The Little Black Mountain Constable - Lu Yang

Black Mountain.

A lonely moon hung high in the sky.

At the foot of the mountain, the dense forest was dark and silent.

Deep within the woods, a tall young man leaned against an ancient tree, his body stained with blood.

Looking closely, his pupils were already dilated, and he showed no signs of life.

Yet, even in death, his hand remained tightly gripped around a long saber.

The blade was slick with blood, and under the dappled moonlight of the forest, it exuded a somewhat eerie aura.

Not far from him, a three-foot-long "Big Gray Rat" lay sprawled on the ground, its body marred by seven or eight gruesome saber wounds.

Two of these wounds were fatal.

One had severed half of the "Big Gray Rat's" leathery wings.

The other had pierced straight through its eye socket.

Surrounding the carcass of the "Big Gray Rat," three mangled corpses, torn apart by bites, lay in pools of blood.

These three men were also dressed in the black uniforms of constables; their sabers lay scattered, their deaths had been brutal, and their faces were frozen in terror.

In the distant mountain forest, the faint sounds of fighting could be heard.

At this moment, beneath the great tree.

The tall young man's fingers suddenly twitched!

The next instant, his previously dilated pupils contracted sharply!

"Ah!"

A massive influx of information surged into his brain, causing Lu Yang to clutch his head and groan in agony.

After a long while, he finally regained his senses.

"Have I... transmigrated?"

After integrating the original owner's memories, Lu Yang realized that he was currently in Black Mountain County, under the jurisdiction of Wanlin Prefecture in Qing Province, within the Great Jun Dynasty.

And this world before him was a chaotic era where demons and monsters ran rampant!

The original body shared his name, Lu Yang, and came from an extremely impoverished farming family.

However, his parents had passed away early in his youth, and the few meager acres of land they left behind had attracted the greed of others.

But just like Lu Yang in his previous life, the original owner possessed a streak of ruthlessness. He gritted his teeth, sold the few acres of land and the old house for a pittance, and eventually managed to enroll in a martial arts school opened by the Black Mountain County Yamen.

Having exhausted his family wealth and secured the status of a martial arts student, the orphan was able to grow up in this chaotic world.

Even more fortunately, he truly possessed some aptitude for the martial path. A year ago, after his cultivation reached the Body Tempering Fourth Level, he managed to enter the Black Mountain County Yamen and become a constable.

Now, his cultivation had reached the Body Tempering Sixth Level.

If he could take one more step and cross into the Body Tempering Seventh Level, he would be able to compete for the position of head constable.

At that point, both his status and his salary would see a significant increase.

"Sigh, one really shouldn't tempt fate..."

Lu Yang sighed. The memories in his mind told him that the original owner had been full of ambition before setting out, thinking that after dealing with this Demonic Calamity, the reward money would allow him to break through to the Body Tempering Seventh Level. Instead, he had fallen to this seemingly ordinary Demonic Calamity.

As far as Lu Yang knew, the first three realms of martial artists were the Body Tempering Realm, the Houtian Realm, and the Xiantian Realm.

Each realm was further divided into nine minor stages.

As for those above the Xiantian Realm, it was said there were even Grandmaster and Great Grandmaster-level powerhouses.

But such experts were stationed in Prefecture Cities or even Provincial Cities, far beyond the reach of a small place like Black Mountain County.

The strongest martial artist the original owner had ever seen was the County Lieutenant of Black Mountain County, who commanded the county's soldiers, bailiffs, and constables, and could summon any martial artist in the county at will.

It was said that his strength had already reached the Xiantian Realm!

As for demons and monsters, they also had their own ranking system, which did not perfectly align with that of humans, and due to his cultivation and status, the original owner did not know much about them.

In his year as a constable, the original owner had only ever encountered a few First-tier minor demons.

He had only heard of Second or Third-tier demonic creatures from the stories of the elderly.

First-tier demonic creatures corresponded to the human Body Tempering Realm; such creatures were also known as minor demons.

Second-tier demonic creatures had already transformed into spirits and could be called Demon Spirits.

As for Third-tier demonic creatures, they had already gained significant power, occupied a territory, and could be called monsters.

Rumor had it that deep within this Black Mountain, a monster that had gained such power was lurking.

He had heard this news from a traveling merchant while resting at a teahouse, though he did not know if it was true.

Thinking of this, Lu Yang looked at the "Big Gray Rat" sprawled not far away.

That was no rat, but a First-tier bat minor demon.

While it might not sound particularly formidable, for martial artists like them in the Body Tempering Realm, these First-tier demons were already quite dangerous.

In Black Mountain County, hundreds of martial artists were slaughtered by demons and monsters every year.

