Shuiyun Township, fishing village.
Amid the Yangchun River's restless roar, villagers held up torches to light the pitch-black night.
Firelight and shadow intertwined.
Their faces flickered in the light. They stared ahead in silence, the dancing flames reflected in their pupils, their expressions touched with fanaticism.
A group of young men held fishing spears, their sharp tips pressed against the chests of several gravely wounded Demon Suppression Division Lieutenants.
Liu Xiujie and Li Xiao'er lay on the ground, gasping for breath. Their eyes were unfocused, and they were barely conscious.
Ma Tao was in an even worse state. Skilled in close-quarters grappling, he now had every bone in his body shattered. His long robe was soaked red with thick blood, and his breathing was faint.
They couldn't understand what kind of temptation could make a River God, who had painstakingly built a reputation over hundreds of years and shed her demonic name, suddenly go on a rampage and brazenly attack Demon Suppression Division Lieutenants.
Unlike other demons, the River God was deeply revered by the common folk. She had lived here for so long that Shuiyun Township could practically be called territory the Demon Suppression Division had tacitly granted her.
In return, even if she hadn't personally caused a mishap, the court could hold her accountable for anything that went wrong here.
That was why Li Mujin had gone straight to the temple to wait as soon as she arrived. Though she couldn't stand this River Demon, she was still half "one of their own."
After this kind of crime, unless the River God hid underwater for the rest of her life, she was as good as dead!
Four hundred years of patience, all for nothing. And all to kill a few Lieutenants who had come to observe the rites?