Dog Demon Attack

As the middle-aged constable spoke, he kept watching Gao Fei. Now, he glanced at the old woman lying on the ground and sighed after seeing that she had breathed her last.

"It won't wait until afterward. I heard a 'Patrol Envoy' has recently been passing through. They started systematically silencing people yesterday. The fact that we're still alive is either sheer luck, or the monsters did it deliberately!"

They had learned more or less everything, and since the other man had stopped here, it was obvious he did not wish to say any more.

The two fell silent for a while before the middle-aged constable spoke again.

"This time, I'll capture a few people and send them to the Fox Demon. I only want to stay alive. Want to do it with me?"

Gao Fei fell silent. It was not for any other reason—he had simply never fought anyone before and was mentally rehearsing which move he should use.

But upon hearing that the man intended to become a traitor to humanity and even pledge himself to his enemy, the Fox Demon, Gao Fei stopped caring about moves. He quickly stepped forward to close the distance, adding force to his attack in the process.

The hand gripping the spear was still drawing inward. Once he judged the distance, he exerted force through his arm and drove the spear straight at the man's heart.

When the middle-aged constable saw Gao Fei attack, a mocking smile appeared on his face.

"So you really have lost your memory. You're only in the early Blood-Qi Realm. If I hadn't wanted to recruit your second uncle, I, a mid-stage—"

As he spoke, he smilingly swept his blade sideways to deflect the strike, not taking Gao Fei seriously at all. Yet in an instant, the force transmitted through the blade made him shut his mouth.

The spear carried overwhelming force. Since he had not used his full strength, he failed to knock it aside.

The spearhead lunged forward. At the very last moment, he forcibly shifted his body a little to the side.

Gao Fei had not expected the strike to work so well. The spearhead pierced straight through the middle-aged constable's shoulder and emerged from the other side.

Caught off guard, Gao Fei let the middle-aged constable seize the spear shaft with one hand. With a downward chop, the wooden shaft snapped cleanly into two.

"You were still at the early stage yesterday. When did you break through?"

Blood ran down the spear shaft and its red tassel. Gao Fei remained unruffled as he drew the Tang saber slung diagonally across his back and rushed forward.

He answered none of the questions. Without an overwhelming advantage, there was no such thing as being too careful.

"Sweeping Through a Thousand Armies."

He shouted "Sweeping Through a Thousand Armies," but his hands brought the blade down with all their strength: splitting Mount Hua with one strike.

He had learned this move from television.

The middle-aged constable's hand twitched, then paused again. Coupled with his wound, his reaction was half a beat too slow. He only managed to evade with his head, and the blade sank more than an inch into his shoulder.

Gao Fei immediately dragged the blade sideways. The pain of the Tang saber twisting in the wound completely shattered the man's strength.

When Gao Fei swung again, the man's head flew three feet away and dropped to the ground.

System Notification: Merit Points +12

Gao Fei looked at the saber in his hand. It had only struck once, yet a huge notch had appeared in its edge.

He picked up the middle-aged constable's blade. Its notch was tiny, practically nonexistent. It was better by far.

He put away both blades and began searching the corpse.

There were a few pieces of broken silver and nothing else.

The twelve Merit Points told Gao Fei that he had not killed the wrong man.

He did not deal with the corpse. Two people had entered the village, but only one would leave. No matter how he handled it, it would be useless.

According to the middle-aged constable, he would soon die.

Either he would be silenced, or the Martial Suppression Guard's Patrol Envoy would execute him after some time.

Gao Fei looked at the one month of lifespan shown in the system notification. Perhaps he would die of old age before the Patrol Envoy even arrived.

With the silver in his hand and the string of copper coins the villagers had given him earlier, he wondered whether he could buy ten portions of Blood-Qi Soup.

Outside the main gate,

the village chief stood guard with over twenty villagers holding long spears. They ranged in age from sixteen to forty.

When they saw Gao Fei emerge, everyone took a step back.

These farmers had never undergone systematic training. Their blood and qi were vigorous, but their combat strength was not high.

