After learning of the villagers’ expectations, the trio packed their things and headed toward the direction where the monster had appeared.
In truth, Ren Tan had no need to get involved at all. She wasn’t with the Demon Subduing Division, and as a Postnatal Realm expert, she wouldn’t be of much use in a battle against demons or devils.
But she insisted on coming along.
“We are companions. How could I let my teammates face all the danger alone?”
“Uh… I always thought our relationship was more like gold master and hired muscle, with an emergency reserve ration thrown in.”
Part of it was also curiosity. Ordinary folk rarely got to see the demons, ghosts, and monsters of legend—most who did ended up dead. Ren Tan wanted to catch a glimpse of what the creature actually looked like.
The mountain path was choked with weeds, rugged and treacherous to navigate. Dense branches blocked their line of sight, making it hard to keep watch on their surroundings.
Yin Luan took point at the front of the group. Suddenly, she raised a hand, signaling everyone to halt.
“There’s the scent of human blood.”
The air in the mountains lacked the tangled complexity of the city’s, especially for human smells, which could carry much farther.
Following the odor, they soon arrived at the scene of the crime.
However…
“Ugh—!”
The Little Snake Demon was the first to turn away and retch.
Blood soaked the ground. Shreds of flesh and gore dangled from flowers and grass, seeping into the soil. The largest intact bone fragment was no bigger than a fist.
Organs, intestines, a foul mix of white and red… Just a few hours earlier, this place must have resembled a vision of hell.
Even the Little Radish Spirit, who wasn’t human, blanched. The color drained from her rosy cheeks at the gruesome sight.
Curiously, the Eldest Young Lady from the merchant guild held up the best. Her throat heaved, but she forced it back down.
It took a moment before Yin Luan regained her composure. Her face still pale, she asked, “Is this sort of thing common among demons?”
“Not common,” the Little Radish Spirit replied. “The spiritual energy contained in an ordinary human is negligible. It offers almost no benefit to one’s cultivation base.”
“Then why would it do this?”
“To fill its belly, or simply for the pleasure of it.”
There were more than ten thousand ways to sate a hunger in this world. If it was doing this for fun… then it deserved death all the more.
The Little Snake Demon clenched her fists tight.
Pushing down their nausea, they combed the site carefully and eventually discovered a small tuft of gray fur.
At a glance, it resembled the fur from any ordinary wild beast. But the Snake Demon and Little Radish Spirit could detect an extraordinary scent clinging to it.
“A demon,” Yin Luan said with a frown. “One that hasn’t taken human form?”
Demons had to reach a certain level of cultivation before they could shapeshift. Of course, some who could still preferred to roam the human world in their true forms.
“I… I have a really bad feeling about this.”
Xiao Luo lacked Yin Luan’s supernatural sense of smell, but as someone weak, her survival instincts were keenly attuned.
The bloodline coursing through her veins warned her that the owner of this fur was no pushover.
Now that they had the killer’s scent, unless it could burrow straight to the heavens or into the depths of the earth, there was no escaping the Little Snake Demon’s pursuit.
Yin Luan hunted with fierce focus, like a serpent locked onto its prey. She darted relentlessly through the dew-kissed woods.
They hadn’t gone far when they stumbled upon another half-eaten corpse.
This one was far more intact. It looked like the beast had taken only a few idle bites before sauntering off.
It wasn’t hard to imagine: the previous “prey” had filled its stomach, so this time it was purely savoring the joy of the kill.
“Killed on impact,” Ren Tan said, brows furrowed as she inspected the body. “One blow, probably didn’t suffer much…”
Scattered around the ground were footprints resembling those of a hoofed beast—like an ox, sheep, or deer.
“This guy crossed paths with us just the other day,” Xiao Luo said with a glance and a sigh. “What rotten luck. He died on the road without ever laying eyes on any treasure…”
That was the brutal reality of contending for opportunities.
“Killing-crazed demon beasts aren’t all that common,” she continued. “And demons who relish butchering humans? Even rarer. The few I’ve heard tell of were all real heavy hitters.”
“No worries,” Yin Luan said in a low voice. “I’d like to see just how vicious it really is.”
The thing moved swiftly through the wilds—at least much faster than the three of them on foot. If it kept running, they might wear themselves out chasing it.
But the creature had no thought of fleeing.
The moment it caught the scent of humans again, panicked screams rang out from the woods.
“No, I don’t want to die! Spare me!”
“What the hell are you? Show yourself! I’ll fight you to the death!”
“Begone, you demon, devil, ghost!”
Yin Luan and the others quickened their pace, pushing aside the branches. In the clearing ahead, several humans dressed like adventurers huddled together, their faces twisted in terror or madness.
Baa~~ Baa~~
An eerie bleat rang out here. The tone brimmed with contempt, mockery, and playful malice, as if these people were nothing more than lambs ripe for the slaughter.
“You—you who are you?”
The adventurers were wound tight as springs, nearly drawing their blades at the sight of them.
“Just some good Samaritans passing by,” the Little Snake Demon replied offhandedly, her attention fixed on their surroundings. “You lot should get going. It won’t dare make a move.”
“Wh-why?”
“Because I’m here.”
The adventurers bolted in a panic.
The wicked demon lurking in the woods did not give chase, as expected. Once they were gone, it spoke in the tongue of men.
“Not bad courage. I like my food with a bit of fight in it.”
Then it addressed Xiao Luo directly.
“A sprite with less than a century of cultivation base. That ought to taste just fine.”
Xiao Luo overheard this and went limp with fright, slumping to the ground as cold sweat poured down her face. She stammered, “Y-you… what exactly are you?”
A rustling sound followed, and its body slowly emerged from the shadows.
It was a goat.
Grayish-white fur covered its larger-than-average frame, but the most striking feature was the four horns sprouting from its head—twice as many as normal.
“Eating you all should give my cultivation a nice little boost.”
Ren Tan’s jaw dropped in shock at the sight of the talking goat.
This hit harder than finding out Xiao Luo was a Radish Spirit… At least she looked human!
“A mutant Sheep Demon?”
Yin Luan ventured, her voice laced with equal parts wariness and confusion.
The creature shot her a disdainful glance, too lazy to reply.
“Y-you’re…”
Only Xiao Luo shook uncontrollably, her expression shifting from fear to utter despair.
“E-Earth Louse?”
Though “louse” appeared in its name, it was no insect—it was a demon shaped like a goat.
The 《Classic of Mountains and Seas》 states: “In the Kunlun Hills, there is a beast shaped like a sheep with four horns, named Earth Louse. It eats people.”
The demons of this world fell into two categories.
The first arose from the cultivation of wild beasts. They possessed ordinary talent and might never reach human form in their lifetimes. Their offspring could never be true demons either—merely beasts, or perhaps humans.
The second had originated from beasts long, long ago. They existed in the world and in ancient myths, having attained a profound realm that allowed them to pass down their demon bloodline from generation to generation.
Creatures like the Earth Louse… people called them Mythical Demons.
~~~
