The night was deep, and dark clouds shrouded the moonlight, plunging the Slums into darkness.
Two furtive figures carried bedding bundles tied with hemp rope as they made their way through the alleys.
The alleys were silent, and no one dared venture outside at night.
The two figures weaving through the streets eventually arrived outside a small woodland.
A rotten, foul stench drifted from beyond the woods.
Terrifying, monstrous cries even echoed from within every so often.
"Little Mu, let's just dump it here. That Mass Grave is too eerie. We'd better not go in."
One of the figures urged the other in a low voice.
The two people sneaking through the darkness to dispose of a corpse were none other than Fang Mu and Zhao Li.
After dumping the corpse behind a cluster of trees, Fang Mu suddenly said, "Uncle Zhao, go back first. I'm going into the woods to retrieve something."
As soon as he finished speaking, Fang Mu turned and rushed into the woods.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Zhao Li cried out and hurried after him.
"Shh! Stop talking. I'll risk my life and accompany you. Hurry up."
Zhao Li caught up with Fang Mu, stopped him from saying anything more, and urged him on in a whisper.
Fang Mu had not expected Zhao Li to be so loyal, and he was somewhat moved.
"Forget it. Wealth comes from danger. At worst, I'll repay him later."
Fang Mu did not waste any more time and led Zhao Li through the woods.
At that moment, a black shadow suddenly appeared behind them.
Fang Mu's senses were exceptionally sharp. He instantly turned around, yet saw no one.
With a trace of doubt, Fang Mu continued forward with Zhao Li.
The ghostlike black shadow emerged from a gloomy thicket, then continued following the two men.
Fang Mu could always sense an almost imperceptible aura, as though something had been following them from the shadows all along.
Yet every time he looked back, he found nothing, making him wonder whether his senses had deceived him.
Before long, the two arrived before a grave in the Mass Grave, where Fang Mu began digging a pit.
Zhao Li's hair stood on end with fright. He wondered suspiciously whether Fang Mu had a habit of digging up corpses.
For the sake of silver coins, and so he could afford medicinal herbs for his little sister, Fang Mu had no time to fear. He had decided to stake everything.
But just as he dug out the cloth bag and untied it to inspect its contents, a cold, sinister longsword was pressed against his neck.
Fang Mu was startled. His first thought was that Zhao Li wanted to keep everything for himself, but Zhao Li seemed to use a saber.
"I was wondering why the two of you were sneaking into the Mass Grave in the middle of the night. So you came to dig for treasure."
"Hand it over, or don't blame me for being merciless."
Hearing the young woman's sharp shout from behind him, Fang Mu hurriedly raised both hands, lay flat on the ground, and shouted, "Don't—don't kill me!"
As Fang Mu raised his hands and lay down, he quietly slipped the most valuable item in the cloth bag—a Demon Core—into his mouth.
"Stand up and hand over the cloth bag," the girl commanded.
Fang Mu hurriedly rose and turned around, only to discover that the newcomer was a girl dressed in red.
The girl snatched the cloth bag from Fang Mu's hand. Seeing the clothes he wore, she asked in surprise, "You're from the Demon Slayer Division?"
"Yes, yes. This subordinate is indeed from the Demon Slayer Division."
After glancing at the token hanging from the girl's waist, Fang Mu recognized her as a Demon Slayer Envoy from the Demon Extermination Division.
At some point, Zhao Li had already been knocked unconscious. No wonder he had been silent all this time.
"Hmph! You're quite quick-witted."
The girl glanced at the Demon Slaying Token at her waist. She had not expected that, despite wearing plain clothes, the young man before her would recognize her at a glance.
"Roar!" Suddenly, a low growl rang out.
Around the graves of the Mass Grave, pairs of ghostly green eyes lit up one after another.
A black gleam flashed through Fang Mu's dark pupils, and he ignored the darkness blocking his sight.
He clearly saw vicious hounds with green-glowing eyes slowly surrounding them in the darkness.
"Damn it! Why are there Nether Hounds?"
The girl released the sword pressed against Fang Mu's neck and cursed with knitted brows.
"Roar!" A succession of howls rang out as the many approaching Nether Hounds suddenly launched their attack.
"Hmph!" The girl snorted coldly, hung the cloth bag from her waist, and swung her sword into battle against the Nether Hounds.
"Uncle Zhao, wake up!"
Fang Mu flashed to Zhao Li's side. As he shook him, he raised his sword to guard against the approaching Nether Hounds.
"Ah!" Suddenly, Fang Mu let out a miserable cry, and his entire body began to tremble.
