A Thousand Cuts

The sun had already set, and the dusky night sky had carried the full moon to its zenith.

Yet beneath the dim moonlight, Ox-Horn Town was now astonishingly lively.

Nearly all the townsfolk had left their homes. Together with the militiamen of the Civilian Militia, they were collecting and disposing of the thousands of corpses scattered throughout the streets and alleys, along with the blood smeared across the ground and walls.

Of course, they hadn't volunteered. They were doing it because Li Hai had showered them with gold and silver.

He had gone to all this trouble because he felt that, sure, killing them had been satisfying—but simply walking away without a word and leaving all those bodies lying there would have been downright inconsiderate.

The weather in the Coiling Dragon Mountain region was hot and humid. If the bodies weren't dealt with promptly, an epidemic was sure to break out. Li Hai wasn't afraid of that, but the people of Ox-Horn Town would be the ones to suffer.

That sort of false satisfaction—enjoying yourself without caring about the common people—wasn't what Li Hai wanted.

Under normal circumstances, however, this would have been nearly impossible to accomplish.

Never mind how to clean away every trace of blood, or where to take all those bodies.

The most crucial and important part—disposing of the corpses—was something ordinary people simply couldn't manage.

Friends who have killed often should know why, so there's no need to explain further.

But with Li Hai's help, the hardest task after a killing—disposing of the bodies—became much easier.

That was because the Zou Clan Southern Border Poison Manual recorded many methods for rapidly dissolving corpses.

Using those methods and a large amount of medicinal ingredients from every pharmacy in Ox-Horn Town, Li Hai spent just an hour preparing ten enormous pools of corpse-dissolving solution. It was enough to dissolve all the bandits' corpses—more than two thousand, nearly three thousand—without leaving so much as a drop of blood.

So the residents of Ox-Horn Town only needed to endure the pungent stench of blood and the horrifying state of the Wolf Mountain Bandits' corpses, carry the bodies one by one to the pools, and shove them in.

Even so, it took the townsfolk several hours, until dawn, to barely finish the job. More than a few vomited until they passed out.

Still, few complained. The people of Ox-Horn Town had grown up in the chaotic Coiling Dragon Mountain region, and they knew all too well:

If these vicious Wolf Mountain Bandits were still alive, no one could say how many unconscionable crimes they would commit.

They robbed people, killed at will, abducted children to sell, and violated women. There was nothing they wouldn't do.

Some townsfolk's family members, relatives, and friends had even died at the bandits' hands.

So the townsfolk, who were glad to see the bandits get what they deserved, threw themselves into the work with vigor.

Besides the blood-chilling sight of all those bodies, the townsfolk were even more horrified by something else.

They were horrified that several thousand vicious bandits had been slaughtered by a single person.

And every last one had died horribly, enough to make anyone tremble with fear.

As a result, the ignorant townsfolk even began to think that Li Hai might not be human at all, but the Heaven-Killing Star descended to earth.

Thus, during snatches of conversation as they worked, the townsfolk transformed Li Hai from man to god with their whispers, making him the Demon Star Descended.

Li Hai himself, of course, knew nothing about it.

As for the filthy work of hauling all the used corpse-dissolving solution out to the wilderness beyond town and dumping it, that was left to the militiamen of the Civilian Militia.

Fortunately, Li Hai had generously paid them with gold and silver as a reward, so the militiamen had little to complain about. In fact, they were quite happy.

The townsfolk who had carried the bodies were also given a generous sum of money, as compensation for their psychological trauma.

After all, Li Hai didn't care about money.

In short, thanks to his golden barrage, Ox-Horn Town, which had been strewn with corpses, had largely returned to normal after just one night.

Only the overpowering stench of blood and the crimson stains tucked away in countless nooks and crannies would need time to fade.

Once everything was finally taken care of, it was morning.

"About time."

On the raised platform, Li Hai stood with his back to Zhou Hu, who was bound naked to a wooden post. As he arranged his knives, he chuckled softly. "It's your turn to go."

At those words, Zhou Hu's face turned ashen. His mouth opened slightly, then closed again. His eyes were full of despair and hopelessness.

Before returning to Ox-Horn Town, Li Hai had already demonstrated all of Zhou Hu's own martial arts techniques to him, and had mastered every one of them.

Li Hai hadn't explained any of it. He had simply let Zhou Hu guess for himself.

And Zhou Hu, remembering Li Hai's earlier astonishing claim that he could learn anyone's techniques at a glance, as well as the terrifying feat of instantly mastering the Formless Sealing Art to its peak, couldn't stop himself from growing more and more afraid. He had lost all confidence in his own master.

"My son is dead. My whole family is dead. I'm going to die too, and no one can avenge me. Because my greatest backer... my master... is going to die too, at Li Hai's hands."

At the thought, Zhou Hu shook like a sieve, consumed by terror and despair.

Li Hai, of course, noticed.

But that was exactly what he wanted: Zhou Hu to be afraid. It would make it easier to stop the bleeding later.

Why stop the bleeding?

Because Li Hai was going to flay the utterly wicked Zhou Hu alive before the eyes of Ox-Horn Town's countless residents.

"Begin."

Li Hai lifted his chin toward the militiaman waiting nearby.

"Yes, Great Hero Li!"

The militiaman nodded eagerly, then lifted a large bucket of ice-cold vinegar and poured it over Zhou Hu's head.

Splash—

After the bucket of cold vinegar came down, Zhou Hu, already weak and tense, immediately tightened all over, his blood vessels contracting.

Li Hai followed right after. Under the gaze of thousands upon thousands of eyes below the platform, he slashed at Zhou Hu's chest with a knife, shaving off a piece of skin and flesh about half the size of a palm.

"Ugh—ah!"

Zhou Hu's feeble cry of pain immediately set off delighted cheers and shouts from the countless people below.

"Serves you right!"

"Good cut!"

"Your turn at last, Zhou Hu! Heaven has eyes!"

"That's terrifying. I can't watch."

"Bah! If you can't watch, go home!"

"He's the one who killed my daughter!"

"I want to feed his flesh to the dogs!"

"The biggest beast in the Zhou Family! A man-eating beast!"

"Waaah... Wife, you can finally rest in peace down there."

"Great Hero Li! We'll build you a shrine while you're alive!"

"Great Hero Li, may you live to a hundred!"

"Great Hero, take my daughter as your slave!"

Swish, swish, swish—

Like a cook carving the skin off a roast duck, Li Hai's knife flashed like falling blossoms. In a short time, before the eyes of the assembled crowd, he had shaved dozens more pieces of skin and flesh from Zhou Hu. His chest was left completely bare, with rows of ghastly white ribs exposed and his heart, lungs, and other organs faintly visible beneath them.

Every time Zhou Hu cried out in pain, the cheering townsfolk below erupted in delight.

Even the scraps of bloody flesh that fell from the platform sparked one frenzied scramble after another, as if it were New Year's.

But just then, Li Hai suddenly stopped the torture.