Ape Demon's Revenge

"Move!"

Liu the Clerk waved his hand, and a group of men marched imposingly onto the long street.

"Lord Shen, if you please."

The Thin Ascetic stood with his hands behind his back, watching with a beaming smile.

Shen Yi closed the door behind him, a chill flashing through his eyes.

This group had clearly come prepared; they had not only found a pretext but had even gauged his strength.

The dozen or so bailiffs were not only armed with waist blades but also held spears over a zhang long, while the remaining soldiers were all equipped with powerful bows and heavy crossbows. These meant little to demons or martial artists, but if one added the Thin Ascetic to provide cover and distraction...

Even two more Yellow Weasels would have to lie down and die there.

"I'd like to see what kind of tricks you're pulling." Butcher Zhang walked over with a dark, gloomy face and stood behind Shen Yi.

Seeing this, the Thin Ascetic's expression flickered, but he did not stop him. He merely raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Suit yourself. I am merely here to accompany you under orders."

There was no point in wasting words with those who didn't see eye to eye.

The three of them walked in silence, heading toward the outskirts of the city under the suspicious and uneasy gazes of the passersby.

Once they left Baiyun County, Shilin Village was about thirty miles away.

Liu the Clerk was clearly burning with impatience. He walked hurriedly with a grim face, occasionally glancing back at Shen Yi, the murderous intent in his eyes growing ever more intense.

"Is this supposed to be demon suppression, or are they suppressing us?"

Even Zhang Dahu sensed that something was wrong and struggled hard.

Immediately, two spears shifted, their sharp tips pressing against his neck and drawing two streaks of blood.

"No, wait, where are we going?"

The Niu Brothers did not struggle, but they watched as the group passed Shilin Village as if they hadn't seen it at all, heading straight into a small path.

"Any further and it's just wasteland. Aren't you afraid of running into demons?"

At these words, the Thin Ascetic gave a playful laugh and slowly came to a halt.

Almost simultaneously, everyone stopped. The bailiffs and soldiers cleared a path, then suddenly kicked the calves of the captives, forcing them to stumble to their knees, followed by cold blades being pressed against their necks.

A colleague sighed and looked away.

In the distance, under the dim moonlight, a thatched shed had appeared by the side of the road.

A tall figure stood by a table, dressed in cloth garments with black fur covering the arms visible at the cuffs, intently pouring wine into a bowl.

The one seated was small and thin, draped in a coir raincoat and wearing a bamboo hat, back turned to the crowd, as if having a late-night snack.

"Damn it, this is a tough mark."

Butcher Zhang looked on with a grave expression.

He finally understood why his senior brother didn't mind him tagging along; what lay before them were two demons of the Initial Realm.

The one sitting had an aura of agitation, clearly having broken through only recently, but that thick, heavy scent was unmistakably the peak of the Initial Realm.

The one standing was slightly weaker, but still on par with him—even their builds were similar... and that was without counting the senior brother nearby or the thirty or forty bailiffs and soldiers.

Butcher Zhang had been in the business for many years and was incredibly experienced.

In the span of a breath, he made his decision: "Run!"

As long as the green hills remain, one shouldn't eat the immediate loss.

"I've brought them to you."

Liu the Clerk stepped forward, emboldened enough to walk right up to the shed. "Those ape demons weren't killed by me, and I've suppressed the news about you abducting the children... I know you wanted to lure him out... Master Ape, I am over fifty and had a son late in life, please return my child to me..."

"Shut up." The tall, cloth-clad ape demon set down the wine pot and cast a cold glance at him.

"Right, right, I'll shut up." Liu the Clerk bowed with a fawning smile, waving his hand toward the back.

The soldiers' powerful bows were instantly aimed at Shen Yi in the crowd.

A dozen spears pressed down simultaneously, blocking his path of retreat.

At this moment, the old ape in the coir raincoat let out a satisfied belch and neatly stacked the things he had been gnawing on, now picked clean.

It stood up and wiped its mouth with its sleeve. In the moonlight, the thirteen small skulls on the table were licked to a polished shine, their empty eye sockets ghastly.

After wiping the corners of its mouth, the old ape turned to look at them, nodded with great politeness, and said in a hoarse voice, "Thank you."

Having received the praise, Liu the Clerk's face lit up with joy, but then his gaze fell upon the table, and he felt something was wrong as he counted on his fingers.

Following that, his aged face turned deathly pale.

His body shook like chaff in the wind, his legs went weak, and he couldn't stop himself from collapsing to his knees.

Liu the Clerk's Adam's apple bobbed, but he couldn't speak, only emitting strange, mute-like wails:

"Ah! Ah! Ah!"

Looking at the pile of skulls, Butcher Zhang's face showed unbearable grief. He suddenly turned and glared at the Thin Ascetic: "You scarred-headed fool, have you gone mad!"

"What does that have to do with me?" The Thin Ascetic frowned and spread his hands. "I didn't do anything. I was merely ordered by the Magistrate to accompany Liu the Clerk tonight to investigate this matter thoroughly."

"If you really want to talk about it, shouldn't you be asking Lord Shen how he's been doing his job?"

The Thin Ascetic wore a smirk as he cast his gaze toward Shen Yi.

"Go to hell! You were only given four men to look after two hundred thousand people in Baiyun County, and you even helped the demons suppress the news. If I were in the Demon Suppression Division, I'd have cut the heads off these beasts first!"

Butcher Zhang was furious and wanted to continue cursing, but he noticed that someone beside him had suddenly disappeared.

He looked up.

He saw Shen Yi walking away in silence, completely ignoring the spears and bows nearby.

He arrived beside Chen Ji and leaned over to draw the man's waist blade.

"Get out of here first! There will be plenty of chances!" Before Chen Ji could finish, he was pressed down by someone beside him.

The bailiff who acted stared at Shen Yi's profile, unable to squeeze out a single word for a long time.

Soon, the young man reached the shed.

The two ape demons looked at him indifferently. The younger, taller one sneered, "If you kneel down like him now, you might still have a chance at leaving a whole corpse."

"Kill them for me! You idiot! You like to show off, don't you? Now I order you, kill them at once!"

Liu the Clerk clutched his sleeves in a frenzy, letting out a beast-like howl.

Unfortunately, this plea lasted only for an instant before it turned into a gurgling sound of rushing blood.

As the blade flashed by, the white-haired head fell to the ground with a thud.

Shen Yi stared at the two ape demons, and while Liu the Clerk's body had yet to fall, he casually wiped the blade on the man's blue-collared shirt.

In the distance, the palms of the bailiffs gripping their spears suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

The soldiers swallowed hard; their powerful bows had long been aimed at that thin figure, arrows nocked, yet they dared not release them for a long time.

"Such unmitigated gall!"

The Thin Ascetic was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage and charged forward with long strides.

He had been ordered to come tonight not as the main force to ambush Shen Yi, but merely to protect Liu the Clerk and provide cover.

Who would have thought this madman would stand before the two demons and decapitate the Clerk first? Even more infuriating was that the two old apes were just watching quietly!

To any outsider, it would look as if Liu the Clerk were the one being ambushed tonight.

Just as his rage peaked, a thick, powerful arm swung across the air and smashed into his chest without mercy.

The Thin Ascetic stumbled back several steps, barely managing to steady himself, and roared, "You stupid dog, didn't you see him kill a man?"

Butcher Zhang's face was ferocious as he drew his Butcher Knife and slashed over: "Go to hell!"

At the same time.

The indifferent eyes of the two ape demons finally rippled with emotion.