Demon: No! I Don't Want to Live Anymore!

When the first ray of light fell on the three demons sprawled in the shadow of the field ridge.

"Sss-!"

Thick smoke instantly billowed from the parts of their bodies touched by sunlight. Their skin blackened and charred, and they let out heartrending screams.

"Aaaargh! Hot! It's too hot!"

"Kill me! Kill me now! The sunlight! The sunlight!"

"My lord! Please put us out of our misery! Aaaah!"

They writhed frantically like live shrimp out of water, instinctively trying to rush into that deadly light.

At that moment, death had actually become a sweet release.

"Tch. In your dreams."

Kirishima Bupai snorted coldly. With a flick of his wrist, three chains tipped with metal hooks shot out.

"Squelch! Squelch! Squelch!"

The hooks pierced the three demons' shoulder blades with precision, and Kirishima Bupai gave a sharp yank.

"Aaaaaaargh!"

The three demons let out screams a hundred times more agonized than those caused by the burning sunlight.

"Thud-!"

The tremendous force dragged them bodily away from the edge of the sunlight and slammed them deep into the shadows.

Although their sunburned wounds slowly healed in the shade.

The bone-deep agony and the binding sensation in their shoulder blades made the three demons fully understand their predicament...

This devil! He never intended to let us die! He wants to work us like beasts of burden forever!

At the thought of last night's endless plowing, the number-guessing hell, and the humiliation of being forced to insult the Upper Ranks...

Then at the thought of the days that might await them, going hungry and getting beaten day after day...

"No! I don't want to live anymore!"

The female demon wailed, struggling to throw herself into the sunlight again.

"Yes, yes! We might as well die! There's no hope in this demon life!" The masked demon dragged his broken leg, trying to crawl forward too.

"My lord... please... grant us a quick death..." The amber-eyed male demon pleaded hoarsely, his eyes hollow.

"Hmph. Want to die? I'll make your lives worse than death!" At their words, a cold curve rose at the corner of Kirishima Bupai's mouth, and his figure flashed.

"Bam! Bam! Bam!"

Three heavy punches crashed into the demons' heads, shattering the tiny bit of courage they had just mustered.

"Your lives belong to me now. Want to die? Have you asked my whip?"

He shook the chains in his hand. Their rattling frightened the three demons into huddling together with their heads covered, trembling.

They no longer dared spare the sunlight another glance and could only curl up in despair beneath the wooden stakes' shadows, letting out muffled sobs.

We're done for! We're really done for now!

Just then, a dramatic scene unfolded.

At the far end of the fields, dust billowed...

Several members of the Kakushi Squad were waving specially made, long-handled disciplinary rulers like sheepdogs herding a flock, aggressively driving a dense crowd toward them.

"Run! Stop dawdling! Go to work!" a young Kakushi member roared, his face and neck flushed red. Clearly, Lord Kirishima's influence had rubbed off on him.

"Move! Into the fields, all of you! Hoes, rakes, and seeds are all ready for you!" another member shouted himself hoarse.

"Do you still want to be law-abiding citizens?! If you want to turn over a new leaf, fill this field with crops!"

"Very good! A wise man knows which way the wind blows!" Kirishima Bupai's voice boomed like thunder.

At some point, he had taken up a position on a rise.

And from somewhere, he had produced another thick, hefty cowhide whip, which he cracked through the air.

"Crack-!"

A crisp, resounding snap cut through the morning air as the whip lashed the ground beside the feet of a fat villager who was running slowest, his eyes still somewhat hollow and confused.

"Yow!"

The fat man jolted in fright like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Instantly coming to his senses, he scrambled into the field.

Still shaken, he grabbed a hoe and began frantically digging.

That lash served as a signal. The Kakushi members immediately followed suit, waving their disciplinary rulers with renewed vigor:

"Did you hear that?! The Void Hashira has spoken! Work! Anyone who slacks off gets the whip!"

"For your future! Work!"

"Let the sunlight cleanse your filthy souls! Bask in the glory of labor!"

A strange spectacle immediately unfolded in the fields.

Hundreds of villagers, some numb-faced, others wild-eyed and visibly unwilling, swung their farming tools, unable even to cry under the Kakushi Squad's enthusiastic prodding, and began diligently cultivating the soil the three demons had just tilled.

Sunlight truly was the best remedy.

As they spent more time in the sun, the haze gradually cleared from the hollow eyes of those affected by the Blood Demon Art, and they began returning to normal.

Those who had been deeply brainwashed and stubbornly kept crying out about the true god received special attention.

The frequency with which whips kissed their backs rose markedly, and screams mingled with the sounds of hoeing.

With his whip resting on his shoulder, Kirishima Bupai patrolled his labor reform camp like a head overseer.

The mission should have ended here, but his sense of responsibility was currently running strong.

Faced with these lost lambs, he felt obligated to swing his whip, lash their souls mercilessly, and drive them back onto the right path.

"Move faster! Haven't you eaten? Remember how you wanted to burn people to death yesterday! If you don't sweat to atone today, do you intend to fall back into your old ways tomorrow?"

Kirishima Bupai's roars, accompanied by crisp cracks of the whip, became the most effective source of motivation in the fields.

Meanwhile, he was not idle either. His consciousness sank into the System Shop interface in his mind.

[Item: Dragon Blood Flower seeds]

[Effects: Refreshes the mind, accelerates recovery from minor injuries, and stabilizes current injuries (no side effects).]

[Price: 3 Points per seed]

[Growth cycle: Approximately 60 days (in ordinary soil)]

"Tch. Three Points a seed? Pretty cheap." Kirishima Bupai curled his lip and casually allocated enough Points. "Redeem twenty."

[Redemption successful! Items have been delivered to system storage.]

He walked to the edge of the field and casually tossed a handful of faintly red-glowing seeds to a comparatively quick-witted-looking Kakushi member:

"Here. Find a good sunny spot and plant these seeds."

"Keep an eye on them. These are good stuff." He briefly explained their effects.

"Yes, Lord Void Hashira!" The Kakushi member cradled the seeds as though he had received a priceless treasure and hurried off to find a plot.