Kill Demon

Demons eating people isn't just a legend in this world—it happens every few days.

Most common folk have never seen a real demon, though.

Because for them, seeing a demon means their own death is here.

The merchant caravan's laborers all stumbled back in terror.

Not scattering and fleeing on the spot already showed decent nerves.

Li Feng shot Steward Chen a glare.

Couldn't we have just had a smooth, quiet trip?

Had to go and jinx it with that crow's mouth, actually summoning a demon!

"Smelled human meat from way off. Smells good."

The Pig Demon grinned wide, its voice thick and garbled, drool streaming as it stared at the caravan.

"This thing can talk!?"

Li Sancheng's face was full of horror.

It was his first time seeing a demon, and his hands were already trembling.

Han Zheng was seeing a demon for the first time too.

But he'd killed men and seen blood, so he was far calmer than Li Sancheng.

"Only ones with awakened intelligence are demons; the rest are just beasts.

Don't panic. A demon's still got two shoulders and one head—one cut gives two holes. What's there to fear?"

Li Sancheng forced a smile uglier than crying: "Big brother, look at this thing's build. I'm not even sure one cut from me would punch through."

Up ahead, Steward Chen shuddered a couple of times but held steady.

He was an old hand at the road.

In his youth, he'd traveled many times with Shenghe Hall's caravans. This wasn't his first demon encounter, so he had experience—that's why Chen Baiqing had made him steward.

"Your Majesty, our caravan is just passing through. We mean no offense to your territory. Meat and flesh are already prepared—please enjoy to your heart's content."

Steward Chen waved a hand, signaling a few of his trusted laborers to shove the three beggars forward.

Actually, before the laborers could act, the three beggars stumbled out on their own, trembling.

Fear was in their eyes, but more than that, numbness.

From the moment they'd scrambled to volunteer as meat, they'd known this day would come.

Win the gamble, get silver, and maybe turn their lives around.

Lose the gamble, end up in a demon's belly—at least a quick death beat starving.

Dying of hunger was no joke.

"Good. You know the rules."

The Pig Demon laughed in satisfaction, stretched out a claw, and hoisted one beggar up.

Its massive mouth opened, baring rows of fangs, and it bit the beggar clean in half in one gulp!

At the sound of crunching human flesh, everyone in the caravan went pale. Some couldn't hold back and vomited.

Han Zheng gripped his Wild Goose Feather Saber tight, eyes locked on the man-eating Pig Demon.

Reason told him this was no time to act. He was only hired to guard the caravan safely to Spirit Medicine Manor.

Steward Chen had already prepared the meat. Stepping up now would be asking for trouble, and he might even get blamed afterward.

But watching the Pig Demon devour people right in front of him felt like being meat on a chopping block himself. It made Han Zheng deeply uneasy.

After it wolfed down two beggars, the third couldn't take the terror anymore. He screamed and bolted.

But the Pig Demon, bulky as it was, moved fast.

It snatched the beggar up in one hand and bit his head off in a single chomp.

Another round of crunching sounds.

Then the Pig Demon wiped the blood from its mouth, belched, and flashed the crowd a vicious grin.

"You old man handle things cleanly. Know the rules.

But my mother just birthed me a little brother two days ago. The kid's had milk a couple days—time he tasted human to get his appetite going.

I'm full, but my mother and brother are still hungry.

You've got plenty of people here. Let me eat a few more. That won't be a problem, will it?"

Steward Chen's smile froze solid.

Before leaving the city, he'd picked three pieces of meat—not out of stinginess, but because three was normally plenty.

The road from Black Stone County to Spirit Medicine Manor had no demon clans, just lone stragglers. One or two pieces of meat were enough to fill them.

For a Pig Demon with a big appetite like this, three should've been more than sufficient.

Who would have thought that this Demon would also give birth and go through confinement—not only eating its fill, but even wanting to pack some to take back!

Seeing that the caravan workers were about to bolt, Steward Chen could no longer sit still.

A human definitely couldn't outrun a Demon.

But with over twenty people, the Demon couldn't possibly catch them all.

How could his old, stiff limbs outrun those young and fit men?

He'd be the first one down the Demon's gullet!

Steward Chen suddenly turned his head and shouted, "Han Zheng! What are you waiting for? Why aren't you making a move?"

Han Zheng squinted his eyes and said slowly, "Didn't Steward Chen say earlier that we were useless? Didn't he say the Head Shopkeeper was throwing money away by hiring us?"

"That was this old man's slip of the tongue! Young Master Han, save us! Once we return to Black Stone County, this old man will surely report your merits to the Head Shopkeeper, and there will be a generous reward afterward!"

Watching the Pig Demon already striding toward the caravan crowd, Steward Chen completely caved, his tone even carrying a hint of pleading.

"Make your move."

Han Zheng said to Li San and the others.

Li Sancheng hesitated slightly. "For real? Can we actually kill a Demon?"

Han Zheng squinted and said, "Take money, settle trouble. We took Shenghe Hall's silver but fled at the first sign of danger—do we still want to make a living in Black Stone County after this? Shenghe Hall is the biggest pharmacy in Black Stone County. Shopkeeper Chen isn't just friends with our guild master; he's connected to all kinds of factions. If we cut and run today, we can forget ever going back to Black Stone County."

Li Sancheng and the others thought it over and felt a chill of fear.

They still had families in Black Stone County.

If they fled today and the caravan was wiped out, causing Shenghe Hall to suffer losses, there was no guarantee their families wouldn't face retaliation.

It was fine to mouth off at Steward Chen to vent, but when it came time to fight, they had to fight.