As for the common folk, they were not even worth mentioning.

Previously, Lu Yang and three other constables had been ordered to follow Captain Yan, a Body Tempering Eighth Level expert, to Niushi Town at the foot of the Black Mountain to investigate a Demonic Calamity.

According to information from the County Yamen, the creature causing trouble in Niushi Town was merely a First-tier minor demon, a threat the group of constables should have been more than capable of handling.

Moreover, they had Captain Yan, a Body Tempering Eighth Level master, anchoring the mission.

As it turned out, the moment the five of them entered the dense forest at the foot of the mountain, long before reaching Niushi Town, they were ambushed by two Bat Demons!

Furthermore, the strength of each of these Bat Demons was no less than that of Captain Yan, who was at the Body Tempering Eighth Level!

Beyond that, these Bat Demons were already capable of human speech; they were likely only a single step away from becoming true monsters.

Caught off guard, one of the accompanying constables was killed on the spot.

Scenes of the previous carnage flashed through his mind.

Looking at the corpse of the "Big Gray Rat" not far away, Lu Yang pulled his thoughts back to reality and felt a secret sense of relief.

Fortunately, Captain Yan reacted quickly, risking injury to strike first and heavily wound this Bat Demon.

Otherwise, even if the original owner of this body had mastered the Mountain Splitting Saber Art, it would have been difficult to catch this beast off guard and strike it down!

Even so, it still cost the original owner and those two constables their lives.

The cruelty of these demonic creatures was evident.

In the distant mountain forest, faint sounds of combat still drifted over sporadically.

Listening to the sounds as they gradually faded into the distance, it was clear that Captain Yan was still desperately trying to lure the other Bat Demon away, attempting to carve out a sliver of hope for them.

Little did he know, had Lu Yang not transmigrated into this body, his companions would have already been slaughtered to the last man.

"Captain Yan!"

The forest was deep and gloomy, with a lonely moon hanging high above.

Lu Yang tightened his grip on his saber; the blood on the blade was already beginning to congeal.

Only between his palms and fingers did it remain sticky, and at this moment, he could not tell if it was the blood of the "Big Gray Rat" or his own.

"Hiss!"

With the slightest exertion, a wave of intense pain surged through his entire body.

Under the agony, Lu Yang nearly fainted.

He had paid a heavy price to finish off that Bat Demon.

Right now, even moving his smallest finger was a struggle.

"Damn it!"

He looked toward the distant forest in the direction of the sounds; the dense canopy blocked the already dim moonlight, leaving the path ahead in total darkness.

If he were in his prime, Captain Yan might have had a chance of winning against that "Big Gray Rat."

But now that he was wounded, if no one helped him, his defeat was only a matter of time.

Once Captain Yan fell, that Bat Demon would surely return, and at that point, he would be in grave danger.

"Fuck!"

"Did I transmigrate here just to die all over again?"

Lu Yang complained helplessly in his heart.

At this moment, he didn't even have the strength to curse out loud.

The heavy injuries covering his body brought with them an endless tide of pain, and blood mixed with sweat slid down from his forehead.

As droplets of blood dripped into his eyes, Lu Yang's vision blurred bit by bit, and his consciousness began to sink into darkness.

Just then, not far away, the Bat Demon that had already "died" seemed to move, ever so slightly!

In its head, that single eye which hadn't been blinded flashed with a scarlet light.

A massive, hideous leathery wing struggled, and then, it slowly rose from the pool of blood!

It turned its head slowly.

From the eye socket Lu Yang had crushed, sticky matter and blood continued to ooze out.

The remaining eye was filled with a cruel, venomous glint, projecting an incredibly dangerous aura.

Lu Yang jolted, his fading consciousness suddenly sharpening.

His heart was filled with disbelief.

His three-foot-three saber hadn't just blinded the creature; it had crushed the eye socket and pierced deep into its brain. How could this "Big Gray Rat" still be alive? What kind of tenacious vitality was this?!

"It's over!"

"It's completely over now."

Just as Lu Yang waited for death, the red light in the Bat Demon's single eye suddenly froze.

The body, over three feet in length, hit the ground like a discarded sack of rags, splashing a few specks of blood before falling completely silent.

"Whew!"

"So, that guy was just experiencing a final burst of energy."

Lu Yang let out a long sigh of relief.

With that, the Big Gray Rat was thoroughly dead.

Just then, a red light visible only to Lu Yang suddenly peeled away from the Bat Demon's corpse and, in the blink of an eye, submerged into his own body.

At the same time, a voice echoed within Lu Yang's mind.

"Ding, host's first kill of the Demon Race detected. Demon Extermination System activated."