Pigpen

"Demonic Qi..."

With the Spiritual Olfaction entry enhancing him, Yang Xiao's sense of smell was extraordinarily sharp.

The trace of Demonic Qi was faint, but he was certain it was somewhere in Li Family Hamlet.

He stood still, his brow furrowing.

The Demon Traces were practically under their noses. Li Tie patrolled every day—had he really found no sign of a Demon?

Or... was he hiding something?

Without betraying his suspicions, Yang Xiao glanced at Li Tie, trying to read something from the Second Constable's face.

Li Tie kept smiling and gestured for him to come along.

"The food is ready, Head Constable Yang. Please."

"Head Constable Li." Yang Xiao suddenly looked up at him. "If the victims were taken by a Demon on Back Mountain, why is the Demonic Qi stronger in the village?"

Li Tie's smile faltered. "What do you mean, Head Constable Yang?"

Yang Xiao closed the register, rose, and walked out of the courtyard.

"Just asking."

Li Tie's eyes darkened slightly. He quickly followed. "Where are you going, Head Constable Yang?"

Yang Xiao did not look back. He headed east along the village road.

"To have a look around."

Zhao Tieniu and the others followed, watching their surroundings warily. Their hands rested on their saber hilts, ready to draw at any moment.

Villagers who saw Yang Xiao approaching kept their distance.

But the sight of so many yamen runners gathered at night drew a few bolder villagers after them, eager to see what was happening.

Normally, Li Tie would have driven them away. Right now, he had no attention to spare.

Questions filled his mind, but Yang Xiao looked so composed that Li Tie could not tell what he knew.

Yang Xiao followed the scent of Demonic Qi toward the village's eastern edge.

They passed more than a dozen empty courtyards. Some were old and dust-covered, their walls collapsed. At others, gates stood open and cooking fires sent up smoke, yet no one moved inside.

Standing before one deserted courtyard, Yang Xiao caught the lingering scent in the air, and his face darkened.

He said nothing, heading straight for the place a few dozen yards away where the Demonic Qi was strongest.

It was a pigpen built from thatch and torn tarpaulin.

Three black pigs were penned inside. Excrement had mixed with the soil underfoot, and a stench hit them as soon as they came near.

As the group approached, the pigs lay dozing in the mud, grunting softly.

Nothing seemed amiss.

"Head Constable Yang, it's just a pigpen." Li Tie peered inside and smiled. "Surely you don't think a Demon is hiding in there?"

His tone was faintly mocking.

Yang Xiao stopped. His gaze settled on the black pig at the back.

It was larger than the other two. Curled up in a corner, its belly rose and fell gently.

An ordinary person would have noticed nothing wrong, but Yang Xiao could smell it clearly.

Demonic Qi—and the rank stench of a human body chewed apart and mingled with wild-boar excrement.

He slowly drew the Spring Embroidery Saber at his waist.

Li Tie's expression changed abruptly. "Head Constable Yang, what are you doing?"

Yang Xiao kept his eyes on the black pig.

"Investigating."

The moment he spoke, the pig opened its eyes. It watched the people gathering around it with greed and mockery.

Its gaze fixed on Yang Xiao. Its mouth slowly split into a grin wide enough to swallow an adult's head, baring rows of sharp, blood-streaked teeth. An overpowering reek poured out.

"Grunt, grunt!"

Several villagers outside the pen went deathly pale and turned to run.

"A Demon!" Zhao Tieniu's scalp prickled.

The black pig rose from the mud.

Layers of fat rippled across its body. Its round form suddenly lengthened, its limbs splayed, and its spine arched.

Crack.

The sound of bones shifting came from inside the pen.

The Black Pig Demon bared a mouthful of fine, sharp teeth. Foul saliva dripped onto the ground, raising wisps of white smoke.

"Human..."

It stared at Yang Xiao, forcing a muffled sound from its throat.

"Smells so good..."

Sun Ming's scalp tingled, and he shuddered with revulsion. "What kind of monster is that?"

Li Tie's face darkened.

"Careful, Head Constable Yang. This Demon hid itself so well that I never noticed it before."

The words came quickly, as though he were desperate to clear himself.

The Black Pig Demon smashed through the wooden fence and charged, its massive body bringing a foul wind with it.