The Demon Core he had held in his mouth had slipped into his body on its own the moment it entered. With the girl present, he had not dared reveal anything unusual.
Now, the quail-egg-sized Demon Core seemed to have taken effect, rampaging through his body.
A violent aura filled Fang Mu's body, as though it intended to burst and tear him apart.
"Roar!" Several approaching Nether Hounds suddenly launched their attack.
"Bang, bang—awooo!" A string of booming impacts mingled with anguished cries.
The Nether Hounds pouncing at Fang Mu shot into the night sky like cannonballs, turning into streaks of light before vanishing.
The girl fighting the Nether Hounds turned her head when she heard the cries.
She did not see the Nether Hounds flying into the night sky. She only saw Fang Mu collapse to the ground, writhing in agony.
Fang Mu was suffering and enjoying himself at once. His dark pupils frantically absorbed the demonic energy within the Demon Core.
This kept the Demonic Energy from affecting his mind.
Meanwhile, waves of violent energy rampaged through his body, forcibly merging into his limbs and bones as they transformed and strengthened his physical body.
This should have been a good thing, but there was simply too much energy, and it was far too violent. It stretched his widened meridians until cracks appeared in them.
His physical body also struggled to withstand the impact of the violent power, and fine threads of blood seeped out.
Fang Mu cried out repeatedly as the violent energy raged through him, seemingly intent on bursting his body apart.
Just as he was about to reach his limit, a golden light shot out from his sea of consciousness, enveloping and imprisoning the Demon Core.
The Demon Core, shrouded in golden light, began trembling in terror. It withdrew the violent energy it had released and sank into silence.
Fang Mu secretly sighed in relief and coughed up a mouthful of stagnant blood.
"Little Mu! What happened to you?"
At that moment, Zhao Li came to and cried out in alarm when he saw Fang Mu spitting blood.
"Senior Brother! Help! I can't hold out!"
Suddenly, the girl surrounded by Nether Hounds shouted. She seemed to be badly outnumbered.
Fang Mu and Zhao Li exchanged glances, wondering suspiciously whether there was someone else nearby.
"Heavenly Dao burns, earthly Dao burns, flames scorch the heavens, spiritual arrows pierce through! Spiritual Arrow Art, go!"
At that moment, a cold shout came from the distance.
One flaming arrow after another tore through the air and shot toward the Nether Hounds.
"Awoo, awoo!"
A succession of anguished cries rang out. Many Nether Hounds were pierced by the flaming arrows and engulfed in flames.
The remaining Nether Hounds scattered and fled, rushing into the mountain woods until they vanished without a trace.
"Senior Brother, if you hadn't come, I would have had to run for my life."
"Sorry. A demon blocked me earlier and delayed me. Fortunately, you weren't hurt."
Fang Mu ignored their conversation. To his surprise, the newcomer was the 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 toward him with the girl, looking somewhat surprised.
"Greetings, my lord! I never thought I'd see you again. What a fateful encounter!"
"Hmph! Such a bootlicker!"
Fang Mu had just bowed when the girl beside him interrupted with a scornful snort.
Ignoring the girl's attitude, Fang Mu did not like her either.
If not for the girl, he would never have swallowed the Demon Core, and the money he had worked so hard to obtain had also been robbed by her.
"No need for such formality. Just call me Wen Xuan."
"And I have you to thank for that fish scale. It protected my heart. Otherwise, I might have been injured when that rat demon ambushed me."
Wen Xuan smiled gently at Fang Mu, his manner approachable.
"This is a demon-catching pouch. It can capture demons, and it can also store things."
"You're quite lucky. You can take the demons back to the Demon Slayer Division and have them executed. If you obtain anything valuable, I'll appraise it for you later."
Fang Mu stared blankly as Wen Xuan took out a small cloth pouch, collected all the slain Nether Hounds into it, and then tossed it to him.
Seeing the demon-catching pouch in his hand, Fang Mu was startled and nearly dropped it.
"Hmph! If you lose it, watch out for your dog head!" the girl snorted in warning. She then took out the pouch from her waist and deliberately waved it in front of Fang Mu.
"Oh my, that's quite a lot of silver coins!"
The girl took out the silver coins one by one and pretended to count them as she left with Wen Xuan.
Fang Mu was covered in black lines, but he restrained his urge to curse the girl.
He frowned at the demon-catching pouch in his hand, wondering whether Wen Xuan had handed it to him on a whim—or whether he had some ulterior motive.
With a trace of doubt, Fang Mu left the woods with Zhao Li.
A ghostlike black shadow surfaced in the darkness, then vanished without a trace as the breeze swept past.
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