Huge Harvest

"Come and see you."

Shen Yi stepped forward and said with a light laugh, "Huang Laoliu, why did you suddenly come down from the mountain? You didn't even give me a heads-up."

The dog demon stopped chewing, remained silent for a long time, and shifted its body slightly to reveal the scene on the bed.

A slightly thinner dog demon lay quietly on the bed, swallowing small bites of soft, tender viscera. Beneath it, a palm-sized puppy was curled up, suckling.

"There are too many enemies on the mountain, so I came down to hide."

Huang Laoliu said in a muffled voice, "Don't talk to me about rules. There is enough food and drink here. I intend to stay for a full half-year until my child grows up a bit."

Seeing this, the joy in Shen Yi's eyes deepened. "Congratulations, congratulations! Both mother and child are safe."

As he spoke, he walked to Huang Laoliu's side and, not minding the blood-stained bed frame, sat down.

Shen Yi reached out and rested his hand on the dog demon's neck. "With such happy news, you didn't even tell your brother beforehand."

Huang Laoliu glanced at him but did not pull away. "Stop trying to get close. Today, even if your county magistrate came, I wouldn't leave."

"Don't leave, don't leave."

Shen Yi stared at the other with a smile, his black-and-white eyes becoming increasingly clear.

Hearing this, a smile finally appeared on Huang Laoliu's face. It looked back at him, and just as it was about to speak, its pupils suddenly constricted.

Under the guise of their intimate posture, a steel saber had already been plunged into its chest.

"Hah! Hah!"

Hearing the strange noise, Chen Ji looked up abruptly, then shuddered all over.

He could not believe what he was seeing.

Shen Yi was holding Huang Laoliu, his expression calm. "Guests are welcome; why would I drive you away?"

As the words fell, he stabbed the saber into the dog demon's heart again. Blood splattered onto both of them, adding a touch of vibrancy to the dark red of the room.

"You should just... stay here forever... and go nowhere else." Shen Yi's voice grew gentler, his movements increasingly practiced.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

Every sentence represented a strike delivered without hesitation, turning the sturdy body into a pulp.

Huang Laoliu struggled with all its might, but no matter how much strength it exerted, it was like a clay ox entering the sea against the arm Shen Yi had draped over it, yielding no reaction.

In the eyes of others, it appeared to be sitting as quietly as a well-behaved baby, watching helplessly as it was pierced through by the blade.

After a long while, Shen Yi finally let go, watching indifferently as the dead dog demon slumped to the floor.

He looked up. "You go out first."

Chen Ji's body was as stiff as wood, his mind in total chaos.

Under the other's gaze, he gave a start, turned, and walked toward the door. He couldn't help but take one last look before leaving.

Shen Yi sat on the edge of the bed, slowly pulling the steel saber from Huang Laoliu's body. He glanced sideways at the terrified dog demon on the bed, reached out to take the viscera from its mouth, and whispered, "Sister-in-law, a family should be kept together, don't you think?"

Chen Ji stumbled.

Taking long strides over the threshold, he stood outside and closed his eyes, breathing heavily.

A moment later, Shen Yi walked out slowly, wiping his long fingers with a rag. He said faintly, "Go in and clean it up."

Hearing this, Chen Ji opened his eyes and looked back at that familiar face. The thoughts in his mind were like a tangled ball of yarn, eventually coalescing into one dull question: "Why?"

"Why what?" Shen Yi raised an eyebrow, looking over in confusion.

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

Chen Ji gritted his teeth, his eyes wide.

Of course, why did you suddenly attack! Why were you exchanging pleasantries one second, and the next, you slaughtered that dog demon while sitting down as if you were butchering livestock!

Why did you still have that damn smile on your face while you were doing it! Do you hate them or not? How do you view the dead commoners, and how do you view this group of demons?

In Chen Ji's eyes, the other could actually watch with indifference as the corpses of his own kind were devoured, and then treat that group of "brotherly" dog demons—including the puppy that couldn't even open its eyes—with the same coldness.

This was completely incomprehensible.

Amidst his many doubts, Chen Ji forcibly calmed his emotions and asked the most practical question: "Why kill them? Aren't you afraid of the yellow-furred demons' retaliation? Or does Master Shen already have a better solution?"

"What solution?" Shen Yi frowned and said calmly, "It didn't want to leave, and I didn't want it to keep eating people, so I had to find a compromise that would satisfy everyone."

"This... this counts as a reason?"

Hearing this, Chen Ji took a deep breath. Knowing the other was unwilling to discuss it in detail, he simply buried his head and rushed into the room to start cleaning up the dog demon's remains.

He hadn't seen him for only a few days, yet he found he could no longer understand this master.

Left alone, Shen Yi stood quietly at the doorway and finally threw away the rag, revealing his slightly trembling fingers. He lowered his eyes to stare at his palms, clenching his fists hard to force his fingertips to be still.

As a transmigrator, this was the first time he had seen a dead person so clearly, watching the foul-smelling, rotting flesh being torn off in large chunks; he could even see the meat fibers between the dog demon's teeth.

Shen Yi really wanted to vomit; he could only rely on the continuous stabbing to vent the fear and anger in his heart.

But he had to control his emotions.

Only by staying calm could he have a chance to hold out until the Demon Suppression Division arrived. If even he were afraid, there would be no one in this vast Baiyun County to pull him up.

As for the question Chen Ji raised, Shen Yi had actually thought about it, but he finally realized one thing.

Was there any other solution? The answer was no.

If he let it go, the villagers in this village would die anyway. It was a dead end regardless, so he might as well do his part and not look for trouble.

Rather than drugging himself with words like "the big picture" or "endure for a moment of peace," it was better to collect more demon longevity to strengthen his power. When the next beast reached out its claws, he would cut it down with one strike!

Shen Yi thought of the demon longevity; this harvest was quite bountiful.

[Enlightened dog demon, not yet entered the initial stage, total longevity 145 years, 59 years remaining, absorption complete]

[Enlightened dog demon, not yet entered the initial stage, total longevity 152 years, 61 years remaining, absorption complete]

[Unenlightened dog demon, total longevity 80 years, 79 years remaining, absorption complete]

[Remaining demon longevity: 199 years]

[Remaining personal longevity: 1 year]

"It even rounded it up for me; it adds up to exactly two hundred years."

Shen Yi hadn't decided yet where to invest the demon longevity.

Should he continue with the Demon-Subduing Blade Technique, using the Zhengyang Saber as a foundation to explore more about the initial stage?

Or the Cloud-Parting Long Fist, to see if he could gain more talent for fists and palms?

While Shen Yi was pondering, Chen Ji had already loaded the demon corpses onto the cart and brought over the old donkey.

"Regardless of what Master Shen is considering..."

Chen Ji handed over the reins, his expression complex as he looked into the distance.

The villagers standing sporadically on the ridges were still in that numb state, standing with their hands hanging down like the living dead. Only when their gazes swept over the cart did a hint of emotion flicker in their vacant eyes.

"At least today, you saved their lives."

After Chen Ji finished speaking, he wanted to force a reluctant smile, but he felt the reins being pulled from his hand.

He looked up and saw that Shen Yi was already riding the old donkey, having wandered off leisurely.

Shen Yi stretched and rolled his eyes.

Considering my ass. He had to be sarcastic and insulting before he could even offer a compliment—what a character.

So pretentious.