Another Cult Again

The side room of the Demon Slaying Division office.

Lu Jun and Li Tuo were still talking.

Li Tuo hesitated for a moment before suddenly speaking. "A-Jun, are we really going to deal with that Evil Flood Dragon...?"

Lu Jun looked up. "Are you scared?"

Li Tuo gave a bitter smile. "A little..."

"Demons at the Flood Dragon level are at least Demon Kings... Besides, there are tens of thousands of demons. I've never seen so many demons in my life..."

"But..." Li Tuo smiled faintly. "We can't have you fighting alone here. That'd be far too heartless."

Lu Jun gently raised his hand and lightly patted Li Tuo on the shoulder. Then he smiled, a trace of determination flashing in his eyes. "I'm strong. They won't be my match."

"If you want to leave, you can go after killing that ape general."

Li Tuo shook his head and pretended to be angry. "Don't underestimate me! I'm strong too."

Then a hint of awkwardness crossed Li Tuo's face. "Besides, there are so many commoners. They're all unarmed, waiting to be slaughtered by the demons. I'm one of the stronger people among them. I want to help hold up the falling sky for them... I want to be a hero too."

Then Li Tuo abruptly changed the subject. "A-Jun, come clean! What realm are you in now? Give me some details, or I'm really going to be scared..."

"Third Realm, Spirit Sea."

That day, after dressing properly, Lu Jun arrived in front of the office hall.

At that moment, besides Jia Kuiren, there were four unfamiliar people in the office courtroom.

Lu Jun raised an eyebrow and walked straight in.

Jia Kuiren hurriedly introduced him. "Lord Lu, let me introduce you. These are the Rogue Cultivators, Law Seekers, and martial artists I invited from the county."

"These four righteous men are Chen Zhuo, Tuoba Li, Jiang Kuo, and Fang Huai."

Jia Kuiren introduced the names of the four people before Lu Jun one by one.

Chen Zhuo was a young man no more than twenty years old. He had delicate features and wore a loose robe. He was somewhat portly, with a belly that looked a little too large.

Tuoba Li was a man who looked to be around thirty. His qi and blood were vigorous, his build burly, and he stood roughly two meters tall. At a glance, he was clearly a martial artist.

Jiang Kuo was a middle-aged man who looked to be around forty. He had a goatee, a thin, gaunt build, and heavy dark circles beneath his eyes.

The last one, Fang Huai, was the youngest. He looked no more than seventeen or eighteen, with a jade-like face. Dressed in white robes and holding a folding fan, he regarded Lu Jun with evident interest.

"I've long heard of Lord Lu's great reputation. Seeing you today, you truly are extraordinary." Tuoba Li was the first to rise and bow to Lu Jun with hearty enthusiasm.

Lu Jun raised his brows, a faint, almost imperceptible smile curling across his face. "Oh? What great reputation of mine have you heard?"

Tuoba Li's face stiffened.

"Er..."

He had only been making polite conversation, giving the other man face.

Why wasn't this person following the usual script?!

How was he supposed to know what reputation this man had?!

Lu Jun raised an eyebrow and said regretfully, "Looks like you lied to me. During the course of Demon Slaying Division duties, providing false information that affects a Demon Slayer Envoy's investigation can be considered obstructing their work. You can be executed first and reported afterward."

The faces of the four men changed drastically.

It wasn't only the four of them who were dumbfounded.

Li Tuo and Jia Kuiren were dumbfounded too. The two exchanged a glance and saw the same emotions in each other's eyes.

What a far-fetched excuse!

Could the regulations of the Demon Slayer Envoys really be used like this?

But logically, it seemed sound!

Tuoba Li gave two dry laughs. "Lord Lu, surely you jest."

Lu Jun walked up to Tuoba Li and gently patted his fleshy cheek. The same faint smile appeared on his face. "I'm not joking..."

Then Lu Jun's gaze swept over the other three. "If you've come to help, then naturally I welcome you..."

"But if you cause trouble and create a scene I don't want to see, then... gentlemen, you may as well experience the next life a little early."

By the end, Lu Jun's voice carried a chill.

"Lord Lu! We came here to help! Let's set aside the fact that our cultivation may surpass yours—we're all much older than you. We haven't relied on that to call ourselves your elders. By addressing you as Lord, we've already given you more than enough face."

"How dare you humiliate us again! You're going too far!" Jiang Kuo, the man with the goatee, suddenly rose to his feet.

Then Jiang Kuo turned to Jia Kuiren. "Lord Jia, your Demon Slayer Envoys have a grand reputation, and we cannot afford to offend you. We can't help with this matter either. I, Jiang Kuo, will be leaving first."

