Aftermath

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

Could there be things that were not Mortal?

Unfortunately, his predecessor had been ignorant and incompetent, only half-understanding things that should have been basic knowledge.

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

Lin Jun did not want to waste any more time in this Snake Demon's cave.

"No, no, no. We'll leave on our own. We know these mountains well; there's no need to trouble Master Lin."

The old farmers shook their heads repeatedly.

Lin Jun knew that their impression of him would not change because of a single incident, and he had no intention of forcing it.

He got up, dusted off his backside, slung the plain saber over his shoulder, hacked 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 person!"

"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 about his own age.

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

Lin Jun noticed that the young man's expression changed several times in just a few seconds.

Shock, disbelief, surprise, then a face full of regret. His expression turned dejected, even carrying a hint of self-abandonment, his features steeped in sorrow.

It was hard to imagine that one person's face could undergo so many changes in only a few seconds.

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

"This subordinate, Chen Feng, failed in his duty as guard and arrived too late with 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 him.

When his uncle was 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 kindness.

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

Unlike his predecessor, Chen Feng hated evil as though it were his mortal enemy and could not tolerate even a grain of sand in his eye. Yet he was bound by his debt to Lin Jun's uncle. He could only watch helplessly as Lin Jun committed those atrocities that outraged both Heaven and man, and even had to cover for his predecessor.

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

Chen Feng's claim that he had arrived late for the rescue was most likely deliberate. He wanted Lin Jun, this scourge, 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 knew what Chen Feng had intended. He had simply reached the point where he could no longer endure Lin Jun's atrocities. 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.

It was the only solution he had come up with: perish together with Lin Jun. He no longer wanted to accompany Lin Jun in continuing down the path of evil, so this was his only choice.

"Not late. Your timing is perfect."

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

Chen Feng lowered his head and merely rose silently.

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

He was already used to it.

A scourge truly lived for a thousand years. Heaven 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 the woman herself to make the moves even to handle a woman. Kill demons? Heh.

If he really could kill demons, would he have been sent here to coast on seniority?

He had been by Lin Jun's side for nearly three years. No one understood Lin Jun better than he did.

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

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

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

Before long, the two returned to the Snake Demon's cave.

The people who had been imprisoned there had already vanished. They had probably 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 much. What truly shocked 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 seasoned by countless battles.

Every strike had been fatal, without wasting a shred of strength. Clearly, this old saber master's technique had reached a miraculous state, perfected in the fires of mastery.

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

Hearing that, Lin Jun rolled his eyes.

"What are you looking for, my lord?"

Chen Feng asked.

"This."

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

A snake egg.

A small snake could still be seen wriggling inside.

Lin Jun smashed the snake egg onto the ground. The shell instantly shattered, and the little snake inside was exposed to the air. It 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, utterly numb.

"My lord, this is?"

"If you do not pull weeds out by the roots, they will sprout again when the spring wind blows."

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

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 remaining snake eggs, turning the entire cave upside down.

Chen Feng watched Lin Jun crush even passing rats beneath his foot, chop newly surfaced earthworms into mincemeat, and seize web-spinning spiders to pluck out their silk. He could not help but shudder.

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

Even under such a search, Lin Jun somehow found three more eggs.

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

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

Lin Jun muttered to himself.

He had killed several unhatched Snake Demons and other animals, but the panel had not changed at all.

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 path of exploiting a bug to farm experience.

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

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

Lin Jun waved his 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 had also died at that human's hands.

If it had moved at all, that person would probably have killed it as well.

"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 definitely become a Great Demon renowned throughout the world, and it would use the blood of tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of 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 appeared again, smiling warmly 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 hit the ground, and the snake became two halves.

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

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

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

The little snake's cross-section was smooth and clean, while a deep fissure marked the stone floor.

At the very least, it was ten inches deep.

Chen Feng slapped his own face.

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

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

He has this kind of ability?

Chen Feng felt his head buzzing.

"Hey, where are you!"

Lin Jun stood at the cave entrance and shouted.

"Coming!"

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