"Come take a look. 👌💀 🐣👊"
Shen Yi stepped forward and chuckled softly. "Brother Huang, what brings you down the mountain so suddenly? You didn't even send word."
The dog demon stopped chewing. After a long silence, he shifted slightly aside, revealing the scene on the bed.
Another dog demon, a little thinner, lay quietly on the bed, swallowing small bites of tender viscera. Beneath her, a palm-sized puppy demon curled up and suckled.
"There are too many enemies on the mountain. I came down to lie low."
Huang Laoliu spoke in a muffled voice. "Don't talk to me about rules. There's more than enough food and drink here. I'm staying for half a year, until my son gets a little bigger."
At the sight, delight shone even brighter in Shen Yi's eyes. "Congratulations! Mother and child are safe."
As he spoke, he walked over to Huang Laoliu. He didn't mind the blood-soaked bed at all and sat down beside him.
Shen Yi draped an arm around the dog demon's neck. "You've got such happy news, yet you didn't tell your brother in advance."
Huang Laoliu glanced at him but didn't pull away. "Don't try to act close. Today, I'm not leaving for anyone—not even your county magistrate."
"Not leaving, not leaving."
Shen Yi smiled warmly at him, his clear black-and-white eyes growing ever brighter.
At that, a trace of a smile finally appeared on Huang Laoliu's face. He looked back at Shen Yi and was just about to speak when his pupils abruptly contracted.
Beneath the intimate gesture between them, a steel saber had already sunk into his chest.
"Kh! Kh!"
Hearing the strange sound, Chen Ji jerked his head up. Then his whole body shuddered.
He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Shen Yi held Huang Laoliu close, his expression calm. "You're a guest. How could I ever turn you away?"
As the words fell, he stabbed the dog demon in the heart again. Blood sprayed over them both, adding a splash of vivid color to the room's dark crimson gloom.
"You should... stay here forever... and never go anywhere." Shen Yi's voice grew gentler, his movements more practiced.
Thrust! Thrust! Thrust!
Each sentence came with a merciless stab, turning the burly body into a pulpy mess.
Huang Laoliu struggled with all his might, but no matter how hard he fought, against the arm Shen Yi had draped around him, it was like a mud ox vanishing into the sea—utterly futile.
To anyone watching, he looked like a well-behaved child sitting quietly, helplessly watching as the blade pierced him.
At long last, Shen Yi released him and watched indifferently as the dead dog demon toppled to the ground.
He looked up. "Go outside first."
Chen Ji's body was as stiff as a board, his mind in utter disarray.
Under Shen Yi's gaze, he jolted and turned toward the door. Just before leaving, he couldn't help glancing back.
Shen Yi sat on the edge of the bed, slowly pulling the steel saber from Huang Laoliu's body. He turned his eyes to the dog demon on the bed, whose eyes were full of terror, and reached out to take the viscera from her mouth. In a soft murmur, he said, "Sister-in-law, a family should stay together. Don't you think?"
Chen Ji stumbled.
He strode over the threshold and stopped outside. Closing his eyes, he drew in a deep breath.
A moment later, Shen Yi ambled out, wiping his long fingers with a rag. "Go in and clean up. Make sure you get everything."
Chen Ji opened his eyes and looked back at that familiar face. The thoughts in his mind were like a tangled skein of yarn, until they finally became one dazed question: "Why?"
"Why what?" Shen Yi raised an eyebrow and looked at him in confusion.
Damn! Damn! Damn!
Chen Ji clenched his teeth, his eyes wide.
Why had Shen Yi suddenly attacked? Why had he been exchanging pleasantries one moment, then butchering that dog demon like livestock the next, sitting right there as he killed it?
Why had he worn that damned smile as he struck? Did he hate them or not? What did he think of the dead villagers? What did he think of those demons he called brothers?
In Chen Ji's eyes, Shen Yi had been able to watch indifferently as a corpse of his own kind was devoured, then treat those dog demons just as indifferently—including the puppy that couldn't even open its eyes.
It was completely incomprehensible.
Amid his many doubts, Chen Ji forced himself to settle down and asked the most practical question: "Why kill them? Aren't you afraid the Yellow Weasel will retaliate? Or have you already come up with a better solution, Lord Shen?"
"What solution?" Shen Yi furrowed his brow and replied calmly. "It didn't want to leave, and I wasn't willing to let it keep eating people. I had no choice but to find a compromise that would satisfy everyone."
"Th-this counts as a reason?"
At that, Chen Ji drew a deep breath. He knew Shen Yi didn't want to explain, so he ducked into the room without another word and began cleaning up the dog demons' corpses.
It had only been a few days, yet he'd found that he could no longer understand this lord.
"..."
Once he was alone, Shen Yi stood quietly by the door and finally tossed aside the rag, revealing fingers that trembled faintly. He lowered his eyes to his hand and clenched his fist hard, forcing his fingertips to still.
As someone who had crossed into another world, this was the first time he'd seen the dead so clearly. He'd watched that foul-smelling flesh torn away in great bites, and had even seen strands of meat stuck between the dog demon's teeth.
Shen Yi had truly wanted to throw up. He could only rely on stabbing again and again to vent the fear and anger in his heart.
But he still had to keep his emotions in check.
Only by staying calm could he hold out until the Demon Suppression Division arrived. If even he gave in to fear, there was no one in all of Baiyun County who would come to his aid.
As for the question Chen Ji had asked, Shen Yi had considered it too. But in the end, he'd come to understand one thing.
Was there another way to solve the problem? The answer was no.
If he washed his hands of it, the villagers would still die. No matter what, they were doomed—a dead-end with no solution. All he could do was fulfill his duty. Why trouble himself with anything more?
Rather than use words like "the greater good" or "endure for a while and all will be calm" to numb himself here,
he might as well gather more demon lifespan, grow stronger, and, when the next beast stuck out its claws, cut it down with a single stroke!
Shen Yi remembered the demon lifespan. This time, the haul had been quite bountiful.
[Enlightened dog demon, not yet in the Initial Realm, total lifespan: 145 years, remaining lifespan: 59 years, absorption complete] [Enlightened dog demon, not yet in the Initial Realm, total lifespan: 152 years, remaining lifespan: 61 years, absorption complete] [Unenlightened dog demon, total lifespan: 80 years, remaining lifespan: 79 years, absorption complete] [Remaining demon lifespan: 199 years] [Remaining personal lifespan: 1 year]
"They even rounded it up for me. That makes exactly two hundred years."
Shen Yi hadn't yet decided where to invest the demon lifespan next.
Should he continue with the Demon-Subduing Blade Technique, using the Zhengyang Saber as a foundation to learn more about the Initial Realm?
Or should he work on the Cloud-Parting Long Fist and see whether he could gain more talent in fist and palm techniques?
While Shen Yi was pondering, Chen Ji had already loaded the demon corpses onto the cart and brought the old donkey over.
"No matter what you're considering, Lord Shen..."
Chen Ji handed him the reins, his expression complicated, and looked into the distance.
The villagers scattered across the field ridges still looked just as numb, standing with their hands hanging like the living dead. Only when their gazes passed over the cart did their vacant eyes show the faintest trace of emotion.
"At least today, you saved their lives."
Chen Ji finished speaking and tried to force out a strained smile, but then the reins were pulled from his hands.
He looked up and saw that Shen Yi had mounted the old donkey and was already riding away at a leisurely pace.
"..."
Shen Yi stretched and rolled his eyes.
What the hell was there to consider? Before praising someone, Chen Ji had to make a snide remark first. What was wrong with him?
So sentimental.
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