Righteousness Often Comes from the Lowly, Danger Lurks Beneath, Taking Risks to Hunt Demons

Chen Fang had always had a steady temperament, so when Niu Hanshan saw him like this, his brows furrowed slightly.

"What is it? Have those demon whelps come killing their way here again?" Niu Hanshan said.

Chen Fang shook his head. "No, Family Head. People from the Wang Family of Black Mountain County have come."

Lu Yang's expression sharpened. "So the Wang Family's people came after all? Brother Niu, I have troubled you for a night, and my injuries have recovered quite a bit. I must trouble Brother Niu to open a back door for me. I will leave through the back door now."

"No need." Niu Hanshan waved a hand. "Chen Fang, take Captain Lu to the secret chamber to hide. Allow me to go meet these Wang Family people!"

"Yes."

Before Lu Yang could refuse, Chen Fang had already pulled him toward the underground secret chamber inside the fort.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, in Niushi Fort, in the Niu Family's main hall.

Wang Changsi sat brazenly on the honored seat of the Family Head, looking down at Niu Hanshan below with contempt.

Niu Hanshan, who should have been the master here, now stood in the center of the hall like a servant boy, trembling with fear, not daring to breathe too loudly.

"Niu Hanshan, are you certain that Lu Yang did not come to Niushi Town?" Wang Changsi stared into Niu Hanshan's eyes. "If you dare tell even one lie, the position of town chief of Niushi Town can be handed to someone else this very instant!"

Niu Hanshan's whole body shook like chaff in a sieve, his face full of terror. "Young Master Wang, that Lu Yang only left Niushi Town a few days ago, and after that he never returned."

"Everything you said is true?" Wang Changsi frowned.

Niu Hanshan's face was filled with panic, and he hurriedly said, "Even if this lowly one had eaten a bear's heart and a leopard's gall, I still would not dare deceive Young Master, nor deceive the Wang Family. If Young Master does not believe me, you can go ask everyone in the village one by one. This lowly one absolutely did not speak even half a false word just now. Besides, the Demonic Calamity in Niushi Town has already been pacified. He is only a constable captain—what would he come here for?"

Seeing Niu Hanshan's utterly certain expression, Wang Changsi also grew somewhat hesitant.

A whole night had passed, after all, and he was not certain where Lu Yang had gone last night.

But asking him to brave the darkness of night and enter a forest where the Demon Race might be lying in ambush—Wang Changsi was unwilling to do that too.

After a whole night, Lu Yang was only a mere Houtian First Level. It was possible he had already become a demon creature's blood meal and breathed his last; it was also possible he had long since left Black Mountain County and fled off to some unknown place.

In short, with a full night's time and his cultivation as a Houtian Realm martial artist, he could have appeared anywhere within a radius of several hundred li.

He was not necessarily in Niushi Town.

But Lu Yang had helped Niushi Town settle a Demonic Calamity, after all, so naturally Wang Changsi would not believe Niu Hanshan's one-sided words.

"In that case, if this young master wants to inspect your Niushi Fort, do you dare allow it?" Wang Changsi said.

Niu Hanshan immediately turned sideways, opening a path. "Young Master, please inspect as you please."

Wang Changsi nodded, immediately walking out of the main hall and splitting up with the four people accompanying him to inspect the entire Niushi Fort.

Niushi Fort was not large. By noon, the four of them had gone back and forth inspecting it several times, yet still found nothing.

Unwilling to give up, Wang Changsi led his men to search through Niushi Town as well, but they still did not find Lu Yang.

One person moved closer and said, "Young Master, perhaps that Lu Yang really did not come here."

Wang Changsi nodded. "Forget it. The wilderness outside Black Mountain County is too vast. If one man is intent on hiding, finding him is no different from fishing for a needle in the sea. Better to sit by the tree stump outside the city and wait for the rabbit. If he does not return, so be it. If he dares come back, he will certainly be made to die without hope of life!"

On the third day after the Wang Family party left, Lu Yang finally walked out from the lightless secret chamber.

After three days of recuperation, the injury on his back had basically healed.

Only, because of Experience Points, the cultivation progress of the Gui Yuan Technique was also worrying. Lu Yang's cultivation remained stuck at the first level of the Houtian Realm, without the slightest improvement.

"Brother Niu took a risk this time to protect me with all your strength. Lu Yang will remember it in his heart, and will surely repay you in the future." Lu Yang cupped his fists.

