The Ape Demon

"Good! Excellent! Brother Shen, you've certainly given me a surprise."

In the torture office of Qiulin County, Chief Qian Dazhi slapped the table and stood up, unable to contain the joy on his face.

Though he'd heard all about Shen Lin's talent before, the kid had only been under Sun Zhi for a short while, yet he'd already officially become a martial artist.

And he'd even brought back the body of a demon.

That was all merit.

He looked at Shen Lin with burning eyes, as if he weren't his subordinate but his benefactor.

Though a chief of the torture office had no official rank and couldn't advance through the ranks of court officials, doing well in slaying demons could still earn him the attention of the prefectural government.

If luck was on his side and the Demon Suppression Bureau took notice of him, transferring him there as a clerical scribe would bring him a fortune beyond imagining.

"This wasn't my work alone. Kong Yu also put in a lot of effort."

Shen Lin smiled and gestured toward Kong Yu beside him.

After all, carrying the demon's body all this way had taken quite a lot of effort.

Kong Yu had looked a little dispirited, but the moment he heard Shen Lin say that, he perked right up and gazed eagerly at the chief of the torture office.

"Good, good, good. I've noted down all your contributions. I'll make sure to report everything truthfully to the Demon Suppression Bureau!"

The chief of the torture office stroked his beard and nodded with great satisfaction.

Not bad. He wasn't arrogant or impatient, and even after earning merit, he hadn't forgotten his colleague. He was someone to watch.

"Come to think of it, why didn't Head Constable Sun return with you?"

At the question, Shen Lin's expression remained unchanged. He replied calmly, "At the time, the head constable said he'd discovered another lead, so we split up. He hadn't returned by the time we left. I imagine something else must have held him up."

"I see. But he..."

Just as the chief of the torture office was about to ask more, a shout came from outside.

"Something terrible has happened, Chief Qian!" A constable came rushing in looking thoroughly bedraggled, shouting as he ran. "Head Constable Wu spotted a monster while patrolling the streets. He's chasing it through the city right now!"

"What?"

Chief Qian's eyes widened. He immediately pressed, "Has the Patrol Bureau heard about it?"

When the Great Wei dynasty was first founded, a patrol division had been established in every county to deal with demonic calamities.

Each division was set at a hundred men, every one of them clad in armor, and they even had siege crossbows, weapons of immense destructive power.

They had originally been the true demon-slaying force in each county. But as the demonic calamities subsided and large groups of monsters disappeared, they gradually lost their purpose.

Even so, they remained the torture office's biggest rival. Whenever a monster was discovered, the two sides raced to slay it.

"They should know by now. There's been too much commotion, and plenty of people saw it."

Hearing this, Chief Qian sucked in a breath and immediately said, "Go call Sun—"

He stopped halfway through.

If their torture office could be the first to kill this newly discovered monster, it would undoubtedly be a great achievement.

If they delayed even a little, the county patrol division would seize the credit.

Of course he wanted to send his own people to get there first.

But Head Constable Wu was a martial artist. Anything that could escape his grasp couldn't be an ordinary little monster.

So whoever he sent had to be a martial artist too.

But at the moment, all his other head constables were out on business. There was no time to send someone to find them.

Wait!

Wasn't Shen Lin right here, having just advanced to the martial artist realm?

At the thought, he slowly turned to look, only to freeze.

"Where's Shen Lin?"

Kong Yu stood there alone, awkwardly scratching his head. "Brother Shen heard the report just now and left straight away. He said he was going to slay the monster."

Chief Qian and Kong Yu stared at each other, sharing much the same thought.

Why was this guy so eager?

How could he not be eager?

Shen Lin sped across the rooftops, keeping a sharp eye on the activity around him.

He had only one year of life left.

If he didn't throw himself into slaying monsters and gather enough demonic lifespan to push his martial arts further, he'd simply die of old age when the year was up.

So when he heard the constable's report, he didn't wait for Chief Qian to say a word. He took off at once.

On a bright morning, it was easy to spot anything out of place in the quiet county town.

Before long, he spotted clouds of dust rising in the distance, along with loud crashes.

Found it!

Shen Lin didn't rush straight over. Instead, he studied the situation carefully and realized that although the creature kept doubling back, its overall destination was fixed.

The eastern gate!

That thing was trying to escape the city!

Once it reached the wilderness, monsters were naturally far better than humans at hiding themselves. Then it would be trouble.

At the thought, Shen Lin set off at once, heading straight for the eastern gate.

Inside the county town, a giant ape covered in black fur, blood smeared across its fangs, burst through an earthen wall and charged out of an alley.

It didn't slow down at all for the peddlers and commoners in its way. Its mighty body simply barreled through them, smashing the ordinary people into pieces.

Seeing this from not far behind, Head Constable Wu roared in fury, "You monster!"

Though his heart seethed with rage, he was no longer in his prime like Sun Zhi. He could only watch as the creature steadily pulled farther away.

He wanted to slay the monster, but time was not on his side.

Before long, the creature reached the city gate.

Seeing this, Head Constable Wu gritted his teeth. He suddenly sped up, willing to burn through the life force in his body to catch up and stop it.

But just then, the Ape Demon, which had been racing ahead, suddenly stopped. It turned around and grinned at Head Constable Wu.

A wave of unease rose in Head Constable Wu's heart.

At that moment, the city gate was packed with people coming and going, the crowd surging.

The instant they saw the Ape Demon, they had scattered in every direction, but not everyone had managed to get away.

The next moment, the Ape Demon stretched out its long arm, snatched up a man who had collapsed in terror, hoisted him high, and tore him in two.

Bathed in a rain of blood, its face looked even more savage.

It tossed aside the remains in its hand, then licked the blood from its face with its long tongue. After that, it grabbed a young woman and raised her above its head.

It glared at Head Constable Wu and growled, "Old man! Keep chasing me, and I'll kill everyone here!"

But Head Constable Wu didn't slow down in the slightest. He charged straight at it.

He knew that even if he gave in and let the monster leave, the woman wouldn't be coming back safely.

More importantly, if he obeyed and let it go, it would only kill more and more people in the future.

"Forgive me!"

He glanced apologetically at the woman, who was struggling and screaming, then drew his long saber.

But just as he was about to strike, his face suddenly went pale. He spat out a mouthful of blood and stopped in his tracks.

He was old, after all. The Qi and Blood Force in his body had run dry, and his breath had caught.

The Ape Demon's face lit up with delight, but it didn't hurry to leave. Instead, it grinned cruelly and shouted, "Old man, watch closely. This is what—"

Its arm swelled as it pulled in opposite directions, as though it meant to tear the young woman in two as well.

But in the next instant, a dark shadow shot over from a nearby rooftop, moving at incredible speed.

A flash of cold light, and the newcomer swept past the Ape Demon.

"Ahhh..."

The next moment, the woman dropped to the ground screaming, two enormous black-furred hands still clinging to her.

Pfft!

Blood gushed from the Ape Demon's severed arm like a fountain, spraying more than a zhang into the sky.

Perhaps the strike had been too fast. There was no pain on its face, only bewilderment.

It slowly turned its head, apparently wanting to see who had cut off its arm with a single blow.

But what came toward it was a blade of light.

Shen Lin's steel saber struck its eye and drove straight through, splitting open its skull before beheading it outright.

With a thud, the headless corpse dropped to its knees. Shen Lin let out a long breath and murmured, "I made it in time!"