Aftermath

Lin Jun noticed that whether it was demons or martial arts, they all carried the prefix "Mortal."

Could there be things that weren't Mortal?

Unfortunately, his predecessor had been an ignorant good-for-nothing. Even matters that should have been basic knowledge, he only understood halfway.

"I'm leaving. Are you coming with me?"

Lin Jun had no desire to waste any more time in this Snake Demon cave.

"No, no, no. We'll leave on our own. We know these mountains well; we won't trouble Master Lin."

The old farmers shook their heads again and again.

Lin Jun knew that their impression of him would not change because of a single incident, nor did he intend to force the matter.

He rose directly, dusted off his backside, slung the plain saber over his shoulder, chopped through the brambles blocking the cave entrance, and left without looking back.

"Big brother left."

"Don't call him big brother. He's a bad man!"

"But big brother saved us."

"That's... that's... ah, anyway, don't call him big brother."

Lin Jun could hear their discussion, but he did not pay it much mind.

He had taken fewer than ten steps when he suddenly spotted someone around his own age.

The man held a treasured sword, and he too froze when he saw Lin Jun.

Lin Jun noticed that the young man's expression changed several times within mere seconds.

Shock, disbelief, surprise—then his face filled with regret, his complexion turned despondent, and he even seemed somewhat self-abandoning, laden with sorrow.

It was hard to imagine a person's face changing so many times in just a few seconds.

In the end, the man calmed down, approached Lin Jun, and dropped to one knee.

"This subordinate, Chen Feng, failed in his protection and arrived too late with the rescue. I beg Lord Lin to punish me."

This man was Lin Jun's guard, one of his uncle's subordinates, specifically assigned to protect Lin Jun.

When Lin Jun's uncle had been young, he had saved Chen Feng's parents' lives. Chen Feng had therefore voluntarily left the Monster Bureau Reserve Division and become his uncle's private soldier to repay that debt of gratitude.

His uncle had then made him Lin Jun's guard.

Unlike his predecessor, Chen Feng hated evil as if it were his enemy and could not tolerate even a grain of sand in his eyes. Yet bound by his debt to Lin Jun's uncle, he could only watch helplessly as Lin Jun committed those heinous acts, and even had to cover for his predecessor.

Over time, Chen Feng had become filled with resentment toward Lin Jun.

Chen Feng's supposedly late rescue had most likely been deliberate. He wanted this scourge, Lin Jun, to die in the jaws of demons.

Because in Lin Jun's memories, it seemed that Chen Feng himself had thrown him into this demon cave.

Lin Jun understood Chen Feng's intentions. He had simply been unable to endure Lin Jun's atrocities any longer. Even if it meant betraying his benefactor, he wanted to uphold justice on Heaven's behalf and had directly thrown him to the demons.

Once Chen Feng confirmed Lin Jun's death, he would immediately kill himself.

This was the only method he had thought of: perish together with Lin Jun. He no longer wanted to accompany Lin Jun in committing evil, so this was his only choice.

"Not late. You came at just the right time."

What else could Lin Jun say? Even he wanted to slash his predecessor twice for the things that man had done.

Chen Feng lowered his head and silently rose to his feet.

He knew Lin Jun's temperament. He knew that once Lin Jun returned to the city, he would surely punish him severely.

He was already used to it.

A scourge lives for a thousand years indeed. Heaven truly had no eyes.

"May I ask which expert saved you, my lord?"

Lin Jun waved his saber.

"Myself."

Seeing this, Chen Feng could only fall silent.

With Lin Jun's three-legged-cat skills, he needed women to make the first move even to handle a woman. Killing demons? Hah.

If he really could kill demons, would he have been sent here to pad his qualifications?

He had followed Lin Jun for nearly three years. No one understood Lin Jun better than he did.

"Oh, right. You came at the right time. I remembered something I forgot. Come lend a hand."

Lin Jun called Chen Feng and headed back toward the cave.

Though Chen Feng was puzzled, he did not dare disobey.

