Demons in the Mass Grave

The night was deep, and dark clouds obscured the moonlight, plunging the slums into darkness.

Two furtive figures, carrying bedding bound with rope, moved through the alleyways.

The alleyways were silent; no one dared to be out at night.

The two figures, navigating the streets and alleys, finally arrived outside a small patch of woods.

A rotten, foul odor wafted from outside the woods.

From within the woods, terrifying, strange cries could occasionally be heard.

"Little Mu! Let's just dump it here. It's too strange in that mass grave, let's not go in."

One figure spoke, advising the other.

These two figures, fumbling in the dark, were Fang Mu and Zhao Li, who had come to dispose of a body.

After the two tossed the body into the bushes, Fang Mu suddenly said, "Uncle Zhao, you go back first. I need to go into the woods to get something."

As soon as he finished speaking, Fang Mu turned and rushed into the woods.

"Are you trying to die!" Zhao Li exclaimed, quickly chasing into the small woods.

"Shush! Stop talking. I'll risk my life with you, just be quick."

Zhao Li caught up to Fang Mu, stopped him from saying more, and urged him on in a low voice.

Fang Mu was touched by Zhao Li's loyalty.

"Whatever, fortune favors the bold. I'll repay him later if it comes to that."

Fang Mu didn't dally, leading Zhao Li through the small woods.

Just then, a dark shadow suddenly appeared behind the two.

Fang Mu's senses were extremely sharp. He turned around instantly but saw no one.

With a hint of doubt, Fang Mu continued forward with Zhao Li.

The ghostly dark shadow emerged from a dark thicket and continued to follow the two.

Fang Mu could always sense a faint, elusive aura, as if something was constantly following them in secret.

But each time he looked back, he found nothing, making him wonder if his senses were mistaken.

Before long, the two arrived before a grave in the mass grave. Fang Mu began to dig a hole in front of the grave.

Zhao Li's hair stood on end in fright, suspecting Fang Mu might have a penchant for grave robbing.

For the sake of silver coins, to earn money to buy medicinal herbs for his sister, Fang Mu ignored his fear and decided to go all out.

But just as he dug out a cloth bag and was opening it to check, a cold, sharp sword was placed at his neck.

Fang Mu was shocked. His first thought was that Zhao Li wanted to keep the treasure for himself, but Zhao Li seemed to be using a knife.

"I was wondering why you two were sneaking into the mass grave forest in the middle of the night. So you're here to dig for treasure."

"Hand over the goods, or don't blame me for being impolite."

Hearing the young woman's sharp voice from behind, Fang Mu quickly raised his hands, lay down, and shouted.

"Don't kill me!"

As Fang Mu raised his hands and prostrated himself, the most valuable item in the cloth bag, a Demon Core, was secretly and silently swallowed by him.

"Stand up and hand over the bag," the girl commanded.

Fang Mu quickly stood up and turned his head, only to find a girl in red.

The girl snatched the cloth bag from Fang Mu's hand. Looking at his attire, she said in surprise, "Are you from the Demon Slayer Division?"

"Yes, yes... your subordinate is indeed from the Demon Slayer Division."

Glancing at the Demon Slaying Token on the girl's waist, Fang Mu recognized her as a Demon Slayer Envoy from the Demon Slayer Division.

Zhao Li, who was beside him, had been knocked unconscious at some point. No wonder there had been no sound from him.

"Hmph! You're quite sharp, kid."

The girl glanced at the Demon Slaying Token on her waist, surprised that the young man recognized it even though she was in plain clothes.

"Roar!" Suddenly, a low growl sounded.

All around the graves in the mass grave, pairs of emerald green eyes lit up.

A dark light flashed in Fang Mu's black pupils, ignoring the darkness.

He clearly saw in the darkness that vicious dogs with glowing green eyes were slowly surrounding them.

"Damn it! Why are they Nether Hounds!"

The girl released the sword at Fang Mu's neck, frowned, and cursed.

"Roar!" A series of growls erupted, and the approaching Nether Hounds suddenly attacked.

"Hmph!" The girl snorted, hung the cloth bag on her waist, and swung her sword, engaging the Nether Hounds in combat.

"Uncle Zhao, wake up quickly!"

Fang Mu flashed to Zhao Li's side, shaking him while raising his sword to guard against the approaching Nether Hounds.

"Ah!" Suddenly, Fang Mu let out a miserable cry, his whole body trembling.

The Demon Core he had been holding in his mouth had automatically slid into his body the moment it entered his mouth. With the girl present, he hadn't dared to show any abnormality.

Now, the Demon Core, about the size of a quail egg, seemed to have taken effect, darting around wildly within him.