Han Zheng knew the three of them had never seen bloodshed—their fear outweighed their courage.

So he charged out first, his Wild Goose Feather Saber slicing toward the Pig Demon with a whistling gust of wind.

The Pig Demon's face twisted into a contemptuous smile.

Even with its terrifying Boar Head, the sneer was uncannily vivid.

With a wave of its sharp claws, Han Zheng instantly felt a tremendous force slam into him.

A clang of metal rang out, and he was sent flying backward.

Midair, he pushed off with his feet and landed with a dull thud on the ground.

Incredible strength!

Han Zheng's gaze sharpened.

That slash of his had been nearly full force, yet the Pig Demon had knocked it away with ease.

He had now opened a hundred and twenty Acupoints and five Meridians, but this Pig Demon's strength was at least on the level of someone who had opened ten Meridians!

The only good news was that it hadn't reached Xiantian—it was just that Demons were naturally born with immense strength.

Seeing Han Zheng make his move, Li Sancheng, Wang Bao, and Zhao Jinming followed suit.

Li Sancheng wielded a Golden Ring Cleaver, Wang Bao was lean and agile with a sword, and Zhao Jinming used a spear.

The three struck together, but all were sent tumbling to the ground by a single slap from the Pig Demon, looking even more disheveled and pathetic.

This whole flurry of attacks hadn't even drawn a single drop of blood from the Pig Demon, and the group was instantly filled with despair.

Han Zheng glanced at the Pig Demon's sharp claws and felt a headache coming on.

His earlier slash against those claws had only left a white scratch.

The Demon's arms and chest were coated in a layer of black gunk. Han Zheng had initially thought it was just grime, but it turned out to be a hard shell.

Wild boars liked to coat themselves in pine resin and roll in the mud; once it dried, it became a tough armor.

This Pig Demon had smeared itself with who knows what, making it tougher than any armor.

"Aim for the joints of its lower body—vital points!"

Han Zheng barked, then lunged at the Pig Demon's side, slashing at its knee.

While Li Sancheng and the others had been fighting, Han Zheng hadn't struck—he'd been watching the Pig Demon's movements.

The only places on the Pig Demon's body without the hard shell were its joints and its belly.

Joints with hard shells would hinder its movement.

As for the belly, after eating people, it had swollen to more than double its size, and any shell there had been stretched off.

The Pig Demon kicked at Han Zheng. He twisted his hips and waist, sharply shifting his stance to dodge.

Li Sancheng and the others quickly struck at the Pig Demon's lower body.

Anyone Li Jingzhong had chosen to escort the caravan had solid foundations in strength—they just lacked combat experience.

With Han Zheng directing them now, they suppressed their fear of the Demon and finally brought their true strength into play.

"A bunch of ants!"

The Pig Demon let out a roar, hunched over its massive belly as it swung its claws relentlessly.

It stood nearly three meters tall. Han Zheng and the others focused on attacking its lower body, making its movements clumsy and exhausting, driving it mad with frustration.

Suddenly, the Pig Demon slammed both claws to the ground, pushed off with all four limbs, and charged like a tank, its huge tusks leading the way.

Li Sancheng swung his Golden Ring Cleaver down hard, but the tusks shattered the blade on impact.

The sheer force sent him flying backward. He hit the ground and coughed up two mouthfuls of blood.

Wang Bao tried to dodge from behind, but the Pig Demon's charge was too fast. He managed to twist aside slightly, but still got sent flying.

"We can't hold! Run!"

Li Sancheng shouted back at Han Zheng.

But Han Zheng didn't dodge this time.

The Pig Demon barreled through the first two men and kept charging straight at him.

Just as the tusks were about to pierce his chest, Han Zheng dropped flat to the ground.

He swung his Wild Goose Feather Saber in a horizontal slash that arced upward, carving a cross-shaped gash into the Pig Demon's fat belly—the one spot not protected by its hard shell.

In an instant, a torrent of blood, along with intestines and entrails, spilled out, drenching Han Zheng.

"ROAR!"

The Pig Demon let out a pained howl and swiped at Han Zheng.

He rolled hard, scrambling out of the way in a clumsy dodge.

Zhao Jinming seized the moment. With a viciously underhanded thrust, he drove his spear straight into the Pig Demon's groin.

He had no idea if that spot was armored—he was just testing his luck.

To his surprise, the spear sank in. The Pig Demon roared again and thrashed its lower body violently.

Zhao Jinming couldn't withstand the force. He lost his grip on the spear and was flung away.

The Pig Demon reached down between its legs, trying to yank the spear out.

Bathed in demon blood, Han Zheng felt his Meridians surge with qi and blood. He leaped up and swung the Wild Goose Feather Saber at the Pig Demon's neck.

The Pig Demon raised its other hand to block, clamping down on the saber with a metallic clang.

But Han Zheng let go without hesitation. His arm's bones and sinews snapped taut, blood and qi boiling, as he drove his fist down like a Vajra Pestle.

Vajra Fist intent—exorcise demons, suppress monsters!

The punch slammed straight into the Pig Demon's eye. Han Zheng's arm sank deep into the socket.

Then he yanked and twisted. Red and white pulp sprayed everywhere.

The Pig Demon had a fierce life force—even gutted, it could still fight.

But Han Zheng's Vajra Fist didn't just shatter its eye; the force of the blow drove straight into its brain.

With one final, agonized screech, the Pig Demon collapsed to the ground.

Han Zheng picked up his Wild Goose Feather Saber, walked over to the dying Pig Demon, and drove the blade deep into its mouth, piercing straight through the back of its skull.