"Are you human or a ghost?"
Skinny Monkey's voice trembled.
The firelight flickered, stretching Su Yu's shadow long and thin, like a vicious ghost baring its fangs and claws.
"A ghost?"
Su Yu tilted his head, thick, purplish-black demon blood still dripping from his fingertips.
"In a sense, I'm more frightening than a ghost now."
Zhao Lei was an old hand, after all. After a brief moment of shock, he quickly regained his composure.
He narrowed his eyes and sized Su Yu up. Although there was blood on him, his breathing was steady, and he was even... somewhat stronger than before?
But how was that possible?
There had been three dog demons in that cave!
"You were lucky not to die."
Zhao Lei sneered, his gaze gradually turning venomous as he lowered his saber slightly.
"There was a road to heaven, but you wouldn't take it. Hell had no gate, yet you came knocking. Since you made it out alive, you should have crawled far away. Instead, you dared come back to die?"
He exchanged a glance with his two underlings.
"Skinny Monkey, Old Li, do it! Don't leave an intact corpse this time. Chop him up and feed him to the wolves!"
"Yes!"
Although Su Yu's appearance had startled them, in their eyes, he was still that useless wretch at merely the Mortal Realm First Layer.
With a vicious grin, Skinny Monkey drew his short saber and charged first.
"Su Yu, don't blame your brother. Blame yourself for offending someone you shouldn't have!"
The short saber sliced through the air, thrusting straight at Su Yu's chest.
The strike was fast and vicious, clearly intended to kill.
Su Yu stood where he was, not moving an inch.
Only when the tip was three inches from his chest did he move.
There were no fancy moves, merely a simple raising of his hand.
Smack!
A large hand covered in bloody calluses clamped around Skinny Monkey's wrist with unerring precision.
"What?!"
Skinny Monkey's pupils contracted sharply.
He felt as though his wrist had been caught in iron pincers. No matter how hard he strained, he could not advance even a fraction of an inch.
He looked up in terror, meeting Su Yu's indifferent eyes.
"Too weak."
Crack!
A crisp sound rang out, setting teeth on edge.
With a twist of his wrist, Su Yu wrung Skinny Monkey's arm into a twisted rope.
Broken bones pierced flesh and skin, their ghastly white ends exposed.
"Aaaah!!!"
Skinny Monkey screamed like a pig being slaughtered, dropping to his knees in agony.
Expressionless, Su Yu kicked him in the chest.
Thud!
Skinny Monkey's breastbone caved in. He flew backward like a torn sandbag and crashed into the fire, sending sparks flying, instantly falling silent.
[Human at Mortal Realm Third Layer killed. Gained 30 Slaughter Points]
Dead silence fell.
Only the crackle of burning wood remained.
Old Li, who had been about to charge forward, forcibly stopped in his tracks, his legs trembling and his face looking as though he had seen a ghost.
One move?
Su Yu, at the Mortal Realm First Layer, had instantly killed Skinny Monkey at the Mortal Realm Third Layer in one move?
Had he taken the wrong fucking medicine, or had a demon possessed him?!
The vicious grin froze on Zhao Lei's face.
He stared fixedly at Su Yu, cold sweat seeping into the palm gripping his saber.
Mortal Realm Fourth Layer?
No, that explosive power, those ruthless methods...
This brat had been hiding his abilities all along!
"Su Yu!"
Zhao Lei drew a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his apprehension, and said heavily, "So you've been hiding your true abilities all along.
"Good, very good! We can wipe the slate clean. I'll give you all fifty taels of silver the Liu Family paid me. I can even recommend you for squad leader. How about it?"
He was buying time. There was still a dog demon at the Mortal Realm Fifth Layer nearby. Once it arrived, Su Yu would be doomed all the same.
Looking at Zhao Lei's hypocritical face, Su Yu suddenly smiled.
"Fifty taels? That's certainly cheap for three lives."
Delight stirred in Zhao Lei's heart. Thinking they could negotiate, he said, "Yes, yes, we're all brothers..."
