Tales of the Executioner

After Fahai left, Zhou Yi tossed the ox demon into the Demon Refining Cavern.

Hundreds of demons and monsters were thrown into it every day, and who knew how many years this had continued, yet the Demon Refining Cavern remained unfathomably deep.

Zhou Yi returned to his quarters, unable to settle his thoughts.

The ox demon incident had given rise to a Heart Demon in Fahai. How could Zhou Yi be entirely unaffected? Still, he had only watched from the sidelines, so it would not disturb his state of mind.

"Since I have nothing to do anyway, I might as well record this incident."

"Mr. Liaozhai opened a teahouse to gather material. His customers could pay for their tea with stories, and that way he collected a wealth of strange tales."

"I don't even need to gather them. I deal with demons, monsters, and ghosts every day. If I pick out the ones that offer a warning and do a little organizing and polishing, I could compile a book."

Zhou Yi considered it for a moment and decided it was feasible.

Writing a book was not merely a way to keep a record; it could also help steady his mind.

Living underground without ever seeing daylight, doing nothing but eating, sleeping, and slaying demons every day, would eventually warp anyone's mind.

There was no paper or brush in the Punishment Office, so the next morning, Zhou Yi told Captain Shi about his idea.

"Writing a book?"

Captain Shi stared at Zhou Yi in disbelief. His own family could be considered a scholarly household, yet even his father, who had passed the imperial examinations as a jinshi, would not dare claim to be writing a book.

Only a handful of people in Great Qian could write books and expound their ideas, and every one of them was a great sage renowned throughout the land.

"It wouldn't really count as writing a book. I'd just be recording stories about demons and monsters in plain language."

Zhou Yi explained, "For example, most tragedies involving demons and monsters could be avoided with precautions taken beforehand. I mentioned it to Master Fahai yesterday, and he was very supportive too."

"You can write a book in plain language?"

Hearing that Fahai supported it too, Captain Shi nodded. "I'll bring you some paper and brushes tomorrow."

"Thank you, Captain."

"No need to thank me. Just do your work well."

Zhou Yi was now the Punishment Office's leading executioner. A little paper and a few brushes were nothing; any piece of demon material was worth enough to keep him writing for a year.

Zhou Yi had already decided on the book's name: Tales of the Executioner.

The opening read: I am an executioner whose name does not matter. I have recorded stories I experienced firsthand. If someone can take warning from them and avoid disaster, then this book will not have been written in vain...

It was entirely in plain language, just like ordinary people chatting.

Zhou Yi did not understand Great Qian's literary language. Even if it resembled that of his previous life, he could not learn to write it.

The first story was not about yesterday's ox demon, but "The Yin Ghost Scholar."

"...The scholar was captured by an immortal master. Five thunderbolts crashed down upon his head, scattering his soul into oblivion..."

The second was "The Household Demon."

"...The rooster demon pecked the farmer's entire family to death. While fleeing into the mountains, it fell into an immortal master's trap..."

Only the third was "The Ox and the Monk."

These three stories largely reproduced the actual events, with minor alterations along the way. For instance, the Demon-Slaying Bureau could not appear in the book.

The place names and settings in the book were also downplayed and blurred, while the court belonged to a dynasty that had never existed.

Zhou Yi understood these basic taboos. As a minor functionary of the Demon-Slaying Bureau, he absolutely could not use this opportunity to expose the court's dark side, or the book would certainly be banned.

A banned book could circulate only within a small circle, making it impossible to fulfill Zhou Yi's original purpose in writing it.

After reading the three stories, Captain Shi offered one comment: "You could go tell stories in a teahouse someday."

He offered no further remarks.

In Captain Shi's eyes, the ten densely written pages Zhou Yi had produced were good for nothing more than a bit of amusement.

Zhou Yi did not care. Captain Shi had been born into wealth and privilege; what could he know of the hardships at the bottom? As long as he supplied paper and brushes, that was enough.

Though Tales of the Executioner failed to impress Captain Shi, it was wildly popular in the Punishment Office.

Many people read Zhou Yi's stories and told them to others. Then one told ten, ten told a hundred, and a hundred told a thousand, until practically every executioner had heard them.

The dull, dreary underground prison became a little livelier than before.

