Li Yu followed the chieftain, who called himself Lei, into the cave.
At present, the Human Race of the Primordial World still lived in groups, mostly dwelling in caves.
"Chief Lei, tell me about the trouble your tribe has encountered," Li Yu said bluntly after sitting down.
Lei hurriedly replied, "Reporting to the Holy Envoy, members of our tribe have frequently been disappearing lately. At first, we had no clues, but a few days ago, we finally found some. Those missing tribesmen were all dragged away by an enchanted venomous snake. I fear their bones are already gone!"
At this point, Lei knelt and pleaded, "I beg the Holy Envoy to act and remove that demon. Otherwise, my tribe will surely face utter ruin!"
It was merely a demon that had gained some cultivation. Li Yu could crush it to death with a casual slap.
But considering the Huaxu Tribe's plight, there must have been tens of thousands of Human Race tribes, large and small, throughout the Primordial World. This was certainly not an isolated case.
Li Yu now understood why Nüwa had sent him to aid the Huaxu Tribe. Handling this matter was clearly meant to give him the chance to travel through the Human Race of the Primordial World and thoroughly cleanse the demons around them.
"Do you know where that demon is?" Li Yu asked.
Lei shook his head. "I do not. I only know that it appears at night and comes and goes with incredible speed."
Li Yu could have simply calculated the demon's whereabouts and dealt with it himself, but to settle the tribe's fears, he still intended to dispose of the snake demon before everyone's eyes.
"Then I shall wait here for that demon to come and die! Go tell your tribesmen to make preparations tonight. Perhaps they will get to enjoy a pot of snake stew!"
Having received Li Yu's instructions, Lei was overwhelmed with gratitude and hurried off to inform the tribe.
Li Yu left the cave, climbed to the mountaintop, and sat cross-legged to await the coming night.
Just after sunset, torches were lit throughout the tribe.
Perhaps the demon had grown bolder, or perhaps devouring humans these past days had benefited it. Before the sky had even fully darkened, it had already arrived at the Huaxu Tribe.
From afar, Li Yu saw a mass of black mist rushing toward the Huaxu Tribe. To mortals, it moved as swiftly as wind and lightning, but to him, it was no different from a crawling turtle.
When the snake demon concealed within the black mist reached the vicinity of the Huaxu Tribe, Li Yu vanished from the mountaintop and appeared in its path.
The snake demon was enormous, thirty to fifty zhang long and as thick as a thousand-year-old tree.
"Judging by your size, you should be enough to give everyone in the Huaxu Tribe a good meal."
Though Li Yu's words were light, the killing intent within them sent a chill through the snake demon's entire body.
"Senior, I do not know how this little demon has offended you. Please show mercy and spare my life!" the snake demon said shakily, flicking its tongue.
Li Yu could not be bothered to waste words on it. With a point of his finger, the snake demon became as still as if it had been struck by an immobilization spell, unable to move.
Li Yu turned and headed toward the Huaxu Tribe, while the snake demon floated behind him, carried along with him.
As soon as he returned to the tribal grounds, Chief Lei led over a thousand tribesmen, young and old, to greet him. By the light of the torches, they saw the snake demon behind Li Yu and all gasped sharply.
"Holy Envoy, is this the demon?" Lei asked, gathering his courage to step forward.
Li Yu nodded. "I told you during the day that I would treat everyone to snake meat tonight. Have you prepared the utensils?"
"They have long been prepared!"
"Good. Then I shall remove this demon before your eyes. Afterward, you may eat its flesh and drink its blood to avenge your tribesmen who were devoured by it!"
After saying this, Li Yu turned to face the snake demon. "Shatter the fangs, pull out the tongue, skin it, sever the head, remove the venom..."
As Li Yu gave each quiet command,
the snake demon was, in the blink of an eye, carved into chunks of varying sizes like an ox being butchered, then distributed among the tribesmen of the Huaxu Tribe. The flesh of such a demon naturally contained spiritual essence, incomparable to the wild beasts they usually hunted. After Li Yu's preparation, it had become excellent food.
As for how they would eat it, that was no longer something Li Yu needed to concern himself with. He trusted in their talent in that regard.
"Chief Lei, the demon has been removed, so I shall be leaving. Lead your tribesmen well and survive," Li Yu said privately after calling Lei over.
"Lei thanks the Holy Envoy and the Holy Mother on behalf of every elder and child of the Huaxu Tribe!"
With that, Lei knelt and performed a grand kowtow. When he raised his head again, Li Yu was nowhere to be seen.
"Huaxu Tribe? Was this the place where Fuxi would later be born?"
Li Yu calculated for a long while but found not the slightest clue. It seemed the time was still too early, and there were too many future variables for him to deduce anything for now.
Putting the matter aside, Li Yu began traveling across the Primordial World, searching for Human Race tribes scattered throughout it.
Whenever he encountered humans suffering the same fate as the Huaxu Tribe, Li Yu would handle the demons as he had there and distribute their flesh for everyone to eat. But for those great demons unsuitable for food, Li Yu usually sent them on their way with a single palm strike to save trouble, leaving neither corpse nor soul behind.
Li Yu spent nearly a year traveling through every Human Race tribe in the Primordial World. He eliminated no fewer than several thousand demons that had harmed humans.
As he traveled, the title of Holy Envoy spread far and wide among the Human Race of the Primordial World!
Demon Court, Demon Emperor Hall.
Di Jun and Taiyi, the two Demon Emperors, sat above, while beneath them stood numerous great demons, such as White Marsh, Ji Meng, Fei Lian... These were the backbone of the Demon Court.
"Your Majesty the Demon Emperor, recently, a Holy Envoy appeared among the Human Race of the Primordial World. Under the banner of protecting humans, he has slaughtered several thousand of our demon race. Though they were merely low-level demons with little cultivation, this still disregards the dignity of the Demon Court and appears to be a provocation against our demon race. I ask Your Majesty to instruct us on how this should be handled."
Ever since Kunpeng had mysteriously vanished after the Purple Cloud Palace's third lecture, his position had been taken by White Marsh, who excelled at strategy. White Marsh had received this information from the lower-ranking demons and had been unable to decide what to do, so he had come to discuss countermeasures with everyone.
The Human Race?
Only then did the demons in the Demon Emperor Hall remember that there was now a Human Race in the Primordial World, created by Nüwa, who herself came from the demon race.
Ever since the matter involving Fuxi, the two Demon Emperors had no longer had the face to see Nüwa. Originally, after Nüwa became a saint, the demon race would have gained an extraordinary patron, and the situation in the War Between Witches and Demons would surely have favored the demon race even more. But because of Fuxi's death, let alone asking Nüwa to help the demon race, they would already be fortunate if Nüwa did not scheme against them.
"Pass down the order. The Human Race was created by our race's saint and must not be bullied."
After hearing White Marsh's report, Di Jun considered it only briefly before making his decision. There was already bad blood between them and Saint Nüwa, so he could use this matter to show the saint some goodwill and indirectly yield a little, hoping to improve Nüwa's attitude toward them.
As for those dead demons, Di Jun did not care in the slightest. They were merely insignificant, lowly demons unfit to be seen in public. With the demon race's vast numbers, even if several thousand died today, their ranks would naturally be replenished before long.
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