"Unfortunately."
Su Yu abruptly changed tack, killing intent flaring in his eyes. "I don't lack money. I only lack Slaughter Points."
Before his words had faded, Su Yu burst into motion.
Unleashing Vajra Fist at full power, he charged at Zhao Lei like a fierce tiger descending the mountain, carrying suffocating Sha Qi.
"You refuse to accept kindness! You're courting death!"
Zhao Lei roared. His blood and Qi at the Mortal Realm Fourth Layer erupted, and his saber whipped up a gale as he slashed straight at Su Yu.
After years of hard service in the army, he had honed this Gale Saber Technique to perfection.
He did not believe Su Yu would dare take this strike head-on without even a weapon!
Yet Su Yu truly did not dodge.
Facing that keen blade, he merely tilted his head slightly to avoid his vitals while driving his right fist forward.
Once again, he traded injury for injury-a madman's way of fighting!
Slash!
The saber left a bloody gash across Su Yu's shoulder.
At the same time, however, Su Yu's fist slammed heavily into Zhao Lei's chest.
There was no technique to it.
Just crushing, overwhelming strength!
The strength of the peak Third Layer, combined with the explosive power of perfected Vajra Fist.
That punch struck with the weight of a thousand tons!
"Crack-"
The crisp sound of ribs breaking rang out.
The Fourth Layer cultivation he had taken such pride in proved so fragile before Su Yu's reckless, life-disregarding way of fighting.
"Pfft!"
Zhao Lei spewed blood from his mouth and flew backward, slamming heavily into the ground as his saber left his hand.
He struggled to get up, only to find that all his internal organs seemed to have shifted out of place. The excruciating pain nearly made him faint.
Holding the wound on his shoulder, Su Yu walked up to Zhao Lei, step by step.
He towered over him like a god of slaughter.
"You... you can't kill me..."
Zhao Lei's mouth was full of blood, and extreme terror finally appeared in his eyes. "I'm a squad leader of the Demon Suppression Bureau. If you kill me, you'll go on the wanted list. You'll..."
"Crack."
Su Yu stamped down and broke his neck.
Too much useless talk.
[Human at Mortal Realm Fourth Stage killed. Gained 40 Slaughter Points]
After finishing Zhao Lei off, Su Yu turned toward Old Li, who had long since collapsed on the ground, his crotch soaked.
"Don't... don't kill me..." Old Li kowtowed like he was pounding garlic. "I know a secret! I know the Liu Family's secret!"
Su Yu's gaze shifted slightly, and he walked over to him.
"Speak."
"It was the Liu Family's eldest young master, Liu Qingyun!" Trembling, Old Li pulled a token from inside his clothes, engraved with the character "Liu."
"To consolidate their lineage's power, the Liu Family has been cooperating with the demons outside the city for years, offering living people in exchange for their assistance."
"Cooperating with demons!"
"Courting death!"
A cold gleam flashed through Su Yu's eyes. Great Qin law decreed that anyone colluding with demons would have three branches of their clan exterminated.
"I've told you everything... can you let me go?" Old Li looked at Su Yu hopefully.
Su Yu toyed with the token, the corners of his mouth rising slightly.
"No."
He drove a fist down.
The world fell quiet.
[Human at Mortal Realm Third Layer killed. Gained 30 Slaughter Points] [Slaughter Points: 100]
Su Yu stood amid the corpses strewn across the ground. The night wind blew past, bringing a slight chill, but it could not disperse the killing intent in his eyes.
Originally, he had only wanted revenge and to stay alive.
Now it seemed the trouble had only just begun.
Although he did not know why the Liu Family had targeted him, that no longer mattered to Su Yu.
He would destroy the Liu Family.
After bending down and searching Zhao Lei's body for a while, Su Yu's eyes lit up.
"Found it!"
[Mortal Realm Mid-Grade Martial Art: Gale Saber Technique]
"Woof!"
Suddenly, a resounding, frenzied bark rang out beside Su Yu's ears, making his eardrums throb with pain.