The people in the cage exchanged glances. An old man spoke in a low voice. "The baby's small enough to slip through the gaps. See that hole in the ground?"
The old man shifted, revealing a small hollow beneath him. His eyes brimmed with hope. "Put the baby there. Whether the child lives or dies is up to fate."
No one spoke. They nodded silently, praying for a miracle.
With a creak, the thick wooden gate swung open. A Dog Demon, its bared fangs glinting, grabbed a yellow-faced youth at random and dragged him outside.
"Who..."
Suddenly, a loud shout rang across the entire area. A tall, slender figure emerged from a shadowy alley in the distance, dragging a massive blade behind him.
The giant blade gouged a deep furrow in the ground. Its rasping scrape through the dirt drew every eye.
The cool moonlight fell upon the newcomer. He wore a green constable's uniform beneath a red jacket, and though his pace was slow, his steps were unwavering.
The Fox Demon turned, red light gleaming in its eyes. Its voice was icy. "Who are you?"
Su Ye kept walking without saying a word. Yet the red mist of blood steaming from his body made the many Demonic Beasts present tremble in fear.
Feeling slighted, the Fox Demon swept out a hand in anger and barked, "Seize him!"
At its command, the Demonic Beasts hesitated briefly, then rushed forward together, shouting as they attacked.
"Kid, you've got a pretty face, but you're not too bright. You actually dared to interrupt our fun."
Su Ye clenched his left fist and swung. Like a cannonball, it struck the charging Ape Demon and blasted it into a cloud of blood.
At the sight, the countless people inside the rough wooden cage gazed at him as if he were a god, their voices rising instinctively.
"A god!"
"The gods really heard our lowly prayers."
The old woman rasped as she kowtowed again and again.
Thud... Thud.
Su Ye's pace quickened, leaving a string of afterimages. His left hand swung like a battering ram, its blows so dense they formed an impenetrable wall. Under his brutal assault, the attacking Demonic Beasts burst apart one after another, their mangled remains scattering across the ground.
Suddenly, Su Ye accelerated again. With Qi and Blood Power bolstering his perfected Flowing Dragon Steps, it seemed as though a giant dragon had appeared beneath his feet.
In an instant, he was before the Fox Demon. His right arm rose sharply. The move was simple: he brought the blade down from above. Yet it carried an unstoppable force, crashing toward the Fox Demon.
The Ghost Head Saber was far too massive, and its wielding techniques differed greatly from those of the Black Fiend Saber Technique.
But once Su Ye had cultivated this martial art to perfection, he was no longer constrained by the type of weapon he used.
"Drag-and-Slash!"
This move was an ordinary technique for building momentum: the blade dragged along the ground, and with every step, its power grew stronger.
With Su Ye's monstrous strength behind it, the giant blade broke the sound barrier with a thunderous boom. It streaked like a bolt of lightning, bearing down with the force of the Milky Way cascading from the heavens, and shook everyone to the core.
I'm done for! Terror showed on the Fox Demon's face.
It stared in disbelief at the blade hanging above it. Its body seemed pinned in place; even blinking was beyond its reach.
The difference in their strength was simply too vast. The Fox Demon had already been cowed by the blade's overwhelming might. A trickle of bright red blood ran from the corner of its mouth as it summoned every ounce of strength to block the blow.
BOOM!
There was no suspense. The Fox Demon's counterattack did not work at all. It could not even hold out for the blink of an eye before exploding into a cloud of blood amid the deafening crash. The ground beneath it was blasted into a crater several meters deep.
"Split up and run! This man's strength is terrifying. We have to warn the Great King!"
The Demonic Beasts' eyes bulged with terror as they turned and fled. In the silent night, the sounds of heavy bodies hitting the ground rang out one after another.
Ma San struggled to sit upright. He rubbed his eyes hard with both hands, still unable to believe what he was seeing.
"Could it be... reinforcements sent by the county yamen?"
