Demon Blood External Method! A Hundred Taels of Gold? Wang Rudong's Death!

Wang Rudong looked at the corpses on the ground and the severed arm still clutching a longsword, and his eyes instantly filled with bloodshot veins.

The Blood Qi he had just forcibly suppressed began to surge uncontrollably within him, and even the air around him seemed to grow thick and viscous.

"Young Master!"

When Wang Fu, who had run out after him, saw the scene before him, his heart jolted in alarm. Especially when his gaze swept over Mu Yang in his black martial attire, his heart began pounding wildly.

He hurried to Wang Rudong's side and whispered, "Master, it's Mu Yang. He's the constable Mu Yang who killed Huang Feng!"

Wang Rudong shuddered, and more than half the fury in his eyes immediately faded.

He looked at Mu Yang, his gaze incomparably complicated.

There was anger, killing intent, and a trace of unconcealable wariness.

As Wang Rudong watched Mu Yang, Mu Yang was also observing the Wang Family patriarch whose name shook Qingxi County.

White-haired and white-bearded, with a tall, sturdy frame and vigorous Blood Qi, but...

Mu Yang's nostrils twitched, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

Something was wrong. Why did Wang Rudong carry a faint aura of a demon creature?

It even seemed somewhat similar to the scent of the Rat Demon on Yellow Wind Mountain.

Very strange.

As though he had sensed Mu Yang's scrutiny, Wang Rudong took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the churning rage and killing intent in his heart and reining in the Blood Qi that had nearly burst out of his body.

He looked at Mu Yang and squeezed out a stiff smile. "Head Constable Mu, you came to cause trouble at my Wang Family residence in the dead of night. Has there perhaps been some misunderstanding?"

"If some ill-mannered junior of my Wang Family inadvertently offended you, Head Constable, Wang will apologize on his behalf."

As he spoke, Wang Rudong shot Wang Fu beside him a look. "A'Fu, hurry to my study and bring Head Constable Mu a hundred taels of gold to cool his temper!"

A hundred taels of gold was equivalent to a thousand taels of silver.

It was an amount an ordinary constable in Qingxi County could not save in an entire lifetime.

Even a head constable with a monthly salary of five taels of silver would need to go without food or drink for more than a decade to save that much.

As for the dead servants and his own son's severed arm, Wang Rudong did not mention them at all. Clearly, he intended to spend money to ward off disaster and settle the matter peacefully.

"Father!?"

Wang Shijun could not understand.

Their family was one of Qingxi County's Three Great Families, yet they had to humble themselves so before a mere constable?

"Silence!"

Wang Rudong sharply rebuked Wang Shijun.

Wang Shijun trembled and silently lowered his head, saying no more.

After berating Wang Shijun, Wang Rudong once again turned to Mu Yang with a smiling face. "Head Constable Mu, what do you say?"

"Not enough."

Mu Yang's cold voice made Wang Rudong's smile freeze. The Blood Qi he had just suppressed nearly spiraled out of control again.

He took a deep breath, and the smile on his face faded slightly. "Head Constable Mu is right. How could a mere hundred taels of gold show the sincerity of my Wang Family? How about I add another hundred taels?"

Mu Yang merely stood with his blade in hand, his voice indifferent.

"Not enough."

The moment those words fell, the atmosphere instantly froze.

The smile on Wang Rudong's face vanished completely. His aged eyes looked coldly at Mu Yang. "Head Constable Mu, greed without end is no good thing."

"Is that so? I think it's a good thing." A mocking curve touched Mu Yang's lips.

He did not care about silver or gold at all. Right now, he only wanted to confirm one thing: whether the demonic aura he had sensed earlier had been an illusion.

And how would he confirm it?

Whoosh!

Before Wang Rudong's stunned eyes, Mu Yang raised his blade and brought it down.

Wang Shijun's head flew into the sky.

Scalding blood splattered all over Wang Rudong's face.

"Jun'er!!!"

Wang Rudong let out a heart-rending roar.

He had never imagined that Mu Yang would be so utterly devoid of manners, killing his most beloved son—his Wang Family's once-in-a-century qilin child—right before his eyes.

"I'll kill you!!"

Wang Rudong could no longer restrain the towering killing intent in his heart. Streams of dark-red Blood Qi erupted like fierce tigers descending the mountain.

As the Blood Qi roiled, black demonic aura faintly coiled within it, radiating a palpitatingly terrifying presence.

"This old Wang Family bastard really does have a problem!"

As the undisguised dark-red Blood Qi emerged, Mu Yang finally confirmed that the demon creature aura he had smelled earlier had not been an illusion. It was emanating from Wang Rudong's body.

With such dense demonic aura, this old bastard must have spent years around demon creatures. It was even highly likely that the martial arts he cultivated were connected to demon creatures.

That settled it. No need to waste any effort—the evidence had presented itself!

"Demon Blood External Method! Wang Rudong, you actually cultivated the Demon Blood External Method and fell into demon cultivation!!"

A startled cry rang out from the street.

The speakers were Xue She and Zhou Heng, who had rushed over in haste.

Seeing Wang Rudong's white hair flying wildly and his Blood Qi stained dark red, Xue She's expression changed drastically.

He had considered the possibility that Wang Rudong was colluding with demon creatures, but he had never expected the man to be so bold as to cultivate an evil art explicitly forbidden by the imperial court!