The executioners came from all across Great Qian, with backgrounds of every description. In the end, though, they would all die the same way.

Some who took an interest in Tales of the Executioner sought Zhou Yi out specifically to tell him the strange things they had experienced.

"Executioner Li Dazhuang happened upon a party of traveling merchants on a mountain road in Tai Prefecture. On a rainy night, they took shelter in a mountain god's temple..."

"When Executioner Sun Sanpao was a child, something strange entered his ear while he was swimming in a river during summer. Day and night, he heard a boiling clamor of voices. An immortal master from Green Pine Abbey..."

"An anonymous executioner who declined to give his name encountered a great flood and was forced to leave his home. For seven nights in a row, this executioner dreamed of their parents..."

Zhou Yi turned no one away. As long as a story had value, whether true or false, experienced firsthand or heard through the grapevine, he polished it and recorded it in his book.

There was no shortage of disgraced officials among the executioners, and they were widely knowledgeable. Through his conversations with them, Zhou Yi developed a rough impression of Great Qian.

Great Qian encompassed a vast territory. It had once been one of the kingdoms in the central region of the Cloud Continent.

Fifteen hundred years ago, Great Qian's Founding Emperor had attained power that rivaled creation itself. Campaigning north and south, he united the Cloud Continent and established its sole imperial dynasty.

It was now year 1563 of the Great Qian calendar, the thirty-ninth year of the Jingtai reign.

Emperor Jingtai had occupied the throne for nearly forty years. Rumor had it that his advancing age in recent years often left the crown prince overseeing the realm.

While writing his book, Zhou Yi continued slaying demons every day and receiving all kinds of rewards.

Slaying a man-eating bear demon earned him an Earth-Spirit Pill.

Slaying a vicious scorpion spirit earned him the innate talent: immune to all poisons.

Slaying a python spirit that plagued the countryside earned him a magical artifact: the Water-Avoiding Pearl.

Slaying a hedgehog spirit that stole incense offerings earned him a Spirit-Restoring Pill...

There was no discernible pattern to the Demon and Monster Compendium's rewards. Innate talents, spells, magical artifacts, spirit pills-the array was dazzling.

The only pity was that he had not encountered another demon from the A-tier cells, so most of the items he received were of relatively low grade. Still, Zhou Yi felt no impatience at all. There was no better place in the world than the Demon-Slaying Bureau.

Taking pills and refining qi in secret, practicing spells on the sly-another half a year passed in the blink of an eye.

Zhou Yi had become an old hand in the Punishment Office. He had seen off three or four batches of colleagues, and the captain on rotation had changed again.

The Punishment Office had seen long-lived executioners before. According to its records, the longest-lived had lasted five years before dying, so Zhou Yi attracted no attention.

Since Captain Shi often read Zhou Yi's book and would discuss points of disagreement with him, he did not deliberately conceal certain everyday matters either. The Demon-Slaying Commandants rotated every six months; this was a training assignment before they began truly slaying demons and vanquishing monsters.

The new captain was surnamed Zhu, and he did not let down his pig-sounding surname: he was broad and fat, with an amiable disposition.

Captain Shi had already told Captain Zhu that Zhou Yi was writing Tales of the Executioner and asked him to bring some paper and brushes every few days.

Captain Zhu followed his predecessor's rules and agreed with a smile.

That day, after receiving his assignment, Zhou Yi discovered that it was another fish demon.

There were countless kinds of beings in the Demon Race, and demons of the same kind were not often encountered.

He dispatched it cleanly and efficiently. The execution tools danced in Zhou Yi's hands, slicing off the fish's scales and skin without the slightest damage.

The Demon and Monster Compendium slowly opened and turned through an unknown number of pages, arriving, to his surprise, at the fish demon image that had already been illuminated.

The fish demon image glimmered faintly, a shade brighter than before.

Fragments of memory flashed before his eyes...

A fish demon overturning a pleasure boat...

Gained 2 years of Dao cultivation.

Dao cultivation?

Zhou Yi quietly examined the sensation and discovered that the magical power within him had more than doubled out of nowhere.

He had already practiced the Yellow Court Dao Scripture for half a year, yet the power he had cultivated amounted to less than half of this new addition.

Two years of Dao cultivation means I've gained two years of practicing the Yellow Court Dao Scripture out of thin air?