Lingming Peak.
A dozen or so men in ragged clothes worked in pairs, each pair carrying a red-haired, long-armed ape with its hands and feet bound, suspended from a bamboo pole.
The apes were enormous, weighing over two hundred jin apiece.
Even two men struggled to carry a single ape. When some could carry no farther, they set it down to catch their breath.
Whenever Fang Dashan saw anyone resting, he went over and lashed them viciously with his whip.
Tall and powerfully built, Fang Dashan was a Ninth-Rank Martial Artist. His whip struck with tremendous force, splitting skin and flesh with a single lash.
Yet the two laborers dared neither resist nor even dodge. They merely hunched their backs, gritted their teeth, and endured.
"Fucking hurry up! If you don't finish moving them before dark, I'll skin you alive!"
Fang Dashan dared not use too much force either. If he really beat them to death, there would be no one to do the work. He pointed his leather whip at the two laborers and threatened them loudly.
The two laborers dared not utter a word, merely nodding again and again.
They knew how brutal Fang Dashan was. Skinning them alive might be beyond him, but hanging people upside down and letting them slowly die was perfectly commonplace.
The blood of those who died hanging upside down pooled in their faces. Their entire heads swelled purple and shiny, blood pouring from all seven orifices. It was a horrifying death.
More horrifying still were their screams before death. They could scream all night and still not die...
Spurred by agonizing pain and fear, the two laborers found a little more strength and hurried downhill with the long-armed ape on their shoulders.
Several straw sheds stood on a flat stretch halfway up the mountain. The red-haired, long-armed apes brought down were placed in the clearing in front of them.
The most formidable among them, the seventh-grade ape king, was carried down by six men together.
Its arms were far too long, and it weighed close to five hundred jin. The men worked together to carry it down sideways.
Fang Dashan brought up the rear. Seeing all six red-haired apes laid out in the clearing, he breathed a sigh of relief.
To capture these long-armed apes that had become demons, they had used up all the Thousand-Day Intoxication bestowed by their superiors.
Whether monkeys or monkey demons, their intelligence was limited, after all. At the sight of wine, they could not resist drinking.
Fortunately, they had succeeded in one stroke. Even if several believers had died in the process, that was of no consequence.
Li Sanjin, with his shifty brows and ratlike eyes, sidled over with a grin. "Brother Fang, we even caught the ape king this time. The incense master is sure to reward us handsomely."
Fang Dashan glanced at Li Sanjin and snorted. "Don't worry. If I get anything good, you'll get your share!"
Li Sanjin hurriedly cupped his fists and bowed. "Being able to work under you means you think highly of me, Brother Fang. How could I dare ask for any benefits?"
Then he chuckled. "Just reward me with a little silver, Brother Fang."
"As soon as you have money, you go off to play with women. Why bother? There are so many women among the believers. Play with whichever you like."
Fang Dashan glanced at the people resting inside the straw shed. Among them were two dark, scrawny women.
Li Sanjin shook his head repeatedly. What pleasure was there in playing with women like that? They had to be fair and fragrant to be fun.
"You-no ambition at all."
In a fine mood now, Fang Dashan could not resist showing off. "Once the incense master finishes refining the Thousand Poisons and Ten Thousand Baleful Intents Arrow, he'll lead us to conquer Siming County.
"When that time comes, you can play with the young ladies of all the great clans however you please."
Li Sanjin's eyes lit up. He asked excitedly, "When will the incense master finish refining it?"
"It's a very troublesome business. He needs to subdue Golden-Ringed Poison Bees and extract their venom... I don't know exactly when."
Fang Dashan was merely a lowly attendant in the Yin Yang Dao. Although his older brother was an incense master, he rarely discussed serious matters with him.
He actually knew nothing of the details and was merely spouting whatever came to mind. Li Sanjin could not tell truth from falsehood anyway.
The two bragged for a while, then, with nothing to do that evening, had a little wine.
Fang Dashan was still fine, but Li Sanjin could no longer hold himself back. He went to the straw shed and dragged over a dark, skinny woman. This one looked as though she had a little flesh on her.
The woman knew what Li Sanjin wanted to do. In fear, she clutched her worn clothes tightly.
Enraged, Li Sanjin slapped her across the face. "I'm a servant of the gods! Me fucking you is your good fortune!"
A man beside them dropped to his knees and kowtowed, pleading, "Divine emissary, please spare her."
Abruptly interrupted just as he was getting excited, Li Sanjin felt vicious anger rise within him. He drew the long saber tucked behind his waist and slashed down hard.
As a Ninth-Rank Martial Artist, Li Sanjin had tough muscles and bones throughout his body, and his arms possessed a full four or five hundred jin of strength.
With a single stroke, he chopped off the kowtowing man's head, spraying blood everywhere.
Though the people inside the straw shed could not see clearly, they still saw the head rolling across the ground. Someone could not help crying out in alarm.
