with a man? It was simply inconceivable."
"I had everyone investigate all the guards in my residence... But the result was still heartbreaking. We found nothing at all..."
"Sigh. In the end, I came to terms with it. I decided to treat it as though I had somehow gained a grandson or granddaughter. It was born to my own daughter, after all, and would ultimately be my flesh and blood... I gradually stopped investigating the whereabouts of the man who had ruined my daughter's life."
"But I never imagined that this was only the beginning of the nightmare..."
Master Li's expression grew terrified.
"My daughter was pregnant for a full two years!"
"An ordinary pregnancy lasts only nine months, ten at most, but she was pregnant for two whole years!"
At this point, Master Li covered his face and began to sob.
"I finally understood. My daughter... she hadn't lied to me... She hadn't brought shame upon the family. She had only been fifteen, yet I had scolded her, treated her coldly, and regarded her as the family's disgrace... Only then did I finally understand her grievances..."
"Only then did I finally realize that all of this had been caused by a demon..."
"Ling Nu, she was in the bloom of her youth... I watched her go from a plump young girl to a withered, skeletal figure, tormented by that damned demon in her belly!"
"I'm in pain! I hate it!"
By the time he finished speaking, Master Li was already weeping uncontrollably.
Lu Jun did not urge him on.
He merely listened in silence as the broken father revealed his misery and helplessness before him.
After a long while, once the other man's emotions had settled,
Lu Jun asked softly, "And what was the situation with Ye Chen?"
Master Li began, "Ye Chen came to our door a year ago."
"A year ago, when my daughter had been pregnant for twelve months, I began to sense that something was wrong. So I gathered physicians to seek treatment... But I also knew that this wasn't something ordinary doctors could resolve. At the same time, I asked some influential friends to search for Law Seekers with mystical powers like yours."
"That was when Ye Chen arrived. He claimed to be a disciple of Puppet Corpse Dock, a demon-exorcising force from Yunzhou, and said that he could save my daughter."
"At that time, my daughter had already been tormented by the demon in her belly until she was nothing but skin and bones. She also said that she could sometimes hear the demon's voice from inside her belly..."
"In the end, Ye Chen used his mystical powers. My daughter's belly began to shrink, and her condition and complexion improved quite a bit..."
"I treated Ye Chen as my only straw of salvation. Who could have imagined that he was actually a demon..." Master Li painfully clawed at his hair at the thought.
"Then why have you started gathering physicians again recently?" Lu Jun asked.
"My daughter's condition suddenly worsened recently, so I wanted to find some physicians to prescribe nourishing medicine for her and have Ye Chen deal with the demon in her belly. I naturally assumed it wouldn't have much effect."
Lu Jun said, "Then why didn't you seek help from the Demon Slaying Division?"
Master Li raised his head and glanced lightly at Lu Jun. His tone was hesitant. "I didn't dare."
"Why not?"
Master Li's voice trembled slightly, but under Lu Jun's sharp gaze, he still answered honestly:
"The Demon Slaying Division's reputation is too fearsome. Whenever they see a demon, they hack it to death on the spot... I was afraid you would hack my daughter to death as well."
"..."
Lu Jun.
He had indeed chosen the right organization to join.
The corporate culture suited him perfectly!
Its reputation was just a little poor.
Before you continue