Chapter 10: She Didn't Call Him Big Brother

The strength of nine oxen!

This was a marvelous use of "Reward Good and Punish Evil" that Luo Zhou had never imagined.

So, there is such "Great Good," which must mean there is also "Great Evil"?

He carefully sensed this strength of nine oxen.

The strength of one ox is approximately eight hundred catties; the strength of nine oxen should be seven thousand two hundred catties.

Yet, the reality of this nine-ox strength was far greater than seven thousand catties. Luo Zhou now possessed nearly ten thousand catties of force—a courage that could not be matched!

Beyond the gains in strength, Luo Zhou felt as if his entire body were draped in a layer of ox hide—no, it felt more like nine layers of ox hide protecting his body.

The auxiliary innate ability of the nine-ox strength: Leather Armor Protection!

Furthermore, his overall physical constitution had improved; he was more capable of enduring hardship, and his stamina had become long-lasting.

It felt as if his stomach could ruminate, digesting whatever he ate, with a digestive capacity several times stronger than before.

Luo Zhou had a feeling that this was only the "nine oxen." If he could gather the "two tigers" and fully complete the divine ability *Nine Oxen and Two Tigers*, he would be even stronger!

Sensing further, he found that his divine ability, Dragon-Slaying Sting, had also mutated due to this influence.

Previously, the Dragon-Slaying Sting only had a range of about a zhang (approx. 3.3 meters). Now that the four-ox strength had become nine-ox strength, the range had immediately expanded to two zhang and three chi!

This was of great significance!

It filled Luo Zhou with immense joy!

However, this joy did not last long. Just as the sky was beginning to brighten in the morning, the neighborhood was thrown into a state of boiling chaos, like a rising tide.

"Someone come quickly, something has happened!"

"Something happened at Old Wang’s place! They were slaughtered by the Third-Day Demon!"

"How did the Third-Day Demon come to our neighborhood? He’s never been here before!"

"Disaster! It’s a disaster!"

Luo Zhou was jolted awake, as if someone were reminding him: *Twenty-nine days left...*

He rushed out and saw Old Wang’s house surrounded, three layers deep inside and out.

Last night, the Third-Day Demon had come here and killed their whole family.

Bald Old Wang, his beautiful step-wife, and Wang Xiaoya—all dead!

Luo Zhou rushed over, but the neighborhood head was already maintaining order, preventing anyone from entering. Before long, the constables arrived.

Constable Wang Ying arrived; it was not Constable Li Haitian, as this was not his jurisdiction.

Sealing the scene, the coroner examining the bodies, the standard procedure followed...

Outside, the crowd was incensed. Someone couldn't help but curse

"What are you constables good for? You still haven't caught the Third-Day Demon!"

"Useless trash, good for nothing!"

"We pay so much in taxes, and it’s completely useless!"

Fear makes people go mad...

The Third-Day Demon had never come to this neighborhood before, and everyone had assumed they would be safe.

When it came down to it, the people here didn't have high incomes; they couldn't afford to take refuge in inns or taverns.

The constables were already accustomed to the abuse and went through the motions very quickly. Soon, the scene was cleared.

The Third-Day Demon left no corpses behind, only blood splattered everywhere; there was nothing to clean up.

The house was sealed off, no one was allowed to enter, and the crowd dispersed.

The dead were dead. No matter how afraid they were, they still had to live. If they didn't work today, they wouldn't have food tomorrow. If the Third-Day Demon came for them, they would deal with it then!

Luo Zhou also headed to the Dao Academy to cultivate.

The news spread like wildfire through the academy, and Luo Zhou didn't know how he got through the day.

After school, he returned home. Waiting until the third watch of the night, Luo Zhou suddenly rose and headed to Old Wang’s house.

He had to examine the scene!

Arriving at Old Wang’s house, he leaped over the courtyard wall.

With his Sharp Insight, he could see clearly even in the night. He carried his eyebrow-height staff in his hand, with two more on his back. With weapons in hand, he feared no one.

Using the strength of nine oxen, he forced open the door and entered the room.

The Death-冥-Spirit (Death Wraith) had already formed, but the spirits of those killed by the Third-Day Demon had no ability to communicate.

What secret technique had the opponent used while killing them to cause this?

Bald Old Wang’s spirit was blocking the doorway, holding a kitchen knife, as if protecting something.

In his final moment, he had been a man; he was guarding his family.

Behind him, the spirit of the beautiful step-wife, Liu Sanmei, was also desperately shielding her son, hiding behind Old Wang.

Even the youngest son, a one-year-old infant, had not been spared.

Luo Zhou gritted his teeth until they creaked. He had to kill this monster!

He searched for Wang Xiaoya and found her quickly. She had fled to the window and was trying to climb out, frozen in the motion of escaping.

The opponent had done it on purpose—letting her try to escape, and just as she thought she had made it, killing her!

He was toying with her!

Luo Zhou tried to communicate with Wang Xiaoya’s spirit, but there was no response.

