Raising Blood Food?

Ten-year-old Lu An was in the middle of his growth spurt, drooling with greed. While Lu Yuan was picking up food, he secretly stretched out his chopsticks, grabbed two extra chunks of fatty meat, and stuffed them into his mouth.

Smack!!

Liu Ying picked up her wooden chopsticks and rapped Lu An across the back of his hand.

She snapped irritably, "You're the one who practices martial arts and burns through more energy. Letting you eat more meat means everything in this family has to be saved for your brother."

Hearing Liu Ying's words,

Lu An immediately talked back. "I want to go to the martial academy too. I want to practice martial arts too."

"My talent isn't any worse than my brother's!"

Lu An pouted.

"Mother, it's fine. Let Xiao An eat more."

"I get 150 big coins every month, and I can go fishing at Azure Cloud Mountain from time to time. Daily food expenses won't be a problem."

Lu Yuan swallowed the food in his mouth and spoke with a smile.

He rubbed Lu An's head.

Then he gave Liu Ying, Liu Tieshan, Lu Qing, and Lu An each several pieces of meat.

Lu Yuan mixed his rice with the soy-sauce-colored meat broth shimmering with oil, then ate another bowl of rice with it.

In this world, fat and oil were extremely precious things.

After eating and drinking his fill,

Lu Yuan returned to his room.

He shut the doors and windows tightly.

Then he took out the two Demon Cores.

One was the crimson Demon Core of the Bristle-Haired Boar Demon, while the other was the azure Demon Core of the Azure-Scaled Fish Demon.

Tomorrow, he intended to sell these two Demon Cores to Yan Nishang.

He would exchange them for money to support his future martial arts expenses and help provide for the household.

Looking at the Demon Cores in his hand,

Lu Yuan suddenly recalled what had happened when he swallowed the Gray-Skinned Rat Demon's Demon Core last time.

Back then, before he had even swallowed the Demon Core, while it was merely in his mouth,

some fragments of memory from the rat demon's sea of consciousness had flooded into his mind.

"Perhaps I don't need to swallow them? I should try it."

Lu Yuan's heart stirred.

For him now, swallowing these two Demon Cores might only restore some of his stamina.

They would be of no use in raising his realm.

He might as well sell them for money.

He picked up the crimson Demon Core of the Bristle-Haired Boar Demon and gently tucked it beneath his tongue.

The next instant,

a strange fragment of memory

flooded into his mind.

His vision blurred for a moment, then became clear.

The scene before him seemed somewhat familiar.

It appeared to be within the dense forest of Azure Cloud Mountain.

The viewpoint was the boar demon's own.

Before the boar demon stood a figure seen from behind, dressed in a dark sleeveless outer vest.

A Goose-Plume Saber hung at the figure's waist, and the figure stood with his back to the boar demon.

"Take it slowly. Don't draw the Demon Suppression Office's attention. Once this batch of blood food has been fattened up, there'll naturally be rich rewards from above."

The figure spoke in a low voice.

Then the memory scene abruptly came to an end.

Lu Yuan spat out the Demon Core, confusion filling his eyes.

"That back... looks a little like the captain!"

"But what exactly is this blood food? What is it used for?"

Lu Yuan murmured, then shook his head.

His current strength was meager. The more he knew, the faster he would die.

He could only bury these matters in his heart.

Then Lu Yuan picked up the azure Demon Core of the Azure-Scaled Fish Demon and put it into his mouth again.

The memory fragments surged in once more.

This time, the viewpoint was beneath the dark, icy waters of the Cold Pool.

The Azure Fish Demon swam through the water.

However, that was not the depths of the Cold Pool.

At that moment, the depths of the Cold Pool were pitch-black.

Within that darkness,

the slightest glimpse of some enormous creatures' scales or claws

was enough to fill the Azure Fish Demon with terror.

Before those gigantic creatures,

the First-Order High-Grade Azure Fish Demon was as tiny as a chick. It did not dare draw near even half a step and could only scavenge scraps from the outskirts.

