First Slaying of a Demon

Fang Mu opened his eyes and felt a dampness on his face. He wiped it with his hand and discovered it was blood.

"Ah!"

Fang Mu cried out, clutching his head as fragmented memories flooded his mind.

Months ago, the County Office recruited Demon Slayer Envoys. To pay for his gravely ill sister's treatment and to earn a living, he joined the County Office's Demon Slayer Division.

This was a world overrun by demons and monsters, where humans were weak and could only live within the safety of city walls sealed by divine barriers.

Some demons that infiltrated the cities were captured by the Demon Slaying Division and sent to the Demon Slayer Division to be beheaded, their essence blood and valuable items collected.

"Damn! I transmigrated? Transmigrated into a young man my age?"

"Demon Slayer Division, vengeful spirits, demons, malevolent spirits..."

"This world is too dangerous!"

Fang Mu couldn't help but complain. Then, he glanced at a charred fish demon bound by chains on a rack not far away.

"This, this is a demon?"

Searching through his memories, Fang Mu discovered that his predecessor had been ambushed by the fish demon and killed when it whipped him with its tail, sending him flying and smashing against the threshold.

"No wonder my head is bleeding. Damn it, I hit my head on the doorframe."

Fang Mu cursed inwardly, feeling his head still ache. He quickly tore off a piece of his clothes to bandage it simply.

He slowly stood up, looking at the fish demon baring its teeth and struggling ferociously, trying to attack him. Fang Mu felt a surge of anger.

"Damn it, you're already tied up, and you're still so arrogant!"

"You're a prisoner, don't you have any self-awareness?"

Annoyed, Fang Mu found a longbow and arrows on the rack and shot several arrows at the fish demon.

Although his archery was terrible, he hit the fish demon. However, it didn't kill it, and the arrows seemed to get stuck in its scales.

"Clang, clang!" The fish demon struggled even more ferociously, appearing ready to fight Fang Mu to the death.

"Hey! You're getting feisty? You think I can't kill you?"

Seeing the fish demon's ferocity, Fang Mu became even more enraged.

He rummaged through the sabers, spears, swords, halberds, axes, and battle axes on the rack and found a halberd, which he used to stab the fish demon repeatedly.

Even though the fish demon's scales were thick, it was pierced through and through by Fang Mu's relentless stabbing, and it lost its life.

Just as Fang Mu killed the fish demon, a golden light suddenly shot out from within him, enveloping the fish demon.

Under the golden light, the fish demon's corpse instantly turned into a pool of blood.

As the golden light rapidly returned to Fang Mu's body, his consciousness suddenly became hazy.

He found himself abruptly appearing in a place filled with dark mist.

At this moment, the dense black mist dispersed, revealing a golden mirror.

The mirror hovered in the black mist, with wisps of black energy seeping out and condensing into a black mist fish monster. The fish monster roared and lunged at him.

"Ah!"

Fang Mu screamed in pain, and a large amount of memories about the fish demon suddenly appeared in his mind.

"Demon Refining Mirror, it refines all demons in the world to obtain demon refining items."

At this moment, a resonant voice echoed in his mind, making his eardrums buzz.

"Demon Refining Mirror? Isn't this the mirror I picked up on the street in my previous life?"

Fang Mu thought in surprise after he recovered.

Before he could ponder further, a white pill and a fish demon scale suddenly appeared in his hand.

Nourishing Yuan Pill, a pill that nourishes the body, obtained from refining an ordinary fish demon.

Fish scale, an item of no rank, can resist attacks or be used to craft armor.

"What the heck? Is this the Demon Refining Mirror, the items obtained from refining the fish demon?"

Fang Mu was stunned by the items that suddenly appeared in his hand. After hesitating for a moment, he swallowed the Nourishing Yuan Pill.

The pill melted in his mouth, turning into countless streams that flowed into his limbs and bones, constantly washing over his skin, muscles, and flesh.

Layers of foul-smelling dirt were expelled from his body, staining his clothes black.

"Creak!"

Suddenly, the cell door was pushed open, and a burly man walked in.

"Fang Mu, why did it take you so long to cut the fish demon?"

"Huh? Where's the fish demon's corpse? Where are the fish eyeballs, scales, and blood? Why don't I see any of them?"

