Song Changfeng lay on the verge of death in the corner, catching sight of the young man approaching from the corner of his eye.
His face twitched, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he let out a ragged "Hah... hah..." His pain-numbed body couldn't help shrinking back.
What he'd just seen had left him unable to believe his own eyes.
Years ago, Song Changfeng had personally picked Shen Yi out of a crowd of street toughs, drawn to his quick wits.
He hadn't expected Shen Yi to be too clever for his own good. Not only had he made a name for himself in Baiyun County, he could even become sworn brothers with demons and handle the yamen's business flawlessly.
Even so, Song Changfeng had merely kept his distance, avoiding any trouble with him. In his heart, he'd still looked down on him and found him distasteful.
But now, a deep fear welled up inside him.
Facing three foes alone, he'd slaughtered all three ape demons with a mere lift of his hand. Such formidable strength couldn't have been cultivated in a day or two.
Then Song Changfeng thought of how Shen Yi usually gathered friends around him and caroused night after night, looking like he needed to brace his back after walking a few steps. An inexplicable chill crept over him.
Such restraint—what was he plotting?
As the thought crossed his mind, the young man had already reached him. Song Changfeng instinctively raised a hand to shield his face.
In the next moment, he found himself hoisted onto the man's back.
Feeling the middle-aged man trembling against him, Shen Yi sighed. "Really? It's not like you've actually lost an arm or a leg."
The yamen's Criminal Division was responsible for security throughout the county. A division chief, no less—and the ape demons were already dead. Why was he still so scared?
If the Military Division didn't have eight hundred soldiers guarding the city, the people of Baiyun County would probably have been eaten alive by demons long ago.
Song Changfeng said nothing.
Shen Yi had meant to ask where the man lived, but as soon as the thought occurred to him, his feet carried him onward of their own accord.
He left the yamen and headed down East Street.
It was the dead of night, and the darkness was so thick he could barely see the road.
Yet Shen Yi didn't feel lost at all. He stopped familiarly in front of a small courtyard and knocked on the door.
"You finally decided to come back? You might as well have died out there."
At the cold voice, the courtyard gate swung open gently.
A beautiful woman in her thirties stood at the door. She wore a pink gauze dress, her face alluring and her skin fine and taut, so well cared for that her curvaceous waist was breathtaking.
When she got a good look at Shen Yi, her expression changed slightly. A hint of delight appeared in her narrow eyes. "What brings you here? Is that old thing still at the yamen?"
"..."
Shen Yi's expression turned peculiar. He shifted slightly to one side, letting her see the "old thing" on his back.
The beautiful woman looked surprised, but didn't panic. She glared at Song Changfeng, whose face was utterly blank. "You went to the yamen to sit and drink tea, and somehow managed to end up like this? Can't you show a little backbone?"
Even Shen Yi felt a little sorry for Head Song.
Work wasn't going well, and the boss had to hide from his own subordinate. Then he went home only to get an earful. He was in his late forties, had taken a lovely young wife as his second, and still let someone else steal her away.
Shen Yi walked into the courtyard and entered the house. He laid Song Changfeng on the bed. The old man turned his head toward the wall and started pretending to be unconscious.
I saved your life. Couldn't you even say thank you? Shen Yi shook his head and turned to leave.
As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, a warm, soft body pressed against him.
"What happened today?" Sister-in-law Song slipped Shen Yi's arm against her ample bosom and asked worriedly, "Are you all right? Come inside with me. I'll give you a thorough checkup."
"Ahem." Shen Yi's thoughts wavered for a moment.
A short while later, he glanced at the door that had just closed and gently slipped his arm free. "Head Song has slain a demon. I still need to return to the yamen and handle the aftermath, so I won't impose on you."
The beautiful woman watched the young man walk away and stamped her foot. "He can slay demons? If he had that kind of ability, you heartless thing—"
After leaving the Song household,
Shen Yi stood in the empty street and drew his clothes a little tighter.