Niu Hanshan smiled. "There is no need for repayment later. If Brother Lu has the heart, you may as well come with me into the mountains."

"Into the mountains?" The tips of Lu Yang's brows rose slightly. "Brother Niu wants the Demon Treasure?"

Niu Hanshan said solemnly, "Ever since those four Leopard Demons were killed, several more lesser demons have appeared one after another, wandering around the town's surroundings. I suspect some demon creature wants revenge. Most likely, it is Old Master White Crane from White Crane Ridge."

Lu Yang frowned. He suddenly remembered the words Big Black Skin had used to threaten him back then.

This place was only seventy or eighty li from White Crane Ridge. They very likely truly were Old Master White Crane's subordinates.

"Do you have any basis for this?" Lu Yang said.

Niu Hanshan said, "I do not have any definite proof. However, in past years, a swordsman once appeared in Jingyang Town and killed a Bear Demon under Old Master White Crane. Later, Jingyang Town was washed in blood by the Demon Race, suffering heavy casualties. That swordsman died, and his corpse was treated as blood food by Old Master White Crane and swallowed with its own mouth."

Lu Yang said, "You are worried Niushi Town will follow in Jingyang Town's footsteps?"

"Exactly." Niu Hanshan said, "Rumor has it that Old Master White Crane is only a second-rank Demon Race member. If you and I join hands, it may not be impossible to get rid of it. Once Old Master White Crane dies, Niushi Town's crisis will naturally be solved as easily as a bamboo split down the grain."

Lu Yang understood in his heart. Most likely, when Niu Hanshan had risked himself to protect him earlier, he had also harbored the thought of borrowing his strength to deal with Old Master White Crane.

However, Lu Yang did not reject this.

Many times, for a person to still have some value others could use was not necessarily a bad thing.

Moreover, if he wanted to cultivate the Returning Origin Art right now, killing members of the Demon Race to obtain experience and demonic qi was also a path he had to take.

What Niu Hanshan wanted was Niushi Town's safety, as well as the Demon Treasure. What Lu Yang wanted was demonic qi and Experience Points.

Between him and Niu Hanshan, they could completely each take what they needed.

However, whether it was demonic qi or Experience Points, both were his secrets, and Lu Yang had no way to announce them aloud.

For now, he could only find himself a plausible reason for this cooperation.

It was just that Old Master White Crane had become a spirit many years ago. Logically speaking, it was absolutely not something the two of them could deal with.

Unless Niu Hanshan had some method capable of injuring that Old Master White Crane!

Thinking of this, Lu Yang was just about to ask when he saw Niu Hanshan wave a hand and say, "Brother Lu, rest assured. I am no reckless man. As for that Old Master White Crane, I naturally have my own way to deal with him."

As he spoke, he said with profound meaning, "For Niushi Fort to have passed down its legacy in this perilous land for over a hundred years, when it comes to dealing with demons, we naturally have a few methods."

Lu Yang fell silent. Thinking of his own situation, and of the system on him, he no longer hesitated and said, "As far as I know, after a Demon Race member that has gained intelligence dies, there is at least a fifty percent chance of digging out a Demon Treasure, and its quality is far higher than that of a first-order Demon Treasure. If a Demon Treasure is dug out of Old Master White Crane's body in the future, who will it belong to?"

Niu Hanshan had long expected this, and immediately smiled. "How about this: on this trip into the mountains to hunt demons, if there are any Demon Treasures, you and I split them equally. How does that sound?"

Lu Yang said, "Actually, I prefer silver. When the time comes, if a Demon Treasure is dug out, I'll sell my half to you. How about it?"

A trace of joy swept through Niu Hanshan's eyes. Compared to silver, he naturally preferred Demon Treasures, and he immediately made the decision. "Deal."

The next day, the two traveled light, carrying only some dry rations and water with them, and walked together into the forest outside town.

Niu Hanshan had been born here, and knew the environment in the forest like the back of his hand.

The two lay in wait in the forest for several hours, and sure enough, a few Butterfly Demons came to this place, hiding in the shadows to observe the situation in Niushi Town.

The Butterfly Demons were all only at the mid to late first order. Before Lu Yang and Niu Hanshan, these two Second-order martial artists, they naturally fell easily in defeat, and were cut down beneath Lu Yang's blade.

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