The Full Story

The man had already scrambled to his feet and was panting heavily, both hands braced on his knees.

His hair was as tangled as a bird's nest, and his face was smeared with blood and dirt. But he was fairly steady on his feet, and his injuries seemed less serious than expected.

Seeing Lu Feng look his way, he forced himself upright through the pain and bowed deeply.

"My name is Gan Ping. Thank you... thank you, sir, for saving my life."

His voice was still trembling. Everything had happened far too quickly.

From Lu Feng throwing the knife to Gan Ping being blasted away, and then the second-tier monkey demon's head being separated from its body, only a few breaths had passed.

It was all over before he'd even had time to be afraid.

Lu Feng stood where he was, making no move closer, and regarded him impassively.

"How were you captured and brought here? How long have you been here?"

His tone was calm, but his gaze remained fixed on Gan Ping's face.

"And why are you still alive?" He paused. "Don't tell me you were only just brought in."

Gan Ping froze for a moment.

Then he gave a bitter laugh and sat down with difficulty, leaning his back against a piece of rubble.

"To tell you the truth, sir... I've been here for three years."

Three years.

Lu Feng's gaze sharpened slightly.

"Three years ago, I broke through to Ming Jin. I went to the sect master, full of joy, to share the good news. I thought he would promote me to an inner sect disciple."

"Instead, he knocked me unconscious with a palm strike. When I woke up, I was already here."

"As for why I've survived until now..."

He raised his head, his face full of self-mockery.

"That monkey demon said I had good aptitude. It wanted to wait until I broke through to Nei Jin before eating me. It said that would have the best effect and might even help it break through to the third tier."

Lu Feng stepped forward and gripped his wrist, sending a thread of Nei Jin into his meridians.

A moment later, he let go.

"Late Ming Jin. Your aptitude really is good."

Lu Feng then took a healing pill from his robes and handed it over. "Take it."

Gan Ping accepted the pill with both hands, his eyes reddening slightly, then tilted his head back and swallowed it.

A moment later, the pill's medicinal power spread through him, and a hint of color finally returned to his face.

He used a stone pillar to push himself up and bowed deeply to Lu Feng once more.

"My life is yours, sir. You gave it back to me."

Lu Feng waved a hand. "I'm with the Demon-Slaying Bureau. You've been here for three years. Do you know why Zhu Ren is colluding with these demonic beasts?"

Gan Ping frowned and struggled to remember for a long while. In the end, he shook his head, looking somewhat ashamed.

"Sir, whenever Zhu Ren brought someone in, he handed them over to the monkey demons and left, never saying a single extra word. I... I really don't know the reason."

He suddenly paused, as if he had remembered something.

"That's right!" His eyes lit up. "Whenever Zhu Ren brought in a Ming Jin disciple, those demonic beasts gave him a drop of essence blood. I saw it happen three times with my own eyes over the past three years."

Lu Feng's gaze sharpened.

"Demonic beast essence blood?"

He rubbed his chin, murmuring the words to himself.

Did he need demonic beast essence blood as a supplementary ingredient to cultivate a technique? Or was he using it to trade with a more powerful existence?

Either way, the fact that Zhu Ren needed the essence blood was unusual in itself.

Lu Feng put those thoughts aside. Whatever Zhu Ren wanted the essence blood for, only one thing mattered now-killing every demonic beast here.

Once the demonic beasts were all dead, whatever Zhu Ren was plotting would be water without a source.

Lu Feng put his thoughts aside and asked, "How many demonic beasts are in these underground caves?"

Gan Ping answered almost without thinking. "I know that, sir."

He had been imprisoned here for three whole years.

During those three years, the monkey demons had discussed countless things in front of him.

They had never bothered to keep anything from him. In their eyes, he was nothing more than livestock waiting for slaughter. What could he do with anything he overheard?

"There are eight second-tier demon kings in the underground caves."

Gan Ping kept his voice very low, but spoke rapidly.

"Each demon king commands dozens of first-tier demonic beasts. The exact number varies, but altogether, there are at least one or two hundred first-tier demonic beasts."

"No unranked ones?" Lu Feng asked.

"No." Gan Ping shook his head. "Every demonic beast here has entered the ranks. Unranked lesser demons aren't even qualified to stay here."

Lu Feng nodded, wiped the blood from the Six Harmonies Saber on the monkey demon's fur, and sheathed it.

"I still have other caves to visit. You should get out on your own first."

Lu Feng turned to leave.

"Wait!"

Gan Ping's voice suddenly rang out behind him, urgent and panicked.

Lu Feng stopped and turned his head to look at him.

Gan Ping swallowed and clenched his fists. "I want to go with you, sir."

Lu Feng did not answer immediately. He seemed to be waiting for a reason.

Gan Ping hurriedly said, "Sir, I was imprisoned here for three years. I know which demonic beasts occupy which passages, where the traps outside the caves are, and what weaknesses the demon kings have."

He paused, then added, afraid Lu Feng wouldn't believe him, "I heard it all from the monkey demons themselves when they chatted among themselves. They never treated me like a person, and they never watched what they said around me."

Lu Feng looked at him for a moment.

With his strength, the demonic beasts here indeed posed no deadly threat to him.

But if he stepped into some trap, it wasn't impossible that he might capsize in a gutter.

Having a living map familiar with the terrain to guide him would save him considerable time.

"All right." He turned and continued walking. "Stay close."

Gan Ping was overjoyed. He hurried after him and began explaining as they walked.

"The ox demons are closest to the monkey demons' lair. The ox demon king is quite a bit stronger than the monkey demon, with astonishing strength. It can shatter a stone wall with one slap."

"But it isn't very bright and only knows how to charge straight ahead. Its vital point is its nose. There's a piece of cartilage about an inch behind it that has the weakest defense. With your strength, sir, you can cut through it in a single stroke."

The two left the monkey demons' cave and turned into a branching passage.

Before long, they reached the ox demons' cave.

Lu Feng stood in the shadows at the entrance and looked inside. This cave was about the same size as the monkey demons' cave, but unlike that cave, it wasn't overgrown with dead trees. It was bare inside, with only a few broken stalagmites jutting up from the ground here and there.

More than a dozen first-tier ox demons were paired off, heads lowered as they locked horns and wrestled, producing dull thuds.

On a raised platform deep in the cave, an enormous second-tier ox demon lay faceup on a stone bed, snoring like thunder.

Not a single ox demon noticed the two people who had appeared at the entrance.

"Find somewhere to hide," Lu Feng said quietly to Gan Ping. "I won't have time to protect you from here on."

Before he had finished speaking, his figure flashed, and he darted into the cave.

The instant the Six Harmonies Saber left its sheath, its gleam was dazzling in the light of the cave's torches.

Several of the first-tier ox demons that had been wrestling heard the noise and raised their heads.

Seeing a human standing openly in the middle of the cave, they reacted not with wariness, but excitement.

"Your Majesty!" one ox demon shouted, turning toward the stone bed, its voice full of barely restrained anticipation. "Another human has delivered himself to us!"

The second-tier ox demon's eyelids twitched, then slowly opened.