Chapter 1: X-ray Headshot, the Seventh Moth Demon!

In the city of Cuiling, Ningze Prefecture, Liang Kingdom, lies the Jing'an seaside. Looking east across the sea, one finds the various kingdoms of Fuyu; to the south lies Qingyu Prefecture; to the west, the towering Daxuan Mountains; and to the north, the Black Fertile Border. It is a hub of trade with a fine harbor and rich fishing grounds.

"The most prosperous place in all of Ningze Prefecture!"

Three rivers flow out from the towering Daxuan Mountains to the west, cutting through the city.

Because of this, the city is filled with bridges and lakes, boasting the scenic beauty of three lakes, seven bays, and twelve bridges.

At the fifth watch, before the sun had risen and while the sky was still dim, pedestrians were already bustling about the city.

Coolies at the docks scrambled for work, street vendors sold breakfast, and laborers who had toiled through the night drank their morning wine, loosening their stiff muscles before heading off to sleep.

Beside one of the twelve bridges, the Qiniwa Stone Bridge, two figures stood facing each other from a distance.

The elder, wearing a high cap and fine robes with a sanctimonious air, was none other than Gu Shanhe, the head manager of the Golden Shop.

He was wealthy, fond of helping the poor, and possessed an excellent reputation, held in high esteem by all.

The small youth he had cornered wore coarse cloth garments, carried a large pack on his back, and held a brow-high staff. At a glance, he looked like a young savage from the mountains who had just arrived in the city to make a living.

A powerful spiritual energy covered the three-zhang radius around them, isolating them from the world.

Under the influence of this barrier, passersby ignored the two completely, seeing but not noticing, hearing but not listening, subconsciously walking around the perimeter.

Gu Shanhe watched the mountain youth struggling in vain to escape the barrier, a wicked smile spreading across his face.

"Inside the Dual-Boundary Talisman, scream for help all you want. In the end, you’ll just tear your throat apart and never be able to make another sound."

The youth felt the boundless malice radiating from the cultivator before him and struggled desperately.

But trapped by the Dual-Boundary Talisman, he could not escape.

He shouted aloud, but no one heard him. He could only raise his brow-high staff, trembling as he faced Gu Shanhe three zhang away!

Gu Shanhe claimed to be at the fourth level of Qi Refining, but in reality, he was at the eighth. He mastered geomantic magnetic energy and could project a magnetic pressure up to eight feet!

He had mastered the spell to condense Qi into a shield, fearing no physical attacks—swords, spears, halberds, bows, crossbows, or arrows—that lacked true Qi, provided they were below the Qi Refining realm.

The youth was only at the third level of Body Tempering; he had no way to resist!

Gu Shanhe’s eyes turned blood-red, his wicked smile widening as he whispered

"Young lad, it’s alright. It will be over soon, don't be afraid!"

He stepped forward slowly. Once he entered the eight-foot radius around the youth, the geomantic pressure would lock the boy down, allowing him to do whatever he pleased.

This was his seventeenth prey. He was a "maggot demon," a cultivator who enjoyed torturing and killing others for no reason!

"Are you afraid? The feeling of fear on you—it’s just too wonderful!

Little lad, try not to wet your pants."

Gu Shanhe moved deliberately, speaking as he walked, his entire body radiating uncontrollable desire and excitement!

"Get close to him, lock him down, make him unable to move a muscle, and then crush his fingers.

The fingers are connected to the heart; the pain is unbearable.

Watching his round fingers turn into thin, paper-like slices of flesh—he surely won't believe it, and he'll struggle with all his might!

Keep him pinned down. By the time I crush the third finger, he’ll still be fantasizing about a hero coming to save him, about a miracle happening.

Children from the mountains aren't as pampered as city folk; they have grit. Only by the fifth finger will he cry, wail, beg for mercy, and wet his pants.

When I crush the tenth finger, he will be powerless to struggle, utterly desperate, slowly accepting the reality that he is about to die.

But he doesn't know that this is only the beginning of the pain!

Starting from the fingers, then the hands, arms, feet, legs, and finally the internal organs and bones—crushing them all into thin, paper-like slices, yet unable to die. Only pain—that is true despair!

At that moment, he will have only one thought: begging me to kill him!

The time should be about right. The sun will rise, the first ray of light will fall, and the purple mist will come from the east!

Only then will he die, perishing humbly as a sheet of flesh!

Others think I, Gu Shanhe the Geomantic Demon, am just a maggot cultivator who kills for no reason, but they don't know that this is my path of cultivation!

Early morning, stone bridge, youth, pain, begging for death!

The Demon Offering Ritual—tears of the mortal world, killing as a sacrifice. With the Primordial Demon Lord above, I save five years of bitter cultivation!"

Lost in thought, his feet never stopped. Gu Shanhe slowly approached within one zhang of the youth. One more step, and he would enter the eight-foot zone, capturing him completely.

Suddenly, the youth smiled!

The hunter always appears in the guise of the prey!

He suddenly raised his brow-high staff in a spear-throwing motion.

The staff shot out like a long spear, yet it was completely different; the moment the motion was made, it had already struck, with no flight time at all.

Within one zhang, it arrived instantly. There was no dodging, no blocking; time and space were meaningless.

One end of the staff struck Gu Shanhe’s left eye.

But Gu Shanhe was not the least bit alarmed; his Qi-condensed shield was protecting him at all times.