The warm, moist sensation from earlier lingered in his mind.
It wasn't that he was pining for the beautiful woman. He just felt a little empty, somehow.
He didn't like the situation in Head Song's household, but having someone at home to leave a lamp burning for him, the way Chen Ji did, sounded rather nice.
Unfortunately, his predecessor had been a scoundrel. He'd lost his parents young and had no close friends or relatives to speak of. In his bed, there'd been nothing but prostitutes.
Shen Yi drew in a deep breath of the night air and summoned the panel.
[Awakened Ape Demon, not yet entered the Initial Realm, total lifespan: 326 years, remaining lifespan: 44 years, absorption complete] [Awakened Ape Demon, not yet entered the Initial Realm, total lifespan: 355 years, remaining lifespan: 78 years, absorption complete] [Awakened Ape Demon, not yet entered the Initial Realm, total lifespan: 420 years, remaining lifespan: 83 years, absorption complete] [Remaining demon lifespan: 222 years]
Shen Yi planned to invest all of this lifespan in the Wind and Thunder Precious Scroll.
The Subduing Demon Yang-Blade was indeed powerful, worthy of being a move that touched upon the Initial Realm.
When he killed the last ape demon, the one in scholar's robes, Shen Yi had clearly felt the process of his qi and blood turning into mist.
This blade was no longer limited by the strength of his body or the subtlety of his technique. It belonged to an entirely different realm.
But it was still just a backwoods path blazed by ordinary mortals. Forcing himself to briefly reach that realm by burning through his own life could never compare to truly entering the Initial Realm.
"I wonder if two hundred years will be enough."
Shen Yi knew he wasn't a genius. If he wanted to forge a path from nothing, he could only pile up an immense amount of time.
He couldn't afford to wait around for a ready-made cultivation method.
The three ape demons had vanished from Baiyun County, unlike the Black-skinned Dog Demon and Huang Laoliu before them. The other ape demons would soon discover what had happened.
Half the children in that family had died in one fell swoop. How could that genuine great demon possibly let him off?
Baiyun County was remote, with four demon forces in the surrounding area: the weasels to the west, the apes on East Mountain, the demon snake known as Old Mother Green Scale, and a group of foxes.
Shen Yi had already offended two of them.
He'd covered his tracks fairly well, but demons didn't need evidence to take revenge. If they so much as suspected him, they might wipe out all of Baiyun County.
"I'd better go home first."
Shen Yi's head throbbed from thinking. He wasn't some ruthless hardcase.
Earlier, he'd had only a year left to live, so he'd acted with a touch of reckless resentment. Now he'd inexplicably gained twenty more years, and he'd seen the wonders of martial arts.
If he could keep living, he certainly didn't want to give that up.
Shen Yi's thoughts drifted as he finally returned to a side room.
He was a minor official, so the yamen had given him better lodgings than Chen Ji's, though not by much.
He'd scraped together plenty of money, but his predecessor hadn't cared much for buying a house. After all, in Baiyun County, apart from a handful of people he couldn't afford to offend, he could sleep wherever he pleased.
His own room was a complete mess.
Shen Yi grimaced and began tidying up despite his exhaustion. There wasn't a broom, so he could only toss the clutter and all the wine jars scattered across the floor into the backyard.
He glanced at the greasy straw mat and furrowed his brow, then threw that out too.
When he was done, Shen Yi lay down on the hard wood, his eyelids growing heavy.
By rights, his body should no longer have been troubled by fatigue. But perhaps he'd been through too much in such a short time, and seen too many things he disliked. He just wanted to rest for a while.
A deep drowsiness swept over him.
Shen Yi closed his eyes completely, savoring a moment of peace.
If there was anything to complain about, it was that there wasn't a soft, fragrant body beside him to hold while he slept.
"Knock!"
"Knock!"
"Knock!"
Shen Yi opened his eyes and stared at his bed in confusion.
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