Murder on the Spot

Outside the county yamen, voices boiled like a cauldron.

Everyone was recounting how they had escaped the Rat Demon's attack.

Some were even boasting about killing demons and selling them for money. This demon assault had not harmed ordinary civilians.

The county yamen gates stood wide open.

Four Lin Family guards, dressed in white bailiff uniforms, jogged out in small steps and took up positions on either side.

The scene instantly fell silent, all eyes turning toward the gates.

A man in his sixties emerged slowly from within. His face had few wrinkles, and he wore brocade robes, though his body was hunched like a camel's back.

"Registrar Lin has recovered from his illness!"

The entrance stood five steps above the street, a natural platform built for speeches from the very beginning.

"Fellow townsfolk!"

"Recently, Rat Demons have run rampant and grain has grown scarce. In many nearby counties, families have been destroyed and lives lost. The Great Wu Kingdom has abandoned us. We can only protect ourselves."

"The entire county city can be sustained by the land within thirty li. The Demon Race has no desire to slaughter humans, nor will they occupy the lands around our county city."

"They yearn more for the mountains. They are spirits of the mountains."

"Humans and demon spirits could have lived together. Why harbor divisions in our hearts and invite disaster for nothing?"

"We need only offer sacrifices to escape calamity. If the sacrifices are proper, the demon spirits may even use their spiritual power to grant our county favorable winds and timely rains."

Standing amid the crowd, Gao Fei was completely speechless.

To dress up being a traitor to humanity in such grand and righteous language—he had clearly done plenty of preparation.

"Registrar Lin, what offerings do we need for the sacrifices?"

This time, only Gao Fei had come. After his second uncle, Gao Linyue, took medicine and practiced Organ Refinement, his blood and qi had surged after fighting. He was recuperating at home. The others had no interest in this.

His second uncle had given unanimous approval for him to come out and see what was going on.

His speech interrupted, the registrar's face stiffened when he saw Gao Fei. Still, he answered the question.

"It depends on the sincerity in everyone's heart. It is fine even if you offer nothing. The demon spirits will not specifically come looking to trouble you, and you can still live perfectly normal lives."

"But if that is the case, then when sores and illnesses arise, when rat plagues, insect plagues, droughts, and other calamities strike, do not blame the demon spirits for ignoring you."

Gao Fei knew this was their usual trick: looking east and talking west. He only needed to seize the key point and keep asking.

"What offering counts as sincerity, and what offering counts as insincerity? There has to be a standard, right? Otherwise, after sacrificing the children, you'll sacrifice the adults, and the whole family will be finished in one go."

Registrar Lin did not even pause for a second before replying smoothly.

"You are far too calculating. If you have only one chicken and offer it up, then you are sincere. Sincerity is not judged by the offering itself, but by the weight it carries in your heart."

This argument instead gave ordinary people the illusion that sacrificing to demons was not entirely unacceptable.

They were only a few chickens. They could simply raise more.

Who said the ancients were fools?

Since arriving in this world, he had not met a single fool. They merely had limited knowledge; they were not stupid.

Gao Fei no longer wanted to argue. He slowly squeezed through the crowd to the very front and carefully observed the registrar, who was still speaking.

Middle Skin Tempering Realm. His blood and qi were also at the middle stage, but his tendons, bones, and internal organs could not be judged.

It seemed his advanced age and declining blood and qi had caused his martial cultivation to regress.

"My lord, this humble one arrived late. Please instruct me on what should be done next."

After squeezing to the front, Gao Fei stepped forward several paces. His palm vibrated at high speed, driving a swaying motion like a fish swimming through water.

Fearing that the effect would fall short of what he wanted, he approached and bowed, then seemingly gave a feather-light pat beneath the shoulder, over the heart.

Then he quickly walked into the yamen.

"You!..."

When Registrar Lin first saw Gao Fei, a flicker of anger appeared on his face, followed by pain.

His pained expression and turning motion seemed frozen in place for several breaths.

Then his entire body dissolved. Within a few breaths, only his clothes remained in a heap on the ground.

Representatives from the entire county were present. Until the moment he died, the old man had never imagined that Gao Fei would strike on the spot. This man simply did not care about reason or the greater situation.

Merit Points +23

"Knew I hadn't killed the wrong person."

Seeing the man dissolve completely, Gao Fei secretly rejoiced. At the same time, he hurriedly rushed out and shouted:

"Registrar Lin is wise indeed! The offering that shows the greatest sincerity is one's own fleshly body. My lord has already set an example! Fellow townsfolk, come! Today, let us all sacrifice to the demons, beginning with our own flesh and blood!"

Gao Fei's words directly woke up those who had still been wavering and harboring hopes of luck.

Some of the more timid people even began to slip away in secret.

With someone taking the lead and no one stopping them, most of the civilians quickly dispersed.

The remaining spectators also fled without a trace when they saw the Lin Family guards surround Gao Fei.

Only several people remained standing where they were. They appeared to have hidden among the crowd as plants, the ones who had shouted "Good!"

Everyone stood there, not knowing what to do.

"Brothers, if the old master is dead, we won't live either! Kill him!"

One guard drew his long saber and charged forward.

The few plants quickly followed, their momentum fierce.

Gao Fei merely kicked out several times in rapid succession. Dark Force erupted, and those charging at him collapsed to the ground, unable to rise.

He gained 22 Merit Points.

Seeing this, the remaining few were completely rooted in place. Should they die immediately, or wait to be avenged upon by the Lin Family later?

Now, the only person in Yueyang County with the surname Lin had been the old man. With him dead, they were like a flock of dragons without a leader.

But they could not retreat either. The Lin Family still had people, and there were more guards than just them. Thus, the situation froze in a stalemate.

"Who am I?"

Gao Fei looked at them. Whether they had Merit Points or not, killing them all now would confirm that he had killed the registrar.

He had to leave them alive as a safeguard. Without evidence, it was not him.

Who could lightly pat someone once and turn them into a pool of blood?

"You tell me. Who is the highest-ranking official at the scene?"

"You!"

"Is the Lin Family greater, or is the government greater?"

"The government!"

Gao Fei nodded. "Now spread out. I am going to investigate how Registrar Lin died. You, record it!"

The Lin Family guards exchanged glances, then quickly left.

In the current Yueyang County, not a single person surnamed Lin remained. The guards left behind were all expendable men; the loyal ones had long since been selected and taken away.

While the old man had been alive, he could still suppress them. Now that he was gone, these men would live for themselves.

The laws and hierarchy of the Great Wu Kingdom ran deep in people's hearts. Gao Fei now represented the government. They could not defeat him, and attacking an official meant they would die like those lying on the ground—without anyone caring.

Gao Fei walked over to the pool of blood and poked through it with a stick. After eight seconds of preparation, against someone at the Middle Whole-Body Body Tempering Stage, there were still many finger-sized bones left. Even the hair remained...

After studying it for a while, Gao Fei coughed.

"Cough!"

"Record this: Lord Lin offered his body to the demons, all for peace between the human and demon races. He was a pioneer of our human race. The Demon God agreed on the spot and took away his fleshly body, leaving only his blood and qi and spirit in this world."

"What are you looking at me for? Write it down!"

The guard wore a troubled expression. "Will anyone believe it if we write it like that?"

This was a world of demon martial arts. Martial artists did not believe in gods. They believed in people or demons with deeper cultivation.

"You are merely a white-uniformed bailiff. Whether others believe it is my concern!"