Chapter 15: A Hero of Evil, the True Colors of a Demon! (Third Update!)

On June 17th, Li Haitian strolled leisurely through Cuiling City. Every passerby who saw him greeted him warmly.

Whether they were high officials, commoners, courtesans, or street vendors.

"Greetings, Constable Li!"

"Have you eaten, Constable?"

"Hard work, Constable!"

It wasn't because he held immense power that people flattered him, but because in the hearts of the people, he was a true constable—maintaining order, catching criminals, and remaining fair and incorruptible. He had earned everyone's respect.

He particularly loved this feeling, because only he knew who he truly was!

The Moth Demon, the Third-Day Demon!

On the third of every month, a household must be exterminated!

Over all these years, he had already wiped out fifty-six families and killed over two hundred people?

He had lost count of exactly how many.

In the beginning, when he first obtained this "Moth Demon Sacrificial Method of the Mortal World Demonic Sect" in a dream, he had been filled with rage. How could such a vicious method be spread throughout the world? What kind of evil person would commit such serial killings?

Back then, he was still a good constable, full of righteousness, upholding the law.

But back then, he could only feel indignant, oppressed by his superiors and abandoned by his girlfriend, living a life of frustration and failure.

Later... what happened later?

He couldn't quite remember, or perhaps he simply didn't want to.

He became the Third-Day Demon.

The world believed he killed on the third, but they didn't realize that he actually exterminated families on the second.

The ritual took place on the second, at the victim's home, targeting their entire family.

The method of killing was "body explosion," leaving nothing behind but blood—a scene designed to instill the deepest terror.

The characteristic of the ritual: Deception!

No one could ever guess that his purpose wasn't merely to kill, but to deceive. To deceive everyone so that no one would suspect him, and no one would realize they had all actually died on the second.

Thinking of this, Li Haitian felt a burning sensation throughout his body.

This feeling was too exhilarating!

It was so intoxicating that even though he had long since reached the Great Perfection of Qi Refinement and mastered three types of True Qi characteristics, he delayed his advancement to the Foundation Establishment stage.

Because once he reached Foundation Establishment, he would no longer be able to use the Moth Demon Sacrificial Method of the Qi Refinement stage. He could not obtain the Foundation Establishment version of the method; after reaching that stage, he would be unable to perform the family extermination sacrifices.

What began as a path of cultivation had now completely transformed into a hobby.

He loved the feeling—the feeling of cornering an entire family and transmitting terror to them. Watching them wail, watching them betray one another, watching them flee, and watching them die bravely for their kin...

This sensation had become an addiction from which he could not extricate himself.

Like this month—no one expected that Old Man Baldy Wang would, for the sake of his family, indignantly strike at him with a blade, fighting to the death even after Li Haitian promised not to kill him.

And then there was Liu Sanmei, a harlot who married Old Man Baldy Wang just for his family heirloom. Who would have thought she would actually fall in love with him and be willing to live or die by his side?

And that little girl—what was she hiding? Only eight years old, incredibly tender; even as she wailed in death, she seemed to be hiding something...

Thinking of that family made Li Haitian lose even more control over himself.

Next month, on the second, he would have to choose another such family. Killing them felt too good!

Recently, a teenage boy from the Wang family, who had been involved in some disputes, had been quietly following him and observing him.

He thought he hadn't noticed!

How naive!

The boy seemed to possess some kind of divine vision; Li Haitian had known about him from a distance long ago.

Perhaps he should kill him next month?

But the boy seemed to be an orphan; one person didn't make a "family," so it wouldn't be satisfying enough.

On the fifteenth of next month, he'd let the Blood-Inducing Parrot eat the boy; that would count as the achievement of the Full Moon Demon...

As his thoughts wandered, a messenger constable suddenly arrived to deliver word.

"Lord Li, a suspected crime scene of the Head-Exploding Demon has been discovered."

Li Haitian's eyes lit up. The Head-Exploding Demon—this new Moth Cultivator was different from the others; he enjoyed killing cultivators and challenging high-difficulty targets.

Li Haitian had always wanted to encounter him, catch him, and kill him!

It had been half a month since the Head-Exploding Demon last appeared to kill, and the wait was making him anxious.

"Quick, take me there!"

The messenger led the way, soon arriving at the bell tower by White Sand Lake in the city.