"This secret method requires the demon blood of at least a Third Rank demon creature as its catalyst, along with Blood Pills refined from human blood. The cultivation process is exceptionally cruel as well—it requires regularly eating raw flesh and blood to preserve one's demonic nature."

"But once cultivated successfully, its power is boundless. The physical body becomes comparable to a Blood-Marrow Realm Perfection martial artist who broke through after Second Tendon-Tempering and Bone Tempering. The strength of a single arm can reach as high as twenty thousand jin!" Xue She spoke gravely, quickly explaining the details of the secret method Wang Rudong cultivated to Mu Yang.

What did twenty thousand jin of strength in one arm mean?

Without exaggeration, even Yellow Wind Old Monster would not have been Wang Rudong's match if he did not use a Demon Blood Spell.

"Twenty thousand jin? We're finished. This old bastard actually has such strength!"

After hearing Xue She's words, Zhou Heng's face went pale.

A Blood-Marrow Realm Perfection martial artist possessed only ten thousand jin in one arm. Twenty thousand jin was fully twice the strength of an ordinary Blood-Marrow Realm Perfection martial artist.

How were they supposed to fight that?

"Since you're here, stay here together!" Wang Rudong's eyes, which had turned scarlet at some point, swept over Xue She and Zhou Heng. A cruel smile split his lips.

Since matters had reached this point, he had nothing left to hide.

He could only kill the three people before him, then move the Wang Family out of Qingxi County. As long as he lived, their Wang Family would have the right to start over.

"Mu Yang, take Zhou Heng and leave first! I'll hold him back!"

Xue She suddenly drew the longsword at his waist, his tone urgent. "There's a First Rank fine horse in my courtyard. The two of you ride it and hurry to the Prefecture City to report this to the Demon Slayer Bureau!"

"You want to leave? Too late!"

Wang Rudong roared. His dark-red Blood Qi suddenly swelled, and his entire body lunged at Mu Yang, the closest target, like a savage beast choosing someone to devour.

He was incredibly fast, and the blue stone slabs beneath his feet cracked one after another.

Yet facing the terrifying Wang Rudong, there was not a trace of fear on Mu Yang's handsome face. Instead, an almost imperceptible curve rose at the corner of his mouth.

Rather than retreating, he advanced. Taking one step forward, he viciously hacked the Feather-Command Broadblade into the roiling dark-red Blood Qi.

The dark-red Blood Qi looked intangible, yet when the blade struck it, it was like stabbing into a mire.

An ordinary martial artist, no matter how exceptional his martial skills, would have been helpless against it.

But unfortunately, the man wielding the blade was Mu Yang!

Hah!!

Mu Yang suddenly exerted force, pouring the immense strength of more than sixty thousand jin in one arm through the blade and into the Blood Qi.

Wang Rudong's expression changed drastically.

Before his disbelieving eyes, the Feather-Command Broadblade continued downward without losing any speed, chopping toward his head.

The Demon Blood Qi he took such pride in could not stop Mu Yang's blade?

How was that possible!

With no time to think, Wang Rudong violently circulated the Blood Qi throughout his body and let out a roar that did not sound human.

Roar—!!

In an instant, his body swelled by a full circle. A layer of dark-yellow coarse fur forcibly grew over his skin, each strand standing erect like a steel needle as it tore apart his brocade robes.

This was a characteristic of the Demon Blood External Method: Demonic Body Transformation, greatly increasing one's defense!

He crossed his arms before him, preparing to take Mu Yang's strike head-on.

Crack!!

The crisp sound of bones shattering was especially piercing in the silent night sky.

Wang Rudong's fur-covered arms were severed at the shoulders by the Feather-Command Broadblade like withered branches.

"Ah—!!"

Wang Rudong let out a shrill scream, staggering back again and again from the tremendous force transmitted through the blade.

He simply could not believe it. He had painstakingly cultivated the Demon Blood External Method; a single arm held twenty thousand jin of force, and his defense did not lose to that of a Third-Rank Perfection demon creature. Yet before this young constable, he was so utterly vulnerable!

I can't beat him. I have to retreat!!

Though countless questions filled his heart, Wang Rudong immediately made his decision.

He looked at Wang Fu, who had long since been frightened senseless beside him, and a vicious glint flashed through his eyes.

He suddenly lashed out with a kick, ruthlessly sending Wang Fu flying toward Mu Yang.

Mu Yang did not even raise his eyelids. With a casual sweep of his hand, Wang Fu's body broke into two halves in midair.

Taking advantage of that instant, Wang Rudong had already turned and fled desperately toward the depths of the Wang Family estate.

He could no longer care about anything. The Wang Family's legacy, avenging his grievances—all of it was less important than his own life.

"Trying to run?"

Force surged from Mu Yang's feet as his body shot forward, swift as lightning. Within a few breaths, he closed the distance.

Wang Rudong felt the wind howling behind him. His spine turned cold, and a chill spread through his entire body.

He abruptly changed direction, wanting to make one final struggle, but what greeted him was a dazzling flash of cold light.

Splurt!!

The Feather-Command Broadblade easily cleaved through the coarse fur on his body, cutting down from his shoulder all the way to his waist.

The Blood Qi filling the sky dispersed, and the crimson in Wang Rudong's eyes gradually receded.

Before dying, his heart was filled with unwillingness.

If I had only been given more time, more Blood Pills, enough to break through to the Fourth-Stage Condensing Qi Realm and gain another ten thousand jin of strength, would everything have been different...

If Mu Yang could hear his thoughts, he would tell him with absolute certainty that nothing would have been different.