Slaying Jiang Hai

A gentle breeze swayed, brushing against the Sophora tree dyed 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. There wasn't much else I could do for you, so I had no choice but to grant this wish of yours."

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

Fang Mu raised his head and looked at the corpses of Sun Hou and Jiang Tao hanging from the tree and swaying in the wind. He spoke softly.

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

After his muttering faded, Fang Mu turned toward the flower bushes not far from the Blood Sophora.

Under Fang Mu's meaningful gaze, the flower bushes rustled.

A gloomy-faced man with murderous eyes slowly walked out of the flowers.

"Who exactly are you?"

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

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

"Slay your damn self! Do you take me for a three-year-old? Could a Demon Slayer Envoy have senses as sharp as yours, or cultivation as high as yours?"

The moment Fang Mu finished speaking, Jiang Hai's furious roar drowned him out.

"Your mouth is truly foul. Someone with your character actually became a guardian? There must be something fishy going on here!"

"Hmph!"

Jiang Hai gave a cold snort at Fang Mu's mocking sarcasm.

"Actually, I'm very weak. Your brother was simply too useless."

Fang Mu smiled at Jiang Hai and reminded him.

Jiang Hai's face was covered in black lines. His brother was useless, his cultivation as feeble as mud that could not be propped against a wall.

But Sun Hou had been a Sixth Rank Martial Artist in the Martial Realm, a man planted by the organization in the County Office. How weak could he possibly be?

Yet even a Sixth Rank Martial Artist had been killed by Fang Mu, and he still had the nerve to spout nonsense about not being strong.

"Looks like you're hiding quite a few secrets. Capturing you will give me the perfect chance to interrogate you."

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

"You're hiding plenty of secrets too. You actually possess Fourth Rank cultivation—the strength of a Bronze Toad Demon Slayer Envoy. Looks like you're concealing quite a few secrets as well."

Fang Mu sneered. Instead of retreating, he advanced, slashing his sword at Jiang Hai's descending saber.

"Clang! Clang!"

Amid the thunderous clash of metal, Fang Mu and Jiang Hai fought in close quarters. The longsword hacked out gashes one after another, while Jiang Hai's saber remained completely unscathed.

After a fierce exchange, the two were evenly matched, neither gaining the slightest advantage.

But Fang Mu was at a disadvantage. His longsword had already snapped, and he fell into a precarious position.

"Your strength isn't bad. It's just that your weapon is a little shabby. You can only blame yourself for not having a divine weapon at your side."

Jiang Hai mocked him coldly and increased the force of his attacks.

Under his full-powered assault, Fang Mu's longsword was cleaved into several pieces.

With a furious shout, Jiang Hai swung his saber and struck Fang Mu, sending him flying. Then he fired a hidden poisoned arrow at him.

While flying backward through midair, Fang Mu looked at the clothes torn open by the saber.

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

"Your all-out strike was a little disappointing!"

Fang Mu was suspended in midair without the slightest trace of panic. As the poisoned arrow shot toward him, a pair of fleshy wings grew from his back.

The fleshy wings beat, and Fang Mu instantly dodged the poisoned arrow, transforming into a streak of light that shot toward Jiang Hai.

Jiang Hai was shocked. He had never expected Fang Mu not to be human. Before he could react, Fang Mu had already arrived before him.

Unable to dodge in time, Jiang Hai could only bring all his strength to bear and slash his saber at Fang Mu.

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

"Your strength isn't bad. It's just that your weapon is a little shabby. You can only blame yourself for not having a divine weapon at your side."

The mocking words came from Fang Mu's mouth, returned to Jiang Hai word for word.

Jiang Hai widened his eyes and died unwillingly. His only remaining thought might have been a stampede of ten thousand muddy horses galloping past.

"We can't let this go to waste."

Looking at Jiang Hai's corpse, Fang Mu muttered before hurriedly activating the Demon Refining Mirror and refining the body into blood.

Afterward, Sun Hou and Jiang Tao's corpses were also refined into blood by Fang Mu.

Looking at the three Human Blood Pills that had appeared in his hand, Fang Mu did not swallow them. He gave all three pills to his clone.

After refining the pills, the clone's strength surged once more, directly breaking through to the Third Rank Martial Artist level.

Fang Mu ignored the 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.

That organization seemed extremely mysterious. Even Jiang Hai and Sun Hou did not know its name or the identities of its other members.

The only way to distinguish their own people was the black six-pointed-star tattoos on their bodies. That was the mark of their organization.

Their leader was someone called Shen Shi.

Within this region, Jiang Hai and Sun Hou were responsible for gathering intelligence on Qingzhu City. As long as they completed their missions, they would receive generous rewards.

This time, Shen Shi had issued a mission, ordering Jiang Hai to find a trusted subordinate, infiltrate the Demon Slayer Envoys, and travel to Qingzhu City to assist him with a task.

As for what the task was, Shen Shi had not said.

As for Shen Shi's appearance, Jiang Hai's memories contained only a blurry figure with a bald head and a veil covering his face.

The only thing he knew was that Shen Shi's cultivation was extremely powerful, and the organization's influence seemed to be enormous as well.

"Damn it, looks like I've been dragged into trouble."

After hurriedly cleaning the blood outside the courtyard and tidying up the inner room, Fang Mu could not help but curse under his breath.

He had killed two members of that mysterious organization this time. If they discovered it, he would very likely suffer their retaliation.

Fang Mu's eyes flickered before he finally made up his mind in secret: he would uproot the problem completely.

He intended to kill Shen Shi as well, the one who knew about everything, to prevent the matter from coming to light and offending that mysterious organization.

In any case, Shen Shi did not know whom Jiang Hai would send.

Jiang Hai had originally planned to send Jiang Tao to meet Shen Shi.

Now Fang Mu could simply have his clone take his place and see what Shen Shi was really planning.

Even taking the worst-case scenario into account, if the matter truly came to light—

At worst, he could let the clone bear the consequences. As long as the clone was not blasted into dust and retained even a trace of fleshly essence, it could still recover, though the price would be rather steep.

However, the clone's face needed to be altered. Looking exactly like him would never do. Wouldn't that just draw hatred toward him?

After a busy night, the clone finally became a somewhat simple and honest-looking middle-aged man.

After taking the money hidden within the courtyard, Fang Mu discovered that he had made quite a small fortune this time.

Not only had he obtained a considerable number of silver coins, he had even found two gold ingots.

The old saying was right: murder and arson made a golden belt. That really was the fastest way to make money.

However, Fang Mu had his own principles. If Jiang Tao and the others had not tried to harm him, he would not have killed people for money without reason.

Jiang Tao and the dead local thugs were all people who deserved their fate.

The female Fierce Ghost Fang Mu had slain in the Demon Slayer Division some time ago had been killed by Jiang Tao and the others.

Fang Mu had once promised her that if he encountered the people who had harmed her, he would avenge her.

Thus, this too could be considered karmic retribution—enemies were bound to cross paths.