The location was poor, situated at the intersection of the city's lake bay and river bridge, a chaotic area. The bell tower was also extremely narrow, barely large enough for one person to stand and ring the bell.

Why would someone come here to kill? And there were no reports of any Qi Refinement cultivators in this area.

About a dozen onlookers had already gathered.

The coroner, Zhang Tao, had arrived early. Seeing Li Haitian approach, he descended the stairs to greet him.

"Who is the victim this time?"

The Qi Refinement cultivators in the city were all well-known, so Li Haitian asked.

Zhang Tao frowned and said, "My Lord, I don't know. This time is very strange; I feel as though this wasn't the work of the Head-Exploding Demon. There is something wrong with the corpse. I suspect the person was already dead before their head was exploded, and they weren't even a Qi Refinement cultivator. Yet, the scene looks exactly like a Head-Exploding Demon crime scene, down to the last detail..."

This immediately piqued Li Haitian's interest.

In his life, he had no wife or children; aside from exterminating families, his greatest passion was solving cases.

"What's the matter?" Seeing Zhang Tao's hesitation, he added, "Never mind, I'll go take a look!"

Zhang Tao knew Li Haitian's habit of loving a good case.

"My Lord, it's cramped up there. It's very stifling and only one person can investigate. I'll have someone carry the body down so you can examine it properly."

"Are you stupid? If we carry it down like that, won't we destroy the integrity of the primary crime scene? No matter how cramped it is, is that more important than solving the case?"

With that, Li Haitian climbed the bell tower.

It was indeed very cramped; only one person could fit.

At a glance, he saw a corpse. The right eye was burst open, the back of the head had exploded, and brain matter was splattered everywhere.

Li Haitian's eyes gleamed. He immediately saw that something was wrong with the body. This wasn't a Qi Refinement cultivator at all; it was likely an unnamed vagrant from the mortuary. This was a staged scene. The person had been dead for a long time and was moved here.

But why was the forgery so perfect?

As Li Haitian observed closely, countless clues appeared before his eyes, and suddenly, his heart skipped a beat.

An innate warning!

If he were outside, Li Haitian would have fled immediately—a gentleman does not stand under a collapsing wall!

But at this moment, he only thought of the case.

With the case before him, the thrill of investigation was second only to the joy of exterminating a family on the second.

The innate warning was completely suppressed by his obsession; he continued forward.

He took one step forward, entering the range of the Dragon-Slaying Thorn!

Amidst the many traces, Li Haitian suddenly looked up and shouted

"I see you!"

There was someone else here!

Someone was using an invisibility talisman to shroud themselves, hanging motionless at the very top of the bell tower!

In an instant, their eyes met!

"The teenage boy..."

That was Li Haitian's final thought.

The boy had already completed the throwing motion. A flash of cold light, a speck of spiritual glow, arrived in an instant.

A protective light rose around Li Haitian—the protective radiance of the talisman he had purchased at a high price.

But beneath the light, it shattered.

Three colors of radiance rose from his body: Qi Refinement Shielding!

Frost Qi, Water Qi, and Mist Qi—the three combined into a spiritual shield!

*Break!* It could not be stopped!

The Dragon-Slaying Thorn shot through his right eye into his brain, and then the back of Li Haitian's head exploded radiantly. Blood, brain matter, and bone fragments sprayed in all directions!

The spray covered a radius of at least ten feet!

One strike: broke the treasure, broke the shield, broke the eye, and exploded the head!

"Moth Demon Li Haitian, the Third-Day Demon, exterminated fifty-six families and killed two hundred and thirty-five people. For his countless evils, he must be punished!"

"He who does evil shall surely perish!"

"Little girl, I will avenge you!"

Then came the sound of a flying talisman activating, teleporting him away.

Li Haitian lay on the ground, knowing he was dead.

"So, he was the Head-Exploding Demon... I've killed so many people, yet he knew the count even better than I did..."

In a haze, Li Haitian felt as if the two hundred and thirty-five people he had killed were slowly walking toward him.

However, Li Haitian felt no fear, for he knew that by becoming a Moth Demon, this day would eventually come!

As he was being swallowed by the Death Spirit, he felt no pain, only a loud, boisterous laugh!

Even with destruction imminent, he was unafraid—a hero of evil, the true essence of a demon!