Azure Cloud Village

Lu Yuan was leaning against a pillar as well, panting heavily.

"Big brother, are... are you alright?"

A few breaths later.

A timid voice rang out.

At some point, the little girl called Shengnan had moved closer to Lu Yuan.

She even stood on tiptoe and tied a filthy strip of cloth around Lu Yuan's shoulder.

Bang!

The ancestral hall's broken wooden door was brutally kicked open.

"Are you done eating? You made such a racket—what if someone found out..."

A drake-like voice sounded, filled with complaint and panic.

It was Shi Yun speaking.

After seeing the scene inside, Dou Chu quickly grabbed Shi Yun.

The two of them, like Lu Yuan, were constables assigned to the local station.

Originally, they had not planned to come in, only to keep watch outside.

But the commotion had been far too great.

This matter had been specially assigned by the captain.

If they botched it, they would be unable to bear the consequences.

"Why are you pulling me..."

Reeking of alcohol, Shi Yun cursed.

"You greedy, lazy, treacherous fool! I told you to keep a proper watch—how did you let a rat demon slip into the village?"

The moment Dou Chu entered the ancestral hall, he smelled the blood stench soaring to the heavens.

And saw the severed limbs scattered across the ground.

They clearly belonged to that rat demon.

What shocked him even more was the usually inconspicuous Lu Yuan.

He was actually holding a bloodstained rusty blade.

How could Dou Chu not understand now?

Dou Chu's words sobered Shi Yun up in an instant.

Disbelief flickered in his eyes.

"You killed it?"

Dou Chu asked.

From the pair's behavior, Lu Yuan sensed that something was wrong.

But before Lu Yuan could speak.

"Big brother killed it."

Xu Shengnan's voice rang out.

Tears streamed down her face as she lay on the ground, piecing together her mother's corpse. She looked up at the two men. "Didn't you notice the rat demon entering the village?"

Since Xu Shengnan had spoken for him.

And if he explained now that he had not killed the rat demon.

It would look rather like hiding a silver bar where there was no silver.

Instead, it would make the two men even more suspicious.

"You little thing..."

In Shi Yun's eyes, the people of Blackwater Village were nothing but lowly rabble.

Let alone a little girl.

"This was our oversight. When the time comes, we will report it and accept our punishment."

Dou Chu shot Shi Yun a fierce glare, then clasped his fists toward Lu Yuan.

"Today, we were fortunate to have Brother Lu. We will report the merit of slaying this demon to the captain."

"Brother Lu, you must be tired as well. Hurry back and rest. Leave this place to the two of us to clean up."

Lu Yuan frowned at those words.

He had originally intended to deal with the scene himself.

After all, his strength was still weak, and he needed to keep a low profile.

But Dou Chu had put it that way.

If he insisted on dealing with the rat demon's corpse.

It would only bring trouble faster.

He could only play dumb.

"Then I'll have to thank you two brothers. Another day, I'll treat you to drinks."

With that, Lu Yuan covered the wound on his shoulder and left the ancestral hall.

Keep a low profile, keep a low profile. Now that he had the system.

What he lacked most was time.

Dou Chu and Shi Yun watched Lu Yuan leave.

"Do you think that kid really killed the rat demon? Does he have that kind of strength?"

Shi Yun still found it hard to believe.

"No matter what, the rat demon truly died here."

"The news will spread through Blackwater Village. We can't keep it hidden—we need to tell the captain immediately."

Dou Chu signaled for him to hurry and clean up the mess.

"Hmm?"

After leaving the ancestral hall, Lu Yuan had not expected a little tail to be following him.

He stared at Xu Shengnan. "You're not going home?"

Xu Shengnan wiped away her tears. "My mother's dead. I don't have a home."

"Then why are you following me?"

"I don't want to stay here anymore. I'm scared. Those two people don't look like good people."

Xu Shengnan stared steadily at Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan's head immediately exploded. Are you a debt collector or something?

Xu Shengnan said nothing, only clutched tightly at the hem of Lu Yuan's clothes.

