Shing!
The Nichirin Blade slid out with a ring.
Its brilliant gleam nearly blinded the old man.
Seeing Su Chen draw a blade behind his backside, the old man suddenly picked up his pace considerably.
"Young man, I'll walk faster, all right? Why are you getting so worked up?"
"You're still drawing it? I'll refund your money if I have to!"
"Look at you! And you said you weren't a robber. You should've just said so!"
Su Chen did not respond. Instead, he stared fixedly at the pair of eyes deep in the darkness.
He pushed the old man aside. "Step back, sir. What happens next might get a little bloody."
The old man's backside clenched at those words.
He cautiously glanced back at Su Chen and said, his face pale, "Then... could you be gentle?"
Su Chen shook his head. "This thing won't feel anything if I stab too gently. I'll have to slice its flesh off piece by piece!"
Hearing that, the old man was instantly terrified.
His feet flew as he fled for his life like a rabbit.
Su Chen could not help nodding at the sight. It seemed the old man understood the bigger picture.
He would not be able to protect the old man during the fight. The old man was lightening his burden.
Once the old man left, the writhing shadow in the darkness stopped hiding and slowly crawled out.
A towering humanoid creature appeared before Su Chen.
He was powerfully built, with bulging muscles on all four limbs and veins standing out across every inch of his skin.
Foul-smelling drool dripped from his mouth. His face was hideous, as ugly as could be.
A name immediately surfaced in Su Chen's mind.
A demon.
"So this is a demon." Su Chen narrowed his eyes and examined him closely.
This was his first time seeing a demon, but it did not seem as frightening as he had imagined.
The creature's movements as it walked had been full of openings. Su Chen even felt that this guy was here to be a joke.
"Another one took the bait. Hehehe!"
The demon revealed a cruel smile and looked at Su Chen as though admiring a delicious meal.
"You really must be hungry."
Without wasting words, Su Chen immediately brought out the Nichirin Blade he had drawn from Kanao Tsuyuri.
The demon charged at Su Chen at the same time!
A moment later.
The two had a brief exchange.
Then came a thud, as though something had struck the ground.
The demon's four limbs had already been severed by Su Chen, leaving it lying on the ground like a human stump.
"Impossible!" The demon's eyes widened as it looked over its body.
It discovered that it could no longer move anything except its head!
Pain also radiated from the stumps of its severed limbs.
The demon looked down, only then discovering that purple-black pustules covered its body. Even the slightest touch hurt terribly!
"Damn it, what the hell did you do to me?!"
The demon bared its teeth and roared at Su Chen, "Look what you've done! Now I can't bite you!"
"Hey, come closer and let me eat you, or my limbs won't grow back!"
Su Chen stared at it coldly.
Just as Shinobu Kocho's diary had said, demons were not only greedy, but utterly irrational.
Don't you have hands and feet? You even need someone else to feed you meat?
Dream on!
A look of disappointment crossed Su Chen's face.
It seemed this demon was not a Lower Rank. Otherwise, how could it be so weak?
He had barely made a move, and that had already been the limit of what this demon could withstand.
Watching its pained expression, Su Chen began analyzing it carefully.
From what he knew, ordinary demons needed to consume large amounts of flesh and blood to regenerate after losing a great deal of blood.
No wonder it was so agitated. With injuries this severe, it must have been starving!
So Su Chen stuffed one of its severed feet into its mouth, replenishing a little of its energy.
Then he asked coldly, "Where is Shinobu Kocho?"
"Mmph! I'll eat your flesh!"
Smack!
Su Chen slapped the demon hard across the face.
The blow stunned the demon, and blood even spilled from the corner of its mouth.
It bared its teeth again. "I'll eat you, brat!!"
Splurt!
Seeing that the demon was still baring its teeth, Su Chen stopped bothering and drove the Nichirin Blade straight through the top of its skull.
"Aah!!!"
Agonizing pain coursed through the demon's entire body, and it immediately burst into tears!
"It hurts! It hurts so much!!"
While the demon wailed, Su Chen took the opportunity to slice open several purple-black pustules on its body.
The pain intensified yet again.
At that moment, in the demon's eyes, Su Chen was more of a demon than it was.
The demon roared through its tears, "Don't kill me! I'll tell you everything!"
Su Chen could not help nodding, his understanding of demons deepening once again.
It seemed a certain amount of pain could still make demons behave.
Su Chen stopped what he was doing.
The pain in the top of the demon's head steadied as well.
This time, the demon did not dare bare its teeth at Su Chen. Instead, it said cautiously, "You mean a woman, right? I remember a woman in colorful clothes going up the mountain!"
"Up the mountain?" Su Chen murmured.
He asked again, "What's up there? How many demons like you are there?"
The demon fell silent. It seemed it did not dare say.
Su Chen narrowed his eyes. It seemed he still did not carry enough weight in its mind.
I'll have to slice open a few more pustules!
Seeing Su Chen move again, the demon nearly wet itself in fright.
It blurted out everything it knew in one breath.
"A few! Maybe dozens! I heard there might even be one of the Twelve Kizuki in there!"
Just as I thought!
There really is one of the Twelve Kizuki on this mountain. No wonder even Shinobu Kocho could get hurt!
Those Twelve Kizuki deserve to die!
Su Chen pulled out the Nichirin Blade and vented his anger with a slash.
He cut the demon before him straight into powder!
Only then did he feel a little better.
Su Chen looked toward the mountain and, without a second thought, headed up alone.
Under the curtain of night, the darkness gradually deepened.
Apart from the old man at the beginning, Su Chen had not seen anyone else along the way. Presumably, they had all heard there were demons here and fled.
By the moonlight, Su Chen moved faster and faster, soon discovering signs of another demon halfway up the mountain.
"Damn it, I didn't expect that woman's sword to be poisoned. Looks like I can't save this arm."
"If I get my hands on that chick, I'll strip her bare and eat every last bit of her!"
Hearing the filthy words coming from the bushes ahead, Su Chen charged straight in.
This was a poisoned demon.
Su Chen immediately spotted the exposed purple-black skin on its left arm.
This was Shinobu Kocho's unique poison!
A trace of delight appeared on both their faces.
The demon said, "Hehehe, I never thought food would still come knocking at this hour!"
The injured demon's first thought upon seeing Su Chen was not to flee, but to eat him.
It was as though the Nichirin Blade at Su Chen's waist were merely an ornament.
Su Chen was deeply shocked by this.
Are all the demons on Autumn Sky Mountain this brave? You're practically at death's door, so why aren't you thinking about staying alive?
Demons really were creatures that could not feel pain.
Su Chen drew his Nichirin Blade, and with a flicker, appeared directly behind it.
His blade fell.
Before you continue