"Brother Jiang..."

Jia Kuiren still wanted to persuade him.

But Jiang Kuo cut him off with a wave of his hand. "No need to say anything! Lord Lu is a great Buddha who has no room for little specks of mud like us."

"Exactly." Lu Jun smiled. "You really hit the nail on the head."

"There really is no room for you. So what?"

"I'm bullying you. So what?"

"You..." Jiang Kuo raised a hand, pointing repeatedly at Lu Jun, but for a long while he could not get a word out.

Lu Jun's expression turned grim. "What do you think my Demon Slaying Division is? A place you can come and go as you please?"

"What are you trying to do!" Jiang Kuo sneered. "Don't tell me you want to make a move!"

Lu Jun smiled. "Very clever, old geezer. You actually guessed it."

He gave Jiang Kuo no time to react.

With that, Lu Jun's figure became a phantom. In the blink of an eye, he appeared before Jiang Kuo, then swung his saber and struck.

The blade carried intensely fierce flames. With a single explosive slash, Jiang Kuo was decapitated, blood spraying across the ground from his neck.

His face still held an expression of terror.

"You!!!"

For a moment, everyone present was horrified.

Lu Jun's gaze swept coolly over the crowd. "Now that you've entered my Demon Slaying Division, stay here properly. If you want to leave, tell me. I don't mind seeing everyone off."

With that, Lu Jun walked straight out and casually gave an order:

"Li Tuo, bring his corpse..."

"Zhang San just left yesterday. He shouldn't have gone far along the Yellow Springs Road. We can bury the two of them together and let them keep each other company."

Li Tuo gritted his teeth and dragged Jiang Kuo's corpse after Lu Jun.

Lu Jun soon arrived at a wilderness. His eyes swept over the surroundings, and he found no trace of evil spirits.

Then he turned to look at Li Tuo.

"Aren't you going to ask why I killed him?" Lu Jun asked.

"You must have had your reasons," Li Tuo replied.

Lu Jun smiled. "Take off his clothes."

Li Tuo was puzzled, but he did as told. The instant he pulled open Jiang Kuo's clothes, his pupils contracted.

Jiang Kuo's internal organs had already been hollowed out, and a huge goat-head symbol was drawn across his chest.

"An evil cult! He worshiped a demon!" Li Tuo cried out.

Lu Jun nodded. "Not just him."

"Other than that young man named Fang Huai, the other two—Tuoba Li and Chen Zhuo—also worshiped demons and became members of an evil cult."

"And the demons the three of them worshiped seem to be different."

"The demon Jiang Kuo worshiped was a kind of goat demon."

"The demon Tuoba Li worshiped was a kind of ox demon."

"Chen Zhuo worshiped a rat demon."

"Three demons capable of absorbing the power of offerings?! Three Demon Kings?!" Li Tuo was aghast.

Noticing Lu Jun's confusion, Li Tuo hurriedly explained, "Only demons above the Demon King level can absorb the power of sacrificial offerings and have followers. The Great Black Buddha Mother, for example, was said to be a Demon Venerable-level demon."

Lu Jun pondered for a moment before speaking. "Have you noticed something rather ingenious?"

Li Tuo was puzzled. "What?"

"The Flood Dragon in Evil Flood Dragon Ravine is called Master Chen the Flood Dragon. These three cultists worship goats, oxen, and rats. If that flood dragon represents the dragon in the zodiac... wouldn't that mean four of the twelve zodiac signs have appeared?" Lu Jun smiled. "There seems to be some demonic force behind that little flood dragon..."

Li Tuo's body trembled.

"Don't scare me!"

"Wouldn't that mean there are twelve Demon Kings?!"

Lu Jun only smiled without answering.

After a long while, Lu Jun said, "All right, that was just a guess. Let's head back."

Li Tuo asked in confusion, "Why didn't you kill the other two while you were at it?"

Lu Jun replied, "Two reasons."

"First, killing them all in one go would certainly be convenient, but it would inevitably alert the enemy and put those behind them on guard."

"For now, I killed one and left them with the impression that I'm foul-tempered. Don't evil cults love seeking out people with flawed personalities? I want to see whether those people will come looking for me."

"Second, I'm curious what exactly they want to do. Killing one will frighten them and serve as a warning to the others. Once people panic, they're bound to make mistakes, and the flaws they expose will become all the greater."

Li Tuo gave Lu Jun a deep look, his spine turning cold.

Being able to fight was one thing, but he had so many schemes churning in his heart too...

Brother Lu, don't be like this. I'm scared.

Li Tuo's lips trembled, and it took him a long while to speak.

"But could you give me a warning before you make your move next time? That was really frightening..."