A ferocious aura filled Fang Mu's body, as if it were about to explode and tear him apart.

"Roar!" Several approaching Nether Hounds suddenly attacked.

"Bang bang... Howl!" Following that, a series of booming sounds mixed with screams rang out.

The Nether Hounds that lunged at Fang Mu flew into the night sky like cannonballs, disappearing into streaks of light.

The girl fighting the Nether Hounds heard the scream and looked back.

She didn't see the Nether Hounds flying into the night sky, only Fang Mu collapsing on the ground, struggling in pain.

Fang Mu was in a state of pain and pleasure at this moment, his black pupils frantically absorbing the Demon Core's demonic energy.

This prevented the Demonic Energy from affecting his mind.

Meanwhile, surges of violent energy rampaged within his body, forcefully integrating into his limbs and bones, remodeling and strengthening his physical body.

This was originally a good thing, but the energy was too abundant and too violent, stretching his already widened meridians to the point of cracking.

His physical body could barely withstand the impact of the violent power, and blood had already begun to seep out.

Fang Mu cried out repeatedly as the violent energy raged, seemingly about to explode his body.

Just as he was reaching his limit, a golden light shot out from his sea of consciousness, enveloping and immobilizing the Demon Core.

The Demon Core, shrouded in golden light, trembled in fear, retracted the overflowing violent energy, and fell silent.

Fang Mu secretly let out a sigh of relief, coughing up a mouthful of clotted blood that had accumulated in his body.

"Little Mu! What's wrong?"

At this moment, Zhao Li, who had regained consciousness, looked at Fang Mu, who was spitting blood, and exclaimed.

"Senior Brother! Save me! I can't hold on!"

Suddenly, the girl, who was being besieged by the Nether Hounds, shouted, seemingly outnumbered.

Fang Mu and Zhao Li exchanged glances, wondering if there was anyone else nearby.

"Heavenly Dao burns, Earthly Dao burns, flames incinerate the sky, spirit arrows pierce, Spirit Arrow Technique, swift!" At this moment, a cold shout came from a distance.

Then, a volley of fire arrows tore through the air, shooting towards the Nether Hounds.

"Awooowoo!"

A series of screams rang out as many Nether Hounds were pierced by the fire arrows and engulfed in flames, burning.

The remaining Nether Hounds scattered and fled into the forest, disappearing without a trace.

"Senior Brother, if you hadn't come, I would have had to run for my life."

"My apologies, I was held up by a demon earlier, which delayed me. Fortunately, you weren't injured."

Fang Mu ignored their conversation, somewhat surprised that the person who arrived was the same white-robed Demon Slayer Envoy who had given him five silver coins.

"What a coincidence, I didn't expect it to be you."

The young man noticed Fang Mu's gaze and walked towards him with the girl, saying with some surprise.

"Greetings, Sir! I didn't expect to see you again, what fate!"

"Hmph! Flatterer!"

As Fang Mu was about to bow, he was interrupted by a disdainful snort from the girl beside him.

Ignoring the girl's attitude, Fang Mu also had no good feelings towards her.

If it weren't for the girl, he wouldn't have swallowed the Demon Core, and the money he had finally obtained was also robbed by her.

"No need to be so formal, just call me Wen Xuan."

"This time, I'm really grateful for your fish scale; it protected my chest. Otherwise, I might have been injured during the Rat Demon's sneak attack."

Wen Xuan smiled at Fang Mu, appearing approachable.

"This is a demon capturing bag; it can be used to capture demons and also for storage."

"You're quite lucky. You'll be the one to take the demons back to the Demon Slayer Division to be killed. If you get any good items, I'll appraise them for you later."

Fang Mu stared blankly as Wen Xuan took out a small cloth bag, collected all the killed Nether Hounds into it, and then tossed it to him.

Looking at the demon capturing bag in his hand, Fang Mu was startled and almost dropped it.

"Hmph! If you lose it, I'll take your head!"

The girl snorted and reminded him, then took out a cloth pouch from her waist and deliberately dangled it in front of Fang Mu.

"Oh my! That's quite a lot of silver coins!"

Fang Mu watched as the girl took out silver coins, counting them ostentatiously, before leaving with Wen Xuan.

Fang Mu's forehead was covered in dark lines, and he suppressed the urge to curse the girl.

He frowned at the demon capturing bag in his hand, wondering if Wen Xuan giving it to him was a casual act, or if there was a deeper intention.

With a hint of doubt, Fang Mu followed Zhao Li and left the small grove.

A shadow, like a phantom, appeared in the darkness, and then vanished without a trace with the blowing breeze.