Attacks without true Qi were meaningless; they couldn't hurt him in the slightest.

"A spiritual earth-trick of the mountain folk?"

This was Gu Shanhe’s final thought...

The staff struck Gu Shanhe’s Qi shield and shattered instantly.

The wood turned into a sky full of sawdust, but the ruse was revealed: a short spear hidden within the staff emerged.

The short spear, or javelin, was only one foot and three inches long, yet it was crystal clear, like fine crystal.

The entire spear melted into a brilliant, strange energy, converging into a single point of light that pierced the shield instantly.

It broke through Gu Shanhe’s shield, shot into his brain through his left eye, and then blew out the back of his skull. Blood, brains, and bone fragments sprayed in all directions!

It splattered a full zhang around him!

One strike, shield broken, head exploded!

The youth said coldly: "Maggot Demon Gu Shanhe, you indulged in torture, slaughtered the weak, and committed countless evils. You deserve this punishment!"

"Those who commit many injustices are doomed to destruction!"

Having said this, he took a robe from his pack, quickly changed his attire, and vanished quietly.

Gu Shanhe lay on the ground. He knew he was dead, but his soul remained.

Vaguely, he felt as if he saw a dozen paper-thin youths crawling toward him.

They were all the boys and girls he had once tortured to death, transformed into entities like vengeful spirits, surrounding him and tearing at him frantically.

Gu Shanhe screamed, *Don't come over, don't come over...*

But there was no sound. In this silence, he was devoured bit by bit by the dead spirits. Evil has its retribution!

An hour later, the power of the Dual-Boundary Talisman dissipated. Someone saw Gu Shanhe’s corpse and screamed, and others immediately reported it to the authorities.

Soon, bailiffs and constables arrived to secure the scene, and a coroner came to examine the body.

Li Haitian, the head constable of Cuiling City, walked over slowly and looked at the corpse, asking

"Gu Shanhe, the head manager of the Golden Shop?"

The coroner, Zhang Tao, nodded humbly and said

"It is him. At dawn, he was killed by a single strike that pierced his left eye and exploded his head."

Li Haitian sighed deeply and said

"Another serial killing? How many is this now with such a method of death? Can we classify this as a series?"

"Sir, forty-six days ago, the cultivator Qiu Jun was the first to be killed this way. Thirty-one days ago, Li Feng of the Hongshan Hall was the second victim. Eighteen days ago, the cultivator Jiang Ziyou was the third...

This is the work of a maggot demon!

The signature is killing cultivators, breaking their Qi-refining shields, and piercing the eye to explode the head.

Gu Shanhe is the fifth cultivator. According to the rules, the case can be established!"

Li Haitian nodded: "I declare this a series. This demon shall be named the 'Head-Exploding Demon.'

He is the seventh maggot demon in our Cuiling City, following the Rainy Night Demon, the Full Moon Demon, the Third-Day Demon, the Geomantic Demon, the Eye-Eating Demon, and the Yellow Earth Demon.

Issue a warrant for his arrest throughout the city. Note specifically how he differs from the other six: he specializes in killing Qi-refining cultivators."

The coroner, Zhang Tao, said bitterly: "These brats from the Mortal Dust Demon Sect are becoming more and more rampant in our Liang Kingdom.

Why doesn't the main sect of the Daoist Sect send people down to purge them?"

"I don't know. We have petitioned many times.

Not only has the main Daoist Sect not sent anyone, but even the lower branch in the Liang capital hasn't sent a soul.

The infiltration and encroachment of the Mortal Dust Demon Sect against our Heaven-Earth Daoist Sect are becoming increasingly rampant. Who knows what those above are thinking?"

Coroner Zhang Tao sighed again and added

"This newly debuted Head-Exploding Demon is particularly cunning.

After killing, he doesn't take a single item or coin from the victim; he doesn't even touch their storage bags. The tracking abilities of the head of the yamen are useless.

Moreover, my innate 'Qi-Observing Heart-Eye' cannot see any signs of him using true Qi, so I cannot track him.

I don't know if his strength is too great, suppressing my talent, or if he isn't using true Qi at all, which is why I can't see it?"

Li Haitian said slowly: "It must be suppressing your talent.

Without the circulation of true Qi, how could he break through Gu Shanhe’s Qi-condensed shield?

This demon’s cultivation is powerful, at least at the eighth level of Qi Refining or higher. He might even master three types of true Qi, with forty years of internal strength..."

He couldn't help but look to the side, where countless onlookers had gathered, three layers deep. Among them were dozens of students from the Daoist Academy who had skipped class to watch.

Li Haitian lamented

"Now there are seven serial maggot demons in Cuiling City. Can't these guys just give it a rest?!"

Coroner Zhang Tao whispered

"Don't worry about it. In such a large city, with thousands of people coming and going every day, a few deaths are just a drizzle!"

Although the constables had blocked the road, many people still stopped to watch.

Among the crowd was a group of youths, about fifteen or sixteen years old—students from the Cuiling City Heaven-Earth Daoist Academy.

They wore fine robes and watched from afar.

But realizing they were about to be late, they gave up on the spectacle and ran toward the Heaven-Earth Daoist Academy in the west of the city.

Among the students was a handsome young lad, slender, fair-skinned, with delicate features and a pair of bright, piercing eyes...

It was none other than the youth who had just disguised himself as a mountain savage to kill Gu Shanhe: Luo Zhou!

(End of chapter)