A tattered rag doll had been carefully placed by the window.

Wang Xiaoya must have known she was going to die, so she placed it there carefully, so as not to get blood on the doll.

Luo Zhou picked it up. Even though Wang Xiaoya had been so careful, it was splattered with a lot of blood.

This was Wang Xiaoya’s blood!

Clutching the doll in his hand, Luo Zhou felt immense hatred.

Suddenly, Luo Zhou’s eyes lit up. Something was wrong!

He began to analyze carefully, vaguely sensing that something was amiss.

He scrutinized the expressions of the spirits. Although they couldn't speak, Luo Zhou was suddenly filled with fury.

A liar!

What "Third-Day Demon"!

Old Wang’s family wasn't killed on the night of the third at all.

It was the night of the second!

On the night of the second, the Third-Day Demon came to kill, and Wang Xiaoya saw her father die a tragic death and couldn't help but cry out...

Luo Zhou had heard the sound in his heart and had come to check, but the Third-Day Demon had set up a ruse, and seeing nothing unusual, Luo Zhou had returned.

When Luo Zhou was checking, Wang Xiaoya must have seen him, but she didn't call for help; she did nothing.

It wasn't that she couldn't call out, but she knew the opponent was the Third-Day Demon. Even if Luo Zhou came to save her, he would die!

She didn't want the big brother to die!

So she just watched Luo Zhou and didn't call for him to save her!

She remained silent, saving Luo Zhou’s life!

If she had called out then, and Luo Zhou had come over, the Third-Day Demon would have been in the shadows. The Dragon-Slaying Sting wouldn't have been able to fire, and Luo Zhou would have surely died, turning into a pool of blood.

She had pretended to climb out the window, watching Luo Zhou standing there, pretending not to see him, silently waiting for death!

In her final moment, he wondered if she had cried?

She was only eight years old!

Luo Zhou hated to the extreme, but instead, he became calm, breathing heavily.

This "Third-Day Demon" had deceived everyone. His ritual didn't actually care about the second or the third.

He killed on the second and faked the scene to make everyone think he killed on the third. But why?

To create an alibi! Every third of the month, he had a perfect alibi!

"Some people have speculated that this Third-Day Demon might be someone from the government! A thief crying 'stop thief'—that’s why he can never be caught."

Suddenly, Luo Zhou remembered Cheng Wanli’s words!

On the night of the third, all the government constables were mobilized, and everyone had a task. Only in this way would they need an alibi to prove they weren't the Third-Day Demon.

Why couldn't the spirits respond? The opponent must have a special method; only by cleaning the traces while killing could this be done.

As for the coroner’s examination, the opponent left no flesh or blood behind, only blood everywhere, along with various setups that made it impossible for anyone to discover the true time of death.

"Bastard, you’ve shown your tail. I will find you and nail you to the ground!"

The reason he killed the Wang family—even though they appeared to be ordinary people—was that their bloodline was definitely extraordinary.

The fact that he had received the divine ability *Overturning Rivers and Seas* for punishing evil was proof of that.

After investigating, Luo Zhou returned.

Back home, he carefully placed the rag doll at the head of his bed and said softly

"Alright, I accept the gift. It’s as if you’ll be with me forever."

The doll was very worn; washing it would only make it fall apart, so he could only keep the bloodstains.

The next day, the fifth of the sixth month. Twenty-eight days left.

A respected elder in the neighborhood took the lead, and everyone pooled money for the funeral of the Wang family.

It could only be a cenotaph, but they had to have a grave.

Luo Zhou contributed ten taels of silver directly, easily solving the funding problem.

With the money, everyone specially erected a stone tablet for Old Wang’s family.

They wrote the names one by one: Wang Dong, Liu Sanmei. When they reached Wang Xiaoya, Luo Zhou said

"I know her name!"

"Wang Xiaoya!"

He gave her a name.

The crowd looked at one another; many knew she never had a name to begin with.

"Good, Wang Xiaoya. Now that the little girl is gone, she has a good name. It’s a complete life; she didn't come into this world for nothing."

"A person leaves a name, a goose leaves a cry."

And so, the funeral ended.

Old Wang’s house was soon unsealed, and renovations began.

The one who inherited the house was Bald Old Wang’s brother-in-law, Liu Sanmei’s younger brother, Liu Jinpeng.

Bald Old Wang’s two cousins, Wang Qiang and Wang Gang, were unhappy and came to argue, but they were beaten up by him.

Liu Jinpeng was a member of the Sanjiang Gang, a disciple of the underworld, skilled in fists and kicks. Even the neighborhood head dared not say anything.

Wang Qiang and Wang Gang went to report it to the authorities, but they didn't have a good outcome; they couldn't fight Liu Jinpeng in either the black or white worlds.

Luo Zhou didn't pay much attention, but he hadn't realized that by showing his wealth with the ten taels of silver, Liu Jinpeng, who was renovating the house, had been quietly watching him, staring for a long time without moving!

(End of chapter)