Even someone in the early Blood-Qi Realm could fight five of them.

Gao Fei was at the middle Blood-Qi Realm. Fighting more than twenty of them would be somewhat difficult, but taking more than ten down with him would not be a problem.

That was why the middle-aged constable had brought Gao Fei along.

The Blood-Qi Realm still meant flesh and blood. It merely gave one greater strength and faster reactions. Only after training the skin would the gap rapidly widen.

"That middle-aged constable broke the law. I have already executed him. I'll close the case when I return. Live your lives properly from now on. No one will come looking to cause you trouble again."

After Gao Fei stepped outside, his hand rested on the hilt of the blade he had just acquired.

If anyone proved blind enough to provoke him, he would not show mercy.

As the crowd exchanged looks, none of them moved. One person entered the small courtyard from the side.

"Mother is dead! The middle-aged constable is dead too!"

The villagers, who had still been somewhat hesitant, tightened their grips on their three-meter-long spears after hearing this clearly. A fierce light began to gleam in their eyes.

Gao Fei shook his head and slowly drew the middle-aged constable's long blade, holding it in his hand.

The blade was still a little heavy for him, but he could use it. Cutting through these people, whose weapons were even worse than the martial hall's long spear, should not be a problem.

At that moment, the village chief hurried out from behind the group and stopped them.

"Stop! Sir, Mother acted entirely on her own. Last time, it was that dead man who deceived her only son into going to the city for work. He still hasn't returned. She only acted on a sudden urge for revenge. We absolutely have no intention of rebelling..."

Clang! Clang! Clang!

A rapid series of gong strikes rang out, followed by someone's frantic shout.

"Dog Demons... Dog Demons are here!"

The village chief's expression changed drastically in an instant.

"Sir, regarding the defense..."

Gao Fei looked at that ingratiating face and did not take it to heart. Ghosts gave Merit Points, so demons and monsters should as well. He would collect Merit Points first.

"Bring me a long spear!"

At the village entrance, the wooden barricade had been built entirely from logs as thick as bowls.

More than thirty meters beyond the barricade stood two Dog Demons, each around five feet tall. They had dog heads, forelimbs that had evolved hands and fingers, and stood on two legs.

One held a wooden club, and even its fur could not conceal its bulging muscles.

Behind them followed eight large dogs walking on all fours. They stood half a man tall, their mouths slightly open to reveal sharp fangs that reflected pinpoints of cold light.

"Can you beat these things?"

It was not that Gao Fei doubted them. In terms of fists and feet, these Dog Demons were muscular. The cold weapons in the villagers' hands gave them some advantage, but not much.

"We can't, but they don't dare charge the wall head-on either. If they get stabbed and lose too much blood, they'll die too."

The village chief was very proud of the wall they had built. He must have contributed greatly when it was constructed.

"They've been coming to harass us often lately. We can't work the fields at all. Sir, look..."

"There are too many of them. I can only deal with them one at a time. I'll need you to restrain them!"

Hearing that they could bleed, Gao Fei knew that the two upright Dog Demons were still in the Blood-Qi Realm. He could give it a try.

"Rest assured, sir!"

The village chief nodded, then shouted toward the gate, "Open the gate!"

Above the wall stood two wooden lookout platforms. Two people holding large bows and wearing animal hides stood atop them.

Neither attacked. They kept their eyes fixed on the two upright Dog Demons below.

Seeing the gate open, they immediately nocked their arrows, ready to fire at any moment.

When the gate opened, the Dog Demons were surprised as well.

"You've finally left your turtle shell to offer sacrifices. Don't worry—two people every ten days. Once the fetus is stable after two months, we'll leave."

Gao Fei stood at the gate without going out. He positioned himself right where the gate would close, allowing the other villagers and the village chief to go out first.

These people were not fools. If they let him go out and then shut the gate, leaving him alone outside to face the enemy, that would be the real danger.

He looked at the shoddy long spear in his hand, then at the fairly good saber.

"Deep Blue, add points..."

He had gotten it wrong.