Leaving the City

Faintly, Gao Fei heard someone outside the city gate calling for it to be opened.

Gao Fei raised his spear and thrust it through the chest of the white-clad yamen runner who had just answered. The man spat blood and collapsed.

"Open the gate!"

Only then did the three men react and begin moving the supporting beam. Lu Xiaoliu hurried over to help as well.

Gao Fei did not move. He needed to conserve his strength.

The moment the city gate opened, the villagers outside surged in like a tide.

"Clear the road in the middle, or I'll trample straight through. If anyone gets trampled to death or injured, don't blame me."

After shouting that, Gao Fei said to Xiao Liu, "You don't need to follow me. Once the villagers are inside, close the gate. Find a rope and meet me from the city wall."

With that, he crashed straight out.

The people outside the city were all villagers unwilling to pay to enter, numbering a little over a hundred.

Not far away, more than a dozen Dog Demons had surrounded a single person.

On the outskirts, over two hundred upright Minor Monsters with Awakened Intelligence watched while barking "woof, woof" from the side.

At the very edge of the villagers stood more than a dozen grown men, gripping long spears as they faced off against several dozen Dog Demons with Unawakened Intelligence.

Taking in the situation, Gao Fei leaped straight over them.

With one thrust, he killed a Dog Demon with Unawakened Intelligence that stood half the height of a man.

Even one Merit Point was a gain. Gao Fei did not let it go and pressed forward swiftly.

His spear technique was swift to the extreme. Within a few breaths, ten dog corpses lay on the ground.

The villagers were packed tightly as they entered, and thus moved slowly. The upright Dog Demons in the distance noticed the gate had opened and charged over at once.

Gao Fei glanced at the farmers beside him, clutching wooden spears with trembling hands.

"Each of you pick up a Dog Demon corpse and take it into the city. They're my gift to you."

For them to still step forward at a time like this was exceedingly rare.

They had not entered the city until now because they must have been short on money. This was all he could do to help.

"Thank you, sir!"

Seeing the living Dog Demons with Unawakened Intelligence retreat in fear, the farmers around him showed delighted expressions.

They hurried forward and picked out the largest Dog Demon corpses.

One of them even carried a corpse over his shoulder while grinning and cursing, "You bit me once. It's not too much for me to eat you, is it?"

Gao Fei smiled. He did not take the more than fifty upright Dog Demons charging from afar seriously at all.

Then he heard someone on the city wall shout, "Close the gate!"

The villagers were nearly all inside. The charging Dog Demons arrived just as the gates were closing.

"I'll hold them off for a while. You go first!"

Gao Fei spoke to the men carrying dog corpses, then picked up a broken spear from the ground.

He hurled it at the fat constable still gesturing and pointing atop the gate.

A few breaths later, a system notification sounded:

Merit Points +8

Chief Constable Liu, that fat bastard, had not been killed by him. Little Fatty Liu had done no small number of things to betray humanity as well.

The villagers were almost all inside, and the Dog Demons had already charged close.

Seeing that only one Dog Demon was attacking him,

the slighted Gao Fei held his spear crosswise and gathered strength.

"Trying to get through without even telling me..."

As he spoke, his spear swept across the battlefield. The Dog Demons rushing toward the gate were sent flying, smashing into those behind them.

He drew back his spear, spun, and smashed toward the other side.

With his back arched, the spear blossoms spun, sweeping out once more.

The Dog Demons charging at the city gate were forcibly held in place by Gao Fei alone.

As the gate shut behind him, Gao Fei heard the sound of the crossbeam dropping into place.

"You people are far too rude. I hope there won't be a next time."

After saying that, Gao Fei revealed a cruel smile.

Just now, holding back the enemy had come first and killing demons second. Now that he had no worries at his back, it was time to make his move.

System Notification:

Merit Points +1

Merit Points +1

...

Not bad. His efforts had not been in vain. Not a single point less for each of them.

"Eh!"

