Chapter 342: How to Relieve Worries? Only by Killing

Chapter 342: Only Killing Can Drown Sorrow

With a toss of the rope in his hand, the man and woman inside the black cloth sack were bound separately.

Qi Yuan handed the rope to Huo Mushi and instructed, “You lead these two. Now we go… to Xianlong Mountain!”

Xianlong Mountain, over three hundred li from Shuyao Mountain.

On this mountain, the number of demons and monsters was no less than on Shuyao Mountain, perhaps even greater.

But compared to Shuyao Mountain, the demons on Xianlong Mountain were not organized; they were scattered.

“Good!” Huo Mushi gripped the rope tightly, his expression excited.

Meanwhile, the demon and the human, covered by black cloth and gagged, had ten thousand grass-mud horses galloping in their hearts?

Especially the flower demon, whose mind was blank.

Who had come?

What did they want?

Why was she tied up?

She wanted to speak, but she simply couldn’t.

Yet the ensuing conversation between the two shocked her for ten thousand years.

“I’ve been holding this stick all night; my hands are sore. I wish I could call my wife over to massage them.”

“Milord… mighty!”

“This time, after we go to Xianlong Mountain and slaughter all the thousands of demons there, I’ll keep two beautiful female demons to give me a rubdown, then kill them after.”

“Milord… formidable!”

In any case, Huo Mushi was like a broken record, only praising.

The flower demon, trapped in the black bag, heard Qi Yuan’s words and sneered inwardly.

This guy sure could brag!

Slaughter all the demons on Xianlong Mountain!

If you’re so great, why not pluck the stars from the sky?

But not long after thinking this, she heard that detestable man boasting again.

“Mushi, do you have any good ways to make money?”

“Ah… Milord is short of funds?”

“Yeah, a bit short.”

“If Milord returns to Zhenyang, the county magistrate will surely muster the whole city’s strength to gather enough silver for you!”

Qi Yuan had slaughtered all the demons on Shuyao Mountain, which was a life-saving, re-creative grace to the people of Zhenyang.

Even if Qi Yuan raised a rebellion,

The county magistrate and the county commandant would likely raise both hands in approval.

A bit of silver, what was that?

“Not enough money. I want to buy a planet—well, like Gongxing.”

“Ah?” Huo Mushi fell silent.

Indeed, he still couldn’t keep up with Qi Yuan’s train of thought.

In this world’s ancient times, the concept of planets already existed.

The common folk also knew they lived on the surface of a planet.

So, hearing Qi Yuan say he wanted to buy a planet, Huo Mushi was speechless.

The flower demon in the black bag wanted to sneer even more.

“Too bad there’s no buyer in your world, or I’d sell it and make a fortune!”

Hearing this, the flower demon felt Qi Yuan was even more arrogant and ignorant.

But Qi Yuan’s strength was too great; he had bound her and silenced her.

She could neither escape nor retort, reduced to a prisoner.

The flower demon’s heart was full of confusion.

These two had captured her for a reason.

Was it for money, for lust, or for Tong Tianyou?

Surely they would interrogate her.

But instead, these two seemed to have forgotten her and Tong Tianyou.

They just kept traveling.

If not for the child-like lackey feeding Tong Tianyou once, she’d think they’d forgotten both of them.

Still, she wanted to say, “I may be a demon, but I need to eat too, you know!”

Too bad she couldn’t speak, and Huo Mushi hadn’t fed her.

Now she only wished for Xianlong Mountain to come quickly, for these two arrogant fools to die at the hands of other demons.

Then she would be rescued and could finally… pee!

……

Meanwhile, as Qi Yuan hurried from Shuyao Mountain to Xianlong Mountain,

In Zhenyang City, the people of the Demon-Suppression Bureau gradually headed toward Shuyao Mountain.

These days, they had mostly figured out the mission and learned that Tong Tianyou was in the hands of the flower demon Man Luo.

As long as they went to Windflower Cave and found the flower demon Man Luo,

Everything would be revealed.

The only two dangers of this mission were encountering other great demons on Shuyao Mountain and the threat posed by the flower demon Man Luo.

Thus, these Demon-Suppression Bureau members carefully threaded through Shuyao Mountain, seeking only to find Windflower Cave and locate Man Luo and Tong Tianyou.

At that moment, on Shuyao Mountain, Yang Guang wore a wild boar hide, disguised as a boar demon.

He sniffed and showed a strange expression: “Strange, why do I smell a thick scent of blood?”

“You’re not a dog; leave this to the professional.” An Qiao shook the rope.

The tracking dog reluctantly came over.

“Actually, I think he’s pretty dog-like too, very professional.”

The tracking dog spoke as venomously as ever.

Yang Guang glared at the tracking dog and said crossly, “Careful, I’ll catch a male dog demon and mate you with it!”