That night, after killing the attacking Demonic Beasts, he had immediately sent a report to the county yamen. He had never expected that, at his most desperate moment, a letter would become his only glimmer of hope.
Now he seemed to lose all his strength and collapsed heavily onto his back.
"We're saved! We're saved!"
"Everyone has hope now!"
Summoning all his strength, he shouted, "Reinforcements are here! We're saved!"
Countless people inside the cage covered their faces and wept, unable to stop sobbing.
"Father, the county yamen finally sent help. We don't have to die!" A youth excitedly gripped the arm of the man beside him.
"Yun'er, we survived." The woman tenderly kissed the child on the forehead.
The child, who had been fast asleep, opened his eyes. Still groggy, he wiped away his mother's tears and said in a babyish voice, "Mother, why are you crying? Did bad people bully you? I'll go chase them away."
Su Ye's figure flashed. His giant blade swung again and again, sending many Demonic Beasts' upper bodies crashing to the packed earth. They writhed and howled in agony.
Their lower halves seemed to come alive, stumbling forward for more than ten meters before finally collapsing.
Killed [Mid Sentience · Pig Demon] — gained 29 Assistance Points Killed [Mid Sentience · Ape Demon] — gained 21 Assistance Points Killed [Late Sentience · Fox Demon] — gained 36 Assistance Points Assistance Points: 605
Su Ye sheathed his blade, turned back, and closed the panel before slowly returning to the scene.
Crack!
With one slash, he split the thick wooden cage open. The people inside gazed at him with reverence, as if looking up at a deity.
"Are you a god?" A plain-looking youth fell to his knees, staring fervently at the mighty figure.
"A living Buddha!" The old man kowtowed like a pestle pounding grain, muttering without pause.
The people's faces had regained a little color, and now they were filled with a strange reverence.
"Thank you, sir, for saving Xinghua Town." Ma San staggered to his feet and spoke with deep respect.
Su Ye looked at them. "I'm only a constable. I'm no sir, much less a god. Please, everyone, get up."
"Sir..."
Inside the dilapidated town yamen, Ma San sat in a wooden chair, forcing himself to stay upright.
Once he had settled into his seat, Su Ye asked, "Constable Ma, did you also arrive in Xinghua Town just a few days ago?"
"That's right." Ma San continued, "May I ask, sir, did you receive a notice and come to reinforce us?"
Su Ye shook his head slightly. It seemed Zhou Tao and the county magistrate were not in league with each other. What was more, Zhou Tao must have known the Demonic Beasts would raid the various towns in the coming days, yet he had arranged for people to prepare defenses.
He could not tell what the man was planning. Knowing the county magistrate was in league with the Demonic Beasts, Zhou Tao had still secretly taken such measures.
"Sir, how did you happen to arrive in Xinghua Town just in time?" Ma San asked, puzzled.
"I'm a constable posted outside the city, just like you. You don't need to call me sir."
After chatting with Ma San for a few minutes, Su Ye walked out of the main hall. After saying farewell to the townspeople, he went into the shadows and slowly opened the panel.
His gaze fell on the [Dragon Tiger Vajra Skill] in the techniques section. A plus sign had appeared beside it again. He silently said:
System Upgrade.
Assistance Points consumed 150 180 Total Assistance Points consumed this time: 540 Upgrade successful [Dragon Tiger Vajra Skill] Perfected Sixth Level of Meridian Opening
The explosive power surging through his body made Su Ye clench both fists. His Qi and Blood Power, which had been completely depleted, was rapidly recovering. In less than a moment, it was restored to its former state.
His Qi and Blood Power continued to surge without end. If it had been a trickling stream before, now it was a mighty river rushing ceaselessly through his body.
His physical strength had increased at least threefold. The depletion of his Qi and Blood Power, which he had always worried about, had also been remedied.
Once Qi and Blood Power was depleted, replenishing it required not only a large amount of nourishing food but also quite a long time.
Before you continue