Gao Fei discovered that some among them did not yield any Merit Points.

"Could it be that they won't die even if the Dog Demons catch up?"

Looking at the Dog Demons charging over with savage momentum, that did not seem likely.

There was only one possibility left. The system had deemed them evil people; killing them awarded Merit Points.

Telling the loyal from the treacherous was not his job. If he truly wanted to distinguish them, he would know after killing them.

Right now, he wanted to collect Zhang Constable's body.

In the distance, the small circle of more than a dozen upright Dog Demons had scattered. A person lay face-down on the ground, his face unseen, but the huge character for "constable" on his back revealed his identity.

A Late Qi-Blood Realm cultivator surrounded by a pack of Dog Demons, yet still alive until now—this could only mean they had been toying with him, while seeing whether they could trick open the city gate.

Seeing so many moving Merit Points, Gao Fei, who had been in a good mood, now felt somewhat irritated.

The villagers who resisted, Zhang Constable—these people were also the first to die.

If people like them all died out, those remaining might become slaves of the Demon Race.

This time, Gao Fei launched the counterattack.

His spear thrust straight ahead, skewering two at once.

His left hand drew his long blade, hacking at the Dog Demons that approached.

The blade was extremely sharp. Every strike cut an inch into flesh, but none hit a vital point, so they were not fatal.

The spear tip was even sharper than the blade. With half his strength, it could pierce through Skin-Tempered Dog Demons.

The Skin-Tempered Dog Demons carried no weapons and fought barehanded. Only those in the Blood-Qi Realm wielded wooden clubs.

Though there were only a few wooden clubs, after a round of hard clashes, wood chips flew everywhere.

Gao Fei was very strong, but he could not keep using a spear in his right hand and a blade in his left for long. Feeling his stamina drain, he knew killing all the Dog Demons would be difficult, so he sheathed the blade on his back.

With only his spear, he charged straight in. After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, he reached Zhang Constable's side.

His back was covered in palm prints and marks left by wooden clubs. Every bone in his body was broken.

Using his spear like a hoe, Gao Fei flipped him over. Blood trickled from the corners of his mouth, his eyes, ears, and nose.

The Dog Demons Gao Fei had frightened somewhat did not attack at this moment. They merely surrounded him tightly.

The Dog Demons did not pause for long before swarming forward again.

Gao Fei used his fists at close range and his spear at a distance. He had already used Dark Force five times.

"Gao Fei, there seem to be two Spirit-Absorption Realm Dog Demons. Be careful and conserve your strength."

Gao Linyue stood on the city wall, watching Gao Fei surrounded below with some anxiety.

He had arrived long ago. With his eyesight, he could tell that the two Dog Demons were different.

From the moment he saw Gao Fei's spear technique, hope had emerged from the despair of watching his nephew die.

Every thrust, smash, and lift contained no wasted movement—clean and decisive.

Watching Gao Fei slaughter his way through the Dog Demons, Gao Yan could not help but sigh.

"Brother Fei seems like a completely different person. He's incredible!"

Gao Linyue and his wife exchanged a glance without answering. They watched the battle below, worry showing in their eyes.

Qiu Mei and Xiaocui were also on the city wall.

The wall was filled with the white-clad yamen runners who had remained behind, along with some people who had volunteered to defend it and guards from Yueyang County's two Lineages.

There were not many of them, and they stood scattered sparsely across the wall.

Seeing Gao Fei's unmatched valor outside the city, all of them looked as if they had seen a ghost. Many had watched Gao Fei grow up.

What kind of person had he been? Since childhood, he had stolen chickens and dogs, indulged in food, drink, gambling, and women, bullied the good, and tyrannized the market. Small misdeeds had never ceased.

Normally, he could not even defeat an ordinary neighbor who was slightly better at martial arts. What was this supposed to be now?

Had he been pretending to be a useless dandy all along?

Could it be that his Household had offended some great power and was hiding here from disaster?