The woman was even more terrified, frozen and utterly unable to react.
Fang Dashan, who had been sleeping groggily, heard the noise and hurried over to find Li Sanjin wiping his saber.
Fang Dashan glanced distastefully at the head on the ground. "Clean it up. Don't get blood everywhere and attract some demon creature..."
He cared nothing about Li Sanjin killing someone. These ignorant believers were worth little to begin with.
But blood everywhere in the middle of the night could easily draw demon creatures.
His position was higher than Li Sanjin's, but their martial skills were about equal, so he could hardly put on a stern face and reprimand him.
"Wah..." Only now did the terrified woman react. She collapsed onto the ground, cradling the head and sobbing.
Li Sanjin grew even more irritated. "Shut up!"
The woman seemed not to hear him. Instead, her sobbing grew all the more desolate and wretched.
Li Sanjin had lost interest now. A savage grin appeared on his face as he raised his saber high. The woman merely wept, as though she could not see the blade about to fall.
Seeing no fear or unease from her made Li Sanjin feel ignored. His fury grew. This lowly village woman truly did not know whether she lived or died!
He immediately swung his saber down, only for a shrill whistle to reach his ears, followed by a clang. A tremendous force knocked the saber in his hand aside.
Shocked, Li Sanjin hurriedly raised his head and looked ahead. He could faintly make out a figure in the darkness.
Before he could see clearly, another piercing whistle bored into his ears. Knowing things were bad, Li Sanjin had only just ducked his head when a steel pellet drove deep into his nasal cavity, blasting most of his face into a collapsed, misshapen ruin.
That single blow killed the Ninth-Rank Martial Artist, who had mastered Manifest Force, on the spot.
Watching Li Sanjin die to a hidden weapon, Fang Dashan was terrified.
Where had such a formidable expert come from?
They were about twenty paces apart. He could only vaguely make out a blurry figure, unable to distinguish either features or build, making the person seem both deeply mysterious and exceedingly dangerous.
He hurriedly shouted, "The Yin Yang Dao is conducting business here! Which household are you a friend of? Please give us some face."
Zhou Wuji was a little surprised too. They were actually people of the Yin Yang Dao.
The Yin Yang Dao excelled at beguiling the common people. The harder the times, the more easily its heretical doctrines spread.
The believers of the Yin Yang Dao were brainwashed every day. Over time, they became as impossible to reason with as madmen.
In remote villages especially, an entire village would often believe in the Yin Yang Dao. It was truly frightening.
The imperial court had designated the Yin Yang Dao a demonic cult, but locally, few people interfered in its affairs. On the contrary, officials, local gentry, and great clans were very fond of colluding with it.
Zhou Wuji had spotted the pervasive blood Baleful Intent Qi here from afar. As soon as he approached, he saw a fellow preparing to kill someone with a saber.
There was no need to ask questions in such a situation. The strong and weak, the good and evil, were clear at a glance, so he directly killed the man wielding the saber.
As for this square-faced man claiming to belong to the Yin Yang Dao, his muscles were solid, and his breathing coarse but not powerful. Clearly, he had yet to temper his internal organs and was plainly a Ninth-Rank Martial Artist.
The Yin Yang Dao had many believers, but few experts.
The square-faced man wore a black-and-white cord at his waist, tied in a lotus knot, marking his status as an attendant.
It meant someone who served the Yang Father and Yin Mother-a minor leader in the Yin Yang Dao who managed believers.
Zhou Wuji strode up to Fang Dashan. He glanced at the long-armed apes laid out in the clearing. They seemed to have been drugged somehow and were all deeply asleep.
Realizing this, Zhou Wuji raised his guard as well, lest he carelessly capsize in a gutter.
He asked in a low voice, "What's your name, and what are you doing here with these people?"
Fang Dashan plucked up his courage and stole a glance. The night was dark, and the crescent moon had only just risen. Six or seven paces apart, he could not see clearly. He could only tell that the other man was very young, seemingly had regular features, and was tall and straight.
The man wore a bamboo hat and a straw rain cape. Simply standing there, he naturally possessed a steady, composed bearing that made others dare not act presumptuously.
Fang Dashan dared not look any longer. Lowering his eyes, he said, "My name is Fang Dashan. We were ordered to hunt red-haired monkeys."
"Oh? What are you catching monkeys for?" Zhou Wuji was genuinely a little curious. The Yin Yang Dao could not possibly be acting chivalrously and upholding justice. They surely had a purpose in doing this.
Fang Dashan really did know what the red-haired monkeys were for, but of course he could not tell the truth.
His thoughts turned, and he said, "These red-haired monkeys often come down the mountain to plunder the villagers. They even snatch children to eat. To protect our believers, we risked our lives to wipe out these monkeys..."
Hearing the righteous conviction in his words, Zhou Wuji could not help sneering...