Yin Shisan finally propped its upper body off the ground.
The right side of its face had caved in, and its left eye was bloodshot. Horror and fury churned in its ice-blue vertical pupil.
Watching the youth walk out of the courtyard, Yin Shisan's lips trembled, bloody froth seeping between its teeth.
"You... what the hell are you?"
Why did it feel as though the other party was the demon wearing human skin?
Lu Guan walked over and crouched before it.
His shadow fell across Yin Shisan's face, enveloping it.
The youth looked at it and licked his lips, the excitement in his eyes not yet entirely gone.
"Lu Guan, commandant of Qianqiu County."
He pressed a hand onto Yin Shisan's shoulder and tightened his fingers.
Yin Shisan's body suddenly went rigid, its shoulder bones creaking.
"You said something about an extra meal?"
Crack!
As the words fell, Yin Shisan's face abruptly contorted. Fighting the pain of its shattering shoulder bones, it roared in terror:
"You can't kill me! I'm from Ailao Mountain!"
It suddenly exerted itself, an astonishing force erupting within its body as it sprang to its feet!
Its snow-white cloak burst apart, fragments fluttering like snow.
Even Lu Guan was caught off guard, allowing it to break free.
The first thing Yin Shisan did after finding its footing was not to counterattack, but to turn and flee!
A body-refining martial artist!
It finally realized that the seemingly frail youth before it was actually a rare body-refining martial artist.
And his formidable strength could utterly suppress him... he had to be at least at the late stage of the Gang Condensation Realm!
Damn it, how had someone like this appeared in a remote county town?
...Commandery Princess Luyang?
Yin Shisan gritted its teeth and cursed inwardly.
That stupid woman wasn't a fool. She must have requested aid from the Prince of Yan's Residence the moment she escaped, prompting them to send an expert to protect her.
The reason she had stayed in this little county town instead of leaving...
Was to bait me!!!
At this thought, Yin Shisan went cold all over, wishing only that it could run faster. It did not even dare glance back.
A trap! A trap!
That was the only thought left in its mind.
The next second, a gust from a punch came whistling toward it.
Crack!
A heavy blow struck the back of its head. In that instant, Yin Shisan lost all consciousness, pitching forward and crashing to the ground.
Boom!
The impact smashed a deep crater into the ground, sending broken stones flying and dust billowing.
The back of its head had caved in deeply, and a red-and-white mixture could faintly be seen seeping through the surrounding cracks, oozing thickly onto the bluestone paving.
Yet even so, Yin Shisan still clung to a thread of life.
But it could no longer maintain its human form, revealing an enormous snow-white tiger's body.
It was some twenty feet long, its limbs thick as pillars, its snowy white fur interspersed with dark golden markings.
Blood streamed down its savage tiger head, staining its white fur dark red.
"You lunatic... are you deaf?"
Its voice rolled out of its tiger's maw, hoarse and grating:
"Did... didn't you hear that I'm from Ailao Mountain?"
Lu Guan's face was expressionless. "Never heard of it."
"..."
Yin Shisan slowly turned its head, its tiger eyes fixed on Lu Guan as though looking at a dead man.
The fear in those ice-blue vertical pupils was gradually being covered by venomous hatred.
"You'll hear of it soon enough."
"When that time comes, come down and join me!!!"
"Roar!"
Lu Guan threw another punch.
His fist tore through the air with a dull sonic boom, landing squarely in the center of the tiger's head.
Its head burst wide open.
[Middle stage of the Gang Condensation Realm tiger demon, poor aptitude, cultivated for eight hundred and twenty years. Three hundred and thirty years of effective cultivation can be extracted.] [Remaining cultivation: six hundred and ninety years]
Lu Guan withdrew his fist and shook the tiger blood off his knuckles.
He glanced at Yin Shisan's corpse, his expression indifferent, as though looking at an ordinary wild beast.
"Lu Guan..."
Yu Qianqian slowly approached, looking at the thoroughly dead tiger with its slanted eyes and white forehead, unable to hide the shock in her eyes.
For a moment, she did not know what to say.
Everything that had happened before her eyes surpassed her understanding.
He could so easily beat a Gang Condensation Realm tiger demon to death with his bare hands?
Yet just yesterday, this youth had been a saber wielder who hacked down demons. Today, he had suddenly become a weapon in human form.
"Lu Guan... are you a demon in human form too?"
It seemed that only this answer could resolve the doubts in her heart.
"Get lost."
Unwilling to bother with Commandery Princess Luyang, Lu Guan walked back on his own.
What Yin Shisan had said had already exposed Yu Qianqian's identity completely.
A commandery princess... she really is a member of the imperial clan.
And her status was considerably more exalted than he had expected.
How had someone of such noble standing appeared alone within Qianqiu County's borders and been abducted by demons, without even a single guard by her side?
Lu Guan shook his head inwardly.
Tsk, imperial affairs really are complicated.
Watching Lu Guan's retreating figure, Yu Qianqian pressed her thin lips together.
She realized that the youth before her was far more outstanding than she had imagined.
Though she had already thought highly enough of him, she had not expected that she had still vastly underestimated him.
This was not the first time Yu Qianqian had personally witnessed him slay a greater demon.
From the White Bone Demon King to the tiger demon Yin Shisan before her... wasn't that far too great a leap?
"He must have been lying to me! Who could cultivate their body-refining realm to the Gang Condensation Realm in just a few hours!"
Yu Qianqian stamped her foot.
But soon, as though something had occurred to her, her expression froze again.
Since Lu Guan was so powerful, perhaps the greater demon backing that ape demon really was no match for him.
But... I've already sent my request for aid!
Yu Qianqian fell silent for a moment, watching Lu Guan's retreating figure enter the courtyard.
She bit her lip, turned around, and walked in the opposite direction.
Soon, she disappeared at the end of the street.
Outside Qianqiu County, an old ape with drooping brows trudged along the official road, carrying a pitch-black coffin on its back.
It wore a garment with broad sleeves, gray-white fur protruding from its cuffs and fluttering in the wind.
Soon, it arrived outside the county town and set the coffin upright beside it.
Yuan Guanshan's eyes were cloudy as it stared fixedly at the county town's towering walls.
Its eyes were like two pools of stagnant water, murky and dull, yet bottomless.
As it gazed at the walls, they seemed to be weighed down by something, and even the sunlight dimmed a little.
Inside the town, the common people suddenly felt their bodies grow heavy, as though an invisible shackle had been fastened around them, their chests fluttering with unease.
The soldiers guarding the gates soon spotted the old ape, and horror filled their hearts.
Another, another, another, another demon!
In broad daylight, beneath the clear heavens.
Including the white tiger demon Lord Lu had just slain inside the town, this was already the third demon to invade Qianqiu County today!
When things strayed from the ordinary, something sinister had to be at work.
What on earth was happening?
As though confirming their suspicions, the old ape stroked the coffin beside it and spoke slowly:
"A life for a life!"
Its voice was not loud, yet it spread throughout the town in some peculiar manner.
A figure who had just reached the town gates abruptly stiffened.
Yu Qianqian looked at the distant old ape in horror and cried out:
"Commanding the Qi of heaven and earth-this is the Inner Landscape Realm!"