Chapter 29: 29th County

Chapter 29: Returning to the County

Chounu stopped in his tracks, staring in disbelief at this scene that seemed frozen in time.

The long blade acted as a spear, thrusting forth like a dragon.

The evil dragon lunged, piercing through the chests of the purple-robed man and the youth who appeared to be a plague-martial artist. They were carried into mid-air, advancing frame by frame as if time had been pressed into "slow motion."

The eyes of the two men were filled with utter disbelief.

It wasn't just them; even the fleeing minor demons and the monkey demon pinned under the golden mountain had frozen, staring at the scene in shock.

Everyone saw clearly that the ghost-faced Taoist had been struck solidly by the Celestial Master Seal and had fallen heavily to the ground.

Yet, after that single impact, he actually scrambled up as if nothing had happened.

After getting up,

He began to run.

Ning Xuan began to run.

He had switched back to the [Yinfeng Ox], and his constitution had returned to 5.0.

His speed was extreme. With every step, he applied the Swallow-Chirp Force to his feet; the ground shattered, and dust billowed. Each stride covered over ten yards. In just four or five steps, he had charged in front of the purple-robed man and the plague Taoist.

He even managed to grab the long blade that had just landed.

He leaped up, gripping the hilt tightly with both hands, his face contorted with ferocity, a savage grin pulling at the corners of his mouth.

His gaze was focused, self-forgetting, and ruthless.

From his high vantage point, he pressed down heavily upon the purple-robed man and the Taoist who had just landed.

Yan He! (Swallow Convergence!)

BOOM!!!

The violent force, combined with the momentum of his throw, tripled in intensity as it slammed into the purple-robed man and the Taoist.

Then, their flesh and blood began to disintegrate.

Flesh, bone, and internal organs all began to crumble.

Disintegrating in all directions.

BANG!!

Splattering flesh bloomed upon the earth like an extremely bloody dahlia.

Beneath Ning Xuan's blade, there was no one left.

Both had exploded, reduced to minced meat. An eyeball rolled erratically before coming to a stop against a rib bone wrapped in purple cloth.

Standing atop the flower of blooming gore, the savage arc of his grin widened further.

For some reason, he wanted to laugh.

So, he laughed.

Holding the blade in one hand and pressing his forehead with the other, he pushed back his hair and let out a manic laugh.

"Hahaha!"

"Hahahahahaha!!"

The Ghost-Shadow Monkey stared blankly at this scene, a single thought surfacing in its mind: *You truly are a demon...*

It had smelled the demonic aura on the ghost-faced Taoist earlier, which was why it had called it strange.

Suddenly, it looked at Chounu with pity.

Sure enough, after his laughter, Ning Xuan began to run again.

A run, then an explosion.

Amidst the rolling dust, he charged toward Chounu, passed him, and reached the Ghost-Shadow Monkey. With a spinning blade, the monkey's head flew off. He dipped his finger in the demon blood, and in the blink of an eye, he refined it instantly.

The Ghost-Shadow Monkey's constitution was similar to the Yinfeng Ox; only its innate demon technique was different.

Its innate technique was

[Formless Art: Transforming into void, hiding shadows and traces, making its form impossible to discern.]

An hour later.

Ning Xuan and Chounu scavenged the cave, cleaning out the demons completely. However, the sheep demon was naturally fast and had escaped, and some of the smaller demons were too scattered and had also fled.

As for the missing civilians in the demon cave, they were all rescued. The two men comforted them gently before leading them to the exit of Mount Manfeng.

The soldiers stationed outside rushed up to receive them and take the civilians away, cheering loudly upon hearing that the demons had been wiped out.

The brothers did not join the outside provincial troops or Taoists; instead, using the excuse that there was still trouble to attend to, they re-entered the mountains.

After walking for a while...

Both were silent.

Ning Xuan recalled his recent outburst.

He let out a soft sigh.

Having been eaten by demons too many times, and having endured the pain of being gnawed upon bite by bite too often, certain things had naturally changed.

In his nightmares, when facing those powerful demons, he was no longer just calm and ruthless, focused solely on killing the opponent; there was also a hint of venting, a hint of madness, a hint of distortion...

Once he felt his life was threatened, he would reactively remember the pain of being eaten alive, and then he would lose control, moving and killing in the most efficient and frenzied manner possible.

Ultimately...

He was afraid.

He was truly, deeply afraid.

He was terrified of being eaten.

But this temperament was not who he truly was.

He didn't even want to think about the way he looked in that moment.

Right now, he just wanted to return to Xinghe County, quickly finish the formalities to become a general, help the Ning family stabilize their influence, and then soak himself in his father's and elder brother's territory without going anywhere else.

There was pleasure there, plenty of fine wine, and many beauties. He didn't need to go to grand places to pursue more Dragon Qi resources, so... why bother with ambition?

That was the real him.

Suddenly, Chounu spoke up: "Although the corpses were heavily shredded and they weren't carrying any identification, that Taoist was definitely a plague-martial artist, and that purple-robed man was a Celestial Master."

He patted Ning Xuan's shoulder and said with a smile, "Well done."

After leaving the mountain, he had confirmed once more that there was no demonic aura on Ning Xuan.

In that case, if his brother was strong, what was wrong with that?

Why bother asking questions?

After a thought, he said worriedly, "The way you looked just now was a bit..."

He couldn't describe the sheer bloodiness and explosive violence of that moment. Perhaps some demons were more cruel than his brother, but no demon could exhibit such a world-shattering, demonically frenzied display.

That scene was too impactful.

Chounu suddenly stopped walking.

Ning Xuan stopped as well.

Chounu said solemnly, "Ning Xuan, do not tell anyone your secret, including Father and me. And I will never leak what happened today."

Noticing the change in his address and the gravity in his tone, Ning Xuan nodded.

Chounu continued, "However, your state is very wrong. If it weren't for the fact that you have no demonic aura, I would suspect you had contracted the plague."

Ning Xuan explained, "Perhaps it's because I realized that demons actually exist in this world... so I'm afraid."

Chounu's mouth twitched, but maintaining the attitude of an elder brother and senior, he let out a light laugh and said in a peaceful tone, "You're still better off than I was.

The first time I saw a demon, I was so scared I wet my pants. The second time, though I didn't wet myself, I turned pale and was frozen with terror.

Master said I wasn't suited for this profession, but I did it anyway.

Don't feel pressured; I'm not talking about you.

Being ruthless toward demons isn't a bad thing, just... do not lose yourself."

Ning Xuan nodded heavily.

He had made up his mind.

His elder brother was right.

Being ruthless toward demons wasn't a bad thing, but one must not lose oneself.

To avoid losing himself, he would go to the Chenxiang Pavilion to listen to music.

He used to think the Chenxiang Pavilion was too far away in the prefectural city, so he only went on long trips.

Now that he knew this entire Wangyue Prefecture was his father's territory, what was "far" about it?

He wanted to buy the mansion opposite the Chenxiang Pavilion.

Concubines brought home eventually grow weary of one another; how could they compare to the constant novelty, wine, and stories of the Chenxiang Pavilion?

Chounu said, "Now, we should head back."

His expression shifted slightly. "We need to find out who arranged for a pair of Celestial Master and Taoist disciples to intercept us. If you hadn't caught them off guard this time, both you and I would have ended up in a demon's belly."

As he spoke, he pressed his hand on Ning Xuan's shoulder. Golden light surged, and through several consecutive leaps of several miles, ignoring the exhaustion, they finally approached the bustle of Xinghe County.

(End of Chapter)