The villagers outside the pen scrambled away on hands and knees.

Zhao Tieniu drew his saber and started forward, but Yang Xiao raised a hand to stop him.

"Stay back."

The Black Pig Demon was already upon him.

Despite its bulk, it was fast. Its tusks drove straight toward Yang Xiao's chest and belly.

Yang Xiao shifted with the Astonishing Swan Steps, slipping past the tusks by a hair.

His saber came down with the motion.

Slash!

The blade swept across the Black Pig Demon's shoulder and back, cutting through its thick hide. Blood gushed out.

The Black Pig Demon shrieked, wheeled around, and charged again.

Yang Xiao's gaze turned cold.

The beast's hide and flesh were thick. A strike from an ordinary yamen runner might have left nothing more than a white mark.

But against Hundred-Refined Edge and the Demon-Slaying Blade Technique, that thick hide would only cost him one extra cut.

The Black Pig Demon lunged to bite him. Instead of retreating, Yang Xiao stepped in and struck with his left palm.

Monument Splitting Palm!

His palm slammed into the Demon's jaw. Bone cracked on impact.

The blow knocked its massive body sideways, and its tusks grazed the hem of Yang Xiao's clothes.

Yang Xiao pressed forward. His saber swept upward and sliced precisely into the soft flesh at the side of its neck.

The Demon-Slaying Entry activated.

The cut went deep. Blood poured from the Black Pig Demon's neck, and the wound kept widening, as though something were tearing it open.

Maddened by pain, it thrashed and stamped all four hooves, smashing the pigpen to pieces.

"Kill... eat..."

The Black Pig Demon roared, Demonic Qi surging around it.

Yang Xiao gave it no chance.

He launched into the Astonishing Swan Steps and, in a blur, reached its rear flank.

His saber struck again.

He severed the tendon in one hind leg. The Black Pig Demon crashed to its knees.

Gripping the saber with both hands, Yang Xiao drove his final cut into its neck, nearly taking off its entire head.

The Black Pig Demon twitched a few times. Blood sprayed from its body, then it went still.

Outside the pigpen, silence fell like death.

The yamen runners looked at the blood covering the ground, then at Yang Xiao, their eyes full of awe.

Sun Ming could not help murmuring, "Head Constable Yang was so fast."

Barely a dozen breaths had passed between the Black Pig Demon's attack and its death.

If it had been them, killing the Demon would have been out of the question. They might not even have survived its first charge.

Li Tie stood to one side. His face quickly returned to normal.

He clapped his hands and smiled. "Fine saber work, Head Constable Yang."

"To think this Demon was hiding in a pigpen. I've been stationed in Li Family Hamlet for days and never noticed. Shameful."

Yang Xiao finally looked at him.

"You've been stationed here for days, Head Constable Li. You truly noticed nothing?"

Li Tie's smile did not change.

"Of course."

"If I'd known a Demon was hiding here, would I have let it prey on people?"

Yang Xiao said nothing. He turned to the Black Pig Demon's corpse and slit open its belly with one stroke.

A foul stench burst out.

Several yamen runners nearly vomited.

Yang Xiao's expression did not change. He picked out several pieces of bone and flesh that had not yet been fully digested.

One piece, smaller than his palm, was plainly part of a human skull.

The moment a woman nearby saw it, her face went deathly pale. She dropped to her knees.

"Yingying's..."

She covered her mouth, tears spilling from her eyes.

"That's my child!"

An uproar swept through the courtyard. The missing people had been eaten by a Demon hiding in the village—and right under their noses!

"Beast." Li Tie's face turned grim. "It dared eat people right under my nose."

He spoke through clenched teeth.

Yang Xiao wiped the blood from his saber. "You've been stationed in Li Family Hamlet for days, Head Constable Li, while a Demon ate people in this pigpen."

Li Tie narrowed his eyes. "What are you implying, Head Constable Yang?"

"Nothing."

Yang Xiao looked at him.

"I just think there's more to the Li Family Hamlet case than the dossier says."

"Then I'll leave you to investigate it thoroughly, Head Constable Yang." Li Tie smiled, his words carrying an edge. "Demons are dangerous. Do take care of yourself."