Soon, the two returned to the Snake Demon cave.

The people who had been imprisoned were already gone. They had likely gone down the mountain.

When they reached the depths of the cave, the sight before him made Chen Feng's breathing slow by half a beat.

The mountain of human bones was nothing. What truly astonished him were the two snake corpses.

The cuts on the snake corpses were smooth and clean. The one who had struck must clearly have been an old saber master tempered through countless battles.

Every strike had been fatal, without wasting a shred of strength. Clearly, this old saber master's saber technique had reached a transcendent level, perfected in the crucible.

"What fine saber work. I wonder which senior took action. I truly wish to make his acquaintance."

Lin Jun rolled his eyes at that.

"What is it you're looking for, my lord?"

Chen Feng asked.

"This."

Lin Jun pulled out an egg the size of a fist from beneath the stone bed.

A snake egg.

A little snake could still be seen wriggling inside.

Lin Jun directly smashed the snake egg against the ground. The shell shattered at once, and the little snake inside was exposed to the air, twisted a few times, and died.

Lin Jun repeated the process, finding all thirteen snake eggs beneath the bed and smashing them one by one.

Chen Feng stared at the egg whites all over the ground and went numb.

"My lord, this is...?"

"If you do not pull up the roots, the spring breeze will bring new growth."

"What are you standing around for? Help me look!"

Chen Feng felt that Lin Jun seemed to have changed. He was utterly unfamiliar.

For the rest of the day, the two searched for any additional snake eggs, turning the entire cave upside down.

Chen Feng watched Lin Jun stomp every rat he passed to death, chop earthworms that had just poked out of the ground into minced flesh, and seize web-spinning spiders to pull out their silk. He could not help shuddering.

"This damned villain is becoming more and more brutal..."

Even under such an exhaustive search, Lin Jun still found three more eggs.

The reason Lin Jun was being so brutal was that he was conducting an experiment.

"Looks like it won't work..."

Lin Jun muttered to himself.

He killed several unhatched Snake Demons and other animals, but the panel showed no changes whatsoever.

This meant that not every demon could provide him with experience. They had to possess a certain degree of strength.

That cut off Lin Jun's plan to exploit a bug and farm experience.

It seemed that if he wanted to grow stronger, he could only honestly seek out demons with real strength.

"Let's go. Back to the city."

Lin Jun waved a hand, and Chen Feng nodded in response.

The two left the cave.

Half an hour later, a smooth little snake crawled out from among the human bones.

The little snake looked at the Snake Demon corpses strewn across the ground. They were all its brothers and sisters.

Its father and mother were there as well. They had all died at that human's hands.

If it had not remained still the entire time, it would likely have been killed by that man too.

"Father, Mother, brothers and sisters, when I grow up, I will definitely kill that human and avenge you!"

The little snake's gaze gradually hardened.

It would surely become a great demon renowned throughout the world, and use the blood of countless humans to honor its parents and siblings!

It swore that it would do so.

"Little friend, you didn't hide well enough."

Lin Jun had somehow reappeared. He smiled amiably at the little snake.

"!!"

Before the little snake could react, the plain saber suddenly flew toward it like a silver-white iron swallow.

Clang!

The saber struck the ground, and the snake became two halves.

Lin Jun pulled out the plain saber buried three inches into the ground, then said to the wide-eyed Chen Feng behind him:

"Let's go. Now it's truly clean."

Chen Feng rubbed his eyes and hurried to the little snake's corpse.

The little snake's cross-section was smooth and clean, while a deep gash had been carved into the stone beneath it.

At the very least, it was ten inches deep.

Chen Feng slapped his own face.

Am I dreaming? How could that wastrel Lin Jun possess such profound saber skills?

No, he said he killed the Snake Demons. Could it be true?

He has that kind of ability?

Chen Feng only felt his head buzzing.

"Hey, where are you!"

Lin Jun shouted from the cave entrance.

"Coming!"

Chen Feng's mind was a tangled mess as he hurriedly ran out of the cave.