Slaying Jiang Hai

The breeze swayed, blowing through the sophora tree stained red with blood.

Two corpses hung from the Blood Sophora tree, swaying and drifting in the wind.

"You said it yourself, you wanted me to admire your swaying figure. I can't really fulfill much for you, so I'll reluctantly grant you this wish."

"Look! I even found you a companion. With him swaying with you, you won't be lonely."

Fang Mu looked up at the bodies of Sun Hou and Jiang Tao hanging from the tree, swaying in the wind, and spoke softly.

"If you feel lonely, should I hang your brother next to you too?"

As his self-talk faded, Fang Mu looked towards the flower bush not far from the Blood Sophora.

Under Fang Mu's meaningful gaze, rustling sounds came from the flower bush.

A man with a grim face and fierce eyes slowly emerged from the flowers.

"Who exactly are you?"

Jiang Hai, his face full of killing intent, stared at Fang Mu and asked in a deep voice.

"Don't you know? I'm a Demon Slayer Envoy!"

"Demon Slayer Envoy my ass! Do you think I'm a three-year-old? Could a Demon Slayer Envoy have such keen senses and cultivation like yours?"

As soon as Fang Mu finished speaking, Jiang Hai's furious roar interrupted him.

"Your mouth is really foul. With your character, you can become a guardian? It seems there's something fishy going on here!"

"Hmph!"

Jiang Hai snorted at Fang Mu's cold mockery.

"Actually, my strength is very weak. It's just that your brother was too useless," Fang Mu said with a smile to Jiang Hai, reminding him.

Jiang Hai's face turned completely dark. His brother was indeed useless, his cultivation like mud that couldn't be plastered onto a wall.

But Sun Hou was a Sixth Rank Martial Artist, someone the organization had planted in the county office. How could his strength be weak?

Even a Sixth Rank Martial Artist had been killed by Fang Mu, yet he still had the audacity to say he wasn't strong.

"It seems you have many secrets. Capturing you will be good for questioning."

Jiang Hai suddenly attacked, launching a surprise assault on Fang Mu.

"You have quite a few secrets yourself. To have Fourth Rank cultivation, that's the strength of a Bronze Toad Demon Slayer Envoy. It seems you're hiding many secrets too."

Fang Mu sneered, not retreating but advancing, slashing his sword towards Jiang Hai's incoming saber.

"Clang! Clang!"

Amidst a series of loud metallic clashes, Fang Mu and Jiang Hai engaged in close-quarters combat. His sword left many nicks, but Jiang Hai's saber remained completely undamaged.

The two fought fiercely, seemingly evenly matched, neither able to gain the upper hand.

However, Fang Mu was at a disadvantage as his sword had already chipped, putting him in a precarious situation.

"Your strength isn't bad, it's just that your weapon is a bit shabby. You can only blame yourself for not having a divine weapon by your side."

Jiang Hai mocked coldly, increasing the power of his attack.

Under his full force, Fang Mu's sword was cleaved into several pieces.

As Jiang Hai roared and swung his saber, striking Fang Mu and sending him flying, he then shot a hidden poisoned dart towards Fang Mu.

Fang Mu, flying backward and suspended in mid-air, looked at his torn clothes.

Beneath the fabric, his skin bore a faint bloody mark.

"Your full-power strike was a bit disappointing!"

Fang Mu, suspended in mid-air, showed no panic. As the poisoned dart flew towards him, a pair of fleshy wings sprouted from his back.

With a flap of his wings, Fang Mu instantly dodged the poisoned dart and transformed into a beam of light, charging towards Jiang Hai.

Jiang Hai was greatly alarmed, not expecting Fang Mu to be non-human. Before he could react, Fang Mu was already upon him.

With no time to dodge, Jiang Hai could only unleash his full strength, slashing his saber at Fang Mu.

A blinding golden light flashed, and Jiang Hai's saber, along with his body, was cleaved in two by Fang Mu's sword.

"Your strength isn't bad, it's just that your weapon is a bit shabby. You can only blame yourself for not having a divine weapon by your side."

The sarcastic words came from Fang Mu's mouth, returning Jiang Hai's previous statement to him verbatim.

Jiang Hai's eyes widened as he died, his face filled with unwillingness. His last thought was perhaps a stampede of ten thousand horses crossing a muddy field.

"Can't let this go to waste..."

Looking at Jiang Hai's corpse, Fang Mu muttered, quickly activating the Demon Refining Mirror to refine Jiang Hai's body into blood.

Then, the corpses of Sun Hou and Jiang Tao were also refined into blood by Fang Mu.

Looking at the three Human Blood Pills that appeared in his hand, Fang Mu did not consume them. Instead, he gave the three pills to his clone.

The clone, after refining the pills, had its strength surge once more, directly breaking through to the Third Rank Martial Artist realm.

Fang Mu ignored his clone and fell into deep thought.

From the fragmented memories of Jiang Hai, Jiang Tao, and Sun Hou, Fang Mu discovered that Jiang Hai and Sun Hou were actually members of the same organization.

The organization seemed extremely mysterious; even Jiang Hai and Sun Hou didn't know its name or the identities of its other members.

The only way to distinguish their own people was a black six-pointed star tattoo on their bodies, which was their organization's symbol.

Their leader was a person named Shen Shi.

In this region, Jiang Hai and Sun Hou were responsible for collecting intelligence in Qingzhu City, and they would receive considerable rewards upon completing their missions.

This time, Shen Shi had issued a mission for Jiang Hai to find a trusted subordinate and infiltrate the Demon Slayer Division to assist him in Qingzhu City.

Shen Shi hadn't specified what the task entailed.

As for Shen Shi's appearance, Jiang Hai's memory only held a vague image of a bald man wearing a veil.

The only known information was that Shen Shi was very powerful, and the organization's influence seemed vast.

"Damn it, looks like I've gotten myself into trouble."

After quickly cleaning the bloodstains outside the courtyard and tidying up the inner rooms, Fang Mu couldn't help but curse under his breath.

He had just killed two members of this mysterious organization, and if they found out, he could face retaliation.

With a glint in his eyes, Fang Mu finally made a firm decision: he would cut the weeds and pull out the roots.

He planned to eliminate Shen Shi, who knew the truth, as well, to prevent any leaks and offending the mysterious organization.

After all, Shen Shi didn't know who Jiang Hai would send.

Previously, Jiang Hai had intended to send Jiang Tao to meet Shen Shi.

Now, Fang Mu could have his clone take Jiang Tao's place and see what Shen Shi's objective truly was.

Even if things went south and the matter was exposed...

At worst, his clone could take the blame. As long as the clone wasn't completely obliterated and still had a shred of its original flesh and blood, it could recover, though the cost would be significant.

However, his clone's face needed to be altered. It couldn't look exactly like him; that would just be asking for trouble.

After working all night, the clone finally took on the appearance of a somewhat simple-minded middle-aged man.

Taking the hidden wealth from the courtyard, Fang Mu realized he had stumbled upon a small fortune this time.

Not only did he get many silver coins, but he even found two gold ingots.

As the old saying goes, killing people and setting fires leads to great wealth; it was indeed a fast way to make money.

However, Fang Mu had his principles. If Jiang Tao and the others hadn't tried to harm him, he wouldn't have killed people for money without reason.

Jiang Tao and those dead thugs had all deserved their fate.

It was because Fang Mu had promised the female Fierce Ghost he had slain at the Demon Slayer Division some time ago that he would avenge her if he encountered those who harmed her.

So, this could be considered karma, and enemies often cross paths.