The burly man who entered looked astonished and asked Fang Mu, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground.

"Uncle Zhao! Uh, I accidentally dissolved it into blood. Will I be punished?"

Fang Mu opened his eyes and realized that the burly man who entered was Zhao Li, his predecessor's companion. He asked awkwardly.

Zhao Li was somewhat speechless, but he still explained, "I won't be punished. This is just an ordinary fish demon; the valuable items on it are limited."

"However, you can't hide it privately. If you're discovered, a minor offense will get you beaten, but a major one could cost you your head."

"No, no, how would I dare to hide it privately?"

Fang Mu gave an awkward smile. He had actually planned to keep the fish scales he obtained.

But with Zhao Li's reminder, Fang Mu decided to hand them over.

Anyway, the Demon Slaying Mirror had judged the item as unranked, so it probably wasn't precious.

"Let's go!"

Fang Mu, carrying a specially made tin box, followed Zhao Li out of the cell.

After some delay, the two arrived at a main hall outside the prison.

Inside the hall were over a dozen Demon Slayer Envoys, each carrying a tin box like his.

A white-robed Demon Slayer Envoy was inspecting the tin boxes everyone had placed on the ground, one by one.

Fang Mu followed Zhao Li, falling into the last position. From his memories, he knew that Demon Slayer Envoys were the official positions.

They, the Demon Slaying Envoys, were just a nice-sounding title; in reality, they were just butchers.

Demon Slaying Envoys were not allowed to leave the County Office. Every day, besides slaying demons, they did nothing else, and they only got two days off per month.

"Kid, why is your tin box only left with one scale?"

Just as Fang Mu was slightly distracted, the white-robed Demon Slayer Envoy took out a scale from his tin box and asked with a frown.

"Huh?"

Before Fang Mu could reply, the white-robed Demon Slayer Envoy let out a soft exclamation, a delighted smile appearing as he played with the fish scale.

"Search him!" The white-robed Demon Slayer Envoy suddenly ordered several constables waiting nearby.

"Yes!" Several constables responded and stepped forward, searching Fang Mu.

However, they found nothing. Instead, they were almost overcome by the stench emanating from him.

"You did well this time. You found a scale of good quality, so I'll reward you with five silver coins. It's just that you're too smelly; remember to wash yourself properly when you get back."

The white-robed Demon Slayer Envoy pinched his nose, his face full of disgust as he tossed five silver coins to Fang Mu before quickly leaving.

"Damn! Fang Mu, you really have incredible luck."

"Yeah, we've been doing this for so long, and we haven't even seen what silver coins look like."

The other Demon Slaying Envoys were somewhat envious, discussing with jealousy and admiration.

Fang Mu looked at the five silver coins in his hand and breathed a sigh of relief, thinking thankfully that he hadn't been punished.

"This time it was just good luck. These three silver coins, consider them my treat for all you brothers to have a drink."

Fang Mu took out three silver coins and placed them on a nearby table, addressing the Demon Slaying Envoys and the constables.

"Brother Fang is so righteous!"

"Good! Little Brother Fang is indeed generous. I'm definitely your brother from now on."

Fang Mu just smiled at their flattery and turned to leave with Zhao Li.

After leaving the hall, Zhao Li couldn't help but advise, "Fang Mu, your sister is still seriously ill in bed, why are you spending money so carelessly?"

"Uncle Zhao, I know what I'm doing," Fang Mu replied with an explanation before turning to leave.

He had his own considerations. Using silver coins to treat everyone to a meal was just a temporary measure.

Firstly, it would curb the greed of others and prevent anyone from harboring ill intentions towards him.

Secondly, by befriending them, his future tasks would be much more convenient.

After all, with the Demon Slaying Mirror, Fang Mu felt it wouldn't be difficult to acquire some wealth, so he didn't pay much attention to it.

The common currency in this world was divided into gold ingots, silver coins, and copper coins. One silver coin was equal to one hundred copper coins.

A few copper coins could buy daily necessities like vegetables and fruits, while twenty-odd copper coins could buy a small bag of rice.

The salary of a Demon Slaying Envoy was no more than thirty copper coins a month, which showed the value of silver coins.