Then the memory fragment came to an abrupt end once again.

Lu Yuan regained clarity and let out a long breath.

Although the Azure Fish Demon's memories contained only scattered fragments, Lu Yuan could be certain that the depths of the Cold Pool hid quite a few terrifying demon beasts.

"If I went to the Cold Pool now, I'd probably just end up as fish bait."

"Once I have strength in the future, I'll definitely pay these demon beasts a proper visit."

Excitement gleamed in Lu Yuan's eyes.

Those demon beasts were all experience points!

The sky gradually darkened.

Lu Yuan was preparing to undress and sleep.

But at that moment,

he was interrupted by a voice.

"Brother! Brother!"

"Someone from the yamen is here! He's waiting for you outside the courtyard!"

Lu An hurriedly pushed open the door and rushed in.

Lu Yuan frowned.

Then he headed outside the courtyard.

Under the bright moonlight,

Lu Yuan saw a young man outside the courtyard wearing a somewhat worn yamen runner's uniform.

Judging by his appearance, he was several years younger than Lu Yuan, thin and small in stature.

"Greetings, Brother Lu!"

When he saw Lu Yuan emerge, the young man spoke respectfully.

"Who are you?"

The unfamiliar face made Lu Yuan ask.

"My name is Kong Jie. I'm a newcomer who was just assigned to the constable squad. Uncle Li died in Blackwater Village before, so I came to fill his vacancy. I'll be working under Brother Lu from now on, so I hope you'll give me plenty of guidance."

Kong Jie looked somewhat nervous.

"Kong Jie?"

Lu Yuan repeated the rather feminine-sounding name. The corner of his mouth twitched, and he nearly failed to keep a straight face.

"Kong Jie? Flight attendant?"

He ranted wildly in his heart.

"Brother Lu, is there a problem?"

Kong Jie froze for a moment and scratched the back of his head.

He had no idea why Lu Yuan was making that expression.

"No, it's quite good. Very distinctive." Lu Yuan shook his head and brought the topic back on track. "What do you need from me in the middle of the night?"

Kong Jie hurriedly pulled an official document from his robes. "Brother Lu, a demon infestation has appeared in Great River Village. The higher-ups have issued a death order for you to deal with it."

"I'm supposed to deal with it? I just became a full member. This isn't even under my jurisdiction!"

Lu Yuan frowned.

They really did not want him to live!

After having him escort demon beast corpses, they were pulling something like this too?

"There aren't enough people now. They've all gone to deal with demon infestations."

"And the higher-ups also said that you have experience killing demon beasts."

As he said this,

Kong Jie's eyes seemed to light up.

Hearing Kong Jie's words,

Lu Yuan pondered it for a while. They said he had experience killing demon beasts.

They meant the rat demon from Blackwater Village that he had killed.

But that matter had been suppressed.

So they had not explicitly stated which demon beast Lu Yuan had killed?

"If you go, I'll follow you and help out. If you don't go, I'll still have to go alone."

Seeing Lu Yuan's expression and assuming that he did not want to go,

Kong Jie added another sentence.

Holy shit, was this kid trying to morally blackmail me?

Lu Yuan looked at the stubborn flight attendant.

He wanted to curse.

"How much do you get from the yamen each month?"

"O-one hundred big coins."

"One hundred big coins a month, and you're selling your life for that?" Lu Yuan was speechless. "What I mean is, what are you doing this for? It's thankless hard work! That's a demon beast, not a wild boar or black bear in the mountains. When you run into one, do you know how you'll die?"

At first, Lu Yuan suspected that this kid was bait Chen Kuang had sent to set him up.

But when he saw the clear yet foolish look in Kong Jie's eyes,

he began doubting his own judgment.

This kid was completely thickheaded, a stubborn fool.

The higher-ups had given an order, and he was going to throw his life away?

Go fight a demon beast to the death?