With no other choice, after leaving Blackwater Village, Lu Yuan did not head for the county office.

Instead, he prepared to go to Green Mountain Village.

As a constable—and an unregistered one at that.

He did not even have a place to stay at the county office.

Besides, with Xu Shengnan, a little burden, in tow, it would be inconvenient for him to work.

In Lu Yuan's memories, he had been born in Green Mountain Village.

Green Mountain Village was roughly thirty li from Blackwater Village.

Neither of them spoke along the way.

Lu Yuan led Xu Shengnan back to the village before sunset.

Among the hundred-odd villages in Pingyang County, Green Mountain Village was considered medium-sized, with around a thousand households.

Most villagers made their living through skill and labor—weaving cloth, forging weapons, hunting, and selling salt—earning hard money to support their families.

As soon as they entered the village, they ran into several uncles and elders they knew.

"Oh, Xiao Yuan, you're back! Not on duty today?"

"Uncle Wang, Uncle Li."

Lu Yuan greeted them with a smile.

The villagers' gazes shifted to Xu Shengnan, who was gripping the corner of Lu Yuan's clothes tightly behind him.

"Heh, this kid's got prospects. He went out to serve as a constable and even brought back a child bride along the way?"

"She looks lively enough, just a little thin. Xiao Yuan, you'd better feed her well!"

Several men laughed in good-natured teasing.

Lu Yuan helplessly shook his head. Too lazy to explain, he merely smiled and headed straight home.

He pushed open the familiar wooden door.

"Mother, Second Sister, I'm back."

In the courtyard, his mother, who was weaving cloth, and his second sister, who was chopping firewood, immediately stopped what they were doing at the sound of his voice.

"Xiao Yuan's back!"

His mother, Madam Liu, and his second sister, Lu Qing, hurried over with delighted expressions.

Lu Yuan's family was simple. Aside from his mother and second sister, there was also his ten-year-old younger brother, Lu An, who was currently sprawled over the stone table practicing calligraphy.

As for his eldest brother, he had gone to Linhai Prefecture in Qingzhou to make a living six years ago, and there had been no news of him since.

Fortunately, Lu Yuan's maternal grandfather held considerable prestige in the village and often looked after them. Though the family lived frugally, they were still happy together, and at least no one went hungry.

"Why did you suddenly come back? And why is there blood on you?"

His second sister had sharp eyes. She immediately noticed the blood seeping through the cloth strip on Lu Yuan's shoulder, and her face changed.

"It's nothing. An injury on duty."

Lu Yuan answered casually, unwilling to worry his family.

As he spoke, his mother and second sister noticed Xu Shengnan hiding behind Lu Yuan.

"This girl is..."

Madam Liu asked in confusion.

Lu Yuan sighed and briefly explained how Xu Shengnan's mother had died tragically in Blackwater Village.

Naturally, he left out the part about killing the demon and the system. He only said that the people from the county office had already handled the matter, and that he had brought this lonely child back with him.

Hearing of her miserable fate, his mother and second sister's eyes immediately reddened.

"What a sin..."

His mother wiped away her tears.

Xu Shengnan was a clever girl as well. Seeing this, she hurriedly stepped forward and called out timidly yet clearly, "Hello, Grandma. Hello, Auntie."

That sweet call melted his mother and second sister's hearts at once.

"Ah, good child. You've suffered so much."

His mother pulled Xu Shengnan into her arms, while his second sister lovingly stroked her dry, yellowed hair.

Lu Yuan had just been about to ask how they should settle the girl.

But his mother spoke first. "This girl is pitiful. Let her stay with us for now. Our family isn't wealthy, but it's only an extra pair of chopsticks. From now on, this will be your home."

"That's right. Call me Auntie from now on, and treat this place as your own home. No one will be allowed to bully you." Lu Qing nodded repeatedly.

Watching this scene, Lu Yuan was somewhat speechless.

In this world where demons ran rampant and human lives were as worthless as grass.

Especially at a time like this, he truly did not want to take Xu Shengnan in.

But to throw her out now?

His mother and second sister would not agree either.