Hearing this, the tracking dog tucked its tail between its legs and dared not retort.

“Also smell Master Qi’s scent, see if we can find where he is and rescue him!” An Qiao said anxiously.

Now, Master Qi was also trapped in the Shu Demon Mountains.

Perhaps he was even surrounded by demon soldiers.

If they could find him and rescue Master Qi, it would be a good thing.

“Right, we must find Brother Qi—I promised to protect him!” Now that Yang Guang’s blood-warrior aura had recovered, his confidence was restored.

“Mm, understood.”

The tracking dog said, pressing its nose to the ground and beginning to sniff intently.

Yang Guang waited in silence; the thick scent of blood made him uneasy.

Suddenly, the tracking dog’s tail shot up, and a look of human-like terror filled its eyes: “Blood… so much blood—I smell a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood!”

The tracking dog spoke, lifting its head to gaze northward, its face full of fear.

“What?” An Qiao asked hurriedly.

“There… blood everywhere—a demonic purgatory!” The tracking dog stared north, its dog eyes brimming with terror.

“That’s the demon camp!” Yang Guang looked toward where the dog was staring, his expression grave.

Could it be that something catastrophic had happened in the Shu Demon Mountains?

“What about Master Qi?”

“No good—his scent is in there too!” the tracking dog barked loudly.

“What? No—I swore to protect Master Qi!” Yang Guang’s heart tightened, fearing that Qi Yuan had already met with misfortune.

After all, piecing together what the tracking dog had said, it was very likely that Qi Yuan was surrounded in the demon camp, locked in battle.

That was why the smell of blood was so heavy.

“I must go and see!” Yang Guang was still a man of his word.

……

From summer to autumn, and then to winter.

For many insects, that was a lifetime.

For travelers on the road, it was a year of toil, the joy and sorrow of returning home.

That year, too many things had happened in Fengyuan.

The Four Seasons Tavern stood by the Xi River. The Xi River, which divided north and south, was covered in thick ice.

The tavern’s banner flapped loudly in the cold wind, and snowflakes like goose feathers swirled thickly.

Despite such bitter cold, the tavern was steaming hot.

Customers held large bowls, drinking wine and eating meat, freely listening to the storyteller’s impassioned tales.

“That day, thunderclouds gathered thick, black clouds pressing down on the mountains.

The Lizard King of Xianlong Mountain was a demon elite, three hundred zhang long—when it turned over, the whole mountain quaked!

It soared into the sky, blocking the sun, and Xianlong Mountain turned pitch-black!”

“Stop dawdling—no matter how strong that Lizard King was, wasn’t it still beaten to death by the Red Cudgel Demon Slayer?”

“Enough about Xianlong Mountain—I want to hear about the Red Cudgel Demon Slayer’s battle with Princess Jasmine.”

“Yes, they say Princess Jasmine heard the Red Cudgel Demon Slayer was coming and held a wedding on the spot, intending to marry him!”

“Hmph, a demon—worthy of the Red Cudgel Demon Slayer?” A young woman in a ruqun spoke, her voice dripping with disdain.

“I reckon only our Fengyuan’s number one beauty, that Little Empress Dowager, is worthy of the Red Cudgel Demon Slayer!”

“Watch your tongue—she is the Empress!”

“Hmph! If the Red Cudgel Demon Slayer wanted to be emperor, I’d follow him in rebellion right now!

Back when demon soldiers ran rampant, that boy emperor fled south with the aristocratic clans, abandoning the northern people, and even had the nerve to call it ‘preserving the seeds of culture’—bah! Without the people, what’s there to preserve?”

“The Red Cudgel Demon Slayer is a real man—in just one year, he fought across three thousand li and slaughtered tens of thousands of demon soldiers!”

“If I could marry the Red Cudgel Demon Slayer, I’d give up eternal youth willingly!”

In the tavern, young men and women gathered, drinking wine and chatting, their faces joyful.

That year, too many things had happened.

Among them, the most eye-catching was naturally the Red Cudgel Demon Slayer.

His origins unknown, his name unknown, he wielded a red wooden cudgel and routed the northern demon tribes.

Wherever he went, corpses littered the land for a thousand li!

His immense power—fighting thousands of demon soldiers alone—made him like an undefeated god of death.

He created one legend after another.

At first, when news spread that the Red Cudgel Demon Slayer had single-handedly wiped out three thousand demon soldiers from the Shu Demon Mountains, the world was shocked, but more than that, there was doubt and disbelief.

After all, where in this world was there such a strongman who could fight three thousand demon soldiers alone?

Even the foremost martial artist in the Fengyuan Pavilion could not do it.

For three thousand demon soldiers, commanded by a demon elite of the demon hero rank, could slay even a martial spirit.

But… the Red Cudgel Demon Slayer had done it.

How was that possible?

