The Return

The country road was not dark at all beneath the full moon overhead.

With a huge sack on his back, Kong Yu followed behind Shen Lin, panting heavily.

The sack was extremely heavy, but he showed no impatience. On the contrary, he was in high spirits, and the smile never left his face.

That was because his sack contained half the Mantis Demon's corpse.

Although Shen Lin had slain the demon, he had already promised to share some of the credit with Kong Yu.

Two months ago, constable Old Huang had followed Head Constable Sun Zhi in slaying a demon, then returned to the County Office swaggering with pride.

Afterward, the old fellow, who had spent his entire life at the County Office without achieving anything, had actually bought a house and married a wife. Now he was living the good life... tsk, tsk.

The rewards issued by the Demon Suppression Bureau had probably passed through who knew how many hands, but Old Huang had still ended up with quite a lot.

Kong Yu's gains this time shouldn't be much less than Old Huang's.

At the thought, Kong Yu felt his fatigue vanish, and strength surge through his body.

He had married into a wealthy family, and his position as a constable usually let him rake in a fair amount. By rights, he shouldn't have been short of money.

But he was still living under someone else's roof, and all the money he earned had to be handed over to his wife. Whenever anything came up, he had to ask her permission.

Even going out for a drink with his colleagues meant bowing and scraping as he asked his wife for approval. How stifling.

But now that he had earned credit for slaying a demon, everything would be different.

His father-in-law and his wife would both look at him with new respect.

At the thought, he turned to Shen Lin with gratitude.

Whether it was his life or the share of the credit, he owed it all to Shen Lin.

Up ahead, Shen Lin carried a sack in each hand, with even more than Kong Yu.

Yet his steps were steady, his breathing calm, and his expression showed no sign of strain.

With over a century's worth of cultivation experience deduced by the system, Shen Lin could now draw his Qi and Blood Force back into his body, making himself look like an ordinary man.

But Kong Yu couldn't forget the terrifying pressure he had felt from Shen Lin when he first woke up.

That aura was every bit as formidable as Head Constable Sun Zhi's.

Shen Lin was already a martial artist!

At the thought, Kong Yu suddenly remembered something and asked, "Brother Shen, shouldn't we wait for the head constable?"

After packing up, they had left the house straightaway. They hadn't even had time to take care of their colleagues' corpses.

According to Shen Lin, the County Office would send people to handle it once they returned.

But Kong Yu couldn't understand why they weren't waiting for Head Constable Sun Zhi to arrive so they could set off together, now that the demon had been eliminated.

Shen Lin stopped, turned around, and smiled meaningfully. "No need. Once the head constable sees what happened there, he'll understand."

Kong Yu had been unconscious when the Mantis Demon spoke with Shen Lin, so naturally he had no idea that his head constable had made a deal with the demon.

For now, Shen Lin wasn't planning to expose Sun Zhi, either.

Head Constable Sun still had his uses.

With a crack, a pair of official leather boots snapped a dead branch underfoot.

Sun Zhi entered the courtyard slowly, carrying the corpse of the Tiger Demon over his shoulder. It was even larger than he was.

He was tall and rugged-looking.

It was already late autumn, and the nights were cold. Yet the man's chest was bare, and steam rose from his powerful muscles.

He suddenly stopped and furrowed his brow.

It was too quiet!

Sensing that something was wrong, he swept his sharp gaze around.

Thud!

He tossed the Tiger Demon's corpse aside, rolled his neck with a series of cracks, then rested a hand on his saber's hilt and walked toward the room, where the lights were still on.

Inside, he found a scene of utter chaos.

The Mantis Demon, which should have been waiting there to help him stage the scene, was nowhere to be found.

Demon corpses could be exchanged for rewards from the Demon Suppression Bureau. So earlier, Shen Lin and Kong Yu had endured their disgust and stuffed away all the remains.

They had even used strips of cloth to soak up the demons' blood and collected that, too.

As a result, not a trace of the Mantis Demon had been left in the room.

But Sun Zhi twitched his nose and still sensed something amiss.

A martial artist's keen sense of smell picked up a sharp, pungent stench.

This smell...

It seemed to be demon blood.

No!

Sun Zhi suddenly seemed to remember something. He left the room and went to the storeroom nearby.

He kicked the storeroom door open with a bang. Inside, corpses hung from the rafters.

At least a dozen human corpses had had their limbs removed and hung there like strips of dried meat, swaying gently.

Most of the corpses had already been dried out. Only five were still dripping blood, and they looked like they had died recently.

Sun Zhi counted them silently and murmured, "Five people..."

He stepped forward and began identifying them one by one.

Just then, one of the corpses suddenly opened its eyes.

"Head... Constable Sun... save me! Save..."

The man had been reduced to a limbless trunk, yet he still had a breath left in him.

But Sun Zhi seemed not to notice his subordinate's plea for help at all. He walked straight past him.

The man didn't call out again. His trembling lips gradually fell still.

After inspecting the corpses one by one, Sun Zhi murmured, "Kong Yu and... Shen Lin!"

All seven of his constables were supposed to have died here.

Only then could he explain how difficult the battle had been.

Every one of his subordinates had fallen, and he himself had been gravely wounded—but after a bitter struggle, he had ultimately slain the Tiger Demon that had been wreaking havoc.

That was the story he had prepared for the Demon Suppression Bureau.

But now, the story had taken a different turn.

What exactly had happened?

Had a powerful expert happened by, discovered the Mantis Demon, and killed it?

Or...

Sun Zhi narrowed his eyes and considered it for a moment. Then he turned back to the courtyard, hoisted the Tiger Demon's corpse onto his shoulder, and walked out.

His destination was the County Office!

Whether those two had dealt with the Mantis Demon themselves or someone else had helped them didn't matter.

The most important thing now was to return to the county seat and find out how much those two knew about what he had done.

If they knew too much...

A cold glint flashed through Sun Zhi's eyes. His murderous intent was so dense it seemed almost tangible.