Yet later, the demon forces at Xianlong Mountain, Fenggu Ridge, Taizi Waters, and other places were successively annihilated.

Witnesses all saw a handsome man in a blood-red robe, wielding a blood-red cudgel, like a demon god.

The world shook, all were astounded, and no one dared to doubt.

“In just one year, eleven of the twelve great demon lairs in the world have fallen—the Red Cudgel Demon Slayer… terrifying indeed!” An old man’s voice trembled; from his dress, he seemed no ordinary person.

Yet now, he too sat in the tavern’s main hall.

“Only the last Xi River demon remains… I wonder when the Red Cudgel Demon Slayer will come?”

“Once the Xi River demon is destroyed, the world will be at peace, and our human race will flourish!”

“Heh, that may not be so. Do you think after the Red Cudgel Demon Slayer kills the Xi River demon, he might want to become emperor?

I see him as ambitious, reaching for high positions!

What ‘demon-slaying war god,’ what ‘for the common good of the world’—he’s just like us, a mortal after all.” From a corner came a low murmur.

But he used a special sound transmission, so no one present knew who spoke.

Above, in a private room of the tavern, a young maiden heard this and could not help but throw open the window, cursing: “To be overly harsh with the good and overly lenient with the evil—are you even human?

If you’re a man, step forward!”

But the one who had whispered did not speak again, hiding in the dark corner.

An old scholar in the tavern saw this and could not help but sigh.

The other diners grumbled, discontent simmering in their hearts.

Though the Red Cudgel Demon Slayer had slain demons and earned merit for a thousand years, many conspiracy theories surrounded him.

People in this world always find fault with the good, accusing them of ulterior motives or wrong methods when they do good deeds; yet for the wicked, they feel sympathy and show excessive tolerance.

Just then, a calm voice suddenly came from outside the house.

“There are keyboard warriors here too, and I’ve run into them. What luck.”

The inn’s door swung open, a gust of cold wind blowing in, the sound like the wail of a demon.

Snowflakes like goose feathers drifted in, and the people in the inn’s hall looked over, immediately spotting a handsome man in a blood-red robe, holding a wooden cudgel.

These diners stared at the man, whose beauty was almost too much, their expressions showing surprise, some even suspicion.

This man’s attire… looked a bit like the Red Cudgel Demon Slayer!

But now, the Red Cudgel Demon Slayer’s fame was at its peak, and many young nobles were donning red robes.

This man was far too young, with delicate skin, not like a hardened demon hunter.

A moment of silence fell over the inn.

Then the handsome man walked in, followed by a youth who looked very naive but seemed to have seen much of the world.

The youth held a rope in his hand.

Following the direction of the rope, one saw two figures shrouded in black bags.

When they noticed the black bags and the figures,

some diners gulped.

Others widened their eyes, disbelief written on their faces.

“Red Cudgel… Demon Slayer!”

“He is the Red Cudgel Demon Slayer!”

A stir ran through the inn.

In a private room, a young girl in her prime couldn’t help leaning out to look at the legend, to see if he was as the tales described.

When she saw Qi Yuan’s profile, she was stunned.

How could there be such a peerless figure in this world?

He seemed not of this mortal realm.

“Speaking ill of me and getting caught—your luck is truly bad.”

At that moment, Qi Yuan’s gaze fell on a fat, big-eared wealthy merchant, his eyes calm.

The merchant’s face changed abruptly: “It wasn’t me! I didn’t!”

He denied it.

The man beside the merchant quickly added: “Master Wu is a great philanthropist, donating money to build roads; he would never slander the Red Cudgel Demon Slayer!”

The inn’s patrons looked at the merchant with varied expressions.

This merchant had a good reputation in the city, even called the foremost benefactor.

Immediately, a few others couldn’t help speaking up for the merchant.

After all, the Red Cudgel Demon Slayer was a peerless hero; how could he be so petty? He would surely be reasonable.

The merchant breathed a sigh of relief at this.

At the same time, he silently warned himself to be more careful in the future, never to be caught off guard again.

But then, a smile curled on Qi Yuan’s lips: “Mu Shi, play the music.”

Huo Mu Shi, seeing this, skillfully took out a suona, and a bleak, mournful sound rose in the tavern.

Terror spread across the merchant’s face as he realized something: “You can’t!”

But what greeted him was a blood-red wooden cudgel.

The cudgel struck him squarely on the crown of his head, like smashing a watermelon.

The merchant’s head burst like a ripe watermelon.

Silence fell over the tavern, broken only by the sound of the suona.

The diners present felt shock, fear, and some even a sense of satisfaction.

“How to dispel sorrow? Only… by killing!” Qi Yuan lowered his cudgel, his voice clear and hearty.

Those who had felt satisfaction now felt a chill at those words.

The tone of the Red Cudgel Demon Slayer didn’t seem feigned.

(End of chapter)